by Emily Bex
Kate is staring at Rissa like she escaped from an asylum. What is she talking about? Vampires? Is she kidding me? Kate tries to remember if she ever saw Shade eat anything. At the restaurant, he was at the bar, and then coffee, he drank the coffee, didn't he? But that's ridiculous! She’s sure she knows a lot of people she’s never seen eat. This is absurd! What she's saying is absolutely absurd. Shade, vicious and brutal? He has been nothing but a gentleman with her.
"Rissa... I'm sorry, but I find all of this just a little hard to believe. I mean... vampires... really? That’s the best you can do?”
Rissa looks away from her, “I know it’s hard to grasp. But you will find out for yourself if you don’t tell him to get the hell away from you. He wants to have sex with you, drink your blood. It goes hand in hand with them. And the sex... you being human, he could break you in half. Our strength is beyond anything you have seen, our speed as well, we can get from one place to another by teleporting, faster than the human eye can see. Many vampires get off on inflicting pain. I know damn well by the way he looks at you, he wants you. Has he ever been at your neck, innocently snuggling? Have you heard him taking you in, inhaling your scent? Alec was relentless with me and now, he chains me, whips me, beats me, and ravages my body. Begging him to stop is futile and only fires him on. You need to believe me, Kate. And if you tell one soul... they will come after you, in droves, and rip you apart, sucking you dry... like the savage beasts they are.”
Kate backs away from her as she talks, absorbing the images she portrays. Rissa is scaring her now. He can't be this man she describes, he can't be. But why would she make this up?
"But Alec... you love him. Do you love him? Does he hold you against your will? What are you saying to me?”
Rissa stands up and stares at her. “I am telling you to not get involved with him, Kate. Let him go. I love Alec, he is my master. He will never love another but me. I am his chosen one. He rules my life. He takes my blood to survive. I would give my life for him. Are you willing to make these changes for Shade? I told you before to be careful of him, I told him to leave you alone, for your own safety. I was looking out for you, trying to protect you from his world, our world. Perhaps, it would be best if you just leave now. You can go out that back gate. It will take you to the side street. Shade will be tied up with business with Alec for a while yet. I will make your excuses. Think about what I have told you, and remember, you breathe one word, we will all know where it came from.”
Kate allows Rissa to drag her over to the gate. Why would she lie? This can't be true. Vampires aren't real, but Rissa’s words scare her. And she has to admit, she has always seen something dark in him. Did she not call him ‘dangerous’ from the first time they met?
"Okay... maybe you're right. I feel horrible just leaving, Rissa... he... maybe I should say goodbye first? Let him know I’m leaving?”
Rissa violently shakes her head. “No! He’d never let you leave. Not once he realizes you know what he is. You have to go now!”
Rissa opens the courtyard gate, and gently pushes Kate out, closing it behind her. “Go! While you still can. This is for your own protection, trust me.”
***
Kate stares back at her, her mouth open, but she has no words. She takes the pathway that runs along the side of the house back to the street and her car. She looks back at the house, her heart breaking. Is she doing the right thing? She gets in her car and starts the drive back home, feeling fear and confusion, and more than a bit of doubt as the tears fall down her cheeks.
***
Rissa leans against the closed gate and laughs. That will teach you to fucking mess with my world, bitch! You will never intrude where I rule. She turns and starts walking back toward the house and her guests. “Alec, she had no idea he was a vampire. He is playing with her. She is a toy to him. I have sent her packing. I do believe we won’t be seeing her again. I am back to our guests, don’t leave me alone too long, I will miss you.”
***
Alec takes Shade to his office where he has copies of their contract, along with the deeds for both the California and Virginia properties.
"So I assume you have had time to go over these. It's everything we discussed. Are you ready to sign? I'd like to get started as soon as possible. I know you have already spent some time at the, what did you call it, the Dead House? I'm aware you have met with my warriors already, but the sooner we get started the better.”
***
Browsing over the documents, Shade finds them in perfect order, and he is also anxious to get the hell out of this office and back to Kate. He feels as though he deserted her.
“I have gone over them in great detail and everything looks in order, Alec. I am more than ready to start getting that rag tag bunch of yours into Medici shape.”
Alec shakes his hand. “Great. I will have my lawyer send the originals to you for signature at, uh, the penthouse in Arlington? Are you living there until you can get the Virginia property renovated?”
***
Alec hears the message from Rissa in his head and knows Kate has left the party. That news is both good and bad. There is no way to predict how Shade will respond.
Shade slowly lifts his eyes to Alec. “Yes, I am staying there for a short period of time until I can arrange to have some work completed on the Virginia property. Problem?”
Alec slaps him on the back. “No problem, brother. I couldn't help but notice how attentive you were to the mortal is all. Doesn't she live in Arlington as well? Or is that just a coincidence? Just would hate to see you stir up trouble here in D.C. with any mortals. I'm sure I can line up a few immortals for you. I for damn sure understand your needs, and I know your type.”
Shade bristles at his remarks. “I can handle my own affairs, Alec. You need not be concerned. I have no intentions of causing you or this city any trouble. I appreciate the offer, but I can find my own immortals. Speaking of which, I apologize for the late call the other evening.”
Alec runs his hand through his dark curls. “Yeah, about that, you sounded on the edge. You make it okay? What set you off anyway?”
Shade shrugs it off. “I went without feeding too long. I was so busy checking out the new properties, getting grids and maps organized. You know how it is brother, busy as hell and you lose track of the time. But I suppose with Rissa and other tempting delights, you have forgotten not having something handy in a strange territory. I made out okay, and grazie, I was on the extreme edge and just wasn’t paying attention to the hungry black bastard inside me.”
Alec looks at him with question, willing to bet anything the redhead had more to do with his beast losing control than he wants to admit.
"Well, all the more reason you need a good, strong immortal female to feed your appetites... All of them. Let me know, brother, like I said, I know who's in the area, who's unattached. You won't be disappointed. Shall we go back to the party?"
He extends his arm out in the direction of the door, not looking forward to Shade's response when he discovers the redhead is gone.
Shade follows his direction and heads to the door.
“Grazie brother, I have this under control.”
Walking out the office door, they make their way back to the guests and he scans the room for her and doesn’t see her, and he suddenly realizes he has lost her scent. She is gone. Gone? He stands dead still in the middle of the room. He watches Rissa blow a kiss to Alec and gets a very bad feeling. Rissa was the last person he saw her with, and that bitch knows how to stir the pot. Shade speaks through gritted teeth.
“Where is she, brother?”
Alec feels Shade’s anger start to build. “Where is who? And I need you to calm down Shade... your temper. Reel it in. You are around all mortals here.”
Shade growls softly and turns to look at him and Alec knows he is not happy.
“Get your mate over here now, I need to speak with her or you are going to see one pissed off master, mortals or not. I want to know wh
ere Kate is.”
Alec puts his hand on Shade's shoulder, ready to push him from the room if it comes to that, and makes eye contact with Rissa, signaling she needs to join them.
"Let's step back in the office, shall we brother? I need to be very careful around the mortals."
Shade watches Rissa, locks eyes with her for a second and follows Alec back to the office. He is waiting for that bitch to walk in the door.
“Someone better explain to me where in the hell Kate is.”
Alec tries to sooth him. “Brother... calm down... I'm sure there is an explanation. Rissa, you talked to her. What's going on?”
***
Rissa can already tell Shade is hot under the collar, and he can just get as hot as he wants. There is no way Kate can handle him and besides, she is not high class enough for a master of Shade’s caliber. She enters the study and closes the door behind her. She walks over to Alec and stands very close to him. She does not trust the warrior.
In a defiant voice, she answers him, “I wanted to know why, of course, Shade was calling her ‘his woman’. That means one thing in our world. She played games with me, claiming nothing was happening. I told her he was immortal. She said she didn't feel well and I offered to let her lie down in one of the spare rooms to wait, but she insisted she go home.”
***
Shade hears nothing beyond hearing Rissa say she told Kate he was a vampire. He growls, and his fangs punch through, he steps closer to her, towering over her.
“How dare you stick your nose in my business. She belongs to me. How could you do this to her? How could you expose all of us like this?” Letting his eyes light up, he stares at Alec. “You need to teach her how to control that mouth of hers. Cazzo, Alec!”
Alec comes to Rissa’s defense, hoping to end this foolishness with the mortal.
“Shade! How can you say she is yours when the woman doesn't even know what you are? Fuck! Unless it’s a quick feed, even mortals have a right to know what they're dealing with. No wonder you were out of control the other night. This all makes sense to me now. Do yourself a favor, brother, forget the mortal, let me hook you up?”
Shade feels his breathing hasten and his temper rising, all he can think about is Kate. She is probably scared out of her mind and now he has lost the chance to show and explain to her in his own way who and what he is.
“She is mortal, but if I have my way, she won’t be for long. You take care of your own woman. Excuse me, but I have things to attend to.”
Walking to the door, he turns to Rissa, “You should be damn glad your master is standing there to protect you, because your ass would already be dead if I had you alone.”
Teleporting out of the study straight into his penthouse, he sees the lights on in her condo, but she is not moving about, and he is frantic to know if she is home and all right.
***
Alec is livid as he paces around the study. "Oh, he can't be serious. His mate? He was planning on making her his mate? Is he out of his fucking mind! The vamp lives five hundred years, has fucked everything mortal and immortal across every continent, comes to the States for a few fucking days and thinks he found 'true love’? What kind of fucking bullshit is that? Trust me, I know him, this will blow over. He has been down this road before, just never with a mortal. You did him a big favor Rissa. The sooner this girl is out of his head the better."
***
Watching Alec pace, Rissa knows he needs to get this out of his system before going back to their guests. Once he finally talks it through, she walks to him, slides her hand along his cheek and looks into those gorgeous eyes.
“Alec, relax, she won’t have anything to do with him any longer and if she does, I can make sure it does not get out of hand. Now come, let us relax with our guests, I will get you a fresh Midnight and let’s just enjoy the rest of the night together.” Standing on tiptoe, she kisses his cheek and wraps her arm over his elbow.
***
Kate pulls into the underground garage and rushes to the elevator, she has been trying to control her tears all the way back home. She just wants to get inside where she will feel safe. She gets to her unit and unlocks the door, gets inside, closing the door behind her and slides her back down the door until she is sitting on the floor. She releases all the pent up tears of hurt and confusion.
Why would Rissa even say these things? They can't be true. Did she run away from him for no reason? Did she make a mistake? She shakes her head, no! She made an oath to give up men for a reason. Nothing is worth all this drama. She covers her face with her hands and sobs.
***
Shade watches at the window, he can’t see her, and it is killing him. He knows she must be in agony, disappointed in him. Cazzo, she is probably frightened out of her damn mind. He was finally breaking through her timidity, bringing her closer, and Rissa goes and fucks up any chance he may have had. She will never come to him now, never be close to him. Think Shade. Think!
Going back to his bedroom, he strips off his suit and throws on a pair of jeans, reaches into the pocket of his suit pants and grabs his phone. She relaxes when he calls her, that’s his only damn chance with her now. Walking back to the window, he is so rattled and furious, worried for her and he knows he must win her back, but he needs her to respond to him first.
Dialing up her number, he runs his fingers through his hair as he hears the cell begin to ring.
***
Kate stands up from the floor, picks up her wrap and her clutch, and walks to the bedroom, tossing her things on the bed. She sits on the bed and buries her face in her hands when she hears the phone ring. She looks at the clutch, almost afraid to get the phone. With hesitation, she opens the clutch and looks at the ID on the cell. It is him. She can't speak to him now, or maybe ever. She sets the phone back on the bed and lets the call go to voicemail. As she does, she stands and starts to remove the dress, letting it drop to the floor. She steps out of it and reaches up releasing her hair from the bun, letting it fall past her shoulders and down her back.
***
He sees her get up. She was on the floor, Cazzo! He sees her face streaked with tears, her make-up a mess. He has caused her all this pain by not telling her sooner, by not leading her slowly into the process of his immortal life. He watches her look at her phone. Come on mi amore, pick it up. Answer, please answer!
He listens to the ring until it goes to voicemail. Fuck you, Rissa! He hears the soft sweetness of her voice in her recorded message, the casual lilt he has grown to love, and then he sees her undressing, and his heart screams for her. Her dress puddles to the floor at her ankles and then she lets that hair down and it cascades like blood down her back. He hears the beep to record his message on her phone.
“Kate. Please answer and talk to me. We need to talk. Please let me explain to you. Please give me a chance, I want to explain. Rissa is crazy. I have no idea what she may have told you about me, I just know you are upset and confused. I miss you. I just want to hear…”
He hears the beep before he can finish his plea and he throws the phone across the room.
***
She grabs a robe from the closet and pulls off the strappy silver heels, tossing them aside. She walks barefoot back to her bed and hears the beep that lets her know he left a voice-mail. She picks up the phone and against her better judgment, decides to listen to his message, to hear his voice. She plays back the message and hears how frantic he is, begging her, pleading with her, and a fresh flood of tears fall. She feels so broken now, so confused. He is pulling her in one direction, and Rissa is fighting so hard to pull her in another. She does not have the courage to call him back. She lies across the bed, her face in her pillow and cries.
***
He watches her pick up the phone, sees the tremendous pain in her face and in her body language. She lays across the bed with tears pouring down her face and he runs for his phone where he pitched it across the room, knocking down any fucking thing in his way and picks it up, d
ialing her again. Come on mi amore, pick up please! He sees her sit up and grab the phone, his heart races. That’s it, come to your Shade... answer me please?
***
She sees his name on the cell again. She knows he will continue to call until she answers. She has no idea what to say to him, she doesn't even understand this herself. Before it rolls to voicemail again, she answers, "Hello."
He lets out the breath he was holding when he hears her voice.
“Kate. Please talk to me. I’m sorry, I have no idea what Rissa talked to you about, but she said you left and you seemed upset. What is it? Talk to me.”
What do I say? She said you were a vampire? I’d sound like a complete idiot. “I... she said, she said I was in danger with you... she just kept saying I needed to get away. Please, I'm not sure I can talk about this right now. I mean, what's going on? Why is she pushing me so hard to break it off with you?”