Page 45 of Depths of Obsession
Think that he actually could be our brother.
What?He scoffs. Did you fall on your head? I think if we had another brother we might have discovered him sometime in the last four hundred years.
Would we though? Our mother…I don’t say the rest. Mother is not something we discuss often, and even less often with Nico, as he was her favorite and views her through rose colored glasses. In reality, she was a mean spirited bitch to me and Renzo, and she had brought nothing but heartache to our father.
Renzo was silent for a long moment.You think she might have had another son without telling anyone? You think she would have been able to hide it from Father?
I pause. Could she have hidden it?I think it’s a possibility. I sure as hell wouldn’t have put it past her. Mother and father had their issues, and she was gone a lot when we were young. Honestly, after my eighteenth birthday, I don’t think I saw her again for more than a dinner here or there for a good fifty years. She spent a lot of time in the magick realm. Father was busy teaching all of us how to survive as vampires. He had us all over Europe and the New World for centuries. She just came and went until that whole business of her trying to become the most powerful vampire in existence. It wouldn’t have been hard for her to hide having another son.
Renzo’s anxiety buffets mine.
It will never go away, will it?I ask.
What?
The anxiety around Mother. She was insane and we all pay the price. We are literally cursed because of her.I hate my mother, but I also love her. Or loved her because she could be amazing when she wanted.
She wasn’t insane. She was ambitious and power hungry. There’s a difference but you’re right, we pay the price, and yes, we are cursed because of her lust for power. Perhaps though, Nico suffers more so than us.
I’m surprised by that statement.Nico? Why
Because to us the ugly truth is our mother got involved with a group of dark magick practitioners. She was after a spell that would make her both witch and vampire—not a blend that loses some traits, but the full powers of both. She wasn’t satisfied with just telepathy, speed, strength, or daylight walking. She wanted more—spells, magick, control. She wanted the power of a witch and the strength of a vampire, wielding all of it without compromise. To us, that is horrifying, and we see her as awful. Nico, however, knows how wrong that is but still loves her. Still wants to defend her.
I think about that for a minute.I went back to the Duomo in San Gimignano,I say, right after everything happened. I wanted to see where Mother died without someone trying to kill me.
And?Renzo asks.
I thought I might feel her energy there, but I didn’t. Not one bit. It made me worry.
I can hear the frown in Renzo’s tone.Worry? Why?
Because I’m not positive she’s dead.
There I said it… Well, sort of. I shared that thought with Renzo at least.I know that the group that didn’t want a vampire with magick to exist supposedly killed her and many of her followers, but this is magick we’re talking about. No one is dead until they’ve been well and truly dead for a long fucking time.
Renzo goes silent again.It’s a possibility…I guess. With magick it’s always a possibility. Not every member of the group Mother founded was killed. The remaining followers went into hiding. We could poke around a bit and ask questions but I’m afraid of what we might stir up if we do so.
Yeah, no let’s not poke the bear.My unease is growing. I thought Renzo would dismiss me out of turn, but instead I realize, he’s been worried about the same thing.
If this guy is our brother,Renzo continues, do you think he is Father’s? Or someone else?
I have no idea.I debate whether to tell Renzo what I truly think.Finally, I decide I might as well be upfront about everything.To be honest, I’ve always wondered it Nico wasn’t someone else’s as well. She loved him so much more than you or me. Maybe she had a lover on the side. Nico and this other one could be his.
No,Renzo argues,this is pure conjecture. I don’t believe it. Nico is one of us. This guy, whoever he is, is an imposter. Just someone that looks like us.
Nico is one of us, but it’s a possibility that this guy is too. Maybe that’s why he hates me. Maybe he hates us and he’s going after all of us thinking you and Nico are involved in my clubs as well.
Either way,Renzo says,we have to find him before we can sort out anything else. Let’s just focus on that. We’ll deal with the rest if and when it happens. Do not mention any of this to Nico.
Do I strike you as stupid? I have no intention of ever telling Nico anything to do with our mother.I start to break the connection when Renzo stops me.
Luca, just promise me you will be careful. I know you know what you’re doing and I’m not trying to interfere, I just want you to be safe. Vittoria still haunts you, I know. Pippa isn’t Vittoria. Just…please be careful. Something is coming. We all feel it. The magick realm is on edge and now there’s someone trying to bring you down. I know you don’t want to ask for help, but I would hate like hell to lose you, brother. Please don’t be stubborn about this. Reach out if you need anything…anything at all.
I am touched. Renzo can be a pain in my ass as an older brother, but he is also great at being there when I need him.I promise, brother. I have no intention of doing anything stupid. You won’t be rid of me for many hundreds of years to come.
I break off the channel and slump in my chair, staring at nothing at all. I hope Renzo is right and my thinking is way off. Father would know. I feel quite certain Mother couldn’t have hidden it from him entirely. More likely, she would have rubbed his face in it. Or not. Hard to say. They had a strange relationship, as far as I could tell. There is nothing on this earth that would make me ask him. He has a temper that has no equal. It takes a long time to spark but once lit, he can burn down whole cities with his rage. I shudder just thinking about it.
I try to shake my unease but I know that’s not going away anytime soon. The fact that Renzo worries about Mother still has shaken me. I thought I was the only one. I thought it was just me being fanciful, but now I know it’s not. Couple all this with the fact that there’s something weird going on in the magick realm, and I know I’m going to be lying awake for nights to come. There’s a shift in the air and I just pray to God it has nothing to do with mother or our family.
