But the Italian vampire is dead.
I can see that. She can see that.
But nevertheless, we work on his body even as it loses the last of its color. Even as his lips turn gray and his eyelids so white, all their purple veins stand out like track marks.
What else are we supposed to do?
Overhead, sirens whirl. Firetrucks blast their anthem, speeding down Main Street in a never-ending stream of skull-shattering noise.
Misha doesn’t stop, not for a moment. Her lips never stop moving; her hands never stop their work over him. She coats the open wound on his chest in oil. She opens her own veins over and over, pouring into him. She tells me to pull out every bottle of blood we have, and then she insists I hold the beautiful bastard’s head like a baby and feed him.
Of course, I do it. In her presence, I am nothing. My powers are a raindrop placed next to an ocean.
We try everything. But the blood just fills his mouth and spills out of the sides.
He’s gone, he cannot drink. Orfeo is dead—an empty soulless vessel, lying limp in my arms—and I will have to tell Diantha. She will crumble. Both because of their blood bond, and because she is (was?) his mate. His twin flame, devoted to him. Fully,from her soul, in a way that makes my stomach twist and ache. In a way that brings into harsh relief how alone I’ve been all these years.
And now, I’ve lost my brother.Fuck. I clench his body to mine, willing the tears in my eyes to stay as they are. Not to budge.
Misha isn’t crying yet, so I won’t either.
We go on like this for hours.
The noise swells overhead; the ground shaking below. The entire town of Echidna rattles and rattles and rattles like Hades has climbed out of hell and set foot here to punish us himself.
Dust falls from the support beams around us. It’s an ashen rain that covers everything. Our hair, our dry lips, our broken hands. It sticks to Misha’s open wrists and the gash down Orfeo’s chest.
It clings to the fragrant oil smeared over his forehead, his throat, onto his palms.
Our world has shrunk down to a pinprick. All I focus on is the body in my arms.
Diantha
When I awaken,I am in the kitchen in the Dream Place. The stars are so beautiful here. I will miss them. The lace curtains dance in the cosmic breeze.
“Amore.” His sweet voice coaxes my eyes open. Orfeo smiles down at me. My head is in his lap. His fingers trace my features.
I push myself up off the tile and throw myself at him, wrapping my arms around his neck. He laughs and pulls me to him, into his lap. “It’s true then—we have been meeting here, in this realm.”
But I can’t speak, I can’t breathe. Sobs rip through my body as I clutch him to me.
I am filthy and covered in so much blood. My lip is split, my eye is bruised. I know at least one of my ribs is broken. My ankles are twisted and swollen. My dress hangs useless around my waist.
He shushes me, comforts me, pulling away only to take off his shirt and wrap me in it. Then, he holds me against his chest and smooths my hair.
“You did it,” he whispers against my hair. Over and over as he rocks me, until I run out of tears.
Eventually, I manage to ask the only question I have left: “Do you love me?”
“Do Iloveyou?” Orfeo narrows his eyes at me, lips pressing into a sweet pout. I trace the curve of his mouth with a filthy finger. “Diantha, I would die again and again, a thousand deaths, for you. I would take my human life and this life, and I would offer them to whoever, whichever god, in your name.” He pauses, moisture gathering in the corners of those incandescent eyes. And when the tears fall, they turn to blood on his cheeks. “It has been so many years…I didn’t even know if I would remember what love is.”
I press my hand to his chest, to where his heart would beat. “This.”
“Yes,amore.” He laughs softly, nuzzling his nose against my cheek. “It is that…it is like barking for a dog, like rising for the sun. It is simply what I do.”
I nod, exhaustion stealing away my ability to form words. “I was put here…for you.”
He makes a noise of agreement against my neck. “And I for you.”
