The archive stretched out before her was on the size of a cathedral, vast and imposing under vaulted stone ceilings. Row upon row of shelves vanished into the dimness, filled with books, scrolls, tablets, and artifacts. Climate control systems hummed quietly in the background, maintaining perfect preservation conditions.
"Oh my god," Lilian breathed , her voice bouncing off slightly in the cavernous space.
"The Blackwood Archive," Dante said, and she could hear the pride in his voice. "Two thousand years of vampire history and legacy is kept here. Some of these pages are the only copies in existence. Others contain knowledge that the Council has spent centuries trying to destroy."
"Why would they want to destroy their own history?" Lilian asked, her eyes still roaming over the overwhelming sea of knowledge, trying to process the sheer scope of the collection before her.
"Because knowledge is power," Adrian replied, stepping up beside her. "And the Council prefers to control what vampires know about their own history, and apparently one of it regarding the reality of divine hybrids."
Dante was already moving deeper into the archive, toward a specific section. Lilian followed, while Adrian and Lucien closed on either side like they were protecting her.
"I'm going to show you two thousand years of documented history, the proof of what we've told you isn't manipulation or myth," Dante said, stopping in front of a shelf marked with symbols that seemed to glow in the dim light.
He pulled a massive tome from the shelf, its leather cover worn but still intact, embossed with intricate designs. He carried it to a large reading table in the center of the space and set it down with reverence.
"This is where it starts," Dante said, his palm resting on the cover.
Lilian approached the table, her heart pounding as she wanted to trust that what they were telling her was true.
But she had spent twenty-three years being taught that real love existed between two people, and anything else was wrong, immoral, and unnatural.
A few days ago, vampires had been fiction, but now she was one.
And these three men were asking her to throw away everything she had been taught and accept that she was built to be shared by three mates, by blood and soul.
"Show me," Lilian said, lifting her gaze to look straight at Dante in the eye. "Show me everything."
Dante's lips curved into a slight smile before he opened the ancient book to reveal pages filled with ornate script and vivid ink drawings.
"This is one of the oldest texts in possession," he said. "Written around 800 CE by a vampire scholar named Theodoric, who dedicated his entire immortal life researching divine beings and their offspring."
"Theodoric interviewed the last known divine hybrid before you," Dante continued, turning the fragile pages slowly with care. "A woman named Isolde, who lived in the 12th century. He documented everything in detail, like her abilities, her lineage, her mates, also her eventual death."
He stopped on a page dominated by a detailed illustration. Lilian leaned closer, studying the image that showed a woman with dark hair and eyes that seemed to glow in the two-dimensional drawing. Surrounding her stood three male figures, their hands linked with hers in a complex and ritualistic like pattern.
The main text was written in Latin, but beneath the illustration, someone had added a piece of paper with an English translation.
"Isolde of the Nyx bloodline, last of the divine daughters' legacy, bonded to five vampire lords of powerful houses. Without the bond, her power consumed her from within. With five mates to ground her energy, she achieved balance and ruled with wisdom for forty-three years before perishing in childbirth."
"Forty-three years isn't very long for a vampire," Lilian whispered.
"No, it isn't," Adrian agreed, studying the illustration beside her, his shadow falling over the page. "Divine hybrid pregnancies are extremely dangerous. Isolde was the most powerful being in vampire society, and still she died giving birth. That she survived even those four decades was only possible because of her bonded mates."
"Wait, what do you mean because of?" Lilian asked, her brow furrowed. "How is power connected to having multiple partners?"
Dante turned to another page, this one showing a diagram that looked like a technical blueprint despite its age, depicting a female at the center with five male figures positioned around her. Lines of what looked like energy flowed between them, creating a complex web of connections.
"Theodoric mapped this out during his interviews," he explained, his fingers tracing the energy lines in the diagram. "Divine hybrids generate an enormous amount of power, far more than their bodies can safely contain or control. Without a way to vent it, the power builds up like pressure in a sealed container. Eventually, it has to go somewhere."
"And if it doesn't?" Lilian asked, though she wasn't sure she wanted to know.
"Madness first," Dante said bluntly. "Paranoia, violence, total loss of self. Then the body begins to cook from the inside. In the end, it would be a catastrophic failure. You die, and you would take anyone nearby with you."
Lilian swallowed hard, her hand unconsciously moving to her chest as if she could feel the power Dante was describing coiled inside her.
"But the mates act as a circuit," Adrian added, his hand coming to rest gently on her shoulder. "We act as anchors, pulling the excess power away from you, regulating the flow so you stay stable."
Lilian looked at the drawing of the five men and felt a wave of panic and horror. "Wait… are you saying I need five? Is three not enough?"
These vampires before her were undoubtedly powerful beings, and she couldn't imagine the bed plays with all three of them.
But this book told about five mates as if it's nothing? The sheer intensity of what would happen made her head spin.
Dante, Adrian, and Lucien looked at each other, all dumbfounded.
"... No, no," Adrian said quickly, trying to soothe her. "We're not suggesting you go find more. Just us, do you get it? Me, Dante, and Lucien."
"Like hell we're letting some randoms jump in to bang her as well in front of us?" Lucien blurted out, his filter completely failing.
"Lucien, shut it!" Dante hissed, warning his language, before turning back to Lilian with a calmer expression. "The minimum for a stable bond is three. That's the ideal number for balance. You're safe with just us."
"Why three ideals?" Lilian asked again, exhaled shakily in relief.