Court of the Vampire Queen

Mina is the protagonist and the first-person narrator of Court of the Vampire Queen. At the beginning of the omnibus, she believes she is “only 50 percent human” (2) and 50% vampire: a “dhampir” (9). Her father, Cornelius, dislikes that she hasn’t manifested any magical powers and is a part-human “bastard” (9). When he sends her as a sacrifice to the vampire Malachi, Mina is 25 and a virgin. She is also a survivor of Cornelius’s abuse. After being with Malachi and Wolf, Mina has “gotten a taste for sex and bloodline vampire bites, [and is] in danger of getting addicted” (125). Her narration mixes gallows humor with blunt self-assessment, revealing a protagonist who is self-aware enough to recognize her own traumas yet still unsure she deserves care or pleasure.

When Mina has sex with vampires Rylan, Wolf, and Malachi at the same time, her true nature and powers are revealed. Wolf says, “‘Our little dhampir is a fucking angel.’ Seraph” (153). Manifesting her magical powers, which primarily include a bond with her sexual partners that allows her to control them, means she can become heir to Cornelius’s compound if she becomes pregnant. Mina’s initial horror at this power underscores how deeply she associates control with abuse; her personality is shaped by a refusal to become what her father was, even when the