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And yet, deep down, part of me did.
"Look," I said, my voice holding an edge of anger that was aimed more at myself than him, "if you're here to argue, you can just march right out of my apartment. I'm not in the mood right now."
"I'm not. I'm just here to talk."
"Good." I shoved on the kettle, then reached up to grab the coffee from the shelf. Luckily for everyone, there was still some of my favorite left. "Then tell me about the priest in the lane. Who was he?"
He hesitated. "My father."
Well, that certainly explained the odd questions. The old man had been quizzing his son's prospective mate. "Then I know where you got your orneriness from. Your father was as helpful as you were."
He raised a dark eyebrow. "So you actually did speak to him?"
"Yep. What is he? A spirit? A ghost? What?"
"He is a spirit. Of sorts." He hesitated. "He is - was - the gate master. The priest responsible for ensuring the ways into this world from the spirit world remained locked."
"All the ways?"
"Most of them. The priests are magi-sensitive. They can feel when a new gate is being formed."
"So why didn't you feel this one, if you were a priest?"
"Because I was only an initiate, and not fully trained."
The kettle began to whistle. I flicked off the power and poured the water into the cup. "Is that why you became a vampire? Because you needed eternal life if you were to hang about and wait for your sister's reappearance?"
He smiled, a warmth I felt deep inside rather than actually saw. "Yes."
"And it was Henri who turned you." It was a guess, but one I was fairly certain was correct. After all, he'd been friends with Henri all his undead life, and he'd used and abused all the rules, regs, and me to find his killer.
"Yes. He looked after me through the bloodlust."
I nodded. So many things were beginning to make sense, now. "So what, exactly, are the priests of Aedh? What are you?"
"I am - was - human."
"Humans can't fly. Nor can vampires who aren't winged shifters of some kind. You may be part human, but you also admitted a while ago that you were something else."
Surprise flickered in his dark eyes. "You saw me fly? How?"
"I didn't see you, I sensed you. Now answer the damn question - what else are you?"
He hesitated. "The priests were not human in any true sense. They weren't even an offshoot branch of the family, as werewolves and shapeshifters are. They were more an energy force than actual flesh."
"Yet they had to be able to take on human form. I mean, you're here, so they could obviously breed, and human conception has basic needs."
He smiled, and my hormones did their usual crazy dance. "Yes."
"So what sort of form did they take?"
"They were tall, and golden and winged. They were often depicted as angels in ancient texts."
That raised my eyebrows. "So where are your wings?"
"Half-breeds never got the wings."
"Just the powers?"
