Essence (Nectar 3)

He gave her a little smile. But there were no dimples.

“Don’t humour me. I’ll tell you right here, right now Mr. Vampire Bossy Pants, I am now actively involved in all of what goes on. You aren’t going to keep hiding stuff from me.”

He squeezed her thigh, “I just want you safe. That’s all I have ever wanted. Despite the fact that I failed repeatedly at that. You’re in my head now; couldn’t hide stuff if I tried. And I don’t want to.”

She felt a twinge at his demeanour about failing at protecting her. She let it slide, “Good. And exactly. So don’t try. We’re a team. For forever. List.”

It started to penetrate then, that she’d have to drink his blood. She felt a little green.

“What is it?” he asked, “You’re stressed.”

“Just processing. List?”

“Alright. Well, Adrian’s in that boat house, daggered. I have to deal with him. Your brother’s unconscious. We have to figure out what to do about that. I have to figure out what to do if you ovulate or start your period again. I have to figure out how to keep you fed and whole. I have to decide what to do about this coalition, about Kovac, which right now consists of several VPs and board members who are actively trying to get my attention. Where we’ll live. What to do about my mother, she’s dangerous, I need to shut that shit down. Whether I want to talk to Sergey and the danger that lurks with him. The list goes on.”

“Let’s break it down. Adrian?”

“He’s dead.”

“Dead?”

“Not yet. But I’m gonna kill him.”

“Tr---“

“He’s dead.” The cold look in his eyes chilled her belly deep inside, “He’s taken so fucking much from us. He played games, took your parents from you, took your brother from you. Took a baby from you and me. Fucked with me repeatedly. He’s got to pay. He’s gonna.”

Kyla took a deep breath, feeling pain in her heart, in her womb, seeing a blue-eyed dimpled baby boy in her mind.

“Sasha wants me to meet Sergey Voitenko but I don’t know yet about that. I feel like we need to go home and take a time out, give me time to look into and figure shit out without undue pressure. I don’t know much about him, know he’s an elder. Met him once or twice briefly when I worked with Andre. I got the impression he was very strong, that he was reading me like an open book. I do not want him fucking with me. I feel powerful. Stronger than ever. I can program Sasha, Sam, Adrian even. But I don’t know what sort of powers Sergey has. I’m not putting you at risk so we’re leaving tomorrow. Heading home. I’m doing more research to learn more about this militia, more about Sergey, before I make any decisions. I’m going to feel things out with some council members. I got an email that they want a meeting soon to discuss Claudio’s position. We get home, take it easy and spend some time together, catch our breath, and then I attend that meeting and we go from there. I am sending an IT specialist to The Constantin Center to work on decoding some tech stuff. I’ve brought a lot of shit here to Sasha but again, can’t trust her completely, I’m too jaded, so I’ve got duplicates of a lot of things back in Adrian’s office that’ll be looked over by someone else, too. I’m thinking about sending Sasha there, too, but that’s still to be decided. So far does it all sound good to you?”

“Sounds good,” she replied quietly and he gave her a squeeze.

“We’ll go to the condo. We can make use of the panic room if need be. I told the contractors repairing the house to add one there in the master bedroom but I think I like the idea of the condo for now. If I have to step out to meetings or whatever the office is 2 minutes from there rather than half an hour from the house.”

“Good plan,” she said softly, “Why might we need the panic room?”

“I don’t know if you’ll bleed, if you’ll ovulate. How that’ll impact us. I’ve asked Sasha to ask Sergey, about that and about how to make sure we keep you you. We’ll have some answers, hopefully, before we leave.”

“Okay,” she said quietly.

“What’s on your mind?” he asked.

“I feel your power,” Kyla told him.

He shook his head, not understanding.

“There’s this feeling that I’m getting from you and it’s a little scary.”

He cupped her at the jaw, “Once bitten, twice shy. I’m ready for anything when it comes to protecting you. I won’t let anything happen to you again. I don’t blame you if you have trouble believing that. I’ve let you down so many times already. I won’t let you down again.” He stared deep into her eyes.