Bloodspell (The Cruentus Curse, #1)(50)

"Correction, I walk around in the shade. Sunlight is actually deadly to us. Not as in incinerate in seconds to dust, but still lethal." He paused, searching for a suitable example and continued. "Imagine the pain you would feel the next day if you lay out in the sun for four hours without any protection? Well, think about that multiplied exponentially in the space of minutes. We can get fatally ill after prolonged exposure. Light clothing and sun block like zinc oxide can help but I just try to stay out of direct sunlight. The older we get, the better the tolerance, you build up immunity."

"Ah ha!" she said. "I've got a good one!" She paused dramatically and then her face fell. "Never mind, I just realized I pretty much slept in bed with you the other night, so probably no coffins, right?"

Christian burst out laughing. "Only you can make not sleeping in a coffin sound like a tragedy."

"Garlic?" she asked hopefully.

"Love the smell, hate the taste," he said, his lips twitching.

"Silver!"

"Wrong type of monster, sorry. Although as you know, it hurts if it gets into our blood." She stared at him in sham disappointment.

"Do the movies get anything right at all about you people? We have been so misled!"

"Well, we can die from being stabbed in the heart, pretty much any sharp object. We don't age, take my beautiful young effervescent self for example." He earned a punch in the leg for his vanity. Then his voice grew quiet, a sudden rough tenderness to it. "And when we fall in love, it's for forever."

She stared at him, her breath hitching in her throat. "You're falling ... for me?"

"What do you think?"

Victoria couldn't speak as the warmth in his eyes enveloped her. Her blood raced as his lips found hers. It didn't last long.

Gently disentangling her arms, Christian pulled back. His eyes were excited, his body on edge. He'd explained to her that the feelings that flooded him weren't that different from the ones that ruled him when he was hunting. He wanted her. He wanted her blood. To him, it equated to the same thing ... and that meant he couldn't be trusted.

Christian cleared his throat, searching for a distraction and his eyes fell on the music box resting beside her.

"It's a family heirloom," Victoria said, noticing his gaze.

"It's very beautiful." Christian felt a strange sense of familiarity as he saw the box. The crest on the top of the box tugged at his memory but he couldn't for the life of him place it. But why would he have a memory that was related to a family heirloom of Victoria's?

"It was my great, great, great, great grandmother's box," she said. "Her name was Brigid and she was a duchess, the Duchess of Lancaster."

As she said the name, suddenly something clicked in Christian's head and he almost flew up in astonishment. Mon Dieu, Lucian was right! Victoria looked at him quizzically.

"What's the matter?" she asked. Christian searched her face, looking for anything, anything at all that could show that she was deceiving him, but he could see nothing.

"How much do you know about your ancestor, the duchess?" he asked finally.

Victoria deliberated. She wanted to be honest with Christian but she didn't want to betray any family secrets that should remain in confidence. Christian saw her hesitation and understood the reason for it. So he took the plunge and went first.

"Tori, we have a prophecy in the vampire world that goes back centuries. I am talking centuries before I was even born a human. It's based on the legend of a witch, a very powerful witch with amazing, nearly mythical powers." He paused and looked at her carefully expressionless face. Her hands gripped each other so tightly that her fingers were almost bloodless.

He continued, his voice soft, compassionate. "The part of the legend that applies to vampires and other supernatural beings was that she could take away the curse of what they were, make a vampire mortal or a werewolf a man, just by willing it to be so. And she could also make anyone, either mortal or immortal, more powerful than they had ever dreamed, again just from her own power. Her magic was consummate, said to be descended from gods or demons."

Victoria sank back into her chair, her eyes wide. He grasped her hands in his and squeezed reassuringly before continuing. "You see the key to all her vast power was her blood. We call it Le Sang Noir, which translates in English to 'black blood.' It was unique, and perfect—the source and strength of her power."

"And what happened to her according to your legend?" Her voice was raspy, raw with emotion.

"She disappeared. Some say she died by her own hand because she was unkillable and invincible, but not before she obliterated hundreds of witches, wizards and warlocks who had united to kill her and take her power. She killed anyone who opposed her, including vampires," he said softly.

Christian could barely hear Victoria's voice, it was so quiet. "It was the call of the blood," she whispered. "She couldn't control it."

He could feel her anguish but pushed himself to continue. "It is said that the blood cost to her soul was so great that she gave up her humanity for it. She killed herself in the end."

Victoria stared at Christian her eyes burning, vehemence making her voice shake. "She sacrificed herself ... for her family ... for me! She fought the blood. She found something to believe in, and won. She won!"