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A char blush touched her pale cheeks and Styx smiled as her hands fluttered in confusion

She would never entirely lose that sweet innocence he found so fascinating

Drawing in a deep breath, she carefully considered her words "You don’t seem"

"I don’t seem what?" he proree"

She hesitated at his ready response "You do?"

"Of course A vampire mates but once in his existence It is a moment that binds his life with another for all eternity, and it is considered one of our most sacred cere "Now I aht very alk away from me At the very least I should be troubled"

"But you’re not?"

"I can’t deny that there’s a part of me that desperately wishes to bind you to ht the name for the sensations that filled hier to her lips He could sense the panic that still si, but hardly unexpected

"We will discuss this later," he said fir her full lips "First, I wish to knohat Salvatore said to you"

"How do you know" she began only to cut off her words with a deep sigh "Never rab his hand, as if his light caress was distracting her He hid a sudden s this woreat deal ht was over

"He said that the woman in the picture is my mother"

Styx studied her closely "And you believed him?"

She stepped back, her expression defensive "Styx, you’ve seen the picture Even you have to admit we look too e to argue On occasion he did actually learn from his mistakes

Miracles of miracles

"I’m sure he must have told you more than the fact that the woman is your mother," he said instead

Her eyes darkened "He did"

"And?"

"He claims that my mother is a pureblood"

"No," he saidYou are no Were"

Her lips thinned at his tone "Well, I’ besides human You said yourself 1 ly conceded "Not Were"

"Are you certain?"

Was he? Styx abruptly turned to pace across the tiled floor In truth, he was baffled by the fact that he was unable to determine precisely what she was But what he did knoas that he couldn’t allow himself to consider the possibility that she could be even part Were

It had nothing to do with prejudice Vaant with the best of them, but they often chose lovers of different species

No, his reluctance ca this wo-lostto Dairy’s life

What chance would he have against the call of an entire pack?

Slowly he turned to aze "I cannot say exactly what you are, but I do know you are of an age at which you would have already begun to shift"

Her gaze dropped as she reached for the sweatshirt she had left on the counter "Supposedly there is a reason that I have neverchanged"

"Ridiculous" His hands clenched By the gods, he should have killed Salvatore the aave it a sharp tug over her hips "Whatever it is, I intend to discover the truth"

"Darcy " His futile words of warning were broken off as he turned toward the door

She iftly at his side "What is it?"

"Viper is approaching"

"Perhaps you should go and see what he wants"

He turned to brush a finger over her cheek "We need to finish this conversation"

She sentle push "Go I’ll be here when you’re done"