Thicker Than Water....

Chapter 18 -The Gathering

   "I am a New Blood, I take it then?" I said, sitting on the couch once more.  Vitorrio strolled round from the bar and joined me.  I did not object to his closeness.  In fact, if I was honest, I craved it.  I met his gaze.  I was drowning in those emerald pools again. So much for being clear-headed, snickered Baby Si.

   "Yes."  I could tell by the tone of his voice he intended to be completely open and honest with me.  No more secrets, or things unsaid.

   "But you called me your Desired."

His lips curled softly at the corners.  "Because that's what you are to me, Sienna.....utterly desired."

I felt my body flush, from my toes to my head.  I broke eye contact with him to try and conceal the emotion building in me.  "And you? What are you?"

    "Same. A New Blood."

    "My mother....my birth-mother, then, she wasn't human was she?"

    "No.  She was one of the rescued Desired.  She had been bonded with a Freshling called Cesare."  My breath caught in my throat.  I looked back at him, recognition plain in my face.  "Yes, Sienna.  The same one I spoke of yesterday during dinner.  He is your real father."

Oh my god!  My father...my biological father, still lived!  My heart was pounding.  "So how did it happen that I was hidden in the forest? The council swore they would protect us."

Vittorio put his drink on the table, then turned back to face me. "It was not through lack of trying or breach of their promise, Sienna.  Casualties are inevitable during war.  Cesare was away from home, fighting, as he was his duty.  The Elder's Freshlings were also out, searching for the Desired which had been taken from their masters and killing the council's armies.  Your mother, tried to escape, with you, when they assualted your home.

   "She was a very brave woman, and did everything she could to ensure your survival.  No longer restrained by an Elder, she had often walked through the forests near your home.  She knew that humans regularly visited the area, so she hid you, near the town of Marsico Nuovo in the hope that someone, with a kind heart, would take you in."

The photo from my parents holiday guide, swam before my eyes.  It felt true.  Real.  I still needed to know more.  "You said you had searched for me my whole life.  Did my father send you on this errand?"

Vittorio's eyes glimmered.  He smiled at me, oh so endearingly.  "My parents were close to yours. Your father used to spar with me in mock battles when I was younger.  I wanted to became a warrior, and fight at his side.  I remember your parents joy when you were born and, from the time I first saw you....I felt there was a bond between us, for all you were about a month old.  I vowed we would be together in years to come.  And, when the tragedy of your mother's fate reached our ears, I knew I had to find you."

It all sounded so....gallant, magical bordering romantic. But, the reality had been harsh, brutal.   "How did you know I was even still alive?"

   "I just did. There are things even we cannot explain, Sienna."

My heart was pounding, blood thundering through my veins. I could easily relate to the 'bond' he spoke of.  I had felt something too, (felt it right now), but mines had first materialised when he visited me in my dream of the forest. My first ever sighting of him.  Lust, girl, Baby Si said, licking her lips.  I ignored her base definition. 

I had to move away from this part of the conversation though.  There was something I really did not understand.  "Why would Dante go to the bother of revealling his identity to me?  He could have killed me easily at any time if he had wanted.  And furthermore, why pretend to be my father, wipe my memory, and remain here?  It just doesn't make sense."