She nodded.
“We’ll go for a while. Come back here later when we can. I’m rescheduling my meeting with the Kovac board to happen there. This is the beginning of change.”
She nodded.
“Hey?” his hand cupped her jaw.
“Yeah?”
“You and me. We okay?”
She nodded, “Of course we are.”
“You shaken, still?”
She nodded, “A little. I’ll be okay.”
He pulled her close.
“I’m sorry you feel this way. I’m sorry you saw.”
“I know. I’ll be okay.”
“Kyla?”
“Hm?”
“What can I do?”
“Nothing, Tristan. I just need time. That’s all.”
He made a face.
She sighed, “I don’t know how to do this eternal blood bound relationship all that well, babe, it’s new to both of us. But I’m gonna guess that there might be times in the next few hundred years when one of us just needs a little time to deal with something. It’s not anything the other can rush.”
“Don’t put distance between us.”
“I’m not. It hasn’t been 24 hours, Tristan. Seriously. Chill.”
“I love you.”
She nodded, “I know. And I love you, too.” She put her arms around his waist and squeezed tight.
“You’re mine forever, baby,” he said against her temple, “And I want it to be a good forever.”
She nodded, “It will be. We deserve our happily ever after.”-14-“Please, let’s not go back there,” Kyla pleaded. She was talking about that cottage on the grounds of The Constantin Center.
“I don’t wanna be in those four walls, either, trust me. We’ll take space in the main house for now.”
She chewed her bottom lip while the car was pulling up to the gates of The Constantin Center. She and Tristan were in a rented car and there was a van with Sergey, Sam, Sasha, and Kyle following behind them. In a few days a few of the others from the island would be arriving to stay at the compound as well, leaving only 2 vampires on the island to keep an eye on things there.
The two guys that she remembered from the night Tristan’s villa had the fire were at the gates of the compound. One motioned to the gate house and the gate opened.~~~“What’s the plan?” she asked.
“I’m flying Esther here. I’m having her turned.” Tristan said this distractedly.
“What? Your housekeeper?”
“As soon as she’s turned she’ll be able to access memories about everything she’s seen while under her functional trance and as Alexander’s pet, she’ll be helpful in piecing some events together. She’s gonna be unruly for a few days but that’s happening. She’ll be here tonight. Adrian’s version of events with Lucian Kovac aren’t sitting right. He made the guy sound like evil incarnate. Sergey says he was a friend, so it’s surprising. Adrian says he’s responsible for Sergey’s wife’s death, a rampage of murders of other enchanted pets around the same time and Adrian believes that. Events Adrian spoke of could be corroborated by Esther if she was around, which timing wise, she probably was.”
“But to make her a vampire?”
“She’s part of things already, Kyla. She’ll be better off vamp versus being a functionally entranced housekeeper until she dies. Being vamp will give her a longer life, more quality of life.”
He was impatient.
“Yeah, if being a bitchy evil vamp is quality, sure…” Kyla muttered.
“Maybe only for a little while, though,” Tristan said.
So obviously he had hope about Sasha’s formula, too.They’d had no feedings and no sex so far and she wondered if it was making him edgy. She felt edgy, too. They’d be in their room, alone, very soon and then she’d see about fixing his mood. Maybe it’d help with hers, too. She was always euphoric after feeding.
She didn’t enjoy the feeling of walking the halls, and then up that staircase to the rooms, from that big open common area, though. It felt eerie. The place was emptied out but she thought back to their time there and it was far from pleasant.
“We’ve spread word that The Center is closed for thirty days for renovations. That’ll give us some time to figure some shit out, stop the dropinskies who show up periodically. We’ve kept a few staff members here but just a few. Cleaning, kitchen, security.”
“Where are all the patients?” she asked.
“Discharged or transferred. There’s a small rehab facility in Nova Scotia. I know the doctor there. He’s not at Adrian’s caliber of experience but he’s also not a mad scientist, either. Vamps who truly needed to be here for something will be taken care of. The dorms are still filled with feeders and people involved in his breeding program. We have to decide how to handle that.”
“What’ll you do?” her eyes were wide.
“Not sure,” he lied.
She glared, “Don’t lie to me.”
He rolled his eyes and clenched his jaw. They’d walked down a hall and climbed another set of stairs to the floor that had held the banquet room where she’d pushed that female vamp, Celia. They then climbed another flight she hadn’t been on last time. Now they were on the top floor at a set of double doors. Tristan produced a key from his jeans pocket and let them in.