Dangerous Love

by Stephanie Radcliff

  “You know you love me,” Sage whispered against her lips, a smile on her face as well as she wrapped her arms around the vampire’s neck. She enjoyed being with her vampire and having moments like this that were just small, simple little things. It made her feel very content and happy.

  Their kiss last for several moments, the two not trying to stir up passion, but to simply to feel each other. To enjoy the feeling of their lips pressed together and sharing a moment. When Vayna pulled back, she brushed her nose against her human’s and said, “If I didn’t, I wouldn’t put up with you.”

  “No, you’d eat me,” Sage replied as she shook her head. She stuck her tongue out at the vampire and laughed softly.

  Vayna laughed as well, but inside she wasn’t quite as amused by that statement. The frightening aspect of it was that it was true. If she didn’t love Sage like she did, she probably would’ve drained her the first night they met. The young woman would’ve become her last meal and then the council wouldn’t have anything to worry about. Well… that wasn’t quite true. Knowing her luck, they would’ve paid a necromancer to bring her back to life just so they could continue having her as their Pharaoh. That would’ve royally pissed her off and she probably would’ve killed all of them.

  She was still considering that option.

  There was a knock on the door and Sage stood up, moving over to the window to gaze out at the overcast sky as a group of human workers came in carrying pitchers of fresh, chilled blood for the vampires and a single pitcher of orange juice for Sage. They set them down on a far table that was designed for holding drinks and food before bowing to Vayna and leaving. The ancient vampire nodded her head once to them before sinking back in her chair and closing her eyes. A deep, stressed sigh left her as her thoughts turned toward the upcoming meeting.

  She mentally prepared herself for anything and everything, knowing that the council would attack her first thing once they were all seated. Most especially because she had it held here where there were humans, and because there was going to be a human in the room with all of them. If it were just her, they wouldn’t attack her. Instead, they’d be whimpering, cowering fools. She was starting to get annoyed already and they weren’t even there yet!

  Sage watched her vampire lover as she poured herself a cup of orange juice. She took a sip of it and sighed as well. She had no clue what the council was like, but if Vayna and Jeran’s reactions were anything to go by, they weren’t nice people. They were probably the cruelest people ever, her imagination conjured up.

  Sage moved to stand behind Vayna, a soft hand resting on her shoulder when JessAnn opened the door and announced that they arrived. She held the door as 10 vampire men and women walked in the door, their heads held high as a few of them sneered at JessAnn. She took it all in stride, smiling politely despite the dirty looks she was receiving. Once all the vampires filed into the room, she left, closing the door behind her as she did so.

  Sage took a moment to study each vampire as they took a seat. The vampire closest to Vayna’s right was a tall man with neck length blonde hair. He wore a pair of jeans and a t-shirt covered by a leather jacket. He gave her a dark glare when she met his light amber colored eyes. She kept her face blank at his glare, not wanting to let any of them know what she was thinking.

  Her eyes moved passed him to the next vampire, a woman with long brown hair tied back high on her head. She gave Sage a blank look when she met her brown eyes, uncaring what the human thought of her. The next vampire growled softly at her inquiring gaze, glaring at her through crimson eyes as he brushed his shaggy red hair out of his eyes.

  Vayna bared her teeth at him, silently reminding him of who was in control at that moment. The vampire sat down, his eyes trained on the table in front of him, glaring harshly at it as Sage looked at the next vampire. She blinked in surprise when the young woman smiled at her. Her very long hair was piled high atop her head. What wasn’t on her head was flowing freely down the front of her, framing her face. Her green eyes were kind as she gave a tiny wave to Sage. She wore a unique Japanese kimono around her that complimented her eyes beautifully. The young human gave a hesitant wave back as she smiled slightly, unsure how to react to a friendly council member.

  The next vampire reached over and cuffed the young vampire upside the head, giving her a dark look as she rubbed the back of her head. She looked down at the table as well; a sad look in her eyes as she folded her hands in her lap and waited patiently. The man who cuffed her turned his annoyed grey eyes to Vayna, ignoring Sage completely as he tossed his long silver hair over his shoulder.

  The next vampire ignored everyone and headed straight for the pitchers of blood. He pour a cup of blood and downed it at once. His short hair was neat and combed back in a prestigious manner. Sage couldn’t see his eyes as he gave a stressed sigh and muttered under his breath, “Damn humans.”

  Vayna overheard the remark and forced a grin back as she merely watched him through hawk like eyes. She knew that they weren’t very happy with her, but she didn’t really care. It only served to amuse her even more. A lady in a flowing white dress took a seat next to Vayna’s left and primly set her hands in her lap. Her blonde hair was long and flowing behind her, a section of it braided into a crown around her head. She turned grey eyes onto Vayna as she said with a nod of her head, “Miss Vayna.”

  Vayna nodded back, still not speaking as she looked at the last three. A woman in what could only be described as a Gothic Lolita outfit stood a few feet just inside the doorway, a parasol resting neatly in her hands as she looked around the room. Her brown hair was curled and neatly arranged on her head, a small top hat resting softly in the mass of curls. Her hazel eyes lingered on Sage as the two looked at each other.

  Another vampire moved around her and took a seat on the other side of the lady in white. He wore what looked like a very long cloak that cascaded down his body and onto the floor. His brown hair was tied back behind his head and he looked around the room through brownish-black eyes. His beard was very long and trailed down almost to the middle of his chest. He watched Sage for a moment before studying the ancient vampire next to her.

  The last vampire all but bounded over to Vayna, clapping his hand on the vampire’s other shoulder as he gave her a wide grin and said, “Vayna! Long time no see. How are you?”

  Sage was reminded of a puppy as she watched the two interact. He had shaggy brown hair with light brown eyes and a demeanor like that of an excited child. She couldn’t help but smile a little bit when she watched them interact. He finished the conversation with her vampire and turned his gaze toward her. She was surprised when he grinned at her and held out his hand and said, “Hi, you must be Sage?”

  “Y-Yes,” she stammered as she grasped his hand in hers and shook it. The coldness of his skin was a bit of a shock to her, since she was used to Vayna’s body temperature. It was surprising to realize that Vayna’s body temperature was significantly higher than the vampire before her. She found the fact that he was being nice to her a bit more shocking than how cold he was, though. She thought all of the council members hated humans. A great deal of them seemed to.

  “Kaunan,” the older vampire who previously cuffed the young female vampire upside the head said warningly and the vampire let go of her hand slowly. He turned and frowned at the older gentleman as he moved away from them and took a seat. Once everyone was completely seated and drinks were passed around, the same man said, “Vayna, thank you for meeting with us.”

  “Like I had a choice,” she replied idly as she took a sip of her own cup of blood. Her arm drew her human lover around and into her lap. Sage sat there awkwardly for a moment as she got many glares from the vampires around them before Vayna pressed against her stomach more, urging her to relax against her.

  Several of the vampires looked at them in disgust, not bothering to hide the looks on their faces. Only the friendly girl, the dog vampire, and the Lolita looked at them with mild curiosity and disguised amusement. Sag
e kept her eyes on the friendly vampire that waved to her before, intrigued by such a unique person.

  “Of course you did,” he said patronizingly. He waved his hand in a dismissing manner, ignoring the look of annoyance that crossed Vayna’s face as he continued to speak, “You didn’t have to meet us. You could’ve sent a message saying so.”

  “And you would’ve let it go at that?” she asked as she looked at him challengingly. She really wanted this to be done and over with, regardless of what happened. She just wanted to go home finally and enjoy the time she had with her human lover.

  “Yes, of course,” he replied with a shocked look on his face. If Sage didn’t know any better, she could’ve sworn that the shock was fake and that he was just saying it to please her. Both women knew that he never would’ve let it go at that. No matter what he claimed otherwise. He gave Vayna a mildly reproachful look as he said, “You are the Pharaoh. We will listen to you no matter what.”

  “I am not Pharaoh,” she all but growled out as she glared at him heatedly. She really hated being called Pharaoh. That was a title she gave up years ago! There was no need for them to keep calling her that, worshipping her like she was some kind of Goddess.

  “Now mother…” the vampire that gave Sage a blank look started to say.

  “Do not “mother” me,” Vayna said as she turned her harsh gaze on the young woman. The vampire flinched and looked away, a troubled look on her face. Vayna leaned forward a little bit, a rather difficult thing to do because of Sage being her lap, but she managed it as she said, “I may be the first of our kind, but I am not your mother nor am I your Pharaoh.”

  “We want you to be, though!” Kaunan protested as he looked between her and the other vampires. He turned in his seat toward her as he continued to speak, “You created our sires. You are our mother and we want you as our Pharaoh, Vayna. Please, won’t you consider it?”

  “No, Kaunan,” she replied with a shake of her head as she sat back. She gave him a small, sad smile as she sighed softly, “I don’t want to be Pharaoh anymore. I haven’t for quite a long time. It’s no longer a job I want. And I’m not the one to give birth to you. Your mother is still alive, actually. I saw her a few days ago.”

  “How is she,” he asked, a soft tone of nostalgia in his voice. He looked down, not wanting to let anyone see the sad look in his eyes.

  “She looked good,” Vayna replied as she smiled encouragingly at him. She knew how tough it was to watch your loved ones dying. His mother actually looked like she was on her death bed, or would be there soon. She wanted to give the young vampire peace of mind as she murmured, “She’s older, but she looks rather healthy for her age.”

  “Good,” he said with a nod. He knew that she was lying, but he really didn’t mind. It was comforting to hear the lie anyways, regardless of what it meant about his human mother. He was just glad that Vayna cared enough to lie to him.

  The older grey haired vampire interrupted them again as he coughed pointedly. Both vampires and Sage looked at him as he said, “We will come back to the talk about you being our Pharaoh. Right now we need to talk about what you’re doing, My Pharaoh.”

  She growled when he called her that. She really hated being called Pharaoh. She wasn’t one anymore and she didn’t want to be called one at all! She was just a normal, everyday vampire who had a few more powers than everyone else did. That was all there was to it. There was no need to call her Pharaoh. Gritting her teeth, she looked at him steadily as she said, “What I am doing is no business of the council’s.”

  “Don’t be silly,” he replied as he looked at the two of them. Being one of the oldest vampires in the room, he was easily able to keep the disgust off of his face. That didn’t stop him from feeling it, however. It was a bit hypocritical, he knew, since he was a human once. Shortly after his turning, he realized how much more superior vampires were to humans and turned his back on his mortal heritage ever since. Humans were weak, pathetic things. He wanted nothing to do with them. Which was why the thought of his Pharaoh dating a human disgusted him. He frowned as he said, “You are our Pharaoh. Everything you do is our business.”

  Vayna gently guided Sage off of her lap and to the side as she stood up. Her eyes flashed crimson as she slammed her hands down onto the table, making several of the vampires jump as she growled, “I am not, nor will I ever be your Pharaoh again. Leave me and my human alone, Brade.”

  Brade… Sage finally had a name to call the man. It wasn’t a name she was familiar with, but it seemed to fit him. She only knew 2 of the 10 vampires names so far. Kaunan and now Brade. She decided right then and there that she didn’t like him or his name. As for the rest of the vampires… she really hoped she’d learn their names before they left. She wanted to be able to recognize them when the time came.

  “Lord Brade…” the friendly vampire said as she looked over at him. She wore a slightly perplexed look on her face as she looked around the room and said, “Perhaps we should just let this drop…”

  “No, Kári. Whether or not she wants to recognize it, she did give birth to our race,” Brade said as he folded his hands together and glared at the ancient vampire. With each knew sentence he said, Sage learned each vampire’s name. As they continued to argue back and forth, she learned Bryanna was the name of the vampire with the blank look, and Jesse was the name of the red haired vampire who growled at Sage. She learned that the vampire in the leather coat was called Erik and the one who cursed humans was named Lucius. Lastly the bearded man’s name was Frostflower. She guessed that was his last name and not his first, but she wasn’t entirely sure.

  She tried hard to keep track of what each person was called, but she knew she probably wasn’t going to be able to keep the names straight in her head. As long as she could remember the names, she wouldn’t worry so much about whose name was what. She stared openly at Brade as he said, “You should be the one in my place. You were the one who created our people.”

  “So hate me, curse me, shun my existence!” she exclaimed in a tired, but angry voice. She really hated being called that. She was Pharaoh once, but she wasn’t any longer. She was just herself, a royal vampire trying to make a living like a normal one.

  “Miss Vayna… please…” he said in a soft tone, begging her to accept who and what she really was. He knew how much she hated being called that, but it was true! She was Pharaoh, whether she liked it or not. She was the one who created their race, and that made her ruler of them. She was the first, the supreme, and the one with the most powers between all existing vampires. She was Pharaoh and sooner or later she would have to accept that.

  “No, Brade,” she replied with a shake of her head. She was getting very tired of their nagging and wanted to just get over with the meeting before anything else happened to them. Sighing softly, she said, “No.”

  “Fine then. There is still a matter to attend to…” he said as he straightened his back and met her gaze head on. She could see the determination in his eyes and fought the urge to rub her temples.

  She straightened up and crossed her arms as she looked at him. She worked with the older man long enough to know what his signals were for being nervous and she could easily tell how scared he was at that moment. Looking at him warily, she said, “And that would be…?”

  “The matter of what to do with your human,” he said as he lifted a long, tapered hand and pointed to Sage.

  “My human has a name,” she said with a soft growl and glared at him. She was really getting angry with his disregarding of her lover. He was angry, she knew, that she had the audacity to bring a human to their meeting, but she didn’t care. She stopped caring about what the council thought about years ago, most especially Brade. She wrapped an arm around her as she said, “Her name is Sage, and there’s no matter to be had.”

  “Come now, Vayna,” Lucius said as he looked at her. His expression was cautious, not wanting to incur her wrath. He already knew that she was upset, and he didn’t want to make her any
more angry than she already was. Not if he could help it. He swallowed hard as she glared at him and stammered, “Y-Y-You know what’s supposed to happen.”

  “I will not turn her,” she ground out through gritted teeth. She wasn’t going to turn her lover, no matter what they said. This was something that would be Sage’s decision, not theirs. She was determined to never ever turn another person against their will again. No matter what happened, that was her vow to herself. They would always chose for themselves whether they wanted to be turned or not.

  Sage clutched at her vampire’s shirt and every single vampire turned their eyes to her. They could smell her alarm at the thought of being forced to turn. Vayna looked down at her human and saw the fear in her eyes. She lightly cupped her face, stroking her cheek as she tried to convey with her eyes how she felt about it all. Sage nodded her head silently, understanding her vampire’s iron resolve in that matter even without words.

  Most of the younger vampires were astounded by this level of communication between the two. It was usually unheard of for a human to understand what a vampire was thinking without there being some sort of bond between them. It shocked them that the human was able to understand their Pharaoh so quickly after meeting her.

  The older vampires knew what they were seeing; they just didn’t say anything right then and there. Brade was one of them and he felt the anger rise within him at seeing such a thing occur. As far as he was concerned, no human was good enough for their Pharaoh! She was made to represent the vampire nation and only one with prestigious background like him should have the right to be her consort. Not some lowly human girl who didn’t even know who she was! He growled and demanded, “Vayna!”

  She slowly tore her gaze away from her human’s, giving her a reassuring nod before looking up at him. Her eyes darkened to a fierce burgundy as she said firmly, “I am not turning her.”