While the two Dracula's were focused on the taste of blood, Ryker's mana core was undergoing a transformation. Purple mana representing space was whirling around inside his iota-ranked core, along with white mana representing healing. Now a new presence made an entry, a deep, cold blue mana seeping into his core, akin to a sudden chill in a warm room.
Just as he finished sucking her blood, the lapis mana pushed out the white mana out of existence. Healing magic was replaced with ice. His core was now comprised of only space and ice.
A feeling of cold dread spread throughout his body.
"That was..." Liv started, her face flush, "Wonderful."
The bite mark on her neck was glistening, the two small puncture holes, a sign that they were now bonded. Any other vampire would see that and know she belonged to him. Her face contorted in pleasure as she was stroking her mark.
Liv kept repeating the word wonderful over and over, her head still in the clouds from the intoxicating experience.
She was far too adorable. He couldn't resist patting her head, a simple gesture of affection that always seemed to work.
"You didn't take your pills?" he asked, noticing the state of her eyes, a mix of purple and red.
"I don't need it anymore," she said, her eyes full of adoration.
"You'll never leave me right? You'll kill anyone who tries to separate us. Isn't that right?" Her mind was fixated on one thing. Him. She was the embodiment of a yandere without any of her medication. The filter that made her socially acceptable was gone.
The cold in the room wasn't coming from the outside.
"I will never leave you," he assured her, not wanting her to spiral.
She turned into a bat and nestled in the crook of his neck.
It was time for them to leave the hospital, Ryker didn't need to stay for observation. The healer's spell ensured a full recovery, besides he needed to get ready for his F-rank exam. He was free to go. He quickly said goodbye to Anna and Sarah and told her to check her email.
A guild member apparently sent them all the details of the exam. Along with an email from Meridian Academy's admission office, confirming his place. Valerica worked fast. It was scary how fast.
They took a bus home. Rain had started to fall. Liv kept talking about wanting to get married to him right now. He just listened and petted her.
Giving her her medicine was the first thing he did when they arrived. Maddie had already prepared it for her, no doubt knowing her state.
She only agreed to take it because it was Ryker who gave it to her.
With her asleep in her room, he and Maddie were alone in the living room. The only sounds came from the tv, the local news channel was playing, the weather forecast was calling for a week of thunderstorms.
He didn't know where to start. How do you confront someone you trusted your whole life?
"You must have a lot of questions," Maddie started.
He sat on the armchair opposite her.
"I think the only question I have is why?"
Her ruby red eyes held a weariness he'd never seen before, a profound tiredness.
"I didn't want you to get involved with the Dracula name. And if you had been born with ice magic like Liv I would have succeeded."
Ryker shook his head, "No I mean why did you lie about being my mother? Did you think I'd love you less if I knew you weren't my biological mom?"
A tear betrayed her delicate emotions. His words struck a nerve.
"You would've asked to meet her eventually," she answered quietly.
His limbs started to feel heavy.
"You thought I'd want to meet the woman who abandoned me for being defective?" He stood up and walked to the window.
Lightning struck somewhere in the ocean.
"Of course you would," she had a small smile, a painful one, "Even if they treat you like trash, you still seek their approval. Especially when you're just a child."
It felt like she was talking from experience
"She's the prodigy, you know. The chosen one. I was the forgotten sister. The ice wielder in a family of space mages. She took everything from me. But when I gave birth to Liv, I promised myself I would give her a different life."
She looked at him.
"When you were born, she wanted to put you in a cage to conduct experiments. To test the limitations of a magic-less space vampire. Can you believe that? Her own child."
Ryker could. He would believe anything about her after today.
"So one day I just grabbed you and Liv and left. We ended up here," her gaze went to the photo frames on the shelf, a gallery of memories, all in this small city, all she fought so hard to build.
Tears threatened to spill over.
"The door was open and no one followed us," a sob escaped her, "She doesn't love us."
Seeing her like this made his heart ache. He walked to her and gave her a hug.
"You're my mom," he whispered to her.
She cried on his shoulder, her sobs a mix of relief and deep, abiding pain. They stayed like that, a silent apology, a slow mending of a fabric torn by a single lie.
"Why do you smell like her?" her practicality cut through the emotional storm.
The question made him blush, "She... She let me bite her."
A small smile formed on the woman's face as she pulled back, wiping the tears from her cheeks.
"So Valerica was right. You have ice magic?" she asked.
Ryker was surprised but then nodded and picked up a cookie from the table, trying to make it a few degrees colder. A thin layer of frost appeared on its surface. He held it out to her.
Maddie sighed. A deep, weary sound, then she said something that caught Ryker off guard.
"You're in real danger," she said.