Cold One

Seventeen: Nightingale

"So what is he? A boyfriend?"

That is what it takes to make me strangle him against the wall, both my hands are tight around his neck as he tried his hardest to let my grips away from him.

"Say it one more time, Ashton," I whisper on his ear as I lock my hands on his neck.

"I'm– I'm sor–ry," he says between a caught up breath.

I grit my teeth so hard underneath my mouth it's starting to hurt. If only he wasn't my brother, I would've not let go.

"Disgrace me one more time, Ashton. And I wouldn't be so nice anymore," I warnthe figure kneeling on the ground holding his own neck before getting back inside the house.

Zion is looking through one of my book when I get back, he must've gotten it from my desk. Even from far I can already tell what book he is reading just by how its paper glimmers softly under the light of the twilight glow.

The book has always been so special and precious, so majestic.

Cold One turns his face towards me, questioning. "You have the vampire codex?" He asks, looking genuinely confused. "Where did you get this? I thought we burned down every last one of this to extinction –at least on your world."

"I saved that one," I tell him as I sit on my open window. The sky is golden with hints of pink out there, very beautiful and warm. The colors that radiate through Zion's pale skin looks so peculiar yet so fasCinating and gorgeous. "I got it from an underground lair below an abandoned church in Rome. The first mission on my command. Been trying to read it ever since, no result."

As suck as it is to admit, the codex contains ancient drawings and strange writings that no human could read. I've tried asking smartest people I know, and it is no kidding that none of them understand.

"This book is really precious, Rosaline," he tells me. "And so dangerous, for you especially. Thousands of creatures would kill to get this thing, yet you keep it on your desk without any security?"

I raise an eyebrow at the statement. "I'd like to see them try."

Zion shakes his head slowly, muttering under his breath. "Mortals," he says before getting back to scan the pages of the codex.

"You know, I lost my first team member there because of that book," I tell him. "I didn't plan on taking it, it was near these ruins where it was really dark and unsafe, where we could barely see them, but they can see. This one girl, she was about 16 at the time, was so fond of getting that book. Turned out there were vampires hiding there, stabbed her right in the chest but somehow she managed to throw this codex to me."

"Using the codex as a bait?" Zion questions.

"I figure so, they probably thought we are amateurs," I say. Zion's eyes look as if it has hints of gold here, probably because of the lighting. "Little did they know we had their head clan slaughtered on the other part of the lair."

"Ancient and obedient, some clans are like that," Zion says. "When they have one order, they'll stick to it no matter what. Look what it cost them."

His eyes travel back to the book observing it more. Fingers tracing the book as if it's a treasure chest.

"Santa Maria Antiqua," he looks up at me after a brief silence. "That could be the place where you found this. And if so, your friend was probably killed by noble vampires, I dare to guess. They don't turn people into vampires there."