Page 31 of The Eternal Choice
“What?” Lilliana whispers, as if it’s her word of the day.
Alrigo drags a chair closer to his wife and daughter. “You can do more than you think, Lilliana. Your mother might have the angelic touch, but I was the first vampire created from the blood of a fallen angel turned demonic.” He glances at me and my brother. “This is not common knowledge. Others were made with diluted blood and vampires today are bitten, not born.”
Leandro and I both nod, letting him know it stays between us.
He seems to accept when he turns his full attention back to his daughter. “Angelic blood from both sides allowed you tobring those butterflies back to life. Like I said, you can do more than you think.”
“The blood angel,” I murmur.
Alrigo is in front of me within my next breath. “The fuck you just say?”
Shit. Lilliana wanted to keep things between us, but to hear Alrigo’s explanation? She’s definitely the blood angel from our legend.
“She’s the winged protector, the blood angel mentioned in dragon legends. Lilliana being pregnant brought overwhelming joy and hope for our clan. Our sister was the last baby born and even if she found her mate, they hadn’t been able to reproduce. We can’t explain it, but Lilliana’s presence brought fertility because she, and her mate Ivano, are now expecting a baby,” I explain. “You mentioning the fallen angel only shows the angel part comes from both parents. She’s the one who brings life.”
Leandro rushes over to Lilliana. “You can bring life? Bring people back to life? Even when they’ve been dead for decades? No matter the reason why or how they were killed?”
Her voice is gentle when she says, “I’m so sorry, Leandro. There’s no way to bring back your father. Circumstances are vital and your father’s body and soul are gone. Besides, after what happened with the butterflies, I never tried to bring back anything ever again. The boy who stopped me from bringing them back to life was right when he said it wasn’t natural. Death is part of life, and it’s not up to me to play with that balance. I haven’t tried…I can’t…that ability is lost.”
“It made you lose some of your strength, yet it didn’t make you less powerful. The ability is still there when you needit. I’m sure it’s only repressed by your own restrictions,” Sisley carefully states.
Lilliana jumps up from the couch. “Whatever. This isn’t about me, or some legacy. There are more important things to focus on and right now we need to find Nario and question him. We should also question the prisoner.”
“I just received a text from Lucian. He can’t reach Creed,” Alrigo states.
Leandro steps forward. “I’ll check on him and the prisoner. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”
“Thanks, brother,” I rumble and pat his back as he walks past me.
“Are you ready to try and find Nario by mentally reaching out?” Sisley asks.
Lilliana releases a puff of air, frustration edged on her face when she grumbles, “Isn’t it a bit too late with one brother walking out of the room?”
Sisley waves her hand in a dismissive move. “Nonsense. I assume you know the way to where they are holding the prisoner so you can rule him out. Brothers and sisters are different entities and you can easily cross off their sister. Now, grab your mate’s wrist and focus on his siblings to get the location of all of them.” Her voice firms when she adds, “No more stalling.”
“Fine,” Lilliana grunts and moves closer.
Her fingers wrap around my wrist and there’s instant warmth spreading through my body from her mere touch. My breathing picks up and a tingling sensation spreads from my arm all over my body. The hard-on building in my pants is becoming too painful when she suddenly breaks the connection and is staring at me with a horrified look on her face.
“What? Tell me,” I demand.
“I know where he is, but it doesn’t make sense.” She doesn’t say anything else and jumps into a run to leave the room.
Rushing after her, I ask, “What doesn’t make sense?”
I hear footsteps behind us, letting me know the rest are following us.
Lilliana doesn’t look at me when she says, “Nario is in the mine.”
“The mine?” Surprise hits me then worry starts to seep in. “Why would he be in the mine? Is he planting more explosives?”
“I don’t think so, Ernestino…because I can feel he’s close to self-destruction.” Her words hit me hard and make my feet falter.
Where I come to a stop, Lilliana picks up speed. Alrigo knocks against my shoulder and grabs the fabric of my shirt to drag me with him.
“Act first, think later. We have to keep up with her,” he rumbles. “She’s the one who knows his exact location.”
Like Lilliana mentioned, this doesn’t make sense. Why would Nario be close to self-destruction? Jumping into a run, we catch up to Lilliana and follow her down while keeping an eye on our surroundings.
