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help.’ He gave me another broad smile. ‘Being your family’s guardian sets me apart from the others. My feeding from a Bloodgifted Dantonville provides me with a certain tolerance to daylight. I can come out during the day and even sit in the sun for an extended period, though not for too long. It dangerously weakens me.’
    ‘No “poof” and a pile of dust then?’ I asked.
    ‘Not me, no. Sorry to disappoint you.’
    I couldn’t tell if he meant that last remark to be taken seriously or not. His mouth did twitch a bit, but he could have had a muscle spasm for all I knew.
    ‘What is it in our blood gives you this ability anyway?’ Perhaps he could provide the answers my aunt hadn’t.
    He g azed at me a while as if unsure whether to answer or not. ‘How much has Judith told you?’
    ‘She mentioned some distant ancestor who was cursed and became what you are. His DNA was altered.’
    ‘Yes, that’s true. He was a Roman—Marcus Antonius Pulcher. But enough of his humanity was allowed to remain to pass down to his descendants. It’s that which lives on in your veins and gives me immunity to daylight, plus a few added extras.’
    ‘Like strength, supersonic hearing.’ I deliberately whispered those last two words.
    He chuckled. ‘I wouldn’t call it supersonic, but it’s very good. Judith managed to tell you quite a bit.’
    ‘As much as she could, I suppose. What did he do to earn such terrible retribution?’
    ‘Nothing any other soldier in his position wouldn’t have done.’ He paused a while and a slight frown appeared on his brow. ‘I’m not the one to reveal his story though, Laura. That’ll come from another.’
    T he tightness of his mouth indicated I’d be getting no further information out of him on that subject. So I made a mental note to ask my aunt at the next opportunity and went back to my interrogation. ‘Okay, what about the garlic and holy water?’
    ‘Well, if you eat it, I’ll certainly taste it.’
    ‘Like a baby at its mother’s breast?’
    He placed both hands on the carved wooden arms and contemplated me for a while before a letting out a little chuckle. ‘Touché.’
    Blas t. I was beginning to like him, when he wasn’t being patronising. He gazed at me at length, possibly trying to gauge my mettle as much as I was trying to gauge his. To a certain extent we were both in foreign waters.
    It was then I glimpsed the ring. He wore an identica l type as mine, so there had to be some significance. He saw my eyes widen in recognition.
    ‘Yes,’ he answered my silent question. ‘It’s the twin of the one Judith passed on to you. It’s known as the Se rpent—’
    ‘ Ring,’ I finished for him. ‘She told me, but never mentioned there were two, nor that you’d be wearing the other one.’
    ‘What exactly did she say?’
    I repeated what Aunt Judy had told me, including the strange word she’d used.
    He nodded in affirmation and twirled it around his finger as he listened. Then he added, ‘The rings were created from the same source by your ancestor. One always passes to the current Ingenii and the other to their Guardian. I was Judith’s and now I’m… all yours.’
    A mischi evous smile lit his face as he leaned forward and interlaced the fingers of his right hand with mine. For the briefest moment the red stones in the serpents’ eyes flashed as they met and our hands were illuminated in a warm, rosy glow.
    ‘Is it supposed to do that?’ I asked.
    ‘Yes, but I’ve never seen such an immediate and strong reaction.’ He sounded just as surprised.
    We both raised our eyes and gazed at each other si multaneously. My mouth went dry and, self-consciously, I tried to take my hand back, but he simply held on.
    ‘ The eyes light up whenever one of us is near. They also signal danger by turning black, although that hasn’t happened during my guardianship,’ he said.
    ‘Has it ever?’
    ‘I think once, during my predecessor’s time, several hundred years