“I don’t know, Roman. You seem to be more focused on your phone than you are on me.”
Roman looks at me. He beckons me with his finger, and while I’m tempted to defy him, I don’t. I sit, facing him so I can see into his eyes while he tells me what’s going on. I know he’s on edge with the Sisters being here, but I’m nervous. What if Roman is in trouble?
He leans over and places his lips lightly on my cheek, peppering kisses until he reaches my neck. His tongue darts out and roams over the puncture marks his teeth have left. His hand grips the back of my neck. The force pulls me to him, and he whispers my name against my flesh. As much as I want to give into him, to have him deep inside me, I want answers more, and there’s been something plaguing my mind for a while now.
“Roman, stop.” I push against him and sit back. I think about standing, but I know Roman will only do the same. I swear, being with a vampire has its perks unless you want to fight with one than you’re at a disadvantage.
“I’m sorry, Fiona.”
“Don’t be sorry, Roman. Just tell me what’s so important on your phone that you keep looking at it. Is it Selene?”
“Selene?”
I nod and bite the inside of my cheek. “I have a feeling there’s something more between you than you’ve shared. I know she’s your best friend, but after the story, you told me the other day…” I shrug. “I don’t know, call it women’s intuition or something.”
Roman stands, picks up his phone, and walks toward the windows overlooking the city. For the most part, Las Vegas has returned to normal, but it’s still overcast and gloomy, which honestly makes me feel depressed. The electricity though seems to function for most of the day. I don’t even want to know how much money the city has lost since the arrival of the Sisters.
“She’s the first vampire I met after the change occurred.”
“Have you been with her? You know, intimately.” I hate myself for asking him this question, but I have to know. If they once shared a bond, she may be a danger to me.
Lightning fast, Roman pulls me from the couch, so I’m standing in front of him. His hand brushes my hair lightly, but the silence between us grows. My heart aches, knowing he’s either going to keep his affair with her a se
cret or never tell me what I need to know. I turn away, unable to look at him.
“It’s not what you think, Fiona.”
I turn to face him. He looks troubled. “So what’s it like?”
“When we are first turned, we have a barrage of emotions running through us. We want to feed, we want to fuck, and we want to kill.”
When he says kill, my throat goes dry. As gentle as Roman is, I forget he’s a natural born killer and could break me in half with the flick of his wrist. Or take the brutality route and rip me from limb to limb, keeping me alive long enough to watch him murder me. I suppose he could suck my blood until my heart stops beating. It doesn’t matter which because I’ll never be able to stop him.
“The Sisters… a thousand years ago there was a revolution. Hunters worked tirelessly to destroy the vampire. Back then, my ancestors killed for sport. They drained humans because they felt like it and kept human consorts by the dozen, against their will, sucking their blood whenever they saw fit. The humans banned together and revolted, setting up traps, staking vampires every chance they could. The Sisters were beside themselves. Their children were being murdered, and while some deserved it, not all did.
“The Sisters met with the world leaders to create a pact of sorts where their creations could walk among the humans as long as we were born with our humanely morals and values intact. We wouldn’t kill any humans unless they posed a grave threat to us and in exchange, we’d contribute to society. Vampires would walk the earth with a purpose.”
“What purpose does a vampire have?”
Roman glances toward the window before looking back at me. “We don’t. There’s folklore saying the Sisters compelled the leaders into giving them what they wanted. No one will ever be able to prove it because if the Sisters heard about anyone trying to uncover the truth, their life would end. No questions asked.”
“How come we never learned about this in school?
“Did you learn about mythology?”
I nod.
He nods as well. “The God of Death is Thanatos, he’s the brother of the Sisters.”
“The Moirai sisters?”
Roman doesn’t have to confirm that I’m right because nothing he can say will ease any amount of dread I’m feeling right now. His creators… his family so to speak, are the vilest of gods. I swallow hard, remembering the essay I wrote in high school about Erebus, the mother of the Fates, and how she was primeval of void and chaos, the epitome of hell, along with her siblings and children. My teacher told me I was wrong, but standing here with Roman proves differently.
“Pure evil.”
“I’m not,” Roman reaches for my hand. I’m tempted to pull away, but I need the comfort he can provide. He’s right though, he’s not evil. In the short amount of time I’ve met him, he hasn’t done anything wrong, except almost killing my father. I want to pull him into my arms, but the thought of him being with Selene still lingers in my mind.
“Tell me about Selene.” Roman puts some distance between us. It’s all I need to know. They’ve been together. I shouldn’t care, but I do. “Were you bonded?”