Page 145 of The Vampire's Lament
“Honey?” a man’s voice called.
I looked to Vaughn, who shrugged.
“You shouldn’t be answering the door when there’s an alert on,” the man said, appearing in the doorway. “Elio? What are you doing? And—” He looked at me with the same shock as his wife.
Something heavy, really damn heavy, hit me then.
The man had the same tawny skin and hazel eyes as his son. But the woman shared my complexion, my blue irises and silver hair.
No…
The man crouched beside his wife as Elio backed off. “This can’t be.”
“Mum? Dad?”
His mum whimpered. “It’s him.”
“This can’t be,” the man repeated.
“Don’t you feel it?” she whispered to him, eyes shining with tears.
I did, like the tugging of long-dormant threads.
No…
Coral skin, that silver hair, worn the same as Pearl. Man, she looked like Pearl.
My breath caught in my throat, the threads drawing me forward a few steps.
No.
No.
No.
The words bubbled up my throat, sliding onto my tongue.
“What’s going on?” Elio asked. “You’re scaring me.”
Why? Why did this have to happen?
“Answer me,” Elio said, the alarms seeming to increase in volume again.
No.
No.
No.
The man and the woman stared at me, both crying, holding each other against the rising drama.
Because thiswasa drama, a real fucking doozy thrown into the melting pot of chaos I called my life.
These elves were my parents.
The story continues in…
