"Could have fooled me." Olivia admired the stark beauty of the dark purplish-black, thornless roses. Like every plant in the garden, they were the result of the Pure Bloods’ endless fascination with collecting Earth’s plant and animal life, then altering and combining species into new living things. The end results were neither of Earth nor of the near- barren BloodDark, a world which held little variety of native plant life according to the history she and the other mail-order brides were being taught on a daily basis by their tutor.
"Kate's intended, Professor Mahvet, says the Pure Bloods were a dying race when they crashed on this rock all those millennia ago. Only with regular infusions of human DNA have they survived and prospered here."
Olivia stooped to sniff one of the larger rose blossoms. Luminous and soft-petaled, the flowers held no scent. She frowned at the incongruity, then stood and glared at him. "Seems to me you all are desperate to keep the status quo, whatever the cost."
Moreau's mouth twitched, belying his calm expression. "Mahvet is an eccentric," he said, dismissing the clan's historian and scholar with a wave of his hand. "He's been taken in by his studies of human society once too often. He believes our species are equals in intelligence and abilities. He won't shut up about it."
Olivia bit her lip, fighting a grin. It was fun, getting to him like this. "You and your family don't agree with his findings?"
Moreau pulled her into his arms. "Let's just say some sentient life forms are more equal than others." His kiss came as a demand, not a gift of affection or trust. Olivia balled up her fists against his chest and pushed. He allowed her to struggle for several moments then let her free, laughing as he did so.
"You cannot hide your attraction to me," he taunted. "I was designed to be a go-between our worlds, the emperor of both. I am handsome and proud, bold and intuitive. I can sense and hear your thoughts... You don't find me half as repulsive as you pretend, Olivia. In fact, you find me rather handsome. Too bad I don't find you half as attractive as you’d like."
She wiped the back of her hand across her lips and spit into the roses. "Great pick-up line. Guaranteed to have women throwing themselves at your feet. You're right about one thing—you are handsome in a cold, calculating, perfect movie-star kind of way, but you're not attractive by a long shot. There's a big difference."
Moreau glared at her, then shrugged. "Handsome, attractive... they mean the same in your language."
Now it was Olivia's time to laugh. "Ha! Too bad you don't listen to Professor Mahvet's lectures. You could learn something. Instead, your hereditary arrogance just makes you irrational. You're hopeless."
She spun on her heels and stormed back toward the main house. It was almost meal hour, and she needed to keep her strength up so she could fight the mental hold Moreau exercised over her.
Why am I hopeless, Olivia of the Clan Brown? He sounded hurt, almost pleading in her mind. She paused, waiting to hear an apology. Because I'm irredeemable in your eyes?
No apology. Olivia shook her head and sighed. "You're hopeless because you'll never understand humanity."
Why won't I understand?
"Because you don't want to." Exasperated, she threw up her hands and continued into the hall. There was no need for her to turn around and look for Moreau. She sensed he wasn't following her and didn't want anything more to do with her. For now.
This supernatural sense of knowing gave Olivia the shudders. Have I become more Pure Blood by association than they have become like me? What does it mean for my future—both on Earth and on BloodDark?
Chapter Two
"You're looking tired, Lauren. Are you feeling all right?"
Kate Hemsworth's question broke into Olivia's inner turmoil. She straightened up in her seat and rearranged the napkin in her lap. It was hard not to correct her new friend, but no one else knew her real identity but Moreau and his family. The rest of Clan Alpha and their mail-order brides were clueless. It was safer that way.
"I'm fine, fine." She picked up the ladle-like spoon beside her bowl of soup-stew and began eating. "Mmm, ‘s good."
"Really? Can't say I'm enamored of the food here myself." The middle-aged librarian picked at the pieces of BloodDark vegetables swimming in her bowl, eyeing them with caution. "I suppose you get used to it."
"You do." Olivia gulped hard. "I mean, I assume you do. Just give it some time. It doesn't remind you of English cuisine at all? Thought you all liked your mashed turnip and mushy peas and stuff."
"Our cuisine has come a long way since then, but at least the mash is recognizable." Kate pointed to a mound glopped on her side plate. "Purple mash." She stuck out her tongue. "What sort of vegetable is in this dish? I wonder."
"A cross between a potato and a grape?" Olivia smiled. "The original potatoes came in all colors from purple to red to brown. I suspect the original specimen was taken from the Andes long before Columbus stumbled upon the New World."
Kate took a small bite of the purple substance and shrugged. "Yeah, it's potato-like. I could get used to it."
"That's the spirit." Olivia wondered if Kate was suffering from a bad case of homesickness. If so, it probably wouldn’t take much for her friend to entice Mahvet to return with her to England.
"How interesting to discover we've had contact with the Pure Bloods for so long," Kate said as she managed small sips of soup. "Our ancestors certainly did a great job keeping it a secret."
Olivia nodded. "I think it was the other way around. The Pure Bloods disguised themselves as vampires, demi-gods and demons. They kept very low profiles while on Earth
