“I don’t know about having all the answers, Scarlet, but I think there’s something I can do to help.” A thin stream of rain trickled down Vince’s cheek, like a tear. “Come inside. I want you to meet Rico. I know you’ll like him. He’s a hard person not to fall in love with. Maybe being around more of your kind will help you to see things more clearly. Blake is here, too.”
“But I thought we…” She pulled back on his hand, staring blindly at their joined fingers. His fingers were so warm, even in the rain. Not this way. ” I thought it was just going to be the two of us, Vince. I have questions. There are things I want to know.”
“First you have to meet Rico. He’d never forgive me if I didn’t introduce you.”
So Scarlet received the grand tour of the Bellange mansion. She was in awe of the conspicuous display of wealth. An original Picasso hung in the gallery upstairs, accompanied on either side by solid gold candelabras circa the eleventh century. And there were angels everywhere, in paintings and lithographs, carved into the woodwork, set into the plaster frieze and glimmering in precious metals.
“We are the wicked angels,” Vince said with a masterly smile. “That’s what Rico calls us.”
“Kinda romantic sounding.” But what Scarlet found most interesting was the collection of swords hung along the upper hallway.
She trailed behind Vince, lingering over the elegant weapons, until her eyes fell upon one with a hilt of twisted silver and five tiny rubies embedded within the precious metal. She had held one similar to this once, a year ago, when she had traveled through time to the eighteenth century. Francesco, Vince’s blood master, had been alive and well then, and had offered to give her fencing lessons with a blade much like this one. She drew her finger along the blade’s edge, surprised to find it so sharp.
“That’s a nice one.”
Vince startled her from behind and the blood oozed from a red slice across her fingertip.
Clutching her hand to her chest with her finger extended, Scarlet looked to Vince to find his interest rousing. He stared at her bleeding finger, not moving to touch, but she knew from his slowing, deep breaths, the sight tempted him.
Daring to feed the betrayal, she lifted her finger to Vince’s lips. His tongue encircled it slowly as he sucked and drew the blood from her. A tormented moan escaped him and Scarlet pushed close to his body, matching her hips to his. As she pulled her finger away from his mouth his head followed.
Vince nudged into her hair and bulleted kisses along her neck. His heart pounded against hers. Feeling her teeth slide over her lips, Scarlet bent to Vince’s neck and tested the pounding vein with her pin-sharp weapons. His flesh smelled of rain and sweat. The sense of want was immense. She had to taste the blood of this fiery man.
For the moment, Sebastian no longer existed.
“Evening, Vince.”
Scarlet froze and Vince looked up, blinking away a curl of her dark hair.
“Blake.”
“Don’t mind me,” their visitor said as he strolled down the stairs. “I can see you’re busy. I’ll meet your friend later. Rico’s in one of his moods. You’ll find him in the studio playing the dirge again.”
Scarlet willed her canines back up before the other man noticed. What are you doing? You didn’t come here to betray Sebastian.
“Don’t rush off, Blake.” Vince grabbed her hand and pulled her down the stairs behind him. “I want you to meet Scarlet.”
“Ah, the lovely lady who lives with Sebastian DelaCourte.” Blake bowed his head and offered his hand. “I’ve heard little about you from Vince other than your beauty is of the utmost brilliance. And I can see now why he mentioned nothing else.”
Somewhat taken aback by the man’s charm, and still flushed from her brief encounter, Scarlet shook Blake’s hand. As their palms joined the shimmer gave her a bit of a start. This was the first vampire she had met other than Vince and Sebastian, and of course, Francesco.
“Vince has told me you’ve made him welcome here. I’m glad for that.”
“And where is your friend, Sebastian?”
“He’s playing a benefit concert tonight.”
“Sebastian is of no concern,” Vince said.
“I was just going to make a few calls, get some friends together.” Blake looked at Vince for a long moment and Scarlet wondered what they were silently conveying to each other. “Are you going to join the evening’s festivities?”
“I don’t know yet.” Vince glanced uneasily at Scarlet. “Maybe we’ll go say hello to Rico, try to pull him out of his funk.”
Blake’s smile revealed brilliant white teeth set between his thick red lips. “Well, if anything can help, I believe those wicked green eyes will do the trick. It was a pleasure meeting you, Scarlet. You’ll be back?”
“Oh…sure, I hope so. Vince tells me you have a band. I’d like to hear you guys play sometime.”
Vince gave Blake a high five and pulled Scarlet further down the hallway. “You really want to listen to us play?”
“Us? What do you mean, are you singing with this vampire band? That was quick.”
“I haven’t started singing with Blake’s band…yet.”
Scarlet sighed. “I guess I might have seen it coming.”
“Don’t give me any lectures.”
“Don’t worry I’m not going to try and convince you to go back to Wild Child. Right now I think the best thing for you and Gary is a little time apart. This split might be a good thing for both of you. Ooo…” She rubbed her arms, noticing goose bumps had prickled across them. “It’s cold down this way. Don’t you feel it, Vince?”
“What?”
Scarlet looked about the hallway, trying to discern the strange feeling that had overcome her since trekking further into the depths of the house. It was almost haunting.
“I don’t know, it’s a weird feeling I get. Like…a sadness, or something. A heavy feeling that—I don’t know—it’s like it drags on my heart.”
“Yeah, I noticed that feeling the first time I came down this way, too. Like a deep concern or something just kinda falls over you. It’s probably the air conditioning.”
Cold air? Scarlet stopped at the door where Vince stood. She was sure the cold would not make her feel this way. It was as if she could cry, like an exhaustion from some deep emotion was pulling her down.
“Listen.” Vince put his ear to the door. His eyes scampered curiously over her face as she listened, delving for the spark that had ignited before. “He’s playing that song. That means he’s thinking of her.”
“Of—”
He pressed a long finger to Scarlet’s lips. “Shh.”
“Of who?” she whispered from beneath his finger.
“His sister. He won’t tell me much about her, but I think she’s dead. They must have loved intensely. He becomes lost in another world when he’s like this. It’s eerie. I get the feeling that her ghost is hovering about the room when he plays this.”
Scarlet averted her eyes upward. “Maybe she is. We shouldn’t disturb him.”
“Nah, it’s cool. He wants to meet you. Let’s slip in quietly and listen for a while.”
Without being offered a choice, Scarlet followed Vince inside the glowing metal walls of the studio. The man bent over the keys seemed not to notice them as they carefully made way to the couch and sat down. The grand piano mourned deeply, pleading all who listened to feel the mercy, the loss, the tenderness of love still there.
The heavy feeling stayed with Scarlet as she listened and observed, finding Rico an elegant man in his late twenties with ill-kept hair, uncut and tousled about his head as if a bother. His fingers, weighed down by an assortment of thick silver rings, danced soulfully across the lower keys, the one blue stone catching the candlelight in fierce blazes of aquamarine.
Finding herself entranced by the elegant sadness of this man, Scarlet leant forward, cupping her chin in her palm and absently slipped her other hand into Vince’s.
“She w
ould have been jealous of your beauty.”
Scarlet was surprised to hear Rico’s deep voice as he continued to play, not turning around to acknowledge either of them. She looked at Vince who offered no answer. It seemed he was too caught up in her hand, which rested in his palm.
“She?” Scarlet offered to Rico’s back.
“My sister,” he said as the notes grew deeper and slower. He gestured with a nod toward the Mucha lithograph that depicted a mahogany-tressed woman dancing in pink silks. “Catrina Fiorenza Bellange. A lovely woman in the eyes of any man. As are you. Has she met the others?”
“Just introduced her to Blake,” Vince said. “He’s on the phone planning the festivities.”
“Wonderful. Then she will be staying?” Rico spun around, flashing his bejeweled hands across his knees.
“I don’t think so.”
“Forgive me.” Rico offered his hand to Scarlet. “Federico Bellange, master of this house and friend to any and all who shall call themselves vampire.”
Finding herself transfixed on his odd-colored eyes, Scarlet reached out.
Rico pulled her hand to his lips and pressed a chivalrous kiss to her knuckles. “One is mine and the other is my sister’s,” he said cryptically. “But that is something you shall never understand. So! Vince tells me you share your life with Sebastian DelaCourte?”
“Yes. Do you know him?”
He shrugged. “I’ve seen him on the music television and read stories about him in the magazines Blake has lying about. He’s an excellent guitarist, unmatched and quite unrestrained. Though it seems as though his life may have many restraints.”
His last statement was more a question and Scarlet glanced to Vince. Just how much had he told Rico about her and Sebastian?
She replied automatically. “When you have a busy life such as his and you spend much time in the public eye your life must have guidelines. Total chaos is not a part of Sebastian’s vocabulary.”
“Nor is freedom,” Vince added with a snicker.
Scarlet cast him a cold glare and Vince settled back into the couch, justly admonished.
Blake popped into the room followed by Rowdy. “We’re gonna get things going pretty soon, Rico. You interested?”
“I don’t know. What do you say, Vince, would the lovely lady be interested in attending the evenings’ festivities?” His gaze faltered and jumped for a moment to her breasts, accentuated by the tight bodice of her black rayon dress, and then he settled back on her eyes, which seemed to hold him entranced.
“What sort of festivities?” Scarlet asked.
“No, she wouldn’t.” Vince stood and pulled on her hand.
Not sure what was being discussed, Scarlet stood also.
“She’s not ready for this, Rico.”
“Ready for what?” Was this it? The answers she had been seeking?
Scarlet looked from Vince to Blake and the other whom she had not been introduced to yet. He had corkscrew curls and a mouth that curled up on one side exposing a glint of hound dog fang. Blake caught her glance and smiled slyly.
“Vince, what are you guys talking about?”
“I think she’d be cool about it,” Blake added.
“We’re talking about—”
“No, Rico.” Vince clutched Scarlet’s hand to his chest but she shook him off.
“Wait, Vince. I want to know what you guys are talking about. You say this is your new family, that this is your home. I want to know what makes you happy, what it is that you share with these men that makes you part of their family.”
“We share the vampire nature, lovely one,” Rico began in a deep voice that seduced instantly. “We share the fear—”
“Rico,” Vince admonished through a tight jaw.
“The adrenaline rush.” He ignored Vince’s pleas.
“I think we should probably go now.”
“Vince.” Rico laid a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry, I don’t wish to overstep my bounds. But it is her right to know.”
Scarlet watched as the two men stared each other down, Vince’s jaw pulsing tensely.
“Why deny her what is rightfully hers?”
“What do you mean by the adrenaline rush?” Scarlet pulled from Vince’s grasp and stepped back. She looked from him to Rico, feeling at once the tension, the battle of wills, and the silent urging from Rico to step forth. Become one. Step into the families’ embrace. “I don’t understand.”
Vince shrugged and laid an acquiescent hand over Rico’s. The two clasped hands as good friends do and he gestured that Rico continue.
“The adrenaline produced when fear is present is the drug I speak of, Scarlet.” Rico mastered her curiosity instantly with his seductive voice. “We all do it, it’s only natural.”
“I don’t get it. Are you saying if someone is afraid of you, you get a sort of rush? What do you do, jump out from the shadows and flash your fangs like some horror movie icon?”
Blake laughed aloud as Rico stepped closer to Scarlet. The smell of cedar and wine tickled her nose, though it was not on Rico’s breath, it seemed more a part of him physically. As if a shroud.
“I would never hide in the shadows. But I do flash my fangs, as you say.” He chuckled deeply, inducing the two stooges to mumble their own chuckles. “I never kill until I see the fear in my victim’s eyes, then I know the adrenaline has begun to flow. Shall I show you?”
Feeling Rico move closer with each breath, as if he hovered without walking, Scarlet stepped back. “I don’t know…” She looked to Vince who stood with arms crossed, legs spread, concentrating on her actions. “I’m sure I believe you. You don’t have to bring a victim in here.”
Rico closed in on her. “Are you afraid of me, Scarlet?”
“N-no.” Though, right now, she wasn’t too sure. Rico was such an overwhelming presence, she had no idea of his intentions. Why was Vince just standing there?
“You’re not afraid at all? You have no qualms regarding me? You know everything there is to know and are confidant that I am sane and of a sound mind? Can you be so sure I’ll not leap forward and pin you to the wall and rape you before all present?”
Scarlet backed away, madly searching Vince’s eyes, finding no support. Rape? She didn’t like this anymore. As much as she had been compelled to come here, she wanted to leave. Now.
“I see it,” Rico whispered.
“See what?” she replied shakily.
“The fear!”
Scarlet let out a scream as Rico leapt for her and in less than a thought, he tilted her head and touched his fangs to her vein. His daggers pierced her flesh and he began to suck. She pushed against his chest and was relieved when Vince pulled him back.
She stumbled back to the wall, her hand slipping over the bloody lacerations on her neck. Rico grinned from behind a woozy facade, revealing red-stained teeth.
Vince slipped his arm around her waist. “What the hell did you do that for, man?”
Rico licked his lips. “She wanted me to prove a point. I did. You believe me now, don’t you, precious one?”
Melding closer to Vince’s protective stance, Scarlet could only nod. She was ashamed Rico had been able to jump forward so quickly without her expecting it. And he was right, she had been scared. But now she was nothing but pissed. This was the man Vince raved about? The leader of a family that cradled Vince with open vampire arms? She did not come for this!
“I can’t believe you did that, Rico.”
“He’s just playing,” Blake chimed in defense.
“Forgive me,” Rico said and swiped a hand across his lips before offering it to Scarlet in a truly apologetic gesture. “I am a man of contrasts. Actions speak louder than words for me. And you, Vince, I must beg your forgiveness also. By no means did I mean to tread on your territory. The point has been proven, she knows of what we speak. Now, will you be staying?” He lowered his eyes on Scarlet.
“No,” Scarlet broke in before Vince could speak. The wounds had starte
d to heal on her neck but the adrenaline still ran rampant. “I think I should go home now.”
“I hope it’s not because of me you choose to flee so quickly?”
All eyes, including the mismatched pair belonging to Rico were on Scarlet, the room fell silent save for the flutter of the candle flames. “I imagine I should be quite upset with your ways, Mr. Bellange, but…” You wanted to learn more. “I think I’ve had enough excitement for one evening.”
“I’ll take you home.” Vince draped an arm over her shoulder and pulled her out the door.
“How can you trust this man after knowing him for such a short time, Vince? You saw what he just did.”
“Rico is my friend. I’ve told him everything I’ve been through since I’ve become a vampire. I can talk to him, he’s a good man.”
“Oh yes,” she said, easing her fingers across her neck. “I noticed.”
“I shouldn’t have let him do that. But you’re no worse for the wear, are you?”
Stepping outside into the fine mist, Scarlet pulled on Vince’s hand and he stopped on the top step. “So that is your passion now? You instill fear in your victims before killing them? Isn’t it bad enough you kill in the first place, but now you’ve—”
Her angry, confused words were stopped by Vince’s lips. He kissed her fiercely, pulling her body tight to his as she first struggled, but then gave in to his silent requests. And while his kisses were laced with the sweet surprise of a new lover’s passions, Vince’s kisses also scared her. She had never betrayed Sebastian’s love before. But he didn’t have to force her mouth open as she succumbed to his demands.
“Enough angry words. You know what my passion is,” he whispered. “And if you don’t, then you’ll know soon enough.”
He pulled her down the steps and across the pebbled drive. Looking about, he pointed to the enormous willow tree that freefell across the front lawn, its thin silvery leaves glistening beneath the moonlight with tears of summer rain.
“But Vince!”
They ducked beneath the spidery arms of the tree into the inner canopy and Vince drew Scarlet down to the wet grass. “They’re all inside getting high. No one will bother us.”
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