ristian tenderly stroked Sage’s moist hair as she lay on his chest, kissing it softly and raising herself up to kiss his lips. He cuddled her, kissing her forehead. “That was amazing,” he
vampire I’ve ever been with,” he said with a chuckle. “Once you’ve had a vampire, you can’t go back,” she laughed. They both started to giggle like love-struck teenagers. “And I don’t want to,” he joked. “So what do we do now?” she asked, taking his hand and kissing
serious.
“You want me to turn you?” she asked. “I want to be with you,
and that’s the only way we’ll be together for all time,” he said. “You
saw what can happen to a vampire tonight,” she said, sitting up. “We
can be killed. And on top of that, there’s the constant hunger for
blood. It’s insatiable,” she said, the taste of his blood still lingering
on her lips. She stared into his eyes. “Being a vampire means that
you have to die physically,” she said, remembering her own death.
“It’s not an enjoyable experience.” He started to answer when the
intercom buzzed. “That’s Anna,” he said, jumping out of bed. “She was going to get blood for you.” Sage got out of bed looking for her clothes as Cristian put on his pants and a new shirt. He went to answer the intercom, picking up the silver stake from the floor.
“Who is it?” he asked. “Anna,” she said simply.
Sage, now dressed, came out of the bedroom and sat on the
couch while Cristian sat the stake down on the table and waited for
the elevator. Once the cage opened, Anna stepped out, looked at
Cristian and then at Sage, noting their “rested” appearance. A tiny
smile appeared on her face. “It took you long enough,” she said
staring at them; they both unable to conceal the beaming grin from
their faces. “You give new meaning to the term “cougar,” she joked
as she gave Sage a hug. “I don’t ever want to see you like that again,”
she said holding her. “You scared us.” “How are the others?” Sage
asked. “They’re waiting for word about you,” Anna said. She stared
at Cristian. “I flew back, in case you were wondering,” she said.
“Now I can tell them that you’re alright,” she said, turning her head
toward Sage.
She handed her one of the bottles of animal blood. “I guess
you don’t need this now,” she said smiling. “You had to drink
human blood to be revived.” Sage stared at Cristian with a warm
smile. “He refused to let me die,” she said. Anna gazed into her
eyes. “Now that you’ve tasted human blood, you’ll crave it,” she
said telepathically. Sage heaved a deep sigh, knowing that Anna was
right, because she still could not get the taste of Cristian’s blood
out of her mind.
“Now we need to find out who revealed your whereabouts to
Pearson for him to show up at the loft,” Anna said. “It wasn’t me,”
Cristian said. “I know that now,” Anna said. “I saw the fear in your
eyes when Sage was hurt. I realized it couldn’t be you.” “Someone
told Rafael, and we need to find out who it was,” Sage said. “We know he has an assistant, but he reeked of fear,” she said. “He looked out of his element,” Anna said. “Like he really didn’t want
to be there,” Cristian added.
He looked at Sage. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but
what if Pedro was behind it? You don’t have to be a rocket scientist
to know that he wants you for himself, and maybe he was trying to
move me out the way to have you.” “I know that Pedro cares deeply
for me,” Sage replied. “But turning to a vampire hunter that he
knows wants me dead doesn’t seem like something he’d do.” “The
coven has always been loyal to Sage,” Anna said. “Well, if it wasn’t
him, somebody helped him,” Cristian said.
The coven sat huddled together in an underground vampire
nightclub in New Jersey, checking their cell phones every few
minutes for word from Anna. Pedro, growing more restless, got up.
“Where are you going, dude?” Billy asked. “Anna said she’d tell us
what happened with Queen V,” Lisa said. “She’s with him,” Pedro
spat, rolling his eyes. “It was because of him she got hurt.” “We need to wait and see what Anna tells us,” Samuel said. “I need some air,” Pedro said, looking like he smelled something
foul as he walked toward the door. Daniel and Cody watched him
go out the door. “What’s up with him?” Daniel asked shaking his
head.
Lisa got up. “I’ll go check on him,” she said. She walked out
the door only to find that Pedro wasn’t there. He had disappeared.
“Pedro,” Lisa said, going up the steps. She could make out his
silhouette walking down the street. “Pedro!” she yelled. She decided
to try to follow him, but he disappeared. “Pedro!” She stomped her
foot irritated.
The rain having cleared up, she flew back into the city looking
to see if he went back to the loft and didn’t find him there. She
knew that Pedro was antsy because of Sage being hurt, but she also knew there was another reason. She remembered the look on his face when she brought him to meet Sage for the first time—how he couldn’t keep his eyes off her. She could tell that he was completely
smitten with the vampire queen.
Snapping back into the present, Lisa wandered until she found
herself walking through Times Square. She tried to blend in with
the crowd so as not to stand out.
“Still no Pedro,” she thought, looking through the faces in the
crowd. As she crossed the street, she saw someone sitting with a
duffle bag on the sidewalk with a hood over his head. She recognized the jacket. It belonged to the geeky-looking
vampire hunter who tried to kill them earlier in the evening. She
crept over to him quietly like a cat creeping up on a mouse. “Hey!” she said, startling him. John looked at her peering at
him. “Please don’t hurt me,” he said throwing up his hands. “You
tried to kill our queen,” she said, yanking him up from the ground. “Please,” he pleaded. “I didn’t want to do it. I’m serious.” She
stared into his eyes. “Where’s Pearson?” she demanded. “He’s
incapacitated,” he said. “You may be more useful to me alive than
dead,” Lisa said, grabbing his arm tightly.
“So what do we do now about Pearson?” Anna asked Sage. “I’m not sure yet,” she replied. “I’ve been running from vampire
hunters all of my eternity.” “But this particular hunter is doggedly
pursuing me.”
“He’s determined to kill you,” Anna said.
“There has to be a way to figure out what his game plan is and
beat him at his own game,” Sage said. Anna’s cell phone began to
ring. “It’s Lisa,” she said. She answered the phone. “Lisa, I told you
I would let you know about… What!” she exclaimed.
“Where are you at now?” she asked. “Okay,” she said, hanging
up the phone.
“Lisa found one of the hunters tonight,” she said, answering
Sage’s inquisitive stare. “He was alone.” “Where are they?” Sage
asked. “At the loft,” Anna replied. “Let’s go,” Sage said. “You’re not
going without me,” Cristian said. “I’m a part of this now too.” Anna took Sage aside as Cristian went to grab his jacket. “Lisa
also had something else she wanted to tell you, but she didn’t want
to say it over the phone.” “It’s about Pedro.” Sage sighed heavily,
hoping that Cristian’s suspicions about him weren’t true.