Summoning Shadows: A Rosso Lussuria Vampire Novel by Winter Pennington Page A

long silence stretched throughout Renata’s chambers. I caught her gaze. She had been surprised, too. I daresay, all of us were, Vasco most of all.
    He stood before Savina, completely frozen with shock, wrapped in a preternatural stillness.
    “ What? ” He seemed to return to life, his limbs moving. He took Savina by the shoulders. “What did you just say?” He shook her with an expression of shock and awe.
    “You have a son, Vasco,” she repeated.
    “Do not lie to me!” Vasco shook her again, and this time, she winced.
    “You have my word!”
    “One night,” he said. He cursed in a slew of Italian that was indecipherable to me. “We lay together one night, centuries ago. How can this be true?” He searched her face as if he’d find the answers there.
    “Sì,” she said, and then responded in more Italian than I could catch.
    Bloody hell . At least now I knew that the witches were long-lived as well and that Vasco had been with her a long time ago. Possibly before he’d even been turned.
    In my mind, Cuinn opened his long snout, his tongue curling slightly. He yawned as if the whole thing bored him.
    The two exchanged more fervent words until Vasco had a white-knuckled death grip on her shoulders.
    “Why?” he asked, his eyes were alight with the question. “Why did you never tell me this thing?”
    “We were not meant to be, Vasco. You made that abundantly clear. I sought only to spare your son the knowledge of your disgrace.”
    Vasco hissed through his fangs and abruptly shoved Savina back. She stumbled but did not seek to defend herself. She didn’t need to.
    He turned his back on her and his long hair fell over his face like a curtain.
    I went to him then. “Vasco,” I said gently.
    Pain. So much sorrow. I didn’t think Savina knew how much her unkindness wounded him, how much the keeping of such a secret hurt him. So many years had passed and he had never known that he had a son. I touched his wrist lightly as I tried to bring his attention to me. He ignored me as if I was not there.
    I moved around him, for he was taller than I, and though he was slender, my point was not likely to come across as well hiding behind Vasco.
    I glared at Savina. “You’re a fool.”
    “You would say that, vampire. You who are one of them .”
    I drew my lips back in a snarl that revealed fang. A cool hand touched my arm, and I met Vasco’s bright eyes. He turned to Savina.
    “But my titles, my estates, my inheritance,” he said, “all those were good enough to keep, good enough for your impoverished family. But not good enough for me to be in my son’s life.”
    An icy prickle of calm went through Vasco. I didn’t know if it was some trick of his powers or simply that I became more aware, but it seemed even his touch on my arm grew colder.
    “You always were a privileged snob,” she said. “It does not surprise me that you would throw such a thing in my face.”
    “If you knew an ounce about the man that stands before you, you wouldn’t say things like that.” I stepped toward her, and the only thing that stopped me was Vasco’s icy grip on my arm.
    “Of course you would not see it,” she said and then added a couple of Italian words I didn’t recognize. She waved a hand in the air at Vasco and me. “You are very much alike.”
    “If you’re going to insult me,” I said, “at least have the courage to do it in a language I understand.”
    “ Whore ,” she began, but before she could finish, Vasco’s sword rang from its sheath in a song of steel.
    The tip of his blade was suddenly beneath Savina’s chin, denting the tender skin.
    “Watch your tongue when speaking to her. Epiphany is more of a lady than you ever will be.”
    A wave of anger washed from Savina as she glared over the sword at him.
    “If you’re going to draw blade on me, you’d be wise to use it,” she said, her voice low.
    Vasco sheathed his sword in a practiced move.
    An expression of triumph settled across