“You think you’re fucking funny?”
“I’m saving you!” She repeated. Her hands were bunched into fists, and thin lines of blood were streaming down her cheeks. “We need to do it now before it causes another problem!”
“The only problem is you all!” I shouted back. “You think people don’t know who we are? We’ve got our hands in just about every pot of fucking crime all over the country!”
“And the moment you let someone in, the whole operation is going to crack!” She cried. “You know this, Desiderio.”
“No, I don’t. You ever think maybe she’s wrong?”
“Corrine wouldn’t do anything bad to us. She saved us.”
“She saved you. She didn’t save me.” I snarled.
“Oh, that’s right. Big bad cursed Desi.” She mocked. She sniffled and wiped the blood tears off her face. “You don’t need anyone. You’re on a mission. You can handle your curse on your own. You’re better than the rest of us. Isn’t that why you haven’t taken your own territory?”
“You’re fucking crazy.” I snapped.
“You’re delusional if you think Corrine wasn’t going to kill her when she found out. We don’t get to be happy, Desi. Not like that.”
“Why not? You ever deep dive that bullshit she’s fed us for twenty years? Humans who do what we do have families. Why can’t we?”
She opened and shut her mouth. She raised her head high. “It doesn’t matter anyway. I told her. You fucked up, Desiderio. You shouldn’t have told that girl about us.”
“He didn’t.” Scout’s voice came soft but firm. We turned quickly to the door. I ran over, but she flinched. “I’d like to go home now.”
“We’re leaving.”
I glared at Ludovica as I helped Scout to the car. I got her inside and comfortable, then flipped Ludovica off as I went to the driver’s side. She took a step forward, but I shook my head.
“Bite me.” I slid into the car and pulled out quickly, leaving her to rot for all I cared.
Scout didn’t speak for hours, despite me trying to coax something, anything out of her. When she finally did, it didn’t sound like the woman I knew. The vampire I had fallen in love with.
“Please, I just want you to take me home.”
Elvie had been right. This was too much for her. I drove all night, stopping only to get her a few pints of blood.
“Can we talk about it? I’m sorry to get you involved in this. Elvie is just—jealous.”
She didn’t respond, so I spoke freely.
“I found her first, before any of the others. She was kind of a mess. Her family disinherited her because she fell in love with a human, then when he tried to turn, it didn’t take. He didn’t have the right DNA.”
Elvie had watched it happen. He wanted her to be there when he came back to life, but he didn’t. Instead, she watched him run into a fire and scream in pain until he collapsed and died.
“She was publicly shamed. Her family made sure of it. She was angry and bitter, yet she refused to fight back. She ran, and that’s when she found me. We found each other, really. I was in the same boat. My family didn’t want me, and I was filled with a hate that I didn’t know what to do with. Then, we met the others, and they showed us how to survive.”
I glanced at her from the wheel. If she was listening, she didn’t react. She was barely blinking. She refused to look at me.
We reached her apartment, and I noticed the sky was lightening up. I got her inside, and I was heavily hinting at staying over. I didn’t think she’d care, but she did respond to me then.
“I need you to leave, please.”
“It’s almost morning.” I protested. She nodded but didn’t relent.
“I need you to leave, please.”
I couldn’t help my frustration. I slammed the door as I left and stormed down the stairs. I sped back to my place and didn’t sleep a wink all day. I wasn’t sure what her problem was, but I was getting to the bottom of it.
