Werewolf and Vampire Mate [Book 1 Complete]

chapter ten.

April

"You live off of...human blood?"

"Yes."

Nik stands in front of the bed, hands resting comfortably in the pockets of his trousers.

"How often do you....?"

"We can go days or even weeks without feeding, but eventually we will weaken."

"And even die?"

He shakes his head. "No. The only way to kill a vampire is by ripping off their head or a wooden stake to the heart. Nothing else can kill us."

My eyes widen. He says it so matter-of-factly.

"Sunlight?" I ask. "You were out during the day."

"We're sensitive to light for the first few decades. But over time it becomes less and less of a problem. It doesn't affect me now."

I am nervous for my next question and I twist the sheets around my fingers. "How old are you?"

The corner of his mouth pulls up. "I told you I was older than I look." He leans his shoulder against one of the beams supporting the canopy bed, tilting his head as he studies me. "I don't know exactly. I've been alive a long time."

"That's not a straight answer," I protest.

There is a moment where he hesitates and then, "A thousand years. Give or take."

Suddenly feeling lightheaded, I sink back against the fluffy pillows of his bed. It's hard to wrap my head around...so much history in a thousand years. So much time to walk the Earth and watch empires rise and fall. So much time to learn, to study...to figure out how to manipulate people. Reed said that vampires are manipulators. I am no match for a thousand year old master manipulator; if he is not telling me the truth, I don't think I will ever know it. Not until it's too late.

"A thousand years and you are so interested in a twenty-two year old?" I question.

The smirk on his face grows. "You are no ordinary twenty-two year old human, April. You're special."

"Am I now?" My tone is disbelieving. Said every predator ever, I think.

"You're Kindred."

I frown, leaning forward once again. "I've heard that a few times now. What does it mean?"

He sits down on the edge of the bed and starts methodically rolling up the sleeves of his dress shirt. "Kindred are humans, but they are special to vampires. We can spot a Kindred from a mile away, though these days they are rare. There is a creation story and I will spare you the boring details, but supposedly the druids long ago created the first vampire. Later, the vampire returned to them, complaining that he was alone and so the druids gifted the vampire a companion. A Kindred. When we see a Kindred, we know we are safe to share our secret, that they will not run and tell it to those that will harm us. A few hundred years ago, people were more than happy to come after us with pitchforks if they found out we were immortal, so we would tell no humans. Except Kindred."

"But I could go and tell someone," I say. "Right now. I could go to the police and I could tell them everything. I don't think they'd believe me, but I could do it."

"Perhaps," he allows. "But you won't."

I shake my head, frustrated and annoyed that he's probably right.

"Kindred are born to be a vampire's companion. Their blood is..." His eyes drop to my neck and I go very still, hardly daring to breathe. "Exquisite."

"So that's what Kindred are? Human bloodbags?" I throw the sheets off and get up from the bed, pacing to the other side of the room.