Page 86 of Fratelli: Eternal Bloodlines

Sonya’s eyes narrowed, her expression lethal.

Tristan refocused, answering Charmaine’s distant, desperate call for help in the night.

Chapter 36

The Chosen One

House of Draca

New Orleans

The Past

Little Lucio foughtto hold back his tears. At only three years old, his mind struggled to comprehend the horrors he had witnessed. He alone dared to flee when their father, Don Vittorio, dragged a young, screaming woman into his bedroom to feed upon.

The four brothers were forced to watch how Father could mesmerize the terrified and make them crave the brutality he offered them before their deaths. The lessons were so traumatizing that the brothers’ only solace was each other. Domencio was more sensitive than the others. Lucio did his best to protect his twin, but sometimes fear got the best of him.

That night, his brothers huddled together in a corner. They clung to each other as they watched their father take another life and gift it to his Draca. Lessons that they’d endure for the rest of their formative years.

When Don Vittorio saw Lucio jump up and run, he let go a cackle of laughter—a sinister sound that reverberated in Lucio’s mind like the growl of the nightmare monster that lived in the evil Don. Panic drove Lucio through the house. He raced from hall to hall in a desperate search for an escape route.

Footsteps followed him, but Lucio knew they did not belong to his father. His father wouldn’t bother with pursuit; he’d simply materialize from smoke, overpowering him with ease. No, this was a servant—an obstacle Lucio had learned to evade. He darted down a shadowy corridor, dropped to his hands and knees, and crawled swiftly before veering left. There, he found a wall cabinet, just large enough for him to hide inside. He opened it carefully to avoid making noise, slipped in, and drew his knees to his chest. His heart pounded from both adrenaline and fear as he tried to steady his breathing and pretend to disappear.

“Lucio,” a voice called softly.

He squeezed his eyes tighter. He willed himself to be invisible.

“There’s no need to be afraid,” said the voice. It was gentle, unfamiliar.

“I won’t hurt you. I only want to help. Can you come out, please?”

Lucio opened his eyes, hesitant at first, he peered into the darkness that was trapped with him inside of the cabinet.

“Come out… come out… wherever you are.”

Torn between fear for his brothers and his terror over the dark, Lucio felt paralyzed. Everywhere around him, shadows loomed, and Maman Julia had taught him that monsters lived in the shadows, impossible to escape.

“Come…” the voice coaxed again.

Lucio’s tiny hand reached for the nail in the cabinet door. He remembered Maman Julia’s warning.

Be careful babe, tings in de dark bite!

Venetian,Las Vegas

Present

Marcello closed the lid of the coffin with a finality that echoed in the room. His brothers, Domenico and Sebastiano, stood silent, their faces drawn with regret.

“I thought…” Domenico began, his voice trailed off.

Marcello’s gaze was fierce. “For years, I begged you both for unity, for brotherhood. And yet, here we are. I’m no different from either of you.”

Domenico lowered his eyes. “He… I…”

“Why isn’t he healing?” Sebastiano asked, confusion and fear laced his words. “We didn’t kill him. We were stopped. He was alive when Father stepped him.”

“That wasn’t Father, you fool!” Marcello said. “Father is a feeble-minded, withering, bag of bones now. If it had been him, this would never have happened. It was Draquria. It intervened.”

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