Undying Hunger

Ch. 5: Dante was sweet

In a staring contest, neither Dante nor his gaggle of siblings moved. No one had ever been prepared for a situation like this. Dante never sneaked in or out of the house because he was never up to trouble. Dante never brought anyone new into the castle because trust didn't come naturally to Dante. Dante didn't date, so no one ever showed an interest in his dating life.

Reid was the first to speak.

"Okay, bye." He immediately ducked below the railing, ready to scale down, but Dante cursed and grabbed him before he could run. He helped yank Reid onto his feet and all of his sibling's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates as if Reid was some sort of celebrity. It took everything Dante had to keep from laughing.

They found themselves at the dinner table, Reid on one side, and Ventura on the other, except for Dante. Dante preferred to stand during family meetings.

Dante rested his hand on the back of Reid's chair, waiting for his siblings to get the excitement of a new person out of their systems.

Their chatter hadn't stopped since Reid arrived from Nino insisting they had never met and Ben questioning vampire sexuality and if all vampires were queer to Anthony making jokes about the roles reversing and how hilarious it was that Dante was in trouble for sneaking around. Bianca was just snickering to herself, lording over the fact she knew Reid over them while Evie asked the worst questions to Reid, asking about how much Reid liked Dante and if they were flirting and worst of all, if they were in love.

Mathew was quiet, which actually felt the loudest. His attention was on Dante, studying every word and all his reactions.

"We didn't even ask if you needed anything," Ben finally said to Reid. "Are you hungry? Thirsty? Um—"

"In need of a lobotomy," Reid answered, and Anthony snorted again, quickly covering his mouth and apologizing.

Dante raised his hand. "I hope you're all done. Let me introduce everyone. This is Reid Harper."

"Why do I know that name?" Nino asked himself.

Dante explained, "We've known each other for quite some time. He is a vampire."

"Dante sired him," Bianca added, and Dante closed his eyes, asking himself why he must be punished. All the Ventura whipped their heads around at her.

"Reid is the first vampire Dante sired," she explained.

"Why haven't we met before?" Anthony asked Bianca, instead of the people involved.

"Okay, okay," Reid spoke up, standing at his feet. "Everyone shut up. If you have a question. Ask us."

"Are you dating?" Evie asked.

Dante grimaced. "Yes."

Again, their eyes went big, and their jaws slacked. "Congratulations!" Bianca was the first to say while the rest peppered Reid with so many questions all at the same time, you'd think they were shooting him.

"How long have you been dating?"

"Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"Where are you from?"

"How did you meet?"

"Why are you dating Dante?"

Dante raised his hands and voice again. "Settle down!"

"It's like herding cattle," Reid muttered.

"Reid and I are together, but only in a public sense. As far as society knows, we're together, but it's not real." As he spoke, each one of their shoulders slumped, their smiles vanished, and Bianca's brow furrowed quizzically. Dante tripped over his words, "As- well, uh you know I'm trying to buy Queen Tabitha's land and I can't seem to do it on my own. Reid is here to help me."