The Blood is Love (Dark Eyes 2)

“Let’s just say I’m hard to kill. It’s a gift, for all the sacrifices I’ve made.”

I frown. “Are you talking literal sacrifices?”

“Well, that is part of it. But no. I was born a witch, the first witch who was given a specific purpose. I was the first slayer, created to keep the vampires, which were getting out of control, in line. Every slayer that has ever existed is here because of me.”

“Wait, wait. Hold up. You mean like my parents? Jim and Elaine? They somehow come from you?”

“Somehow,” he says slowly. “But yes, their bloodlines can be traced back to me over the centuries. I am the father of all vampire slayers.”

I hate to ask this question but… “If that’s your role and always has been…well, I’m technically a vampire. Why aren’t you killing me?”

“I’m not interested in that anymore. I haven’t killed a vampire in a very long time.”

“Okay. Then if I’m your daughter, does that mean I’m a slayer?”

He lets out a dry laugh. “You would have to kill yourself then. No. You’re not one because your vampire side negates it. Any other questions?”

“Yeah. When did you become like…this?” I wave my hands at him.

“Like what?”

Evil.

“Best buds with the Dark One.”

A cold wind whistles through me and I regret saying the name again. And from the deadly look in Jeremias’ eyes, I can tell he feels the same.

“When I decided to live forever. And I was granted that gift. Besides, it needed something to keep up with the vampires.”

“It,” I muse. “So, it created vampires and then created you to keep the vampires in line?”

“Yes. Sometimes creations get out of control.”

“Sounds a lot like pitting two warring sides against each other and watching them fight in some sick game.”

“Perhaps it is all a game,” he says, eyes gleaming with flames. “But it’s one I’m winning.”

Is he winning though? If he doesn’t kill vampires these days, then what counts as winning to a slayer? What is his end goal?

I straighten up, remembering why I’m here (wherever the fuck I am) and why I called for him.

“You said I’ll be able to help Solon,” I say. “So, tell me what I can do.”

“Back to this again?” he asks mildly.

I stare at him and wait for him to go on.

“There is only one way to get rid of the beast,” he says. “You must kill the beast.”

“You can kill the beast without killing Solon?”

A quick smile. “Probably not.”

I blink at that. “Well, how do you kill the beast?”

“Same as you kill a vampire. A witch’s blade.”

I shake my head. “I can’t stab the beast with a witch’s blade.”

“You’re right. Because you’re not a slayer. It wouldn’t work. You would only annoy him moments before he kills you.”

“So then, I’m fucked, is what you’re saying,” I grumble. “At least you can teach me to make him fall asleep like you did. I need to be able to do something.”

“As I said before,” he says testily, like I’m wearing his patience thin, “you have to be willing to use darkness to fight darkness. So far, you don’t seem to be receptive to that. But, perhaps next time you nearly die at his hands again, you’ll finally stop being stubborn and embrace the truth. Or perhaps you’ll just die—and I won’t be there to save you.”

I press my hands into my face, trying to think.

“You’re wasting both our time,” Jeremias adds. “Unless you’re willing to call upon your dark side, you’re not going to get very far as a witch.”

“My parents do just fine,” I snap, looking up at him. “And they’re dealing with the light.”

He lets out a snort of contempt. “Your parents, your false parents, are foolish and weak. They can’t do anything that matters. They can barely kill vampires. You will learn nothing from them. But you already know that, don’t you? After all, they’ve taught you nothing. They don’t know what to make of you, how to handle you. They sense your power, but that same power terrifies them. Your darkness terrifies them, Lenore. It scares everyone but me.”

“It doesn’t scare Solon,” I say stubbornly.

He muses that over. “Maybe not. But Absolon needs that darkness.” Suddenly he looks straight up into the black sky. “Speaking of darkness, he needs you now. The man is waiting.”

Before I can ask what man, the world gets sucked away into a black vortex and he disappears into thin air. Everything is dark, so dark, and I can’t feel the ground beneath my feet anymore, can’t tell if my eyes are open or closed.

Slowly, it feels like I’m waking up from a dream.

I open my eyes, expecting to be back in my old apartment again.

But I’m not.

I’m in Solon’s bedroom. What used to be my bedroom.

There’s a new bed, king-sized as before, but without the four posters, but everything else looks the same.