Page 87 of Trapped for Her Blood

“You.”

I shift back again. “What?”

“Your blood lets vampires walk in the light,” he says. “At least that is my current hypothesis. I cannot be certain until I conduct more experiments and research, but alas, we do not have the luxury of time.”

Axe growls. “She’s not a lab rat.”

Zuben turns toward him, calmly. “I know that. And you must all understand—” he looks between us “—I would never do anything to harm Ember. I…” He looks into my eyes. “I would never hurt you.”

“I know.” I smile softly. “But you need to tell us all you know about what my blood can do. Especially if it might help us escape.” I think about Psycho’s crazy claim that I did something to him. Is it possible?

“Yeah, buddy,” Ryker interjects. “No more fucking secrets.”

I swallow. There are still things I haven’t shared with any of the men. But all of the things I’ve held back make my mother seem like a villain, like she was using me, hiding me, possibly selling my blood to vampires. I shiver at the thought.

The idea’s absurd. My mother loved me as much as I loved her. She went to great lengths to protect me and would never have done anything like that.

Shifting closer, Axe puts his arm around me. “You cold?”

I shake my head. If anything, my back is getting hot with the fire roaring behind me.

“I’m just worried about how we’ll get out of here.” I turn to Zuben. “Besides the sunlight thing, what else can you tell me?”

He nods, his eyes focusing as if he’s sorting through a vast amount of information in his head.

“Similar stories are recounted in various ancient cultures,” Zuben says. “But the one most closely related is that of Gullveig the Illuminant, in Norse mythology.”

My chest tightens. “I’ve heard that name.”

“Youareundoubtedly her!” Eyes wide, Zuben turns toward me. “I do not normally rely on anything beyond verifiable data to reach conclusions, but everything in my body sparked when you said that you recognized the name. There are too many parallels to be explained by coincidence.”

“Why does any of this matter?” Ryker asks. “I mean it’s kind of cool that I could take sunlight after I fed from her. But it didn’t last.”

“That is true,” Zuben says. “And I wish that I could give you an exact list of the Illuminant’s powers, but I cannot. The stories are scarce and unclear. Some say that Gullveig was the one who introducedseidrto the world.”

“What’s that?” I ask.

“Magic.”

Axel’s arm tenses around me. “You mean…this Gull-lady created witches?”

Zuben nods.

I lean into Axe. I understand his history with witches and magic, but he must know that I pose no danger to him.

“I can’t do magic though,” I add quickly. “If I’m some kind of reincarnation or ancestor of this mythical Gullveig person, the magic part of the story is wrong.”

“But you stopped that Psycho guy,” Axe says, his voice quiet.

My stomach flips at the idea. “I know Psycho said he felt something push him away from me, but I didn’t do it. Honest.” The only thing worse than having magic would be having it and not knowing what I can do.

“Gullveig was a powerfulVolva,” Zuben says. “It is very possible that your talents with magic have yet to manifest.”

“Vulva?” Ryker says. “I can attestthatpart of her is magic.” He winks at me.

“Do not be a child.” Zuben glares at him. “Volva is the Norse word for one who wields magic.”

I shake my head. “But Idon’thave magic.” No way am I a witch, Norse or otherwise. It’s all crazy.