Fangs of Desire (Book II) (Completed)

Chapter XXIV

It was silent in the main hall while Emma sat with Kat. The mansion was pretty empty except for a few kindred that had gone up to Camille's room, and Danielle was still sick from blood loss and needed to rest. The cuts on Emma's arms were slowly starting to close up again and she didn't feel as faint as before.

"So, what was this all about?"

She held up her arms, expecting some sort of explanation from Kat.

"It's a side effect from your bloodline ability. Usually only second generation kindred can use their bloodline abilities to the fullest. We know Jacob chose you as his successor though, so this means you have access to some of the more higher tier abilities. I'm guessing your body can't keep up with the amount of energy those abilities suck from your body."

"Bloodline abilities? Is this something specific to our bloodline or do other bloodlines have it as well?"

"I do not know many other ancients, but each bloodline has a different ability and it manifests in their lineage in different ways. Hysteria was able to manipulate the blood in her body to such extents that she could partially shapeshift. She also regenerated faster than you could inflict any sort of damage on her. Further than that she is the only ancient known to have embraced her beast, which means her abilities were on an inhumane level."

"So almost invincible..."

"Yep. Both Jean and Jacob got different aspects of her abilities. Jacob's ability was, well," Kat vaguely motioned at Emma's arms, "Blood manipulation. Jean on the other hand-"

"Has enhanced regeneration, just like Hysteria."

Emma had already learned this information from Jes. She knew and had witnessed before how well Jacob was at manipulating his blood to the point of using it as a weapon. Jean had none of that, but she could tank so much more damage than a regular kin. She shivered, remembering how horrendous it had felt to watch her fight Nehut. Getting mauled over and over again and getting up as if nothing happened. That must have hurt, and a part of Emma wondered if she was feeling all of that, if a part of Jean was still seeing what was going on as she mindlessly attacked and killed. The yellow of her eyes was still fresh in Emma's memory. She missed seeing the gray in them, missed feeling her embrace and talking for nights under the moonlight. She missed Jean.

Buried in her own thoughts, Emma didn't realize for a while that Kat had been keeping quiet. When she looked up, she saw her staring at Emma with slightly creased brows.

"...How did you learn about this information?"

Emma looked surprised, not expecting the question. She had always found out about information out there somewhere and no one had questioned it up until this point.

"Well... In the underworld. I found out about a lot of stuff there."

"No." Kat interrupted her, "This information is way too specific. Ancient's abilities are somewhat known but they keep their descendants' abilities strictly secret. Who did you get this information from?"

"What..?" It was Emma's turn to be confused, "I didn't know it was such a tightly kept secret."

"Emma." Kat had never sounded this serious before, something in her expression sent a chill down Emma's back. "Tell me who told you about this information."

"..." Emma was quiet, shocked at how serious Kat had gotten. "I learned it from Jes."

There was a tense silence as Kat's eyes opened up in surprise, her mouth falling open in near shock with her answer. She looked down and up again, trying to process the information. It was like she had gotten the answer to a question she had asked long ago, and it wasn't a relieving one.