Torn Asunder

Chapter 14 Dante

I walked towards the doors of the restaurant and couldn't help but hear the Imperial Death March song in my head as I walked. Or should I say sashayed? I wasn't yet used to the feelings of being a man trapped in a woman's body, but I have to admit that my twin's body certainly knew how to walk and get the attention of every male behind her. And it was entirely instinctive. I had purposefully dressed this delicious body in clothing that was the least sexual: jeans, a tank top and ugs. And yet I knew the hips my Valentine called 'mammoth' were tightly swishing as I walked. I could feel the eyes of the two straght men behind me admiring the view and I felt a conflict inside. The body, Valentine's body, blushed and felt strangely girlish at the thought that they wanted it. The rest of me was pissed off and wanted to snap at them to get their fucking eyes of MY Valentine's ass. Since I was pretending to be the lover of one of these men though, I had to play nice.

Maybe I'd get a chance to take this anger out on one of the Mercy members later? The thought pacified me and I managed a soft smile as my group walked into the restaurant. I had one of those sensations, right off the bat that something was seriously off about this whole thing. I looked over the restaurant filled with talking, chatting people and couldn't put my finger on it. There was just an air to the place that made me feel on edge. And I was grateful that my Valentine's body hadn't been Turned yet, because I could see the golden glow painting the room and yet not immediately think that all these people were just food. For the first time in weeks, my stomach growled and I realized I was salivating at the smell of cooked food. I'd gotten so used to my new feeding habits that I had been neglecting to feed my twin's body correctly. A guilty flush coloured my cheeks but I pushed the worry aside, determined to give this lovely body as much sustinance as it needed. And I have to admit that I was looking forward to tasting food again; I'd missed things like the spice of jalepenos, the sweetness of chocolate. Just the simple act of being able to savour food that tasted like fajitas and not copper was a luxury now and I appreciated the chance to once again taste food. Vampires had no need for it.

Caleb grabbed my hand and pulled me along after him as we herded towards a table in the back. Thankfully I resisted the urge to yank my hand free, remembering that we were playing at being lovers and I was going to use this as a chance to torment him for ever having touched my girl. In the air, beyond the smells of cheap perfume, sweaty humans, cooked food and dying flowers, I could smell the lingering traces of Vampire. Either one had been in here sometime tonight or someone here had spent an awful lot of time near one for that smell to still be in the air and I wished that I could warn the others without looking suspicious. I still didn't know how much of what I could do in this body the others knew about, and I didn't want to spill any secrets I didn't have to. So I kept my mouth shut and let Caleb lead us to the table that had the strongest lingering Vampire scent. Fantastic, the bastard must have sat at this very table, the smell of the creature faint enough that I knew they weren't here right now.

"Salvatore." Caleb did the manly head tilt in his direction that I knew all too well. It was the grudgingly respectful nod, the one you gave to a man you'd really rather not ever deal with or think about, but you turn to for a specific purpose because he simply is the best. I smirked lightly as I saw the proud leader of the Sentinel biker gang have to acknowledge someone else as the guy in charge. Yes I am that petty, and no I don't feel the least bit guilty for it.

What I did feel was pissed off that this Salvatore was not even trying to be subtle that he was staring at me. Part of it was sexual and that pissed me off. But it was the part of his gaze that was looking for something specific that bothered me. He was watching my twin's body like he had a plan already in place and everything was going along swimmingly. Maybe it was the intuitive nature that Isa warned me I would develop, maybe it was some kind of latent female intuition this body was giving me, either way I knew that we didn't want to pay what he was gonig to ask. Not even a little bit. And even though I want to kill the man myself, I can't just let Caleb walk into that without a warning.

So I tugged on Caleb's hand and he frowned down at me, once again reminding me that my Valentine isn't a physically intimidating woman at all. I raised up on my tiptoes, as if I were gonig to whisper something sexual and flirty in his ear. Instead I said, "Something's not right. The table smells like vamp and the big boss man has something nefarious up his sleeve."

Caleb chuckled softly, putting on a show for those that were watching and I had to admit htat was pretty slick. He sunk a hand into my hair and tilted my face so it looked to the table like he was kissing me, but we were just uncomfortably close. "We'll hear them out, decline, then leave. Too many witnesses for them to start something here." he breathed back. We stepped apart like the moment had been an impulsive, romantic one and then stopped at the table we were expected at.

Salvatore gestured to the seats, a silent request that we sit down, and we carefully took our seats. I hated how I had the entrance, and in fact the entire restaurant, at my back because it left me feeling exposed. And I couldn't help but notice that they had split our group up a little with the careful seating plan. I was next to Caleb, the two of us on one side of the table while there was a gap between myself and Andros. Next to Andros was Ixchel, with a strange Mercy member between them and Luka. I didn't like it but there was sweet fuck all I could do without alerting the Mercy that I didn't trust them. If they were gonig to underestimate us, I needed them to believe that whatever plan they had could work. I'd seen my Valentine do this to her advantage many times, always using people's underestimation of her abilities to surprise them. I just hoped that I was good enough to pull it off.

"Thank you for meeting with us." Salvatore said graciously. His tone had no trace of his Italian ancestry, sounding as Americanized as most Hollywood actors and I frowned when I saw just how bloodshot his eyes were. There was a fine trembling in the man's hands, something I knew the normal mortals at the table couldn't see, and under the lingering scents of the table, I could smell that he wasn't quite healthy. I started to get a really bad feeling then, trying to come up with reasons for the leader of the Mercy to want me, basically a half Vamp, when he was clearly unwell. At best he'd want what this body has, increased healing, even at the cost of a metabolism that will eventually burn out.

"Thank you for agreeing to hear us out." Caleb replied with a stiff formality. It surprised me to hear him being diplomatic instead of brazen, though I really didn't know the man as well as my Valentine did. For all I really knew, he could have a soft spot for fuzzy slippers and hello kitty memorabilia. I doubted it, but the simple truth was that I didn't know. I just had to trust my Valentine to have picked companions that weren't complete jackasses. Then again, her own friends were faring far better than mine had, all of us had  been Vamped.

"So I hear you're gonig through some interesting experiences." Salvatore said, trying to lock eyes with me. I frowned and stared at his forehead, seeming to amuse him.

"You could say that." I deflected, not wanting to talk about it at all, and definitely not wanting to talk about it in a restaurant full of people.

Salvatore chuckled softly and looked at the silently fuming Caleb. "So you managed to get out of that world only to have your latest conquest pull you back in hmm?" his tone was mocking and amused.

"Conquest?" I heard the anger in Caleb's voice and suppressed my snarl. I didn't like the sound of possessiveness in his voice, nor the anger that indicated that he really did care about my girl. "Are you going to help us or are you just going to jerk us around?" Caleb growled. Well it certainly didn't take long for diplomacy to be discarded. No wonder my Valentine was always referring to males as chest beaters or mouth breathers.

"Fine, your lover has gotten you into quite a pickle." Salvatore's smile had taken on a slightly demented edge and I was really starting to wonder about his sanity.

"We may have a way of finding Lucretia's Mercy. You're Mercy has been wanting to take her out since long before I even got into this world." Caleb offered our bargaining position.

Salvatore laughed and I could see the rest of the Mercy at the table looking a little strained. I couldn't help it, my instincts were screaming at me, so I stood up. Everyone at the table stopped and looked at me, surprised and confused. "We're gonig." I said simply and turned to walk out, needing to get away before the warning signs came together and ran my ass over.

I heard the four people that were my twin's friends follow behind me, but my attention was on the rest of the restaurant. Every single person, every single waiter and cook, had stopped what they were doing and were looking at me. I don't know how he did it, and I had no clue that there were this many in the Mercy, but the entire place was filled with them. Freaking great. This was a set up.