Past

Lake

Sylas and I wander around my old territory for the next few hours. Oliver sent us here for a reason, and I’m trying to figure out why. I figured I could give the vampire a tour while we sought answers.

I point to a large building at the end of the street. “That’s my old high school.”

“Your teenage years were very different from mine, apparently.” Sylas smirks. “The sixteenth century was not a good era.”

I stop walking and stare at him. Did this man just say the sixteenth fucking century? He doesn’t look a day over eighteen! Nineteen, if you want to push it.

“I know I’m old, Kjarni,” Sylas says wryly. “I was one of the first full-blooded nobles born to our people.”

“First?” I asked with curiosity.

“Yes. Contrary to popular belief, the earliest vampires were not born, but blessed by Selene.” Sylas looks to the sun overhead, which marks high noon.

“I always thought that vampires couldn’t go out into the sun, feared crosses, and hated garlic.” I shrug. “Too many old monster movies, I guess.”

Sylas laughs at my words, “Who do you think produced those movies? Humans? We vampires created the myths in order to protect our secrets.”

“I guess Dracula was a myth, then?”

“Oh, no, he was very much alive.”

I lead him behind the school. The old tree where Lucas first confronted me after the rejection is now dead and split in two. From the burned trunk, I surmise it was struck by lightning.

“Dracula was one our strongest nobles back in the day, but his power eventually went to his head. After terrorizing Transylvania for more than a century, our queen had no choice but to order his execution.”

“Sounds about right,” I comment.

“His three wives were killed, too. One of them was the queen’s own sister, who was driven mad by drinking nothing but her husband’s Essence after their wedding.”

“Wow.” I jump over the trunk of the tree laying on the ground and Sylas follows. The scent of something familiar is coming from this direction.

“What do you mean by Essence, though? Don’t you mean blood?”

“Not exactly.” Sylas clears his throat. “Essence is to a vampire as a mate is to a wolf. Although we aren’t necessarily limited to just one, Essences are exceedingly rare for our kind.”

“Can you explain more?”

~And what is that smell?~

“It’s true that vampires drink the blood of humans, wolves, fae, and any other living creature for survival,” Sylas explains. “Our bodies are basically frozen in time, and so is our blood.

“When you get thirsty, do you take notice of how your veins feel as if they’re collapsing?”

I nod. Now that he mentions it, that’s exactly how it feels.

“It’s because the blood you’ve ingested is no longer viable. The oxygen that usually travels through your bloodstream is used up more quickly because your cells are more active, giving you extra strength, better hearing, and so on.

“For you, it’s even harder, because your body is fighting to be dead and alive at the same time.”

“What does this have to do with this Essence you brought up?” I ask.

We arrive at the wooded part of the school grounds. This is where I met Derrick for the first time. It’s been years, but I can still smell Drax’s scent as if it were yesterday.

~There’s a second scent that’s so familiar. Whose is it?~

“Our Goddess is a very generous being. When she saw the Moon’s children so happy with their mates, Selene wanted the same for her children.”

Sylas moves a fallen branch from our path and continues, “Vampyres are mated by blood because we already need it to survive. Selene has spent eons trying to perfect her mate pairings, but there’s still one fatal flaw.

“Our need for blood under the wrong circumstances is stronger than the need for our other half.” He eyes me. “I’ve heard that the scent of your mate can be described as mouthwatering. Is that true?”

“Very much so,” I say. “It’s how we first know we’ve found each other.”

“It is the same for us, but mixed with our need for blood, complications arise.”

“The scent is the blood for you, isn’t it?” I conclude. “And if you’re thirsty enough, the person doesn’t matter once that line is crossed.”

Sylas nods. “The Essence consumed by a vampyre is meant to make them happier and bind them to their partner for the rest of time, but most never get to see their Essence alive and well.”

“That’s awful!” I exclaim. “Have you been through that?”

Before Sylas can answer me, the scent I’ve been tracking becomes stronger. I can feel a wolf close by. I swing my head around to survey behind us. Lynne still isn’t responding, so I have to be ready.

“What?” Sylas asks when he sees my change of behavior.

“Another wolf,” I whisper. “I remember the scent, but not who it belongs to.”

I catch a glimpse of reddish fur flashes out of the corner of my eye. The sound of heavy footsteps circles around us.

Sylas readies himself to fight. I’m grateful for his presence—this wolf is strong, and I can’t take it on alone while in my human form.

“Hunting us won’t make us leave!” I growl. “Shift back before things get ugly.”

The wolf seems to understand my threat, as the sound of bones cracking fills my ears. The scent becomes stronger, and I suddenly remember why I remember it so vividly.

~No fucking way.~

“Long time, no see,” a female voice says.

Out of the bushes appears a completely naked blonde-haired, blue-eyed she-wolf.

“Delilah?”