Page 59 of Fratelli: Eternal Bloodlines

I smell sex and candy…yah…

Vittorio mumbled the lyrics as his eyes slid shut. The last of the words slipped from his lips as the song played through his fading consciousness and he forgot the meaning… he forgot it all….

…who’s that in my chair? Yea, mama, this surely is a dream…

Chapter 25

Liora & Charmaine: Soul Mates

Bellagio - Las Vegas, Nevada

April 17, 2018

(4 Days Before Death)

“Areyou going to sit there and pout, or actually eat dinner?” Darlene asked. She chewed down a mouthful of fries.

Charmaine glanced up. Two meal carts had been rolled in, loaded with nearly every dish on the menu. Darlene, the only one with an appetite, piled a second helping onto her plate before settling back in front of the TV. Unopened shopping bags surrounded her, the remnants of a day spent indulging.

Charmaine’s gaze shifted to Dolly and Darlene’s brother. Russell had stripped off his designer cap, jacket, and platinum Rolex, shedding the persona the world had come to know in the last forty-eight hours. To her, he looked more like himself now—a little less the streaming star, a little more the brother she knew.

The convention had wrapped today, with Di Salvo Entertainment flying in celebrities for the big finale. Lamont had come earlier, hoping to convince Russell to attend, but he’d declined, despite his name being plastered across the marquee.Charmaine hadn’t missed the disappointment on Lamont’s face when Russell shrugged him off, staring out the window. Lamont had told him he wouldn’t be seeing him for a while, but Russell didn’t seem to care. He didn’t even look at him as Lamont left, and Charmaine noticed he didn’t look at her either.

During the whole exchange, Darlene barely tore her eyes away from the TV. She’d only spoken to Lamont once, and that was to ask for Lucio’s credit card. He hadn’t responded.

Russell parked his wheelchair by the window, eyes fixed on the city below. The fountains outside performed their synchronized water dances, but he barely moved, leaving only to use the bathroom before returning to his spot by the glass.

Darlene refused to acknowledge Charmaine. She’d tried small talk, then pressed for answers—anything about Darlene’s strange existence with Dolly. Nothing. Darlene just sat there, engrossed in her show, ordering more things from the hotel boutiques on Lucio’s private account. To anyone who would listen, she announced she wasn’t Lucio’s wife but his mate.

When the hotel staff grew concerned and contacted Tristan, he did call the room. Darlene, of course, yelled and made her demands. After a brief conversation, the issue was resolved. She went right back to ordering any and everything she wanted.

It seemed like every other minute someone knocked at the door to deliver designer clothes, diamonds, necklaces, bracelets, purses, and the most expensive perfume that she kept spraying in the air.

Darlene played with the iPad and surfed the internet to pick out things she desired. There wasn’t much Charmaine could say or do. She waited for the Guardian to advise her on what came next. Then she felt it—a head swimming nausea and a burning ache in her limbs. She got up and fast-walked to the bathroom. Inside, she locked the door and flicked on the light. It was then she recognized Liora in her reflection.

“Hey?”

I apologize for the rude way I summoned you, but if I had reached out while you were near Darlene, she would have sensed my presence.

“She doesn’t seem to know what I am. She is barely talking to me,” said Charmaine.

Darlene is never unaware. Please don’t think that way. She is very aware of who you are, and she is beginning to suspect what you are in this equation. She just has a problem with your relationship with her sister. You’re not an ally to her, and you won’t be. That is for Sonya and Kaida.

Charmaine frowned. “Why? What did I do?”

That is nature. We attract the energy that we connect with. And all humans are nothing but walking, talking light bulbs.

Charmaine smiled at her reflection. Liora smiled back, then Liora’s smile faded.

I have some unfortunate news. I can’t feel my sister anymore. That means I don’t know how she and Sonya are doing at the nightclub.

“What time is the big performance?” asked Charmaine.

Not until sundown, that is four hours away.

“Do you think they are okay?” asked Charmaine.

Kaida knows I don’t respond well to all the suffering she will find in that place, so she is shielding me. Kaida protects me from my pain, even if it means at her peril. She is not invincible. She is now in a den of supernatural’s. It could all go bad.

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