Page 81 of Fratelli: Eternal Bloodlines

Marcello wept over Lucio. “Perdonami. Perdonami.”

“He’ll live,” Domencio mumbled.

Marcello picked up the broken and savaged body of his oldest brother and flew into the night.

Chapter 34

The Desperation

Mojave Desert, Nevada

April 18, 2018

(3 Days Before Death)

The girls traveled a dark,desolate road for an hour before they took a side road into the desert. Dolly glanced over at Nzinga. She again tried to reach into her thoughts and all she got was the typical worries and sufferings of a delusional young woman who was accompanied by supernatural entities. There had to be more.

Stop trying. Whatever is protecting her is aware you are searching. Why allow it to flex its powers? Don’t worry. We’ll kick their ass when we get there.

I am worried. I have not heard from Lucio. That is not like him. He hasn’t let me out of his sight since we started this. You know he wouldn’t just abandon us.

I love him too. But Domencio…he’s fire!

Stop it, Darlene! You don’t know Domencio. He was trying to kill Lucio earlier. Yes, Lucio chose me, but I forced him to do it. He begged me to unite with you. He begged me to see you aspart of me and I forced him to choose. So, stop punishing him for it!

I’m sorry. I just… I had to watch you with him. See him treat you nicely. He wasn’t like that with me. He enjoyed having sex with me. That was all. Domencio saved me. Even if he doesn’t know, he did. At least I felt special.

I’m sorry too. I don’t want to fight. I really don’t, but I need to hear from Lucio. It’s killing me not to hear from him.

I understand.

I don’t know what to do. I’m scared. This isn’t how we planned it. We can’t help anybody by going into this desert with this lady. Maybe you were right.

True, what if we…

It hit them both at the same time—a sledgehammer blow of love and sorrow—a psychic connection that filled them with more passion than either sister had known with their vampire lover, unique and all their own. Lucio’s departure after the rapture he gave them filled their minds, his confession and goodbye blending into a haunting symphony of pain. Darlene and Dolly screamed in unison; their cries resonated with a power that shattered the car windows.

Nzinga swerved and struggled to control the vehicle as it spun wildly before skidding to a stop. Charmaine and Nzinga, shocked and disoriented, barely had time to react before the car doors blasted open. Dolly tumbled out, a maelstrom of light and tears, her anguish palpable. Charmaine rushed after her, but as she got close, an explosive force threw her back, sent her hurtling hundreds of feet away.

Dazed and winded, Charmaine struggled to comprehend what had happened. She looked up to see Dolly rising into the air, a chaotic swirl of light and darkness, screaming Lucio’s name over and over. The sight was both mesmerizing andterrifying, the sheer intensity of her power creating a vortex that seemed to consume the very air around her.

Nzinga sensed the danger and backed away from the car as if Dolly were a nuclear bomb about to detonate. The sisters’ combined powers tore through the fabric of reality. Their grief and rage manifested uncontrollable energy bursts. Darlene, trapped within Dolly, amplified their power to dangerous levels.

The sky above them darkened, lightning crackling in the air as the twin sisters’ powers reached a critical point. The surrounding desert seemed to tremble; the ground vibrated with the force of their unleashed energy.

“Lucio!” Dolly’s voice, infused with Darlene’s darkness, echoed across the desert, a cry of despair and fury that seemed to reverberate through the very earth. Their bodies, now one, were convulsing with the sheer magnitude of their combined power.

With a final, agonized scream, they erupted into a blinding explosion of light and darkness. The energy blast was so intense that it sent shockwaves rippling through the desert, flattening everything in its path. Charmaine shielded her eyes, her body trembled as she tried to hold on against the force of the blast.

When the light finally faded, Dolly’s physical form collapsed, her soul was spent from the immense outpouring of energy. She lay motionless on the desert floor, the silence that followed became as deafening as the explosion had been. Nzinga stood first, then Charmaine, who ran faster than she had ever run in her life, reaching Dolly first.

Dolly was still, cold. Charmaine dropped her head to her friend’s heart, unable to feel a heartbeat. She began CPR, frantic and desperate, before finally remembering her own healing powers. Overwhelmed with fear and hurt at the possibility that Dolly could die, she stumbled through her attempts to heal her.

Nzinga touched her shoulder. “You can do it. You healed me. Take your time.”

Crying, Charmaine, who embodied her goddess Liora, nodded and calmed herself. Slowly, her energy—a cooling light for protection—surfaced beneath her hands, and she pressed her palms to Dolly’s chest. She closed her eyes. “Tristan, if you can hear me, we need your help. Please. My sister Kaida. Bring her. We are in the Mojave. Find me.”

Charmaine sent her energy into the universe to her sister while simultaneously sending it through Dolly. As she struggled to revive her, she heard the loud sound of engines approaching. Several jeeps arrived through the night, their lights coming from different directions. The jeep doors opened and closed, footfalls drew near, and she heard a few voices. She was clueless about their identity or location. She didn’t care. She focused on healing Dolly.

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