Crushed Seraphim by Debra Anastasia

twentieth generation of half-breed minions descended from Violent and her human love would be the strongest of all — the ones to lead the species to domination over humans.
    “But then it was my grandfather who inadvertently made my mother realize there was another way. He tried to explain his disappointment in her by telling her half-breeds could subsist on just a little blood from a human, but if she didn’t kill her victims, the humans wouldn’t fear her species. ‘Fear wins half the battle, Rebecca!’ he told her.
    “When Mother found Father the next night in the mine tunnels, she shared with him everything — everything she shouldn’t have. Lo and behold, my father had a deep interest in science, and together they figured out how much blood she needed and how to get it without killing her victim.
    “One evening, they threw caution to the wind, and Mother and her red suitcase escaped with Father. She married him in a quiet chapel the next day. The poor priest had no idea the sacrilege he was performing — wedding a monster to humanity.”
    Emma looked appalled. “Surely you can’t call your own mother a monster? After all she’d done?”
    “All she’d done?” Jason asked, eyes wide. “Mother had not one, but three babies with my father, even though she knew the plans fate had in store for us. No matter how diluted the minion genes become, where there’s even a hint of them the outcome is always the same: vampire. She claimed my father was looking for a cure. But Dean, Seriana, and I were just babies when my grandfather and his clan caught up to my love-struck parents and killed my father — his way of proving to my mother that humans were worthless after all. So there was no cure for my brother and sister, no cure for me,” Jason said, his eyes glassy now. “Just the promise of a grisly demise if we didn’t become the worst type of evil.
    “I guess Mother prepared us as best she could,” Jason said more softly after a moment. “She taught us everything she and Father had learned about feeding without killing humans, and Dean has continued their work. He’s obsessed. He’s practically put himself through medical school, one book at a time.” Jason laughed, but then fell silent.
    “She also told us how to kill other half-breeds, in case Vittorio found us like he’d promised. Do you know we need to be crushed?” he said, suddenly addressing Emma directly. “How appropriate — just like a bug. And it takes a great deal of strength and weight to get the job done. But we never had to do it. Even after we’d all changed over, we followed Mother’s rules and avoided drawing attention to ourselves. And all the while — even more after we knew we weren’t human — Mother kept reminding us of humans’ value. She wanted us to interact with them as much as we could, not just use them to stay alive. She also always wanted us to stay together. Partly to help each other feed without murder and partly so we’d have enough combined strength to save our own miserable lives if Grandfather — or any other half-breeds — ever found us.”
    Emma reached up and ran a hand through Jason’s hair, trying to ease the torment she now knew his mind held.
    “The last night we saw Mother, she hugged us tightly and warned us to run,” Jason continued, giving her hand a quick squeeze before sinking back into himself. “She said Grandfather was closing in. She just sat in her room next to the opened red suitcase, holding a very old blade. She told us the weapon had been forged by the actual Devil in actual Hell, and it was all she’d need to protect herself. Then she told us again to go, so we left — because she begged us to.
    “We finally saw what was inside that suitcase. That was my mother’s family heirloom. Nice, right? Since that night we’ve been running — surviving, but not killing. I’ve wanted to die at times. But then how would my sister and brother fare without me? I was nineteen in