The next night, full, washed and giddy, Terryn was escorted to the library to begin lessons. She was introduced to her tutor and the packs historian, Vittoria. A black haired vampire with piercing black eyes. Her perfect face looked chiseled from a Hellenistic statue and her skin looked like marble, itself.

“The most important thing you need to know, is that we are not immortal, despite what the movies say, we just live a long time, but many things can kill us and as far as we know there is no heaven for a vampire, so don’t die.” Vittoria was blunt, quick witted, and Terryn liked her immediately. She wasn’t quite sold on the whole vampire thing, but after feeding on Jules the night before, she felt a surge of strength. It was intoxicating and the rest of the day just seemed like a daydream. She could hear Vittoria’s strong, pulsing heartbeat in her head as she spoke and it encouraged her to hang on her every word. She could feel her bravery and intelligence and it was titillating.

“How do you know there is no heaven? I mean, humans don’t know either.” Terryn drove her right fang into a pencil.

“Humans are stupid cattle,” Vittoria remarked, “but they are creatures of the earth, so they have a god.”

“So if they have a god, why...does god hate us?”

“There are many gods, there is a bear god and a rock god and the list goes on. But vampires are a sort of accident. We are strange monsters with no god.”

Terryn frowned, “that’s a bit depressing.”

Vittoria considered it for a moment, “Yeah, it is, but some vampires, when they are tired of living, decide to go to sleep, and then if undisturbed they can stay alive indefinitely. To be honest, our lives get loooong, and tiresome, there are plenty that just off themselves for some peace and quiet.”

“Endless sleep,” Terryn said.

“Yup, it’s sort of heaven, I guess”

Terryn breathed deep, “Then...why were we made?”

Vittoria shrugged, “Dunno, why was anything made? There’s lots of mysteries in the world, if you ever run into a god, ask him.”

Terryn changed the subject, the existential dread was killing her buzz.

“Jules said I have to meet others, “like me”, what does that mean? Aren’t you like me?”

“Yes and no. There are two ways to make a vampire. You can either be born a vampire, like you or made one from being bitten by a vampire. Then those vampires can all have children of varying blood purity and power. Your provenance, so to speak, can be traced back as far as vampires go back, you have the purest blood and because of that your grandfather, Zane is the king. I for example, am the daughter of two vampires who were turned later in life by someone related to you. That’s why you can hear my heartbeat, I will always exist in your service.”

Terryn blushed.

“You will always know where I am and how I feel, no matter where you are.”

“So, what do you mean when you say Zane is king?”

Vittoria paused for a moment, “Wow, they really didn’t tell you anything huh. Well don’t be fooled by this dump,” she gestured to the roof, “Vampires like to stick to their packs and usually they avoid one another, but they do have to come together sometimes to sort out the rules, and make sure as a race we are managed well and mate, of course. We are still vulnerable, so there are some laws we have all agreed on to protect ourselves. Purebloods have always been physically the strongest and tend to live the longest, so you have always led everyone. Eventually it became a tradition and that’s how we got you.”

“But my mother was human, I’m sure. She went out in the day and…”

Vittoria put up her hands, “One, that’s not true, she was not your mother, and two I think that is a conversation you should have with Zane. I will say, to remain in power, it is good for a pack to have more than just two with blood like yours, so for a variety of reasons, that we will get to eventually, you were put into hiding. There was simply no manpower to protect you, a female pureblood is very valuable, which puts you in a lot of danger.”

“Ah, okay, so there are more...pure...bloods?”

“Well you and Zane are the most pure, as far as we know, and there are other pack leaders that are of a high enough threshold that it would be appropriate for you to mate with them.”

“Mate?”

“Vampire sexuality, is a complicated blend of biology and tradition. For the best of the race, it is important that there be genetic diversity, so mating with another male of quality is important to securing the strength of your pack, every human you turn or child you have will be connected to you and are your responsibility, but female babies are not as common as males.”

“What if I don’t want to...mate?”

“I wouldn’t worry about it, princess, you are basically an infant in vampire terms, I don’t think you need to even be thinking about that. It’s something King Zane will arrange very carefully. A bad pureblood match can be disastrous, so those types of decisions take a lot of time, when we know your temperament a little better, it could be hundreds of years.”

There was a beat

“So...is Jules a pureblood? He can hear my heartbeat.”

Vittoria raised her eyebrow, “no, Jules is blood bound to you as your protector and servant, he drank some of your blood when you were a baby so that we would always be able to locate you. He is a half human, half vampire, he was chosen because he has some sun tolerance. Your mother thought he would be best. I don’t recommend you let anyone else drink your blood. Your location is very precious.”

“Humans and vampires can mate?”

Vittoria growled lightly, “Yes, but it’s not normal. I don’t know why you would, they are going to die and their children can be unpredictable, Jules was lucky that he inherited more vampire traits than not, except the sun thing...but you never really know what your going to get. Most babies come out...very deformed. Speak of the devil”

Jules appeared in the room to collect Terryn.

“Productive day?” He asked the two of them. They made eye contact and smiled, “yes, I think we’ve covered some ground.” Vittoria nodded, “we will delve into a more structured exploration of vampire history next time, but write down any questions you think of in the meantime, since it seems like these men are dedicated to keeping you in the dark.”

She shot a look at Jules and he turned on his heels, leading Terryn out.

She followed Jules quietly down the hall until she was moved to break the silence.

“Vittoria is amazing, she’s so smart.”

“She kind of scares me.”

“Really?”

There was more silence.

“Your father wants you to be introduced to a noble family, the Catherwoods. They will be staying here for a few days, so it's important we talk about some...manners.”

“Before I even meet everyone here? That seems, odd.”

“You will meet everyone here eventually and of course our pack will welcome them with a bit of a party, so you’ll meet a lot of people there.”

“So…”

“So what?”

“What do I need to know?”

“Mostly, it’s not a good idea to be alone with any of them.”

“Will they hurt me?”

“No...but it could give them the wrong impression and--” the words caught in his mouth.

“What?”

“Because you just went through your change...you have a...very attractive smell. It’s best not to push the issue. I will be your chaperone, so it shouldn’t be a problem, it's just important no one bites you. I don’t think they would, but I have to be on the safe side. Nobles are much stronger than me, only Zane can truly protect you from one of them.” Terryn blushed and Jules buzzed on with rules about what everyone should be called and how it was impolite to refuse a gift, by the time they reached his room, her head was spinning a bit.

“I think I’m going to lie down.” she slid past Jules as he opened the door. She felt a bit like a lamb before a slaughter.

“Are you feeling unwell...hungry?”

She stopped suddenly and glanced back at him, before continuing to the bedroom.

“No.”

Shit, smooth move, idiot , Jules thought and instinctively moved to the piano but caught himself and sat on the couch instead.

Terryn kept her eyes shut, but was awake, tracking Jules around the room. He paced and left for a few times, then returned moments later. She could feel the strength in her muscles had returned and if she were going to escape, she felt she had the energy to do it. She knew she needed to get to a doctor, undo whatever it was they had done to her. She was hungry for blood all day and all night, except, the other night. Her thoughts trailed to her wistful state, wrapped around Jules waist, drinking him. No, no 

She’d had another lesson with Vittoria and learned some interesting facts about vampire history and manners, but still, the thought that they were someday going to use her for breeding with one of these monstrous males sickened her. They can’t keep me here, I’ll figure whatever out when I get away. 

She believed from her conversations with Vittoria, that Jules would know where she was if she tried to run, she would have to disable him somehow. The thought made her slightly sad, she’d learned which pulse was his heartbeat and she liked the sound of it.

She waited until he was settled on the couch reading a book and willed herself with the speed she knew she had to grab the crystal carafe from the table and bring it down on his head with one vicious motion. She stood for a moment, watching blood leak out of a bright wound onto his pretty blonde hair, regretting it immediately, his face looked peaceful, like he was sleeping. There’s no taking it back now, she thought and ran out of the room. She could feel the others in the building around her with striking clarity and mapped a path down winding corridors to avoid them. How do I get out of here?

Out of the darkness, a strong hand grabbed her and threw her on the ground. Her mind flashed an image of Zane, but the man who emerged from the darkness was different. He was tall and broad shouldered, with a messy fringe of jet black hair and deep blue eyes, that glowed in the darkness. He had a strong, emanating scent of pine. Every instinct in her body screamed, “EAT”

“What are you?” She didn’t wait to hear what he was going to say, but threw herself at him with all her strength, fingernails first at his face. She felt her fangs elongate on their own and she bared her teeth at him. They grappled in the tight corridor. She felt she was strong, but he was much, much stronger. He was clearly not trying to hurt her, however, and Terryn had no such hang up. She hissed and kicked, with no real technique only trying to twist around to sink her fangs into his flesh. The battle lasted only a few minutes, before her strength was sapped and he’d gathered her up in a bundle of his coat and thrown her over his shoulder.

Her next thought was of squinting her eyes, as she was deposited in the bright, warm library. Jules was sitting on a couch with a woman, whose heart sounded like birds chirping, pressing a cloth to his still blood stained blonde head. Zane stood by, his face somber.

The man holding her finally spoke, “I found her.” He dropped her gently on a couch and walked away. Zane’s voice was chilling, both outloud and the firm pulse that ran through her head. “I thought we were past this, Terryn.” His voice, loud in her head, demanded Speak! Words tumbled out of her mouth against her will. “I’m not going to be some baby making sex slave for you!” The silence in the room was deafening as Jules and the man exchanged glances, the woman looked harder at her work. Zane’s eyebrows shot up and wordlessly, she heard him command Leave Us. The three disappeared from the room.

Zane’s face softened a little and he moved to sit down next to her. “What are you thinking Terryn? You could have killed Jules, you are much stronger than him now.” She looked down, tears filling her eyes, “I just don’t want to be...a captive.” Zane lowered his face into his hands. “Terryn…” he paused, “Do you ever wonder where your mother is?”

She nodded, he looked down at her, “She’s dead, Terryn, your father, too. He killed her, then killed himself.”

Terryn let out a wet gurgle, “what?”

“They were in an arranged marriage that...didn’t suit them...and they had an argument and he killed Damya, that’s your mother and my daughter. He killed himself, …” He took a deep breath, “I was furious, he’d taken my only daughter from me and my only path to avenge her. I was full of rage so I...killed his whole pack.” Terryn gasped.

“That’s why there are no other pure bloods in our pack, I hunted and killed them Terryn, it was my right as king,” He looked into Terryn’s eyes, “I promise I will not make that mistake again. There are other ways to rebuild our pack than to risk…” he trailed off. “You are safe here, but out there you are not other packs will come for you, you aren’t strong enough to protect yourself yet, but you will be, do you understand?”

Terryn shook her head, “I don’t understand. I don’t understand any of this.” Zane moved quickly and placed a phone in her hand, “Call Amber.” Terryn grasped it as if it were water and dialed her mother’s number. It rang and the soft familiar voice, brought a fresh flood of tears to her eyes. “Momma,” she croaked.

“Hello? Who is this?”

“Momma it’s me, I’m okay, I’ve just been, taken by some bad people. I just want to come home.”

“I’m sorry, who is this?”

“It’s me Momma, Terryn.”

“I’m sorry, you must have the wrong number, but are you okay dear, can I call the police for you?”

“Momma, it’s me your daughter Terryn, I’ve been missing for weeks.”

There was a pause

“I’m sorry dear but you are confused, I have no children, stay on the line, I’m calling the police.”

Terryn threw the phone away, collapsing into her lap in tears.

“I don’t understand any of this.”

Zane sighed, “I know.  but can you at least believe that I will not hurt you, I will not let you get hurt, and I will not...make you mate with anyone. I promise you, but you have to let me protect you.”

“Then why are you making me meet with other...pure bloods?”

He cleared his throat, “I just hoped you could make friends and this would all feel a little more normal. Waking up one day and realizing you are a princess with a pack full of devoted followers is a lot. I thought it would make things…You could talk to them, the Catherwoods are old allies of ours and they would not hurt you, there is a sister Owena, I thought --but it might have been too soon.”

There was a long silence as Terryn considered this.

“No, no I would like to meet others, everyone, really. I just, this is a lot--is Jules going to be okay?”

Zane smiled, “He’s fine, he heals quickly, but please don’t beat him up again. I will have to separate you two.”

Terryn’s face got hot, “he probably hates me now, after what I did to him.”

When Astrid strode back to his guest quarters his head was filled with the smell of Magnolia.  Too bad, she’s totally insane.