Crimson

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I basically threw the book aside when I had finished reading the story and burst out of the room. My mind worked at the speed of a shooting star and it felt like it was one step ahead of my actions.

"I want information on vampire's reproduction," I almost yelled at the Librarian in my haste.

He snapped his fingers and before he could say anything, I went back through the door. The room had changed. Now there wasn't any bookshelf, and the armchair and table with the tea was gone as well. Instead there was a stand on which a single book lay.

I took the book and flipped through the pages while pacing around.

There was nothing in it that I didn't already know, but for the first time I took notice of the exact wording of it all. A vampire could only produce a child with a person that they were mated to. What I had assumed, what all seemed to have assumed, was that that also then meant that both would have to be vampires. But if it was possible to mate and solidify the bond in a way that didn't include the usual marking and drinking of blood. If it was possible for a vampire and a witch to solidify their bond in a similar way as the two lovers that became the first vampires had...

I left the room again.

"Can I access records of all witches being mated to vampires?" I asked and the Librarian snapped his fingers once more.

Now there were many more books than before. Thankfully they stood in chronological order and the years each book included was printed on the spine. I hesitated for a moment before taking down the latest book first. On the last page in that book, I saw my own name standing next to Lamech's, and in a third column was one word. Rejected.

I slammed the book shut and looked around. There was a fireplace in the room and I threw the book in there. The flames engulfed it at once, made crackling noices as the book burned, but I turned my back on it.

I began to search for my mother's name. I started with the year I had been born and worked my way backwards. Though I knew that Alair had said that Lolek had met his witch about two hundred and seventy years ago, I wanted to make sure I wouldn't miss it.

I flipped through page after page after page until I saw the name I had been looking for. Mary Evermore. And next to her stood Lolek Laska. And to the side of their names: Mated.

But what had really happened then? My mother had definitely been a witch. I had memories of her using magic and well, I clearly was one also. So they had mated without her having to become a vampire. But how?

My mind still raced faster than I could properly follow and already knew the most likely scenario.

I felt certain that it was a lie that they had been killed by vampires. From having gotten to know Lamech and the Midnight Refugees I knew that they would not kill one of their own unless that one went on a killing spree. My coven on the other hand...

Alair had said that they had found information that suggested that Starlight had captured Lolek and his witch mate, and killed them. Considering when Mom and Dad would have met, they couldn't have been killed then, because I had been born about thirty years later. But had Starlight captured them? Put them into our prison? Kept them in a similar way that the two lovers had been kept?

I felt fury grow in me, because I could clearly imagine what would have happened. Mom and Dad being placed in the same cell and Dad not receiving any blood at all. Being forced to endure the growing thirst with Mom as his only option to feed from.

But then what? They would have had to escape. How?

That was one thing that I couldn't come up with any answers to. Someone had to have helped them, but I didn't know enough to guess who.

There was also one more thing that I didn't understand. If all of this was true, then that did make me half-witch, half-vampire. That did explain all of the abnormalities that I had experienced. My strength, speed, and senses, that I didn't need sleep, that I had made Lamech bleed with my bare hands, that I had ripped off a vampire's head mere hours ago, that I had found the scent of Lamech's blood so delicious, and the thirst that wouldn't go away. But why hadn't I always experienced all of it?

I moved my hand up and placed it by my eyes. The windows to your soul, to your nature. But it would have had to have happened when I was very young as I didn't have any memories of it. The magic required to make it last that long was immense and why had it started to wear off now?

I thought of the second thing that the flagae had told Lamech to remember. The long-lost halo. Considering the insight that the story about Nyx had given me, I felt certain that knowing what the long-lost halo was would provide me with the rest.

I left the room again and the Librarian waited outside with a proud smile on his lips.

"I want information about the long-lost halo," I told him.

"But of course," he said and placed a hand to the door for a moment.

I opened it and walked in again, but quickly left. There were just too many books. Shelf after shelf after shelf. It would take me far too long to look through them all.

"How many different long-lost halos are there?" I asked him in astonishment.

"About a thousand, give and take a few."

I sighed. I definitely couldn't search for the right one among a thousand. Not only would it take ages, but I would surely go insane while trying to find the right one.

"Can you limit it to the ones that possess magical properties?" I asked and he snapped his fingers. I looked inside and it seemed to barely be any fewer books.

"How about just ones that specifically can be used to hide a part of someone's magic?"

He shook his head. "Alas, there is none."

I was about to explode at him in frustration, but then I realized that maybe I just needed to reword my request. "What about ones that could potentially be used to hide a part of someone's magic?"

He snapped his fingers, but the room only lost a handful of books.

"And when used to hide a part of someone's magic could make that someone's eyes black?"

There still seemed to be the same number of books. I knew why. Likely most of the halos that there were records of simply could strengthen the magic of the wearer. So of course they could then potentially be used to hide someone's magic and when that was done there was the possibility of make that someone's eyes black. That didn't make things easier for me though. I knew I needed to ask a different type of question to limit the number of books more, but I had run out of ideas.

But then it occurred to me that what the flagae had said to Lamech had all seemed very specific and carefully chosen now that I weaved it all out. But so far I had no idea what the first part could mean and help uncover. Three out of five of blood. What was the "of blood" part about?

"Is there any of the halos in there that requires a blood sacrifice for its magic to be harnessed?" I asked and the Librarian got a glint in his eyes that made me frown. It was similar to the proud smile, but stronger and there was unshielded happiness there as well. It was such a biased smile, but from all I knew of the Librarian, he was supposedly completely unbiased.

His snap of his fingers, stopped my train of thought. I looked at the door and opened it.

Again there was only one book inside and the armchair, table, and tea were all back.

I took the book and read the heading. The Halo of Darkness. Well, that sounded promising.

I made myself comfortable in the armchair again before opening the book and starting to read.