2. Draco
“Throw that ass back, or I’m going to throw you out!”
A growl rattled my throat when the sound of my little brother’s fuck fest reached the kitchen where I sat with my dog resting at my feet and my vision latched onto the backyard. I had been up for hours, stressing about something I could have prevented, and I couldn’t think straight with the extra noise. It wasn’t unheard of for me to be up late, but typically, I was making money, riding with my motorcycle club, or hunting for blood, not worrying.
The act of eating cereal shouldn’t have been aggressive, yet I shoved the spoon in my mouth so roughly, I nearly chipped a tooth. Something as simple as losing a wallet wasn’t the end of the world. The idea of someone finding what was inside of it was the real problem.
“Aww shit. The big dog is in here eating cereal. You must really be in your feelings,” my middle sibling, Quadir, joked as he dropped his stocky frame onto the bar stool beside me.
“Q, don’t come in here talking shit. It’s my job to protect you, but I’m in the mood to make aniggableed. Don’t test me.”
He sucked his teeth and brushed down his fresh cut. “Whatever, Draco. You’re making this shit more complicated than it has to be. It’s just a wallet. Nobody can trace it back to you, and I know youdidn’t have anythingimportant inside.”
I massaged my scalp then pulled on my frizzy two-strand twists since I couldn’t figure out what else to do with my hands.
“My lifeline was inside.”
“No fucking way, Draco!” Quadir abandoned his seat. “Why the hell were you carrying the ring? You’re supposed to treat it the same way humans treat their social security card. Why didn’t?—”
I slammed my fist on the marble kitchen island, instantly sending a crack upthesurface.
“Get off my back! I know the damage this could cause. I’m the one who taught you the history of a lifeline.”
“You taught us, but you fucked up. You need yo’ ass beat.” Zo entered the kitchen shaking his head.
Quadir stared at him with disgust, narrowing his eyes. “Man, go put a shirt on. Walking around another man’s kitchen with your nipples out is crazy work.”
“Shut up, Doughboy!” Zo smirked, then focused on me. “Do you have any idea where you left it? You can’t feel it?”
I shook my head, hoping to detach from flashbacks of the night before. I didn’t tell my brothers what I found last night since I hadn’t told them I went out. They were hotheads who worked off human emotions while also possessing the temperament of a beast most people didn’t believe in.
Zo tugged on his baggie sweats and sized me up. “You are the head of this family, and you’re sitting here with tears in your eyes. Let’s go get your shit back!”
“First off, nobody’s crying. Plus, you’re worried about the wrong shit.” I grimaced. “I don’t know why you keep bringing those nightcrawlers from the clubhouse home, but keep them broads out of my spot. You have your own two-story house on this property. Fuck them on your turf.”
Zo pulled at his Cuban like he was popping his collar. “Don’t hate the player, and don’t take your anger out on me because you fucked up, sloppy ass.”
“Yeah. Well, mistakes happen when your plate is overflowing,” I replied.
“Get the hell out of here, Draco,” Quadir replied. “If you didn’t have anyone to look after, you wouldn’t know what to do with yourself. You’ve been like that since Mommy died, but fortunately for you, this idiot killed his mate.” He pointed to Zo. “He’ll be with you forever. You know what the book says—one mate per vampire.”
Zo tossed Quadir a smug smile.
“Yeah, but humans have three in their lifetime. Did you forget we’re half-breeds, idiot? I may have action.” He shrugged. “I really don’t care. I don’t need nobody to take care of me unlike yo’ sweet ass.”
“Both of y’all need to chill!” I swept my tongue over my sharpest teeth. “I already know where the wallet is. Well, kind of.”
Quadir pulled a gun from the waistband of his Dickies. “Then pep up, brodie. Let’s bust a move.”
“It’s not that simple. A woman has it.”
“So what!” Zo snarled. “I hope her thieving ass is chocolate. The darker the prey, the sweeter the blood. If she wasn’t above stealing, she’s not above getting eaten alive.”
“Yes, the fuck she is!” I snapped.
I couldn’t see myself, but I knew my eyes had switched from a natural brown to an icy blue when my skin became hot to the touch.
“Y’all talk big shit, but I run the show. Dead the issue until it concerns you. What we can discuss is the money we made from the hit and what time we’re heading to Midnight Hills to make the delivery.”
All the light in Zo’s red tone slipped out of place. The trip to our birthplace was always a headache. Aside from it being six hours from Blackstone, we had to give funds to people who hated us because of our ancestors’ deceit. After years of the same routine, one would think we would be used to the tense interactions, but the bullshit never got old.
Since we agreed to meet outside in an hour, I took a shower and then added coconut oil to my hair. As I brushed my teeth, I admired my wide nose and the facial hair covering my upper lip and my chin. Nothing about my appearance revealed my ability to kill a man with a slap or my need to digest human blood every thirty days. That was the beauty of being an onyx vampire. We could live amongst humans during the day, and most of us were born with unique powers other vampires only dreamed of.
On my business tip, I paired black slacks and a black Prada button-down with a mahogany overcoat. Unlike Zo, I wasn’t big on jewelry, but I never left the house without something heavy on my wrist and gold around my neck.
When I made it to the front of my house, I saw Zo leaning against his bike. His fit made him look like he was going to meet our motorcycle club, The Sons of Eshu, instead of the ruler of our personal hell.
“I don’t know why you’re over there,” I commented. “We’re riding together. No bikes today.”
Zo snarled, showing off his gold grill. “Man, I don’t want to hear that. You don’t want to ride because you know I’ll dust yo’ ass.”
I nodded. “Yep, and we both know you don’t know how to act without supervision. Get in the truck.”
An eerie silence covered the car for most of the ride. We had taken the same drive plenty of times, but we could never find joy in visiting the city. Just like tales of our hometown haunted humans, the truth about the city disturbed my peace. Though there were only a handful of people who believed vampires lived in the hilltop city, I knew for a fact onyx vampires were devils in designer clothes.
The sound of Zo clearing his throat caused my concentration to shift to the passenger seat.
“What’s on your mind, brodie?”
He pulled on a chain resting on his chest. “Do y’all ever think about what will happen if we can’t pay the price?”
I gripped the steering wheel at the idea.
“That’s not an option. I don’t want to be around for eternity, but I don’t want to be knocked off.” I grimaced at my reckless brother. “With that being said, keep your attitude and wings under control when we meet up with these bums.”
“You know I don’t make promises. I’m going to follow their lead.” Zo blew out a cloud of smoke. “Every time we come out here, they treat us like we could control some shit that happened before we were born.”
Quadir reached from the back seat and smacked Zo upside the head, knocking his hat off.
“Don’t start that shit. We don’t make the rules, but we follow them.” He groaned. “I’m not going to lie. After all this time, I still don’t understand why they don’t fuck with us.”
I heard my mom’s voice echo in my head. “I’m going to give you the same answer Mommy gave me any time I asked. Centuries ago, your great-great-great-granddaddy, Luca, broke a deal that onyx vampires made with a small group of humans who discovered our existence. We were supposed to remain up north in Midnight Hills, but Luca found his way to Blackstone and had kids—all mixed with human blood and vampire abilities.”
“We never had a chance.” Quadir huffed.
I released a one-note chuckle. “True. Death was supposed to be the punishment for Luca’s reckless behavior, but eventually, everyone attached to his bloodline had to provide gold to the people of Midnight Hills. To this day, I don’t know what they use it for.”
“Damn!” Zo grimaced. “That was a whole essay of bullshit I already knew and still don’t respect.”
The drive to my birthplace made me recall all the rules I had to follow. While most vampires from Midnight Hills could decide what they wanted to do once they matured, those with mixed blood had to step into an untraditional form of slavery. We couldn’t live in Midnight Hills. We couldn’t have sex freely because of the damage it could cause. We had to provide for people who despised us.
After being on the road for hours, we made it past a steel gate that protected a massive estate and exited my truck, each holding two briefcases that held bars of gold. A pack of meatheads that resembled an Italian mob guarded the front door of the property like they didn't know who we were. They looked like clowns, dressed in dated Versace buttoned-down shirts and styling their hair with too much gel.
“I see the half breeds have arrived.” The one I knew as Roman smiled. “Y’all know the routine. We need to search your pockets.”
The group swarmed us then patted us down with more aggression than needed. I grimaced and growled at Roman when he pulled at the gold around my neck.
“Asshole, stop handling me like you’ve lost your mind.” I snarled. “We both know I can break you in half by thumping you in your big ass forehead!”
Roman grinned as his dark eyes swept from my loafers to my face.
“Draco, no matter how strong you are, you have human blood running through your veins. You’ll always be beneath me.”
I smirked and squeezed the handle of the briefcase to keep from starting a war. In the past, I lost my cool, and me and my brothers barely walked away with our lives. After being around for almost a century, death sounded like a sanctuary. Still, I hoarded my anger at the idea that my rage could cause my brothers’ demise.
Right on time, the leader of the coven strolled out of the house with his arms spread wide. Born to two onyx vampires, Polo was as white as cotton, stood over seven feet tall, and his eyes were darker than coal.
“I see my favorite brothers have arrived. Would you like to come inside for a drink? Some pussy? A little blood?”
I dropped the cases of gold near my feet. “You know better than that, Polo. We don’t party with the enemy.”
“Enemy? You and your brothers have been coming to see me for years. I thought we’d be friends by now.”
My top lip sharpened on one end. “You have me risking my freedom for shit you don’t need. We could never be friends.”
Polo waved me off. “Be real for once, Draco. Every time you run into a bank, you pocket cash for yourself. I know that barbershop you own isn’t making any real money.”
“Are we done here?” Zo asked from over my shoulder. “All the money y’all got, and it smells like ass as soon as you drive into the city.”
Roman mugged my brother with disgust in his eyes.
“Trust me. We don’t want you here.”
“Then let’s call it even,” Quadir spoke up.
Polo combed his hair back while shaking his head. “You know we can’t do that. The rules say half breeds have to hunt for the city until they find their mate.”
“That’s dumb as fuck!” Zo blurted. “What does a woman, onyx or not, have to do with any of this?”
“A lot!” Polo yelled before expelling a mischievous laugh. “An onyx vampire can’t age past a certain point until he creates a legacy. In your case, you can’t age or cut ties until you’ve done the same because your elder fucked up universal order. Your mate may be one of us, or she may be a human. Either way, find the one who can wear your lifeline and put things back in order. You find your mate, then you create the legacy that is rightfully yours. That’s when we’ll call it even.”
Out of all the rules, my inability to age past thirty in human years bothered me the most. With everything I accomplished, I didn’t agree that my legacy depended on finding a partner, but I also had never been in love.
“All right!” Roman clapped. “We have our gold bars, and you have your answer. You’re dismissed.”
“Watch your fucking mouth,” I warned him between clenched teeth.
“I won’t watch shit! We all know why you are in this situation. Hell, I still can’t figure out how Luca could crossbreed. Most humans turn into stone when we fill their wombs. Had your family not crossed the line, we wouldn’t have even known it was possible.”
Zo stepped forward, filling the space beside me. “It sounds like you should say thank you instead of persecuting us.”
When Polo snapped his fingers as if dismissing us, I locked eyes with my little brother and communicated with him without prying my lips apart. I could hear the demons in his head screaming for him to start a riot. Of the three of us, he held the most anger in his heart. I didn’t know if it resulted from our parents or his experience in Blackstone, but my brother’s fuse became shorter every year.
“I don’t know why you three are still standing around looking like bitches. Get on!” Roman laughed with his crew and moved to walk off.
Zo’s light brown eyes turned a metal gray the longer he stared at me.
“Can I get him?”
I winked. “Do your thang, brodie.”
The words barely left my lips before Zo snapped into action. Black, tattered wings that looked like they belonged to a bat ripped through his leather letterman jacket. My brother was six foot four, but the attachments added length to his frame. In a blink of an eye, he charged headfirst at the pack of guards. They tried to protect themselves with gold plated knives, but none of the bitch boys seemed to have control of their limbs. My gaze shot over to Quadir, who stood off to the side with his hands in his pockets. Born with the ability to control the mind of anyone within arm’s length, the gentle giant hardly had to move a muscle to do damage.
Polo rushed to the center of the chaos and pointed to Quadir. “Someone get the fat one!”
I moved to snatch up the corrupted leader, but a sharp pain pierced my shoulder. A deep growl shook my throat as I spun around and grabbed the neck of the first person I saw.
“You know you done fucked up, right?” I smirked while squeezing the life out of the sharp toothed vampire. “Y’all can’t fuck with us, and y’all know that!”
I scowled when my wrath triggered fire to conquer my bones. Paralyzing pain pierced my body, but I had experienced the sensation enough to know how to push through it. I delivered fatal blows to anyone who acted like they wanted to challenge me, only stopping when I spotted Roman.
“You half-breeds will never win!” he declared. “You can buy land, buy jewelry, and fuck all the humans you want, but you still?—”
My foot slammed into Roman’s chest, sending him across the lawn and chopping his declaration in half. To my surprise, he staggered to his feet while squaring up.
“You can’t be serious!” I laughed as I dropped my coat on the stone pavement. “You got too much going for yourself to be jealous of me and mine.”
“Fuck you, Draco!”
Like two bulls, we charged at each other, throwing fists. Roman clipped my chin when I dropped my hands on some cocky shit. Though I dodged the weight of his punch, my blood boiled, feeling him touch me.
“Muthafucka!” I drilled into the center of his chest, treating his body like he was a punching bag. When he crumbled to the ground, I surveyed my surroundings and saw my brothers were laying shit down. Zo had one guard swaddled in one of his wings while he beat another with the butt of a pistol. In the corner, Quadir had Polo’s men on their knees smashing their heads into the ground. When it was all said and done, I grabbed my jacket and a briefcase from the ground and walked up to Polo.
“It’s good doing business with you.”
The sun had gone down, and Blackstone was quiet by the time we made it back to our neck of the woods. After the fight we had, we agreed to chill at The Sons of Eshu clubhouse, but I asked my brothers to come with me to check on my barbershop first.
Quadir and Zo stood beside me arguing about something that didn’t matter as I punched the code into the security system, yet a familiar scent caused my hands to freeze.
Quadir bumped my shoulder. “What’s wrong with?—”
“Shh!” I raised my index finger up to the night sky. “You smell that?”
“A virgin.” Zo grinned.
The three of us exchanged narrowed stares before we took off toward Kruger Lane and headed straight into the woods in different directions.
The scenery was pitch black. Still, I sprinted through the trees faster than any human could imagine. I could have caught myrunaway bride within seconds if I wanted to, but I needed a second to calm my nerves before I faced her.
“That’s all me!” Zo yelled.
“Not if I get her first!” Quadir shouted back.
The sound of a calm breeze and crumpled leaves followed their exchange before whimpering replaced it.
“Leave me alone! Please! Someone, help me!”
The terror in her cadence sent a sharp pain through my chest that slowed me down. I detoured from the group, navigating to cut off her path before she could make it to the other side of the woods.
“Get away from me! I have mace! I will ? —”
Her words being snipped forced me to follow the scent of my lifeline. I trekked further into the woods and saw my brothers with their gold fangs on display and their vision launched on a petite frame on a bed of leaves.
“Please. No.” The lady wheezed, patting the grass as if looking for something.
“A wounded kitten.” Zo laughed.
Quadir distanced himself from the body. “It sounds like she has asthma.”
“Who gives a shit?” Zo quizzed.
Their voices transferred into background noise when I noticed the damsel had stopped begging for help. I shut my eyes to listen for the sound of her heartbeat amongst the chatter in the woods then inched closer.
I didn’t speak to my brothers when I joined them in the moon’s spotlight. She was my main focus as I dropped to my knees beside her . Just like the night I broke into her house, I examined her face. I was captivated by her features. Her copper-colored hair was long and loc’d. Her skin was a pretty toffee color except for the depigmented patches around her left eye and running down her left sideburn. Prescription glasses guarded her eyes, and her button nose and luscious lips fit her face.
Zo grabbed my shoulder, breaking me from my trance. “Draco, back up! I don’t like other vampires breathing over my food.”
“She doesn’t belong to you, Zo. I have to get her to the house.”
“What are you talking about? We may not need to feed like other onyx vampires, but you know the deal.”
A gust of air shot through my nose as I slipped her asthma pump in my pocket.
“This isn’t up for debate. Find someone else. I’m sure there isn’t a shortage of niggas who deserve to die at the prison you work in.”
Zo kept complaining while Quadir shifted his eyes between me and the lady I scooped from the ground. Afraid I would break her if I flinched wrong, I made sure I was careful.
“Y’all can drive my truck back to the property. I’ll take the bike I keep at the shop.” I tossed Quadir my keys and left them where they stood.
In less than five minutes, I arrived at the carport connected to my barbershop and pulled my bike out. I was used to riding solo, but I handled the wounded beauty with care. She didn’t wake up when I started the ignition, so I placed her in front of me and held her head up against my shoulder as I sped off. I did not know how I would explain our fated love without it sounding like some creepshit,but seeing her up close made me want to convince her it was real. She smelled like peppermint, and though her face held traces of dirt and grass, she was the prettiest woman I’d ever seen.
Despite my crowded mind, I raced down the empty highway in a rush to get her home. I was so lost in my thoughts I didn’t recognize she was awake until her small hand collided with my cheek.
“What the hell?” I groaned. “Calm down before I drop you.”
“Drop me? What?” She looked around, and in a second, she went from fighting me to holding me tightly. Her nails sank into the back of my neck. “Please, don’t let me fall. What the hell is going on? Lord...”
For a second time, she lost consciousness. I knew I couldn’t avoid the hard conversation, but right now, I preferred it that way. She had questions, and I needed time to curate the right answers.
I arrived at my house at the same time as my brothers. Without saying a word, I went to place the petite princess in a bed on the second floor. Though I wanted to sit in a corner and watch her until she opened her eyes, I knew my brothers wouldn’t leave without me explaining my actions.
“What the fuck, Draco!” Zo yelled as soon as I walked into the kitchen. “If you wanted to fuck her before I sank my fangs into her, that’s all you had to say.”
“She’s mine!” I roared, causing my throat to burn. “The woman upstairs is not to be touched. You lay a hand on her, you got to deal with me.”
Quadir stepped between us with his palms raised. “Where is all this coming from, Draco? You’re talking in circles.”
“She’s my mate,” I said, speaking words I never believed would leave my lips. “You already know I lost my wallet. I didn’t tell you when I went to her house, I saw she was wearing my lifeline.”
Zo lifted a brow. “And she still had breath in her body? You know what that means.”
“Yeah, and now you understand where I’m coming from. If she wasn’t my mate, she wouldn’t have been able to put on that ring without turning into stone.”
“Damn, Draco. I want to say congratulations, but I know how you feel about the arranged mate situation,” Quadir stated. “At least she’s pretty. Zo’s bitch was mid.”
I shook my head while heading out of the room. “I’m going to check on her. Keep the noise down or go home.”
“Damn. She just got here, and he’s already switching up the program.”
As I walked up the staircase, I thought about how Zo’s complaints held some truth. Now that I found the woman in my dreams, my everyday routine would change. A heaviness jabbed my spine as I realized I had no control or idea of what was next for me.
The second floor of my house was dead silent, leading me to enter the guest room without knocking. An empty bed brightened by a small lamp fell into my line of vision. I heard shuffling footsteps behind me once I stepped over the threshold, but I didn’t check over my shoulder until a slab of metal collided with my back. Though the hit didn’t faze me, my reflexes triggered my hand to reach back and grip the first thing I could grab.
“Let me go,” she murmured in a raspy voice.
I pressed her back against the wall with my hands snugly around her neck.
“Are you going to keep your hands to yourself?”
She swept her tongue over her teeth and snarled.
“Your feisty ass isn’t going to agree?”
She kicked me inches from my balls, forcing me to let her go. I tried to grab her before she could get out of reach, but she slipped away and ran to the other side of the room.
“I’ve seen you before,” she cried out while adjusting her glasses. “You were in my house! You and that beast dog!”
“I won’t chase you around this room, woman.”
Her head jerked back. “You’re going to have to. I won’t let you do anything to me.”
“Never without your permission, Nugget.”
The nickname rolled off my tongue, and it appeared to relax her limbs.
“Where am I?” she asked in a whispery breath.
“Home.”
She sucked her teeth. “No.”
“I don’t like being told no.” I inched toward her.
“I don’t enjoy being snatched up and hunted like an animal.”
“Get over it! You’re not going anywhere,” I declared, pinning her into a corner.
My hands journeyed from her neck to right under her breasts before I picked her up and placed her on the bed. I wanted to slam her ass down after the way she kicked me, but I didn’t want to damage a woman I would have to look at forever.
“ Who are you? What are you?” she questioned me as she scooted toward the headboard.
“That depends on who you ask. I know what I can call you since you stole my wallet.”
Her brows rose in a slow arch. “What? No, no, no! I found it. I was going to take it to the police station.”
“The police? Do I look like somebody that deals with the police?”
She repositioned her glasses before pulling her knees up to her chest.
“I don’t know. One second, I see a dark skinned man with a sharp jawline. The next, I see... fangs? Oh my God! Please, let me go. I won’t tell anyone you kidnapped me.”
I moved in her direction, stepping further into the gleam of the reading lamp. There was fear in her brown eyes, yet the longer I stared, a flash of our future together flickered across my mind.
“What’s your name?” I asked, ignoring her request to leave.
“Francesca. Frankie works too. I’m only twenty-four. I can’t die?—”
“Frankie, I’m Draco,” I interjected. “I’m a few years older than you. And I hate to break it to you, but I couldn’t let you go if I wanted to.”