Page 21 of Twisted By Darkness

Trevor nods once. “I heard his heartbeat when you arrived. Vampires only have heartbeats in the presence of their soul-mates, right?” And then he leaves. He has the audacity to leave, whistling a tune under his breath, like he hasn’t just pulled the rug from beneath my feet.

I stand there, stupefied and speechless. Ren cups his hands around my face and kisses me back to reality. I look up at him through veiled eyes. He smiles.

“Donatello’s my mate?”

“Guess so.” His smile opens wider. “There had to be a reason for him to stay so close, right? There it is. He’s your soul-mate. It must work differently for vampires.”

I swallow hard around the knot in my throat. “Why didn’t he mention it?”

Ren shakes his head, then folds his arms around my shoulders, pulling me into his chest. “I don’t know, but don’t blame him. There’s a lot going on for everyone, but Donnie’s also dealing with the betrayal and his maker. He wants to keep you safe, and he might not have told you because a moment might come that...”

Ren stops, and that makes me pull back to look at him. “What? A moment might come that what happens?”

His lips twist to a side and he studies my face for a moment, then presses a kiss to my upper brow. “A moment might come that Donnie needs to keep you safe from himself. That might be killing him inside. That day, he could have hurt his soul-mate. He must be going crazy with that. With not knowing what to do.”

Ren’s right. And the knowledge I pushed Donatello away for something he can’t help hurts deep inside me. I have to make things right. I have to find a way to rid him of his maker, even if that kills me.

CHAPTER10

CASSANDRA

Icould easily get lost in this place. The house is so much bigger on the inside than the outside it feels like a palace, and even when the directions to the dining room were clear, I have no idea how to get there. It’s such a relief when Donatello finds us, takes me by the hand, and guides our group.

Giulia sits at the head of the table, her curly hair braided around the top of her head. Today she’s in an off-shoulder flowy blouse, showing off smooth shoulders. She smiles upon hearing our footfalls and gets to her feet, giving me a glimpse at the long skirt she wears.

“Welcome!” She keeps on grinning even after we’re all sat. “This is one of those you get lost around the corridors, isn’t it?” She blinks her wide, white eyes, curiosity on her face.

“It was,” Don says, taking the seat across from me. To each of Giulia’s sides are Trevor and Alicia, and they start serving Giulia and themselves as soon as everybody sits. There’s a moment of quietude, of comfort, where it feels like we’ve done this a hundred times over.

The table is piled over with food. Soup, mashed potatoes, salad, rice, chicken and steak. Apollo and Ren go for the steaks. Alicia shreds chicken and puts down by her feet so Oreo can eat. It makes my heart swell, and I smile at her in gratitude.

Don serves himself of steak and mashed potatoes, then reaches into a closed box for a bag of blood. I watch in awe as he punctures it with a fang, then dries the blood into a glass. Still not used to it. He offers another bag to Alicia, who refuses.

“Blood makes me nauseous,” she mutters. “It’s a good thing I don’t need it to live. These are the last of our reserves.”

“I wish I didn’t need it,” Donatello murmurs against his glass.

“But then you’d be a weakling like me,” Alicia replies, grinning.

That conversation gets me so confused I’m left gaping at the two.

“You can’t be a vampire,” I blurt out. Gods, Cassandra. You can’t just tell people that. They can be whatever they want.

Alicia grins, a wide smile that shows all her front teeth and, for the first time, I notice her sharp canines. They’re not as long as Donatello’s, though. More like a human with especially sharp ones.

“I’m not a vampire, not wholly,” she says, serving herself of wine. After a deep sniff, she drinks from it. The dark red liquid smears the inside of the glass like blood would and she smiles at Trevor and Giulia in satisfaction.

“Not wholly?” I can’t help it. They might be having a moment, but how can someone be a not-wholly-vampire? “I saw you walking into sunlight in our room. Donatello reacted worlds differently from you.”

Giulia turns in Donatello’s general direction. “You were burned in this one! That was dangerous.”

“And painful,” he adds.

“So you can’t be burned, and you don’t need blood,” I prompt Alicia.

She smiles. “Yeah. I hate the smell of blood. I don’t understand how others can consume it.”

“But there are people who do,” Giulia says, nodding as she shows her palms. “We don’t judge kinks here.”

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