18. Isidoro
Isidoro
We sleep on the rough ground in the chapel that night.
It just sort of happens, neither of us having planned for it.
His presence calms me and lulls me despite the sad memories etched into these very walls, and before I realize it, I let my awareness slip, closing my eyes until the sun rises again in the morning.
Julian is still asleep, his head resting on my shoulder.
His eyelashes fan out on his cheeks, his body fully relaxed next to mine.
He looks like an angel, so peaceful, so defenseless, like he knows I would never let anything happen to him.
I could watch him for hours. The rise and fall of his chest, the way his eyelids flutter now and then as he dreams.
Warmth spreading within me, I look around the old chapel.
I haven’t been here in years. Decades. Centuries.
There’s too much sadness and pain buried under this roof, too many heartbreaking memories as my world was forever changed on that fateful day.
I didn’t dare relive it, not alone, not even with Samuel by my side.
He and I share a wound, but even together, we couldn’t face it.
I’ve never told the truth to anyone, Niko included.
Humans come and go, as close as they might be to you, and I didn’t feel the need to bare myself like that, to show the deepest parts of my soul.
I glance at Julian’s face, his brow slightly pinched.
Why did I tell him? Why did he listen? Why did he look like he wanted to cry?
Gently, I rub my finger along his lower lip, shivers scattering down my back. He’s mine. He’s been mine since the ceremony, yet it feels different after last night. The hourglass sits next to us, all the sand waiting in the bottom chamber, trapped there, waiting for the loop to restart.
“What was her name?” Julian mutters, stirring next to me.
He doesn’t move, nor push me away, his sleepy eyes opening slowly as his hand lifts and ghosts over my jaw.
“Marianne.”
He hums, reaching for the hourglass. The sand sifts down as he turns it, glinting when the sunrays catch on it.
“Maybe it’s not my place to say this, but I feel like a part of her lives on inside the hourglass.
Marianne made it for you, with her own hands, and I can tell she poured her heart into it.
What’s to say a speck of it didn’t make it inside? ”
“I’ve never thought about it that way.”
“Good thing you have me to tell you then, isn’t it?”
I can hear his grin more than see it. It lightens the chokehold these old memories have on my heart, loosening it enough so I can breathe freely again. “We should head inside and eat something. I’m feeling a little weak.”
A second passes before he hops up, scrunching that pretty forehead of his. “You didn’t drink blood last night! Shit, are you okay?”
I hold out my hand. He takes it, helping me up. “I won’t die just because I skipped a meal, Julian. Don’t be ridiculous.”
My words are playful, but my heart flutters madly, his genuinely concerned tone like a balm to my agitated psyche.
“I’m not worried!” he protests, dragging me outside.
“I never said you were,” I point out, soaking the sun as it touches my skin.
“Ugh, whatever! Let’s go drink some. Your wound won’t heal on its own.”
I smell pancakes and fruit as we enter the house, a clear sign that we aren’t the only ones seeking some breakfast. “I suppose. As tasty as you were, it seems you aren’t exactly nutritious.”
Ria’s eyes lock on us as we enter the kitchen, a little wide and amused. I preen, my chest vibrating in satisfaction. That’s right, Julian is mine.
“Oh my god, Isidoro! Stop saying this embarrassing shit,” Julian groans, waving awkwardly at her as his cheeks take on a lovely red hue.
“I simply speak the truth. Your tongu—”
He places his hand on my mouth, pressing lightly as he throws me a warning glare. The contact is so casual, so inconsequential, but it lights up something inside me, a flicker that chases away the last of my grogginess like a cup of the very best coffee.
We sit next to Ria, going over the progress they’ve made so far.
They both are so excited it infects me too, turning my stomach into a cave full of butterflies.
We are so close. One final push and we’ll know who’s behind this.
We’ll eliminate this threat to the entire vampire race before it can turn into something worse.
A call from work interrupts my idyllic morning. I’m needed at the office, and as much as I’d rather stay here, I must take my leave. After a quick shower and a change of clothes, I head outside.
“Can’t you, like, work from home or something?” Julian asks, back pressed against the patio base at the bottom of the stairs.
He inclines his head my way as I descend the steps, his eyes following my every movement like laser sights. I pause by where he’s standing, twisting a lock of his black hair between two fingers.
“Unfortunately, I’m needed in person.” I let my gaze roam him, which is how I notice he’s all decked out, as if he too is headed somewhere. His snug black pants and shirt accentuate his muscular body, the chains attached to his belt adding an edge to his outfit.
“Can I come?” he blurts out, tucking his hands into his pockets as he pushes off the wall and rocks on his heels.
“To my meeting?”
He shrugs. “I’ll just sit in the corner or something. Pretend to be your scary bodyguard. Waiting for Tommy to call all day will drive me nuts.”
I consider that. I suppose he won’t really be in the way if he keeps quiet, and besides, it could be a useful experience. He’s still green around the edges, the state of his company proved as much.
I gesture at the car parked up front. As we get in, I no longer mind having to swing by the office.
“You were kind of amazing there,” Julian says once the meeting is over and we’re travelling back home. “I can’t believe they agreed to your terms.”
I hum, his praise elating my mood even more than the successful negotiations. “You need to know when to push, or you’ll never get what you want.”
“I don’t know. It’s always so awkward turning someone down and countering their offer…”
I place my hand on his thigh, squeezing lightly. “I said I would teach you, didn’t I?”
He flushes. “I don’t remember such a thing.”
He does, or he wouldn’t be getting so flustered. It’s so endearing. A tingling sensation washes over me, hot and uplifting. I shift in my seat, caging him into the backseat’s corner. He tenses, eyes filling with flecks of desire.
“You look like you’re going to… kiss me,” he huffs out, fingers clutching my arm.
“Because I am,” I say, leaning in.
He squeezes his eyes shut, swallowing hard and parting his lips only a fraction.
I breathe him in. Gods, he’s so alluring. I can’t get enough of him. He talks and acts big, but whenever I make a move on him, he’s got no real bite. He gives himself over as if it’s the most natural thing, like he can’t say no to me. This contrast in him turns me on to no end.
Just as I am about to satiate my brimming need for him, there is a knock on the car’s window. I pull back and glare at the intruder.
“Tommy called,” Ria pants, red-faced and sweaty. She must have run here the moment she saw the car pass the gates.
Julian bites on his lip, embarrassed. It makes me want to kiss him even more. His body vibrates, and I can tell he wants nothing more but to bolt out of the car, but I’m still hovering halfway above him, blocking his exit.
“We’ll be right there,” I say, my tone regulated, calm, unlike the firestorm of want raging inside me. It draws Julian’s attention, the shyness vacating his cheeks in lieu of an enticing spark in his eyes. Intriguing.
Five minutes later, we are all gathered in the lounge. Ria has a bunch of files scattered all over the coffee table, and a website listing a bunch of numbers is loaded on her laptop.
“So, the encoded shipping info,” she starts, minimizing the website and opening a program instead. It loads the shipping manifest with our batch number, and next to it, the decoded version. “It’s not a location. It’s a phone number.”
“Did you track it?” Julian pulls a chair and sits next to her, his fingers already typing the number on his phone’s browser.
“I was just about to ask Tommy to do that. Nothing came up when I searched it.”
Julian clicks his tongue. “Yeah, I’m not getting a match.”
Even with the help of our blond hacker and an advanced suite of hacking programs, no match pops up even after an hour of brute-forcing. “This number hasn’t been registered anywhere,” Tommy explains. “It doesn’t come up in any databases.”
Julian clenches his hands into fists on top of the table. “We need to call it.”
“What if they recognize you?” I pose, crossing one leg over the other. I’ve gotten comfortable on a leather armchair next to him. “They’ll hang up, probably lose the number. We’ll never be able to find them.”
His eyebrows knit together, the excitement dropping from his face. I hate doing this, but I’d hate it even more if our hastiness got the better of us.
“Let me do it.” Ria stands, tying her hair into a loose bun. “If these people worked with my father, they’d at least be willing to hear me out. I’ll say I know what he was doing and unless they agree to meet and work with me, I’ll rat them out.”
This is risky, a bit arrogant, but it might just work. Even if they don’t want to meet. All we need is for them to send someone to take care of this loose end, and we’ll have our way in.
“Do it,” I say.
She nods and dials the number, putting her phone on speaker.
Three beeps later, a scratchy voice picks up. “Yes?”
She takes a breath. “I’m Ria Vance. I know what happened to my father, and unless you want the authorities to find out, we’ll meet. I have a business proposition.”
A pause. “You’ve got the wrong number.”
“I have proof. He kept records of all the transactions and shipments from your factory in Atlanta. 05GY-#TIA6687. Ring a bell?”
The line goes so silent, even my vampiric hearing can’t pick up anything. No breathing, no background noise, just dead silence. “Monday, Jane’s carousel in Brooklyn. Eight p.m. Come alone.”
The phone call cuts.
I snap my fingers. Samuel appears a moment later. “Get a team together and scope out Brooklyn Bridge Park and the nearby areas. Traffic, schedules, what shops are open, I want to know everything.”
We’ve got three days to make sure this works. I won’t let this opportunity go to waste.