Free Descended by Blood by Angeline Kace Page A

him lurking outside of Mary’s dress shop the other night.” I didn’t tell them about Jaren’s pictures. I already felt stupid and guilty that I’d risked Jaren’s life. I never thought the man might try to hurt someone else. I figured if I never went anywhere alone, always used the buddy system, the man wouldn’t be able to touch me.
    “And then the next time I saw him was tonight, and I already told you what happened with him,” I said, lowering my head so I wouldn’t see my mom’s disgust with me.
    She grabbed my chin and forced me to look her in the eye. To my relief, there was only love and concern.
    I felt a little better, but I still wanted answers. “’Kay. Your turn. What’s going on?”
    My mom dropped her hands into her lap. She hesitated, but she spoke anyway. “I know this is going to sound insane, but the man who came for you tonight was a vampire. We call them Pijawikas.”
    “What?” I laughed.
    “I know it sounds unbelievable, but it’s true. He’s a vampire.”
    “Well, what on Earth would he want me for? Do I have some extra special blood that makes me tastier to them or something?” This really was crazy.
    “Not exactly,” she said. “But your blood is special.”
    “Okay…,” I stared at her, waiting for her to tell me this was all a joke, and I would wake up from this nightmare. When she didn’t, I recalled she had the same blood. “Well, what about your blood? Is someone after you, too?”
    “My blood’s not special in the same way, so I’m not sure if they’re after me, too, but I don’t think so,” she said, looking over at Garwin for confirmation.
    “I’ll have to find out what’s going on, but if they were after your mother, they would have moved in on her, as well,” Garwin said.
    “So, what do you mean my blood isn’t special in the same way yours is?” I still felt like nothing was getting answered. I was more confused now than I was when we arrived.
    “You’re half Pijawikan, Brooke,” my mom confessed, relaxing the tension in her shoulders that must have weighed heavily on her for ages.
    I laughed. “No way. It’s not even possible. I’ve never been bitten by one of those… things , and I sure as hell have never had fangs. I’m fine in the sun, too. In fact, I love it.”
    “Vampire myth has it all wrong,” she said. “The sun thing comes about because they used to hunt at night to remain a secret. And you don’t turn into a vampire because you get a virus from being bitten by one. It’s descended by blood; Pijawikas are born. They’re an evolved race of humans, but they can still procreate with us. That’s how I got pregnant with you.”
    “You’re telling me my dad is a vampire? Yeah, right.”
    “It’s true,” Garwin said. “How do you think you were able to fight that guy tonight? Anyone else wouldn’t have stood a chance against his strength and speed, but you did. In fact, you were able to defeat him.”
    I recalled how fast I was in dodging the man, and how much strength materialized in my muscles when I broke his neck. I looked at Jaren to my right. His complexion had gone pale. His mouth hung slack in shock.
    I turned, glaring at my mom. “I have never had any sort of real stability in my life, and the only thing that remained the same for me was who I thought I was. You shattered that. Why would you keep this from me?”
    “I didn’t know how much Pijawika you’d have, so I didn’t want to say anything unless you started to show traits of your Pijawikan side. It is forbidden for Pijawikas to mix, or even have romantic relationships with humans. I did it for our safety.” My mom sighed, as if it was all for nothing now.
    I sat stunned. Was this why she never let me try out for any sports teams? Had she been too afraid that it might reveal this awful part of me? “So, what? You watched and waited? Hoping, praying to God, that I would never reveal the monster inside of me, is that it?” Bile rose in my throat with