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“Why am I like this?” I mumbled.

“I might have an answer for you,” Bastien said. I whirled to him, where he stood at the entrance of a different area connected to the kitchen. He wore fresh clothes, and his slacks were attached to shoulder straps, keeping the pants up. “But I need to take a look at your blood to confirm my theory.”

“What’s your theory?”

Bastien scratched the bridge of his nose.

“That you are a predator to vampires.” I only blinked, because what the hell? Me as a predator was hilarious. “We all know about evolution. Vampires are apex predators. It would make sense for the gene to mutate. But I do not think it was quote, unquote, ‘nature’ which caused this.”

“Hunters,” Ren added and by his tone, I could tell they’d already talked about this.

“Hunters? Like Vampire hunters?”

“Before we got rid of them, they’d been collecting vampires, trapping them and experimenting on them,” Bastien said.

“And you think they created me?”

“Not necessarily you, but a gene that developed and evolved with time, making you, for lack of a better phrase, a vampire’s predator.” I could only gawk at Bastien.

“So, my blood heals vampires like yours heals humans?”

“That’s my theory.” But if that was the case.

“Am I able to compel you?” I whirled and stepped in front of the closest vampire. Jax stared down at me. “How would you do this?”

Asher pressed against my back and leaned down until his lips brushed against my ear. “Relax, look into his eyes, and push your order at him.”

I rolled my shoulders and looked into Jax’s lapis blue eyes, making sure tofeelmy desire behind the order. “Shift into Binx.”

“It’s called morphing,” Jax offered. Damn, it didn’t work.

“What about humans?”

“If you can’t compel vampires, why would you be able to compel humans?”

I pursed my lips.

Asher chuckled against my ear.

“Maybe you’re wrong?” I said to Bastien.

He still watched from a few feet away, rubbing his chin pensively. He shook his head.

“Jaxon, are you absolutely sure you were unable to feed her your blood?”

“I am sure, she didn’t swallow anything.”

Bastien nodded slowly.

“The gene must have been in her already,” Tobias murmured. “It makes sense. Her immunity to being compelled. Her taste, her scent.”

“So, I was never human?” They were beginning to confuse me.

“You were human, you simply carried a gene.” A gene that would have been passed down.

“Why didn’t my parents turn when they died?”

“I believe it has to be activated by vampire blood or being bitten. I am not . . .” Bastien trailed off, a slight glaze crossing his red eyes.