Chapter 28 Bad Blood #2
The walk downstairs is painfully slow. I know I slow them down, but somehow the current situation makes it worse.
When we’re on the first floor of Tannis’s giant manor, they lead us to the space that was a dance floor the night we came.
It’s bigger now, less crowded, and there are some expensive looking pieces of furniture at the center.
Sitting on one of the plush cream couches is Dante.
Goosebumps rise along my arms, causing my hair to stand on end.
Seeing him again makes the first time we met so much worse.
I grip Gray’s hand harder, hoping to stem the fear that is doubtlessly showing on my face.
I don’t want to give Dante the benefit of seeing me afraid, but dammit if he doesn’t make me want to find a dark closet to hide myself in.
“Good evening,” Dante says from his perch.
He’s looking runway perfect in his Gucci silk button up, black pleated pants, and shiny black shoes.
His dark hair is braided over one shoulder, highlighting the thick gold chain at his throat.
If it wasn’t for all of this, I could easily picture him sitting idly by, waiting for some kind of photoshoot for Tom Ford.
Eau de Asshole, featuring strong tones of spite, jealousy, and bergamot.
Gray directs me to a single armchair and I sit. He remains standing while Tannis takes their own seat. There’s a fuck-ton of tension firing off between the three vampires, and knowing their history now, I can tell it’s been like this for ages.
“Dante,” Tannis replies boredly. “With all due respect, what the fuck are you doing here?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Dante sighs, as if annoyed.
“No,” Gray seethes beside me. “Answer the question.”
For the first time since coming down the stairs and entering the room, Dante looks at Gray.
It’s the craziest feeling, but I swear the room falls away and there’s no one there but the two of them.
Years of sentiment laid bare in the few feet that separate them, and I’m one insignificant little speck in observation of it all.
I shrink into my seat, squirming at the look in Dante’s fierce eyes.
There’s admiration in his gaze, accompanied by hate and love and all the complicated feelings that come with seeing your ex after so many years.
I can only imagine how Gray feels, but Dante? He wears it plain as day.
Nothing says I want to “hate-fuck-then-kill-you” the way this guy frowns at Gray.
“Love the new look,” Dante says, sizing him up like a piece of meat.
“Let’s skip the bullshit.”
“You’re no fun, darling.” Dante tilts his head to one side, rolling his eyes with the movement. “It’s obvious, isn’t it? I want you back.”
Gray scoffs. “And what makes you think I want anything to do with you?”
Dante levels their gaze with Gray. It reminds me of the way Granny would look at me across the kitchen table when I wouldn’t eat her special meatloaf. As a kid, it was enough to make me finish my meal. Now, though, seeing that same look on someone so smug, it just gives me chills.
“Do we really have to do this again?” Dante sneers.
“I told you three-hundred years ago that we were done. I would have thought moving overseas would have made that final,” Gray says without missing a beat. “Clearly not.”
I shoot Tannis a questioning look, and they return it with a slight nod. So Dante is the reason they left so long ago. Traveling overseas just to prove a point is a powerful message, and it either went over his head, or Dante didn’t care.
“Darling, listen—”
“Drop the pet names,” Gray snarls, his hand squeezing the top of my chair. I don’t have to see it to know that he could break it off at any point. The whole frame is shaking, and I’m still sitting. “It’s demeaning.”
“Fine.” Dante’s upper lip pulls up to reveal his teeth. Perfectly white, with two sharp canines peeking out; I flinch at the sight of them knowing full well how they feel. “Gray, please, rethink this business and come home. I miss you.”
“I’ve had plenty of time to think about this,” Gray says. “And my answer is no. You’ve come for nothing.”
With lightning fast speed, Dante stands two solid feet away from the three of us. He looks big, powerful, and absolutely terrifying. His red eyes are so bright, they could be on fire the way they glitter.
“You fucking ant,” Dante grinds out. “I gave you everything, didn’t I? Money, power, blood. Endless sacrifices, and for what? Disappointment.”
“Get used to it,” Gray says, monotone. I want to reach for him when my hand stops. Dante’s attention shifts from Gray to me with the tiniest bit of movement.
So now he wants to acknowledge me.
“Is this what you want?” In a blink, he rips me from my seat and pulls me to my feet. Gray is there in a flash, holding my body against himself while my arm remains captive. “An overpriced slut? I can find you whores with the same aspirations for much cheaper, if that’s what you want.”
I flinch at the comment. I’ve heard worse throughout my life.
Making a career out of stripping as a post college dropout turned a few heads for sure, and it caused a lot of conflict with Ronnie, but I loved it.
It wasn’t just the money or the surface level vanity that kept me going.
I genuinely love it. I love being the center of attention, the one that captivates an audience and collects the wealth from it.
More than that, I love the connection I feel with my body when I dance.
Sexuality is part of who I am, and I’ve embraced that part of myself since I was able to understand what it was I wanted.
Touching, kissing, dancing; it’s all the same to me.
And when I think about that night in the club with Gray’s eyes following me around the pole, sweating, naked, and flush, I can’t imagine doing that anywhere else where I can feel half as good with clothes on as I do without.
So, fuck Dante and fuck aspirations!
“Yeah, well,” I start before I can stop myself, “I bet none of them have tits as fat as mine that are even half as real. So, get over it.”
Tannis is the only one that laughs.
“Millie…” Gray warns.
A roar rips through Dante’s throat. He throws my arm back at me, and Gray hustles me behind him just as his brawny ex-boyfriend brings both arms down to attack.
There’s a scuffle that I don’t see, but there is a crack so loud it sounds like thunder, followed by a hard crash.
I push myself past Gray, who appears untouched.
At the center of the room, Tannis is standing over Dante’s struggling form.
The furniture he was sitting on is ruined underneath him, which explains the scuffle.
The thunder I heard must have been the sound of their bodies connecting.
“Listen up,” Tannis says, and four figures blur into view. I can tell by their eyes that they’re vampires, too. They standby, moving in closer to Dante as Tannis speaks, “This is my home. My turf.”
“You have no power here,” Dante snarls.
“Oh, but I do.” Tannis snaps his fingers, and two of the vampires flanking him surge forward.
They grab Dante by his arms and haul him upright.
The other two vampires take pieces of the shattered furniture and jam them into Dante’s gut.
He cries out, catching himself on the ground when they drop him.
Tannis continues, unbothered by the new blood staining his floor. “Make no mistake that while you’re here, under my roof, there is a law, and that law is mine. No council, no elders, just me. I will fuck you up, Bonocchi.”
“If you kill me, you know what will happen.” Raw hate flashes across Dante’s pained face.
“Don’t be so dramatic. No one is killing you tonight.” Tannis crosses their arms and gives their head a shake.
“Why not?” I hear myself ask, too curious not to know. If they could kill him now, that would be the end of this, right? I wouldn’t have to worry about anyone coming for me in the dead of night, or hanging out in another VIP room waiting to drink me dry.
“He can’t,” Gray says.
“I don’t get it.”
“It would mean war,” Tannis answers, loud enough for everyone to hear.
For a moment, there’s only the sound of my breathing and Dante’s grunting as he pulls out the furniture embedded in his gut.
“Dante has a seat on the council. It’s very old, very ancient.
Any vampire that kills one in his position demands recompense, or whatever the law says.
They decide the payment. Sometimes a life for a life, sometimes it’s something more entertaining.
Basically, it’s a bunch of old-school vampire bullshit that gives him total immunity. ”
Immunity? Which means, no matter what they do, they can’t hurt Dante. But I can.
“Don’t act like you’re above it, Tannis,” says Dante, standing shakily on both legs. He gestures with one hand to the vigilant vampires waiting on the sidelines. “You clearly have a taste for it.”
“What can I say?” Tannis shrugs. “Old habits die hard.”
“Then you can’t blame me for taking it for myself.” Dante chuckles, smoothing out his bloodied shirt. The psychotic little grin on his face sends a shiver down my spine. For someone so outnumbered, he doesn’t look the least bit worried about his well being.
“I can hold a grudge for a long time,” says Tannis with a tilt of their head.
What the fuck is going on? I look at Gray, but he doesn’t answer me. His focus is caught between holding me back and keeping his eyes on Dante.
“You aren’t the only one,” Dante says, swiping at his hair.
“We’re done here,” Tannis says with finality. He turns to a young red-headed vampire and commands him. “Escort our guest to the door, please.”
The redhead steps forward, but Dante holds his hands out to stop him.
“I’ll see myself out.”
The crunch of furniture echoes in the silence as his expensive shoes mow through the damage to the front door.
I vaguely remember coming through the same way, but the place looks different in the evening when there isn’t a massive party going on.
We all watch him carry himself out, head held high, with just the right amount of arrogance to mask the major loss he faced.
Though, by looking at him, anyone else would have guessed he had the upper hand.
What is he up to? I wonder.
“And Gray, my love.” Dante turns just as he opens the door, red irises bearing down on the both of us. “I’ll be here when you change your mind.”