Page 68 of Marcello
“Che cos’è?”one of them said. I had no idea what he’d said, but I recognized it was definitely Italian. Or maybe Spanish?
“Non lo so. Un cane.”
The last word I understood and rolled my eyes. If they thought I was some sort of dog, I was going to use that to my advantage. I barked as best as I could and then shot off away from them. They didn’t seem to be too worried about me, and I could somewhat understand. They all scented of humans, and they honestly might have thought I was actually a dog of some sort.
I ran around, trying to pick up on the scent of a vampire, and when I ran past a door, there it was. Sandro, or another vampire at least, was in that room. It scented of blood. I glanced at the others, and they weren’t paying me any attention. I pressed on the door, but it didn’t budge. Damn. I was going to have to shift. And then I might be seen. Okay, maybe I was in over my head.
I heard footsteps inside the room, so I moved away from the door and crawled under a tarp that was over some boxes. The door that I’d pushed on opened, and out came a pair of shiny shoes and dark slacks. Then another. I glanced up and found an older man who was saying something harshly in Italian. The man who was with him had started to close the door but stopped and reached inside to grab something.
They walked off, leaving the door cracked, and I took the opportunity to dart across and into the room. There, lying in aheap on the floor, was a man, and that was definitely where the scent of blood was coming from. I scanned the room in a hurry and didn’t find anyone else in here with us, so I shifted quickly and pushed the door shut. I also pushed a pair of crates against the door so it couldn’t be opened again.
When I rushed over to the man on the floor, I rolled him over and gasped. It was definitely the Sandro I’d seen in Marcello’s memories, but he didn’t look like he was alive. “Sandro?” I whispered. I touched his neck and found a pulse, but it was very faint.
“Marcello? Don’t be mad,”I said, reaching out to my mate.
“Abel, get back here now!”
“I can’t. I’m with Sandro, and I think he’s going to die. I need help,”I said. I started crying because there were so many wounds on him.“He’s been stabbed so many times. I need help, Marcello.”
“Abel?Mio angelo.Where are you?”
“In a room in the warehouse. I shifted and jumped through a window. There was an ugly old man that came out of the room. I don’t have much time. Call Naldo. Tell him to get Mazzi around the building. I ran to the back about halfway and to our right. There are windows, and I’ll throw something out. Please.”
“Sandro? Please don’t die,” I told him. He was bleeding still, and the fact that his wounds weren’t healing was not good. I needed to get him help. Now. I went to the window and looked out. I cried harder when I saw the blur of a vampire go by.
“Psst,” I called out and tossed out the first thing I could find. Naldo came back, and then Mazzi was there with him.
“Fuck, Mazzi. I think he’s going to die. We need to get him out of here.”
Mazzi and Naldo were suddenly inside with me, and Naldo rushed to Sandro and picked him up. My stomach did that flipthing, and then we were back at the villa, and it was pure chaos. There was so much shouting in Italian, and I didn’t understand a single word of it. I didn’t know who looked more pissed. Master Vincent looked murderous, but Marcello looked…honestly, he looked disappointed, and that was worse.
“Put some clothes on and take care of our children,” he said to me before he walked off. I shifted again and took off for the stairs. I had to shift again to open the door, and I slammed it shut behind me as I walked through. I hurried to the closet and pulled on the first thing I could find. Sweats were quick and easy, and a T-shirt over my head, and then I took off for the door.
When I opened it, I found Mazzi there, white as a ghost. He was holding the twins, one in each arm.
“It’s okay,” I told him.
“I don’t know, Abel.”
I took Luci and then Frankie and held them close to my chest. “Where’s Tulio?”
“He’s down in our room. I used magic to send him there.”
I nodded. “Let’s go,” I said. I followed Mazzi down to his and Naldo’s suite, and we sat on the floor with the babies. What else could we do?
“They’re mad,” Mazzi said.
I nodded. “Yep. I don’t care though. We needed to find Sandro. There is no way they were going to be able to get to him.”
“I know. There were at least thirty men in that warehouse.”
“I think they thought I was a dog,” I told him. Mazzi finally smiled, but I could tell he was worried. I was too, but honestly, not about Master Vincent.
“Do you have my phone? Or can you get it for me?”
“Where was it?”
“It’s in my jeans that I was wearing.”
