"Do you know how vampires and hunters were created?" he asked.
"At one point in time, a handful of demons escaped to freely roam the earth. Those demons were unable to tolerate the sun, were creatures of the night, immortal, and slaughtered humans to feast on their blood. When humans learned of their existence, they hunted them to the point where the greatly outnumbered demons were once again forced to seal themselves away in what many believe to be Hell," Kara recited from her studies on the subject.
"While they were here, the demons also mated with some humans," she continued. "The first vampires were born from those humans. Like the demons, they had a thirst for blood, eternal life, and many other demon capabilities such as the power to bend another to their will or cloak their presence. Unlike the demons, they were more human in appearance, had a heartbeat, breathed, and passed as humans. Over time, they came to be known as vampires. Vampires discovered that, by sharing their blood with a human, they could create more of their kind."
"And hunters came about how?" Lucian inquired.
"They were created in the same way, only hunters took after the human species even more than vampires. We are the mortal version of a vampire. We have many of your abilities, such as enhanced strength, senses, and extended lifespans, but not your thirst for blood or immortality. Your powers of persuasion and cloaking do not work on those of us who are born hunters, but we do not possess them."
The hunters also didn't have the restrictions vampires faced when they took too many innocent lives, but he didn't tell her that. He also wouldn't reveal to her that many vampires could walk freely through the day. If she went back and told her fellow hunters, which she most likely would, the revelation could make those of his kind who weren't Savage more vulnerable to the ignorance of the hunters.
"The hunters have also figured out a way for the human allies they recruit to not be susceptible to our ability to change their minds," he said.
Her lips compressed into a flat line, and he knew she wouldn't confirm it. It didn't matter; he'd already encountered an entirely human hunter who resisted a vampire's ability to change her memories. A mixture of herbs and hunter blood had been given to the human to keep her mind blocked from a vampire's mind control.
"Why do you and your friends kill the vampires who go wrong?" she asked.
Lucian draped his arm over his forehead as he lifted his gaze to the ceiling. "Humans aren't the only ones who need protection from the vampires who turn Savage. The Savages attack other vampires too, for our blood gives them the most power and we are a far more thrilling kill than any mortal or hunter could ever be."
She inhaled sharply. "That's awful."
He glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes. "That sounded very like you."
"I've never been the hunter I'm supposed to be," she murmured. "I've been a thorn in my family's side since I was old enough to speak."
He imagined she had been, considering she was the firstborn female hunter who had ever been seen by a vampire, as far as he knew anyway. "And why is that?"
She shrugged absently. "Little things here and there I guess. I was always the rebellious one amongst the women within the stronghold, and I was never any good at my classes. I can't sew, I'm not much of a cook, and I've dropped a lot of the baby dolls over the years. Far more than any of the other girls in my classes. I still can't pin a diaper without stabbing the doll. Though, I'll admit that's more because it's ridiculous to diaper a fake baby, and it feels good to give it a jab."
Lucian lifted an eyebrow at that admission as he tried not to laugh at the look of consternation on her face.
"Unlike the other women in the stronghold, I always dreamed about going out in the world, to see things, and experience them. We're not allowed to do that. We're told from the moment we're born that we shouldn't yearn for things we can never have and that being a good wife, and mother, and continuing the hunter line is what we are meant to do. The world is so big and marvelous that I always wanted to see more of it and explore it
The longing on her face and the melancholy in her voice had him contemplating booking her the first flight to anywhere she asked to go in the world. She should be set free to enjoy her life, not secluded and locked away.
"Women must be protected and sheltered from the world," he grated out.
Resentment simmered in her eyes when they came back to his. "You sound like my brother."
He realized she'd taken his words the wrong way, but he couldn't resist provoking her further as it brought color back to her face and more life to her than he'd seen since her attack. "Your brother sounds like a wise man."
He was certain visions of strangling him were dancing through her head while she glowered at him. Her anger also made her forget her wariness of him as she leaned closer to him.
"I do not wish to be paired off for breeding purposes or want a husband," she said.
Not married then. He ignored the relief her confirmation of that brought with it.
"I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself," she declared.
"Yes, you take great care of yourself. That's why you're here," he replied, hoping to bait her even closer.
She bolted upright, sputtering with indignation. Realizing he'd pushed her too far, he moved to calm her before she reopened her wounds, but she slapped his hand away. Lucian did a double take as he gazed between her and his hand. In over a thousand years, no one had dared to rebuke him in such a way.
She swung her legs over the side of the bed. Getting over his shock, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her back before she could rise. She slapped his arm. Her attempts to get free would have made him laugh, if he hadn't known it would only piss her off more.
"Let go of me!" she cried.
"No." He may not have the same beliefs as her kin, but she would learn he was the one who ruled here. "Relax, before you hurt yourself. I pushed too far, and I am sorry for that."
Her hair whipped into her eyes when her head spun toward him. "That's the second time you've done that."
"Done what?" he asked.
"Said you were sorry. I'm always the one apologizing for doing something wrong, for not obeying when I should, or not doing as I'm told. I'm supposed to be sorry for not being overjoyed about my glorious role as a soon-to-be bride. Or at least that's what my instructors tell me."
Lucian kept his arm around her waist, his fingers caressing her flat stomach while she spoke. "Then they are idiots."
"Do vampires not have the same rules for women as hunters do?"
"There would be no caging a female vampire, especially not a purebred one."
"What is a purebred?"
"A vampire who is born to two vampires instead of being a human who is turned by one."
Her breath exploded from her. "There's such a thing?"
"Yes. I am a purebred as are the other vampires who live here."
"Oh," she breathed as her eyes ran over him. That revelation, and his age, had to be why she sensed so much power in him. "What about a human and a vampire? What would their offspring be?"
"It depends on which side is stronger. I've seen some be more like hunters, but not as strong, and some be entirely human. The combination of a human and a vampire doesn't happen often, but it has in the past. Most live normal, human lives, some choose to be turned later in life. If they are turned, they can be stronger than an average turned vamp, but not as strong as a purebred."
"Vampires can conceive and bear children," she murmured. "We believed they were all turned."
"We are part human too after all, which is why not all of us are killers. We have as much human DNA as demons. I'm not an overly big fan of the human race, they're rather annoying, but I don't like seeing them slaughtered for sport, even if they do it to each other on a daily basis."
Kara felt as if he'd given her a combo punch that left her lying flat in the middle of the boxing ring. Never in a million years had she expected to learn these things about vampires, never would she have considered they had any compassion within them.
"Do vampires have a difficult time conceiving?" she asked.
"No. Do hunters?" Her eyes went to the shuttered windows behind him. "So that is why they lock their women away," he guessed and knew he was right when her jaw clenched. "The demon DNA must have reacted differently with the hunters, making it difficult for them to conceive."
She didn't reply.
"Lie down," he coaxed, knowing he would get no more out of her on the subject. He gave a tug on her waist, but she didn't budge. "Joseph didn't take enough blood to permanently damage you, but he took enough to weaken you for a while."
"The permanent damage he's done to me happened before last night," she muttered more to herself than to him.
He frowned as he realized more than a rebellious streak had brought her out last night. "Why were you in that alley, Kara?"
Her gaze was fixed on the blanket as she responded. "Nathan has been tracking Joseph for a while."
"Why is your brother so interested in him? Why did you disobey everything you've been raised to believe to be there?"
"I never obey when I'm supposed to."
"I get that, but why risk leaving your home now?"
"It took me a while to figure out a way to break free of the stronghold."
"How did you get out?" he asked.
"I can't tell you that."
"Fair enough." He wouldn't ask her to divulge any information he wouldn't divulge himself. "So why were you so determined to escape and see Joseph brought down?"
The fire burned in her eyes when they met him again. "He killed my father."
No wonder she'd been determined to achieve freedom and her brother had been so determined to destroy Joseph himself. Nathan wouldn't back down and would get in the way again, but that was something he would have to deal with later.
"I'm sorry for your loss," he said honestly. He knew how it felt to lose a parent to a Savage.
Kara gazed at him, trying to decide if he was playing with her or not, but she saw only sincerity on his face and in his eyes. "Thank you. I'm hoping that watching Joseph die will make me feel better. That this… this emptiness in me will ease once he's gone."
He didn't want to take the hope away from her, but he knew nothing completely eased the pain of losing a loved one. It had been nearly a thousand years since he'd lost his parents. He'd had such a short time with them, but their guidance had forged him and the hole of their passing had never been filled.
The young, idealistic man he'd been before their deaths never would have believed himself capable of slipping into the darkness. That man hadn't been plagued with the need to kill, as at twenty-eight, he'd just reached maturity, stopped aging, and started to come more fully into his powers.
Back then, he'd been a young fool who had no idea that soon after becoming fully matured, there would be little left of the vampire race to lead. He hadn't known that centuries of delivering death, even to those who deserved it, would stain and warp his soul. He'd been told by his father that as a mature, purebred vampire he would start to crave something insatiably and that he would have to fight giving into that craving every day of his life, but he'd never fully understood it until his need for blood and death became an ever-constant companion.
He knew the truth of it all now.
"The emptiness of a lost loved one never goes away completely," he told her.
"Never?" she whispered.
"No, but time makes you better capable of dealing with it. Revenge is never the slave you think it will be. It is often necessary and must be carried out, but it will not make everything better."
When he realized he was still holding her and she didn't seem about to jump up and run off, he removed his arm from her waist and leaned back against the headboard. Her haunted eyes met his, her raw anguish evident in her gaze. He'd give anything to take the hurt from her, but that was impossible.
"You should lie down before you make yourself sick," he said.
"I don't get sick," she mumbled as she slid back onto the bed.
"Exhausted then."
She rolled toward him. "It was a tiring night."
Kara's heart leaped in her chest when he gave her a darling, lopsided smile. She may be exhausted, but she doubted she'd get any sleep with a half-naked Lucian lying in the bed with her.
She bit her lip as she thought about what her brother and the other hunters would say if they could see her now. They'd probably believe she went crazy and locked her away, just as they'd locked away some of the other hunters who had broken their laws or lost their minds over the years.
Nothing she'd revealed to Lucian could be used against her or the hunters, but she was lying in bed with him, and she found herself content to be there. He brought a strange sense of calm to her, one she hadn't experienced in years, if ever. Her kind would consider her a traitor for her actions. She kind of considered herself one by staying beside him, but she wouldn't crawl out of this bed, and she didn't ask him to leave it.
She inched subtly closer until the heat of his body warmed hers. Maybe tomorrow she would get her mind together enough to realize the situation she was in and plot a way out of it, but for now, she didn't have the energy or the will to fight this draw to him.
"I imagine that it was," he said.
"That what was?" she asked as she stifled a yawn.
"A tiring night."
"Oh, yes."
The tips of his fingers briefly caressed her cheek, causing her eyelids to close as she turned into his touch. She smiled when he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before tracing the outer shell.
"This is all so strange," she murmured and opened her eyes as he ran his finger over her bottom lip.
Her heart rate accelerated when he leaned toward her. Would he kiss her? She wanted that so badly, yet she remained unmoving as she waited to see what he would do next.
Lucian heard the hitch in her breath when his finger stilled on her lip, and he lifted his gaze to hers again. She watched him as one would a predator, afraid to take her eyes away, but he sensed no fear from her. Leaning toward her, he slid his finger away to brush his lips over hers.
Kara's eyes crossed as she watched him. The butterfly caress made her body melt, but she couldn't tear her gaze away from him as she waited to see what he would do next. Out of everything she'd been anticipating, it was not to have him abruptly pull away from her.
"You must sleep," he said gruffly. "You are not at full strength."
And if he kept touching her, he would be inside her. She may not be aware of where this would lead, but he was, and she was a temptation he wouldn't refuse. He could be a heartless prick on his best days, but not even he was so callous as to take advantage of her now.
Kara refused to let her disappointment show as she gave a brisk nod. She should feel relieved, not as if she'd missed out on something. Blood loss, it's screwed up your brain. She told herself this, but she knew it was wrong.
Kara closed her eyes and feigned sleep. It was at least an hour before sleep claimed her again; she knew he was still awake when it did.