Dangerous Love (15 page)

Chapter 12

That day, Jeran left with
the promise that he would deliver to the council Vayna’s reply. She decided to get it done and over with, and so wrote them a note saying she would meet them with Sage. That was two days ago and the two women were getting into a limousine graciously provided by the council to transport them to the meeting place. Since they so nicely allowed Vayna to choose when and where, she picked a place that would set them on edge, but make her feel comfortable. She grinned darkly to herself when she realized just how much they must hate having to go to that place just to meet her.

The place in question was a high rise office building in downtown Manhattan. Not just any high rise, either. It was the building that housed Vayna’s very first business she created. The one that she knew they absolutely hated because of what it stood for. She delighted in the knowledge that they would be forced to watch as hundreds of her workers went about getting packages ready for those
without homes to live in. Her very first business was a charity that helped the homeless prepare for the winter months. And they weren’t simply homeless in general. Her organization helped
human
homeless find places to stay and live during the winter months.

The council hated it.

She took delight in making them squirm. It was her way of punishing them for making her do this. If they wanted to be cruel and force this on her when she wanted nothing to do with them now, then she was going to make it the worst situation possible for them. The limo pulled up in front of the building and she stepped out, pausing for a moment to look up at the old building before holding out a hand to Sage and helping her out. As the limo pulled away, the two made their way inside and over to an 1920’s style elevator. The operator nodded at her as he closed the doors and set the elevator in motion. It took them to the highest floor in the building, which being as old as it was, was only 30 floors up. The elevator made an old grinding noise when it came to a stop and the operator bowed as he held the doors open for them.

As they stepped out onto the floor, a young woman in a b
usiness suit stood waiting for them. She bowed low as she said, “Miss Chronos, it’s been a long time since we last saw you.”

“Yes, it has,” Vayna said as she stepped forward, her hand still wrapped around
Sage’s. She brought her free hand up and lightly rested it on the young woman’s shoulder as she continued, “Everyone’s doing such amazing work that I usually don’t have to make a trip down here.”

“Thank you, Miss
Chronos,” the young woman said as she straightened up, revealing for the first time to Sage what she looked like. Her curly brown hair was tied behind her head in a neat bun, and her green eyes sparkled as she smiled at them. She turned and started to lead the way as she said, “We take pride in our work here. We love what we’re doing.”

“
JessAnn is a human like you, my love,” Vayna said as she introduced the two. The young woman smiled sweetly at Sage as she shook her hand. The vampire noted the confusion on her young lover’s face and chuckled as she said, “She also knows all about who we are. Her lover also happens to be a vampire.”

“Oh, so we can gossip about how annoying it is when our lovers say things like “back when I was your age…,”
Sage teased as she smiled at the young woman. JessAnn laughed as Vayna rolled her eyes, taking the teasing with a small smile.

“Yes, I suppose we could!”
JessAnn replied once she got done laughing. She actually didn’t mind the thought of gossiping with her boss’ lover. The older vampire was always so close nit about who she was… the brunette saw it as a perfect opportunity to get to know her employer a bit more without risking her wrath. The vampire had a definite temper on her when she was angry. Her smiled faded once they reached the board room and she turned to Vayna as she asked, “Is it true, Miss Chronos? That
they
will be here today?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Vayna replied with a nod as she held the door open for
Sage. The young human walked in, followed by JessAnn and then Vayna. The vampire walked over to a chair at the head of the table and sank down into it as she said, “They requested a meeting with me and I suggested this place. I know it inconveniences our staff, but I thought it to be the perfect spot, considering the fact that they absolutely detest humans.”

“Does this mean that I should make sure a
s many of our human employees can be seen as possible?” she asked with a malicious grin. JessAnn hated the council almost as much as Vayna did. They were constantly harassing her lover to turn her and she absolutely hated it. She would have quite a lot of fun watching them squirm at the sight of so many humans working together with vampires.

Vayna
nodded, a smile on her lips at the dark grin on her employee’s face. This was why she chose this place to hold the meeting. Her employees were faithful to her and hated the council just as much as she did. It was a delight for her to see them reacting this way and punishing the council with her. It was almost worth the hassle of disrupting the organization’s work for the day. Almost, but not quite.

J
essAnn bowed once again as she said, “I will have refreshments brought up for everyone so they won’t complain about that.”

“Thank you,
JessAnn,” Vayna replied with a nod of her head. The young woman left the room, leaving the vampire and her lover alone in the room for a few moments. The vampire turned in her chair and drew her human into her arms as she nuzzled her neck. Sighing softly, she said, “Is it over yet?”

“No, not yet,”
Sage replied as she kissed her vampire’s forehead. She hated seeing her lover look so forlorn about everything, but she knew they didn’t really have a choice. This had to be done, no matter how much they hated it. Smiling softly, she said, “Just imagine the looks of disgust on their face when they get here.”

That made Vayna chuckle softly and she nuzzled her human’s neck a little bit more, kissing her pulse point softly as she held her closer. She sighed as she said, “I really hate the council. I don’t know what posse
ssed me to create it.”

“Oh, you were just out of your mind, that’s all,”
Sage said teasingly as she raised her hand and stroked her vampire’s hair.

“Ha ha, very funny,” Vayna said as she lifted her head and rolled her eyes. She wore a smile on her face as she
titled her head and kissed her human tenderly, just enjoying the moment with her. This was what she loved about the young woman. Sage wasn’t afraid to joke around with her, even though she was such a dangerous creature. Vayna enjoyed that.

“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?”