Page 111 of Fratelli: Eternal Bloodlines

“Huh?” Darlene blinked and then forced a smile. “Yeah. Just the flight. Do you feel… funny?”

“Strange, yea, I feel it,” Dolly mumbled. The elevator doors opened, and the women were led down a hall toward their rooms.

Tristan spoke up, tone voice casual but direct. “We leave for Rome when the moon rises. I suggest everyone get some rest. Tonight’s going to be war.”

“I don’t need rest!” Darlene snipped, a defiant edge returned to her voice. “I want to get to Lucio. Now.”

Tristan nodded respectfully. “We’ll get to Lucio, but we need to be at full strength. That includes feeding.”

Darlene looked at Dolly, who gave her a gentle smile. “He’s safe. I can still see him. Let’s take the time, sister. There are these monks keeping him protected. I sense no rise in the danger.”

Reluctant, Darlene nodded and followed her into the suite. Tristan grabbed Charmaine’s hand, and a spark of energy passed between them. It was like a breath of fresh air after days of suffocating tension.

“Let’s talk,” he said.

Let me fuck you…is what she heard.

Charmaine knew that it wasn’t her imagination. He had whispered the intention in her mind. Talking was the last thing they would do.

Once in thesuite she felt different—incomplete. Darlene stormed into the bathroom to reclaim her strength and confidence that seem to soften since they left the desert. What had changed her? Something unnatural was at work. Her body trembled with missing energy she couldn’t explain. She dropped to her knees in front of the toilet and vomited. Thick, dark blood spilled from her lips. Her stomach twisted violently, but when she looked down, she saw nothing but dark bile swimming in the commode.

Her hands shook as she wiped her mouth, terror crept up her spine.

Darlene...

Her head shot up. Her eyes went wide. The voice was... wrong. Not like anything she’d ever heard before.

It’s time.

Her gaze switched to the mirror above the sink. She stared at her reflection, but it wasn’t her own face staring back.

Hello baby girl…

A familiar face shimmered into view, the soft, kind features of her mother, Wanda. Darlene’s lungs stopped working. “Mama?” She reached out, her hand passed through the glass.

“I’m here, baby,” Wanda whispered, her smile soft and warm. “I’m here.”

Darlene’s heart ached. Tears spilled. She hadn’t known many comforts in life, but the yearning for her mother had never left her. “Mama,” she whispered again, her voice breaking.

The illusion shattered. Wanda’s face twisted and transformed, morphed into a sinister figure who wore a black top hat. He grinned wickedly, grabbed her hand and yanked her forward into his world. The darkness swallowed Darlene’s scream. She was pulled through the mirror and disappeared.

She landed hard on her knees, she gasped for breath. The dark swirl around her faded in and out of focus, but slowly, it solidified. She was no longer in the hotel. She was in Louisiana, kneeling at a crossroads on a lonely dirt road. The air smelled of the swamp, thick and wet, and the sky above became shadowed with traces of the golden light of a disappearing sun.

Darlene stumbled to her feet. She looked around in confusion. The road forked ahead of her—left or right. She stood frozen, unsure where to go, when a distant whistle pierced the air.

The whistle grew closer, footsteps followed. Darlene turned, her fists clenched. She faced the man from the mirror. He was tall and older, with a painted face and eyes that gleamed with delight.

“There she is,” he said, with a grin, his walking stick tapped the ground as he approached. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

“Who are you?” Darlene demanded. She summoned her power, but nothing came. The energy within her was dissolved like smoke in the wind.

Papa Legba laughed and circled her with predatory grace.You’re at the crossroads, child. Your powers are nothing here.

He blurred and moved like a gust of wind, reappearing behind her. Darlene spun to confront him, but he was gone again.

“Let me go,” she snarled. “You don’t want to fuck with me.”

There she is,Papa Legba purred.The little fighter. Just ashesaid you would be.

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