Fratelli: The Awakening (The Vampire Cartel #1)

30. Sisters Divided

Chapter 30

Sisters Divided

B aton Rouge, Louisiana

April 14, 2018

(8 Days Before Death)

Sonya wept, her tears flowed relentlessly, an outpour of emotion and grief that could last forever. Charmaine quietly made tea while Nzinga tried to ease the rise of tension between the women. Nothing Sonya had ever faced compared to the pain she felt now—not even her brother’s death by gun violence.

“Breathe,” Nzinga said softly, her voice steady. “Take your time and let it all in.”

“I-I-I don’t… I don’t understand,” Sonya groaned, her voice cracked. “There’s so much pain. So much suffering. All the death, the destruction—it’s endless.”

“It can end,” Nzinga replied, her tone firmer now. “We defeat the Draca, wipe out that entire brotherhood of blood-sucking bastards, and we stop them for good.”

“That’s not what I mean!” Sonya’s hand jerked away from Nzinga’s touch, her frustration sharp. “I’m talking about everything! Our history—thousands of years of torture and pain. Men, women, children. It’s still happening. Everywhere. It’s like we, the people of color in this world, exist only to suffer.”

“You can’t see it like that,” Nzinga said. “Not history. Not the present.”

“I saw it!” Sonya’s voice rose in anguish. “You showed it to me. You can’t tell me how to feel about it!”

Charmaine handed her a steamy cup. “Here, drink this.”

“I don’t want any damn tea, Char!” Sonya snapped. She glared at her friend.

“Drink it anyway. I put something in it to calm you,” Charmaine said. “It takes time, Sonya, for everything to settle in your mind. But it will. You’ll see the bigger picture. Nzinga’s right—there are forces at play bigger than us, but we’re all connected,” she said.

Reluctantly, Sonya took the cup. “That’s not what I saw. I saw what Wanda saw—pointless death, endless sacrifice, and nothing changes.”

Charmaine’s gaze volleyed to Nzinga. She silently urged her to explain.

Nzinga turned off the visual display and faced Sonya directly. “Your third eye is open now. You can see and hear the world—and the monsters in it. What I’ve shared with you is usually taught over three years, not crammed into thirty minutes. But we don’t have that kind of time. The ritual we performed on Wanda’s baby while she was still in the womb was misguided. We tried to stop the first wave, but we made a grave mistake. Dolly is an enigma. Her power surpasses anything we’ve seen before—she’s the purest form of our lineage. But her other half, Darlene? She’s a live wire. Unpredictable. Dangerous. Darlene has access to the knowledge of our elders, but she doesn’t understand it. She’s like a toddler holding a loaded gun. If she falls into Lucio Di Salvo’s hands, she’ll turn to darkness, and we won’t be able to pull her back.”

Sonya’s eyes flashed with anger. “So, why did you watch ? Why didn’t you take Dolly and tell her all of this? Why wait until now?”

“We weren’t sure,” Nzinga said quietly. “We had to be sure.”

“So, you threw her into the lion’s den to see if she’d walk out alive?” Charmaine asked, her voice bitter.

Nzinga sighed. “Yes. We had to. Dolly is drawn to Lucio—he craves her, and she wants to consume his dark energy. We put them together because we needed to start the war. Now we have to make sure the right-side wins.”

Sonya squeezed her eyes shut and tried to block out the horrific visions from earlier. They wouldn’t leave her. The screams, the chaos—it was all still there, like echoes in her mind. She forced herself to listen to Nzinga’s words, even though it felt like too much.

“Darlene is nothing but a child to Lucio,” Nzinga continued. “He’s a Master Vampire. He’ll learn her origin, her weaknesses. He’ll find a way to turn her and take control. You and Charmaine need to convince Dolly to face Darlene, to see Lucio for what he really is. Then bring her to us.”

Sonya’s breathing slowed, and the panic attack eased. Whatever Charmaine had slipped into the tea had worked, though she didn’t know how long it would last.

“We don’t have powers,” Sonya said, her voice shaky but calm. “How do we even get close to Dolly without getting killed? I still can’t believe these vampires… dragon people exist.”

Nzinga smiled faintly. “They’re not dragon people. I call them vampires because that’s what the legends named them. But to answer your question—you have power. Both of you.”

“Bullshit!” Sonya shot back. “If I had powers, I’d have won the lottery by now.”

Nzinga took Sonya’s arm and ran her hand over her skin. “Your melanin. It’s a source of energy from the universe. The most powerful resource on this planet. That’s why our ancestors were hunted—at first by the beasts, then by humans. But people have short memories. Today they hunt us, but even they don’t know why. That’s what I’m teaching you—the reasons you are special, the reasons humanity has forgotten, the reasons Hoodoo was born out of slavery. Lucio Di Salvo is close to the uncovered truth. If he finds it before we reach Dolly, it will be too late.”

“You sound crazy,” Charmaine muttered.

“I’ll teach you how to use it. Both of you,” Nzinga said. She ignored the doubt in Charmaine’s voice.

“Why us?” Sonya demanded and pulled her arm away. “Why is this our responsibility? If you know what Dolly is and you know how to help her, why don’t you kill the vampire? Why us?”

Nzinga leaned back, her expression unreadable.

“Answer me!” Sonya demanded. Her voice rose again.

“They’re afraid,” Charmaine answered quietly.

Sonya turned to her; eyes wide. “Afraid? Of what?”

“Tell her the truth,” Charmaine said, her voice low and calm. When Nzinga remained silent, Charmaine looked directly at Sonya. “They’ve tried before. The four vampire brothers dusted them into near extinction. It was their first mission, given to them by their father, Vittorio, when they took the oath of the Draca. The witches’ numbers are so low now that the brothers don’t even know they still exist. If Nzinga’s people attack and lose again, it’s over. They want us to be the sacrificial lambs to bring Dolly closer to them. If we succeed, great. If we die, even better—Dolly will want revenge. But they won’t lift a finger to help,” said Charmaine.

Sonya stared at her. The weight of the revelation crashed down on her like a tsunami. “I knew it,” she whispered. “That’s why Wanda ran off with her baby. She knew you were desperate. She knew Dolly wouldn’t stand a chance. You’re just sitting here, self-righteous, while you push us into a war we can’t win. No wonder Julia Brown hates you people. Maybe Lucio is a monster, but at least he owns it. You’re no better, pretending to help while sending us to slaughter.”

Nzinga stood slowly, her eyes dark with unspoken emotion. “I understand that knowledge comes with pain. Yes, we’ve failed countless times. But so have you—so has humanity. That’s how the universe is designed. Everyone is born with innocence, with gifts. But it’s your choices that shape your destiny. That’s true for us, for them, for every living being on this planet. If someone made the choices for you, what kind of existence would that be?”

Sonya couldn’t deny the logic in Nzinga’s words, even though they infuriated her. She remained silent, but something clicked inside her, a subtle shift in understanding.

Nzinga continued, her voice soft but resolute. “Wanda’s choice may have been right for her , but it was wrong for Dolly. And for Darlene.”