Page 9 of Absolution
“I thought their presence was strong everywhere.”
Luca shook his head. “The world is changing and not all because of Seiran Rou. He’s part of it. A step in the direction of equality, but no one thinks he’s treated fairly either. It’s all politics. Someone always disagrees, doesn’t matter on what end of the spectrum your views are. In the south there’s still a pretty big movement against the Dominion because all witches should burn. Religion starts a lot of wars that politics finish. The Dominion is really just another religion.”
“Sadly true,” I agreed.
“As for other opponents in the ring, vampires, the occasional siren or other random supe, it’s mostly a fight of who’s faster. Strong is not so much an issue if you can’t land a punch. And magic is banned from the ring.”
“How did you get into all of this? You look so…”
“Nerdy?” he supplied
“Normal,” I amended. He was kind of nerdy. Nerdy-hot.
He gifted me with a wry smile. “I mentioned I had anger issues. It’s sort of a vampire trait. The older ones learn how to bury the feeling or release it in other ways. For the young it’s harder to control and often comes out in bloodlust. Thus, the reason I was sent to you.”
“You said thus. How old are you anyway?” I rolled my eyes at him.
He smacked me again playfully. “Older than I look. Anyway, my dad hired a vampire who was an ex-boxer to train me. He thought it would help me work through the aggression.”
“It didn’t work?” Was it too much to hope the deep wells of rage that ate at my gut would go away?
“Not enough. The fighting helps. But I’m not dead yet. So it could be worse in me because I’m still part human. Human emotions are intensified. It’s sort of their superpower. Also one of the reasons the newly undead struggle. They are used to feeling things so strongly that when it starts to fade, they panic. Around the one-year mark is when a vampire is either safe or put down because they’ve gone mad.” He jogged ahead and walked backward smiling. “But let’s not talk about that. We have less than two hours before sunrise. Wanna fight? I can show you some moves.”
The promise of violence and Luca made me hard again. Dammit. I really was twisted now, wasn’t I? “Who’s your dad anyway? I don’t want some freaky ass vampire coming to kill me after I kick your ass.”
He laughed. “I’m not that breakable, I promise. Besides, you came into the fight club with him. Max Hart.”
Shit!
“Don’t look so alarmed. I’m like his eightieth kid or something. He’s really not all that overprotective as you’d think a vampire might be. He’s kind of opposed to us becoming vampires. Since I was born half I will probably turn after death anyway. It’s already in my blood. Whatever it is that makes vampires, vampires.”
“How do vampires have kids?”
Luca snagged my hand in a tight grip and led me toward the main road where there were sure to be cabs. “Same way anyone has babies. Insert tab A into slot B. I’ve heard bullshit about vamps not being as fertile, and never heard of a girl vamp having a baby, but I know more than a handful of male vamps who are daddies. And not the leather kind.”
“So do you have a lot of brothers and sisters then?” He said his dad had like eighty some kids. That was a lot. I couldn’t imagine and I came from a big family.
“Alive? Just one older brother who’s a vampire, but we aren’t close. I have photo albums of ones who’ve passed. Not that they mean much. They’re really just pictures of strangers. I’m sure there are dozens of cousins and stuff but it’s too much to keep track of.”
“Seiran says your dad is pretty powerful. Maybe that’s why he has a lot of kids.”
Luca shrugged. “Maybe. There aren’t a lot of studies on vampires and fertility. Though Seiran being Father Earth might mean he can read my dad better since he’s pretty damn powerful himself.”
Did Luca want Sei too? I couldn’t contain my sigh, and stopped, pulling my hand out of his. “I’m not competing with Seiran Rou. If you want him, do it on your own, and look out for the large Roman general who hangs around him. Gabe’s sort of possessive.”
He appeared genuinely confused. “Not sure what you mean.”
I stared at his face, searching for something that said he was messing with me. Men as beautiful as Luca didn’t look at guys like me. Not unless they saw a way to get to someone else. “I should go home.”
“Ah, I get it,” he said.
“What?”
“You have someone special at home. That’s why you don’t want me. You know you need my blood and are attracted to me, but you want to be loyal. That’s nice. I can talk to your guy and help explain if you need. We don’t have to be anything more than blood partners.”
“What? Where the hell would you get that idea?” Con and I were friends of the non-sexual kind. Not that he was unattractive. In fact he pushed a lot of my buttons, but he was deathly afraid of vampires, and I sort of hated humans and players. Both of which he was. We got along simply because we were both pretty fucked up. “I don’t do sex with anyone.”
“Ever?”