TWENTY-EIGHT

"A walk through the pine forest around the house, the views of the ocean from the cliffs are breathtaking..." Vera pointed at the yard door with her thumb and I nodded vigorously.

"Let's go," I answered without thinking twice. Anything was better than sitting down on the terrace trying to have a civilized conversation with John firing barbs at me and getting bolder with every ironic comment... Even Marcus started frowning at his son upset sometimes and I knew Dario had tried to explain him tactfully that the idiot made the humans feel very awkward. The French guy was about losing his patience and I feared that he could decide to go back home or wherever he spent his time when he wasn't living with my father-in-law... That would be a pity because we all adored him and had fun together. "I'm going to tell my... It doesn't matter, they're here already..."

I couldn't help smiling when seeing Terra and Ruby getting closer, as beautiful and seductive as the first time we met, long months had passed and we'd lived through lot of things together but the vampire charm kept affecting me and I just heaved a dazzled sigh. Vera sighed next to me too snapping me back to reality and I realized she was staring at Aren who was getting closer holding her favourite sneakers, suitable footwear to go for a walk through the forest and better than the sandals she was wearing that evening. Terra frowned and vanished from view in the blink of an eye, coming back a second later with my own sneakers. I sat down on a bench smiling like a fool in love while Ruby helped me to tie the shoelaces.

"What have I done to be so lucky?" I whispered cradling her pretty face and my girl looked up, startled, kneeled down in front of me. Her jawline was flawless, her facial structure perfect, her bright eyes didn't seem from this world and her lips made my mouth water. I leaned forward in a trance and Ruby kissed me immediately, her mouth was sweeter than honey and my brain was about melting.

"Shall we go?" I blinked, coming back to reality and nodded at Vera. Terra held my hand when she noticed that I got up staggering and frowned at her sister.

"Don't do that," she complained angrily. "If she trips over her won feet, she can fall, bang her head and hurt herself."

"What are you talking about? I haven't done anything," Ruby answered upset.

"I think Terra wants you to control your vampire charm when you're around me to avoid hypnotizing me," I explained trying to make peace between them and the beautiful woman with green eyes looked back at me confused.

"What vampire charm? I told you I haven't done anything, I was tying your shoelaces and suddenly you were kissing me as if your life depended on it... I'm not complaining about that, you can kiss me whenever you want..." Ruby winked at me while we left the house following Aren and Vera.

"I guess it's true," Terra sighed in resignation next to me. "I also stared at her in awe the first time I saw her and she wasn't even a vampire back then, just an extremely beautiful human."

"That's because you recognized me as your mate, we looked at each other like we were made of stone the moment the bond was connected in the middle of St. Marcus Square..." Ruby stopped speaking when I raised my hand to cut her off while looking at her sister closely.

"What was that, Terra?" I asked with curiosity and the blue-eyed vampire stared at me confused. "I've seen something in the way you gestured, or maybe I felt it through the bond, but there's something in this story you haven't told us... Spit it now!" I stopped in the middle of the path under the pine branches, the sun was setting over the sea and the sky turned dark above our heads when my girl nodded and cleared her throat awkwardly.

"I'd seen her before..." she whispered looking at the ground while Ruby opened her eyes wide in surprise. "She left her palazzo on her gondola, sailing down the Grand Canal and under the bridges. Marcus had a meeting with a merchant to buy a big bag of black pepper or something like that and Aren went to the ship yard early in the morning because he wanted to buy a new ship for his business. I was bored, leaning my elbows on the railing of a bridge and she passed beneath my position... She was wearing a light blue tunic embellished with pearls and a darker blue cloak attached to her shoulder by a gold brooch, the sunset light shining on the water blinded her for a second and she averted her eyes, looking at the bridge but she didn't see me because I was wearing a dark hood over my head... I saw her and was totally awestruck, dazzled, I remember my knees got weak and thought I was going to fall on the ground. There's a chance that I... maybe I forced our encounter in the square a few days later."

"Do you mean you bumped into her deliberately because you were captivated by her beauty when you saw her from afar?" I asked in shock while her sister looked at her in disbelief and Terra nodded. "Oh my God, this is the most romantic thing I've ever heard..."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Ruby whispered getting closer to our girl, cupping her jawline with her tattooed hand forcing her to look up.

"You were happy believing that fate brought us together that day, bumping into each other in the middle of the crow unexpectedly... You thought it was something special, that we were meant to me a couple, in your mind it made sense because you found me right before losing your baby and you were able to start a new life and I just... I wanted to tell you the truth many times while chasing you through Venice, sending you flowers and jewels while you played hard to get... But later, the plague arrived and you came to my house. You looked so sad... You hugged me all night long and cried for hours till falling asleep exhausted. Your world had collapsed around you and I wanted to make you happy... I swore I'd do anything to see you smiling again..."

"You did, Terra, you've made me happy for centuries," Ruby answered grazing her mouth with her lips. "You made me smile again, you were always by my side and showed me everything the world has to offer... I still believe fate brought us together." Both vampires looked right into their eyes for a second before kissing passionately and I watched them with tears in my own eyes, love flowed freely through our bond and it was the most amazing feeling, the most powerful I've ever felt. I was happy and overwhelmed at the same time...

"Where are you going?" John's annoying voice echoed behind me and my vampires moved a step back, startled. The heat and happiness I was feeling through our bond gave way to confusion and rage and I had to greet my teeth to stop myself from yelling at him.

"What a motherfucker! I'm going to kill him... Could he choose a worse time to show up? Why does he have to ruin it all?" I growled inside my head ready to jump on the stupid vampire and scratch his face like a mad cat when Terra stopped me putting her arm over my shoulders.

"We're going to the forest for a walk..."

"Are you coming or not? Oh, hello, John..." Aren smiled awkwardly at his brother while Vera was waiting for us on top of a small hill behind him.

"Are you going for a walk too? I'll join you if you don't mind, it's a beautiful night and the moon shines so bright that our humans won't need a torch..." John clapped enthusiastically and started walking following the Viking almost at vampire speed. "Oh, Vera, you look stunning. That shirt is so gorgeous..."

"Let's go..." Ruby took my hand rolling her eyes hard. "We'll continue this conversation later... In the bathtub."

"The bathtub?" Terra blinked puzzled, keeping her arm on my shoulders while walking.

"I feel like having a nice bubble bath and you'll scrub my back as a punishment given that you've lied to me for centuries." I couldn't help chuckling looking at the blue-eyed vampire blushing.

"What a horrible sentence, Terra, I don't know if you'll be able to deal with it. Don't worry, I'll help you to spoil this Venetian princess."

*****

A memory crossed my mind like a flash: I was a child and was with my sister and cousins picking ripe apples from the soft grass, one of them fell from a branch from time to time and hit my back hard, or that's what I thought while looking up angrily, till I realized my cousin was laughing discreetly. Suddenly, temptation was too strong to resist it... Juan was kneeled down tying his shoelaces, his designer shoes weren't suitable for a stroll through the forest, to be honest, and I smiled wickedly in my mind. I bent down almost as fast as a vampire would do and grabbed a big pine cone throwing it aiming at his back with all my strength.

"What the...?" John got up quickly, turning around to look at us offended, but I'd averted my eyes to the pine branches and frowned.

"We should be careful, pine cones are falling due to the ocean breeze..." I whispered and Terra nodded next to me, looking up too.

"Yes, I've noticed it."

"Come, Iselen, these're the ruins of an old Roman farm. There was a gorgeous geometrical mosaic on that floor but Marcus rescued it and now it's hanging from the wall of our living room..." Ruby pulled my arm dragging me towards some bushes, ignoring John who was looking at the trees bewildered while I tried to hide my grin.

"You're a naughty girl," Terra scolded me through the bond, staring at me with squinty eyes while smiling.

"And that's why you adore me," I answered winking at her.

"Look who's here, the cinnamon bun and her bloodsuckers... They didn't drain her and threw her to the ocean after all."

I turned around scared and realized that four strong boys, with tanned skin and dark hair, were staring at us amused. I recognized the taller one immediately because of his shabby clothes and dishevelled look even if he'd left the leather jacket at home but the other three guys weren't the same I met in Sicily. Anyway, they seemed cocky and rough and one of them was cracking his knuckles threateningly. I knew what was going to happen immediately: there weren't humans to be witnesses in that forest clearing that smelled of pine and sea, except for Vera and me, so vampires and werewolves were going to fight... and there was nothing we could do to stop them. Terra nodded slightly, confirming my suspicion, and Ruby tugged at my arm forcing me to move a step back. The beautiful green-eyed vampire looked at a big tree nervously for a second and ordered me to hide behind it if things got ugly through our bond.

"There're two cinnamon buns... Or is she a brown sugar sponge cake?" One of the werewolves tilted his head to point at Vera, my friend stared at the idiot in disbelief but also with fury while Aren heaved a sigh in resignation and took the light denim jacket he was wearing off.

"Go with Iselen, please." The Viking smiled at his girlfriend putting the jacket on her shoulders and Vera nodded quietly, getting closer to me quickly. The three vampires stood in front of us like they were some kind of protective wall and looked at the Sicilian guys with hostility while the newcomers smiled cockily.

"What's going on?" my friend whispered worried while I grabbed her arm and pushed her closer to the tree Ruby had looked at. "Aren is angry, I can feel it through the bond, he's never been so furious before..."

"Those are the werewolves we met the other day and I think they're in a fighting mood..."

"What's that disgusting smell?" John's annoying voice cut me off abruptly. "Oh, it's dog wet fur... Yikes!" The idiot had walked in the clearing and looked at the tall and strong boys scrunching his nose, the leader of the pack growled softly and I understood the fight was inevitable.

"Sorry, what?"

"Iselen, you were right: these dogs need a good shower..." John looked at me laughing, totally oblivious to the tension in the atmosphere or maybe he was trying to provoke them deliberately... He couldn't be that dumb. Four werewolves turned their heads and Terra got tensed in front of me, ready to jump on them.

Everything happened in less than one second: the taller guy moved so fast that I blinked and, suddenly, he was standing in front of my girl but Terra was also very agile and jumped to one side dodging the punch aimed at her face. Aren moved fast despite his big size and tried to fight two wolves at a time while Ruby was in charge of the one who'd called Vera sponge cake, kicking his chest so hard that forced him to move a few steps back and crash against a trunk. Some pine cones fell on top of us and we had to cover our heads with our arms, hiding behind the tree. A big rock flew past us while growls, howls and screams echoed through the forest.

"I'd better go to tell Marcus and Dario," John ran out of the clearing and we stared at his back in disbelief. Everybody else ignored him and kept fighting violently tearing a tree out of the ground when Aren bumped into it while holding a werewolf under his arm and dodging the punches of the other.

"What an asshole! He's gone..." My friend looked at me with her mouth wide open. "Now they outnumber us..."

"Watch out!" I yelled pulling her arm and we both landed on our asses painfully. Terra had pushed the leader of the pack away to get him off her back and he almost crashed against the trunk that protected us. My heart skipped a beat when seeing my girl's bloodstained face, I could feel her pain through the bond, but she kept fighting, taking blows on her ribs while her closed fists tried to do as much damage as possible on the mutt's jaw. Ruby moved fast behind her, she had a split lip and was bleeding too, but I got the impression that she'd got some oriental martial art lessons long time ago because her kicks were perfect and her rival wheezed every time she hit the target.

"What's going on here? Leave my kids alone, you bastards!" Marcus came running at vampire speed and grabbed one of the guys trying to punch Aren by his neck, pushing him away while Dario kicked the leader's ass, literally. The werewolves needed a few seconds to understand that the vampires had received reinforcements and they ran away finally, limping and bleeding. "John, follow them and make sure they leave my property... Have you heard me? Make sure they won't come back and cause more trouble."

"Yes, father." The stupid guy looked a bit taken aback by Marcus' command voice but didn't dare to disobey him.

"Terra, my love..." The vampire was kneeled down on the ground, coughing and spiting blood, while I squatted down next to her not knowing how to help her or where I should touch her without hurting her. Some of her tattoos were blurry because of the sweat, dust and blood that coated her skin and the bruises that started turning red and purple. "Oh my God..."

"I'm fine," she whispered quietly even if it was pretty obvious she was not okay. Ruby was close to us, leaned on a tree and breathing heavily, wiping away the blood on her chin with the hem of her T-shirt awkwardly before moving closer.

"Can you stand up?" she asked grimacing when she bent over her sister's body.

"Marcus, Terra needs help," I yelled turning around. Dario and my father-in-law came running while Vera hugged Aren and looked worried at the bruise on his eye.

"Careful..." my girl complained when both men carried her in their arms lifting her slowly. "Something is broken inside... Fuck!" Panic burst in my stomach, running through my veins while a cold sweat coated my skin and I felt running out of breath... till Ruby put her arm around my waist and held my mind to stop me from passing out.

"Iselen, calm down, she's a vampire... She's not going to die..."

"But she's in a lot of pain..." I answered crying and the beautiful Venetian girl nodded.

"Of course, babe, we aren't made of stone..." A moan escaped from her lips and she leaned her body against my side while walking. "Let's go home, Marcus and Dario will carry Terra, she'll be fine... Don't worry."

"What about you?" My girl nodded and smiled, following Aren and Vera down the path holding my arm.

"I'll feel better after washing up, I promise, and I'll lie on our bed next to you..."

Luckily, we hadn't gone far away from the house and it took only fifteen minutes to get there. Antonella was waiting for us with wet towels, clean clothes, bandages ready and a big jug full of blood waiting on the table of our bedroom. I helped Ruby to take her clothes off and cleaned her wounds, kissing every bruise slowly while she sighed relieved, and Marcus took care of Terra. The beautiful blue-eyed vampire was lying on the mattress comfortably when I left the bathroom and she was drinking her second glass of blood taking little sips, her skin was clean but there was a tight bandage around her torso. Ruby poured herself a glass from the jug too and sat down next to her sister, leaning her back on the headboard and sighing again.

"I'll go to check on Aren... Stay in bed," Marcus pointed at his daughter with his index threateningly and Terra nodded wearily.

"Do you want more?" I asked pointing at the table and both vampires shook their heads. "Is there anything I can do for you? I feel so useless... Don't human painkillers work with vampires?"

"Iselen..." Terra swallowed hard and moved slowly to put her glass on the nightstand, I rushed to get closer and help her but she took advantage of that to grab my arm and pull, forcing me to sit down next to her. "I don't like the taste, I prefer yours... so sweet. Can you give a drop of blood? Only one..."

"Everything you want, babe," I answered moving my wrist closer to her mouth and she smiled, kissing my skin gently.

"But first, tell me why you're upset... I'm sorry but we didn't start the fight, I was trying to protect you, it was John's fault and his rude comments..."

"I believe he did it on purpose," I blurted out abruptly and both vampires looked at me perplexed. "He provoked them deliberately and left leaving you alone, when Marcus and Dario arrived and the werewolves ran away, he was leaned on a tree trunk smiling wickedly... I saw him, I swear. Do you think he lured the wolves to Marcus' forest somehow?"

"No, he's an asshole but not that stupid..." Ruby answered wearily. "But who knows? I don't know what to think about John anymore. He's crazy..."