“I know Julian has filled you in a bit on the legends of familiars, but I don’t know exactly what you have been told.”
My shoulders relax a bit with the direction the conversation is taking. Or maybe it’s the mention of Julian that has the tension releasing slightly. Either way, a very small portion of my anger disappears, and my curiosity is now piqued.
What did Maggie know and how long had she known it?
“I had found a journal that my father kept. One that alluded to the fact that it was believed his three sons—Julian, Marcellus and me—had triplet familiars. I went searching and stumbled upon you.”
“Your eyes glowed like all of the evil vampires out there,” I said, needing to understand why he allowed us to be so scared of him if he didn’t mean us any harm.
We were kids, and having an unknown creature with glowing eyes at the end of our beds was frightening.
“I didn’t know any better,” he says, making excuses. “If I could change the way I went about things at the beginning, I would. I didn’t know what to think or how to feel, Marina. I just felt the pull to her.”
I made a face and he sighed.
“It wasn’t like that.” He explains again. “It was just an intense need to keep her safe. At first . . .” he says, dropping his eyes to the ground.
“So . . . like Jacob and Renesmee?”
“Who?” he asks, bringing his narrowed eyes to meet mine again.
“Never mind,” I said, throwing my hands up. “I’m just trying to understand the dynamics. I don’t want to start looking at you as a predatory pedophile,” I admit, and he tightens his lips. He clearly doesn’t find my accusations funny.
“We were friends, Marina.”
“When did she realize you weren’t trying to hurt us?” I ask, trying to get us back on track. I still have unanswered questions and I need to stick to what’s currently important.
“About two years ago. I was walking the trails behind Johnson Park and Maggie was being mugged.”
I gasped. “What? She never told me that!”
“It’s a really long story, Marina, but what you have to know is that I was there and she was safe. However, I might’ve used some of my powers, giving myself away. After that I had to come clean and introduced her to this entire other world.”
“Why didn’t you just compel her? You have that ability, don’t you?”
He scoffs. “Of course. All Borns do,” he says as though I’ve offended his royal highness.
Too damn bad.
I haven’t yet decided if I like him again.
“I couldn’t use it on her.”
I narrow my eyes. “Couldn’t? Or wouldn’t?”
“Both,” he says, averting his eyes.
“Both? It can’t be both, Law. You wouldn’t know it didn’t work if you didn’t try.” I raise a brow, challenging his story.
“All right. Fine. I tried,” he admits. “And it didn’t work.”
“Ha! Aren’t so good after all.”
“I was trying to protect her, Marina. I didn’t want her to have to live with the knowledge that vampires exist.”
“She knew,” I snapped. “We might not have known what you were, but we’d been told our entire lives we were crazy because your kind kept showing up.”
I might not admit it out loud, but what he did for Maggie was a gift. He confirmed for her that she wasn’t crazy. We weren’t crazy. There’s a sense of peace that comes in knowing Maggie died with that knowledge.
“That’s what she said,” he says. “She wanted to know everything. So I explained our race and how vampires stay hidden, drinking from the willing mostly. At least the decent vampires.”
“How did she take the news?”
He looks at me like I’m dense. “Like you said, she already knew. But she was relieved to have the validation. She was the curious type,” he says, smiling. “Always had a million questions, and I was happy to answer every one.” He looks to me, and the sadness I see gives me pause. “She was . . . incredible, Marina. We were close.”
Rage eclipsed any sort of sorrow I felt for Law. At the end of the day, he knew her for a blip. I was literally her other half. We shared a womb and a propensity for seeing vampires. It hurts knowing that this whole time she knew for sure that what we saw was real.
“She never thought to tell me this?” A tear falls down my cheek as the emotion consumes me. “I was convinced that something was wrong with us, Law. How could she have kept this from me?”
His hand lands on my knee and I want to brush it off but don’t.
“I told her the less you knew, the safer you were. She was doing her best to keep you protected and at the time, you were good. You weren’t even having to see Dr. Tilney.”
“I wasn’t close to being okay,” I cry. “I’ve carried so much guilt because I lied. I pretended that vampires didn’t exist when they did—do.”
“She wanted it that way, Marina. As long as you had everyone believing you were over the hallucinations, you were safe. Maggie was happy.”
“So, if everything was so good, what changed, Law? Why did she jump?”
He grabs the sides of his head, anguish sweeping across his features as though someone had killed Maggie right in front of his face. “Danger came,” he grates through his teeth. “Someone from the Council had been tailing me, and discovered I had an abnormal fascination with a human girl.” He moans, pulling his hair at the roots. “I brought the danger to you. It was my fault, Marina.”
His piercing eyes never waver from mine. I know he wants me to say it isn’t his fault, but I can’t. I’m hurt. I’m angry. You’re being a child.
I take several deep breaths trying to calm down and also giving Law a few moments to pull himself together. Questions continue to pile up and I decide to move forward with the hopes of having some of them answered.
“Why was the Council following you?”
He finally breaks my gaze, shrugging. “That wasn’t typical for me? It’s my best guess. I’ve always had a habit of jumping from one willing donor to the next,” he explains, a look of regret crossing his handsome face. “Add to that she had a twin, and the Council didn’t know what to make of it. They’d caught wind of the legend and it made them nervous.”
“But why? Julian is their Crown. You’re royalty. Wouldn’t the legend coming true only make the vampire race stronger?”
“Power. This isn’t a democracy, Marina. We’re royalty by birth because my brothers and I were the first known Borns. If another vampire came along and challenged that rule, we could be overthrown. Especially with one of our own actively trying to help the opposition.”
“If the three of you came into your full potential as told by the legends, you’d be unstoppable,” I muse.
“Exactly. If the legends are true, no vampire would be able to take the crown from the Bellamy line.”
“You truly believe that’s why she jumped?” I ask, and he nods.
“She was scared and I wasn’t there. I don’t know what actually happened, Marina, but I know she had to have been backed into a corner. She wouldn’t have jumped unless it was the only way.”