Page 82 of Fratelli: Eternal Bloodlines

A miracle materialized. Dolly gasped and took a breath. Her eyes opened, then closed. Then opened again, only for her best friend to burst into tears. Charmaine pulled her up from the ground and into her arms. She held Dolly as Dolly held her.

“He’s dead. I don’t feel him. He’s dead. My Lucio is dead,” wailed Dolly.

“I’m so sorry, Dolly. I’m so sorry,” said Charmaine.

“I’ll make them pay. All of them. I’ll kill them all!” screamed Darlene from inside of her. Charmaine rocked them both in her arms, doing her best to heal her.

Nzinga turned and knelt for her matriarch. Greenlee was helped from the jeep, able to stand with the help of two sisters from the order. She looked better than Nzinga did at her worst after the beating they had taken from the Gods, but she was evidently still very hurt and recovering.

“Why are you here? I was going to bring them to you,” Nzinga said, keeping her head bowed.

“We felt her. Something has happened to the twins. We came to help,” said Greenlee.

Nzinga looked up to see the Professor approach from another jeep. She stepped back in respect to his position within the order. Eric walked over to a kneeling and weeping Charmaine.

“Can I take her? We can help.”

Charmaine looked back at him and frowned. “Who are you?”

“A friend. We can help. Let me have her. Please,” he said.

“We call him the professor. He knows the twins. He can help them. We are close to the camp, Charmaine. Let’s find out what happened.”

“She kept saying Lucio’s name,” Charmaine said, handing Dolly over to the Professor. After a moment of comfort, Dolly slipped again into a catatonic state. He swept her up into his arms, looking her over. Charmaine was helped to her feet. “Is she going to be, okay? She’s breathing. She was just awake.”

“She’s exhausted herself. More power than we believed she had. Something must have happened to the vampire Lucio,” the Professor glanced at Greenlee.

“Not possible. If Lucio had died, we’d all know it,” said Greenlee looking up at the dark clouds.

“What else would do this to them?” the Professor asked.

Greenlee gestured for them to leave. Her handlers helped her back to the jeep. Charmaine followed Nzinga to the van. She glanced up at the starless sky. She had sent a message to her sister and Tristan. Maybe Dolly was right, and he could help. She prayed. She hoped. She would do everything to keep the faith.

As they drove toward the camp, Charmaine’s thoughts scrambled. She couldn’t shake the image of Dolly’s defeat or the memory of the power that had erupted from the sisters. In the jeep ahead, the Professor held Dolly in his arms, carrying a weight of knowledge that might be their salvation—or their doom.

Left alone with her thoughts, Charmaine tried again to reach Kaida. She called her by her true name: Sonya. When there was no response, she focused on Tristan].

“You want me? Then come for me, but you must bring my sister. Do you hear me? Bring her to me! And I’m yours,” she said aloud.

Charmaine released her energy into the night, leaving a trail across the desert, daring the vampire—or any other supernatural force—to follow. It was a risk she was willing to take.

They were in the midst of a war, not just with vampires, but with the very forces of light and darkness that resided within Dolly and Darlene. The road ahead was uncertain, and she needed Kaida. She needed her desperately.

Chapter 35

The Goddess and Consiglieri

Bellagio, Nevada

April 18, 2018

(3 Days Before Death)

The trunkof the car opened. Sonya was unceremoniously hauled out. Her head spun from the reckless drag race that Phoenix, the vampire consiglieri, had subjected her to along the Vegas strip. It wasn’t their attempts to intimidate her that caused her dizziness, but the magical cuffs clamped around her wrists, which muted her powers. Since they had taken her from the Pink Pussy, she had repeatedly tried to reach out to her sister Liora, but all she encountered was darkness.

“Time for your debut, Your Highness,” Phoenix's smirk curved the left side of his mouth, revealing his fang that gleamed in the dim light.

Out of all the vampires, Phoenix was the only one she remembered. Almost as old as Vittorio, he was, in her opinion, the deadliest. She eased herself out of the trunk, her movements sluggish and disoriented. Neither Phoenix nor Raven, his equally sinister counterpart, offered her any assistance. Yet shecould sense their barely contained desire to do much more. If either of them touched her, she’d do her best to drag them into her power and destroy them.

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