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To us “What all do you know about Borns?”

The fingers of her right hand rubbed the wrist he’d bitten Slow, steady strokes that she didn’t even see there is to know—both about the Born and the Taken”

“Not everything,” he said, voice soft

Eyes narrowing, she snapped, “They’re young I er physically and psychically than the Taken They can—they can control other vampires Summon those in the line they create”

Points for her Time for hell “Those vao for a reason, Dee It wasn’t some random attack”

“No, they wanted blood They didn’t care who they hurt—”

“They ca that about sixteen years ago, a level-nine denitive alive Of course, after her prediction, the demon’s body had been found, minus her head

One less precog demon around

“The demon said a new Born was in the world, and that one day, she’d change, just like the others had changed so long ago” Not so subtle emphasis on the she

Dee’s lips parted “No”

No sympathy No remorse “The vampires came to your home because you were the predicted Born They had to kill you while you were young, before you could change”

“No”

The air seemed to thicken around him “They were under orders not to drain you They were supposed to cut your head off” No chance of her changing that way “They weren’t sure when you’d transfor them didn’t want to take any chances”

She backed up a step “Stop this! This is bullshit, I don’t—”

“They killed your family because they wanted you to be alone Helpless”

A tear leaked from the corner of her eye Blood red Borns always cried tears of blood “If what you’re saying is true, why didn’t they co all these years?”

“At first, because you disappeared” And because Gri demon No one had been around to tell hiirl “Then Pak took you in” Most vamps knew better than to cross him “Others did come for you, but by then, it was too late You’d learned to kill, and you were ready for the change”

“Ready? Ready how? Siers brushed over her face The clean, smooth lines of her face She should have seen this for herself “You stopped aging”

She sed

In her thirties, but she looked like she was in her early twenties The wo He cleared his throat “You probably began to heal faster fro, I bet it became easier”

“So much easier” A bit of sadness

“You didn’t transform fully because you were still alive” Tricky part here “You couldn’t become a vampire until your human self died” A little rule not everyone knew