Chapter 54 The Bloodline

Chapter 54 The Bloodline
The scholar’s name is Dr. Maren Voss, and she looks at me like I’m the most fascinating thing she’s ever seen.
She’s older than most vampires I’ve encountered, with silver hair cropped close to her skull and wire-rimmed glasses perched on her nose. The glasses are an affectation, she admits. Vampires don’t need corrective lenses. But she’s worn them for so long they’ve become part of her identity.
“Remarkable,” she breathes as she reviews the results on her tablet. “Absolutely remarkable.”
“You’ve said that six times in the last hour,” I point out from my seat on the examination table. “Care to tell me what’s so remarkable?”
Thad stands against the far wall with his arms crossed, watching every move Dr. Voss makes. He hasn’t relaxed since we arrived at the scholars’ wing. I doubt he’s blinked.
“Your genetic markers.” Dr. Voss sets down the tablet and removes her glasses to clean them on her lab coat. “When Aldric first contacted us about your bloodline, I assumed there had been some mistake.”
“Elias already told us about the Valdris connection,” Thad says. “What have you found that he didn’t?”
“Context, Mr. Samford. Historical context that changes everything.” Dr. Voss replaces her glasses and picks up the tablet again. “The Valdris were not simply guardians who worked alongside ancient vampires. They were something far more significant.”
“Which is?”
“Direct descendants of the First.”
The room goes quiet. I glance at Thad, but his face reveals nothing.
“The First,” I repeat. “You mean the first vampire?”
“The very one. The being who created all others.” Dr. Voss pulls up an image on her tablet and turns it to face me. It’s a family tree, impossibly complex, with lines branching in every direction. “Before the First was turned, they had a family. Children. Grandchildren. An entire lineage that continued after their transformation.”
“I thought vampires couldn’t have children.”
“We can’t. Not after we’re turned. But the First had descendants before that happened. Human descendants who carried traces of the power that would eventually be used to create our entire species. The Valdris were one branch of that family tree. The most potent branch, as it turns out.”
I stare at the diagram, trying to make sense of what she’s telling me. My mother’s family. The great-aunt who collected ceramic cats. The grandfather who fought in Korea. They were all connected to this? To the origin of vampires themselves?
“How is that possible?” I ask. “We’re talking about thousands of years. Millions of people must be descended from whoever this First was.”
“Millions are. But the genetic markers that matter, the ones that carry actual power, have been diluted beyond recognition in most bloodlines.” Dr. Voss sets down the tablet and looks at me. “In yours, they’re not. Your markers are stronger than any I’ve ever documented. Stronger than any in our historical records.”
“What does that mean for her?” Thad questions. “Practically speaking.”
“It means she’s not just a descendant of the First. She’s the closest living relative to the original vampire that has ever existed.” Dr. Voss pauses before adding, “And it explains why the Primigenii want her so desperately.”
“Because of the prophecy,” I surmise.
“The prophecy is part of it, yes. But there’s more.” She pulls up another file on her tablet. “The Primigenii were created directly by the First, making them the oldest and most powerful vampires in existence. But even they have limitations. Their power, while immense, has remained static for millennia. They cannot grow stronger.”
“And I can make them stronger?”
“Your blood can. The genetic markers you carry are compatible with theirs in ways we don’t fully understand. If they were to consume your blood in sufficient quantities, or perform certain rituals using it as a catalyst...” 
“They’d become invincible,” Thad finishes.
“Potentially, yes. The power boost could be astronomical.”
My stomach turns. All this time, I thought the Primigenii wanted to study me. Use my abilities somehow. I didn’t realize they wanted to drain me dry and drink whatever was left.
“You said ‘or,’“ I point out. “Earlier, you said my blood could make them invincible or something else. What’s the something else?”
Dr. Voss exchanges a look with one of her assistants before answering. “The same genetic markers that could enhance the Primigenii could also be weaponized against them. Your blood is uniquely suited to their biology, which means it could strengthen them beyond measure.”
“Or?”
“Or destroy them. The bloodline of the First is a double-edged sword. In the wrong hands, it could create unstoppable monsters. In the right hands, it could eliminate the Primigenii threat forever.”
“And which hands are the right ones?” I ask.
“That’s not for me to determine. I’m simply presenting the facts.”
I slide off the examination table and pace toward the window. The view shows nothing but mountains and forest, miles of wilderness separating this compound from the rest of the world. I came here looking for answers. I found them. I’m just not sure I wanted these particular ones.
“So I’m either a weapon or a power source,” I say without turning around. “Those are my options.”
“You’re a person with extraordinary abilities and an extraordinary heritage,” Dr. Voss corrects. “What you choose to do with that is entirely up to you.”
Thad appears beside me, close enough that I can feel the coolness of his body. “We need to discuss this privately.”
Dr. Voss gathers her materials. “Of course, take all the time you need. I’ll be in my office when you’re ready to continue.”
She exits with her assistants, leaving Thad and me alone in the sterile examination room.
“The First Vampire,” I muse. “I’m related to the thing that started all of this.”
“It doesn’t change who you are.”
“Doesn’t it? My whole life, I thought I was ordinary. Normal. Now I find out I’m some kind of genetic anomaly with the power to either save the world or doom it.”
“You’re still Thelma. You’re still the woman I—” He stops himself. “You’re still you.”
I want to believe him. I want to trust that this revelation doesn’t fundamentally alter everything about my existence.
But standing here in the Obsidian Court’s laboratory, with the weight of an ancient bloodline pressing down on my shoulders, I’m not sure I know who I am anymore.