Page 102 of Knight’s Absolution

She motioned to the chair, and he thankfully sat. She took that as a good sign. For now, he was willing to listen. Maybe then he’d look into it as well, and he’d see for himself she was telling the truth.

Luna sat on the bed, crossed her legs, and tried to stay calm, to speak only facts. The last thing she needed was him accusing her of being overly emotional again and disregarding everything she said, or leaving without hearing it.

“Dhampir are born with emotions like any other being, but they need their human mothers and the bond they share to remain unbroken until they reach adulthood. If it’s severed, like ours was, they lose those emotions.”

“How do you know this?”

“I overheard things while I was among the demons. And the knights have demon archives. Information on powers, on demi like us—half vampire, half human. There are websites you can find online, created by demi from all over the world. Humans think it’s a myth, fantasy, but Grace, another demi I know, showed me how to find the sites created by our kind, how to search for information.”

He said nothing.

“Do you believe me?”

His gaze moved to the window, and he sat motionless for the longest time.

“Ronan?”

“I…I’m trying to remember. Yes, you’re right, she did smile a lot, but she was human. Humans smile.”

“They do, so doesn’t it make sense that we could be born with emotions as well, since we’re half human?” Her hands shook, so desperate for him to believe her. “Do you remember us, you and me?”

His fingers flexed, then curled. “You smiled as well,” he said.

Luna froze. “Yes, I did. You remember?”

His gaze went inward again. “I think so. Now that I’m trying…” He frowned and jolted, blinking rapidly. “When we were children, I used to hide and surprise you, didn’t I?”

“Yes, yes you did.”

“It made you laugh. Why would I do that?”

Her throat was getting tight again. She curled her fingers into fists to stop from pulling him into a hug. “Because we were children, and we used to play together. We liked to make each other laugh, and sometimes we fought. Once you got so angry when I broke the wheel off one of your toy cars that you stole my favorite doll and hid her for two days.”

His expression didn’t change, his gaze sliding back to her. “The car was blue.”

“Yes.”

“Your doll had hair made of black yarn.”

How could he be in any doubt now? “That’s right.” She shifted, dropping her feet to the floor and leaned forward. “Why do you think you did those things? Took my doll, or made me laugh?”

He suddenly looked haunted. “I’m not sure.”

He knew. He had to know. She licked her lips, knowing she was close, so close to making him believe. Making him confront the truth. “Because you had an emotional response. Pleasure from laughter. Anger from me breaking one of your favorite toys. The only reason you no longer feel those things is because Azel did what he did.”

Ronan stood suddenly and paced away.

She reached down the front of her shirt and lifted their mother's necklace, holding up the tiny cross when he turned back. “She used to wear this all the time. Do you remember it?”

He froze.

“Ronan—”

“It was covered in blood,” he said.

Luna had cried, sobbing uncontrollably as she’d washed their mother’s blood from it. “Yes, after Azel had finished with her, it was covered in her blood.”

He stood motionless, an expression so devoid of anything, she had no hope of reading him.