If there had still been enough blood in Lyra's body to blush, her cheeks would have been bright red by now. The remark about slipping up was bad enough — he hadn't actually accused her of anything, but the way that his tone was, it was like he knew that her life since being turned had been a patchwork quilt of attempts to make a new life followed by disastrous, bloody endings. He probably did know, come to think of it, though he wouldn't have caught the specifics; her story was probably far from unique among the recently turned. She knew from her time in the magical community that vampires were either arrested or killed on a not-infrequent basis, and most of those were ones who had lasted a decade or less before being caught.
Following right on its heels, however, was his apparently offhand comment about having children with full-blooded humans. Surely he couldn't have any suspicions about that? She could not imagine that her case was so very much like everyone else's at least on that front. Perhaps she had been no better at controlling her bloodlust than the average vampire, at the beginning, but the child — well, that was August's fault, really. Not that she hadn't participated, but who could have blamed her? She had been a teenaged girl who had just lost everything; of course she had jumped at the chance to feel loved again. But from his perspective... well, how many lovesick fools would have welcomed their vampire fiancee in with open arms? Not many.
"I've no plans to," she said, which wasn't a lie. She hadn't exactly planned to do it the first time around, either — but then, she hadn't realized that it was even possible for her to become pregnant until she was. "But you don't think that attitude could change for the better? A lot could happen in a dozen years."
And she hoped, for the sake of August's child, that they did — but she realized as soon as the words left her mouth how naive they must have sounded to Ishmael. She didn't even know how old he was — a dozen years might have seemed like nothing, to him, and she was definitely showing her inexperience and youth.
Following right on its heels, however, was his apparently offhand comment about having children with full-blooded humans. Surely he couldn't have any suspicions about that? She could not imagine that her case was so very much like everyone else's at least on that front. Perhaps she had been no better at controlling her bloodlust than the average vampire, at the beginning, but the child — well, that was August's fault, really. Not that she hadn't participated, but who could have blamed her? She had been a teenaged girl who had just lost everything; of course she had jumped at the chance to feel loved again. But from his perspective... well, how many lovesick fools would have welcomed their vampire fiancee in with open arms? Not many.
"I've no plans to," she said, which wasn't a lie. She hadn't exactly planned to do it the first time around, either — but then, she hadn't realized that it was even possible for her to become pregnant until she was. "But you don't think that attitude could change for the better? A lot could happen in a dozen years."
And she hoped, for the sake of August's child, that they did — but she realized as soon as the words left her mouth how naive they must have sounded to Ishmael. She didn't even know how old he was — a dozen years might have seemed like nothing, to him, and she was definitely showing her inexperience and youth.