Fratelli: The Awakening (The Vampire Cartel #1)

43. Salvation and Damnation

Chapter 43

Salvation and Damnation

H enderson, Nevada

April 15, 2018

(6 Days Before Death)

As dawn approached, Don Lucio Di Salvo returned. Before his arrival, he communicated telepathically with his men. He provided them with information about what Tristan would require. He brought Tristan into a room through an open window. Once inside, he placed Tristan on the bed and observed that his blood had healed Tristan to where his burns were almost absorbed back into his skin. This meant his Draca was alive and well.

Lucio stepped back from the bed. Tristan, or Tristano as he was once called, lay still, as if asleep—much like Dolly when he found her. Lucio once again remembered why he was so fond of his consiglieri. His existence as a vampire had been cold and empty without people to trust or to love.

“What’s wrong with him?” came a soft voice in the room.

Lucio turned his head, startled by Darlene’s sudden presence. He hadn’t sensed her arrival, which was unsettling. She stood there in his shirt and boxers, her dark hair cascaded down her back, longer and thicker than when he had first found Dolly. Her beauty was striking, yet different from Dolly’s—a blend of severity and warmth, with a mouth that hinted at gentleness and eyes that sparkled with curiosity. Her skin had a radiant glow, reminiscent of that of a virginal bride. She moved on her toes toward the bed, her eyes wide and inquisitive.

“Is he vampire too?” Darlene asked.

“Go to your room, wait for me there—” Lucio’s tone was firm, but she ignored him and stepped around him to get a closer look.

“Can I see him?” Darlene asked. “Are his teeth like yours? With diamonds?”

“Leave,” Lucio repeated. He gripped her shoulders to stop her.

Darlene’s defiance faded as she turned and looked up at him, her eyes wide as she searched his mind for an explanation. “What’s wrong? Oh, I see it. You’re afraid. It’s the first time I’ve seen fear in you. You’re afraid for him, but you’re not afraid of me? Are you related? Is he one of the brothers? You know, the brothers you told Dolly about on the plane.”

“Did I? No,” Lucio said. “You’re confused. I’m not in fear for him. He’s hurt.”

“Hurt? He’s immortal.” Darlene tilted her head to the left. She processed the news. “Is he hurt like when I hurt you?”

“Similar yes, now can you please go back to the bedroom and wait for me?” he asked.

“You left. I knew you’d come back here. I heard you say you needed to get him somewhere safe. Do you think he’s safe with me, even though I hate vampires? That’s stupid,” said Darlene.

“You don’t hate vampires, Darlene. Wait, a second. You heard?” Lucio frowned.

“Yes. You were angry. You said: ‘THIS IS WAR!’” Darlene mimicked his tone and the seriousness in his voice.

“Wait, are you in my head?” Lucio asked.

Only vampires could read each other’s minds; not even the wolves had this power. She was changing, not just physically, but irresistibly. Her scent had become more potent, more addictive. The smell of her lingered in every room she had passed through. At first, her presence startled him when he brought in Tristan—she had defied his orders to stay in the room. Instinctively, he felt anger rise. But as she drew closer, her scent overwhelmed him, blending all the pleasures he had known with Dolly into one intoxicating woman. Lucio realized, with a sinking heart, that she was blooming—becoming something dangerous right before his eyes.

Like a rose, she was blooming—her hair longer, her skin flawless, her scent... dangerously decadent, like a poisonous lily. Darlene had unknowingly transcended the boundaries of the natural world.

She gave him a sly smile, and the urge to be close to her overwhelmed him. He wanted to hold her, kiss her, take her to bed, and lose himself in her for the next millennia. He had to summon all his mental strength to resist the pull, even as he mourned her. It was a strange, aching loss, something he’d only felt faintly with Wanda. He loved Wanda, but he could let her go. Now he mourned Dolly and craved Darlene. It was making him sloppy, and irrational. Had he just declared war on his brothers for a forsaken priest?

Darlene continued, “Then you said to yourself, ‘I will take him to this room.’ And you told the men who work for you, through your thoughts, to bring the girls. So, I came to watch. He is a vampire, right? Why does he look like that? He smells strange—like stank barbecue. Does he want my blood, too?”

“Stop,” Lucio insisted.

“Why should I vampire? I know what you want. You and him both wanted to feed me to your Draca. I know what you are,” said Darlene.

“Don’t push me, Darlene.” He composed himself. “You have questions. Okay. I understand that. We should talk. I have to explain things to you. What you’re learning and seeing, it’s not like what these thoughts tell you it is. And it’s not a puzzle for you to solve. Tristan is hurt, seriously hurt. None of it has anything to do with you. Do you understand?”

She nodded, looking contrite. “I understand. I know too much. My questions make you uncomfortable because you can’t fool me. Not like Dolly. She just giggles and plays dumb. She isn’t dumb, but she plays it well. Like an actress. Better than Viola Davis she is?—”

“Enough!” Lucio pleaded.

Darlene pouted.

Lucio’s expression softened. “You don’t know everything, okay? I know you want to understand our history. What I am, and what I wanted from Dolly the first time we met. But to do so, you will also need to come into the knowledge naturally. Access the true nature of your powers. Or why we’re connected the way we are. I’m going to explain it to you. What being a vampire means, and why you’re not my enemy.”

“In other words, you’re going to lie to me,” she jerked away.

“You need to trust me,” he replied.

“No, vampire. I’m smart. Don’t forget that. I’m just inexperienced. I haven’t been in control of Dolly since Tyrone, and she immediately locked me away. But I’m smart. Oh, and maybe I’ll teach you some things. Why there is a Dolly and Darlene? Why she is gone? And why do I know you still pretend that you don’t want her back? But you do!” said Darlene. “I can see it. Even as you beg for my pussy!”

Lucio remained expressionless. Did she think her little taunts mattered to him? He had serious issues to contend with, not the whims of her curiosity or her bratty attitude. But again, he restrained himself.

“I can hear you! The way you talk in your head about finding a way to make me and Dolly one, to bring her back to you complete. How you must restrain yourself. You still don’t listen. There is no half and half. There is me and then there is her. We are not the same. We will never be. I’m the one that’s here. So, focus.”

“I understand. Capisco .”

Darlene at first glared, but when his stare didn’t waver, she took that as his submission. She smiled. “You don’t speak Italian to me. You did for her. I know Italian too. We could speak the language to each other. I taught Dolly French when we were kids,” said Dolly.

“I’m Sicilian,” he corrected her.

“I know that! But you’re speaking Italian. I know the difference. I’m smart, okay? Not some ignorant bunny from the hood. I know things. Especially about you, vampire. You shocked me earlier outside. But I know who you are and what you really want,” she said.

“Do you?” Lucio sighed. He didn’t want to drag the conversation further, but the more she talked, the more he learned how she saw him and the world. The problem was that this lesson was costing him time, and time was of the essence for Tristan.

“Yep.” She approached him. Lucio expected another embrace, but she sidestepped him and went back to the bed. He turned to stop her, but she was already reaching for Tristan’s hand.

“He’s alive. I can feel his suffering,” she said. “I’m a destroyer and I’m a healer. I can heal him like I healed you. I can hear his thoughts. He’s so thirsty. Really thirsty. And he hates you. It’s his secret that he carries deep down inside. He hates you. Maybe I should cure him and make him tell you to your face.”

“No,” he pulled her away. “Don’t ever. You will never give yourself to another man of my kind. Do you understand? Not even telepathy. He’s a vampire. He is not to know what it’s like to taste you, your thoughts, or your blood.”

“Are you jealous?” she smirked.

“You want me, then it is me. Only me, like it is only you. No Dolly,” Lucio stressed.

She glanced from him to Tristan, and he could see her mind attach meaning to his words that he didn’t intend. But when she smiled, he relaxed. “Okay. Do you want me to donate blood to heal him?”

Lucio rolled his eyes. “You’re not listening. No, Darlene. What I want is for you to go back to bed and wait for me. Stay in the room. Promise.”

She huffed a deep sigh of frustration. “It’s almost morning. Look!”

As the sun kept rising, it almost wiped the darkness from the sky.

“I want to do something today. I’ve never been anywhere fun on my own. Give me a car. I can drive. Give me some money, and I’ll get us the things we need. Today I want… I want to do everything.” Darlene grinned.

He pretended agreement.

She chewed on her bottom lip and studied him. Unlike when his brothers tried or his father did, he could never really feel when she was in his head. But looking at her, he knew she was attempting to read his mind.

“No more sex,” she blurted. She picked up on his frustration and mounting attraction.

Lucio's brows lowered.

“I’m tired of having sex with you,” she said with a shrug.

“I bore you?” Lucio asked.

She laughed. She laughed so hard because he sensed she knew her comment stung. “No, the sex is good compared to who Dolly has fucked. But what would I know? You’re a vampire, so the sex is weird. All that biting on me!” She waved him off and walked away. “What I meant was I’m tired of what we do being just sex. You keep ordering me to bed, and I see your dick jump in your pants when you do.”

Lucio looked down, and Darlene laughed. “Made you look!”

“Okay, we’re done!” He marched over and took her by the arm. He would just put her out of the room. He was too conflicted for anything more.

“Wait! Wait! I’m teasing you. Damn!” She jerked away and backed from him. “You watched TV with Dolly, and she sang and made you a sandwich. She got this feeling of being appreciated by you. I want to feel that way, and then we can have sex the way you like.”

“Fine Dolly! Do whatever the fuck you want, but you need to leave!” Lucio shouted.

“Dolly? Did you just call me Dolly?” Darlene narrowed her eyes on him.

He sighed.

“Whatever you want,” he conceded. “After we talk, and we set some boundaries.”

“Okay, vampire.” Darlene walked over to him and stood on her toes. He could feel the anger coming off of her. But she pretended not to be. When their lips met, he had a hard time believing she wasn’t his Dolly again. For him, it would always be the same when he fell under her spell, and each time he kissed her, it felt like the first. Darlene's eyes stretched, and she pushed her way out of the now-deepening tongue kiss. “I heard you. You said I taste good. I’m learning vampire. I’m learning that fighting with you makes you pay attention. And it makes me strong.”

“You do taste good,” said Lucio, and he licked her saliva from his lips and his fangs. He pulled her again to kiss her more. Her mouth was the sweetest nectar he’d known. He lusted for more.

Darlene shoved him off and giggled. “Your dick is hard!”

Her teasing him made him slip out of the enchantment. But he wanted her to kiss again, and her blood. He hungered for it. The Draca in him was tense, still waiting for him to leap so it could pounce.

“Fuck you, vampire. I know what you want. But you called me her!” Darlene said.

“I’m sorry for calling you Dolly. Forgive me,” he reached for her. His body now vibrating with need.

Darlene stepped back from his reach and glared at him.

“You are all woman, and you’re changing. I see that. And if you can read my thoughts, then you know how deep I’m in this with you.”Lucio reasoned.

She yawned. She turned and walked out of the room, and she made sure to slam the door behind her.

Lucio groaned deep in his throat and shook his head. What was he to do with her?