Page 22 of Twisted By Darkness

Alicia slaps her arm playfully, then turns to me. “I’m a dhampyr. I don’t burn in the sun, and I don’t drink blood, but I’m also not as strong or fast. Better than human, but not so much.”

Donatello meets my gaze with that softness of his. “Alicia’s father was a vampire. Her mother was human. It’s extremely rare for vampires to bear children,” he adds quickly, maybe remembering how we’ve fucked bareback. I probably haven’t told him I have an IUD. Or are vampire swimmers so strong the IUD wouldn’t hold a candle to them? “Alicia is an exception to the rule.”

I nod once in understanding. Looking at the food laid out in front of me, I let their words sink in as I pile some potato onto my plate. I love steak, but the chicken looks so good, all golden and stuff, so I put both next to the potatoes, and some salad on top. Apollo nods approvingly, as if I had any danger of going hungry. Tristan still stares at the food with his plate empty, wide eyes on his face.

I reach across the table and touch his knuckles. “You okay?”

“He’s overwhelmed,” Giulia says. “He’s always overwhelmed at this moment.”

I serve him of a bit of everything so he can try, my stomach flipping with the memory of how hard his life was. There’s just so much for me to do, so much to learn. I have to defend them, keep them safe, so Tristan and Ren and Oreo can all have a shot at a real family and happiness.

“So Alicia’s a dhampyr. Half-vampire, half-human.” I look up at her for confirmation. “All the good parts of being a vampire, minus immortality.” She nods. “And you also can walk in the sun.”

“Dhampyrs are a cheat.” Trevor snorts, starting on his second steak. “The lack of immortality is a way of nature keeping them in check. Otherwise, they could destroy the world.”

Alicia throws her head back and releases a full-blown villain laughter. I can’t help but laugh along. She doesn’t look like the type who would destroy the world. She doesn’t look like she’d care enough for it.

Giulia reaches out and takes Alicia’s hand. “There are only a couple of threads where you do that, and never by yourself. This is not one of them,” she finishes off, bringing the dhampyr’s hand to her lips and kissing her knuckles.

Two things become clearer to me as I watch this exchange. One is that the three are indeed romantically involved. There’s too much care there, too much affection in the way they look at each other. Trevor said that he and Alicia were Giulia’s mate, that she’s the sun they gravitate around. That can’t be classified as a harem yet, can it? Are they a trouple? Is it even a word?

The second thing I can’t ignore any longer is what Giulia says. “Giulia,” I call out, softly, unsure of how to deal with her. She looks up at me, following the sound of my voice. “What do you mean by a couple of threads? You said there are a couple of threads where Alicia destroys the world, and this is not one of them.”

Giulia smiles patiently at me. It aches a bit, to see that kind of smile. I think it would be the sort a mother would give a child. “Time is like a tapestry. Silken threads to all sides, changing colors, interweaving, dancing in front of me. I can see them all. Some are not that different from this one. Others are wildly contrasting. Sometimes I get lost in the threads and forget where I’m standing.”

We all quiet to listen to her. I feel my brain working double-time to comprehend her words. It sounds like she sees time? Like the future?

“So you’re a seer.” Apollo’s voice is steady as he watches this, cutting through a steak. He’s eating steak only. I can’t believe he’s this carnivore.

Giulia shakes her head, as do Alicia, Trevor and Don. “I can’t be a seer if I’m blind,” she says and laughs, the sound clear and musical.

I roll my eyes at Apollo. He shrugs.

“She doesn’t see the future,” says Don. “She sees possible timelines. In one timeline, you eat steak. In the other, you eat chicken. In a third, you’re vegan.”

Apollo curls his nose. “Gods, no, there’s no timeline I’m vegan.”

Giulia laughs again. “He’s right. He loves his steak in every timeline.”

“Are we talking about multiple universes?” I try, arching an eyebrow. School was never my forte, not when classrooms were packed full of hopeless orphans, with a single teacher who never got paid enough for that bullshit. I learned Math and how to write and read, basic Geography and History, but everything else, especially Sciences, I had to learn by myself after I dropped out. YouTube helps immensely. Some channels are incredibly didactic.

Giulia bobs her head. “Yes! Multiple universes, multiple choices, multiple chances.” She points at us. “Some things don’t change, though. You’re their sun in every one of them.”

Her words make me feel on the spotlight for a moment, all heads turning to face me. My cheeks warm, but I ignore the feeling. “So when you said Alicia destroys the universe in a couple of timelines...”

“She’s seeing all the possibilities,” Alicia points out, “and the Alicia of a couple of universes destroys the world. They’re not me, though.”

“They would be you,” Giulia adds, “under different circumstances. If different things had happened...” And then she looks away, her attention drifting.

“Don’t worry,” Alicia says with a sad smile to us. “She does this often. Something catches her attention in another timeline.”

They keep on eating as Giulia drifts away, so we do the same. Tristan gapes at the food with bright eyes that make my heart warm. He cleans his plate in moments.

“Would you like more?” I offer, already serving him of more chicken. He nods and I pile his plate high once more. If there’s something I learned from shifters, it’s that they need large quantities of food.

After some minutes, Giulia blinks and gazes directly at me. “Is this the thread where you were kidnapped by a fae?”

The words surprise me, even when I had already told that to Trevor. “Yes. Yes, and I told Trevor he might have some books of yours.”

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