itting on the ferry headed back to town, Cristian went over what he just told his parents of the abridged version of the truth. He told them that Sage is a royal, and a crazed person is looking for her because of the portrait, which is why he couldn’t reveal her secret identity, leaving out the fact that she is a vampire, because he knew that his parents would think he’d gone completely over the edge. He explained his injured wrist by saying that he cut it on a nail when he was retrieving an easel at the gallery. He suggested, despite their protests, that they take a vacation until things calmed down.
As he stared out the window of the taxi, he thought of what had happened hours ago. He’d nearly lost Sage forever, only to revive her with his blood, then they’d finally consummated the love they felt for each other. Closing his eyes, he could still smell the jasmine in her hair, taste the sweetness of her lips like honey, and feel the softness of her smooth skin against his. He felt an ache when he wasn’t with her, and he hoped that she would reconsider her uneasiness about turning him. The very thought of being separated from her for all eternity was too much to bear. He understood her reluctance to turn him, because being a vampire isn’t just a fad. It is a life-altering decision and a decision not made lightly or without giving careful thought to the consequences.
When the taxi arrived at the port, he asked the driver to take him to the gallery. It seemed like ages ago since he was last there as he walked inside and noticed the crowd gathered around his masterpiece portrait of Sage. “That’s my Sage,” he thought affectionately as he looked at the crowd musing over the painting.
“It’s always like this,” his manager said approaching him. “People stare at the portrait as if they’re in a trance. I’d say that the portrait possessed some type of magical power.”
Cristian smiled. “It’s the allure of the painting,” he said. “I think it’s more than that,” Robert replied. “That portrait draws you in. This portrait is akin to Mona Lisa and Girl with a Pearl Earring,” he said.
“People are constantly asking me what the back-story to this portrait is. How is it that you saw this image of an extraordinarily beautiful woman and painted her face? This is a guaranteed moneymaker. Just think of it. This portrait represents an immortal love that crossed centuries and death.”
Cristian looked at his manager suspiciously. “This painting is your greatest masterpiece,” Robert said with a twinkle in his eyes. “What do you mean by ‘an immortal love that crossed centuries and death’?” Cristian asked, narrowing his eyes. His manager smirked. “I knew vampires existed,” he whispered. Cristian grabbed his arm. “We need to talk,” he said as they went back toward his office.
Shutting the door, he turned and faced his manager. “What do you mean by “vampires existing’?” he asked.
“That guy who inquired about the portrait,” he shifted his eyes toward the ceiling feigning forgetfulness. “His name was Pearson.” “Oh, that’s right. Rafael Pearson.” Cristian folded his arms. “He told me this fascinating story.” He grinned. “You want to hear it? But I believe you already know the story.”
Cristian sighed heavily.
“He told me this story of a vampire queen who had lost her love, and centuries later she found him again when he painted her portrait.”
“What do you want?” Cristian asked steely eyed. “First, I want the rights to the story,” Robert said smugly. “This will make us both millions,” he said. “Second, I want to see her,” he said. “I want to meet her.”
“No,” Cristian said forcefully. “I won’t let you expose her so that you can make money off of her.”
“But isn’t that what you did when you painted her portrait?” Robert asked, bemused.
“I didn’t know she existed when I painted her portrait,” Cristian retorted. “It was just a face I saw in my mind and I painted it.”
“Because she is in your blood,” Robert said. “If I was a woman, I’d swoon over this kind of romantic stuff.” “Two souls so intertwined that not even death or time could come between them,” he waxed poetic.
“Vampires don’t have souls,” Cristian interjected. Robert shrugged his shoulders apathetically. “What else did Rafael tell you?” Cristian asked.
“He said that he would give me half of the proceeds once he met the queen.” “You mean once he destroyed her,” Cristian thought, frowning. “Look Cristian, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. It’s not every day that you meet an actual vampire, and especially one who is a vampire royal.” He leaned toward him. “I hear that she is even more beautiful up close.”
Cristian stared at his manager in disgust. “I knew that you were power hungry and money hungry. But I never thought that you’d sell your soul to the highest bidder.”
“Money talks,” Robert said coldly. Cristian shook his head, opened the door swiftly, and stormed out. Robert dialed a number on his phone. “We need to talk,” he said.
Lisa watched Pedro as he paced back and forth in his bedroom that displayed an array of handcrafted Mexican art such as clay pottery, embroidered colorful shawls, colorful baskets, and rugs spread across the floor. “I need to prove to Sage that Cristian can’t be trusted,” he said aloud.
“Cristian saved her life,” Lisa said.
“That’s what he wants us to think,” Pedro said. “He could’ve set the whole thing up and then came in as the hero to save the damsel in distress so that she’d be forever indebted to him. I need to somehow show her that she gave her heart to the wrong man— that she should’ve chosen….” he stopped abruptly. He looked at Lisa who stared at him with concern. “I can’t do anything cooped up in here,” he said. He grabbed his leather jacket and put it on.
“Pedro, where are you going?” she asked.
He walked out without saying a word. Lisa decided to see where he was going and keep a distance so that he wouldn’t suspect she was following him by picking up her scent. She saw him walk around the corner. Hurriedly, she ran around the corner and saw him hail a taxi. Watching the taxi drive off, she hailed a taxi and asked the driver to tail the other taxi ahead of it.
They followed the taxi to a rundown motel. She watched as Pedro got out the car and walked inside. Paying the taxi driver, she quickly got out the taxi and walked inside the motel. Looking around at the sparse furnishings, she could see, in spite of the dull lighting, Pedro step onto the elevator headed toward the fourth floor. Lisa decided to take the steps and literally flew to the fourth floor.
Opening the door slightly, she heard the “ding” of the elevator as the door opened and Pedro stepped out.
She heard voices’ whispering as Pedro was speaking to someone whose face she couldn’t see clearly, because their back was turned. They walked over to a door and knocked. The door squeaked opened and to Lisa’s surprise, it was none other than Rafael.
“What is Pedro doing talking to that hunter?” she thought. She leaned her ear closer to the door to hear the exchange between the men. “You said that you’d make it look like he set her up,”
Pedro fumed. “Instead, you tried to kill her.” “I’m a vampire hunter,” Rafael said sharply.
“It’s my duty to kill the vampire queen.” Pedro turned to face the other man who was Cristian’s manager. “And you,” he glared. “You were supposed to keep him distracted so that the plan would be flawless.”
“And it almost was,” Robert said. “But Cristian has always been unpredictable.” “This was a setback,” Rafael said. “The next time, I will succeed.”
“But not with my help this time” Pedro snarled. “I don’t need your help anymore,” Rafael snapped. “You’ll be sorry,” Pedro said, baring his fangs. “Don’t you threaten me, vampire,” Rafael snarled.
Lisa couldn’t believe her ears. She hoped that maybe her mind was deceiving her and she didn’t overhear that Pedro plotted against Cristian and Sage.
“I need to warn them of Pedro’s deception,” she thought as she quietly shut the door and hurried out the motel before her presence was detected.
Flying inside the entrance, Lisa yelled, “Queen V!”
Anna came out to the hallway. “What is it Lisa?” she asked.
“We were deceived!” Lisa said.
“Deceived, how?” Anna asked.
“It was never Cristian who betrayed Queen V.” “It was… it was… it was Pedro,” she said finally.
“Pedro!” Anna said, astonished.
“Pedro…” Sage said standing at the doorway, troubled.
“Yes, Pedro,” Lisa said on the brink of tears.
“Tell me,” Sage said. Lisa walked into the living room and saw John sitting on the chair. “Samuel, can you take him somewhere out of earshot” Sage said telepathically. “Sure,” Samuel said as he and John got up and left the room; he looked back at Lisa.
Lisa sat down, and Anna and Sage joined her to tell them what she had seen and overheard. Sage looked down in dismay when Lisa was finished. “Pedro,” she said with sadness and disappointment.
“Pedro loves you, Sage,” Anna said. “And he’s resentful of your love for Cristian. He kept telling me repeatedly that Cristian would betray me when it was he all along,” Sage replied agitated. “Daniel asked me earlier if I knew what Pedro’s life was like before he became a vampire,” Lisa said. “I knew, but didn’t want to say.”
“I know,” Sage said. “I could sense your apprehension.”
“When I met Pedro in Chihuahua, it was during the Mexican Revolution in 1910.” She took a heavy breath. “Pedro had escaped from prison for killing his girlfriend and her lover.”
Sage and Anna were stunned. “Pedro told me that he found them in bed, and he completely lost it in a jealous rage and killed them with his bare hands in the heat of passion.
He was a fugitive, and I thought he had gotten a bad break. So I offered him a vampire life and to come away with me to meet the vampire queen, because I knew you’d take him in.”
Sage was silent. “I turned him and brought him to Egypt where he met you, and I could tell from the moment he saw you, that he was smitten. I saw how he pined for you,” she said. “I saw his frustration when you met Cristian. I was afraid that his jealousy would once again get the best of him and something bad would happen.”
“It did,” Sage said. “He set me up for the kill whether intentional or not. Cristian needs to be warned,” she said, fearful. “I can’t let him be taken from me a second time.”
John sat in the bedroom Sage had set up for him when his cell phone buzzed. “A change in plans,” it read.
Cristian was en route to Tribeca when his cell phone began to ring. “Cristian, we need to talk—can you come back to the gallery— there’s something I need to tell you.” He stared at the text message wearily. He asked the driver to turn the taxi around to go back to the gallery. “Okay, so I did what you asked,” Robert said, terrified. “Good,” Pedro snarled, towering over him menacingly.