Fratelli: Eternal Bloodlines (The Vampire Cartel #2)

32. Let Me Serve

Chapter 32

Let Me Serve

L as Vegas, Nevada

April 18, 2018

(3 Days Before Death)

“I don’t need anything from you,” Dolly said firmly. “Let’s go.”

“I can help! Get in my car—I can take you to—” Nzinga pleaded, but Darlene landed before her, pulsing with dark energy. Dolly sensed her sister’s eagerness to assert her power, to make an example of anyone who dared interfere.

Charmaine felt defenseless under the weight of Darlene’s intense gaze. Since joining Dolly, Charmaine had found her place with ease, but she knew Darlene’s trust had to be earned.

“Your Grace,” Charmaine said, respectfully. She shot a glare at Nzinga, prompting her to immediately drop to one knee. Charmaine then followed suit, kneeling before Darlene. “I come to you as Liora, not Charmaine. I am your Guardian as well, sworn to serve you from the light. I would never turn from a command or a fight. I am here to ensure that you and Dolly are always protected from the darkness.”

Darlene sneered. I didn’t ask for you to serve me! I’m handling the vampires, protecting my sister and brother—alone! I don’t need you!

“Darlene?” Dolly’s voice was gentle but firm.

Charmaine nodded, keeping her posture low. “That’s true. You don’t need us. That’s why we never attempted to breach your realm. We’ve respectfully remained apart. But it was this woman —and the ones she serves—who broke that law, not me. They brought us here. And now that we’re here, we are yours to command.”

Darlene’s gaze moved to Dolly, who gave her an encouraging nod. Reluctantly, Darlene’s dark energy receded, though her frown lingered.

“They’ve taken your brother,” Nzinga said, abruptly shifting the tense moment.

The reunion of the Chosen and the Guardian halted as Dolly and Darlene looked up, alarm sparking in their eyes.

Who took him? Darlene asked.

“Lucio had him removed from the Bellagio. He’s sent him to Reno. Does that mean anything to you?” Nzinga asked.

Darlene glanced at Dolly, who smiled.

“See? I told you,” Dolly said. “Lucio is trying to help us.”

Darlene’s gaze hardened.

“Your Grace, my sister Kaida—your friend Sonya—the consiglieri, Phoenix, has her. And he is the worst of them. The brothers know little about us compared to him. Phoenix was part of the war that ended us. He’s dangerous, and Sonya’s in serious trouble. We must save her.”

If she dies, she returns to the realm, Darlene muttered with a dismissive shrug.

“No, you don’t understand.” Charmaine’s voice grew urgent. “If she dies, so does Sonya. And neither of them will return to the realm. Julia Brown’s curse binds them both to this universe —and even Vittorio. Julia anticipated that the First People would try to summon Guardians. She trapped us here. If they die, they belong to Papa Legba, and they both end up in a place worse than hell.”

Dolly stepped forward; the weight of the revelation sunk deeper. “What? Hell? ”

“The darkness is a deep and vast void. You were in it. We felt you being trapped there with the Draca and Domencio’s soul. Mortals, religion has a name for it. Christianity called it purgatory. Islam calls it barzakh, a barrier or intermediate realm where souls await the Day of Judgment. It’s not purgatory, it is a place of waiting where the soul experiences consequences of past actions, before the final judgment. Hinduism calls it naraka, and Judaism?—.”

“We get it,” Darlene huffed.

Charmaine nodded. “That black void. The nothingness. It’s vast. It’s permanent.”

“What do we do?” Dolly asked Darlene, who looked confused.

“I have brought you some defense,” Nzinga said. “Weapons that belong to you. We don’t know what they are for, but Greenlee says you will need them.” Nzinga shoved the duffle bag toward them.

Check it out. Darlene said to Liora.

She did. “We can use these. Especially to keep back the supernatural’s.”

“There is more,” Nzinga said.

“More?” Charmaine asked.

Nzinga looked up to Dolly and Darlene. “We will have to go into the Mojave. We have an encampment there. My people had foreseen this and are prepared. They didn’t dare approach you with any plans after what happened in Louisiana. But they have what you need. You can trust me.”

Darlene stepped back into Dolly. The sisters became one. Charmaine stood. The two of them stared at Nzinga. Dolly reached into Nzinga’s mind and read her deepest thoughts.

She’s telling the truth. There is an encampment, Dolly said to Darlene, who was now inside of her.

She’s blocking something. I can sense it, but I don’t feel the source , said Darlene.

Maybe it’s not her that’s blocking it. Lucio did this to me when I met Domencio, and to you when you met Domencio. Someone else is shielding her, said Dolly.

Vampire?

I don’t think so. It’s something else. I don’t even think she knows it. They are using her. To bring us to the deser t, said Dolly.

Then let’s kill her and go to Reno instead. Lucio and Domencio can meet us there, said Darlene.

No. We don’t run. Russell is safe. Sonya is in trouble. We need our Guardians for the big death. We need knowledge and information, Darlene. You and I need to prepare. Dolly said.

Telepathically, Darlene went silent. She was juvenile and impulsive, but when it came to this strange new world they were forced to live in, Dolly felt she was wiser than any of them. And she trusted her judgment.

Let’s go. Might be fun.

Dolly nodded to Nzinga. “Fine. We’ve agreed. Take us to your camp in the desert.”

“But what about Sonya?” asked Charmaine.

“They won’t hurt her. Not yet. They want us, and if they don’t have Russell, we just bought her some time. We have an inside link to her protection,” said Dolly.

“What? How?” Charmaine said.

“Tristan. That’s how. He’s consiglieri, and he’s yours.” Dolly said and walked past Charmaine. Her friend stood there, stunned. She thought of the bite, the feel of Tristan, the way he called for her even now mentally, and how she fought with all her might to block him.

Dolly stopped at the open door to the car and Nzinga got in. “Stop fighting it, Charmaine. I tried to resist Lucio. I knew he was a monster. And I hated him for using me for this war. But when I stopped fighting him, I found out he was my soulmate. You want to save your sister, Liora, and we need to save our friend, Sonya. We have to do so by any means. You will need Tristan. Give in to him, control him, make him your servant.”

Dolly got in the car.

Charmaine closed her eyes and exhaled. Liora’s conflict and internal struggle was her own. She shook off her doubts and knelt to put everything back into the duffle bag, then joined them all. They were in the car, speeding away from Vegas.

Tristan tried to walk straight, uninhibited by the drilling pain in his skull. The power outage was still in place. The hotel security wore light vests and escorted groups of people to areas of the hotel they felt safest. For those leaving, a long line of security checks awaited before they could exit.

Unable to take the elevator to the vault or use his powers, Tristan felt the effects of Liora's essence. He navigated through the guards to the emergency exit and hurried down thirteen steps to the belly of the Bellagio.

In the darkness with his Draca suffering, he found himself free of dark thoughts. Only thoughts of her and the warnings Phoenix had drilled into his head consumed his mind. What would his mentor do if he knew of his crime? Could Phoenix sense his compromised state? He worried deeply about what would come next.

Liora…

He reached out into the night with his fading strength. He hoped she heard him.

Liora…

Liora…

Liora…

He kept repeating her name and searching. He’d find her. Of that, he was sure.