Chapter 7
Eating the last piece of potatoes on my plate, I tried my best to enjoy the feeling of fullness. I wasn’t particularly hungry, but my body sure appreciated being nourished. Nonetheless, it was hard to enjoy anything with the intense looks sneaking my way every so often throughout the entire meal.
Most were just concerned about Natasha, so I didn’t hold it against them, but André was starting to piss me off.
“Wine?” one of the servers offered Countess Dariah, and she nodded.
“A glass for Natalia too,” she requested, and the woman smiled at me, filling my glass.
Once she placed the wine bottle back on her tray, she retrieved a small glass vessel from it, poured some of its crimson contents into the Countess’s wine, and offered it to me.
“It’s blood,” Mother explained. “It makes our drinks spicier.” She smiled. “But most importantly, it provides the minimum nourishment our Vampiri nature requires without us needing to fully feed on it.”
With her nod of approval, the girl proceeded to pour some into my wine.
“Now that your Vampiri side is awake, it is important for you to begin to get used to this part of you.”
A strange excitement rushed through my being, igniting a thirst inside me at the notion of blood.
She motioned for me to try it, but as I picked up my glass, André’s heated gaze burned through my skin. My hand halted, and I glanced at André, his eyes hot on me. I wasn’t sure how to take his concern. He was a Vampir too. He drank blood. So, what was his problem?
Realizing what was happening, our Vampiri Mother glanced from me to André, and her perfectly groomed eyebrow rose defiantly at him. “Is there anything you want to say?”
The thirst stirred inside me, urging me to take the glass, its presence becoming stronger just as Star’s apprehension joined the party.
“It’s alright, Natalia,” Mother assured. “The thirst is only a small part of you. Not the ruler of your existence.”
“The way André is looking at you, I think he is just afraid that won’t be the case if you drink again…”
“Or perhaps he is just horrified to see his precious Natasha drink blood.”
“I almost forgot.” I offered her a small smile, pulling my gaze away from him, but not before I saw his regret erase the concern.
He’d heard us.
Placing the glass back on the server’s tray, I cramped the thirst as far down as it would go into the dark recesses of my being. “I already took my first drink.”
“You did?” Mother asked, taken aback.
“I drank from Dante earlier today.”
Her gaze connected with André’s, his concern increasing as she looked back at me. “You did?”
“Yes, but I didn’t hurt him, as you can see,” I calmly explained. “I drank for only a few seconds and then I let go when Natasha asked me to stop.”
“I’m perfectly fine,” Dante assured, his gaze saying he didn’t like the way they were taking the news either.
A hint of relief entered Countess Dariah’s features, and she assessed me. “Only a few seconds is fine. Ten seconds used to be my mark.”
“Used to be?” I couldn’t help but ask.
Her expression softened. “I don’t drink from people anymore. I have spiced drinks or…”
“Or?” Interest rose in me.
“Sometimes I enjoy a taste with my husband during intimacy. It’s something we can enjoy in those moments. Nevertheless, I don’t recommend you do that again until you are fully accustomed to this new part of you and in full control.”
“I understand.” I actually did, especially because the thirst wasn’t too glad that I was ignoring it right now; I could feel it trying to gain strength within me. I licked my lips, forcing myself to forget there was a glass of spiced wine only a foot away from me.
“Oh, shit…” Star whispered, feeling the same thing I had.
“Don’t worry, I got this.”
Of course, André heard that too and the concern took over his entire being. A certain sadness suddenly exuded from him, and the troubling emotion returned to his eyes.
“Okay, you know what? That’s enough,” I snapped, standing from the table and facing André while everyone reared back on their chair.
“Can you please stop looking at me like a sad puppy that just lost his toy? I know you are disappointed that I’m here instead of Natasha, but I’m not doing this.
I’m not keeping her from you. I don’t know why I’m the one out and about instead of her, but I am.
So how about we all just fucking deal with that? ”
Huffing, I began to sit down but straightened once again.
“Also, I don’t know where the red eyes come from, or what they mean. But here we are. This is who I am right now, so you might as well get used to them. Or not. I don’t really give a fuck.”
“Natalia…” Dante’s reproaching tone was the last straw.
“And while we are at it, Star and I really need some fucking privacy right now.” I snapped at him next, making his eyes widen. “Natasha might have loved having you all in her mind every freaking second, but I’m not her, and my mind isn’t an all-you-can-eat buffet, so get the hell out of it!”
A holy shit kind of silence swept the entire room while a satisfied smirk curved our Vampir Mother’s red lips…
“Yeah, take that!” Star added, making me almost smile.
The guys exchanged a solemn glance, and to my surprise, I felt the instant Dante’s shadows slowly drifted away from my mind. I could no longer sense him there, or the others.
“Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit! There has never been a better introduction than this in the history of the entire world, y’all.”
The peculiar accent brought my attention to the door, where a sultry brunette stood, dressed in the same outfit the rest of the Countess’s guard wore. The rivetted look on her face said this was just the kind of drama she thrived off.
“Georgette, I’m glad you could join us,” Mother welcomed. “I’m afraid we need your help with something. But before we proceed, have you eaten, would you like to sit down?”
“Not yet. It can wait depending on what you need, Countess.”
“Natalia, this is Georgette. Georgette, this is my latest newborn, Natalia.”
“Pleasure to meet you, sugar.”
“Nice to meet you too,” I offered, kind of charmed by her. She was so different.
“Bitch, I like her…”
“Me too.”
My narrowed gaze swept over Dante, Hannes, and André just to double-check they hadn’t heard us, but the looks on their faces said it all. Good.
“Natalia seems unable to access certain memories, and we are hoping you could help.”
“Of course, Countess! It’ll be over faster than a one-legged man in a butt-kicking competition.”
Chuckles spread around the table, breaking the tension as our Vampiri Mother stood. “Perfect. Your room?” she asked, glancing at me. “This should be done in private.”
“Yes,” I agreed, standing as well and instantly seeing all three of our mates rise right after me, like my shadows.
“Now, just to keep me going.” Georgette grabbed the infamous wine glass from the tray, swinging it back like a shot of liquor. “Ready when you are, sugar.”
“Oh, thank the Goddess.”
Star’s relief wasn’t lost on me.
Her confidence in me being able to resist it without anyone taking my choice away would have been nice, but whatever.
“Thanks for having lunch with me,” I offered Isis and everyone else who stood from the table. They had welcomed me even though their Natasha wasn’t the one here.
“Of course, girl. We’ll see you later,” Vanessa offered with a sweet smile that Alyce mirrored, but a hint of worry slipped through them.
“Would you like me to come?” Isis asked while Bj?rn took her hand in his, squeezing it.
“I think he’s giving her strength in case you say you don’t need her.”
Right.
“I’m not that big of a bitch.”
Star huffed.
“Yeah, sure,” I offered Isis.
A big smile curved her lips, barely masking her relief while she walked to my side with Bj?rn on her heel. Those two were a package deal. If she was coming, so was he.
“Of course. Why doesn’t everyone come? I might be about to find out I ate Natasha’s parents, for all I fucking know. But sure, let’s make a party of it.”
“Bitch.”
Sighing, I shot a glance at Vanessa and her girlfriend. “You girls might as well come.”
“Really?” Vanessa’s unsure gaze went to her brother, but it was painfully obvious that she and Alyce wanted to be by their friend’s side… even if that wasn’t me.
André just looked at me, assessing my every move.
“Of course! I mean, Natasha had no notion of privacy, personal space, or boundaries with you people. So, why not? The more the merrier.”
“Natalia!” Star gasped.
When I whirled around, André’s intense gaze let me know exactly how he felt about me talking that way to his sister.
“Fine. I’m sorry. I’m still…” I waved my hands around, searching for the word. “…Adjusting.”
The girls relaxed, seeming amused by my behavior, but they didn’t say anything.
Mumbling a frustrated curse under my breath, I walked to the door, feeling literally everyone follow.
By the time we stopped outside my bedroom door, everyone’s nerves were getting on my nerves. Tension exuded from Hannes, André, Dante, and the others in waves that swept over me, viciously tightening every single muscle on my body, putting me in the worst mood, and driving me crazy.
Abruptly stopping just outside my room, I faced them, causing Bj?rn to bump into my mates and Alyce to bump into him. “Okay, everyone. Calm the fuck down—”
“Be nice!” Star growled. “They are Natasha’s family!”
“Sorry, I mean…” I took a deep breath, begging Natasha’s Moon Goddess for patience since Vampiri didn’t really have a God or Goddess… or patience. “I can see that whatever I’m about to find out about last night will be difficult, and you are all worried about Natasha—”
“Which Starlight and I truly appreciate.”
“You can’t be serious?”
“Say it!”
“Which Star and I truly appreciate—”
“Good girl.”
My teeth ground fiercely causing the others’ curiosity to grow. Except for Hannes, who seemed strangely amused, though he tried to mask it.
“BUT there is nothing for you to worry about,” I finished. “I’m not made of glass. Whatever it is, I will not fall apart. And you will not see me shatter, I promise. So, please, don’t worry so much.”
I might as well have told them the opposite, because they all looked at each other, their concern for me increasing.
Our Vampiri Mother raised a perfectly manicured brow at me in satisfaction, though her eyes had a calculative shine to them. It seemed everyone was still assessing whether or not I was “stable”.
Whatever the hell that was supposed to be.
Fuck it.
Turning around, I entered Natasha’s bedroom with everyone on my heels. Small gasps left Isis and the girls when they noticed the half-destroyed bookcase and the books strewn all over the library area.
Shit. Before I could explain, Dante’s voice wove itself through the room.
“Come una volta, lascia che sia di nuovo…” His shadows carried the spell just as my mind translated the words.
“As it once was, let it be once again…”
I watched in wonder while the books levitated from the ground, rearranging in the air and floating towards the bookcase still standing. “Please don’t mix them. I’m not done learning.”
With a gentle smile, Dante nodded, making the books change direction while the ones that remained on the shelves began to float too. The shelved books came together from all different sections, occupying one single area to mark the ones I still needed to discover.
The wood pieces on the ground began to float too. Only, it wasn’t Dante doing that.
Somehow, Bj?rn was calling the wood to him.
His silent call stirred each shattered piece, fitting them back together like a puzzle.
Sheer, copper-colored threads danced from his hands, tethering the pieces.
He finally placed both hands on the now-standing bookcase, and the entire thing shivered before it solidified, coming together perfectly. As though it was never broken.
Bj?rn did the same with the broken coffee table.
“Incredible,” I whispered, truly taken aback.
“That was his energy…” Vanessa reminded me in case I couldn’t remember. “Bj?rn is an Ethereal Fae. His gift allows him to see beyond the physical world to the ethereal energies of the universe. He can see, sense, and manipulate them.”
“Did we know that?” Star asked, and I wasn’t entirely sure.
“You knew that, Dearie. Remember?” His gentle smile urged me to search my mind more than his words.
That serene and warm energy that felt fatherly to me exuded from him, reminding me why he meant so much to Natasha.
She’d needed just that when she met him.
I searched Natasha’s mind and images surged with my effort like I was accessing an archive.
His form quiver out of existence. A few seconds later he returned, carrying a paper bag in his hand. “Chocolate croissant?”
Blinking, my attention went to him, and I smiled. “I remember.”
He winked at me, and a wave of relief swept the room. If only briefly.