Page 48

Three Weeks Later

Mila

Anatoly squinted his eyes as he, Rissa, and Zan walked up to her. “I can see you’re happy.”

Mila laughed as Anatoly pulled Zan in front of him and used him as a shield against her aura. She was still learning to control her Sun aura, but when she was this excited, it was impossible to keep from nearly blinding the vampires around her.

Thankfully their soul bond meant Gio’s eyes weren't affected by her bright aura. Carter couldn’t see auras, but he said he could feel it when her Sun aura warmed him all over.

It was strange to think she had been born with a special ability she’d never realized. When she said something like that to Gio, he’d responded that her Sun power was the most minor special thing about her. It was one of the sweetest things he’d ever said to her.

“I can’t believe these are all Gio’s paintings!” Rissa said, rushing forward to give Mila a hug. “When we got the invitation for the art show, I thought it would be a bunch of different painters.”

“Are you disappointed?” Mila asked, drawing back from the hug.

“No! Not at all,” Rissa assured her. “These are amazing. I’m going to buy the one of Zan behind the counter at Joy. I can’t believe he painted that from memory! Do you think he’d paint a commission?”

“I’m not sure,” Mila said. “I think that—”

Before she could finish talking, Harper, Tag, and Silas were there. They surrounded her with hugs and excited words.

“Hey, hands off!” Carter said, shouldering between Harper and Silas to get to Mila. He handed her one of the glasses of wine.

With Carter there, everyone backed off to a respectable distance. Mila had come to learn this group, especially the ones that shared their souls with animals, didn’t really understand personal space. She didn’t mind, but Carter hated it when he couldn’t be in the middle with her!

“I didn’t even know Gio painted,” Anatoly commented, starting up another round of how did we not know this about Gio from everyone else.

“He’s soooo good!” Tag enthused. “I love the one of that woman in the suit. She looks interesting.”

“I hope someone buys that one,” Mila muttered, and heard a little grunt of agreement from Carter.

She still didn’t understand why Gio spent so much time and effort creating that painting of Coraline, but she’d be happy to see it gone.

If it didn’t sell, she’d go to Simone, the gallery owner, and quietly purchase it anonymously.

Then she and Carter could shred and burn it.

Gio deserved to start this new era of his life with a clean slate.

“Don’t forget, there’s a discount to friends and family,” Mila said to the group. “When you go to buy, tell Simone you’re on the list.”

She didn’t tell them that the discount was free. Like most vampires, Gio was good at amassing wealth, so he didn’t need the money from selling his art. Not that artists didn’t deserve to get paid, but in this case, Gio was simply overwhelmed that people wanted to see his art.

The three of them had also quietly agreed that they would pay Simone the commission she would’ve gotten on all the free stuff. Simone agreed to host the art show and give Gio’s paintings away, even though she lost out on a lot of money.

“If everyone could please make their way to the back,” Simone said, ending the conversation around Mila. “We’re going to unveil Gio’s signature piece.”

“Finally!” Mila said, pretending to be grumpy to Carter. “He’s been sitting on that painting for months! I can’t believe he didn’t even show us before the show.”

Carter tangled his fingers with hers. “Just be glad it made it to the show. Remember what I said about Gio shredding paintings if they weren’t perfect.

For every canvas stacked in his studio, there are three others that were destroyed during or right after being painted.

Gio’s creative process can be a little violent. ”

“He’s getting better,” Mila reminded him. With Mila and Carter both voicing their approval and encouragement, Gio had started believing in himself more and even let them look at some paintings while they were in progress.

It was nice to know that everyone had their insecurities, even a vampire over a hundred years old.

This art show was the result of Gio’s growing confidence, and Mila couldn’t be more proud.

“There he is!” Carter said, pulling Mila to the right of the slowly gathering crowd. With his superior height, she had to trust that he knew where he was going.

They found Gio standing to the side of an easel draped in fabric. He looked so apprehensive that Mila immediately handed her wineglass to Carter so she could wrap her arms around Gio.

“Everyone loves your work!” she said. “I don’t think there’s going to be a painting left after tonight.”

Gio hugged her back. “A stranger bought one of the paintings. A stranger. A human. Not a shifter. Not a mate. A regular person who was invited to the event.”

“What does that tell you?” Mila asked.

“That they haven’t realized I’m a fraud yet,” Gio responded promptly, making her frown, and Carter sound a disapproving growl.

“For such a smart guy, you can be an idiot,” Carter grumbled.

“Everyone loves your stuff, and they aren’t saying it to be nice.

Even Tobias said he might buy the painting you did of the harbor at night.

We know he’s not simply being nice. Tobias doesn’t do nice.

He’ll show up to help, but he’ll still be a dick about it. ”

Carter’s comment made it through Gio’s worry. The vampire chuckled. “That’s true.”

“If I could have everyone's attention please,” Simone said. She was standing on the other side of the easel. There were so many people gathered in this one area of the gallery that they were forced to stand shoulder to shoulder to fit.

Mila turned in Gio’s arms to face Simone. Carter set the wine glasses down on a table against the wall behind the easel and stepped up behind Gio to wrap his arms around both of them.

“First, I’d like to thank Gio for allowing me to show his artwork,” she said, giving Gio a big smile. “I hope to have many more showings just like this one.”

Mila could feel both Gio’s excitement and fear at Simone’s words.

“Second, I’d like to say something about this last painting.

Gio and I discussed the title for the work at length.

I think you'll understand why we settled on ‘Sunshine’ once you see it, even though the painting is set indoors. This is a stunning piece, and I’m sorry to inform everyone that Gio didn’t want to include it in the artwork for sale. ”

She looked at Gio again. “Would you like to say anything about your work?”

Gio shook his head violently, making several people, including Mila and Carter, chuckle.

“Very well,” Simone said, unruffled by Gio’s sudden bout of mutism. She reached up and tugged the fabric off the easel to reveal Gio’s painting.

Mila sucked in a breath, stunned at what she saw.

It was the painting of her and Carter he’d been working on, but he’d painted himself into it. Mila was sitting on the floor between Carter’s legs and Gio was sitting on a chair behind Carter, his hands resting on Carter’s shoulders. She and Carter were staring straight ahead with welcoming smiles.

Gio was looking down at them with an expression of love and devotion. What really struck Mila was the colors he’d used.

Most of his paintings were colorful, but they were realistic to the item or people being painted.

This painting was full of bright oranges, yellows, and reds.

He’d painted it as if Mila was the light source.

All the light was emanating from her and illuminating the rest of the image.

The way he’d combined the colors gave the impression of the petals of a flower opening around them with Mila at the center.

The image was warm, inviting, and made you long to experience closeness and love.

She was so entranced by the image that she didn’t hear the hisses and muted conversations until Carter laughed.

“Mila, you just drove all the vampires except Gio out of the room,” he whispered to her.

She looked up at him, confused. “What?”

“You’re so bright they had to leave,” Gio said, tightening his arms around her.

She looked around to see Tobias, Anatoly, Kimble, and Imani stepping outside with their flocks. Through one of the large windows at the front of the gallery, she watched Cora try to shove a pair of sunglasses on Kimble’s face and almost got him in an eye.

“Sorry,” she whispered. “I don’t think I can do anything about it right now.”

“Don’t,” Gio said. “I love that they had to leave.”

Carter chuckled. “You got even brighter. I can hear Anatoly telling Zan to shield him even though they’re outside.”

“Can we leave?” Gio asked. “I want to be alone with both of you.”

Mila shook her head at the same time Carter said, “No!”

“We’ll be alone later,” Mila said. “Right now, you’re going to listen to all the wonderful things everyone is saying about you.”

“This is hard,” Gio whined, trying hard to hide his smile.

“You thought our Alighting Ceremony would be hard, but you charmed everyone,” Mila reminded him. “You can do the same here.”

“If you’re a good vampire, you can have a treat later,” Carter offered.

Gio perked up. “Treat? What kind of treat?”

“Anything you want,” Mila said.

Gio kissed her and then Carter. “Conserve your energy,” he ordered them. “I’m going to work both of you to exhaustion.”

“Can’t wait,” Mila purred.