Chapter 18
Anais
I left Leo, the rest of my team and the safety of the suite with reluctance, but I had also seen the concern and desire he had for me. After hearing his offer, I could see the genuine care in what he was offering me. He didn’t want me to suffer or lose out by agreeing to be his.
After all this, I trusted him. And I wanted to ask him the rest of my questions.
To find out if there was any hope for us beyond this mission as well.
He was offering me a life where I didn’t have to fight just to exist anymore.
Where I wasn’t trying to prove myself to an academy that seemed to dislike me simply for existing.
No matter what I’d tried, I had never belonged.
Not until I met my current team. If it wasn’t for them, this decision would be easy.
I’d have had nothing to lose. I could run off with Leo and see what happened.
If he planned to make sure money was never an issue no matter what, I couldn’t lose either.
But now I wasn’t alone and I had to make a different decision. Or at least make sure my team was going to be okay.
Naomi walked with me through the hallways, both of us keeping an eye out for anyone who might notice us or follow. It had grown late enough that almost everyone was asleep now, and I was feeling more than a little tired as well.
Within half a second I was thinking of why I was so tired. Leo had taken what he wanted from my body, even made it feel amazing along the way. It was always a mix of control, pleasure and pain. And somehow the combination of the three was everything I wanted to experience.
That part I knew I wanted. In bed, being able to let go and trust, I was more than enthusiastic. But the whole lifestyle to go with it was another matter.
“You seem pensive,” Naomi said, reminding me that I wasn’t alone. “Especially given how happy you should be to have your brains screwed out again.”
I raised an eyebrow as she smirked, wondering if it was truly that obvious.
“Don’t worry, I can only tell because I saw your bra on the floor in the bedroom when that fella of yours followed you out. He shut the door so no one else saw.”
Although it was somewhat reassuring, it wasn’t entirely. I had been caught in the act and she was at least only teasing me about it. “It is complicated.”
“He offering to make you his?” Naomi asked, looking more serious again.
I nodded. “Sort of. He doesn’t want me to be a regular enthralled. At least, I don’t think he does. We were talking about it when you came back.”
Naomi looked at me, stopping in the empty hallway to really look.
“I’ve not said yes. Leaving all of you behind… It’s a huge risk and I still don’t know what strings are attached.”
She tilted her head to the side. “Do you love him?”
The question took me by surprise. I didn’t know the answer. “I respect him, and I feel safe with him.”
“Those aren’t love, although they can be just as important.
” Naomi reached out to squeeze my arm. “But if you did find you cared about him and he also respects and loves you, don’t give that up for us.
Don’t even consider it. I don’t care what he is and what you’ve been.
Nor who your parents are. If you love him and he loves you back, you seize that happiness with both hands and you don’t let go until there’s no more love to wring out. ”
Appreciating the sentiment and understanding, I pulled her into a hug. Knowing that I’d have her blessing helped. I might still have questions, but if I got answers I liked then maybe I could accept it.
“What if I thought I could have whatever he’s offering and still vampire-hunt?” I asked her as we both carried on walking.
“The academy isn’t going to be okay with that,” Naomi replied.
“I wasn’t expecting them to be involved. My parents went off on their own. We could do the same. We’ve been making enough money that a few more jobs would get us set up.”
“Or your lover could make sure we’re all funded. How would he feel about being the bankroll for his own little vampire-hunter team? Seems a little bit of a conflict of interest.” Naomi grinned like she didn’t care.
Although I hadn’t asked him, it was a thought. If he was giving me plenty of money, maybe I could finance it. But would he be okay with it? “I haven’t run that part by him yet.”
Naomi chuckled. “If you want to find out how much he cares for you, that’s a good starting point.”
“Asking a vampire to fund a vampire-hunting team isn’t exactly the easiest sell.” I smiled at the thought. This was still a strange situation, whichever way you looked at it. He really should be my enemy, and the fact that we were having a conversation about this was even more bizarre.
Naomi slipped her arm through mine again and walked along with me. “You’ll figure this out. As long as we stay alive long enough, anyway.”
As I thought about what might be waiting in our room and how careful we needed to be yet again, I knew it wasn’t as much of a joke as it ought to be. We really did need to be careful.
Once again, when we reached the door to our room, we both paused, making sure for the third time in several seconds that we didn’t have anyone following us or watching what we were doing.
“I’ll go in first again,” I said, knowing it was the most dangerous role to take in this. Naomi knew me well enough to let me take that position and go inside.
I reached for a dagger again, and then realized I had also left that in Leo’s room.
Naomi let out a very quiet laugh and handed me one of hers. “You’ll have to go get those weapons back or make sure you don’t forget them in future.”
“Or keep them on.” I grinned and then pushed the door open. We repeated the same check we’d used the first time we’d come into the room to make sure there were no vampires inside. Thankfully we soon found that the room was clear and we were safe.
Naomi double-checked, to be on the safe side, and I retrieved some of my weapons from my bag to make sure I was well stocked again. I gave her back her blade before going to the veranda door and opening it. Petros was out there but he didn’t say anything, just giving me a thumbs-up.
I did the same to let him know we were all safe so far and this wouldn’t be a problem. Naomi glanced over my shoulder to note he was there as well and then we came back inside. I shut the door again, but I didn’t lock it so he could get in if he needed to.
“I don’t think I am going to be able to sleep easily with a vampire on our veranda,” Naomi whispered before she sat down on the edge of her bed.
Although I wanted to reassure her and tell her that Leo trusted him, I actually wasn’t sure about it.
“We can sleep in shifts, if you want?” I asked.
It wasn’t a great offer, and it would leave us both more tired, but it was the best I could think of.
I also wasn’t sure I trusted him, and I knew that if we were both asleep and someone snuck into the room, they could possibly kill us in our sleep and Petros wouldn’t even hear it.
He was mostly there as backup if we got into a fight. I knew we would have to start any fight and look out for danger on our own. It was still help of a sort, however.
“Do you mind if I sleep first?” Naomi asked. “I’d normally be the first to offer to stay up, but I’m not used to all this chaos and I didn’t sleep very well on the flight.”
“Go ahead,” I replied, knowing I had already dozed in Leo’s arms for a while. I wasn’t as sleep-deprived as any of my teammates were.
She settled down quickly, keeping her weapons close and clothes on. I hated that she needed to be so careful, but I knew we all would be doing the same for now. There was a good chance that we’d get this whole situation sorted fairly swiftly and then we could enjoy the rest of the cruise together.
Not that it would be easy when there were so many vampires aboard, but if they were mostly up to their own things and making sure their enthralled were consenting, I didn’t see why we couldn’t ignore them for a few days.
But that was getting ahead of us. We had to deal with this vampire and his relic first. I had kept my feelings to myself on being chucked out of the lounge but it had stung. I knew this was their playground and, to some degree, I had to play by their rules when I was here, but I didn’t want to.
One thing I could thank Leo for was how he had opened my eyes. My parents had neglected to let me know how powerful the Brethren were in comparison to the turned, and what relics were capable of, or that we could use them.
As Naomi got some sleep, I thought about what a vampire hunter could be capable of if we had some of these relics, and I began to wonder how many the academy might have.
They had us take possessions from the vampires we killed.
Something that might bear their mark. What if this was their way of trying to gather relics without us knowing they truly existed?
I had no idea if they would do something like that, but I was starting to wonder why my parents had walked away from the safe umbrella of such a large organization and exactly what was going on. Meeting Leo had opened my eyes to so much about the world I lived in.
Vampire hunters thought we were the ones who knew everything. Aware of what really lurked in the shadows. But it wasn’t true at all. There were still secrets, and they were big ones. Could I unravel them all?
The more and more I thought about it the more I wanted to go back to Leo and ask him more questions.
I wanted to know everything he knew. And I was more and more tempted to give up on the academy.
If he was willing to fund it, I would start a vampire-hunting group that would truly weed out the evil.
No more keeping secrets from our members.