Chapter 4 Married to work #2
Lavinia Nox is the High Priestess of the coven of Hecate-worshiping witches.
It’s the largest witch coven in the region, and they’ve maintained consistent power for the past few decades.
They’re the ones that imprisoned our Creator, Tudor Thornblade, for attempting to attack one of their strongholds.
Celine went against Tudor by refusing to support him with his plan, which is why the good witches didn’t throw us in prison along with our Creator.
But the witches are not very happy with any of the vampires right now, and Celine’s been trying to smooth things over for the past six months.
“Lavinia is concerned about the magical clans in the northern region,” she continues.
“Ever since Tudor and the wolf shifters attacked Elmwood Academy, the good witches have been tense about another uprising. They want to call a meeting of the Triple Council, and they’d like us to attend to represent the northern vampire alliance, now that Tudor is imprisoned. ”
“That’s a good sign.” Damien nods hopefully. “It means they still trust us, even after what Tudor did.”
“It’s certainly promising,” Celine says. “Although I think ‘trust’ is a bit of a stretch.”
“To be fair,” Xia adds with a smirk. “Lavinia Nox doesn’t even trust her own familiar, never mind a bunch of vampires.”
“Still,” replies Celine, firmly. “We have to go meet with them, to demonstrate our fealty and keep the good witches happy.”
“I’m sure you’ll be able to win her over, after all this time dealing with Lazarus and the vampire mafia kings,” I say with a snort.
“I’d like you to come, too, Renata,” Celine says.
“Me?” I give my sister an incredulous look. “Why do you need me?”
“We have to show Lavinia that we’re a united front. I’d like you and Damien to come with me.”
I huff, but I know I won’t be able to get out of it. “When is it?”
“Next week…”
“Next week? My meeting calendar is booked out three weeks in advance!”
“The witches meet on the full moon. You know how they are.” Celine rolls her eyes. “But I need you to be there, Ren.”
“Fine. Lily, make room in my calendar,” I mutter. My assistant gives me a dutiful nod with a sweet smile. At least there’s one person in this room who is actively making my life easier, rather than piling work on me constantly.
“Can I come?” asks Lexi.
“No,” Celine replies.
“That’s not fair, you two never include me!” Lexi moans.
“Someone needs to stay behind at the hotel,” Celine says, giving our younger sister a sharp look. “Especially with me, Damien, Renata, and Xia all away.”
“Even Xia gets to go?” Lexi whines.
“You can take my place if you want,” Xia says, getting up to leave. “If there’s one thing I hate even more than these manager’s meetings, it’s a Triple Council meeting with those boring good witches. No offense, Renata.”
I glare at her. Xia and Damien both take their leave, so it’s only me, my sisters, and Lily.
“Is that all?” I ask Celine curtly, more than a little annoyed that she came in late and dumped another commitment on me.
“One last thing,” Celine says. “Hallie’s school year is almost over, so she’s coming back to the hotel.”
Finally, some pleasant news. Hallie is our youngest sister, a newborn vampire. She was turned only last year, and she’s currently studying at Elmwood Academy.
“It will be nice to see her, especially if she can help with some of the workload,” I say. “Lily, can you make sure her crypt is ready?”
“I’ve already made the arrangements,” Lily confirms.
“Make sure there’s a bed in her crypt, as well as a coffin,” says Celine with a coy grin. “She’s bringing her girlfriend home.”
Lexi raises an eyebrow jealously. “Sounds like someone had fun at university. Let me guess, some rugged wolf shifter? A mermaid, maybe?”
“She’s a witch,” Celine answers.
Lexi elbows our older sister. “Ooh, a witch! I guess it runs in the family.”
Celine scowls back at her. Her partner, Amara, is a good witch who helps out around the hotel. It’s unorthodox for a vampire to be involved with a good witch, but…well, it’s a long story.
“We’ll make arrangements for both of them. Reserve a dining room in the event hall, so we can have dinner prepared for the witch,” I say to Lily. Then I turn back to my sisters. “If that’s all, then I need the boardroom for my next meeting.”
“Good night to you too, Renata,” Celine says sarcastically. Her and Lexi rise from their seats and exit.
“Another witch,” I say with a shake of my head to Lily.
She smiles, and gets a dreamy look in her eye. “I think it’s sweet that your sisters found love…even with someone from such a different background.”
“I have no idea how they make the time,” I reply, tapping the touchscreen TV to navigate to my next presentation. “I can barely allocate fifteen minutes to drinking every week, I can’t imagine finding time for an entire relationship!”
I smooth my hair. Lily gives me a shy look. “But do you…do you ever think about it? Finding love?”
“I’m married to my work. I don’t have time for anything else.” I realize something, and give a mirthless laugh. “You and I probably spend more time together than Amara and Celine, don’t we, Lily?”
Her eyes widen slightly. “I…I suppose we do.”
My smartwatch buzzes. I tap its screen to answer the call.
“Ms. Espina, the shareholders are still waiting,” says the crisp voice of the receptionist.
“Send them in,” I tell her.
My work is never done.