“Then, you wouldn’t have been here in a few months, and I’d be without my best friend.”

  “I’m still your–”

  “Not right now. But as you pointed out, we’re going to live for a long time. I imagine, one day, I’ll forgive you. I’m just not there yet, Zara. I can’t even look at Iro right now.”

  “What? Why not?”

  “I can’t stop thinking about how she did this to me.”

  “But she didn’t. Cassia did. I did.”

  “Had we never met…”

  “But you love her, Arwen.”

  Arwen sighed.

  “She loves you,” Zara added.

  “I know. She told me. But what am I supposed to do? Pack up and leave?”

  “Why would you do that?”

  “She said you have to leave every so often because you don’t age.”

  “Yeah, but not tomorrow. You’re right in the middle of your thirties. You could pass for late twenties or forties if you had to.”

  “I don’t know if that’s a compliment or a dig.”

  Zara laughed a little and said, “It’s a good thing, I think. You and Iro can probably stay here for at least another decade and be okay.”

  “Ten years? Zara, I never planned on leaving DC.”

  “I know. Me neither. Here we are, though, and like it or not, Arwen, you don’t want to lose Iro. You’re upset because of the situation, but you have to know she never wanted this for you. If she had, she would’ve turned you herself, but she hadn’t. She went to get you so that Cassia couldn’t. She was just too late. And that is more my fault than hers.”

  “I don’t know what to do,” Arwen said.

  “You go back to her. Maybe not tonight, and maybe not tomorrow, but when you’re ready. You go back to her, and you talk. You tell her how you feel, and you two figure this out. Arwen, I don’t fully understand it myself. I know I love you, but I saw you two that night, and there was something else there; another level of love that I don’t suspect everyone gets in their life. And you can have that forever.”

  “She and Cassia couldn’t survive three hundred years.”

  “Cassia is evil, a narcissist. She might be the most selfish person to ever walk the face of the earth, I suspect. Iro isn’t like that in any way. She pulled away from Cassia because of that. I hate to say this because I know it means I’ll never… Iro is good, Arwen. She’s good for you, and she might be the one you’ve been waiting for, the one you can spend a true eternity with. Cassia doesn’t deserve anything good. Wait… What happened to her, by the way? Iro didn’t tell me.”

  “Oh, there’s a story.”

  CHAPTER 33

  Cassia

  Cassia woke up in her bed, still in her favorite robe, with Sarah next to her, sleeping. Sarah was fully clothed, though, which was rather odd because most of the time, the women she bedded didn’t dress themselves after they went to sleep. Cassia also didn’t recall sleeping with Sarah or inviting her to share her room for the night. Only Gigi and Miranda shared her room at times, and she wouldn’t have put her robe back on after sex. She couldn’t remember how she’d gotten here, either.

  “Hey,” Alexia said as she walked into her room. “You okay?”

  “I am,” she replied and stood up. “But I am positively famished.”

  “Want me to get you someone?”

  “Yes. Now, please.”

  Sarah moved in bed then and rolled to face Cassia, who was now standing over her.

  “What are you doing in here?” she asked her.

  “I must have fallen asleep,” Sarah replied.

  “Obviously. Why? And why are you wearing clothes?”

  “You don’t remember?”

  “Here you go,” Alexia said.

  Cassia turned to see a woman walking in before Alexia.

  “How are you, darling?”

  “Good. You’re hungry?”

  “Starving. May I?” She pressed her fingertips to the base of the woman’s neck and pushed down until the neck tilted. “You smell delicious,” she said, licking her lips.

  “Thank you. Take as much as you need.”

  “I will. I always do, don’t I?”

  “Yes,” the woman whispered in response.

  “Alexia and Sarah, please allow me to watch.”

  “Watch what?” Alexia asked.

  “You two fuck, of course.”

  “You want us to fuck right now?” Sarah asked, sounding very strange and looking at her in utter confusion.

  Cassia had to roll her eyes because these two were still new and had a lot to learn, clearly. It was likely that Gigi and Miranda were in another room, though, and they were usually loud, so she listened for them as she bit down on the woman’s neck and pressed into her warm body. Not hearing what she was looking for, she figured she’d worry about where they’d run off to later.

  “Yes, you are simply delicious,” she noted and bit back down, sucking softly.

  She listened to the activities behind her and had to pause feeding so she could turn a little and watch Alexia and Sarah kiss each other while still fully clothed, apparently.

  “What are you two doing?” she asked, getting annoyed.

  “What you told us to do,” Sarah replied.

  “I told you to fuck.”

  “Cassia, we–”

  But Cassia didn’t listen. She turned the woman around so that she could face the bed, got behind her, and as she bit down into the woman’s neck again, her eyes told Alexia and Sarah what she wanted to see.

  Alexia didn’t move, though. Sarah didn’t, either.

  ‘Well, that’s new,’ Cassia thought and stopped drinking, but she held on to the woman and licked her earlobe.

  “Are you all right, my dear?” she asked.

  “Yes,” the woman replied.

  “Alexia?”

  “Yeah?” Alexia said, having removed her lips from Sarah’s and their terrible excuse for a kiss that would lead absolutely nowhere, depriving her of not only what she wanted but what she had ordered them to do.

  Cassia wanted to make this woman in her arms come and have her make her come in return, just as Alexia did the same to Sarah, but the two of them appeared to be no further along in their farce than they’d been a moment ago, when she had repeated her command.

  “Tell me something. How did I end up in my bed?”

  “I carried you,” Alexia told her.

  “Why?”

  “You were on the floor downstairs.”

  “Why was I on the floor downstairs?” she asked, letting go of the woman and allowing her to stand in front of her on wobbly legs.

  “Zara, I’m guessing. You told us she betrayed you.”

  “Zara?” she asked. “Who is Zara?”

  “What do you mean, who’s Zara? Zara,” Sarah restated as if simply repeating someone’s name would explain things to Cassia.

  “Who is Zara?” she asked again, aiming a glare at them for their insolence.

  “You turned her before you turned us,” Alexia replied, shifting until she was kneeling on the bed in front of Sarah, but they were both still clothed, which was unfortunate. “She’s been important to you.”

  “Turned?” Cassia asked.

  “Yes. Then, you found us one night. Gigi and Miranda turned us, technically, but you were there.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I know how you were turned, obviously, but I don’t know this Zara.”

  “Cassia, she’s been your number one. Zara was spying for you. Gigi was pissed because she wanted that job.”

  “Spying? Why?”

  Having spies wasn’t exactly unheard of in her world, but as far as Cassia knew, she’d never had anyone spy on something or someone for her. There would be no point. Her life was a simple yet magnificent one. She had beautiful women in her equally beautiful homes all over the world and more money than she could ever spend in her many lifetimes. She wanted for nothing more than a willing human to feed on and a gorgeous vampire in her bed.

  “On Iro and Arwen,” Alexia told her.

  Feeling like she was missing something, Cassia wasn’t about to embarrass herself in front of her two newest friends, so she cleared her throat and turned the woman standing in front of her to face her instead. She would need more of her in a bit, but she nodded curtly for her to leave because right now, she wanted to talk to Alexia and Sarah alone.

  “You’re not going to turn me?” the woman asked.

  “Why would I turn you, dear?”

  “Because you’ve been turning everyone else. I thought it was my turn.”

  “I don’t turn humans; not anymore. I haven’t in a long while.”

  “Since when?” Alexia asked and then told the human, “Leave us.”

  The woman finally left the room, but Cassia hadn’t remembered anyone other than her ordering a human out of a room she was in. The nod should’ve been enough. It hadn’t been, for whatever reason, and Alexia, who was brand-new, thought she could just dismiss someone in Cassia’s presence. That would not do.

  “What is going on, Alexia? You tell me you brought me here to my bed. Then, you didn’t want to fuck Sarah, and last I saw you two, you were going at it all the time without issue. You’re talking about someone I’ve never heard of, and you just sent a human away as if she were yours to dismiss.”

  “Cassia, you don’t even seem to care,” Alexia said.

  “Care about what?”

  “Gigi and Miranda are dead, and we found you on the floor downstairs last night. The front door was still open. Do you not care at all that Iro killed them?”

  “Why do you keep saying, ‘iro?’ What is an ‘iro?’”

  “You’re not okay, are you?” Sarah asked.

  “I’m perfectly fine. Well, I would have loved an orgasm from that human and to eat again, but I’m fine.”

  “Cassia, Iro is your wife. At least, that’s what you told us,” Sarah said.

  “Yeah. And Gigi and Miranda were, like, your favorites or something,” Alexia said. “You turned them three years ago, and they’ve basically followed you around ever since. I think Gigi legitimately loved you, maybe, but you were with Iro.”

  “Miranda said you two have been together for centuries, but that you spend time apart, too, and this was one of those times,” Sarah added.

  “You wanted her back, though, so you kidnapped the woman Iro is with now and turned her. I don’t know why.” Alexia shrugged. “We weren’t really involved much until you came back here without Zara or Gigi.”

  “I don’t turn people,” Cassia argued. “I eat them, yes – I feed on them, and I fuck them – but I don’t kill them. Not anymore. I suppose I got tired of leaving a trail of bodies and looking over my shoulder all the time,” she said and thought about that last bit.

  She used to kill and turn humans, but about three hundred years ago or so, she’d stopped. She just couldn’t remember why.

  “You killed someone just the other day,” Alexia replied. “We watched you. You didn’t even turn him. Amy wanted him because she said he was hot, and you let them fuck in a bathroom at a bar, but then you killed him in front of her and told her that she needs to get with the program. Your program.”

  “Something about no boys allowed,” Sarah added.

  “Well, I do hate men. I have my reasons that you two don’t need to worry about right now. Where are Miranda and Gigi, Alexia?”

  “I told you, Iro killed them. You sent Gigi after Zara, and Iro killed her. You thought Iro would come back for you last night, and we found Miranda dead on the floor.”

  “We thought you were dead for a minute, too, but you were just sleeping. We assumed Iro knocked you out but didn’t kill you for some reason.”

  None of this made any sense to Cassia, and she didn’t have time for it anyway.

  “I’m not sure if this is some sort of ridiculous new-vampire joke you’re trying to play on me, but I want that human back in here, and I want you two to leave if you’re not willing to have a little fun. Now, do me a favor, find Gigi and tell her to book the plane for us. I don’t even know why we’re here. And where is here, exactly?”

  “DC,” Alexia replied.

  “DC? I have no reason to be here.” She shook her head. “No matter. New York will be our next destination. I want to spend a little time there before I return home to Florence. You two are welcome to join us or stay here. No, wait… I should go directly–”

  “What about your plan?” Alexia asked.

  “What plan?”

  “You were going to have us call all those people on your list. You sent it to us and told us we would talk more today.”

  “What list?”

  “The list of people you wanted to finally tell to expose vampires,” Alexia replied.

  “Why would I want to expose vampires?”

  “Because you want us to run the world. You said you want humans for food, servants, and fun because they were beneath us.”

  “Well, they are beneath us. That’s never been in question.”

  “Cassia, do you really not believe us about any of this?” Sarah asked.

  “I have not now, nor have I ever been married. I do not know anyone named Iro. What kind of name is that anyway? And I don’t know this Zara, so I didn’t send Gigi to do anything with her. Now, tell me, or I will get very angry. Where is Gigi?”

  “She’s dead. She has to be, or she would have been here last night,” Alexia replied. “She never came back home. She never would’ve left you. And we’ve called and called, but her phone goes straight to voicemail. Miranda’s body is buried in the backyard. You can go dig her up if you don’t believe us. I’m guessing Gigi is buried in Iro’s or somewhere else, but they’re both dead, and Iro killed them.”

  Cassia shrugged and said, “No matter. I cared for them both, but if they’re gone, they’re gone. Would you two like to come with me to Florence? You can have their old room.” She walked to Sarah, pressed herself against her body, and added, “We can have fun, drink fabulous wine, and get lost in one another for days; weeks, if you want. We’ll invite others to join us whenever we like, have willing humans to feed us when we’re hungry, and fuck them when we want something else. I have a whole connection of people who worship me there, but I’ll happily share.” She leaned forward and bit into Sarah’s neck. “What do you say?”

  She lifted her head and stared down at the blood draining before she licked it and reached between Sarah’s legs.

  “I… don’t know,” Sarah replied.

  “You want me to stop?” Cassia asked, licking again.

  “No,” Sarah said. “And yes.”

  Cassia stopped immediately and pulled back, watching Sarah’s neck heal.

  “I don’t like that you want to move on from Gigi and Miranda. It’s not right, Cassia. We should at least have a funeral or something for them. They turned us. They were important to Alexia and me.”

  “You’re still so new,” Cassia said. “When you’re as old as I am, you watch many people die. It becomes a lot easier after you hit the first century or so.”

  “What about Iro?”

  Cassia spun on Alexia and gripped her by the neck.

  “I don’t know anyone by that name, and if you ask me about it again, I’ll rescind my invitation to take you to Florence, Alexia. So, think very hard about what you say next.”

  “Irabella,” Alexia sputtered. “Gigi said that was her real name. Irabella. You loved her.”

  Hearing that name, Cassia felt her entire world shift on its axis. She let go of Alexia, stepped back a few times, and nearly fell over.

  “Cassia?” Sarah checked.

  Cassia pressed her body to the wall behind her, and as her eyes closed, she saw hundreds of years of history between them all at once.

  “Iro,” she whispered.

  “Cassia? Do you still want me to order your plane? I can do it for you since Gigi obviously can’t,” Alexia said.

  Cassia’s gray eyes opened, and she replied, “No. Now, I want to find out why my wife of three hundred years didn’t tell me that she had a pretty big secret.”

  CHAPTER 34

  Iro

  Iro woke up and left the room in her closet. She planned to eat something and check on Zara to see if she was still with Arwen and to make sure that they were both okay. Then, she would run over to Cassia’s house to ensure that she had left with whatever vampires she had with her. She’d buried Gigi in her backyard rather quickly, so she’d need to see to it that the woman was well hidden and wouldn’t be discovered by anyone anytime soon. It was a busy day that she had planned for herself, and that was good. She would need a lot more of them if she was going to be away from Arwen, who seemed to need time away from her.

  “Zara, is she with you?” she asked when Zara answered the phone.

  “No, she’s not. She dropped me off at my car with a gas can and told me she wanted some time alone.”

  “Where did she go? Home? It might not be safe. I need to make sure that Cassia left town first.”

  “I don’t know. She didn’t say. But I told her to text me every hour so that I know she’s okay.”

  Iro sighed and said, “Zara, if she doesn’t want to see or talk to me, that’s fine, but someone needs to keep an eye on her. She’s a new vampire.”

  “So am I.”

  “I know, but you’re her best friend.”

  “We have a long way to go until we get back to that,” Zara replied.

  Then, there was a knock at Iro’s door.

  “Zara, did you see anyone following you at all?”

  “No. We were both really careful. We stayed in a hotel last night, too.”

  Iro grabbed her reloaded pistol, stuck a knife in the back pocket of her jeans, and headed to the door.

  “I have to go. I will call you later. Text her now, Zara. Make sure she’s okay.”

  “Okay. I will,” Zara said. “I’ll let you know.”

  Iro took a breath just before she got to the door. When she recognized the scent immediately, she set the gun down and the knife next to it and opened the door.