17. Who is she?
Chapter 17
Who is she?
B ellagio - Las Vegas, Nevada
April 17, 2018
(4 Days Before Death)
“Where are you from again?” Lucio asked.
His intense stare bore a hole through Charmaine. She felt trapped. She wanted to melt into herself. Charmaine could not take the pressure of his unblinking stare. Eyes, eyes, eyes were everywhere . Was this the moment that everything was built toward? The moment she finally understood why being watched meant no escape. Maybe her paranoia was an actual warning. A premonition of her powers. If she had just relaxed, like Liora told her, she would have been prepared to be watched.
Charmaine tried to reach out and feel for Liora, but her presence was gone. Liora had also warned her that in the company of a Master Vampire, she would be on her own unless it was time for war.
“Who is Liora?” Lucio asked.
“Huh?” Charmaine replied.
“So, you know I’m a vampire? And a Master? Liora told you this?” Lucio asked. “She wants war with me?”
“Not to be rude, but I don’t want to discuss this with you. I want to talk to Dolly,” Charmaine said.
Lucio. Stop. Leave her alone.
Lucio heard Dolly’s plea. Though he had no intention of retreating, he released the mental poke he sent through the woman. Instead, he processed the tidbit of information he had gained. He was certain that Charmaine was indeed a friend of Dolly, but there were traces of supernatural intent all over this one. What did that mean? Someone had also taught her to shield her thoughts, or maybe something was shielding them for her. He could only pick up bread crumbs. Why was she there? And why now?
Charmaine lowered her gaze and walked even further away from him. Eyes, eyes, eyes, everywhere…
Lucio glared at her for the entire forty minutes it took for the siblings to discuss the new world they lived in.
And then the door opened. Dolly walked out first. She went straight to Lucio. He welcomed her into his arms. To have her alive and vibrant with her energy and love washing over him was all that he needed. He looked over and into the eyes of Russell, who wheeled his chair out of the room. The way the kid looked at him clarified that he, too, knew what he was. That disappointed Lucio. He would have preferred to ease Russell into that knowledge.
“Thank you,” Dolly said when she pulled back.
His gaze lowered to her. “For?”
“For being able to hold down your Draca’s urges and let my family in. I know that was hard for you. I know you were worried.”
I will do anything for you. Always . He told her telepathically. Dolly drew his face down and kissed him with tongue in front of her family. Her kiss freed him from any shame. She accepted him, and she would accept him publicly in front of the world.
She then turned and smiled at Charmaine and Russell. “Guys! This is Lucio. The love of my life. And Darlene’s first true love, too. I know you have a lot of questions. Lucio, maybe we should have dinner, to get to know each other…”
The door opened without a knock. Don Sebastiano entered the suite, accompanied by his consiglieri, Raven. Startled, Charmaine stood and then stepped back toward Russell. Raven noticed her immediately. Sebastiano, however, was fixated on Dolly.
He smiled.
“Dinner? Did I hear dinner? I’m open to it,” he said.
Nailed to the wall, Lamont resisted the urge to scream. He shuddered from the effort. Tristan's face was scarily close. His eyes, often seen as blue, were glaciers with ice cold rage. His vampiric hold was even more torturous as his sharpened nails cut into Lamont’s throat.
Tell me. Everything.
Lamont's brain suffered another sledgehammer of a blow and he whimpered through his answer. “She showed up. She was with Carmen. She’s from home. Went to grade school with her. She is best friends with the boss girl. She asked to see her. And then…”
What? And then what?
“I’m not lying boss…”
What!
“And then she blacked out. I picked her up, put her on the sofa, and then I was in the suite. Nothing. I don’t know why, how, or when, I just blinked and before I knew it, I was standing in the suite. That’s the God’s honest truth, bro. I swear it.”
Lamont was six foot three. Tristan was still several inches taller than him. When he dropped him, Tristan hit the ground and landed on his knees. Lamont coughed, hacked, gagged, wheezed for a deeply needed breath. His neck bled from the puncture wounds of Tristan’s sharpened nails. He was on all fours staring at Tristan’s shoes, afraid to look up. Despite not being a man prone to fear, Lamont was afraid of Tristan and Lucio in ways he could not put words too. He saw the beast in Lucio. He witnessed the slaughter of his best friend Deshawn. He still had nightmares about the vampires doing it to him.
“Get up!” Tristan snarled.
Lamont struggled at first.
“Get up!” Tristan delivered a hard kick to Lamont's side that nearly knocked him into the wall. “Stand on your feet.”
Lamont closed his eyes, ignored his discomfort, and stood on his feet. He let go of a deep breath. He braved a look into Tristan's eyes.
“What did she smell like?” Tristan asked, his eyes gleamed with menace and his fangs were distended.
Lamont frowned. “Bro, what?”
“Smell? What did she smell like when you first met her?”
Confused, Lamont's mind scrambled for an answer. Then he remembered the perfume. It was the sexiest and most alluring scent he’d ever smelled on a woman. “Perfume, sweet, like a flower, I think. It wasn’t strong, but it was, ya know soft and nice?” Lamont touched his neck and drew his fingers away to stare at the blood. “Yea. Nice, and feminine. She smelled like how you’d like your woman too, every time you see her.”
He looked up at Tristan. “I remember the smell now. It had me tripping.”
Tristan glanced at the door of the suite. He was about to approach when the private elevator dinged. Tristan paused. Out stepped three men. One looked just like Lucio. Lamont had learned that he was Shakespeare’s boss. His name was Domencio. The other was similar in height and meanness, but not identical. And then there was another who was what Lamont envisioned vampires to appear as. Dark, gothic, and menacing.
“Shit,” Lamont sighed.
He expected the Triad to come for him, but not this. And then Tristan shocked him. He bowed before the approaching men and yelled in Lamont’s head for him to do so as well. Lamont bowed. When Tristan stood upright, so did Lamont.
“Don Sebastiano. We weren’t expecting you so soon,” Tristan said.
Sebastiano smiled at the greeting. It was not as respectful the last time he and Tristan met. His gaze slipped to Lamont and immediately Lamont felt the bitter touch of the Don as he reached into his head and read his thoughts. It was brief, but Lamont did not like it. The Don then glanced at the door.
“Nice… it smells lovely in there. Let me guess. Sleeping beauty is awake?”
Tristan glanced at Domencio, whose brows were raised.
“I think it’s time I introduce myself,” Sebastiano said.
Before Tristan could stop the men, they went inside.
“What do we do?” Lamont asked. His voice held a shake to it that made him sound pathetic. He cleared his throat. “What do you need, boss?”
“Seize Carmen. Put someone on her and have her ready for me when I come for you. And stay fucking alert. Do you hear me? Alert!” Tristan said.
Lamont nodded. Tristan went inside.