Vulnerable: Book 1 of the Magic Mutations Series | ✓

12: A Pleasure Knowing You

Opening his mouth a couple of times to speak, Ben eventually found the right words, saying them slowly as he spoke. "Vampires like me are a disgrace to his notion of what a vampire should be. Rüdiger believes mutants should only breed with mutants. That way, the magic and paranormal lines become stronger and we will 'evolve' more. Humans breeding into our lines weakens our chances of 'development' and 'growth' as a species." He used his fingers as air quotes.

"What are you saying..."

"According to our sources still there and some of the earlier developments Lukas saw before he came to London... Rüdiger is trying to wipe out humans by either finding the perfect magical being to use as a weapon or inventing some disease that will kill their numbers... so that the vampires have less work to finish off the rest."

I let his words mull over in my mind, weighing up what he had said. "Does he think he's Hitler or something?" I half shouted.

"I hear he actually fed a lot of his ideas to Hitler... One of his ways of wiping out a lot of people in Germany when he tried enacting his plan back then."

My stomach squirmed at his words as my proclamation meant in jest became a scary reality.

"Are you okay? You're going a little green..." Ben hesitantly placed a hand on my back, his face suddenly very close as he studied me, worried.

But the sudden proximity of his face alongside his touch wiped away all concerns I had though, making me forget them in an instant.

Instead, I became lost in his eyes, drinking in the swirling blue... before my gaze began to trail down to his mouth.

Unbelievable, Olivia! This dude just said you're a part of his diet and you're thinking about kissing him?

Noticing where my eyes had turned, Ben removed his hand and shuffled back slightly. Which, to be honest, did hurt a little. Though I tried to not read into it too much. Now wasn't the time when I had more questions.

"So... um... What about the immortality thing that's a trope for vampires?" I asked to distract my thoughts.

He smirked, looking at his lap. "We're not immortal."

"Why do I feel like there is a but to that?"

He looked up at me, shyly... like he was blushing. "The stronger the line... the slower the ageing process."

I continued to breathe steady breaths, letting his words sink in. After some moments of silence passed, I asked, "Was... was your ID fake?"

Ben gave a small nod.

Slowly blinking, my eyes searched him... trying to decipher how old he is. He didn't really look older than 19... but it did explain why he was amused when I freaked out about being a couple months 'older' than him.

"How old are you?" I finally managed.

"Physically 19..." was all he gave back.

"Right. But what year were you born?"

He was definitely avoiding my gaze now. For a while I thought he wasn't even going to reply... until he barely made audible, "1922."

"1922?" I gasped. "You could be my great grandfather!"

"Please don't say that..." He was obviously horrified by my comment.

"You mean... you're almost a hundred years old?"

"I've been alive for almost a hundred calendar years. But in human years I'm physically 19."

I shook my head. "How does that work?"