Page 66 of Felonies are Forever

I shrug. “I’m sorry I don’t know what it means. I’ll ask my friend Anna when I see her, she might know…”

Maxim clears his throat then asks. “Tell me about this other family, what I need to know.”

“This other family, the Messinas, they are strong. Compared to them, my father is nothing. They could crush him without a second thought. They won’t be happy about what we’re going to tell them, and part of me wishes we could just run away together right now and never face them. But if I don’t go in, and midnightcomes and goes, I don’t know what they will do to my mother and father.”

“Well, what does ‘not happy’ mean, exactly?”

“I’m not sure. They’re powerful and scary. Imagine every evil vampire stereotype you’ve ever heard, and then add on an extra layer of sinister and you’ll be somewhere close. It's like…paying the mob to keep your bar or business safe. They are the protectors, but they are also the threat.”

“Okay. I can’t say I know exactly how to approach this, but we’re going to try to be civilized and see what happens. In the end, you’re leaving with me, that’s all I know. Come what may.”

He reaches over and cups my cheek, and it takes every ounce of restraint I have not to jump into his lap and cling to him like a child. He seems so calm in the face of such absurdity, and I want to borrow just a fraction of that confidence.

“Now, let’s go inside. We’ve got business to tend to.”

The chill chases me as we approach the front door and it opens on its own, drawing a humorless chuckle from Maxim.

“Yeah, there are some strange things in my world.”

“I’ll adjust,” he says, his eyes darting around the foyer as he closes the door behind us.

“You’re late.” My father wanders over from his study. “Your clothes are a mess. And you’ve brought a guest.”

He eyes Maxim, then me, with wide eyes, running his tongue across his teeth, his sharp incisors more pronounced than usual. He’s losing some control, which is a sign not only of how much he needs to feed, but of how nervous he’s feeling right now.

“Sir.” Maxim steps forward, placing himself in front of me as he extends his hand, but my father only eyes him icily. “Seleme’s told me what she was going to do here tonight. And, just so everyone is clear straight up, it’s not happening.”

I hold my breath as my father silently regards Maxim, then I catch the sound of others as my mother, Alberto, his father,Michael, and two other Messinas step out from the study. Despite his confidence, I sense Maxim recoil from the sight of them, their long, gaunt faces like paper in the blue candlelight.

“What’s this?” Michael glides forward as my mother tries to step back, but one of the two Messina bodyguards has his hand at the back of her neck, and there is fear in her eyes.

“Nothing,” my father snaps, his eyes not leaving Maxim. “Our guest is leaving.”

Michael glances at the grandfather clock on the opposite wall of the foyer, an exact replica of the one in my dollhouse upstairs. “Are you sure? Because I could swear this seems like a problem.” It is only a few minutes before midnight, and the tension in the room is stifling.

He’s older than my father, though there’s not much between them. But the Messinas pride themselves on having never bred with humans in living memory. Their blood is purer than many vampires, and it shows not only in the predatory essence that seems to surround them, and their terrifying physical strength, but also in their faces. Gaunt they may be, but eerily young. Michael could pass for early thirties, easily. In a lot of ways, he looks younger than Maxim.

“No,” my father answers. “No problem. Seleme is here.”

“Yes, actually,” Maxim barks back. “Sorry, but there is a problem if you think Seleme is here to do what you planned. Plans have changed.”

Michael narrows his eyes as he looks to my father. “You assured me things were in place.”

“They are.”

“No, they are not.” Maxim’s patience is thinning. I have no idea if he realizes how much danger he’s in. “We’re here to do a couple simple things. First, I’m afraid I have to let you know…” He scans my father, Michael, my mother and then Alberto before his gaze quickly passes over the two bodyguards. “Seleme won’tbe getting married tonight. Sorry. Also, she’s sleeping in my bed from now on. I want things civil. She just dropped a little nugget of information about all of you before we came inside. Gotta say, I’m still processing it, but it doesn’t change what is and is not going to happen.” He looks at Alberto. “I’m guessing since you’re the pretty one of the bunch, you must be the intended groom. Sorry, dude. I really am. I feel your loss. I get it. But she’s mine, and that’s not going to change.”

Michael smiles and looks from my father to my mother, then to me, stepping forward even as Maxim places himself between us.

“Back off.” Maxim’s snarl elicits nothing but a broader smile from Michael as he turns to Alberto and nods.

I hear my mother yelp and glance over to see the guard’s hand slip around her neck, a long silver knife held at the base.

Before I can react, the second guard moves behind my father and places another knife at his throat. Immortality has its weaknesses, and there are things that can kill even the undead. If you remove a vampire’s head or drive a wooden stake through their chest, they will perish.

I know my father is strong compared to any mortal, but he’s no match for these vampires. They’re pure-bloods in the truest sense of the word, and unlike my parents they’re well fed, their eyes glowing red as their power permeates the very fabric of the room.

“Let them go,” I manage. “This marriage isn’t going to happen. What benefit is there to any of us if you kill us all? I can be your ally, if you let us all live. If not, I can become your nightmare.”

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