Free Feral: Book One by Velvet DeHaven

don’t.”
    “Well, I am sure you will understand if I argue that,  cara.”
    I felt my toes curl at his persistence in calling me beloved. “What-what are you going to do with me?” I inquired, though I instantly regretted the words and wished I could take them back. Even in the muted light, I could see the hurt that flickered over his face. “I’m sorry, Simon, I didn’t mean—”
    “It is quite all right,  amore mio,”  he assured me, his voice as smooth as honey. “I can, in all honesty, say I do not blame you for your reaction. After all, we are said to be creatures of darkness.”
    Those words brought to mind a swarm of questions, and I squirmed in his embrace, attempting to get into a vertical position instead of leaning in his arms from my almost-fall. He released me at once, his face painted with resignation, and I felt my heart ache for him. “I, um, I’m not sure what to say.”
    Simon was a vampire.
    “If you’re a vampire, I don’t understand how you can be out in sunlight. Obviously you don’t sparkle,” I said with a weak noise that sounded more like a whine than a chuckle.
    “Obviously,” he said dryly.
    “I thought vampires burst into flames or something?”
    “Certain breeds do burn more quickly than others,” he said in a surprisingly relaxed timbre. “Cara, would you be opposed to finishing this conversation over your meal, or would you prefer to retire to my study.”
    I glanced at the shrimp laid out on the tray closest to my plate then up at him, hesitation filling me.
    It wasn’t like I was scared of this man, but I had just been told vampires were real and was now trying to merge what I knew of the man I had been seeing for the past few months with this secret he had withheld from me. I needed answers.
    I slowly sat down, plucking a few of the shrimp onto my plate as I attempted to mentally grab one of the myriad of questions that buzzed through my head. I felt like my thoughts were fragile dandelions caught in a tornado, and I was scrambling to catch as many as possible.
    “Vampires,” I murmured, more to myself than to him.
    “Yes,” he responded. “History makes us out to be the spawn of demons, but the truth of the matter is that it is a disease, a virus that is spread like most human viruses, by the introduction of corrupt cells into the bloodstream of the victim.”
    “And this… this happened to Cole?”
    “As of today,” he said steadily, “there are five of my clan living here: two females and three males, one obviously being myself. The other two are Colton Malver and Kendal O’Cleirigh, Colton being the newest member after Kendal found him severely injured after an accident. He was going to feed from him, until he realized who Colton was. Instead of feeding from him or letting him die, he changed him to save his life, and brought him here, into our clan.”
    “Cole’s a… a vampire?”
    “Yes.”
    Well, I guess he wasn’t kidding when he said he changed!
    All this time Cole had been texting me, he had been a vampire, and that troubled me. Given all that he was probably going through, why was he determined to get in touch with me? It seemed odd, and there was something about it that did not sit right with me, but I was too afraid to ask him about my ex at that point. I knew I would be unable to handle the emotional impact if I were to discuss Cole too much, so my mind reached out to capture whatever question fluttered through it next.
    “You mentioned breeds?”
    “Yes,” he answered simply. “There is more than one type of vampire. Perhaps I should begin there?”
    “Wherever will confuse me the least.”
    “Well—” I could actually see the physical change from general conversationalist to lecturer— “there are several breeds of vampire, probably more than even I know. There are the vetalas, pishachas, sexual vampires, eidolons, immortals, and mortals.” He held up his hand to stop the question from forming on my lips. “Yes, there is