Awakening (The Vampire Destiny Series Book #3) (22 page)

"You knew and didn’t tell me?" I asked him accusingly.

"I suspected.  After Anna awoke, I had a vision of your brother and Anna together.  They were happy.  More importantly, they were in love.  It was not my story to tell, vackra.  If you knew, you would have been pushing for them to be together and they would have resisted.  Look."

Our attention focused back on Anna and Nikolaus.  He has his hands buried in Anna's hair, their mouths tangled in a passionate kiss.  Anna clung to him, her hands gripping his back possessively.

Stefan turned me to him..  "You see, we become careless when we love.  Many consider this a weakness.  I would sacrifice anything to keep you safe.  Your brother feels the same.”

He lowered his lips to mine, smothering me with his love and exasperation at the situation.  Without any hesitation, I relaxed into his embrace.  It was easy to get lost in the feeling of his powerful mouth against mine, the reassuring touch of his strong hands.  Suddenly the Coucil meeting seemed far away…

"Oh for fuck's sake.  It's like a 70's Key Party in here.  Break it up before I relearn the fine art of vomiting," Lukas exclaimed loudly.  He clapped his hands together severely.  “Let’s get this show on the road.  I have things and people to do later.”

***

Pulling up in front of the Carriage House caused a strange case of déjà vu to wash over me.  I barely remembered Stefan taking me by the hand and leading me into the house.  Nikolaus had a tight grip on Anna while Lukas walked behind us, typing away on his cell phone.  I could only imagine how Anna must be feeling.  This was her first real experience around other vampires and she knew how much was at stake.

Stefan's hold on my hand tightened slightly.  He was closely monitoring my thoughts, gauging where my emotions were and how I was handling this entire situation.

“I’m fine.  I swear.”
  I mentally sent to him, managing a weak smile.

“You are a terrible liar, vackra.  This will be over soon.”
  Stefan chided in response.

He grew silent as during the elevator ride to the main floor of the house.  Stefan directed us into a large conference room that was filled with a long, highly polished mahogany table with five empty leather chairs neatly placed behind it.  A huge crystal chandelier in the middle of the room seemed highly extravagant and out of place such a sparsely furnished room.

There were four chairs facing the table.  He made a sweeping gesture with his arm.  "Sit.  They will be here soon."

I sat down on one of the chairs as Stefan slouched into the chair on my right.  Anna took her place to my left while Lukas gingerly sat down on the end.  Stefan and Lukas had intentionally placed Anna and I in between them, buffering us from anything unexpected.  Nikolaus stood behind Anna’s chair, his arms folded across his chest.

"Nothing is going to happen.  I am simply being cautious."
 Stefan's mind voice answered my observation.

Twisting my hands nervously in my lap, I sighed heavily.  
"I just want this to be over."

His hand reached and stilled my nervous fingers.  He took one of my hands in his, slowly tracing the veins with his fingertip.
"As do I.  Stay calm and say the very minimum to the questions they ask.  Do not offer any information that they do not request."

I looked up from watching the graceful movements of his fingers against my hand and wrist.  His blue eyes were gazing intently at me, filled with concern.  His worry for me made him look older than usual.  The tiny lines around his eyes were more pronounced, his normally smiling mouth solemn.  The lines of his face were almost severe in the bright lighting of the conference room.

"How many times have you done this?  Testified before the Council?"

His eyelids slid closed over his eyes.  He inhaled slowly and unnecessarily before reopening them to meet mine once again. 
"Hundreds of times.  I lost count 50 years ago."

"Hundreds?"
My mouth gaped.

"This is more serious for me.  I killed a Council member,"
Stefan admitted.  Realizing he'd said too much, he rushed to reassure me.
"It was to defend my mate.  It will be fine."

"I won't lose you.  I'll kill everyone of them if I have to, Stefan. I can't..."
 My eyes filled with hot tears, my throat tightening.  One escaped and ran down my cheek, leaving a burning trail in its wake.  Stefan lovingly wiped the tear away, his eyes widening as he stared at his fingertip.

"What?"

"Your tear.  It is pink."
 He offered me his hand.  The tip of his thumb was stained pink.  My eyes skittered up to him fearfully.  "You are changing. The few times I have cried, they are the same color."

"Stefan..."

Two heavy doors behind the table swung open dramatically, ceasing our non-verbal conversation.  I watched as the five Council members filed into the room.  The only one that looked our way was Sofia.  Her dark eyes slid over Stefan greedily, staring at him like he was a tall glass of water after being parched from a trek through the desert.  Her black eyes then moved to me, narrowing as they flickered over me critically.  Her exotic features turned into granite as she took her seat along the other Council members and faced us.

"Welcome.  You have all been summoned regarding the death of Derek Collier.  I also see we have a new vampire amongst us," Nigel said.  His hazel eyes glanced at Anna before returning to Stefan.

Stefan rose to his full impressive six-foot-four height.  "Yes.  This is Anna Wilson.  She is my child and my responsibility.  I changed her in result of Derek's attempt on my mate's life.  Derek not only used her as a pawn in his scheme to kill my mate, he left Anna to die."

"Why change her?" Adolfo asked bluntly.  “She means nothing to you.”

Anna stiffened beside me.  My hand inched over and clasped hers tightly.  Her fingers tightened around mine angrily.

“That is untrue, Adolfo.  I enjoyed her company as a human and she has proven to be an exemplary vampire.  She is Josephine’s closest friend and I could not let her life end when I could save her,” Stefan answered smoothly.  He remained as still as a statue on the outside, but I could feel his anger simmering through the bond.  He was working diligently to keep his temper in check.

"You saved the human for your mate?  I would think you've gone soft of it wasn't for your thorough termination of Derek."  Adolfo folded his hands on the polished wood of the conference table.

The termination of Derek?!  He made it sound like Derek missed a deadline for his job and was fired.  I wanted to snicker at the absurdity of this, but knew better than to make a sound.  This was almost like watching one of those late night B rated horror movies.  Only this time, instead of sitting back and watching, I was an active participant.

Stefan said nothing.  He stoically stood in front of the Council, his hands at his side.  His steady gaze never left Adolfo's face.  This was the vampire bullshit he despised so much.  And now, I finally understood why.  He had to answer to a group of mostly corrupt vampires that were appointed to be the law of his kind.  How many times had he gone through this same inane ritual?

"You have no comment, Stefan?  No clever reply?  How very unusual.  Why is..."

Nigel cut in, ceasing Adolfo's speech.  "Enough, Adolfo.  We will get to the interview later.  Nikolaus, why are you in attendance tonight?  You were not summoned to appear."

"I'm here to support my sister," Nikolaus shot back.  "I have the right to be here.  She is my family."

"You need to leave, Nikolaus.  Go home,"  Nigel admonished.  He pointed to the door for emphasis.  "Go and I do not want to hear any complaint from you.  Are we clear?"

"Nigel, this is bullshit but I'll go."  Nikolaus’ fingers grazed first my shoulder and then Anna's.  I noticed his hand lingered on Anna's shoulder longer than mine.

Nigel waited until Nikolaus left the room before he began again.  "We have appointed a new Council member.  This is Amir Negasso."  Nigel swept his hand in Amir's direction.  Amir inclined his head at us in greeting.  "He will be a valuable asset to the Council."

I wasn't sure if Nigel was privy to the true relationship of Amir and Stefan.  From our earlier conversation, it seemed to be a heavily guarded secret.  I doubted few knew.

"I hope to be.  Let us continue," Amir replied.  He opened a leather binder in front of him and scanned a paper, glancing up briefly from his notes to stare at me.  "Josephine Anderson Ahearne.  I am to assume that is you.  Please stand."

Standing shakily, I rose and stood at Stefan's side.  Tossing my hair back, I tilted my chin indignantly.  "Josephine Anderson will do.  I spent 28 years as an Anderson.  There is no need to add the Ahearne now."

Amir sat back in his seat.  His amber eyes sparkled brightly.  "How much longer will you be an Anderson?  You are soon to be a Lifsten, I presume?"

A loud hiss of disapproval sounded in the room at Amir's words.  I attempted to swallow and it sounded more like a strangled gulp.  Looking up at Stefan for assistance, I was surprised to see that he only offered me an encouraging smile.

"I noticed the ring on your finger.  Are we to offer you our congratulations?"  Amir asked before his eyes drifted back to the paper.

Finally finding my voice, I spoke softly.  "Yes, soon to be Lifsten.  As far as your congratulations, that's up to you to offer them or not."

"She is a fiery one, Stefan.  She must be special if you are willing to marry her in a human ceremony,"  Nigel acknowledged.  His eyes flickered between us both.  Nigel managed to treat us as if we hadn't had a series of clandestine meetings over the last few weeks.  He seemed cold and aloof, as if we were strangers.  "Have you bonded with her?"

"Yes.  We want to tie ourselves in my world and hers," Stefan stated.  I felt his hand slip into mine as we stood together.

"I know of only one other vampire that ever married a human.  It was your father, Josephine.  It did not end well for Kian.  Armes walked out on him shortly after your birth," Lenora said in her clipped, English accent.  She twirled a strand of her long blond hair around her finger as she studied me intently.

It was probably imperceptible to anyone else, but both Stefan and Nigel flinched at the mention of Armes name.  I pushed as much calm into my bond with Stefan as I could muster.  Reacting badly to facts provided to the Council by Kian wouldn't help anyone now. I simply wanted to do what was necessary and leave.

"I think things will turn out much better for us," Stefan assured her.  He squeezed my hand gently, rubbing his finger over my ring.

"Why worry about marriage?  There is very little human left in her.  Her heart barely beats as it now. It is a waste of your time," Sofia piped in.  Her jealousy was apparent as she spoke again.

"It is unlike our kind to settle for anything without a reason.  You have to see why it is confusing for us."

I felt like my head was on a swivel.  It was difficult to keep up with their rapid fire question and answer session.  It was also difficult not to unleash my shield on Sofia.  It was tempting to let it wrap itself around her, efficiently snapping her apart.

"Actually I do not understand your confusion on the matter of our lives, Sofia.  It does not violate any Council rules and I am not exposing our lifestyle to any mainstream media outlet.  It will appear that two humans in love decided to marry," Stefan replied.  "Any other question I can clear up for you?  Remember to choose them wisely."

Sofia eyes narrowed into slits, her simmering envy boiling over into anger.  She slammed her hands on the table and blurred to her feet.  "This is an outrage!  He has no respect for me, this Council or our questions.  Since he has involved himself with the affairs of humans, he has forgotten his place.”