“Oh.” She smiled at him slightly, and then cleared her throat and asked the first question she came up with. “I was told you aren’t vampires, but immortals. What is the difference?”

“Vampires are fictional dead and soulless creatures that sprung up from a curse. While immortals are merely scientifically enhanced humans,” Magnus answered promptly. “We are not dead and soulless. We are alive and well and still have souls.”

“Scientifically enhanced humans?” Allie asked, arching an eyebrow. “Like The Bionic Woman enhanced, or . . .” She couldn’t think of another example to use.

“No,” he said with a smile. “Enhanced as in we have bioengineered nanos flowing through our bloodstream that are programmed to keep us at our peak condition.”

Allie stared at him blankly, not really seeing a connection between the human peak condition and fangs or a need for blood.

“The nanos are blood based,” DJ said, obviously picking up on her thoughts. “They use blood to propel themselves as well as make repairs, and to generate more nanos when need be.”

“Make repairs?” she asked with interest.

“Yes,” Magnus said. “When the nanos were created, the intent was that they would repair injuries and fight illnesses without the need for surgery or chemical aid.”

“So, break a leg or get stabbed and these nanos would fix it?” she asked.

Magnus nodded. “The nanos rush to the injury, rapidly replicating themselves to the number they need for the job at hand, stop the bleeding, and repair the wound or broken bone.”

“Okay,” she said slowly. “So where do the fangs and glowy eyes come in?”

“From laziness,” Leonora said with amusement, and then added, “God bless them.”

DJ grinned at the woman and it was Magnus who again explained. “The scientists who created the nanos chose to take a shortcut when it came to programming. Rather than develop separate programs for each individual ailment or injury a human might suffer, they decided to program them with a map of the male and female body at their peak condition and the instruction to ensure their host was at that peak condition and then self-destruct once it was achieved.”

“To be fair to our scientists,” DJ said now, “there are a hell of a lot of injuries and illnesses a human can experience. So creating just the one program probably seemed expedient at the time.”

“Yes,” Allie agreed. “But I still don’t understand how that ended with you guys having fangs and sucking blood.”

“It didn’t in the beginning,” DJ assured her. “At first, well, of course, with the nanos using blood to make repairs and propel themselves, it was expected that blood transfusions might be needed for the more extensive injuries or illnesses, and the patients were given those transfusions accordingly.”