Torn Asunder

Chapter 8 Valentine

The clock struck ten and I tried my best not to pull a MacaulayCulkin and scream. We had spent the better part of long and way too long getting to this city in Italy and I hated it already. I couldn't put my figner on it, but I felt like this was where everything went wrong for my twin. I didn't know for sure that Dante and his friends had even come to Italy, but I felt the ghost of his mortal death stalk the streets with me and it disturbed me.

Part of my agitation was also likely due to the fact that Caleb had been gone for two days now. We'd arrived, gotten settled into a small apartment that Ixchel rented out in her name, adn Caleb had disappeared, saying that if he wasn't back by the end of the week, to go back to Canada. I'm generally comfortable going along with the group and not making waves, but if my lover thought for one second that I'd actually abandon Dante just because Caleb told me to, he had a lot to learn about me. And yet every moment he was away from me, my anxiety level grew and I was quickly becoming a pain in the ass to deal with. I tried not to be a pest, I really did, but Caleb had been feeding the Hunger with the sex and biting and now he was gone and the awful pressure was back. Trying to ignore that line of thinking, I busied myself with pacing the small apartment and wearing a permanent path into the carpet.

"Enough!" Andros yelled and grabbed my shoulders, stopping my incessant wandering. Luka had gone with Caleb and that left Andros in charge of protecting Ixchel and I. Considering the fact that he still occassionally leaking vital fluids, I figured that was a dumb move, but it wasn't my place to comment on it. They were all only here to help me, so I figured a little shut the hell up and be grateful was the best approach. "Ixchel, I've got her scent markers buried under my own. No one knows we're here and if I don't get this girl out of the house, I might just kill her to keep her from pacing anymore. We're gonig out to a club and pretending to be normal for a night." the voodoo man told the Mayan.

"I don't think that's a terribly smart idea Andros." Ixchel tried to caution, but the biker just gave her a dark look.

"Caleb promised he'd be here to protect her but then fucked off at the first chance he got." Andros snarled and I felt my spine stiffen. Caleb was trying to make contact with the Mercy without putting me at risk, without endangering all of us actually, and Andros knew that. But the tentative friendship I'd built with the man had been murdered the moment I'd let Caleb take me and I knew it. "We can't just sit here and wait for him to get back, if he even comes back. So tonight we're gonig to go out, act human and see if maybe someone tries to take a swipe at us. If they're baddies, I'll kill them and we'll use that as a way to get the attention of the Mercy. If they're not baddies, maybe they'll be able to point us in the right direction. Either way, I need to be doing something and so does Valentine."

"Do I not get to speak for myself?" I asked, tone arch.

The look Andros shot me made my mouth snap shut. And it made something in my stomache burn a little, though I wasn't sure if that was Hunger or hurt. Caleb was using me for sex, I wasn't dumb enough to believe that he loved me or even really cared all the much about what I wanted. And although I knew that Andros had been mostly interested in bedding me too, I'd had the stupid little girl hope that maybe he was also my friend. Guess I jsut wasn't the kid of girl that guys wanted as anything more than a trophy fuck. I shoved the feelings of hurt and self recrimination I felt back down where I always pushed the unwanted emotions away and smiled at Andros. I could take all the nasty looks and mostly unwanted sexual advances the world had to offer, if it meant getting my twin back. Outside of Luka, I was starting to realize that Dante was the only man who actually loved ME and not my body.

I walked passed Andros and Ixchel, letting them argue over what I was and was not allowed to do, and simply focused on looking at the few clothes I had for the trip. I picked up the outfit that had made up my birthday gift what felt like a lifetime ago, and felt my lip curl in disgust. But I had no choice, and Andros was right when he said I needed to go out and do something. The Hunger snarling in my core was demanding violence, sex and blood but the only thing I could give it was loud pounding music and a little self gratification. It was a paltry trade off. Stepping out of the room I shared with Ixchel, I caught Andros scowling at my choice of attire. Refusing to back down to the anger in his eyes, the Hunger pushed my shoulders back, lifted my chin and filled my entire body with challenge. I clenched my jaw together when I realized my attention had drifted from staring him down, to nearly drooling over the pulse throbbing in his neck and my challenge broke under my need to get away before I did something stupid and horrible. So I walked out the door without a word, knowing that Andros would follow behind, if for nothing else so that he could use me as bait.