Bathe In Fire - Shadows of the Night 2

Chapter 18

Hi!

It's been another busy week and I'm wondering when things will go back to normal... Maybe it's only me, but people around me seem to go crazy over spring. It's like everyone's making suggestive comments that totally weird me out! Is it really only me?

Spring time or not, it's time for the next chapter! Anna will finally get some answers and we will learn more about her past! I hope you like it - please let me know what you're thinking!Thank you all so much for reading!

Lara

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Chapter 18

“So, you’re my godmother,” I said slowly.

I was staring out into the lake, my eyes focused on the ducks waddling towards the shore of the pond. The wind brushed the leaves of the trees behind us, making my hair flap around my face, strands blocking my vision randomly. I shook my head. It didn’t make sense. Nothing did.

“Why didn’t the vampire simply kill me? Why take my memories?”

“My guess is that he was only working for someone else,” Giuliana said. “Whoever his master was, he wanted you alive.” She closed her eyes. “I can’t even begin to think about what would have happened if we hadn’t arrived there in time.”

But I could. If members of the Lumenis hadn’t arrived in time, I would be dead. Like my parents. I shook my head, trying to get rid of the visual – blood, red and liquid, on a gray carpet.

“What were you two arguing about? You and Sergio?”

Back then I didn’t understand what the bald man and Giuliana said, but I had a feeling that it was important.

I heard her sigh beside me. “I wanted him to bring you to another location, a hiding place close to the woods, but basically it was an argument we had been having for a long time. He was part of the faction that saw your parents’ presence as a danger to our community.”

From now on, you’re on your own.

I remembered Sergio’s words clearly. He didn’t bring me to a safe house, but opened a portal to the filthiest and most dangerous part of New York City. I was only a child, an orphan thrown into a city of wolves, and he sent me there on my own! I looked away. My tongue felt heavy and leaden. The taste of blood got stronger.

“They turned their backs on my parents. Hell of a community,” I said with distaste.

“It was only one faction among many,” Giuliana said. “There were disagreements about the Lumenis’ lifestyle and basic principles between certain members – among them your parents. It was one of the reasons why your parents wanted to leave the community.”

I shook my head. It didn’t matter if my parents wanted to leave on their own or not. If the Lumenis was this great, bigger-than-life community of witches, the other members should have protected them no matter what. Looked like the history books got it wrong. Greater good and confraternity, my ass. I snorted.

Giuliana turned to face me. “There were other reasons you’re not aware of, and I think it’s time you learn of them.”

I crossed my arms underneath my chest. “And what would they be?”

“Your father’s family history and the reason why this happened to begin with. The De Lucas, your father’s ancestors, were involved in an ancient feud with one particular vampire. Ever since the fourteenth century minions and scions of this one vampire have been trying to kill every single remaining member of the family. A bloody vendetta. And it all started again around the time you were born. Someone found out that the last descendants were alive in Italy.”