Children of the Goddesses (completed)

Who are you?

Lem’s POV

            The atmosphere in the room was tense after I had walked in on an unauthorized female vampire in the same room as the newly bought blonde female. Despite my tone, the blonde female vampire continued to glare defiantly at me, while her injured hand rested on the arm of the unauthorized female, as if it could shield the other female from my wrath. The fire burning in those dark blue orbs took me back to a time when I was still a young, timid boy, before Dad’s death. As a child, I was smaller and weaker than most of my peers, as a result of the constant stress that my mum was under during her pregnancy. Dad was a medic assigned to the combat unit, which gave us many perks like extra rations, but it also meant that he was often away, including the last few months of Mum’s pregnancy. 

            Weakness was looked down upon and despised in the vampire army, and even little children could be very cruel at times, especially children with royal heritage. Rank and strength were the holy grails within our society, so cruelty against weakness did not only go unpunished, often, it was also celebrated. The first time that I was picked on by other vampire children was in pre-training school, and years later, I could still remember the faces of those children laughing at me as I picked up my torn books from underneath their feet. It was the first time that I had felt such a powerful surge of rage within my tiny body and an overwhelming sense of helplessness at the same time. The result was a humiliating attempt at fighting back against those children, which ended up with a visit to the medic’s station and a suspension from school for a week. 

            Yet, when the memories of that day flooded back to me, the anger, the pain, the humiliation and the helplessness have all but disappeared, and the only emotions that filled my heart as I reminisced about that day was awe and joy. The other children had picked on me right after biology class, which female vampire children were exempted from, since they could never enter the bio-research unit, nor were they allowed to breed. By the time Laila had arrived at the scene, my face was already bloodied as I tried to retrieve my torn books from the floor in the hallway. Her adorable face was red with anger as our gazes locked and without hesitation, she launched herself like a cannonball at those children. Despite being much stronger and taller than me, she was still no match against four other children and we basically ended up taking a one week break from school together. 

            My brave angel never once backed down from standing up for me, even when the odds were stacked against us, and she knew that she could also get hurt, just like the blonde female vampire before me right now. Ever since I became the youngest deputy head researcher in my unit at the age of 15, no one has ever dared to look me in the eyes with so much defiance and anger. Indeed, this new female vampire was a special one. 

            “We are vampires, and we respect rank and strength above everything else. I hope you haven’t forgotten that before stating that we are equals.” 

The other female stiffened immediately at my stern words but the blonde female continued to glare at me defiantly, without a single trace of fear in her eyes. 

            “I’m, I’m really sorry, my Lord,” the other female stuttered nervously. “Lady Reina sent me to serve Lailynn, but if this is not allowed, I’ll take my leave now.” 

            A chill ran down my spine as I thought of that backstabbing wannabe, who would stop at nothing to become our Queen. She must have somehow gotten wind of the new female and knowing her, this was probably an attempt to keep her soon-to-be challenger close. It was no secret that our King had commanded the purchase of the new female at whatever price necessary and even an i***t knew that our King had high hopes for the new female, that her unique appearance was beyond skin deep and could help to make powerful heirs for him. 

            “Stay, Hanna! You didn’t do anything wrong, so why should you leave?” The blonde female glanced at me challengingly before retorting coldly, “if the King could pay for my weight in gold many times over, I’m sure he would have no objections to sparing a female vampire to assist me in settling in. After all, isn’t that what he wants from me? To settle in and become his loyal servant?” 

            “Leave us, Hanna!” The pupils of the female’s eyes dilated as her body trembled in fear, and before I could shout a second time, she was out of the door. 

            “Why do you have to be such a jerk?” 

            “I’m a jerk? Lailynn is it?” I asked calmly as I sauntered over to the bed where the blonde vampire was sitting on. Her body scooted cautiously to the other side of the bed, trying her best to keep as much distance between us as possible, but in a flash, I made sure to change that. 

            “Let go of me,” she whispers breathlessly as her dark blue eyes widened in shock. Our faces were inches apart as I held her wrists down by the side of her head, pressing her body into the bed with my torso. 

            “Why should I? Jerks don’t just let go of their prey, do they?” 

            “You have a choice to not be a jerk now. All you have to do is let me go, and treat us with respect. Female vampires have the same rights as male vampires, and keeping us captive isn’t right!”

            “Is that so? Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but this jerk here is the only person standing between you and that snake wannabe queen. So if you would finally get off your pedestal now and open your eyes, you would see that I’m not your real enemy.” 

            “I don’t know what you’re talking about. As far as I’m concerned, vampires don’t have a King or Queen. Even the Royals only dared to crown themselves Princes and as far as I know, all Royals are dead. Besides, why would you protect me from anyone? If you really wanted to protect me, you would let me go!”

            “We have a King now, whether you like it or not, and if you continue to disrespect him so blatantly, you will learn of the consequences, and even I might not be able to protect you from them.” Despite my best attempt to stay calm, the stubbornness of this female got the better of me. I didn’t know how to answer her, and in some ways, I was equally puzzled at the lengths that I was going to to keep her safe under my watchful eye. Confusion clouded the female’s dark blue eyes as she gazed intensely into my eyes after my outburst, like she was trying to solve a mystery. 

            “Who are you?” Her whisper was like the song of a siren, luring me to get lost in the endless depths of her blue eyes. 

            Without the King’s command, I was only tasked to examine her and ensure that she posed no danger to the King before she would serve him in bed. Besides, I still had no idea who she really was and whether she was related to my Laila. I couldn’t risk disobeying the King or revealing my identity until I was certain that this female was worth it. 

            “It doesn’t matter who I am. What matters is who you are, and I would strongly advise you to be honest with me.”

            “Or what? You’re going to break my other fingers like the humans at the auction house?” The tenderness in her voice was now completely replaced by defiance again, and the feisty female spared no strength trying to free herself from my grip. 

            “I won’t hurt you,” I stated matter-of-factly. “But I can’t say the same for everyone else in this fortress, so if you want to survive, I advise you to come clean with me. Even if you don’t, your DNA can’t lie. Sooner or later, I’ll figure out who and what you are, Lailynn. I’ve sequenced your DNA and it’s one of a kind. I’ve never seen the Sun chromosome expressing itself the way it does in you. So tell me, who are you or would you prefer for me to figure that out?” 

            For a split second, panic flashed in her eyes, telling me that she knew exactly what I was talking about, but the panic was quickly replaced by calm. “If you could figure it out, then we wouldn’t be here now, would we? You need my help.” 

            The triumph in her voice and the slight curl of her lips made my heart skip a beat. Like a sly fox, she called my bluff and blew down my house of straw effortlessly. Instead of anger, I felt nothing but amusement at how she was blatantly gloating over her small triumph over me, as if I wasn’t the one pinning her down and holding the upper hand between the two of us. 

            “Maybe you’re right,” I said softly, staring intently at her face for fear of missing any of her reactions. “Maybe I do need your help, or maybe I could help you as well. I might not have figured out all of your secrets, but your secrets still put you in danger and I’m sure you know that. Why do you think no one here is experimenting on you yet? It would be a win-win if we were to work together, what do you say?”