Page 8 of Salvation
“You are female. The only one of your kind.”
She blinked as if that would help her brain process the information. “How can you know this? There might be a female vampire in Kentucky.” She moved her hands from her hips and crossed her arms over her chest in defiance.
“I know this because demons talk. Since this entire thing started, not one female has been turned. They have all been males. Anytime one has attempted to change a female, she dies. You are the first to live.”
“Why do you suppose I lived? I think there is a lot to this story you have not shared.”
Lilith sighed. “There is much to tell, and the sun is getting hot.” She glanced around and Aurora knew Lilith contemplated where to go. The demon lived across the long, deserted highway, in what used to be a School of Visual Arts. The area was becoming overgrown with trees and weeds and a perfect demon hideout. It wasn’t a place Aurora usually liked to frequent, but in this case, she would make an exception. Lilith apparently had information to share, and she wanted to hear it.
“Fine. I will go with you across the highway, but you better be spilling.”
Lilith gave a nod, and they took off at a run, making their way across the old road. The only cars this pavement had seen were the ones now abandoned and stripped. Nothing more than skeletal remnants of their former self. Like everything else, weeds claimed every crack there had ever been and even forced new ones. Many were several feet tall, and, in some areas, it was difficult to tell from a distance there was even a highway there. She could relate to the plants’ tenacity and will to survive even in the harshest environment. It was how she felt on most days. Either shove or be shoved, but, in reality, she was tired of forcing her way through life and the thought of being part of something bigger, like a real community, was very appealing.
When they finally made it to the school, instead of leading Aurora inside, Lilith led her to a park bench under a shade tree.
“There are other demons inside, but they won’t bother you out here in the daylight.”
“Fine. Now, tell me about the vampires. I mean, you already told me about Arsenia and how her father made a deal with a demon to save his daughter.” The Inca princess had been very ill and in order to save her, the king bargained with a demon who had put Arsenia to sleep only to be woken several hundred years later as a vampire.
“Arsenia was woken by a fallen angel named Cade. At the time, he did not know what she was, but when she bit him, he got a pretty good clue. Of course, after that she ran.”
“And?” She was eager to hear the entire story.
“And then Arsenia fulfilled her destiny, which was to choose four men to become the first. What they call the primordial vampires.”
“That girl referred to them.”
“Yes, they are the chosen to help whatever is left of humanity carry on.”
“Chosen by who? Arsenia? And why?”
Lilith turned to face her. “So many questions. The demon who sired Arsenia was paid handsomely to turn her. He then instructed her to turn the four men.”
Aurora sighed because Lilith was talking circles around her question. “Okay, so who paid this demon and why turn an Inca princess?”
Lilith shrugged. “I suppose the angels saw something like this coming in the future and thought to protect humanity somehow. As far as why the princess was chosen? I don’t really know.”
“Are you saying the angels did this? Did they pay the demon?”
“They did.”
It was difficult to wrap her head around all of this. She had heard stories before about the angels but had never seen one herself. Still, what part did she play in all of this? “So, why did I live?”
“I honestly do not know. I suppose there is something different about you, just as there was with the princess, which is why I fear they will want to experiment on you. The vampires will want to sire females so they can mate.”
Aurora stared at her friend. “Too late for that. The girl I talked to was pregnant, and she said it was by a vampire.”
Lilith gasped. “That can’t be. She had to have been lying.”
“Why would she lie, and why would she not get pregnant? I have a feeling there is more going on than even you know about.”
“If she speaks the truth, then I would agree that there is something going on I am not aware of. And, to answer your question, demons cannot impregnate humans, and since vampires are created from demons, it stands to reason they cannot sire children with a human.”
“You’re forgetting one important fact in all of this.”
Lilith arched a black brow. “What?”
“These vampires were once human.”
