"Can you forgive me?"
John recoiled. For what?
"For being a hardheaded, narcissistic, single-minded, emotionally repressed nightmare? And don't tell me I'm not." She sniffed again. "I'm a sympath, I'm good at reading people. Can you ever forgive me?"
-Xhex and John Matthew[1]
Xhex is a half-vampire and half-sympath in The Black Dagger Brotherhood series by JR Ward. She's mated to John Matthew and is one of the main characters in the eighth book, Lover Mine.
Biography[]
In 1671, when Xhex was still in utero, Darius and Tohrment found and rescued her mother from the Sympath who had kidnapped and raped her. He then helped deliver Xhex into the world, but her mother took her life right there and then. With a young in his hands Darius' only choice was to give the young to a family who could care for her, without revealing her sympath side. He gave her to a female he knew who had lost her young upon birth and would love Xhex; before leaving, he named her Xhexania. When the couple who'd raised her had a son of their own, Xhex left, sad to leave them behind but was happy for them.
Thereafter, Xhex became involved with Murhder of the Brotherhood, but never told him of her heritage. Her sympath family came to claim her and he soon followed to avenge what he thought was her death. Rehvenge negotiated for their freedom, but she'd already been sold to a human laboratory for experimentation.
Most of the doctors were nice enough, but there was a sadist amongst the lot. Since she couldn't feed, she grew weaker and weaker over the course of a couple of months until one of them set her free. She returned to burn the place down while it was empty and kill the one who'd tortured her.
Rehvenge took her under his wing and showed her what she really is, providing her with work and a life she can support herself with. The sympath princess blackmailed him for money and sex for 25 years to keep his and Xhex's sympath heritage a secret, an agreement for which he was willing to die as long as it kept her safe and free of the colony.
When the princess staged a failed coup and tried to install Rehv as her consort, he was taken prisoner and the princess was given to Lash. During the rescue attempt, Xhex was captured by Lash, who'd gone to the colony to take back the escaped princess. He kept her in an invisible prison of mhis at his home where he repeatedly brutalized her, but she met him fist for fist.
After escaping Lash, John helped nurse her back to health and exact her revenge on Lash.
Personality[]
Xhex is very masculine in her behavior and in her thought processes to the point where she views stereotypically feminine traits with disdain and doesn't like to think of herself as female. She is quick to react in counter to any physical threat, and has no qualms about using violence to solve problems. She is also incredibly brave, loyal to those she loves, and a survivor. It can be difficult to get to know her since her SOP is to keep people at arm's length. She suffers a touch of post-traumatic stress disorder from her rough life, but always in control of her emotions. Prior to meeting John, Xhex was a female who did not make too many personal connections and did her best to suppress all emotions. She dislikes guns in her club because they're inevitably used by hot-headed punks and someone ends up getting hurt unnecessarily.[2]
Physical Description[]
Xhex is a rather tall, strong female with gunmetal grey eyes, high cheekbones, and hard muscles, like those of a male, only leaner to match her smaller female body. She wears her wavy black hair cut short in a masculine style. She does not enjoy wearing frilly or 'girly' clothing, instead preferring muscle tee shirts, leather pants, shitkickers, and a gun belt. The only jewelry Xhex will wear is a square 6 carat diamond set in platinum links from Reinhardt's Jewellers around her neck that John Matthew presented to her in lieu of an wedding ring.[3]
Skills[]
- American Sign Language
- Trained Assassin
- Deception
Abilities[]
- Sympath
- She can stand sunlight, although she usually needs sunglasses.
Relationships[]
Autumn[]
Mother. She came to the real world to finally meet her daughter at her mating ceremony and hoped to have a relationship with her even though she fully expected to be rebuffed out of hurt and anger. For awhile, Autumn was scared of Xhex because of her fierceness and her sympath side, but Autumn overcame her fear and they built a relationship together.
Ehlena[]
Friend. Even though Rehv had shown Ehlena who and what he was in a brusque manner in the hopes that she'd be less hurt when he faked his death, Xhex did not like Ehlena for how she'd broken things off with Rehv. She began to respect Ehlena when she went to Xhex with her suspicions surrounding Rehv's "death" and even ended up liking her after Ehlena stood up to Xhex who was doing her best to be intimidating.
John Matthew[]
hellren. Xhex first met John as a pretrans and thought of him as a boy even after his transition despite being attracted to him. His first time with anyone consensually was with her; he tried to kiss her afterwards and she shut him down to keep him at arm's length, telling him it was just in thanks for keeping her sympath side secret. When she was kidnapped and brutalized by Lash, he began acting like a bonded male.
Murhder[]
Former lover/current friend. After Xhex's escape from the lab, Murhder lost his mind, was kicked out of the Brotherhood, and disappears, letting her know that he didn't want to see her again after discovering she was a sympath. Ultimately, she thought he was dead since she never heard from him again. Years later she still blames herself for what happened to him.
Rehvenge[]
Friend/Family. Very close friends who fed from each other and allies, they did have a one night fling but both knew that they were only meant to be friends. When the sympath princess blackmailed him to keep the secret of her and Rehv's sympath fathers, she blamed herself for the secret being discovered.
Tohrment[]
Friend. Tohrment has always been kind to Xhex and seemed like he knew far too much, which weirded her out at first because she doesn't do well with softer emotions nor does she like allowing anyone too close.
Trez & iAm[]
Friend/Family. They are all best friends.
Vishous[]
Friend. He has a rather strained relationship with Xhex because of the one night stand she had with Butch. Since he holds Butch near and close to his heart, he hates to think of them together. That later soothes itself when Xhex shows vulnerability towards his Brother John Matthew. It also doesn't help that they're very much alike.
Trivia[]
- Xhexania means "blessed one."[4]
- Her weapon of choice is a knife.[5]
- After taking a vein, her hunger's suppressed for hours, sometimes up to a full day.[6]
- She rides a black Ducati without a helmet and while wearing riding leathers.
- Instead of being blue like Rehvenge's or a full-blooded sympath, her blood is purple-ish red.
- One Halloween, she and John Matthew dressed up as Trinity and Neo from The Matrix.[7]
- Instead of a personalized message, her voicemail's set to the automated prompt.[8]
- She wears cilices, spiked garters, around her thighs to control her sympath side, including ovulation[9], with pain
- After Rhevenge's disappearance, she worked at one of the clubs he left behind, Iron Mask, managed by Trez.
- Her father was a working-class sympath
- Xhex has a fear of all things medical: exam rooms, equipment, doctors, needles, etc.
- Member of the Survivors' Club
Appearances[]
- Lover Awakened
- Lover Revealed
- Lover Unbound
- Lover Enshrined
- Lover Avenged
- Lover Mine
- Lover Reborn
- Lover at Last
- Possession
- The King
- The Shadows
- Blood Kiss
- Where Winter Finds You
- Claimed
- Forever
References[]
- ↑ Lover Mine, Ch. 69
- ↑ Lover Unbound, Ch. 19
- ↑ Lover Mine, Ch. 74
- ↑ Lover Mine, Ch. 71
- ↑ Lover Avenged, Ch. 60
- ↑ Lover Mine, Ch. 29
- ↑ Beth. "Missive From the Mansion." Caldwell Courier Journal. Vol I, Issue 8. October 1, 2019
- ↑ Where Winter Finds You, Ch. 23
- ↑ Lover Mine, Ch. 26