something he thought might be hope.
“The women you saw in here want me to get them pregnant.”
“Vampires can’t get pregnant.”
She sounded so sure for someone who moments ago hadn’t believed in vampires, maybe still didn’t, that Luka wanted to roar with laughter. “And how do you know that?”
“I’ve seen the films and I’ve read the books.”
He smiled. “You think if you wear a cross you’ll be safe. If you eat garlic I won’t touch you, and that holy water will burn me?”
“And you can turn into a bat, disappear into thin air, and you’re brilliant in bed.”
Luka chuckled. “One out of those three.”
She blushed again and he wanted to kiss her flushed cheeks, hold her face to his chest, and let it warm his undead heart. The pain of being unable to touch her was becoming greater than that from the chains.
“So what’s the problem?” Chloe asked. “Why can’t you just give them what they want? It’s only sex, right?”
“Because the price for fucking them is my life.”
In theory, every hundred years Luka was allowed to apply to the Council for permission to father a child. Permission was rarely given and those who applied tended to disappear. So sensible Truebloods stayed out of sight, didn’t apply, and only occasionally risked having a child who they then had to keep very quiet.
“I don’t understand,” Chloe said.
“Notwithstanding accidents, vampires live forever. Our progeny would exist forever too, which would make the particular clan I belong to very strong. That was the way it was for a long time.
We were the vampire royal family until action was taken to eliminate us. The Council won’t let us rise again.”
“So you’re in hiding?”
“My clan went underground over two hundred years ago when the Council acquired a new leader.” Luka had once been a prince; now he didn’t even have a family. “A handful of my kind who can make a vampire pregnant are in hiding until the Council leader changes.”
“Except someone’s found you.”
“Yes.”
“Won’t the females be in trouble too, if you get them pregnant?”
Luka had wondered about that. There was something here he wasn’t getting.
“Six months ago, the Council passed a law allowing Truebloods to sire one child in this particular year. Only one or the punishment is death. For the male, not the female. I thought it was just a trick to draw us out. Now I’m not sure. Maybe they want our offspring for some experiment.”
The only trouble with that scenario was that he remained unconvinced that Eve and Krista worked for the Council, and even if they did, they couldn’t each have a child.
“Perhaps someone in the Council decided they wanted a child.”
She was smart as well as cute.
“What are they going to do to you?” Chloe asked in a quiet voice.
Luka sighed. “Keep trying to seduce me by whatever means they can.”
“And if they fail?”
“Probably kill me.”
Chloe gasped. “Is there anyone I can call who can help you? I’m not strong enough to cut you free, but maybe you know someone who could snap these weird chains. Give me a number or tell me where to go.”
Luka stiffened. “Oh, that was clever. To think I almost fell for it. You want me to offer a way to contact another like me? I don’t think so.”
In the unrest that led to the appointment of the current Council, Luka’s clan had been hunted down and slaughtered. His father had ordered the family to split up, scatter around the country, change their names, and have no further communication with each other, not even mind links.
Luka didn’t know where his family was. He’d never tried to contact any of them, yet held on to the hope that he could if he needed to.
Chloe’s shoulders slumped. “You don’t trust me. Okay. I’ll figure out a way to help you on my own. I suppose you don’t want the sandwiches or the chocolate I’ve brought. You only drink blood.”
He heard the sarcasm in her voice and knew
“The women you saw in here want me to get them pregnant.”
“Vampires can’t get pregnant.”
She sounded so sure for someone who moments ago hadn’t believed in vampires, maybe still didn’t, that Luka wanted to roar with laughter. “And how do you know that?”
“I’ve seen the films and I’ve read the books.”
He smiled. “You think if you wear a cross you’ll be safe. If you eat garlic I won’t touch you, and that holy water will burn me?”
“And you can turn into a bat, disappear into thin air, and you’re brilliant in bed.”
Luka chuckled. “One out of those three.”
She blushed again and he wanted to kiss her flushed cheeks, hold her face to his chest, and let it warm his undead heart. The pain of being unable to touch her was becoming greater than that from the chains.
“So what’s the problem?” Chloe asked. “Why can’t you just give them what they want? It’s only sex, right?”
“Because the price for fucking them is my life.”
In theory, every hundred years Luka was allowed to apply to the Council for permission to father a child. Permission was rarely given and those who applied tended to disappear. So sensible Truebloods stayed out of sight, didn’t apply, and only occasionally risked having a child who they then had to keep very quiet.
“I don’t understand,” Chloe said.
“Notwithstanding accidents, vampires live forever. Our progeny would exist forever too, which would make the particular clan I belong to very strong. That was the way it was for a long time.
We were the vampire royal family until action was taken to eliminate us. The Council won’t let us rise again.”
“So you’re in hiding?”
“My clan went underground over two hundred years ago when the Council acquired a new leader.” Luka had once been a prince; now he didn’t even have a family. “A handful of my kind who can make a vampire pregnant are in hiding until the Council leader changes.”
“Except someone’s found you.”
“Yes.”
“Won’t the females be in trouble too, if you get them pregnant?”
Luka had wondered about that. There was something here he wasn’t getting.
“Six months ago, the Council passed a law allowing Truebloods to sire one child in this particular year. Only one or the punishment is death. For the male, not the female. I thought it was just a trick to draw us out. Now I’m not sure. Maybe they want our offspring for some experiment.”
The only trouble with that scenario was that he remained unconvinced that Eve and Krista worked for the Council, and even if they did, they couldn’t each have a child.
“Perhaps someone in the Council decided they wanted a child.”
She was smart as well as cute.
“What are they going to do to you?” Chloe asked in a quiet voice.
Luka sighed. “Keep trying to seduce me by whatever means they can.”
“And if they fail?”
“Probably kill me.”
Chloe gasped. “Is there anyone I can call who can help you? I’m not strong enough to cut you free, but maybe you know someone who could snap these weird chains. Give me a number or tell me where to go.”
Luka stiffened. “Oh, that was clever. To think I almost fell for it. You want me to offer a way to contact another like me? I don’t think so.”
In the unrest that led to the appointment of the current Council, Luka’s clan had been hunted down and slaughtered. His father had ordered the family to split up, scatter around the country, change their names, and have no further communication with each other, not even mind links.
Luka didn’t know where his family was. He’d never tried to contact any of them, yet held on to the hope that he could if he needed to.
Chloe’s shoulders slumped. “You don’t trust me. Okay. I’ll figure out a way to help you on my own. I suppose you don’t want the sandwiches or the chocolate I’ve brought. You only drink blood.”
He heard the sarcasm in her voice and knew
Similar Books
