Chapter 6 #2
She sniffles, and her voice is thick but coherent.
“She was drained, almost completely, and thrown from a third-story window. Head injury. She was lucky that someone happened to be passing outside and called the paramedics. She’s been transferred to a private hospital, and I’m going to head there soon.
” Donatella blows out a heavy breath before continuing.
“I just need some sleep first. I feel like I haven’t slept for so long.
Even when I do, they’re always there, you know?
Poking and prodding and … I don’t know, this sounds ridiculous, but it’s as though they’re mocking me. ”
I nod even though she can’t see me. “Yeah, I do know. There’s something going on here, Donatella, something we aren’t seeing.
There’s got to be a bigger picture, and we’re not putting the pieces together.
I’m so sorry about Paola. I know how much she means to you. If anyone can pull through, it’s her.”
That much is true—Paola is far and away the most physically strong and skilled of all of us. For this to happen to her must mean she faced a supremely superior vamp or was ambushed by a group of them. Like the “allies” Luca told me Kurt had amassed.
“Thank you, my friend—and I know you are right. She will be okay. I’m just … Well, I’m tired. And scared. And sad. And I’m really not used to feeling any of those things.” Her petulant tone forces a smile to my lips.
Donatella has always loved her life, and it’s something I envy about her. Now, she’s experiencing a hint of the pain that has marred mine from my girlhood, and it’s reassuring that she’s responding in character.
“I get it. And I think we need to be careful, Donna—now there are only two of us and a lot more of them. I know it goes against all of our instincts to resist the Call, but maybe we need to try.”
Even as I say it, I know how torturous that will be for us—like having a fierce itch and being unable to scratch it. Like trying to sleep with your eyes pinned open.
“Mmm, I think you’re right. I’ve also been talking to Papa, and he thinks we need to convene the Vecchissime to discuss it. He’s going to speak to Tomasso.”
At the mention of my grandfather’s name, I stiffen. We have what you might call a complicated relationship, and the thought of turning to him for protection fills me with horror. I decide I will talk to Pietro first. At least I like him.
“Okay. Uh, before you go … Have you ever dealt with any of the Coscas? What do you know about them?”
I can practically hear her mental gears shifting.
“A little,” she replies after a few moments.
“The basics—they were formed by Old World vamps. The structure is half family, half military. Historic allegiances to Italian cities, bases in the States, Mexico, Europe. They run the human Mafia from behind the scenes and control all supernatural organized crime … They own clubs, people, whole countries in some cases. Drugs—human and super. They all seem to run construction firms and have a line in creating new IDs for vamps who want to blend. Blood products, human servants, witches for hire, even shifters for sale if you believe the rumors.”
She’s already told me more than I knew before, which is typical Donatella—the “airhead” who knows everything.
I am surprised at the shifter thing though.
It’s incredibly hard to control a being who can change form—I mean, can you imagine trying to cage a mosquito or tame a polar bear?
Maybe that’s where the witches come in. They are the most powerful of all of us, and if they wanted to, they could be some kind of master race.
Luckily, most of them are more concerned with burning herbs and praying to Gaia.
“And have you dealt with any of them yourself—like, personally?”
“Once,” she says. “I was Called to Lahore. There was a vamp there who’d been kidnapping women, usually sex workers, and was keeping them chained in his basement.
When I got there, he was already dusted, and a group of males from the Venezia Cosca were cleaning up.
Admittedly, their version of cleaning up was killing off the women who survived captivity, but it was too late to stop that. And they were quite polite about it.”
“Polite?” I repeat, choking on an inappropriate laugh.
“Yeah, polite. Kind of gentlemanly actually. They were thugs, but hot thugs who’d been raised right, you know? But why are you asking me this? What have the Coscas got to do with anything?”
“No real reason.” I quickly invent a story to assuage her suspicions. “I was just going through some records at Tomasso’s house and realized there was a gap in my knowledge.”
Her silence suggests that she doesn’t quite believe me, but I suppose she’s too upset about Paola to give me the usual interrogation.
But it’s best to get her off the phone before she changes her mind.
“I’ve got to go, but promise me you’ll be careful out there, okay?
And give my love to Paola. Coma or not, you’ve got to believe that she can still hear you. ”
We make our farewells, and I sit for a little while longer on my pretty balcony, soaking up the sun. I’d hate to be a vampire and miss all of this.
I turn over what Donatella said in my mind, then stand up, ready to rock. I’ve put it off for too long. I need to go see Tomasso.