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A deep, mocking laugh came from him, his legs stretching to cross at his ankles. "Boyfriend," he snorted, his eyebrow raising slightly. "I suppose you're right. I know everything about you, Josephine. You are more beautiful than Stefan said you'd be. "
"Adolfo. "
I let out a sigh of relief as I heard Stefan's voice at the top of the stairs. He was a blur as he came to stand beside of me, a possessive arm wrapping tightly around my waist.
"Josephine, since he is not polite enough to introduce himself, allow me to do the honors. This is my friend Adolfo Amaya. He is on the Council, the one I contacted about our concerns," Stefan said, his voice sharp as he made the introductions. Glancing up to look at his face, my stomach sank as I observed the displeased expression on his face. When he looked down at me, his eyes were filled with regret. I knew this wasn't a social visit since it was apparent Stefan knew exactly why this vampire was here and it wasn't to catch up on gossip.
"Nice to meet you," I whispered, pressing myself closer to Stefan. I sent a mental thought to him, the tone cutting. "Now would be a great time to tell me what the hell is going on, Stefan. "
Stefan's mental voice laughed sardonically. "He is here on Council business. We are going to need to go with him. Josephine, I need you to remain calm so he doesn't know we're communicating. "
He needed me to remain calm?! This strange vampire was here to take us to parts unknown and I'm supposed to stand here and act like he's here for a cup of coffee? I took a deep breath and made the decision to let Stefan do the talking. He could easily pick through Adolfo's future to gauge his intentions.
"Stefan, you know why I'm here so let's cut the pleasantries. I need you both to pack and come with me. There's a private plane waiting for us," Adolfo said in his heavily accented voice, clasping his hands across his lap. His dark eyes roamed around the room before fixing his stare back at Stefan.
Watching as Stefan began to anxiously pace the room at a much faster pace than human speed, I uneasily sat down on the edge on a chair and chewed on my bottom lip. Lukas had warned us both this was going to happen. Even Stefan said they knew of me prior to us meeting. I wasn't expecting it to happen like this, especially from someone that Stefan said he could trust.
His mental voice was a warning in my head. "Vackra, we have no choice in the matter. We cannot refuse. We have to go with him. "
He stopped pacing to stand beside of me, his large hand caressing the strands of my hair. I glanced up at him, our eyes meeting again. His sea blue eyes were resigned and his mouth was tight and grim. He addressed Adolfo without bothering to look at him, his eyes still focused on mine as he spoke.
"How long until we leave, Adolfo?"
Adolfo stood and walked to the far wall of windows. He pulled back the arm of his suit jacket, glancing at his watch. "We need to leave here within the hour. I'll be your escort until the Council convenes. "
"Fine," Stefan answered. He grabbed my elbow and led me up the steps into the bedroom. He closed the door behind us and his face finally relaxed.
As I started to open my mouth to speak, Stefan placed his index finger over his own lips and shook his head. He moved to tap his temple, reminding me to use mental speak. I rolled my eyes, remembering him telling me this would come in handy.
Damn it if he wasn't right again!
"Can you see what's going to happen? You know I can't see our futures, Stefan. "
He was a blur as he moved back and forth from the bed to the closet, opening a large suitcase and placing jeans, shirts and shoes in the bag.
"They are curious about you. It is not typical of a vampire to choose to be in a romantic relationship with a human and they want to evaluate the strength of it. Of course, they knew of you from my own mind as we discussed and I'm assuming Adolfo's questions piqued their interest. Start packing, vackra. "
His hand pointed to the closet and motioned for me to start moving. My feet felt as if they were encased in cement as I walked towards the closet, my hands clenching until I felt my fingernails cut into my palms.
"How long are we going to be there? And what they hell do they want to know, Stefan?"
Turning away and not waiting for an answer, I focused on the closet and searched through the clothes Lukas had picked out for me. I mentally gave Lukas a thank you for his obsessive shopping behavior.
"Two days at the most, Josephine. They want to assess your ability and make sure you are not a threat. If it puts your mind at ease, I see us returning back to Bali. There are things that are variables. However, I see us returning together. "
"Variables? What kind of variables?"
Stefan shrugged his shoulders as he began getting dressed. "That I do not know. Our gifts are not exact sciences. "
Throwing up my hands in exasperation, I angrily pulled clothes from the closet and added it to Stefan's suitcase. I hurried into the bathroom and grabbed my cosmetic bag and toiletries from the sink, rushing back into the bedroom. Stepping back into the closet, I grabbed jeans and yanked a white smocked henley blouse from the hanger. Dressing quickly, I shoved my feet into a pair of ballet flats and ran my fingers through my hair to attempt to smooth the wild waves. I walked to the edge of the bed to stand beside Stefan, my hands trembling as I reached for the zipper of the suitcase to close the suitcase.
"You look beautiful. " His thought was a whisper as he turned to encircle me in hi
s arms, pulling me against the hardness of his body. His blond head lowered to brush his lips against mine gently and I let myself relax into the comfort of his embrace. I reminded myself that he said we'd be returning together. The thought of losing him or coming home without him tore apart my insides.
His mental voice was a whisper as it entered my mind. "Remember that I love you and I promise to keep you safe. For now, you need to follow my lead. If I tell you to answer in a certain way, it is imperative you do so. "
Squaring my shoulders, I pulled away from him and my mouth was set in a grim line. "I'm so going to kick your ass when we get home, Stefan. This is the vampire bullshit you were referring to I assume?"
