Page 35 of Transfiguration
“The one who died of natural causes transitioned?”
“He did. Heart stopped one night, woke a handful of days later full revenant.”
That did not sound good. “Revenant? Was he saved?” Sam didn’t know how to phrase the question.
“No. He rose and destroyed an entire village. Was too far gone and with no sire close to bind him.” Gabe let out a long sigh. “Luca has you and Hart. And I will do my best to help. It might be better to bring him to the house.”
“With the kids? Do you want Rou to kill us all?”
“There are wards. Fae guards. And the arboretum is a nice place to nap.” Gabe sounded affectionate about the space. “Earth magic is very healing for vampires.”
“Any idea how much time we have?” Sam wondered if he should call Con home. Maybe they could get Seiran to watch Bella for a while.
“A few days, maybe? Seiran might know. Part of earth magic and the pull of death. We can stop by. But I still think you should pack everyone up and bring them over. There’s a lot of crazy stuff happening. Human’s First attacked the University.”
“What?” Sam asked. Horrified. “Was Seiran hurt?”
“No. Everyone is fine. Burned down one of the magic labs. Fire is out, but the damage is done. They are getting loud.”
“Daring.” Sam wondered if they had something to do with Blake’s death. And Sam was on call for a half dozen interviews for the press over the Blake thing and now likely this fire, though he knew nothing about it. Hart had sent him a message to wear a suit and make the stance of vampires clear. Which meant that the vampires were standing their ground, even if that meant another war. Fuck, this was the worst time for all this.
“There are protests outside the capitol.”
“Protests? Pro magic or against it?”
“Against,” Gabe said. “I’ve asked my vampires to keep to their nests, check on theircibos, and any witches they know.”
“This is a really shitty time for all this,” Sam’s breath hitched as he said, “can you both stop by? I’m hoping we have the night at least? We need to talk to Con. He doesn’t know.” Sam glared at the windows, all still shuttered from the daylight. “I know it’s not dark yet.”
“It’s fine. Seiran’s car has windows dark enough. I’ll pick him up and we’ll stop by.”
Sam recalled that they’d been making cake last night and Luca loved Rou’s cake. “Can you bring some cake? If there is any left? Luca loves that stuff.” A last meal? Could he even eat it? Sam swallowed hard. “Luca said he had some of Hart’s blood, but that only helped a little?” The biggest frustration in Sam’s head was not knowing if it was his fault. What if he hadn’t been Luca’s only blood source? Would he have had more time?
“It was a good thought. But again, dhampirs are rare. I think in all of history there are probably only a dozen that I have ever heard of. Luca is the first to have lived this long without aging. Part feeding on Hart for most of his life, or simply being the get of a powerful vampire, I don’t know if we will ever know.” Gabe said.
“You never had kids?”
“None that were dhampir. And less than a handful at all. None lived long lives, as the world has never been kind.”
“Is leaving him to change naturally a bad thing? Will the revenant take over?”
“I don’t know. Sorry. But could you do that? Hurry him to death? It would have to be a fast and fatal wound as he heals quickly. Knife to the heart would be the easiest. When we create vampires, there is some similarity to the dhampir state. We’ve shared blood for long enough to create a bond. But they die and rise.” Gabe said. “You died for me to bring you back. But I used the ties already created by Roman before me to pull the revenant up. Without the revenant, there is no vampire, and there is always a chance that only the revenant rises.”
Sam remembered little of his actual transformation. He’d been dying for a while before it happened. Weak and on the verge of mortal death, those few days after the bond, he remembered nothing. Other than waking up in the dirt with Gabe sitting beside him. Gabe had forced him to drink his blood, adding another layer to their bond, but Sam didn’t need other vampire blood anymore.
“Luca has always had a touch of the revenant,” Sam said. The need to fight, the strength he pulled out of nowhere, the speed that other humans could never match, all proof of the revenant within. Was the red in his vision a warning that it was about to be let loose? Would it allow Luca to have any semblance of a normal life? Sam hated this. Not knowing. “Can you give me a‘making a vampire 101’when you arrive?”
“I can. Hart doesn’t have books on it?”
“I’ve read them all, it’s just not… it’s words on a page. This is Luca we are talking about.”
“I understand.” Gabe’s tone softened. “Love makes every transition harder. I’ll send a text when we are on our way.”
“Thanks.” Sam hung up and finished the moving of supplies. He drafted out what he needed to say to the press using a voice to text app, reviewed it a few times before sending it to Hart for any necessary changes. Sam wasn’t really about pretty words to keep the media off their backs. That was Hart’s specialty. If this monster would come out as a witch already, it would save Sam a ton of trouble.
He made his way up to check on Luca. Sam could hear his heartbeat, which was slow, but he was cool to the touch. Luca roused at his touch. “Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you.”
Luca groaned.