“That, my beautiful child, is a question we all wrestle with for our entire lives. And some of us have very long lives with which to wrestle.”
“So if I accept this, I become one crazily powerful mistake of nature?” I asked, unable to imagine what I might be able to do.
“That’s one way of looking at it,” he said thoughtfully. “Or you become the arbiter between Heaven and Hell. The voice of reason between those who can’t—or refuse to acknowledge or even see the other side.”
“You do realize I’m basically a Prada whore with a mouth like a sailor who teaches art to genitalia loving senior citizens . . . ”
Grandpa’s laugh made me want to tackle him and love on him for hours. “You are the Chosen One of Vampyre lore. You have proven yourself to be loyal with a moral strength that is beyond compare. You are very special indeed.”
“I have more than myself to think about,” I murmured, unconsciously touching my stomach.
“Then all the more reason to make the Universe a better place,” he said gently. “May I?” His hand tentatively reached for my stomach and I nodded. The need for him to touch me and to touch him back was overwhelming.
Gently running his small hands over my stomach, his sighed in contentment. “This child will be the future. He will be the one who will maintain the balance that you create. Leave him his legacy, for if you don’t, you will take his purpose from him and he will have no choice but to follow the darker part of his heritage.”
“That sounds a bit like blackmail,” I said, pulling away.
“Emotional blackmail,” Grandpa corrected. “But true nonetheless. Accept your fate and the world will be yours. However, at every turn will be a choice and only you can make the right one.”
“Jesus Christ,” I groaned. “You sound like fucking Mr. Miyagi from The Karate Kid.”
“I loved that movie!” Grandpa clapped his little hands joyfully. “And you really shouldn’t take your cousin’s name in vain.”
I rolled my eyes and tried not to laugh. I failed.
“Think about what I have said, Astrid. I am so happy to be able to reveal myself to you. I have waited many years for you.”
“Little overwhelming, Gramps. You’re making me nauseous. Now a bit more about the Sword . . . ”
He handed me a small book. “Everything you need to know is in there. The rest you will have to discover.”
“Awesome,” I said sarcastically.
“Oh, but it is, my dear. It really is.”
With that he disappeared in a mist of black and golden glitter. This had turned out to be the biggest clusterfuck of a day I’d ever had and I’m counting the day I was turned into a Vampyre. I suppose my vacation in Hell was going to be a bit longer than originally planned. Ethan will not be pleased.
Chapter 10
I spent the better part of the night trying to make sense of the little book my grandpa had given me. I was not a big non-fiction reader. Give me a romance and I’m a happy girl, but this crap . . . I was having a hard time understanding even the smallest details. It was as if it had been written in code—overwritten, flowery purple prose everywhere.
“Okay, the Sword of Death,” I said, talking to no one since my babies still hadn’t shown up. Luckily I had found several passages I could comprehend. “The Sword lives in a secret place full of temptation very close to the mouth of Hell. That’s dumb. Why in the world don’t they put it in a neutral safe place . . . ” Immortals had rules coming out of their asses and many were completely antiquated.
I found out the Sword could kill any immortal with a mere prick of the blade. Its power and magic were unsurpassed. It had been created by the first True Immortals, giving them an out if they so chose. It didn’t clue me in to who the first True Immortals were, but I guessed that would be Mother Nature and possibly Grandpa. Everyone else seemed to have been created in one way or another by those two or their offspring. Mother Nature, Grandpa, God, Satan, the Angel of Death, the Angel of Light and Woman. Woman? I supposed that was Dixie’s mom, but what a shitty name. It was interesting that even in the book her identity was hidden. Whatever. Not my problem. Oddly, there were three more spaces for True Immortals, but they were blank.
However, there was a caveat. I had to read the passage six times to decode what the hell it meant. If my deduction was correct, on the lunar eclipse, which occurred at least twice a year, the Sword could be used to kill a True Immortal if he or she was stabbed through the heart three times. Lovely. I’d lay money that we were due for a lunar eclipse . . .
Who was the target? Satan? God? Grandpa? Mother Nature? The Sword was stored near Hell, so my assumption was Satan or Grandpa. Not good. I kind of liked Grandpa and if I was being truthful, my uncle fascinated me too. Would destroying a True Immortal throw this Balance of Chaos that Gramps spoke of off? Would it bring on Armageddon? Could good and evil switch places or cease to have meaning? Could I possibly confuse myself any more . . .
Enough. Enough of the book for now.
I couldn’t absorb any more information if I tried and there was no sex in it so I was getting bored. Realizing I needed to communicate with home, I decided that would be first on my agenda in the morning. Only one day had passed in Hell, but I was unsure if that equated with one day on Earth. Second on my schedule would be finding my Baby Demons. They were the key to something. What? I didn’t know, but I was learning to trust that very little was an accident.