Unraveling Selena by Marisa Maichel (black female authors TXT) 📕

should have just killed myself anyway. I should, but I can't leave my family and boyfriend without knowing where I went."

"You mentioned that you had two fathers," I said.

"Yes. Mordecai and Alexander."

Trying to hold down last night's dinner, I asked the next question. "And your mother, does she-"

"He. There are no females where I come from. They're mostly myth. Mordecai gave birth to me."

I looked back at Father. He looked both green and intrigued.

"The fight...it's not worth going into. The point is, I left, and now I wish I was dead."

Father looked concerned. He wrapped his ams around me and kissed my head.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another week passed with nothing happening. We continued to give Other Reese small animals and occasionally human blood. My eighteenth birthday was coming up. I told Father not to make a big deal out of it, but of course, he ignored me. I was content with spending time with my girlfriend and family, but of course, he had to throw a ball.

He booked a room at the most expensive hotel in town, and had me fitted for a tuxedo. My hair was shined and oiled, my chin shaved. Father ordered a limo delivered, and wouldn't even let me ask Alexander if I could borrow his Bugatti.

Alexander was still depressed about Mother leaving. We all missed her. We had hit a dead end when the guys lost her scent trail near a car dealership.

Sarah cried sometimes. She thought I didn't know, but I could smell her leftover tears. She missed both her mothers. She needed mine because her biological mother could not be trusted to care for her. She was taken to a fitting by myself and Zie, who was very critical about the dresses that Sarah tried on.

I handed Sarah a stack of dresses to try on. I heard her whimpering and making noises as she tried on each gown.

"I wish Marina was here," she said.

Finally, she emerged from the dressing room wearing a sparkly red dress that made my eyes shrivel up at the sheer gorgeousness. It accentuated her curves nicely, hugged her thin waist without being tight, showed off just enough cleavage, and made her butt look amazing. A growl began in my throat as I stared at her ass.

I noticed Zie frowning at me out of the corner of my eye.

"You like that one?" she asked Sarah.

"This is the one," Sarah confirmed. She slipped back into the dressing room to put her regular clothes back on. She came out with an armful of rejects and the red dress in the other arm. The girl at the counter took the rejects, and we went to pay.

As soon as I paid, I took Sarah's hand and led her into a tea shop. She ordered mango bubble tea, while Zie ordered sweet tea. I just had water.

"Any luck?" Sarah asked.

"No," I sighed, before something caught my nose's attention. Someone I knew was here. Someone I hadn't seen in a while. Sarah's eyes went wide as she looked behind me, then she jumped up and walked forward.

I turned around. Mother was here.

"Hello, my babies," she said. She sat between me and Sarah. She gave me a big hug, then handed Sarah a tissue. "Do not cry, love. I am here to celebrate Reese's upcoming birthday."

"Where have you been?" I asked.

"Here and there. I talked to the cell phone company, and they said that Selena called from a prepaid phone. We tracked it, but she buried the phone." Her eyes shined. "My daughter is still out there, and she needs me. Just like my human daughter needs me." She hugged Sarah again. "I realized that it was foolish to leave like that, so I came back right away. I'm glad I did. My other children need me. Besides, I do not know if that really was Selena. Like Alex-" She paused, and swallowed. "Like my love said, it could have been a fake. We thought we saw Selena die twenty three years ago."

As soon as we arrived home, Alexander's jaw dropped. Then he and Mother ran toward each other, just like in a movie, and embraced each other, kissing furiously.

"Forgive me, my love," Alexander said inbetween kisses.

"No, forgive me," Mother said.

"I already have." They kissed. Then Mother hugged Sarah and me some more, then asked about Cirino. She went up to see him.

He was sleeping, but he woke up when she entered the room.

"Hello, baby," she cooed. She picked him up. "Did you miss Mommy? She's sorry she left." He yawned and went back to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I saw Mason again at a coffee shop, talking to Rouge, a redheaded fairy that had shown an interest in our friend Noah.

Sighing, I gave mine and Sarah's job application to the lady behind the Customer Service desk at the used bookstore. If I was going to open my own bookstore, I needed experience, and Sarah needed money. The Cresley debt was slowly being paid off, thanks to Alexander, Mother, and Father.

Sarah had been looking around for another job, one that she was happier in. She was both extremely beautiful and extremely knowledgeable about the videogame and movie industry, which got her a lot of male attention, which in turn made me jealous. I was starting to see every male that spoke to her as a rival.

I growled at the thought, then growled again as I saw an attractive male behind the desk.

"Hello," he said as I handed him the papers. His eyes widened. "You know Sarah Cresley?"

"Yes," I said, tense. "She's my girlfriend."

Did he look disappointed? I hated to find out.

I walked into the coffee shop where Mason and Rouge were, asking for a water.

"Yeah...um..." Mason's voice became cold and stuttery. I glanced back. He'd seen me. Resisting the urge to bare my teeth at him, I sat down in a private spot and pulled out a book. I started to smell sweat. I relished in his fear. Even though I was enjoying his fear, it took all I had in me not to chase him down and rip him apart. He had said that he loved Sarah. She was mine. Not his.

"What's wrong?" Rouge said, touching Mason's hand. He pulled away. She looked angry. "Mason, we agreed. I would help you make that bitch jealous, and you help me make Noah jealous."

Huh. Too easy. She had to know I was there. What "bitch" was she talking about?

"Rouge, I...I don't think this is a good idea."

"Why? Because that vampire is watching your every move? You can take him."

"He wants to rip my guts out."

"So what? A little fire, a little titanium, and he's dead. Problem solved. She'll be all yours."

Sarah?!

"Seriously, shut up. I'm not going to kill him. I know he hates me right now, but I still consider him my friend. I'd rather lose her than him. He helped me realize what a huge mistake I was making with Scarlett. I'd probably be dead if it wasn't for him." He gave me a small nod.

"And he still wants to kill you."

"If I could take it back, I would. Sarah belongs to him, not to me. I couldn't help what I was feeling. She's so beautiful and innocent and sweet...she's not at all like I thought she was. She's not one of those clones she hangs out with."

"All those girls are whores. Sarah's probably fucking another guy behind Reese's back right now."

I sat straight up.

"Rouge, that's not true, and you know it. She adores him. She thinks he's the best thing ever."

"And how do you know this?"

"Because I...because I talked to her. I messaged her on Facebook. She said she wants to stay friends."

"Yet she also said she finds you attractive."

"No, she didn't."

"Yes, she did. Don't be stupid, Mason. She wants you to throw her to the floor and fuck her senseless."

That was my job!

I shot up like a rocket, packed up, and flitted out the door. I ran to Alexander's house, breathing hard.

"Where is Sarah?!" I said, barging in.

"Sarah?" Mother looked confused. "She's out with her study friend. Elliott, I think his name is."

Elliott. The overweight guy who was secretly in love with Sarah.

"Reese, what's wrong?" Mother asked.

"I...I need some air." I flitted back out the door, Mother following me out into the yard. I felt someone pounce on me from the side. "Alexander, let me go!"

"No! You're stressed, you're angry, you're jealous! What's wrong with you?"

"Sarah's cheating on me!"

"What?"

I explained the conversation I'd overheard. To my surprise, both of them smiled.

"She was trying to get you riled up," Mother said. "You know Sarah would never cheat on you."

"That doesn't mean that she hasn't thought about it! Can either of you read her mind?"

Both their smiles disappeared.

"I need to find Sarah."

I kept running. I don't know how far I ran, until I got a whiff of her scent. Tears in my eyes, I followed the scent to a house in a suburban neighborhood. A few sniffs told me that she was here with Elliott. I climbed a tree, looking for her. There she was, in a room with him. She was pressing some piano keys, and he was guiding her. This looked familiar. Too familiar. I had seen her doing this with Eric Martin.

She was cheating on me.

CHAPTER SIX - IT'S OVER

I sipped a glass of blood. It was my eighteenth birthday, and we were at the most expensive hotel in town. I got a lot of happy birthdays, a lot of greetings.

"Merry birthday, Prince Reese," said a vampire I'd never met.

"Thank you," I said. He nodded and left me.

I stood over by the table holding the food. I looked around. Sarah was stunning in her sparkly red dress. She was mingling like a real princess, telling everyone who asked who she was. My girlfriend.

I noticed several males eyeing her. Who wouldn't? Her curves were amazing, her hair was curly and soft, her eyes sparkled, her lips were red and full and pouty. Her nails painted dark burgundy, her feet wearing stilettos. She was a tease. I squeezed my glass so hard that it cracked. She was teasing me, even now.

"Reese, what's wrong?" Father asked. I told him what I'd overheard Mason and Rouge saying and what I'd seen. To my surprise, he smiled. "That doesn't mean she's cheating on you. Now get yourself under control. It's almost time for the gift presentation."

I took a deep breath and followed him to the center of the room, where a boy was wheeling in a large cart with a large object on it.

"Happy eighteenth birthday, son," Father said, lifting the cover. It was a piano.

"Thank you, Father," I said. "It's beautiful." And it was. The dark wood shined, the keys were perfectly placed, the pedals were turned just right.

Clapping ensued, and I was presented with more gifts. A new bookshelf from Uncle Soren, a rare book collection about vampire history from Louis, a set of art from Grandfather, and so on. When Sarah presented me her gift, she was graceful.

"It's not as nice as I'd like it to be," she said. "But here." It was a drawing of us, entwined in the grass, me wearing a shirt and trousers and her wearing a beautiful gold dress.

"Thank you," I said, trying not to tear up. "It's beautiful." I hugged her, and she hugged back. "I'll frame it and put it up where I can always see it." The vampires around us chittered.

"A drawing?"

"Is she poor?"

"Why a human, anyway?"

I ignored them. Maybe I was overreacting. She'd always wanted to learn piano, and after the incident with Eric, she obviously couldn't go back to him. I pressed a soft kiss into her hair, letting all the others know that I was happy with her.

"How sweet."

I hissed at the voice, then gasped. "You!"

Rouge smiled. "Yes. Me. I hope I'm not crashing anything. I mean, it's only a party."

I tilted my head toward her. Toby and Spencer reacted, grabbing Rouge by the arms and dragging her out.

"Tell Sarah what you saw!" she shouted.

"What did she