Page 38 of The Sins That Bleed

Revelations

RAI

I ’d been so caught up with keeping Valeska close to me that it takes me a moment to register what is happening.

I drop her hand and step in front of her and Nico, not knowing which of us she wishes to hurl the dagger at but not wanting to risk it being either of them. Sunny smiles at me and I can’t tell if it’s genuine or one that she uses before tearing someone to pieces.

My eyes flick to the dagger and I watch her take in my protective stance and then glance at the dagger that has me nervous. Her gaze swings back to mine, shock rippling over her features as she stares at me.

For a brief moment I swear Sunnys eyes turn bright blue and there’s a familiarity in her face that grows stronger with the eye change. I’ve felt it since I first time met her and Valeska, that I know her from somewhere.

“Oh, oh , my bad.” She places the dagger on the worktop and holds her hands up to show she’s unarmed.

“I was planning to hide it here in your apartment Nico, and then I felt guilty for coming in when you weren’t here so I planned to wait and confess to you.

Then I heard you coming and I panicked and thought I’d sit here and pretend everything was normal. ”

She laughs nervously, her fingers twisting in her lap, but the real tell is the way she is speaking a million miles a minute and giving us a full replay of events. She’s a terrible secret keeper.

“Mon rayon de soleil, you know you don’t need to ask to come in here.” Nico moves around me with a pat on the back and I relax.

While he goes to Sunny, I move back and my hand seeks out Valeska’s, but I don’t find it. I turn, desperate to see her and touch her, like an itch I can’t scratch. Once I can see her, I try again with my hand but she gives me a small shake of her head.

I clench my fist hard to overpower the sting of her rejection. I’m being erratic, but I don’t know how to stop it. I’ll respect her boundaries but it doesn’t stop me from wanting to put a fist through the wall to make me think of something other than my hands not being on hers.

I look at her, skimming over her hair, face and body, noticing the tension humming through her and the way she won’t look at anyone. I ping pong between her and Sunny, noticing they are both emitting the same nervous energy.

Something is up between them, and now that I think about it, I’ve not seen them together since that night in Valeska’s room. Their sister-like bond is now in ruins and I wonder what happened between them, but mostly I want to know so I can fix it. It feels wrong .

“So! Who’s up for hot chocolate and cinnamon pastries? It’s colder than a witch’s tit out there today.”

I laugh at Nico’s attempt to break the tension, because of course he’s noticed it and wants to make it right.

I still think Valeska is a flight risk right now and it torments me to see this version of her, the one that is unsure if she should even be here when it’s her building, her home.

It’s like the confidence bled out of her that day on her bathroom floor.

“Well, you already know I’d love some,” I say since the other two haven’t responded. Do they even eat or drink anything other than blood?

“Count me in. I’ll help you, Nico.” Sunny hops off the barstool and rounds the worktop to help him prep the pastries, and the sappy smile Nico flashes her is straight out of a hallmark movie.

“Why don’t you two take a seat on the couch and we’ll bring it over? Lady V, I’m counting you in because there’s no way a woman with your taste wouldn’t enjoy hot chocolate and a pastry.”

He throws her a wink but only gets a quiet thanks in response. The sadness wrapped around that one word is enough to bring me to my knees. I don’t want her to feel this way and I’ll do everything in my power to stop it.

“Come on, let’s grab a seat,” I say to her quietly, gesturing for her to move further into the room and toward the couches by the tall windows.

I follow behind her, careful not to touch her in case she spooks. When we reach the umber coloured couch, we sit facing the TV on the opposite wall. The large L-shaped couch runs from the back wall and against the windows, and is big enough to seat at least ten people.

I sit on Valeska’s left and turn so that my body is blocking her from Nico and Sunny’s view, but I don’t say anything to her since Sunny would probably be able to hear, and at this rate Nico will have a vision of it. So I place my hand between us with my palm up and wait.

The seconds tick by and I can feel my heart squeezing tighter with each one. I’m about to give up and move my hand away, since she already told me not to touch her and I don’t want to make her uncomfortable, when her cold hands slips into mine. I envelop it in my large palm.

My entire body relaxes at the simple touch, I want to pull her to me and hold her. Shed our clothes and worship her until she says my name like a prayer, so she never feels the need to touch another man, whether it is transactional or not, because she is mine .

Mon cauchemar, ma reine, and I will bow at her feet, give her anything she desires. She rules me, heart, mind, and soul. There is nothing that can come between us now. I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.

The burning need to tell her how I feel lies in wait under the surface, hanging on the tip of my tongue but now isn’t the time. If I confessed to her how I feel, share how much I enjoy being haunted and stalked by her, I don’t think I’d ever see her again.

I don’t know how I know that, but I do.

I search her face, Nico and Sunny’s conversation fading into the background as I try and get her to look at me to no avail. I twist around further, ensuring that neither of the others can see her before my free hand comes up and I gently turn her head to face me.

Her eyes are hesitant to meet mine, but when they do, I see the sorrow swirling in her bright red irises. I cup her face, gently stroking her cheek with my thumb since I can do nothing else and she leans into it, closing her eyes as if to savour it.

Like it might be the last time.

“Can you two clear the table, please? We’re nearly done over here,” Nico calls over to us.

I watch Valeska snap back into a cold shell of herself. She stands so fast, it makes me feel a bit dizzy. I help her, moving the books and candles to one side so the rest of the coffee table is clear before we take our seats again.

This time the space between us feels like a ravine.

I fucking hate it, but Nico and Sunny are making their way over, carrying trays of pastries and hot chocolate.

Nico is arguing about her carrying the tray and it reflecting badly on him as a gentleman.

He’s saying it as a joke, but I know it is bothering him since he likes to do things for others.

They place the trays down and take a seat on the side against the windows. I don’t miss the way their knees touch and neither of them do anything about it. Whatever is going on between them, I hope it works out. They look good together.

“Bon appetite,” Nico says, before taking a plate and filling it with the pastries he’s about to eat.

The whole apartment smells amazing, the cinnamon and warm chocolate smell is comforting and cosy. So at odds with the atmosphere between the four of us. I grab a plate and put a couple on it for Valeska before handing it to her.

I think she’s about to reject it but she takes it, another quiet thanks slipping past her lips. I pile a plate with mine and sit back to enjoy them, none of us speaking while we eat the warm food, but I sense eyes on me.

I glance around and find Sunny watching me, and a strange sense of déjà vu hits me, that familiarity rattling around in my mind, but I’m unable to grasp it. I’m about to ask if I know her from somewhere or if we’ve met before but Nico beats me.

“I’ve got something to tell you all. A confession, I guess, or no, a question actually for you, Lady V.”

I switch from looking at Sunny to him because he sounds so unsure and worried. I place my empty plate down and pick up my hot chocolate, taking a sip of the sweet cocoa while we wait for him to ask his question, but it doesn’t come.

“What is on your mind, petite fille?” Valeska asks Nico and sits forward a little, her voice barely above a whisper.

Nico blows out a sigh. He’s sat closer to Valeska and I can’t help but think it strange that Sunny isn’t the one closest to her. They’ve been practically inseparable since we met them. I want to get Valeska alone and ask her what the hell happened after I left that night she bit me.

“I’ve been seeing things, predictions of what will come to fruition years later, or sometimes right before they happen. I’ve always downplayed it and joked about being psychic, but I can’t ignore it anymore. I worked out the other day when they started and, well, it’s weird.”

He scrubs a hand over his face and Sunny reaches out to put a comforting hand on his arm. He gives her a small smile but it doesn’t reach his eyes.

“I believe you.” This time when Valeska speaks, it is clear and sharp, proving she does believe him without a doubt in her mind.

“You-you don’t think I’m batshit crazy? How is this normal? Are there other people like me?” Nico turns to Valeska with his rapid-fire questions and waits for her to answer.

“No, it is, and yes. I don’t think you’re crazy; vampires exist after all so why wouldn’t your ability to predict things be real either?

There are many of us that walk this earth with abilities that don’t appear to make sense to the natural order of things.

You are not alone, Nico. Trust yourself and lean into it, this gift is a part of what makes you, you.

” Her words are comforting and Nico relaxes. I could kiss her for it.

“Thank you, Lady V, but I should tell you that they first started when Rai’s sister went missing. We weren’t friends or partners at that point; we’d never even met each other, so why then?”

I watch Sunny stiffen next to him and Valeska turns to stone at the mention of my sister going missing. I wait for the usual condolences and pity that comes from people finding out, but it never comes. They’ve probably seen and heard worse things, so this isn’t that shocking to them.

I make a mental note to ask Valeska how old she is.

“Well, when you put it like that, it is odd, but not impossible. Some people call this fate, others believe it to be their god’s work.

And maybe those things exist maybe they don’t, who is to say?

But I understand it as a thread, weaving the fabric of life by connecting us to people we meet.

Rai was always meant to be your partner, a brother to you when you needed it most.”

Valeska’s words hang heavy in the air. Nico chews his lip while they settle in his mind, and it makes sense. I feel the exact same way about her, that there is a thread between us, pulling us together.

But I can’t work out why I feel one connecting me to Sunny too, and the pull is getting stronger every day. The answer dances at the edges of my mind, but disappears like smoke when I look too closely.

Valeska and I need to talk.