“What happened to your parents?” she asked.
He hesitated as he pondered how to reply. What happened to her was sad, but what happened to his family was disgusting and vicious. However, she’d opened up about herself, and if he was going to earn her trust, he would have to do the same.
“My brother became a Savage and killed them and”—Lucien pushed aside the memories and unexpected sorrow swelling within him—“and my little sister.”
Chapter Fifteen
Callie’s handflew to her mouth. “That’s horrible! How old were you?”
“I was thirty-five; he was thirty-three. The weak, pitiful coward barely fought against becoming a Savage after he reached maturity.”
Callie tried not to let her fear get the best of her as his increased hostility vibrated against her skin. She’d only been around one other man who was ever this mad, and it hadnotended well for her. There was nowhere for her to run, and he’d catch her before she made it ten feet.
He’s not mad at you.Still, it didn’t matter. She couldn’t control the anxiety building in her chest or the cold sweat breaking out on her body.Stop being afraid!She shouted the command at herself, but she wished it was so simple.
She swallowed the lump in her throat before speaking. “What do you mean by reached maturity?”
“I’m a purebred vampire, and so is he, which means I was born this way. Most vamps are turned into a vampire by another vampire. Both my parents were vampires. Being a purebred means I’m stronger than a turned vamp, but when a purebred vampire reaches maturity and stops aging, it is more difficult for us to restrain ourselves from killing. We have… darker needs than a turned vamp.”
Something about the way he saidneedssent another shiver down her spine at the same time as it caused more butterflies to erupt in her stomach.You’re losing your mind.
Unfortunately, she thought this was true.
“Such as?” she prompted.
“Such as some, like me, need to kill and unleash violence to maintain control.”
He felt her recoil from him a little, but he didn’t temper his words. She’d asked, and he found himself telling her the truth in a way he never had with any other before. It was wrong, he was revealing too much information, but she’d never use it against him or any of the others.
Even if she fell into the hands of the Savages again—something he was never going to let happen—her knowledge couldn’t cause them any damage. And she could never reveal any of this to the human world and not expected to be treated like she was insane.
“But you said you don’t kill innocents,” she whispered.
“I don’t. I maintain control by hunting and killing Savages.”In brutal, satisfying ways,but he kept that to himself. “Many purebred vampires fight their more volatile instincts, but others are weak and turn Savage.”
“I see,” she murmured. “And your brother didn’t fight his instincts.”
“Not for very long, and barely at all. Yannis was always weak, but I never expected that from him. My parents didn’t love us, but they were our parents. I was never quite sure why they had children. They weren’t in love with each other, and they didn’t enjoy having children, that much was obvious, but they reproduced three times. However, I don’t think they knew the insidious desires male, purebred children harbored; otherwise, they probably would have killed Yannis and me at birth.”
“That’s horrible!” Callie cried.
Lucien shrugged. “They were not loving.” It was a giant understatement, but he wasn’t going to go into more detail about it now.
“Is it only males who experience these urges?” she asked.
“Most often, though, the females can have trouble too.”
“What happened after your brother killed your family?” she asked.
Lucien stared into the dark as he recalled the horrible moment when he returned home to discover Yannis’s carnage. “He slaughtered my parents while they slept. I discovered them in bed, but Coralie must have woke during the attack and tried to flee. I found her near the front door.”
She didn’t know if he was aware of it, but his voice had become deeper and rougher as he spoke about his sister. Grief clouded his words. It hadn’t been there when he talked about his parents or brother, but it was there about his sister.
Lucien closed his eyes as fresh sadness swelled in his chest. It was as if he were kneeling at Coralie’s side again and brushing back her hair to reveal her pale, beautiful face. The blood pooling beneath her still body formed a puddle.
“Coralie was beautiful and sweet and so loving,” he murmured.
She was the only one, until Ronan found him and he became a Defender, who ever gave a shit about him. Her laugh was contagious, her smile lit up a room, and her beautiful violet eyes always twinkled. She devoured every form of knowledge she could get her hands on and would talk for hours about the things she read.
