Jez burst through the door and turned immediately into the small library off the front hall. Her uncle was
sitting there at his desk, surrounded by built-in bookcases. He looked up in surprise.
"Uncle Bracken, who was my mother? How did my parents die?" It all came out in a single rush of
breath. And then Jez wanted to say, "Tell me the truth," but instead she heard herself saving wildly, "Tell
me it's not true. It's not possible, is it? Uncle Bracken, I'm so scared."
Her uncle stared at her for a moment. There was shock and despair in his face. Then he bent his head
and shut his eyes.
"But how is it possible?" Jez whispered. "How am I here?" It was hours later. Dawn was tinting
the window. She was sitting on the floor, back
against a bookcase, where she'd collapsed, staring
emptily into the distance. "You mean, how can a vampire-human halfbreed
exist? I don't know. Your parents never knew. They never expected to have children." Uncle Bracken
ran both hands through his hair, head down. "They didn't even realize you could live as a vampire. Your
father brought you to me because he was dying and I was the only person he could trust. He knew I
wouldn't turn you over to the Night World elders."
"Maybe you should have," Jez whispered. Uncle Bracken went on as if he hadn't heard her. "You lived