Priya Lacroix

Priya Lacroix, a character in the Bloodbound series, is a fashion designer and a vampire, as well as the leader of Clan Lacroix. She makes her first official appearance in Book 1, Chapter 7. Your character is able to meet her in Chapter 2, if you accompany Adrian to The Red Room.

Appearance
Priya has long, wavy, dark brown hair. Her hair fringe loosely hangs around her face and she keeps the rest styled in a wrapped side ponytail. She has brown eyes that turn red in her vampire state, and has a light brown skintone.

Priya has thin eyebrows, high cheekbones, and overall sharp/well defined features including a defined chin and very prominent cupids bow. She is often mentioned to be alluring and attractive.

Priya dresses and accessorizes in one of the most modern and flashy styles of all the characters. Her visible cosmetics consists of maroon nail varnish, dark brown eyeshadow, and burgundy lipstick on her full lips. She wears a pearl colored, long sleeved, satin finish, body-con dress; it has a high collar but a large front cutout, allowing it to expose much of her torso. Priya accessorizes with a crystal-beaded dress sash and a silver body chain she wears underneath her dress.

Personality
Essentially, Priya has two sides. She is hedonistic and dangerous while also being charming and alluring. On the one side, she is openly antagonistic by being violent, arrogant and cold-hearted, only caring about herself and her own pleasures, and believes she is superior. On the other side, Priya hides her true nature by being charismatic and manipulative, causing many humans to fall for her. Adrian says she is unpredictable.

Priya's key trait next to her evilness, which distinguishes her from the others, is her hedonism. It becomes clear early in Book 1 that Priya lives for pleasure. She lives in a huge and luxurious mansion in Manhattan with a pool, a theater, and her own houseboys. These are young men who Priya uses for her own pleasure and at times even kills. She demands them to show absolute submission to her, to maintain an eight-pack and to walk around topless. A similar theme can be seen on the waiters in her club. She is also on the constant lookout for "muses" - attractive humans she wants to seduce and kill. However, her interest also extends to vampires, as she is mentioned to host weekly vampire orgies at her mansion and at vampire events such as Solstice.

Another trait Priya shows is sadism. When confronted with her killings of humans such as her houseboys, she doesn't show carelessness but happiness. When confronted with a threat, on the other hand, Priya is shown to make sadistic threats back, for example claiming she will skin Lily alive or strangle Kamilah to death. It seems that she always was a sadistic person because, when newly Turned, Priya was against Gaius' plan of blood farms, saying she prefers her prey wriggling.

Despite her mistreatment of her employees and selfish attitude, Priya has at rare times shown another side of her. In Book 1, she feels sadness when Marcel Lafayette is killed by ferals during the attack on his castle. She displays the same sadness after the death of her Maker, ex partner and colleague, Adam Vega. Regardless, in Chapter 13, Kamilah describes Priya as "every bit a monster as The Baron. Maybe worse." This likely has to do with her openly sadistic personality and lack of empathy for her victims.

Due to her relative youth in Vampire terms, she is generally apathetic towards Council politics. She acts annoyed in Book 1, Chapter 2, when Adrian bothers her with Council politics after her fashion show in the Crimson Veil. She votes for Adrian's execution when Vega's evidence seemed strong yet easily supports absolving him of his supposed crimes when evidence proved otherwise and when it became apparent that the remaining Council members were outnumbered.

She always supports whoever she believes would win, which is why she works for Gaius in Book 2, and then for Rheya in Book 3 if she's still alive. At this time, it becomes apparent that Priya mainly cares about surviving. At the same time, she enjoys to cause suffering to her human victims. If she survives the triology, she is seen in the Caribbean, apparently not having made a change to her personality.

Background
In Jameson's notes, it states that Priya's background is an enigma. She claims to have been born in the USA in the late 1800s. However, Jameson writes that he can sometimes hear a soft Mumbai accent when she speaks, and the writers confirmed in a 2018 Instagram livestream that Priya is indeed Indian. It is unknown why she claims to have been born in the USA.

Her exact time of birth is a mystery as well. In the mentioned Instagram livestream, it is said that Priya is older than Baron, who was born in 1882. However, in a YouTube livestream for VIP members on October 31st 2023, hosted by the Bloodbound writers, it is said that Priya was Turned as a "flapper girl", which strongly implies that she was Turned in the 1920s. Thus, considering her youthful appearance, it is highly unlikely for her to have been born before 1882. If Priya was Turned in the 1920s, it can be estimated that she was born in the 1890s or 1900s. This would make her about 120-130 years old at the time of Bloodbound 1.

Using all the given information about her past, her background can be reconstructed: Priya Lacroix came to New York as a human in the 1920s. There, she met Adam Vega, who Turned her into a vampire. Jameson's notes suggest that he did this as an act of affection towards her, while the writers in the YouTube livestream of 2023 explain that Vega Turned Priya simply because he thought of her as hot. Regarding this, the writers add that Priya likely knew of vampires beforehand and asked Vega to Turn her. Not long after Priya's Turning, also in the 1920s, Vega introduced Priya to the other members of Gaius' inner circle, explaining that she's new to the Continent. Soon after this, the six defeated him and became The Council of New York Vampires.

Book 1

 * Chapter 2: The Vampire (Mentoned; Physical Appearance Determinant)
 * Chapter 3: The Library (Mentioned; Determinant)
 * Chapter 4: The Rebel (Mentioned; Determinant)
 * Chapter 6: The Senator (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 7: The Judgment
 * Chapter 9: The Ball
 * Chapter 10: The Massacre
 * Chapter 11: The Den (Mentioned; Determinant)
 * Chapter 12: The Tribunal
 * Chapter 13: The Dungeon (Determinant)
 * Chapter 16: The Dawn

Bloodbound: Dark Solstice

 * Chapter 1: 'Twas The Night Before Solstice
 * Chapter 2: He Knows When You're Awake
 * Chapter 3: Silent Night, Unholy Night
 * Chapter 4: And To All An Endless Night

Book 2

 * Chapter 1: The Calm
 * Chapter 5: The Summons
 * Chapter 6: The Ambush
 * Chapter 15: The Devastation
 * Chapter 16: The End

Book 3

 * Chapter 4: The Return
 * Chapter 8: The Truth (Determinant)
 * Chapter 16: The Beginning (Determinant)

Book 2

 * Chapter 11: And... Action! (Mentioned; Determinant)

Nightbound

 * Chapter 7: Secrets of the Blood

Bachelorette Party

 * Chapter 6: Raising the Stakes

Adrian Raines
Priya and Adrian don't quite get along given her younger age and how she treats her houseboys. She can act charming around him, as shown in one of the first scenes where they meet in her Red Room. However, it later becomes apparent that she never trusted his "whole uptight, goody two-shoes schtick." This is supported by a later scene: when Adrian announces Vega's death, Priya immediately assumes that Adrian killed the "poor Adam" in "cold blood." This suggests she never trusted him. Perhaps as a form of revenge, Priya is happy that Adrian will be furious later on, if she manages to kill Your Character.

Kamilah Sayeed
She serves alongside Kamilah in The Council. When the two met in the 1920s, Priya seemed to have a positive impression on Kamilah, considering she talked casually with her and called her a "doll." It is later seen that Priya dislikes Kamilah in modern times, often reducing her to her old age. When they meet after Priya betrays the Council, she addresses Kamilah personally and says that she is going to "choke the absolte life out of [her]." This suggests their rivalry was personal.

Lester Castellanos
Priya and Lester were part of The Council of New York Vampires until the latter's death in Book 2. They never interacted much until after Vega's death, when it became apparent that Lester was staring at her and even asked her to sit on his lap. Priya called him "gross" and threatened him in response.

Adam Vega
She and Adam were part of The Council of New York Vampires until the latter's death at then end of Book 1. It is confirmed that they were in a relationship in the 1920s, and it was him who introduced her to the other members of the Council. She was saddened and torn to hear of Vega's betrayal. It is revealed in a premium scene in Book 2, Chapter 2, that she was Turned by him mostly out of affection for her. In a later livestream it is suggested that Priya asked Vega to Turn her into a vampire, and he obliged because he thought of her as hot.

Her overall feelings for him, however, are more of a mystery. In the book, they barely interacted. Priya's first reaction to Vega's death was sadness; she referred to him as "Poor Adam" and initially viewed him as the victim, blaming Adrian for having killed him "in cold blood". Her thought process moments later revolved around taking his possessions. In Book 2, Chapter 1 Priya was was angry at him, referring to Vega as "a moron who thought too highly of himself". Her change of emotions and real feelings about him were never explained.

The Baron
Priya and The Baron were part of The Council of New York Vampires until the latter's death in Book 2. In Book 2, Chapter 1, she gets angry with the Baron for allowing his men harass her female models in events of her fashion shows.

Jax Matsuo
When it was announced that Jax would take Vega's place, she described Jax as a "sexy Clanless" and was furious and horrified that he was going to take Vega's place, so she initially voted no. Once Your Character blackmails Priya with the feral problem and she is told that she was "outgunned", she immediately votes yes for him.

Your Character (Bloodbound)
Priya finds your character to have beautiful features, trying to make a deal with Adrian that she'd vote for Lily's place in his clan as long as Priya got to keep your character. She acts possessive and inappropriate towards her the whole time throughout the books, for example by grabbing her by the throat and saying "I want this one." Priya's fascination lasts throughout the story until a very late point in time where Priya is willing to kill Your Character in battle, announcing: "Hi babe! I'm going to kill you now!"

Scholar Jameson
In a premium scene that takes place in Book 2, Chapter 2, Scholar Jameson's journal entry on her reveal that he doesn't fully believe her claim to have been born in America during the late 1800's, as he can hear at times a soft Mumbai accent when she speaks. He also goes to say that she plays the role of coquette quite well. But he admits that underneath that, she hides a great intelligence... and a true ruthlessness. He goes on to say that what makes Priya truly alarming isn't that she's vicious... but that her viciousness runs so cold, so careful and so calculated. He believes that above all else, Priya is a survivor, and is not to be trusted.

Gaius Augustine
In Book 2, Chapter 6, it is revealed that she was secretly working for Gaius. It is unknown when that came about but highly possible after he emerged from the Onyx Sarcophagus. She states that she always backs the winning side, and she knew Gaius and Jameson would be the victors. She also says that democracy is a 20th-century thing, and that dictatorships are in vogue recently. In Chapter 15, Nikhil states that Priya is always at Gaius's side and is his new consort. She leads the raids, the purges, and the massacres of humans, and she enjoys it.

Your Character (Nightbound)
She can be encountered at Tonya Reimonenq's New Orleans casino while your character was forced to meet with Lady Smoke. She is immediately attracted to your beautiful features, is flattered you know her fashion design work, and considers you to be a beautiful muse. She then hypnotizes you and wants to bring you to New York, only to be stopped by Nik Ryder and Katherine. Not wanting to fight two Nighthunters, she releases you, and invites you to New York if you change your mind.

Powers and Abilities

 * Immortality: In Book 1, Chapter 2, Adrian confirms that he does not age. Thus we can assume the same can be said for Priya.
 * Super-Strength: In Book 1, Chapter 2, Adrian confirms that he is strong enough to lift a car. Thus we can assume the same can be said for Priya.
 * Healing Factor: Accelerated healing is an ability that vampires possess that allows them to heal from physical injuries at supernatural speeds. If a vampire uses their blood such as when Adrian was done feeding on Nicole, they can heal the bite mark as well. Thus we can assume the same can be said for Priya.
 * Heightened Senses: In Book 1, Chapter 6, Lily mentions how she can feel the slightest air currents, how she can even see the tiniest pores in Your Character's skin and can hear the water running through the pipes three stories up. Thus we can assume the same came be said for Priya.
 * Basic Weaponship Mastery: Despite not being much of a fighter, Priya relies more on her cunning and manipulation if she knows that she cannot win in a battle. When imprisoning Gaius for the first time, she was able to use dual guns. When fighting Kamilah, she learned from Gaius about Kamilah's fighting style with daggers. It took Kamilah and Your Character together to defeat her in the premium scene.

Weaknesses

 * Sunlight: Sunlight is one of vampires' weaknesses. As Adrian stated, sunlight does hurt him and can prove fatal after more than thirty minutes of exposure. It's akin to hypersensitivity; overexposure causes, as Adrian describes it, an accelerated heat stroke. This same weakness can be assumed for Priya.
 * Decapitation: Dismembering or manually removing the head of a vampire will result in instant and permanent death.
 * Heart Extraction: Removing and subsequently destroying the heart of a vampire will also result in permanent death.
 * Unquenched Bloodlust: When Adrian first became a vampire, he felt the powerful thirst for blood which no amount of water can relieve. In the brief period where he resisted the urge, Adrian experienced severe discomfort whereby he eventually gave in to his instincts. It is unknown yet how long a vampire can remain thirsty or what the extent of pain is when this need is unmet. When vampires don't consume blood for extended periods of time, they tend to give in to their instincts and attack the nearest human nearby in order to suppress their thirst. Newly Turned Vampires like Lily are the ones mostly affected by this problem.
 * A Feral's Bite: A bite from a feral vampire is infectious to regular vampires because it can turn them feral too.

Fate
Priya's fate in Bloodbound is determined by the player and can go two ways. In Book 2, Chapter 16, the player can decide to let Priya go or to help Kamilah kill her. If the former option is chosen, Priya escapes and survives the entire series. If the player chooses the diamond option, Priya will die. The scene takes place in an abandoned shopping mall that Priya sought out to kill Your Character and friends with Gaius' vampire army. After most enemies are killed, Your Character finds Kamilah and Priya circling each other, waiting for the other to attack first. As Priya brags about being Gaius' new princess, Kamilah slashes her cheek with a knife. Priya insults her and drives her weapon, a long ritual dagger, into Kamilah's side, saying Gaius taught her all her moves. She then twists the blade in Kamilah's body and asks happily, "Ohhh, does that hurt?" Kamilah pushes Priya back and collapses. This is the moment that Your Character gets the chance to "end Priya's reign of terror once and for all."

If the diamond option is chosen, Priya wants to escape, but Kamilah grabs her wrist and breaks it, to which Priya angrily calls her a "stupid bitch". Priya exlaims she doesn't want to fight two against one and grabs a pistol, shooting Your Character. Kamilah takes all the bullets for Your Character until Priya is out of ammo, moves forward and slices Priya's chest open with a knife. Priya is strong enough to kick Kamilah off of her, grabbing and lifting Your Character by the face and saying with a sad face, "The saddest thing is that we never got to be together." She lights up and adds, "Unless I keep you for myself. On a leash. Where you belong." Kamilah then tosses a brick at Priya's head, who drops Your Character. Using the opening, Your Character stabs Priya from the front while Kamilah does it from the back. Priya is shocked about this, says "You... gotta be... kidding me...", collapses and spits blood. Her last words are "You'll... pay for this... you old hag" before Kamilah stakes her in the heart.

Trivia

 * If you decided to go with Adrian in Book 1, Chapter 2, he will mention that Priya is the youngest member of The Council. She is considered a teenager in Vampire years.
 * On June 29, 2018, in the Instagram livestream, it was confirmed by Andrew that The Baron is actually the youngest member of the Council not Priya. It was later fixed if you replay Chapter 2.
 * It was also confirmed that Priya is Indian.
 * Priya is the only member of the Council that was not Turned by Gaius Augustine. An evidence of this is she doesn't seem to know who he is when the Council met with Gaius in the 1920's. She even unintentionally disrespected him when she didn't bow to him as king and even referred to him as "This fella".
 * In Book 1, Chapter 2, Adrian mentions that garlic gives him a minor distaste, rather than kill him. This in turn means that it is not a real weakness for vampires as a whole and we can assume Priya has a similar distaste for it.
 * She is the owner of the club, The Crimson Veil.
 * In Perfect Match, Book 2, Chapter 11, you can guess that she might be Winona's mystery guest. If you do, Nadia claims she'd sacrifice her firstborn to get into one of her shows.
 * The name Priya is of Indian origin and means: Beloved, favorite, nice.
 * The surname Lacroix is of French origin and means "the cross."
 * In a premium scene during Book 2, Chapter 2, it's revealed that she was Turned by Adam Vega.
 * This means that although she is older, she is in the same vampire "generation" as Lily. Her blood is more diluted and less connected to Gaius, making her a weaker vampire than Adrian, Kamilah, Adam, Lester or the Baron.
 * She makes a cameo appearance in Chapter 7 of Nightbound.
 * You have the premium choice to hook up with her in Book 2, Chapter 5. However, the experience kills you after she drinks too much of your blood and the game resets to the last checkpoint.
 * In Book 2, Chapter 6, it's revealed that she betrayed the Council to Gaius.
 * She makes an appearance in Bachelorette Party, Chapter 6.
 * Her last name is spelled "LaCroix" in Bachelorette Party.
 * Her crimes include aiding and abetting, murder, and terrorism.
 * In Book 2, Chapter 16, you have the chance to help Kamilah kill her in a premium scene. If you don't, she escapes, and returns in Book 3, Chapter 8.
 * If she survives, she will appear in Book 3, Chapter 16 and will escape after you kill Scholar Jameson (if he is alive). She ends up in the Caribbean in the epilogue at the end of the book.
 * On April 10, 2020, Pixelberry tweeted their #QuarantineHouse challenge, placing Priya in House 3 with Tyril Starfury, Drake Walker, Kenna Rys, Brian Crandall, and Mr. Covington.