Blue Bloods (Blue Bloods 1)

"Father," Jack said as he entered the room. He stopped and stared when he saw the face of the woman in the bed. The woman in his dreams. Allegra Van Alen.

Charles looked up and saw Schuyler and Jack standing in front of him. "I thought we had put an end to this," he said, frowning at the two of them together.

"Where were you half an hour ago?" Schuyler demanded. "Here."

"Liar," Schuyler accused. "CROATAN!"

Charles raised his eyebrows. "Should I be insulted? Please lower your voice. Show some respect for your surroundings. We're in a hospital, not at a wrestling match."

"It's you, Father. We saw you." Jack said. He still couldn't believe Allegra was still alive. But what was she doing in a hospital?

"What exactly are you both accusing me of?"

"Where did you get those scratches?" Jack demanded, noticing the cuts on his father's face.

"Your mother's confounded Persian," Charles growled.

"I don't think so," Schuyler scoffed.

"What is this all about?" Charles demanded. "Why are the two of you here?"

"You attacked Schuyler. I held you off. It was you, I saw you... Schuyler said the words, and my foe revealed its face. And it was yours."

"Is this what you believe?"

"Yes."

"Your grandmother is right, Schuyler," Charles said in a bemused tone. "Times have certainly changed if my own son thinks I am Abomination. That is what you're calling me, isn't it, Jack?" he asked, as he pulled down his shirt cuff and showed them a mark on the underhand of his right wrist. It was of a sword, a golden sword piercing a cloud.

"What is it? Why are you showing us this?" Schuyler asked.

"The mark of the Archangel," Jack explained, his voice reverent. He forgot about his confusion concerning Allegra Van Alen for a moment, and dropped to his knees, prostrating himself in front of his father's feet.

"Precisely," Charles said with a thin smile.

"What does it mean?" Schuyler asked.

"It means, my father is no more a Silver Blood than you or I," Jack explained, his voice rising. "The mark of the Archangel. It can't be duplicated and it can't be falsified. My father is Michael, Pure of Heart, who voluntarily accompanied the banished onto the earth to guide us in our immortal journey." He bowed to his father. "Forgive me. I have been lost, but now I am found."

"Rise, my son. There is nothing to forgive."

Schuyler looked from father to son with questioning eyes. "But I used the Sacred Language. The incantation to reveal its true nature."

"Silver Bloods are agile shape-shifters," Charles explained. "It would follow your command - but only after showing you something it knew would throw you off, to shock you. Only afterward would it show its true identity. But only for the briefest moment."

"So if your father isn't the Silver Blood, then who is?" Schuyler asked suspiciously. "And where's Dylan?"

"He's safe. For now. Hidden. He won't harm anyone else anymore," Charles said. "Tomorrow he will be far away."

"What do you mean, harm anyone?" Schuyler asked.

"He had the bites on his neck. He was being used. Turned."

"Into what? What are you talking about?"

"Dylan's a Blue Blood," Charles said shortly. "At least, he was. I thought you knew that."

Schuyler shook her head. Dylan was a vampire? But then that meant - that meant he could have killed Aggie - that meant that everything they thought, everything they assumed could no longer be true. Dylan wasn't human. Which meant there was a chance he wasn't innocent.