As Vittoria led her out into the sunshine, Evangeline scanned the highway, still apprehensive about being out in the open. Once they hopped up on the truck’s tailgate, she checked the rifle, cycling the safety and adjusting the sights.
“You know how to handle a weapon,” Vittoria said.
“Before my father decided I was too volatile to be trusted, I knew how to shoot every weapon in our arsenal. I was twelve.”
“That is no way for a child to grow up.”
Evangeline shrugged. “No. But it might save our lives now, and I wouldn’t have been able to save Nic and escape if I weren’t competent with a knife.” Setting the rifle down, she fiddled with the coin, needing the connection with Nic to calm her racing heart.
“That is Nicola’s.”
“He gave it to me when I was a child.”
Vittoria made a completive sound. “Interesting.”
When it became clear Vittoria wasn’t going to elaborate, Evangeline dropped her hand and started to fiddle with the hem of her shirt. Taking a chance the beautiful vampire next to her might give her some insights into the man she was falling for, she forced herself to sit up straighter. “Have you known him long?”
“No. Perhaps seventy years? I am young. One hundred and twenty-two.”
“That’s a lifetime to me. More,” Evangeline said. “You’re friends?”
“I am his physician.”
“That’s not an answer. You’re not close?”
Vittoria laughed. “I like you, Evangeline. You are very direct. I suppose I am as close to him as anyone, save Carlo. I have treated him twice for illnesses—one severe. He was close to death.”
Evangeline’s heart skipped a beat. “What happened?”
“Malaria. Outbreaks were rare, but there was a small pocket of disease in Rome in 1951. Nicola was there on Conclave business, and his usual blood supply was not available. He purchased some blood from a smaller blood bank with poor safety practices. By the time he returned to Sorrento, his fever was high enough to do permanent damage. He was bedridden for a week before he ordered me away and resumed his work.” Vittoria waved her hand with a frustrated harumph sound. “He is stubborn. Stupido, sometimes.”
“Men usually are.” Evangeline rolled her eyes. “When I rescued him, he was bleeding from a dozen different wounds that wouldn’t heal, he could barely stand, and still he refused to take my blood.”
“That sounds like Nicola.”
A car sped down the highway and they both tensed. But as the blur zoomed by, paying them no heed, Evangeline tried to relax. The speed and sheer size of cars and trucks frightened her, but she’d have to get over her fear if she wanted to live outside the catacombs. Normal people didn’t have her hangups, and she desperately wanted to be…normal.
“Tell me about him,” Evangeline said. When Vittoria frowned, she added, “Anything. I know how he is with me. He told me about his wife and son, about his making. But what is he like?”
Vittoria leaned back on her hands, staring off into the distance at the snow-covered mountains. “Vampires are solitary creatures, my dear.”
“Nic said the same thing. I’d think you’d form more friendships than humans. Not fewer. How do you stand to be alone for so many years?”
A hawk streaked across the sky, drawing their gazes. “Think of your closest friend, Evangeline. And tell me why she or he is your friend.”
Evangeline’s eyes burned until she blinked hard. “She’s not my friend anymore. She tried to stop me from rescuing Nic. Forcefully. But when we were friends, I guess it was because she always listened to me and she’d tell me when I was wrong without being mean about it. She offered me advice. Watched silly movies with me.” Balancing on the edge of the tailgate, Evangeline hugged her knees to her chest.
Vittoria nodded. “Our society is full of posturing. You saw some of it inside, just now. Our strength and our power structure are based on age. Nicola has few friends because he is very old. If a younger vampire were to tell him he was wrong, he would take it as a challenge. He would have no choice. Because of his age, there are few he can trust. Carlo is one of the few vampires who can stand up to Nicola without repercussions.”
“Why?”
“Nicola treats Carlo as if he sired him. He did not. But in saving his life while he was being reborn, he may as well have done so. He has always had a special place in his heart for Carlo. He has told you, si? That he would never sire one of his own?”
Evangeline nodded.
“Carlo is the only son Nicola will ever have. So I believe he is also Nicola’s only true friend.”
“That’s heartbreaking.”
Vittoria shrugged, a dainty motion that puckered the neck of her sweater. “It is common. I am young, so I have a few friends my age, as well as a few humans I am close to. But the older vampires often have no one.”
The two women sat in silence. Evangeline finally cleared her throat. “That doesn’t tell me anything about what he’s like.”
Vittoria smiled and inclined her head. “True. Let me think of a suitable story.” After a minute, Vittoria clapped her perfectly manicured hands together. “This will tell you all you need to know about him, I think. Once he retired from his surgeon life, before blood banks were common, he needed to find a new way to feed. He had already vowed never to use the incantesimo. He found a poor, abused peasant girl living on the streets, begging for a few coins, and he offered her a trade. A home, warm clothes, food, a small salary, and freedom—all for a few sips of her blood twice a week. Livia accepted and, for decades, she lived in his guest house, giving him her wrist every Sunday and Wednesday after she attended church. She passed away at the age of seventy-one.”
“How long were they together?” Evangeline asked.
“Fifty years, give or take.”
“And he never bonded to her?” Toying with the coin again, she rubbed the chain over Nic’s mark and stifled a shiver.
“No. I never met the woman, but Nicola would only feed from her wrist. They were friendly, and I believe he cared for her, but there was no love there. You are jealous?” Vittoria raised a plucked blond brow.
“No, but…” Evangeline pulled the collar of her thermal shirt away from her neck. “I’m afraid whatever’s going on between us is messing with my emotions.”
Vittoria raised her brows. “You are bonding. This is expected.”
“I’ve marked him as well. I don’t know how. I didn’t break the skin. I don’t understand any of this. We’ve spent all of three days together. Nic said the process usually takes years. How could I possibly be bonding to him after only three days? If this were common, wouldn’t he have bonded to Livia? And what the hell am I supposed to do about it?”
Vittoria muttered something in Italian and shook her head. “I have not experienced the bonding process myself, nor have I treated any who have. It is largely a mystery, even to those who experience it.” Vittoria moved Evangeline’s shirt to peer at the other side of her neck. “I will ask you a question. One you should feel no compulsion to answer. Do you love him?”
Evangeline hugged herself tightly. “Yes,” she whispered. “But I feel like I barely know him. And I’m human. If we go through with this, he’ll have to watch me die. I can’t do that to him. Not after what my father put him through. He’s had enough pain in his life. And I don’t know that I could take it either.”
“If you desire, I will turn you.”
“No.” Evangeline scrambled back in a feeble attempt to protect herself.
Vittoria touched her shoulder and made a soft shushing sound. “I would only do so if you asked and Nicola agreed. You have nothing to fear from me, bambina.”
“I don’t want to be turned.”
“So certain? It is not all bad, you know. Long life, immense strength, the ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound?”
Evangeline laughed, and Vittoria leaned in, bumping her shoulder against Evangeline’s. “Superman is one of my favorit
e movies.”
“I’m human. I want to stay that way.”
“I understand. I did not have a choice when I was turned. One day, perhaps I will tell you the story. I have made the best of my new life. Done much good with my many years. But there is a preciousness to life that I no longer feel. But if you change your mind, I would be happy to be the one to sire you. Nicola would never, for the relationship of a vampire to her sire is complicated enough without adding love to the mix. But you have my word that I would release you immediately. Nicola has done much good for our kind, and we all owe him a debt.”
“What has he done?”
“He has told you of the Conclave?” Vittoria asked.
“I did some research on them when I was a kid. I know they rule vampires. But that’s about it.”
Vittoria smiled. “Nicola was one of the very first to suggest that we could live in harmony with humans. I was not alive then, but I have heard the stories. He was the one to pen the law prohibiting the incantesimo.”
Evangeline gaped. “Really?”
“Si. When vampires made themselves known, Nicola remained in hiding. At least another fifty years. He was not certain that we would be accepted. But when the Conclave was formed, he came forward. He offered his service to them freely. He spoke of the love he had for his wife, his vow never to turn another human, and his reluctance to ever use his bite to kill or control. We tend to forget that we are not the only inhabitants of this planet. Nicola reminded us.”
Vittoria stretched her legs out in front of her and tipped her head back, basking in the sun. “If we are to go into battle with the humans…the Hand of God,” she corrected quickly, “the fact that you are in the throes of bonding will complicate matters.”
“How?”
“Nicola will not be able to be parted from you. He will feel ill.”
“I know. I feel it too.”
“Really? That is quite interesting. Are you certain you are human, Evangeline-the-rescuer?”
“Yes!”
“Your blood smells different to me.” Vittoria’s deep purple eyes flicked up and down Evangeline’s body.
“My father said he altered my DNA. But I’m still human. If I weren’t, I couldn’t feed Nicola, could I?”
“No, you couldn’t. If we are successful and you return to Italy with us, I will ask Nicola if I may take a vial of your blood for study. Assuming it is also all right with you.”
Evangeline nodded. “You don’t need his permission. If you can tell me why I’m different, I’ll be happy to submit to a blood draw.”
Vittoria laughed. The light, musical sound fit her. “Oh my dear, I’m afraid you have much to learn of vampire bonding.”
Evangeline was about to ask Vittoria what she meant when the woman’s eyes widened, and she snatched up her rifle. “Someone comes.”
25
Pietro leapt down from the skylight. “Human!” he shouted, springing for the door. “The women…”
Evangeline! Nic sent his thoughts to his life mate, but she had already started to run for the doors. Vittoria revved the truck’s engine and pulled the vehicle around to the rear of the gas station.
“How close are they?” Evangeline asked.
Pietro stared through the rifle’s scope. “One human. He does not look right. Pale, sweating, stumbling. He does not appear to be armed.”
“One of my father’s men,” Evangeline said. “Where?”
“He is perhaps a kilometer away. Five minutes, he will be here,” Pietro replied.
Carlo raced out to the black sports car, practically a blur. Seconds later, it too disappeared around the back of the building, and the two vampires hurried back inside.
“Go back to the roof,” Nic ordered Pietro. “Do not harm him unless he tries to harm us and whatever happens, do not feed from him.”
Pietro protested, but Nic silenced him with a single look. His life mate’s heart raced under his touch. “How did he find us?” she asked.
“We will ask him,” Nic said. “Carlo, per favore, in the office. Vittoria, around the back of the building. Evangeline, you will not leave my side.”
The other vampires did as he asked without a word and Evangeline crouched with him behind one of the metal shelves.
“He approaches,” Pietro said, just loud enough for Nic to hear.
“I do not like you exposing yourself, but I to know who he is.”
Evangeline nodded. She rose, though Nic’s hand kept her from standing up straight. “Shit,” she whispered, and he pulled her back down. “Leo. He…”
Leo. Nic recognized the name of one of Evangeline’s captors. Anger turned his vision red, and he ached to kill this human for hurting his life mate. Evangeline touched his cheek, stopping the low growl he hadn’t realized he was making.
“No. Not unless we have to. Trust me.”
Merda. She could read him so easily. He tried to force deep breaths until the scent of the human reached him. The serum. His pulse quickened, and his fangs lengthened without conscious thought. Evangeline rose, hefting the rifle as she wedged one of the glass doors open with her foot.
“Stop!” she called out. “Don’t make me shoot you, Leo!”
The young man raised his hands. “Eva. Thank God. I’ve been wandering around all night, please. I think…I’m sick…” He fell to the ground, his body spasming in the throes of a seizure.
“Fuck!” Evangeline raced out the door before Nic could react.
“Evangeline!” he shouted, leaping over the shelving unit. He reached her in three steps and hauled her back against him, his arms tight around her waist.
“He’s dying. Let me go.”
Vittoria strode towards the prone and spasming human.
“Be careful,” Nic warned. “The serum will weaken you.”
Evangeline continued to struggle against his grip. “He’s not going to hurt me,” she said.
Vittoria peeled back one of Leo’s eyelids and checked his pulse. She muttered a soft curse and wiped her hands on her skirt. “The child will be dead in minutes. I concur, Nicola. He is no danger to your sposa.”
Hearing Vittoria call Evangeline his sposa—his bride—set something loose inside of him. After speaking to Carlo, he’d already decided he’d beg her to accept him. He couldn’t wait much longer.
“Be careful,” he whispered as he released her.
Evangeline knelt by Leo’s side. “Hey there,” she said.
“Henry. He’s gone…mad. I tried to leave. He shot me…with something. Sick.”
“Leo, what about your tracker?”
A shudder went through the young man’s body, and he turned his head, vomiting bile onto the pavement. “Disabled it.”
“How did you find us?” Nic asked, standing over Evangeline with his fists clenched at his sides.
“I was…just trying…to get to the…highway. Find…help.”
With those last whispered words, Leo’s eyes rolled back in his head. Seconds later, he breathed his last.
“Pietro!” Nic called.
The tattooed vampire jumped down from the roof. He grimaced at the scent of the human. “This is the serum you spoke of?”
“Si. Any human with this scent is a danger to all of us.”
“Does it always kill the host?” Pietro asked.
“I don’t know,” Evangeline replied. “It’s killed two men in the past day. But I don’t know if it kills everyone. Henry’s a fucking monster.” Her voice broke. Turning on her heel, she strode back inside, swiping at her cheeks. Nic needed to comfort her, to hold her, but first, he had to take care of the boy. “We need to hide the body. Bury him somehow.”
“There’s a shovel in the trunk of the car,” Vittoria offered. “Pietro and I can bury him. Go back inside. The less you are exposed, the better.”
Pietro cleared his throat. “My apologies, Nicola. I was skeptical of this serum. I should have believed you.”
Glaring at Pietro, he puzzled at the strange expressi
on on the vampire’s face. “Si. You should have. Do not doubt me again.”
With a small bow, Pietro headed for the car with Vittoria, and Nic jogged back to the convenience store. As he slipped back inside, Carlo met him. “Where is she?”
“In the bathroom. Crying. What happened with the human?”
“Dead. The serum killed him.” He grasped Carlo’s shoulder. “Pietro and Vittoria are taking care of the body. I need to check on Evangeline, but then I need you to tell us everything you know of the bonding process. I cannot fight what I feel for her any longer.”
Carlo nodded. “Very well. But first, I must tell you what has happened in the world these past eighteen years. Before we go up against the Hand of God, we need aid. You need to speak to Luigi. After that, we will open a bottle of wine, and I will explain how to end this suffering.”
“You brought wine to the middle of the wilderness where we are going into a fight for our very existence?”
“Of course. What sort of Italian do you think I am?”
When Evangeline emerged from the bathroom, red rimming her eyes, Nic sucked in a sharp breath. Her pain weighed on him as if it were his own, and he gathered her against him, then pressed his lips to the mark on her neck.
Her knees buckled. “Stop,” she said, heat flushing her skin. She tried to pull away, but Nic held fast. “Please, Nic. Don’t.” Yet, despite her words, she clung to him, her fingers digging into his back. “We can’t keep doing this.”
Her scent—cheap convenience store soap, over the scent of her arousal, a hint of espresso still on her breath—maddened him. He drew back to look at her. Tears shimmered in her warm brown eyes, and her lower lip had started to swell from her incessant worrying. He brushed his thumb over the tender flesh. “Cara, you are going to chew right through that lip soon. Perhaps we should stop fighting what we both want?”
“Let me go. We can’t think about that right now. We have to stop Henry before he kills anyone else.”
“Evangeline, per favore, the bonding—”
“For fuck’s sake. Get your head out of your ass and look at what just happened!”
Secrets in Blood Page 22