Page 56 of Feathers From the Sky

“Roman Sauveterre, if that’s even your fucking name, you need to tell me right now if you accept my deal! I’ve been good, haven’t I, Nico?” When I glance at Nico, he raises his brow and smirks. No text lights up his phone, no response from Roman comes through. “I swear to God, Roman!”

When nothing happens, I put my thumb in my mouth and chew on the spot that was already bleeding. It hurts, and I swear as I pull my thumb out of my mouth. Nico stiffens, and I throw my hands wide, wafting the scent of my blood in his direction. “Tell me you agree, or I’m going to keep tormenting your little henchman!”

Nico snorts, and his phone buzzes. Within a second of reading a text, the vampire is on me, digging his teeth into my hand. He bites my thumb and the meaty flesh of my palm, drinking my blood and moaning as he does it. I stumble back a step, gasping in surprise before I collect myself.

“Oh, fuck you!” I shout at the camera. “Fine. You wanna be a dickhead? Me too,” I mutter. Using my free hand, I rip my shirt off, letting it hang from the arm being held in Nico’s painful grasp. “You’ll let people feed from me, but you draw the line at naked and touching myself. Isn’t that right?”

I’m shoving my free hand down my pants when Nico’s phone rings. He grunts with the effort of detaching his fangs from my skin, and he answers the phone without a word.

I don’t need vampire senses to hear Roman shouting down the line.

“Give her the phone and get the fuck out!”

Nico shoves it into my hand, staggering away as most of the vampires have done once they’ve tasted my blood. The door shuts behind him, locking, and I let my shirt fall from my arm. Holding the phone up to my ear, I can hear Roman’s panting breaths as I stare at the camera. He says nothing for a minute, clearly fighting something mentally. I don’t know if he’s trying to stay calm or waging some war against himself.

“I accept. I will keep you alive to the best of my abilities until my father Slumbers, and I will free you after.” My lip twitches, and I try not to smile at the camera. I’m sure he can hear my sigh of relief, but I don’t care. It was the one thing I needed. “Gwyn?”

“Yeah?”

“If you do anything like that ever again, I will set him on fire and make you watch.”

* * *

The next day,Nico came back, refused to speak to me or make eye contact, and it seems like today is going to be the same. Roman still hasn’t come down, and the only reason I’m not nervous about it is because of my victory on the phone. He’s alive and able to make promises, and that’s all that matters.

When Nico leaves me with dinner, I’m exhausted. Though the number of vampires who have come to taste my blood has dwindled, my body is drained. The best part of the meal was the mashed potatoes, but I devour everything before collapsing back against the headboard. My eyes flicker shut before I can even slide down to get comfortable. I didn’t even bother to turn off the light.

I don’t know how long I slept for when I’m awoken by a key in the door.

“Roman?” I ask, and the hope in my voice isn’t as feigned as I would like it to be. His absence has been strange the past week, and it had been almost therapeutic going through my dad’s things. I don’t bother doing it without him, since I’m sure he’ll just make me do it a second time.

I’m fooling myself if I think that’s all it is. My wires have gotten crossed in all of this. In trying to make him feel something for me, I have grown to know him and understand him better. Everything he does is out of grief and guilt for Remy. Every now and then, I wonder if it’s to honor his brother or to rid himself of that gnawing feeling inside his chest.

I’m familiar with it.

I bet Roman wonders if he hadn’t gotten frustrated with Remy and caused him to be exiled from the coven, would his brother still be here? If I hadn’t insisted on my favorite restaurant for dinner that night, would my parents? If I hadn’t reached for the radio that night, would I have seen the truck that slammed into the passenger side?

Grief is a series of what-ifs, and with time, all you can hope for is that you wonder less. The imaginary scenarios from a brain in mourning about a future that will never come to pass are a special torture I wouldn’t wish on anyone.

Even Roman.

“No, sorry. A friend of his,” a soft voice answers, and I narrow my eyes as the door creaks open. A woman with dark auburn hair stands just on the other side of the threshold with a tentative smile on her face. “May I come in?”

She wears a long-sleeved t-shirt, comfortable leggings, and fucking slippers. Her bright green eyes stand out, reminding me of a cat. And just like her feline counterpart, I don’t trust her.

“You will, anyway,” I say.

She dips her head before padding into the room. She’s a bit shorter than I am with an average build, and a thick gold engagement ring on her finger looks far too chunky on her slender hand.

“Victoria,” she says, holding out a hand as if she wants me to kiss it rather than shake it. “I haven’t had a chance to get a proper look at you, but I decided I couldn’t wait any longer.” I don’t move from where I sit on the bed. It’s grown colder in the month since I’ve been here, and I shove my hands into the pocket of the purple hoodie Margot sent down last week. Victoria’s lips tilt up at the edges as she settles into the folding chair Roman has left in my room. “I’m not here to cause any trouble,” she says, holding up her hands in submission.

I say nothing, staring at her. I don’t trust the woman, just as I don’t trust any vampire here, but I have expected every person who has been in my cell before now. I didn’t expect her, and it unsettles me.

“You look just like I remember her,” she says.

“So I’ve been told,” I reply, frowning at her. I don’t care to talk about my birth mother with a stranger.

“Not Cynthia. I mean, obviously there’s a resemblance, but you look like your great-grandmother. Jane.” She leans forward, squeezing her hands between her thighs as if she doesn’t know what to do with them.

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