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“I’m half vampire,” he breathed out so quietly I almost didn’t hear him over the waves. Using his free hand, he dug his nail into his forearm that was resting on my thigh. His black blood appeared when he opened his skin. “This is the reason I can walk in the sun. It’s also how I healed you.”
My eyes were glued to his already healing cut. “You’re a Shadow?”
“Yes. A little different from most Shadows, but a half vampire all the same.”
“Different how?”
“The story of my parents that the world knows is a lie. About how I had human parents and Amaros just took me and turned me.” He wiped the speck of blood away that was on his arm. “Amaros Kane is my father. I had a human mother.”
My heart clenched, hearing the bitterness. “What happened to her?”
“She was killed months after I was born.”
This time, there was no emotion in his voice. His face was hard, his jaw tight. He didn’t like talking about this at all. My mind raced with everything he was telling me, and Lisa’s face popped into my thoughts.
“Is there a sickness?” I choked out. “All the Shadows that PARA took away…”
I trailed off, rethinking everything I knew about Shadows. I knew PARA lied, but this? It was too much.
“There’s no sickness,” he told me quietly, his stare going back to the ocean. “Your government has been murdering Shadows for years.”
Shock coiled through me, slowly giving way to grief and anger. My heart raced at the memories of all the blood checks that happened every fucking month. So many people who were half vampire were taken away, and all the while, we thought they were getting sent away to get help.
“The Shadows are a threat to PARA,” he continued gruffly. “We’re stronger than regular vampires. Faster. Deadlier. We can walk in the sun. Our blood heals.”
“You said you were different from other Shadows,” I said slowly. “How?”
“My bloodline is old,” he muttered. “Kane vampires hold power other vampires don’t.”
A chill ran down my spine. “Like what?”
His eyes drifted to mine, his lips lifting in a half smile. “Doesn’t matter. Since I’m only half vampire, I don’t possess nearly what my father does.”
“But what can he do?—”
“I’m not telling you.” He cut me off, giving me a pointed look. “No Kane secrets. I already told you that.”
I stayed silent for a few moments before asking my next question. “If the Shadows are so powerful, why didn’t vampires win the war?”
He let out a humorless chuckle. “That’s complicated. Only certain male vampires can mate. And Shadows…they don’t act like regular vampires.”
“What does that mean?”
He glanced at me, his eyes gleaming with mischief. “That’s a conversation for another time. I’m not telling you everything today, or you might just try to run off on me.”
“Run where?” I asked bitterly.
“Please, Kali,” he murmured. “I’m revealing all of this to you, knowing that you would still use it to stab me in the back.”
“I’d aim for your heart, not your back.”
A gruff laugh escaped him from my taunting. “I know you would. Which is why I’m not admitting everything.”
We lapsed into silence, and I watched the waves crash onto the beach. My stomach was in knots, and I leaned back, resting my palms in the warm sand. There was so much that humans didn’t know. What did the Clovers know?
“PARA knows that Shadow blood can heal?” I asked.
“Yes. Which is why they kill most Shadows, but they keep at least one in each human city. To help heal PARA members. Your government doesn’t want civilians to know. Just another way to control.”
