DESI
I passedout after the fight with Bradley and didn’t fully wake up until the next night when someone else burst through my front door. This time, it was my dad and brother.
I groaned, wincing from the pain of getting the shit beat out of me the night before. While I had managed to get a few hits in, enough to get him to leave, he still did more damage to me than I did to him. I was still very much human, and he very much vampire.
“You think you’re fucking funny? Huh?” Gianni kicked my calf hard with his pointed leather dress shoe.
“Fuck!” I leapt up. “What the fuck is your problem?” I stumbled to my feet and looked at them. Frozen in time, we all looked so similar now. We could all be fraternal triplets if people asked.
“Desiderio, what were you thinking?” He slapped me across the back of the head. “You found another vampire?”
“I found another woman,” I clarified.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Gianni scoffed. “You mean, like human? A full-blood human?”
I didn’t say anything, but the look on my face revealed it all. My father groaned and shook his head.
“No, no, no, Desiderio, what are you thinking? You can’t be with a human. It’s absurd.”
“Why?”
“Because they die!”
“And she will die,” my father muttered. “If this gets out, Desiderio, they will come for her. You know how this goes. How many humans did you kill this summer? Huh? You don’t think some of their people won’t come for her?”
“I know.” I brushed my hair back and laughed dryly. “I fucking know. It’s stupid. It is, but I’ve never felt like this before. With anyone. I think she may not be human.” I winced, realizing I said too much. My father and brother froze and looked over at me. The same question and realization on their face.
“Desiderio, you can’t possibly be thinking of what I think you’re thinking,” my dad said.
“You’re a fucking idiot,” Gianni added. “You think she could be Bloodshed?”
“Desiderio.” My father came to me and put his hands on my shoulders. He squeezed tightly until I looked at him. “You can’t do that. We have rules.”
“Fuck the rules. Who cares?”
“The world cares!” he roared. “Suicide is not something to be romanticized. This isn’t Romeo and Juliet. It’s not something that humans should take lightly or glamorize. Next thing you know, every kid on the block is gonna blow out their birthday candles and then swallow a gun. We’ll have vampires everywhere!”
“And what if she’s not?” Gianni stepped forward. “What if you get her to kill herself and that’s it? She’s dead. No one knows what makes one person different from the other. You don’t know if she’s got Bloodshed blood in her or not.”
My dad clicked his tongue. “Do not do this. If you ask that human woman to commit suicide, I’ll disown you.”
Romanticizing suicide was exactly why Bloodsheds were considered beneath Bloodborns. I couldn’t ask that of Scout.
“Fine. I won’t. Happy?” I threw up my hands.
“No, not yet.” My dad waved a finger at me. “You have me in some serious shit, Desiderio. I’ve got Linotti calling me, pissed off because the wedding’s off. You know how much money he put out for that?”
“I’ll pay him back. I’ve got money.” That money had been meant for Scout and me to start a life together, but if paying Mr. Linotti back for the wedding did that, so be it.
“That’s not the point.” Gianni seethed. “We have a way of doing things around here and—”
“And what? I have never done things the way I was supposed to, have I?” I looked around my small house. “I could’ve gone to work right away with you, but what did I do? I chose to grow weed and sell dope just for the laughs. I haven’t worn a suit in my fucking life outside of formal occasions, and I started killing before I even turned. Do you really expect me to fall in line now?”
“Yes!” my father boomed. He strode back over to me and poked me in the chest. “You are not to see that human woman. Every time you see her, you put her life at risk. You will begin work with me until we can work out a deal with Linotti. Do you understand?”
“This isn’t fair!” I protested.
“You think any of what we have is fair?” My dad scoffed. “You think asking your human mistress to kill herself for you is fair? You have always been selfish, but this is a new low for you.”
