Chapter 14 #3
“But I hated it. Lila, I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am about the possibility of us.
For so long, I’ve been looking for someone I can connect with on an emotional level, and until you, I have felt nothing for anyone other than some mild interest.” My heart melts, and any worry I had slowly seeps away.
“I’m more like my father’s family than my mother had hoped.
Dad’s contribution to my DNA must have required an emotional connection, ensuring that I didn’t end up like him, because I’m almost certain he regretted his marriage to my mother from day one.
I can’t wait to introduce you to him. He’s going to be so excited to meet you. ”
“And your mother?” I ask, not sure if I want to know the answer when he grimaces.
“Oh, she’ll be polite to your face because she won’t want to upset the Adams brothers’ granddaughter, but I wouldn’t take anything she says at face value. She always has an agenda. Do not trust her,” he warns as the waiter stops at the table to ask if we need anything else.
“Okay, Lila, we’ve had dinner, and we’ve talked all about ourselves, but we really need to talk about the elephant in the room,” Link teases an hour or so later.
We just left the restaurant, and we’re walking to the club which is on this level but on the other side of the ship.
We could have taken the side slip elevator, but Link suggested we walk.
He told me that just past all the retail stores, there’s what they call a space walk.
It’s a tunnel or enclosed bridge, I guess, that is completely made of glass, and when you walk through it, you get a 360° view of space.
It kind of feels like you’re walking in it.
I couldn’t wait to try it, so I jumped at the chance, even if my feet were starting to ache in my heels.
“Fine.” An exaggerated sigh leaves my lips.
I know he’s right, but I still want to keep my head in the sand for a little longer, even though I know I can’t.
“I guess I can’t avoid it any longer. Tell me what the situation is all about,” I reply, sitting down on a lounge in a little alcove just before the space walk starts.
It gives us another fantastic view of the outside of the ship, and I’m pretty sure I need to be sitting down for this conversation.
My body is tense until Link sits down next to me and drags me closer, his arm wrapped around my shoulders as we both look into the vastness of the Milky Way. He’s giving me comfort without me even asking for it.
“You are Saxon’s blood rose. Do you know what that means?”
I shake my head. “I think I remember Magenta saying something about that when she was giving me vampire 101, but I obviously didn’t pay attention.”
“A blood rose to a sanguinista is basically the equivalent of a mate for a shifter or an intimate for a warlock. You’re his soulmate, his perfect match. Your blood is the one match that can sustain him indefinitely.” He pauses and looks down at me to check that I’m alright. “Are you okay so far?”
Am I okay? I mean, I guessed it was something like that, but I seem to be adding mates that have nothing to do with my Skarrian biological wants and needs and everything to do with theirs.
It feels like it’s all out of my control.
I liked the idea of try before I buy and the attraction marks when it was on my terms, but this, just like Caspian, is something that is out of my hands, and I’m really not sure how I feel.
“Talk to me, Lila.” Link sounds a little desperate at my silence, and his arm tightens around my shoulders. Shit, I guess I was thinking longer than I realized.
“What do you want me to say, Link? That I’m ecstatic about this? I can’t, because once again, my choice is being taken away from me.”
Link nods in understanding. “I know this is hard for you. Of course it is going to be difficult because you were raised human, and their concept of intimate relationships is so far apart from most of the rest of the galaxy, it’s ridiculous.
If you had been raised Skarrian, none of this would be new to you.
Though I have to admit, Vilaxians don’t often have blood roses who are not of their own race, but it has happened.
I discovered this today when I was doing my research. ”
“And what happens to the blood rose if they are not of their own race? Do they survive? If Saxon needs to drink my blood every day, I’m going to run out of it very quickly. And as you know, I will die when that happens.”
Link chuckles at my naivete and presses a kiss to my head.
“No, sweetheart, when the Vilaxian seals the blood rose bond with the blood rose who isn’t Vilaxian, they feed them some of their blood.
With the venom in their bite and the blood, the blood rose’s system adapts, much like you did when Caspian’s beast gave you his mating bite.
The blood rose will start producing more blood so they can see to their partner’s needs. ”
“So basically I’m like a never-ending Slurpee for Saxon?
” I ask quietly, and Link quickly shakes his head.
I close my eyes and take a deep breath, trying to calm the helplessness I feel right now.
Fuck. I don’t know how much more of this conversation I can take, but Link is giving me the clinical information I need.
“No, it’s so much more than that. It’s hard to explain to you because nothing like that exists on Earth.
It’s like falling instantly in love, but because it is one-sided, you have no idea of the feelings that are rushing through Saxon.
It’s why he was so feral—all those intense emotions on top of the fact that to him your scent, your blood, sings to him in ways we can’t comprehend. ”
A shiver runs down my spine. “Can I reject him?” I inquire, weighing all my options, and I feel Link stiffen like I’ve asked a taboo question, but then he blows out a sigh.
“Yes, Lila, you can reject him. If this was two-sided and you were Vilaxian, it wouldn’t even be an option. You would have sealed yourself to him already and the two of you would probably still be secluded in his den. But because it’s one-sided, you do have the choice to say no.”
“What happens to him if I do? Will he find another blood rose?”
Link shakes his head. “No, he won’t. Lila, what you have to realize is it’s actually a rare occurrence for a Vilaxian to find a blood rose.
They occur for only like twenty percent of the population.
The others make do with drinking from anyone, and they never experience the kind of connection a blood rose partnership does. ”
“And what will happen to him if I do reject him?” I prompt when he doesn’t answer my question the first time.
“Saxon will die.”