Elvie seemed to just now notice that we were covered in blood, and my clothes were extremely damp and basically dragging on me. “Oh, of course. You must have had problems on the boat?” We stepped inside the elevator, and it closed. She pushed the button for the third floor, and we started to move.
“Something like that. I’ll explain in a bit. Are my bags already in my room?”
“They are. I got a room down the hall, so I’ll grab some things and be back to yours in an hour.”
The doors opened, and she hurried out ahead of us. I went for Scout’s hand again, but she stepped a hair away, just enough to make it awkward for me to try to grab it.
Okay then.
The room was not as nice as the one I had just been in, but we didn’t have many options. It had one bed, a TV, a table, and dark curtains. Which was all we needed.
I found my bags on the bed. I tossed hers beside mine and started to open them. I pulled out some clean clothes and then began peeling off my wet ones. I paused when I was down to my boxers. Scout was standing by the door, watching me.
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Should I have changed in the bathroom?” The lump in my throat turned into a pit in my stomach. The way she looked at me… as if she were scared.
She pressed her lips together for a moment and then shook her head. “No, you’re fine.” She kicked off the door and cametowardthe bed. “Sorry, it’s been a long night.”
I tried to kiss her lips, but she moved just in time for my mouth to touch her forehead.
“We’ll get some sleep soon. You want to join me in the shower? Getting clean will make you feel better.” I was trying to be caring, but she shook her head quickly.
“No, I’m good. You go first. I need to sit down. By the time you get out, I’ll be ready to shower.”
I gave her a tight smile and left her in the room then. I removed my underwear in the bathroom and showered alone. It was becoming abundantly clear that things weren’t okay between us. I thought they were good after we kissed on the boat. She seemed like the Scout I knew and loved, but she wasn’t. I had done this to her.
The solo shower went fast. I made sure to dry and change in the bathroom. I couldn’t stand seeing that look on her face again if I came out with less than pajama pants and a t-shirt. I normally slept in just my boxers, but for her, I’d do whatever she needed me to.
She traded places with me, and she, too, changed in the bathroom. Her new clothes were long pants and a sweater. In all the time I had known her, in our human life and after, she rarely wore pants.
Elvie came to our door at exactly one hour. We let her in, and if she could feel the tension in the room, she ignored it. She went to the table with her tablet and turned to us. “Okay, so what do you know?” she asked Scout.
Scout sat a few feet from me on the bed. “Uh, I know that Ginata is telling people I’m special. The guys on the boat were going to sacrifice me to some fertility demon. I’m not special,” she adamantly denied. Elvie and I shared a look, knowing that Scout was very wrong.
“I respectfully disagree,” Elvie started with a smile. “You were an orphan, correct?”
“Yes,” Scout sighed.
“We found your family. Or, they found us. Desiderio, really. A brother.”
Scout stood up quickly. “I have a brother? Who? How do you know that’s true?”
“We don’t. But based on what he’s told your boyfriend, we think it could be true. And, if it is, then your weird powers make sense.”
“What weird— oh,” Scout’s mouth opened and closed. “The ghost thing?”
Ludovica nodded. “I think it has something to do with you two being bonded when you drank each other’s blood. Nothing happened when you drank from him thirty years ago. But when he drank yours a few months ago, it sealed whatever this is. The soulmate thing. I’m not entirely sure how it works, but you’ve got powers that other vampires, Bloodborn or Bloodshed, don’t have.”
Scout took a moment to process what Elvie was saying to her. She began to pace. “Okay, so what does that have to do with my brother?” She said the word as if it was foreign to her, which I guess… it was.
“The man who claims to be your blood is the nephew of a high priestess in Mexico. Her people believe that she is the reincarnation of an ancient Aztec Goddess. They didn’t give exact details, but it seems that they may have powers too.”
“Magdalena?” Scout burst out. Ludovica and I exchanged looks.
“Yes,” Elvie said cautiously. “You know about her?”
Scout nodded enthusiastically.
“They know about me? My powers?” Scout asked quickly. Her blood-red eyes went wide. I wasn’t sure if there was fear or the longing for a family that caused them to form a thin line of blood under them.
