The Seven Sinners

“Non est mihi quis sit fortis—non est verum.”

ADRASTEIA

She couldn’t sleep. She didn’t understand why. His bed was very comfortable, and it was dark enough for her to close her eyes, but her mind was running. She thought sleeping here would be better than before.

Here, she didn’t see her parents’ lifeless bodies.

With a soft sigh, she eased out of bed and quietly snuck out. She decided to look around the enormous house.

She first went to the living room where she found one of the brothers playing video games. He turned to look at her and smiled, throwing a bag of chips at her.

She caught it, smiling. “We can’t even eat these.”

“Some of us like to remember what it was like to be human. I’m Quillian, by the way.”

“Adrasteia, but my friends call me Adra.”

“Well, pop a squat. You play Mario Kart, Adra?”

“Are you saying we’re friends,” she teased, sitting beside him on the couch.

“Ouch, ma.”

They played together for a little bit before she became mad from losing. She accidentally squeezed too hard and broke the controller.

“I’m so sorry.”

Quillian reached over to take it. “It’s fine,” he said, sighing as he threw it in the garbage. “It’s not like you’re the only vamp who broke something in this house.”

“What’s it like being in the Council, anyway? Lots of fights?”

“You’d think having territorial males in one house together would be a recipe for disaster, but it’s not. To each other, we aren’t in the Council, we’re brothers in a family.

“Sure we fight and sometimes threaten to kill each other, but you know, who doesn’t? It’s gonna be a sad day when someone meets their beloved.”

“Why?”

“Because, while we consider each other brothers, none of us would ever allow our beloved to be around all these unmated males.

“Now that would be a recipe for desire, especially during their time of the year, if you know what I mean.”

“Oh, you mean our periods?”

He winced and stood up clearly grossed out. “Ick, yeah, that thing!”

“Wow, for this badass vampyre, you sure are squeamish about periods.”

He winced again, covering his ears.

“Wow.” She laughed.

“I’m gonna crash. Are you good by yourself?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Laters, ma.”

“Good night.”

When she became bored with TV, she ventured into the unused kitchen. She thought she would miss food, but the desire to eat was just replaced by the need to drink.

There was a glass of blood sitting on the counter, and she chuckled at the absurdity. Vampyres couldn’t get nutritional value from blood once it was out of the body, but it did help somewhat with the bloodlust.

She went to grab it but spilled it by accident. She groaned in annoyance.

Looking around for a paper towel to clean it, she accidentally knocked the curtain out of place. She looked at the sunray that burst through the tiny sliver.

Before she transitioned, she could go outside easily. The sun was bright to her, but she loved it. It didn’t hurt her. Now, she wasn’t quite sure.

Some vamps were able to go outside with few problems, so maybe she could too. Besides, if she didn’t move it back, someone else would definitely get hurt.

She went forward and eased her hand into the sunlight. Bad idea. Her skin immediately blistered, and she yelled out before covering her lips. She hadn’t realized how badly it would hurt.

“Adrasteia, what the hell?”

She felt Lycidas grab her and pull her away from the window. He easily and without difficulty went into the ray of sun and shut the curtain. He went back to her and grabbed her arm.

He turned on the faucet and pulled her arm under the cold stream. She hissed for a moment, but eventually the pain dulled.

She could feel she had tears on her cheeks, and she sniffled.

“You know you can’t go into sunlight!”

“I know. I just accidentally bumped it, and I didn’t want anyone to get hurt.”

“Damn, this is worse than usual.” He shut off the sink.

She could see her skin freshly blister and become red from the burn. She whimpered softly, the pain increasing without the cold water.

“Wait here.”

She could barely blink before his form left a soft wind from him leaving her. He returned within seconds with a bottle and a wrist wrap.

She looked closely at the label and realized it was aloe. She chuckled. “Aloe works on us?”

“It’s still going to hurt like a bitch, but it will help you heal faster. For me, my burns take a few minutes to heal, but this is far worse than I have ever gotten. It will take longer for you to heal.”

“Why is it worse for me?”

He shook his head. He didn’t know.

***

She watched as he sat beside her on his bed, reading his book. She wasn’t much of a reader herself, but she could tell it was one of his hobbies.

“I thought all of us had perfect senses?”

He looked up from his book, pushing the pair of black glasses up his nose. “We do,” he said, taking them off and putting them on the side table. “I just prefer to wear them.”

“Why?”

“Reminds me of humanity. The fragility of it.”

“When did you transition? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Early 1400s, during the early Bourbons. I was attending university when another Anglo-Spanish war began. I got called away to battle and never returned human.”

He lied. He always lied about his transition. It seemed better than telling his intimate truth.

She watched as his brow furrowed. He must have hated reliving it. She felt bad for even asking now. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. Men only know war.”

“Where were you born?”

“Madrid, Spain.”

Her eyes brightened. She moved to sit on her knees beside him. He put a bookmark in his book and set it aside.

“What’s Spain like? My parents”—she closed her eyes, feeling intense pain—“they never took me anywhere. They never let me leave the house.”

“It was beautiful when I lived there. I haven’t gone home in centuries. Things change.”

“Why haven’t you gone back?”

His eyes darkened, and he looked away from her. “Doesn’t matter.”

She could very well see he didn’t want to talk about it, so she changed the topic. “Do you still remember Spanish?”

“In my day it was called Castilian. It’s different from modern-day Spanish, but I can get by.”

“I heard that you had to learn multiple languages to become a member of the Council.”

“Not exactly. All of us are at least bilingual. Demedicus is a hyperpolyglot. The languages the other brothers don’t speak, he does, for the most part, and he can learn another language very easily if necessary.”

“That sounds super hard for him. Wouldn’t it make more sense for all the Council to learn more languages instead?”

He shook his head. “He has enhanced supernatural cognition. It’s his gift.”

“Meaning?”

He looked at her with a small smile. It didn’t quite reach his eyes, but it made her feel…lighthearted.

“Meaning he’s very smart. It would take another brother months to learn a language. He can do it in a few days, even hours in some cases.”

“How do you know you have a gift?”

“It usually presents itself within a few hours after transition.”

“So I don’t have one?”

“It may take longer to notice.”

She shook her head. “It’s okay. I’m not jealous or anything.”

“You shouldn’t be. Gifts can be terrible things.”

“You think yours is a curse,” she stated.

He flinched and stood up. “I kill people without trying to. There’s nothing good about that.”

She watched as he made his way to his closet. She could hear him take off his clothes and put new ones on.

“You haven’t hurt me.”

When he came out, she could see a dagger sheathed at his side. He had on combat boots with dark jeans, a tight gray shirt, and a leather jacket.

“I don’t know why.”

“Maybe you can control it better than you think?”

He didn’t respond. He tied his shoes and then went to the bed, placing his hands on it and leaning over to her. “Don’t be mistaken, fledgling.”

She winced at the word.

“I can’t control death. Any moment I could kill you and not bat an eyelash. I can kill you without touching you, and if it weren’t for you being in transition, maybe I would have.”

He pushed himself off the bed and walked to the door. As he walked down the hall, she got up and left the room.

“I don’t believe that,” she said to him down the hall. “You could have killed me when you found me, but you didn’t.”

“Seekers are in the area. I’ll be back before you’re hungry.”

She sighed as he left. She went back into the room and decided to check out his movie collection.