Chapter 52: Chapter 52: The Truth

Rose

You can’t hear someone’s tone through text, but something about how those letters popped off the screen told me something was up. He’s anxious. The words were short. He wasn’t asking me to meet him for a romantic tryst. This is business.

Or maybe he’s had so much time to stew about our argument two weeks ago. The one we haven’t seen each other after because of circumstance. The rest of that night was lovely. We laughed, kissed, shared stories, and he stayed the night, wrapped in my arms.

Maybe he was secretly furious with me, though? What if he’s coming to reject me as his mate?

What if he does this before I can tell him the truth?

He walks inside, coming through the door I left unlocked.

“Rose,” he says with a sigh, rushing to me and pulling me into a desperate hug. “I’ve missed you so much.”

Well, I guess that quells that fear. It doesn’t seem like he’s planning on shattering my heart. Not today, at least.

“I’ve missed you, too, Ash,” I reply, squeezing him tight. “But what’s going on? I got a bad feeling when I read your text.”

He sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose as he pulls away, pulling out a seat and taking it.

His silence is deafening as he grapples with whatever it is. My own heart is torn.

I close my eyes and say, “There’s something I must tell you.”

I open my eyes, realizing that he said the same sentence at the same time, our voices joined together in confession.

We chuckle nervously as I sit down, our eyes soft and understanding.

“You go first,” I tell him.

“Alright,” he replies, taking a deep breath. “I met today with everyone involved in taking down Genevieve.”

“Still haven’t come up with a corny name for yourselves?” I ask, trying to lighten the mood. It works a little bit, earning a small smile from his pretty lips. I savor the sight, knowing it may not return for a bit, given the heaviness in his tone.

“We found out some frankly terrifying information about Genevieve.”

“What information?”

“The soldier we were planning on having challenge her told us he wasn’t going to anymore because he saw… Well, I guess I’ll just come out and say it. She’s got some kind of super strength. Godly strength. As if she’s receiving otherworldly help.”

“The Night God?” I ask.

He shrugs. “I can’t be sure of anything anymore, but it’s possible. We have no way to prove it. But, whatever it is, she’s extremely powerful. Deadly. So we can’t throw someone normal at her.”

I bite my lip, wracking my brain for a solution. “Have you asked the Moon Goddess for assistance? She helped Caelynn and Erik in the Great War.”

“We can’t hedge all our bets on that,” Asher replies. “We need someone just as powerful as her.”

I furrow my eyebrows, my mind flashing back to times I’ve sought to forget.

“You’re not like other vampires, Rose. You’re more powerful than any being from this earth. That’s why you must stay hidden.”

What power? What did my mother mean by this? The only source of praise or admiration she ever gave me was telling me that there was something inside me. But what? Why? Given by whom?

“People will seek to abuse your power if they were to uncover its true potential. That is why you must keep it a secret from everyone.”

Did she ever tell me about this secret power? Did my brain make me forget in an effort to protect myself?

If that’s the case, what could the truth have been? How terrible?

“You have a power even the Gods would fear, Rose.”

Even the Gods would fear? Is that an exaggeration? Ramblings of a crazed woman who kept her child from the world Rapunzel style?

Or truth?

“What I have to tell you may provide a solution,” I confess, meeting his gorgeous brown eyes. “Please try not to be angry with me.”

“I’d never,” he promises. “Whatever it is, it’ll be okay. You can tell me.”

I take a deep breath, closing my eyes. “I’m not a normal vampire, Ash. I was born, not bitten.”

“What?” He asks, his voice low and soft. “H-How is that possible?”

“I don’t know. My mother was a witch, that much I know. I have no idea who my father was. I’m guessing he's a vampire since I had to get that somewhere. A strange vampire if he was able to impregnate my mother. That or my mother was powerful enough to make him fertile.”

“I thought your parents were humans?” He asks, confused.

“That’s a lie,” I admit. “I made it up to hide the truth. I was raised by my mother and kept in isolation until I was eighteen. She kicked me out after that, and I haven’t seen or heard from her since.”

“My Goddess, Rose… That’s awful. I’m so sorry.”

“I-I can’t stand to see your pity right now. I don’t want it,” I muster, holding back tears. “There’s more. Always more. I-I myself am a fertile vampire.”

His eyes light up, his brows lifting. “Fertile? How do you know?”

“I have periods,” I explain. “That’s why I haven’t wanted to have sex with you. Because if we didn’t use protection, I’d get pregnant. And asking you to use protection would raise your brow.”

“Oh, Rose,” he groans, reaching across the table to gently hold my hand, kissing my knuckles. “I’m so sorry that I questioned you so harshly. I-I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions about you and Cadmus.”

“That’s not important right now,” I reply, brushing away my tears. “What’s important is that there is something strange about me. My mother would always say that I had to be hidden from the world and keep this a secret because I had a power nobody could find out about. I also assumed they were hiding me from my father, whoever he may be.”

“A power?” He asks. “What kind of power?”

“The power that allows me to put down strong vampire men as if they are weightless,” I reply. “A speed that allows me to run around the whole region in a few hours when it would take most vampires days. Charm and intelligence that allowed me to seamlessly take power in a Clan despite being isolated my whole life. I hide the full extent of my powers because people would ask questions if they knew it all.”

I stand, walking to his chair and grabbing the bottom, lifting it above my head effortlessly, only grunting slightly.

“What the-” he sputters, his eyes wide as I set him down, not even breaking a sweat.

“Rose, that was-”

“Insane? Unbelievable?” I ask. “That’s only half of what I can do. I haven’t played with the full extent of my powers, only strength and speed, but I think they’re limited to that. Your average vampire already has superior strength and speed to other species, but mine is amplified somehow. More than the average vampire. Along with being fertile and being a daylighter. Plus, my prowess in manipulation, but that might come more from living with my mother than anything else.”

“I-I can’t believe it,” he says with wide, wondrous eyes. “You’re incredible.”

I blush, turning from him to hide my face. “I guess I never thought of it like that.”

“How did you think about it?”

“Like I was a monster. An abomination. Something to be afraid of because I don’t understand it or where it comes from.”

“Rose, listen. When all this is said and done, we will figure out the full extent of your powers together. We can find out who your father is. We can try to find your mother,” he vows, turning me around and taking my hands in his. “But don’t you dare view this as a curse. Or that you’re lesser than or monstrous. You are none of those things. You are the purest being I’ve ever known, the furthest thing from evil. I love you, and I always will.”

My breath shakes as tears slip from my eyes, tears of relief as I rest my forehead against his chest.

“If anything, this revelation fills me with such joy that we can have a family together,” he celebrates. “If you’re fertile, we can have children if you want. We can create a family.”

“We can,” I cry, the words feeling so beautiful as they slip off my tongue, my mind finally allowing me to fantasize about it. To dream about what it would be like to live in a loving home with him, mini versions of us padding down the wooden floors. The joy and love would burst from this home.

But a dark cloud still hangs over us, keeping us from this dream.

“We can once we get rid of Genevieve.”

He kisses the top of my head. “That’s true.”

“And, if she’s enhanced like the soldier said she is…” I trail off, looking up at him. “Then I have to be the one to challenge her.”