Page 22 of Depths of Desire
“You’ve helped me many times, Esme, and I’m sure we’ll figure this out.” It was true. Esme was a powerful witch, and she’d saved my ass a few times with spells and potions that helped me defeat some enemies. She was the kid sister I’d never had. Esme said we were linked from a previous life. Maybe. Who knew? It was possible, I suppose. Either way, we were linked in this one. She was family as far as I was concerned. A little sister. It didn’t matter that vampires and witches didn’t normally get along. We were peas in a pod, and I was grateful. I didn’t care that the rest of my family wasn’t so keen.
“On that topic, I have some news.”
I brace myself and lean on the door frame. “My mother is dead. You found proof.”
“No.”
I relax. Esme has been trying to help me find my mother for a while now. Renzo and Luca and Father all think she’s dead. So does the rest of the magickal realm. Died because of the shit she tried to pull. Turning herself from just a vampire into a vampire witch. No one wanted or needed one of those to exist. But I know differently. I don’t know how I know, but I do. She’s not dead. At least I don’t think she is. I think she’s been…dormant for a few hundred years. Hiding.
“So, what’s the news?”
Esme hesitates. I can feel her reluctance.
“You have more evidence that she is likely dead?” I ask. For the last while, I have had the feeling that my mother was…waking up, for lack of a better term. Like, she was coming back to life after a long coma or something. That thought haunts me. It’s why I asked Esme to help me track her down. If she is still alive, I need to find her.
“No, the opposite in fact.”
My heart rate ticks up and my blood runs cold. “You’ve found her?”
Esme hesitates again. “Not exactly. I’ve found a very faint trail. She is trying very hard not to make waves in the magickal realm, but like a pebble dropped in a pond, the ripples flow outward for a long time. I think I’m finally on to her.”
“Do you know where she is?” I demand. “I can come help you find her.”
“No,” Esme chuckled. “The last thing I need is you crashing around. You’re a bull in a china shop. Your mother will know that we know she’s alive. I can’t have you tipping our hand. I will keep tracking her quietly, slowly, until I finally find her. Stay patient.”
I grunt. Despite living for hundreds of years, patience was not something I am good at. “Fine. Let know the minute you find something on either front.”
“I will, but, Nico, you have to take better care of yourself. I can only work so many miracles, and bringing you back to life isn’t one of them.”
I smile faintly. “Ego much?”
Esme giggles. “What do you mean? You know I am a miracle worker.”
“Sure. Sure.” I let out a sigh. “Thanks, Esme. I appreciate everything you’re doing for me.”
“And you should.” She let out another giggle and disconnect the call.
I walked over to my bed and put my phone on the charger on the nightstand. I strip off my clothes and crawl into bed. Esme is right. I need sleep, and I need to stay on top of things. If I let myself get too run down, it will be obvious that something is wrong.
I replay the conversation in my head and try not to get too excited. My brothers never connected with our mother the way I did. They did not mourn her loss like me. If she is alive, I want to see her. I close my eyes and try to adjust my expectations. Maybeshe is alive and maybe she isn’t but if she is, I have so many questions and I’m damn sure going to get answers.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Iopen my eyes. The mattress I’m lying on is soft, and the clouds painted on the ceiling overhead slowly comes into focus. Where am I? Right—Nico’s villa. Somewhere near Nice, I think. My whole body aches. My arm throbs. My hip feels like someone took a sledgehammer to it. Jumping off that ship was far more painful than I anticipated. Now I don’t want to move. Except my brain is spinning in a doom-loop of images, thoughts, and ideas.
One thought screams louder than the rest: What the hell am I going to do now? Escaping on the freighter had felt perfect. There’s no way my father would have suspected I go that way. None. But now? How the hell am I going to start over?
The closest airport is in Nice. I checked that before. There’s a direct flight to Montreal. If I can make it there, I could drive across the border into the States. It’s not a bad plan. But first, I need to get to the airport.
And I need to escape Nico, but I’m thinking my chances of managing that are as close to zero as I could get without scoring a big fat goose egg.
I’m going to have to sneak out. If I even can.
Nico… God, how the hell did he survive that fall from the catwalk? I wasn’t sure I bought his wholeit wasn’t that far and I landed on something softbullshit. He mentioned “special skills,” but it’s not like he twisted in the air or tried to land on his feet. He wasn’t a damn cat. He just… dropped, but I didn’t see what happened to him at the bottom. He disappeared from sight so fast, maybe he was telling the truth. What else could possibly have happened?
A shudder rolls through me. The only person I know who could survive a fall like that and hit the floor is Malrick Comescu. As a vampire, he’d be able to take a fall like that. No problem. But Nico can’t be a vampire because then his brothers would be vampires and Pippa and Mia would have said something. I’m sure they don’t even know vampires and other magickal creatures exist. I wish I didn’t.
I can still see Comescu, sitting in my father’s office when I was a little girl. I can still hear them arguing. Comescu insisted Papa honor the agreement they’d made before my birth. My father shouted back that he’d paid in full. Vampires can’t be real. That’s what I told myself. I must have misunderstood all of it.
