It was, which was why a lot of acknowledgement and respect came with being a first-born. We, for whatever reason, were the inspiration that led to our makers starting their own line. It was a serious thing to run a line and it involved a lot of responsibilities. To become one was a huge decision. First-borns were the catalyst of that decision, and so they were deeply respected and their Makers tended to have a soft spot for them. As such, it was odd that Marco would just overlook my existence. “I know, but he never came looking for me.”
“I was going to ask if he Turned you because he cared about you and wanted to keep you,” said Sam, “but if that was true he wouldn’t have abandoned you or let you go.”
“Marco doesn’t care about anyone other than Marco. Given everything, I’m sure you can understand why I ran from him.”
“You didn’t just cut your ties with Marco, you cut yourself off from the entire nest,” Jared pointed out. “That left you very vulnerable; completely without protection. Why would you do that?”
It seemed melodramatic now but… “You have to understand that at the time, I still didn’t see myself as a vampire. I was convinced I could return to my old life, pretend to be human. Both Lazarus and Annalise warned me not to cut all contact, but I just wanted to be away from that world. I didn’t listen to them.
“Once people heard of a vampire that could sever bonds, I was hunted. I had no protection, so I became a drifter. Paige was sent to track me, only she joined me instead of taking me to her Sire. In return, I severed her bond with him so she could be free. That was all she really wanted. To be free.”
Sam leaned back in her chair. “Have you had any contact whatsoever with anyone from your nest since leaving?”
“When Lazarus and Annalise watched your ascension via V-Tube, they caught a glimpse of me in the background and also heard you offer me a place in the legion. They contacted me shortly afterwards to pass on their congratulations. Annalise and I now occasionally exchange emails. She’s even invited me to the Binding anniversary of two of their vampires, which is taking place in six months’ time.” Binding formed a powerful psychic connection between two vampires, joined them on a level that far surpassed any marriage or other type of bond.
“You plan on going, even though it will mean facing your Sire again?” asked Sam.
“A year ago, I would have said no. I wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere near him. I’m stronger now. I’ve cut myself from my nest for long enough. Lazarus, Annalise, and the rest of the nest are, for all intents and purposes, my family.”
“They are,” agreed Sam. “And maintaining connections outside The Hollow is a good thing. Most of the legion are in regular contact with their nests; life shouldn’t always be about work.”
“You say Lazarus knows about dragon shifters,” said Jared.
I nodded. “Yes. Lazarus is a scholar, and he’s knowledgeable about a lot of things. He admires and respects dragon shifters for their strength, power, and viciousness. I heard that Marco had negotiated a peace treaty between Lazarus and the local dragon drove.”
“You think Lazarus would be happy to share information with us?” asked Jared.
“I don’t see why he wouldn’t,” I replied.
“Then we’ll contact him tonight.”
“He never leaves his home, so he won’t agree to come here,” I told them.
“But I don’t doubt that he’ll invite you there. I’d like to come along.”
Sam exchanged a look with Jared. “I’m not sure I’m comfortable with that, Imani. How do you think Marco will react to seeing you again? I mean, you not only dared to try to escape him, you were able to do it. You cut your connection to him. He has to be, at the very least, seriously offended and a little embarrassed that you escaped his hold without his permission or knowledge.”
“What makes it more complex is that you’re not just one of Marco’s vampires,” said Jared. “You’re his first-born.”
I blew out a long breath. “I don’t know how he’ll react. I never really understood why he Turned me, or why he then abandoned me. Still, he’ll be pissed that I fled because first-borns are supposed to be flattered that we somehow inspired a vampire to begin their own line. We’re supposed to stay at their side and serve them faithfully. We’re not supposed to run.”
Expression pensive, Sam tapped her fingers on the table. “What about the rest of the nest? Won’t they look down on you for fleeing instead of sticking around as a good little first-born should?”
“While I stayed with Lazarus, they were all pretty nice to me. Probably because they felt bad for me, and because Marco is highly respected.” Even though he was a complete dick. His high status in vampire society was based on both fear and respect, since he’d been a ruthless assassin for most of his vampire life. As his first-born, all that respect and sense of importance extended to me. “I appreciate your concern, but I have to go back there some time.”
A short silence fell. Sam broke it. “All right. You can be part of our entourage, since we’ll be expected to take one for support and protection. I’d rather take a small one, or it will seem like we don’t believe we can protect ourselves just fine.”
Jared nodded. “We’ll take six vampires, including Imani. The question is…which ones?”
“We’ll discuss it later,” said Sam. “Let’s get back to the arena. First, Imani, I want to know if you’re comfortable with sharing your past with the others. We don’t have to go into great detail—we can just give them the bare bones of the story. Or we can tell them to mind their own bloody business, it’s your choice.”
While I wasn’t necessarily comfortable with sharing my past… “They should know about Marco so they know what to expect when we visit Lazarus.”
“As long as you’re sure?”
I nodded.
“All right, let’s go.”
Back at the arena, I gave everyone a very brief summary of my past and informed them that we should be visiting Lazarus in the near future. After stating that she would update them on the situation at tomorrow night’s conference, Sam then started the session.
Not wanting to think about the upcoming reunion with Marco, I put all my focus into training. When we first started, our goals had been simple but tough. First, we had to learn how to channel all our preternatural energy so that none leaked from us. It was an unnatural energy we began producing when we Turned; making our mind and body evolve. If we didn’t know how to hold it inside, we wouldn’t be able to use our gift to its full potential. In addition, it meant that Feeders like Sam could leech off our energy.
Within a month, we had completed our first goal. Then we moved onto our second: improve the use of our gifts. We each learned how to use our ability in different ways. Only then were we able to hit our third goal, which was to learn each other’s gifts inside out; know every strength and every weakness that came with them. That allowed us to learn how to work together as a squad and how to strengthen each other.
On every assignment, I was paired with Paige. It was a good thing for two reasons. One, Paige was very protective of me, just as I was of her. Two, our gifts worked well together. By sifting into a person’s brain with my psychic hand, I could find a vampire’s blood-bond and, well, play it like a guitar string. It both hurt and distracted, which gave the tall, lithe Keja the opportunity to pounce.
Her gift was extraordinary, in my opinion. It could be used for both good and bad. Basically, Paige could transfer not only her injuries, but the injuries of others. That meant if someone wounded her, she could transfer that wound to them and it would revisit on them three-fold. The gift thereby allowed her to both heal and cause harm.
Sam had also paired Jude and Cassie together. They matched well. Jude’s gift to erase recent memories wasn’t offensive, so Cassie’s gift of mind control was a big help. Jude was much better at combat than Cassie, so she was good at watching Cassie’s back.
Until more females joined the squad, Ava wouldn’t have a partner for assignments. In the meantime, she stayed with Salem and the vampire he was paired with. She didn’t need their protection, though; not with her awesome gift of muscle memory. Ava could literally memorise and replicate any combat move she saw. The gift not only made her faster and stronger than other Sventés, but it gave her better reflexes. Anyone who underestimated little Ava quickly regretted it.
As always, tonight’s training was gruelling and brutal. We were split into two teams: an offensive one, and a defensive one. Paige and I were part of the latter. Sam created a huge mound of Earth with her gift and then ordered the defensive team to defend it from the offensive team.
After a quick lunch break, we were back in the arena for another session. Jared assigned us physical exercises that kept up our stamina and endurance. I threw every ounce of my energy into it and worked myself hard because, yeah, I wanted to forget that I’d just seen myself injured and facing a dragon.
By the time it was done, I was ready to drop—which was no doubt a lot to do with the temporary exhaustion thing, courtesy of Marla’s crony. I went straight to my apartment, intending to hit my bed early. That plan was foiled when Paige turned up with vodka-flavoured NSTs.