Chapter 14 Valentine

                                        

                                              
A/N: Pic to the side is Lucretia, played by Aishwarya Rai. Don't let the innocent look on her face fool you.....
                              
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Fear danced down my spine as I watched the monsters frown at me out of the corner of my eye. They were starting to figure it out; it was inevitable that they suspected but I thought I'd have more time. Despite my careful work to wear this body as if it were my own, to embrace the need to Feed and vent the lust of the Master-Childe bond, I could tell by the way they looked at me now that they knew I was lying to them.
                              
All those vampires in the den were oh-so-happy for me being Lucretia's newest pet. Though Isabeau and a few others were still grumbling because apparently it is VERY bad manners to take someone's first Childe like that, there was nothing they or anyone could do. I wondered briefly how this change in the bond would affect whatever plans Caleb and the Mercy had to rescue Dante, well at least the body part of him. All of this would be a moot point if these creatures discovered that I wasn't the man they thought me to be. And I knew now that it was a matter of hours, not days before this entire situation turned a lot more deadly for me.
                              
My first mistake was with those people Dante had once considered friends. I had met them once, at the airport as Dante left us. So when I saw them here, vamped out as well, I figured out that these monsters had gotten a group rate. It made me wonder what would have happened had I gone on this trip like Dante had wanted. Would I have been able to protect us or would I be like them all too? I felt a small, mocking smile curl my lips as I realized that I would have been worse than useless in this world had I been with my Dante from the very beginning. I was still mostly useless and that was after I’d started growing a back bone. I’d forgotten the female friend’s name. It’s a simple, small detail and after everything I’ve been through, completely understandable. But I simply could not recall her name, and it was my first slip up.
                              
The second mistake I made was a whole lot bigger and a whole lot harder for me to hide from the others. Lucretia wanted me to Hunt with her at my side, and Isa had told her all about how my Hunts have been in the past. There’s just one problem; they weren’t MY hunts. They were Dante’s and I had no clue what to do on my own. So when the time came for me to start my Hunt, I dithered. I suggested that my ‘friends’ should Hunt first, that I had already received so much special attention. The three other new vampires were very excited with that idea and took off as soon as I said it, leaving me to follow after them and watch.
                              
I couldn’t figure out why it was that Dante’s body was handling this strange dichotomy so well when I knew my own body had been battered by it all. Even with Hunger burning in my gut, demanding human blood, I could shrug it off. It was uncomfortable, and if I did it for too long I suspected that I would quickly succumb to it, but for right now I could ignore it. I took advantage of it so I could watch these people who were supposed to have had my Dante’s back Hunt. I  was pushing my anger and resentment for them to the back of my mind, but it was just making the Hunger burn hotter in my belly. I swear that being a vampire is all about the violence, sex and blood; there’s not a single freaking sparkle in sight! If I was honest with myself, I knew that this was the kind of world my Dante was born for, was made for. And it was the kind of world I was most definitely NOT suited for. I felt the fangs in my mouth descend as I glared after my ‘friends’, aware that if they hadn’t brought my Dante with them, he would be with me, safe at our parent’s home. Distantly I heard Lucretia called Dante’s name, trying to calm me but the growl that was rumbling in my throat was getting louder and louder.
                              
The body I wore shook with barely withheld anger, my desire to rip these bastards apart nearly making me murder them all when their backs were turned to me. If they had just left my Dante alone, I wouldn’t have been forced through the worst times of my life. I would still have my virginity, I would still have my dignity, I would still have my Dante, but instead here we were. To add to the whole messed up situation, Lucretia tried to ‘leash’ me. I felt fear wrap around me, fake and brittle and obvious from the vampire queen. It snapped my control and I lunged, but not at the friends that had gotten my twin into this mess. Instead I tackled Isabeau to the ground, fingers digging into the skin of her throat. In my own body, my nails are hard and sharp, good weapons of pain. Dante’s fingers were bigger, blunter and not as effective at scratching. As I tore out her trachea, I realized that sharp wasn’t necessary, I had the strength to rip her apart in my hands and I was angry enough to use it.