Page 13 of Little Wing
“What do you think?” Mateo asked, nudging me with his elbow. “I think we can swing the extra few hundred if we make a few changes, but—” He forced an exhale before he threw his arm around my shoulder. “This is fucking perfect.”
I nodded slowly. “Let’s do it. And even if they refuse—”
Mateo raised his hand and smiled softly. “We have all the time in the world, brother. We’ve seen twelve rejections already and that hasn’t stopped us. Little Wing is happening.”
In the few centuries that I was able to call Mateo my brother, our passion and drive for a better future never changed. Even if the way and reason we were turned by Elias differed. Mateo offered himself to save his family while I was saved after being beaten to the brink of death. My eyes might burn a bright silver while his a gentle blue, but our blood runs the same, laced with Elias’ gift of eternal life. Whatever our origins were, whatever our past, there was no denying we cherished our life with Elias, Camille, and our siblings. Even if now only in a memory. There was warmth within those cold stone walls of our home that was only possible because of our makers guiding us and teaching us to be the best we could be. It was that sense of family and community that remained the foundation of what Little Wing would be.
Despite how things ended, the days when our nest was at its best helped shape our vision that we one day scribbled onto a napkin at a noisy vampire bar.
The knowledge that we were on the precipice of something truly amazing lingered in the air between us. After agreeing to put in an offer, Mateo provided our verbal agreement to Benjamin to begin the needed paperwork. I took my leave to wait for them outside. The cool winter air still felt good on my skin. In that moment it felt more refreshing than bitter. Only a few minutes later, Mateo walked outto meet me as we watched Benjamin drive off, likely heading straight home as the sun had set a few hours ago.
“Where’s Quinn tonight?” I asked, still looking ahead. “Trying out any of those moves from the book?”
“Where’s that vampire cosplaying a human? Out donating blood?” Mateo shot back.
“Damn, went for it, didn’t you?” I smirked.
Mateo switched his demeanor between ridiculous and serious without skipping a beat. Sometimes you had to know him the way that I did to get a sense of which was which. Lucky for me, I had a few centuries to understand Mateo-speak. If anyone could roast me without getting their ass handed to them, it was my brother.
In all seriousness, I told Mateo about Lotus and how I couldn’t stop thinking about her. It had been weeks, and no one caught my interest the way she did. Thinking of her and craving to be in her presence was starting to sound like the beginnings of an addiction. I had no problem admitting that I was addicted to her mystery. She was devastatingly beautiful, and I spent plenty of mornings already pondering what I could possibly find, if I only plucked away a few petals of her façade.
I watched Mateo tap away on his phone, likely ordering a ride to see Quinn, which meant that my evening opened up. There were no classes, no essays to grade, and no meetings around Little Wing to attend. I finally had a free evening. Before Mateo’s ride arrived, I pressed my tongue against my front teeth. The questions I wanted to ask begging to be voiced.
“Hey,” I started.
“What’s up?”
“What do you make of that?” I said, motioning to my face and pointing at my eyes. “The makeup thing I told you about. I can’t stopthinking about it. Have you heard of anyone doing that? Even Mom didn’t do that when she went out around humans.”
Mateo shrugged. “Mom wasn’t in denial about being a vampire. She was just tired of hiding.”
I nodded and scratched my head. “Right.”
“Did this Lotus person deny being a vampire?”
“Well—”
“Did she outright say that she is human and will bleed like one, too?”
Well, he was right. She didn’t, but then again, I never asked. How could I? Most of my interactions with her were her dismissing me quickly after I made a purchase. Damn it, my room was full of books I would likely end up donating to Little Wing at some point. But Mateo was right—I had to ask otherwise I would seriously lose my mind. I suppose I had more questions to add to my artillery for when I would see her again.
“You good then?” Mateo asked, motioning with his phone to the approaching car service.
“Yeah, brother. I’ll see you at home.”
With that promise, I glanced at my own phone, calculating just how much time it would take for me to walk along the cobblestone path that would eventually bring me to where I knew my bewitched mind would no doubt lead me.
I guess I found my evening plans after all.
“Here.”
“What is this?” I looked down at the ground where my brother had tossed a beaded pouch, similar to the ones Mama had for special occasions. I reached in and pulled out a powder and a tinted stick, none of which I would have ever selected on my own. “Makeup?” I asked, looking up at him.
“You are going to wear it.”
“But Luca,” I started, examining the colors even closer. These were not even remotely fair enough to blend into my skin that mirrored porcelain after the change. “These colors are not correct; I will not look like myself.”
“That is the idea.”
