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"I’m sorry, Stefan. I trust you with my life. I just remember how upset you were when I received the painting and note from Kian. You were ready to go to war." I cupped his cheek in my hand. The stubble from his face tickled my palm. "It scares me to think of losing you. It's almost a paralyzingly fear because I love you so much."
His long fingers combed through his hair. Before I could blink, I was once again in his crushing embrace. His thoughts floated through my mind, soft and reassuring. "Let us go and take care of this business. I promise you, you will be safe."
Just as quickly, he released me. His fingers traced over my cheeks and across my lips. "I love you. Know what I do, I do for you."
A knock sounded on the apartment door. Reluctantly breaking away, I headed across the room to answer it. My brother stood on the other side, his hand poised mid-knock. Anxiety emanated from him, threatening to overpower me with its intensity. He shoved past me into the apartment, anxiously rubbing his hands together.
"Nikolaus? What are you doing here? We're leaving for the Council meeting in a few minutes. I’ll call you when we’re finished. I promise." I rushed after him. Grabbing his arm, I spun him around to face me. When his green eyes met mine, he looked so much like our mother in that moment that my hand fell away from his arm and I took a clumsy step backwards.
"He wants to come with us. For you. He has other concerns as well." Stefan’s deep voice rang out from behind me. The bond between us was filled with apprehension about Nikolaus joining us. I knew I needed to convince him he needed to go home and wait for the meeting to be over.
“Is that why you’re here?” I demanded. “Nikolaus, I don’t want you to get involved.”
He looked away from my imploring gaze, screwing his lips into a scowl. He glared past me at Stefan. "Dude, I can talk. I'm coming with you. You need me there."
"No, what I need you to do is to stay away from the Council meeting. They don't need to know you've chosen a side," I insisted. Grasping his shoulders, I hugged him. I tightened my grip and whispered in his ear. "You're the only real family I have left. I won't risk your life too."
"I can read their thoughts. I'll know what they're thinking and I can tell you what to do next. You need me there," Nikolaus retorted. He planted his feet and refused to move, even to return my embrace.
The apartment door opened again and my head turned to see Anna and Lukas frozen in the doorway, surprised to see Nikolaus in our apartment.
"Nik?" Anna questioned softly. "Babe, what are you doing here?"
Nikolaus tugged himself from my grasp and sped to her side. "I'm here for Josie. And you too. I can't let you go in there alone."
"Your chivalry is cute. I'll have Stefan and Lukas there with me. It'll be fine,” Anna said flippantly. She pushed at his chest. “Go home, Nik.”
Nikolaus stepped closer to her and took her face between his hands. "No. I know what they can do. I love you, Anna. I'm not letting you go there alone. Period."
I finally understood his consuming fear. He'd fallen in love with my friend. He'd let himself go to the place he said he'd never allow himself to go: love.
"Nik, it won't be smart for you to go. Please," Anna begged. Her brown eyes turned watery as she stared up into my brother's face.
"No one has ever accused me of being smart. Why start now?” Nikolaus smirked and hugged Anna to his chest, laying his cheek against the top of her brown curls.
Stefan watched their display with amusement. Craning my neck, I looked up at him, tapping my foot impatiently.
"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.
