Thicker Than Water

Chapter Thirteen

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*This story may contain mature content at any point - reader discretion advised*

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We neared the mansion, and the voices got louder. I noticed I had unconsciously brought my suitcase along with me and figured I had better put it down before we got caught up in anything.

"What are you doing here?" Apollo shouted, still rooms away. The advantage (or perhaps, disadvantage) of a large home was that everything echoed if you were loud enough.

"What do you mean? You are our son, and we have come to see you!" a female voice rang out.

Hermes and I slipped inside through the back door. I set my suitcase by the door and we headed toward the front room, where the commotion was happening.

"You haven't spoken to me in decades. Why now?"

"Son, we heard about your accident. Your future is absolutely imperative to the survival of our kind-" the deep voice was cut off.

"My future?" a dark, sarcastic laugh lilted out the front room and echoed through the foyer. "Since when has this ever been about me? This is about you two and your damn war."

I looked at Hermes, confused. War? What war?

He grimaced. The King and Queen... they are the rulers of the vampire world. They believe in the survival of our race, and in their opinion, that means races viewed as 'lesser' should be dominated and controlled. They do not want us in the shadows any longer. They want us to rule.

And these 'lesser races' are...?

We stopped walking just before we came into view of the front room. It was as if Hermes was scared to go in- but that couldn't be the case, right? Hermes was a warrior, used to heading into battle far scarier than this...

Humans, mostly.

My eyes widened. No, no, this couldn't be happening. A war with humans? I had so many emotions flying through me at once. There were billions of humans on earth, while who knew how many vampires roamed the planet? Vampires were strong- superhuman, in fact. But humans had weapons beyond imagination, and I doubted that vampires were bomb-proof...

"Apollo... please see reason. The timing is right- these humans are so busy killing each other that they've been blind to us. Our numbers have risen dramatically since you've been gone. We outnumber the humans, two to one!" the King said, triumph thick in his voice.

I swallowed hard. That was definitely more than I had assumed. Humans would hardly stand a chance.

"Why can't we just live among them, father? I fear for our people. Once the world knows about us, there is no going back. We will never be safe, never be able to live our lives in peace. People will always be after our heads, and I cannot fathom losing-" Apollo's voice cut off, and a heavy silence followed. "I can't lose those I love again."

"Are you still going on about that girl?" the Queen snapped, her tone full of annoyance.

Hermes and I glanced at each other again. We were both terrified- they were talking about the girl who looked like me. Old wounds must have been burning fresh, and neither of us were ready to come parading in and freak everyone out.

"That girl," Apollo's voice was laced with venom. "meant everything to me. You were so consumed with your own desire for power, that you could not see your own son's happiness. When she died- part of me died, too. And neither of you cared. In fact, you seemed ecstatic over the convenience of it all. How perfectly it worked out for you."