She rolled her eyes at his metaphor. “Yes.”
He nodded, taking his turn to glance through to the work shop to make sure Lucien wasn’t paying attention. “Many times. You know there are some lykans who have mated with other supernaturals.”
Her mind whirled with the revelation. She had had no idea that was possible. She brightened; suddenly her options were a little less confining. “Really?”
“Sure. I have a friend from another pack. David. He mated with a faerie.”
“A shapeshifter?”
“One and only.”
“Wow.”
“You really didn’t know that was possible?” Ryder queried leaning his elbows on his knees. “Your education is kind of spotty.”
She twisted her lips peevishly. “Tell me about it.” Then she frowned. “But they can’t actually mate, right? Ella said that you can’t have children unless you mate, and you can’t mate unless the gods bless the union so...”
Ryder nodded. “And what goddess should bless a union between a lykan and a faerie, Artemis or Hemera?”
“Exactly.”
“Hemera.” He smiled. “She has precedent, since she’s all primordial and shi-”
“So they can have children?” Caia interrupted, amazed.
“They’ll have faeries for children in that case.”
Caia’s mind hurt with how many scenarios this new situation created. “But, if a vampyre and a lykan mate, then who-”
“Well there’s the thing. Vampyres can only have kids with their own kind. And to be honest they don’t view mating the same way we do. Hades doesn’t bless the union or anything you know. He didn’t exactly expect his nasty little undead to refine their ways and start living like humans. Apparently, the story goes that Demeter, the Goddess of Fertility, granted the vampyres the ability to give birth to their own kind in vengeance against Hades for kidnapping her daughter Persephone and making her Queen of the Underworld. With this gift, vampyres became even more human.”
Caia shook her head, astounded by all the new information. Ryder grinned at her.
“You want to hear some of my personal stories?”
Caia nodded her head enthusiastically and leaned back to enjoy Ryder’s colorful storytelling. They were interrupted a few times as customers came in, but for most of the morning he held her enthralled. He told her about a group of vampyre hunters he’d stayed with for a few weeks; how, although many vampyres were able to sustain themselves on the blood they bought from butchers and slaughterhouses, these hunters preyed on animals to hone their skills for hunting the rogue vampyres that killed humans for pleasure.
“So,” Caia searched for clarification, “It’s against the law to hunt a supernatural that isn’t of your own race?”
“Completely,” Ryder told her, his eyes serious. “If I were caught hunting a rogue vampyre I could be pulled up before the Council. It’s a huge breech of Coven laws.”
“So vampyres,” Caia went on, “What are they like? I mean, we don’t die by silver bullets so what’s the true story behind them? Do they sleep in coffins?”
Ryder smiled at her innocence. “No. They walk in daylight, they’re not afraid of crosses or holy water-”
“I didn’t think they were, considering they’re pre-Christian.”
“Smart ass.” He shook his head teasingly at her. “Basically, they look like humans, just like us, except they move faster, they’re stronger, and they live on blood. To kill them, you’ve got to cut off their heads.”
“What about the heart?”
“Well, unlike the myths, vampyres hearts actually do beat, but it’s encased in thick bone so... you really have to cut off the head to end the bloodsuckers.”
“Wow. Their hearts beat. I feel like I’ve been lied to my whole life.”
Ryder chuckled at her faux look of disappointment. “Yeah, well I love the movies, but they certainly have a hell of a lot to answer for, huh.”
She smiled, but then promptly frowned. “What’s up with the bone encasement around the heart?”