Carmillo

Carmillo’s shadow loomed over me. The fire beside us crackled as loud as my heartbeat. He bent his head toward me, his hand slowly lifting my chin until our eyes locked.

“Would you like to taste this wine?” he asked.

The glass in his hand swirled with dark red liquid. My mouth watered at the sight of it, formless and sloshing behind his long fingers.

“Yes,” I said.

I expected him to bring the glass to my lips, to tilt it so I could sip from its fine edge. Instead, he raised it to his own mouth. I watched him swallow a mouthful, a thick gurgle rising from his throat. Then he lowered the glass, and I realized his face was moving closer — so close I could smell the sour-sweet rot of his sweat, like something left to bake in the sun. As foul as it seemed, my mouth instinctively parted, my mind shutting down.

Carmillo’s fingers spread my jaw apart, and I saw his mouth open above mine. My head tilted so far back I could feel the strain in my neck. His mouth opened wider, and the crimson liquid poured from him into me. It wasn’t a gentle spill — it was a gory, violent burst that cascaded down my cheeks, my neck, and my chest.

But our eyes never broke contact. His gaze grew darker, his grip on my face even stronger. The wine glass wavered in his other hand, trembling as he leaned in to press his mouth over mine. I could feel his tongue, his heat, his teeth — and something sharper at the edges of my mouth that made me almost pull away.

“Carmillo!” a woman’s voice shouted.

His eyes snapped wide. The glass slipped from his hand, shattering across the rug. Mia stood there, rain-soaked and furious, brandishing a thick silver cross pulled from her chest. Her face was stone-cold.

A scream tore through the room — not from Mia, but something deeper, something that sounded like hell itself.

Carmillo was gone in a flash of shadow. I turned just in time to see Mia hurled across the room, slamming into the wall.

“Mia!” I cried out, the bitter taste still dripping down my chin, making me realize it wasn’t wine at all. But there was no time to think — I ran to her side.

“I’m alright!” she gasped, grabbing my hands. “Laurel, you’re in grave danger.”