Page 39 of The Rising Dark
Pina picked up another strawberry and turned it between her fingers.“I think you humans nowadays would call it ‘trans’.The name might have changed over the centuries, but the idea stays the same.I wasn’t born Proserpina, fifth of her name.I was renamed at twenty-five at my request.I would not have been able to be a Sister of Twilight if I hadn’t.Still, there will be no sixth of her line.As I cannot birth my daughters, my line will end with me.”
It was an unfairness that Pina and Lavinia had spoken about occasionally, in the early hours of dawn over a couple of bottles of wine.Pina’s mother and her consort had been thrilled to meet their daughter, but some difficulties remained, particularly around the rigid roles within the matriarchal vampire society.Only the birth-giver could continue a line, regardless of their gender.Change might happen eventually, but vampire society moved at a glacial speed, nothing like the breakneck pace of its human counterpart.
“Anyway,” Pina said.“Changing the subject.What are you two lovebirds up to?”
Lavinia glared at Pina, but Michelle seemed unbothered.“We were just watching one of my favourite TV shows.We’ll be going to my mum’s birthday in a little bit.”
“I can’t believe you managed to rope Lavinia into watching TV with you.Usually she has to be dragged kicking and screaming towards anything that has even a whiff of fun to it.”
Lavinia frowned.“I’m not that bad.”
“Of course not, sweetheart.”Pina patted her on the arm, sending a cheeky wink to Michelle.“We love you anyway.”Michelle laughed and, at the infectious sound, Lavinia couldn’t suppress a smile either.
“However, I can’t believe you both would abandon me in my hour of need.”Pina slumped dramatically backwards into the chair.
“You’ll be fine,” Lavinia responded.
“Always so pragmatic, Vin.”Pina lifted her hand to her forehead as if in a swoon.“I am a delicate flower.”
“Delicate my ass.I’ve seen you knock out a pair of rogues twice your size within a minute.”
“Well.They had it coming.”
“That, I agree with.”Lavinia glanced at the screen of her phone.“We gotta go.”
Pina sighed.“Fine.I’ll go annoy Quintia.I can always get a good rise out of her.”
Lavinia stood, the tendons in her right leg straining.She extended her hand to Michelle and helped her up.The feel of her skin made her heartbeat rise.“Quintia’s coming with us as well.”
Pina’s expression of horror was comical.“But if she’s gone too, that only leaves me with…”
Lavinia patted Pina’s shoulder affectionately.“Exactly.Hope you have a great time annoying Mrs.Frost instead.”
Michelle and Lavinia left Proserpina, who sat with a sour expression.It was one thing to goad their hot-headed Sister—quite another to tease the indomitable housekeeper.
* * *
Michelle’s mother lived in a narrow terraced house on a quiet street in East London.The façade was warm brick, blackened with soot from traffic.They had walked from a nearby parking garage, as the street was already packed to the brim with parked cars.Quintia had taken up her position a hundred yards away, where she was currently leaning against a lamp post, smoking a vape and scrolling on her phone.Quintia didn’t actually smoke.The vape was filled with water only, but it allowed Quintia to arouse less suspicion.With her leather jacket, piercings, and permanent scowl, Quintia never particularly blended in, unless the mission required her to be posted at a metal concert.Usually, she drew some measure of attention wherever she went.It just mattered whattypeof attention.
Lavinia could hear voices vibrating through the walls.Four, maybe five people were already inside.The muscles in her neck twitched.Her palms were sweaty, although the autumn temperature was mild, bordering on chilly.Was she nervous?She glanced at Michelle.Her pupils were dilated slightly, and her heartbeat raised.Michelle was tense too.
It was an unexpected conundrum.There was no reason to be nervous.Perhaps if this had been a real date, where Michelle’s family was to meet her chosen partner, this would indeed be an important event.But it wasn’t a real date, and they weren’t partners.Actually, Lavinia had somewhat lost track of what they were to each other.Friends?Certainly.She loved to spend time with Michelle and found her a kind and engaging companion.Lovers?There had been a chemistry between them, and Michelle was very attractive.Possibly the most attractive woman Lavinia had ever had the pleasure of meeting.Unlike some of her Sisters, she wasn’t often drawn to romantic or sexual connections.Michelle had awakened a hunger in her that she hadn’t felt in decades.Hell, if she was honest with herself, maybe even centuries.
Yet, they hadn’t quite crossed that boundary either.Michelle had willingly offered her blood to Lavinia, and Lavinia still felt that power coursing through her veins.
She didn’t know what they were to each other.Perhaps that didn’t matter.What mattered was that she was here for Michelle, keeping her safe while she spent time with her family.
Thoughts of the rogue and warlock, still at large, crowded Lavinia’s mind.She couldn’t carry her sword.Instead, she had taken her daggers.One was strapped to her calf inside her boot, the other in a holster at the small of her back, its outline hidden underneath the texture of her knit jumper.The slight discomfort of the holster was familiar, a reassuring reminder of her preparedness.Nothing would disrupt Michelle seeing her family, not if she had anything to say about it.
“Ready?”Michelle asked, a shy smile forming.
Lavinia nodded, the movement sharper and more soldier-like than she had intended.The door was unlocked, and Michelle led her into a cramped foyer.Lavinia had to step almost into Michelle’s arms to close the door behind her, cutting off the intrusion of the cool air into the warm house.
“Mum runs a shoes-off household,” Michelle said.She slipped out of her trainers, stacking them onto a shelving unit intended for that purpose.Lavinia looked at her boots, the concealed weapon held within.She could leave them on and face the wrath (or mild disappointment) of Michelle’s family.It was the rational choice.Keeping Michelle and her relatives physically safe from any potential attack was more important than social rules.On the other hand, it would immediately mark her as a stranger, someone not to be trusted.Someone who would not be suitable for their daughter.
Lavinia stepped out of her boots and left the dagger concealed inside.
Chapter Twenty-One
