Till The Last Bite (wlw)🔞🌈

Part 12: Liquid Dining

Xian’s Pov

    Was it duplicitous to send a too eager Courtney to feed Kayla while I sat outside Rena’s family’s restaurant called Rose? Yes. But I’m far too old to not use whatever is at my disposal, when it comes to my curiosity. I had of course, did some digging into the sassy mortal.

    Her family was self-made. Her father had a string of fine dining and casual dining restaurants sprinkled throughout the Midwest. She had two siblings, and the eldest sister who was the CFO. Her brother managed their main restaurant here in Illinois and had Rena take over when he visited the other properties. Rena was also an accomplished artist and her family didn’t seem to exactly support her art career. So the mortal was always in a flux between the two.

    She did her art anonymously. Her sales substantial and quite impressive. Even to my standards. Rena was well off and chose to live humbly. She also volunteered at a youth center and taught an art class to underprivileged kids a couple times a month. She was a good human by all appearances. It wasn’t a wonder why Kayla chose to match with her. It also wasn’t by chance. Kayla had indeed used my investigators to look into Rena Resse which is how I received the information so quickly. Though I’m sure the mortal knew not. I had taught Kayla this, so I’m not passing judgment. A vampire could never be too careful.

    My driver Vivienne peaked at me through the rear view mirror as I checked my appearance. Her old wrinkled eyes assessing me. I closed my compact mirror with a snap, satisfied with my intense smokey eye. “Out with it, Vivienne. I can taste your disapproval.” I replied, feigning nonchalance.

    She laughed with a hefty shrug. Vivienne was in her 60’s now. I’ve known her since she was 20. She was still as burly and vivacious as she had been in those days. Even refused my offer numerous times to make her a vampire. She had her reasons and I respected them. But it still saddened me to know such a woman wouldn’t be around forever. She was one of the few people I considered a life partner. We’d never been intimate, but our emotional connection was a love and companionship I treasured deeply.

    “Out with it, you old cow,” I said with humor and a sigh.

    She cackled, “You’ve no business calling me old, coffin dust.” I coughed at her insult. “I’m worried about you, Xian. You’ve got that look in your eye about this girl. It’s the same look you give Kayla.”

    I scoffed. “And?”

    Vivienne’s brown eyes narrowed. “Kayla has chosen her too, Xian. You coming between them like this…..it’s bound to get messy. And you still love Kayla.”

    I rolled my eyes, grabbing my silver handbag. “I’ve got my own door,” I muttered. Then I quickly exited before she could say anything else, shocking the host when I approached out of thin air.

    He was dark skinned with tight braids atop his head and a bright smile. From his scent, I could tell he was family to Rena and also he was a Chosen to a vampire whose mark I didn’t recognize. Interesting.

    Upon seeing me so suddenly, I could tell he knew I was Other. Another sign was my eyes tended to shimmer all the time, because of my age. I couldn’t hide that part of my nature. So those who knew what that was, knew what I was. I didn’t bother hiding it anymore. I was plenty well known too. So if he was around other vampires he knew exactly who and what I was.

    Admittedly, I’m a bit of a recluse with my clan. But we are the strongest around. If another Vampire had business to do, they typically needed my approval. I wasn’t the Master of Clans for the Middle West Territory or the MWT; which included Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. I left that to Tatiana, for I loathed Other Being and Human politics. Yet if I wanted it, I could have it. People respected that. Respected me. Or they’d pay.