Cat's Choice by Jana Leigh Page A

well as anticipation, coursed through Orfeo’s veins. He had spoken to the Alpha of the New Council and had been informed that one of their members had had a run-in with Diavolo. He remembered Diavolo from his you th . He had wanted Orfeo as a lover at one time, but, despite the fact the Diavolo was quite beautiful, Orfeo’s skin would crawl just from his touch. Orfeo could feel other’s feelings, but Diavolo always seemed to be de void of any feeling but anger.
Diavolo’s small clan was killed by a mob of angry humans for killing many of the villagers. He was the only one who got out alive, because they thought; he was a small , human boy who the Vampire s had captured to eat. They didn’t know that Vampire s were able to have children of their own. They dragged Diavolo away from his mother’s bosom, and he watched them cut off her head right in front of him. He cried out for her, but her body had already turned to ash.
Diavolo turned in the arms of the man holding him back, and hid his face against the man’s neck. As the man hugged Diavolo close to give him comfort, he struck, piercing the man’s neck with his fangs and ripping his flesh away. The man cried out in pain as he dropped the child and tried to stop the fountain of blood spurting from his throat. The villagers turned to him, and as they tried to help the man, Diavolo snuck away into the forest.
He lived in the forest for years, sleeping in caves during the day, and drinking from small animals, and sometimes unsuspecting humans that would venture into the woods.
When he had arrived at Orfeo’s village, he was a young man, almost to his eighteenth birthday. He had lived alone for so many years and had been hardened with hatred and anger. Orfeo’s father thought he could help Diavolo acclimate back into society, become part of the clan. So his father welcomed Diavolo and took him under his wing.
For years, his father tried to teach him the difference between right and wrong. He tried to teach him that killing humans was not right. That we should be able to live in harmony with them, not s laughter them like animals. Diavolo would argue with Attilio , pointing out that if we were to live in harmony , then why did they need to hide ? He claimed the Vampire s were superior to humans and should exterminate as many as possible. Orfeo’s father tried to be patient with Diavolo because he knew what Diavolo had gone through.
Orfeo’s mother didn’t even like the Diavolo. She saw the evil in him that his father was trying to overlook. When she would point out what Diavolo’s family had been killed for, was justified, and remind him of how many humans Diavolo had killed since. His father would just say that the boy was scared and didn’t know better, and he would show him the way it was.
Finally, one night, Diavolo convinced Orfeo to accompany him to a masqu e ball. Orfeo didn’t want to go, but his father insisted that he needed to be nice to Diavolo and treat him with kindness. To please his father, he went.
When they got there, almost right away, Diavolo disappeared, leaving Orfeo by himself. Orfeo didn’t mind because he couldn’t stand to be near Diavolo, and there seemed to be many beautiful women and men at the ball. As the ball was getting underway, and all the people were laughing and dancing, the lights in the room went off. As they slowly came back on, Orfeo saw Diavolo standing in the middle of the stage, just smiling down at Orfeo.
“My children,” he yelled out to the crowded ballroom. “I would like you to meet Orfeo Ambrosetti .”
Orfeo turned to the crowd and found that the people were all circling around him, staring and leering at him.
“Orfeo is the son of the great and powerful Attilio Amb rosetti, father of the Vampire s,” Diavolo said mockingly , laughing humorlessly .
Orfeo turned to Diavolo. “What is this Diavolo? What ‘s going on?”
Diavolo smiled at him. “Why , Orfeo. I am just introducing you to all my children,”