Masters and Domains

CHAPTER 9

“We need someone on the inside,” Morgan was saying. “Someone close enough to Antonio to tell us whatever he’s planning.”

“Maybe Marco should go back to Italy,” Derek suggested, turning to him. “Your father trusts you, huh? You might be able to get him to tell you what the fuck he’s trying to do.”

Marco shook his head once. “No. I am not going back to live with my father, thank you very much.”

Alessio cleared his throat. “I was with my brother about two weeks ago.” His gaze met Titania’s where she lay curled up next to Derek on the couch. “He had Lavinia spying on you and she came to report back.” His curious gaze flickered to Derek briefly. “He knows about your human not-so-human boyfriend.”

Titania rolled her eyes. “I shoulda known. Lavinia had always been in love with Tonio. Of course, she would spy on her own kind for him.” She suddenly sat up. “I know the perfect candidate for our inside man. Woman, actually.”

“Well, who is it?” Mary-Lou asked, clapping excitedly. “Oh, I love spies!”

Titania rolled her eyes at Mary-Lou’s antics. “Mariana De Luca.”

Marco arched a brow, pushing himself off the wall. “My mother?”

Alina scoffed. “Mariana would never betray her husband’s trust. She’s good people but her love for that man is like nothing I have ever seen before.”

Titania gave a knowing smile. “Mariana and I have been friends for hundreds of years and I know just how to get to her. She’s not only a wife, she’s a mother too. I can use that.”

Marco wanted to ask what she meant by that but decided against it. “Just do what you have to do.”

Just then, they heard a loud thud and they all looked towards the archway to see Adele standing there with a body at her feet.

Derek was by her side in an instant, his gaze zeroing in on the gash in her arm. “You alright? Why isn’t that healing?”

“I’m fine,” she breathed, clearly exhausted. “I can’t get some of the wood out.”

Morgan and Mary-Lou came to help her to a seat and got to work digging out splinters from her bleeding arm. “He attacked me a few blocks from here.” She growled when Morgan dug too deep. “His eyes…”

Derek rolled the body over and they all gasped as the dead vampire’s head lolled to the side, facing them.

“Is that….” Alina’s voice trailed off.

Marco’s expression was grave as he stared into those dead, pitch black eyes. “A Twisted.”

“I thought their kind weren’t allowed to live anymore,” Mary-Lou said, seeming unruffled as she wiped her bloody hands with a pink handkerchief. She sat to Adele’s left, eyeing her up and down for more wounds.

“This is bad,” Alessio said, his voice tense. “Antonio said his house was attacked by a group of Twisteds. Damn near killed everyone.”

“My grandfather’s home was also attacked,” Alina added. “We can’t have Twisteds running around attacking people.”

“We need to find out how many of them there are,” Marco said. “I can’t imagine they can be so many. Even when they were allowed to live, they were a minority faction.”

“But still very dangerous,” Derek said. “My men and I will sweep the city, make sure there are no more lurking around.”

“If you find any, bring one in alive,” Titania said to him. “We need to know how they’re alive.” Her eyes took on a worried look and she touched his arm gently. “Please be careful. Those monsters are ruthless.”

Derek smiled and placed a kiss on her forehead. “I’ll be safe.”

“Before I forget, Antonio’s Games are coming up,” Marco said, walking the length of the room. “As usual, his planners would be meeting up to decide which humans and vampires to select for the… race. He wants me to attend the meeting in Italy next week.”

“But you’re not going to, right?” Alina asked, her tone worried. “You said you’d never be a part of that. What happens to those people….”

“I can’t just not go,” Marco said through gritted teeth. “Maybe if I’m there, I can keep things under control-”

“Maybe we need to send Antonio a message,” Derek cut in, his chocolate brown eyes sparkling mischievously. “I think you should attend the meeting, Marco. That way, he wouldn’t suspect you when we strike.”

“What are you planning to do?” Morgan asked, a loose dark curl hanging down his forehead.

Derek gave a dashing smile. “Leave it to me.”

“I see no one wants to be the first to ask so I’ll save you all the trouble,” Mary-Lou said, crossing one leg over the other. “Why isn’t Cesare here?”

“Cesare doesn’t care what Antonio is up to,” Alina answered, her eyes meeting Marco’s briefly. “He doesn’t want anything to do with this.”

Titania scoffed, a satisfied smirk resting on her face. “I’m guessing that means he found out you were screwing his brother and now, he hates you both.”

“Now that we’ve gotten all that out of the way,” Marco spoke up before Alina could retort, “we can all go home.” He turned to Derek. “The meeting is on Thursday. Whatever you’re planning, keep me in the loop. No surprises.”

Derek nodded his agreement. He helped Adele up to her feet. “Let’s get you home.”

Adele shook her head. “I’ll be fine. You had plans with Titania.”

Morgan raised a hand. “We could get her home,” he offered.

Mary-Lou shrugged. “Sure. Plus, its a good idea for us to stay in groups now that there are deranged vampires running around.”

Derek left his granddaughter in their care and left with Titania. Marco and Alina were the last to leave. A few hours later, they were lying in bed together, talking.

“Are you going to reach out to him?” Alina asked, trailing her fingers up and down his bare chest.

Marco kissed her forehead. “No. He won’t talk to either of us right now. We should give him some time to get used to…us.”

“Do you think Antonio could be responsible for the Twisteds running around?” she asked, sitting up on the bed.

Marco pondered it for a while. “No. If he was, he wouldn’t let them anywhere near my mother.”

Alina smiled. “You know, your father may be horrible but his love for Mariana is his one redeeming quality.” She sighed. “Maybe one day, someone would love me so fiercely.”

His warm gaze met hers and he gave a genuine smile that warmed her all over. “Maybe.”

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Hilda opened the door and smiled. “You’re late.”

He shrugged out of his jacket as she ushered him in. “I had second thoughts. I could get fired for this.”

She motioned for him to take a seat and she dropped down on the couch beside him. “What changed your mind?”

Ethan toyed with a thick purple lock of her hair. “Well, I remembered the way you kissed me after the party last week and decided that I wanted more of that.”

Hilda flushed and looked away shyly, remembering how she’d followed him to the parking lot, pushed him up against a black Lexus and kissed the living daylights out of him. “I don’t usually do that.”

He just smiled. Then his gaze wondered about her cozy living room. “You have a nice place. I’ve never really been to this part of the city before.”

“Would you like something to drink?” she asked, making to get up.

His arm on her thigh stilled her. “I’m good.”

Then as if just realizing, they both looked down at where his palm rested on the bare skin of her thigh. Hilda’s breath faltered when his dark green eyes looked up at her through narrowed eyelids. “Hilda…”

She grabbed his collar and kissed him again, soft and deep this time. They took their time exploring as they teased each other’s lips before Ethan slipped his tongue into her wet mouth. Hilda shivered in his hold as his hands traveled lower to her waist and lifted her onto himself. She groaned into his mouth as she felt his member pressing into her core through his jeans. She ground against him, eliciting a throaty moan from him.

Ethan pulled back, resting his forehead against hers. “You drive me crazy.”

Hilda was flushed with desire, still catching her breath from the kiss. “That’s the reaction I was going for.”

He chuckled, pulling her even closer so that her breasts were pressed up against his chest. “Have you lived in New York your whole life?”

She nodded. “Trinity and I grew up in Harlem. My mother couldn’t stand living there after my father died so we moved to Queens. I moved out of my mother’s house when I graduated NYU two years ago and I’ve lived here ever since. What about you?”

He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her fingers lightly. “We used to live in New Orleans but my father got a big job here so we had to move.”

“Last week, you told me you had five little sisters,” Hilda recalled. “Must be crazy.”

“Yeah, but it’s nice,” he said with a fond smile. “I love my family and I’m moving out next week, which is very emotional for all of us. But I need my own space.”

Her gaze fixated on the tattoo she’d noticed on the side of his neck just below his jaw. “Your tattoo. Tally mark of seven? What’s with that?”

Ethan became self-conscious and his hand went to the mark. “It’s a birthmark, actually. Weird, huh?”

Hilda shrugged. “I think it’s cool.” She raised the hem of her shirt and bared her waist to him. “My birthmark is just one big, dark…ball?”

He laughed and brushed a finger against the mark. “I think it’s beautiful.” He looked up at her. “My mom sometimes says that my birthmark counts how many lifetimes I’ve lived.” He chuckled. “Growing up was a little hard for me. I got bullied for being different. Strange things sometimes happened whenever I was around. Even some family members didn’t like me because I looked so different from everyone else. Everyone wondered where I got my bright red hair and green eyes from. Kids in my high school used to call me Fireball, you know, cos of the hair. Sometimes I get these crazy dreams where I’m in a place I’ve never been before surrounded by people I’ve never seen before calling me names I’ve never even heard before.” He kissed her hand again. “I’m telling you all this so you can escape now before you find yourself dating the freak.”

Hilda cupped his face. “I don’t think you’re a freak. I think your birthmark is cool, I love your hair-” she ruffled his hair playfully to prove her point “-and everyone has weird dreams once in a while.”

Ethan smiled and pulled her down for a kiss. She pressed herself against him and returned his kiss passionately, smiling when his fingers trailed over her birthmark. She trailed soft kisses over his clean-shaven jaw and down his neck, her tongue slightly licking at his tally mark as she sucked on his neck. His other hand came up and kneaded her left breast gently, making her moan into his neck.

He flipped her over onto the couch and climbed over her, capturing her lips again. Hilda wrapped her legs around his waist, grinding against his jean-clad erection in sync to the movement of their lips.

When they came up for air, Hilda smiled. “See? No way a freak knows how to kiss like that.” She cocked her head to the side as she looked up at him with her legs still hooked around his waist. “You said strange things happened around you. Strange things like what?”

As if on cue, the lights in her apartment started flickering on and off. She heard a crash from the kitchen, her television came on and the channels kept changing. Confused, Hilda pushed Ethan off gently and rose to her feet. As she did, the TV and all the lights went off, plunging them into total darkness.

“Strange things like that.”