Free Origins (A Black Novel, #1) by Jessa L. Gilbert

with all of our Immortal ‘gifts’ already in place, our senses heightened. We can age and reproduce, although it must be with another Born Immortal.”
    “So, if you can age then why does your mom still look 25?” she cuts in.
    I look up abruptly and regard her seriously for a few minutes before lowering my eyes and replying lowly, “A Born Immortal will stop aging when they consume the life force of a human for the first time.”
    “Life force?” she questions dumbly. “You mean….Oh. OH,” she falters as understanding dawns on her.
    My eyes remain locked on the floor as I reply, “Yes, life force, as in killing a human by blood consumption. We take their essence, their life, which allows us to become stronger and survive longer without blood but it also takes away our ‘humanity’.” Why, why, did she have to ask that question?
    “How old were you?” she asks quietly, so quietly that if I had been human I wouldn’t have heard her.
    Despite knowing that I can choose to not answer, knowing that she is giving me a way out, I shift uncomfortably and swallow loudly. For some reason, I want her to know. My eyes flick to her face quickly before focusing again on the floor. “I was 19…..the first time.”
    “ The first time?! How many times have you….Wait. No, don’t answer that. Please. I don’t want to know.” Slowly I raise my eyes to hers, my head still tilted slightly downward and I can just barely make out her features through my eyelashes.
    My voice is husky when I speak next, all traces of my usual humor gone. “More times than I can count.”

    My eyes search her face, slow and lingering, before I lean in close to whisper, “You’ll have to do it too- kill- if you want to maintain the change. It’s the only way.” I don’t know why but I want her to hate me, I want her to run screaming away and never look back. My voice is low, dangerous, as I continue, “I know what you’re thinking.
    You’re thinking that you’ll never do it. You’ll never kill. But are you sure? Do you really want to give up the chance of becoming Immortal? How about never getting to see your mother again? Is she worth killing for? She did it for you.”
    “Why are you telling me this?” she asks, her jaw clenched in anger.
    “Because, you have a choice to make, a very difficult choice, and I believe that in order to make a choice you need to know all the facts; the good….and the bad. The choice is yours alone to make.
    You need to decide what you want more, what you’re willing to give up. Would you rather retain your morals and stay human, live your life unchanged with your father…..Or, would you give it all up and, with it, your humanity- your innocence- to become Immortal? You would be able to stay with your mother, find out who you were meant to be…..Who you were born to become.” I splay my hands before me, as if I am physically weighing her options in my hands, before dropping them to rest immobile in my lap.
    “So,” she says, swallowing noisily, “what’s the good side to being Immortal?”
    “That is not something I can tell you.”
    “Then, why did you—”
    “I can show you, if you’re up for it?”
    “What do I have to do?” she questions cautiously.

    “Trust me,” I reply simply before standing up and offering her my hand, patiently waiting for her to decide.
    I can see a silent battle raging in her eyes. Part of me hopes that she will trust me, that she isn’t afraid, but a larger part, deep down, hopes that she will see me for what I am and make the decision to distance herself from me. The right decision?
    After several minutes she stands and silently places her hand in mine and I can’t help but feel pleased.

Chapter Nine
    V raiden leads me down the hall, my hand gently clasped in his warm embrace. He stops outside one of the many doorways.
    “Stay here,” he says, giving my hand a gentle squeeze before letting go and knocking quickly on the door.
    “Yes?” Moira