Dangerous Love (11 page)

Chapter 7

The café made Vayna feel like she stepped out of the modern world back into her past. Everything from the walls, to the chairs, even to the sarcophagus standing in the corner with a fake mummy in it seemed like it came straight from her time. She stopped short in the doorway, much to the annoyance of people behind her, and simply stared. For a moment she almost swore out loud.

“What’s wrong?” Sage asked from beside her. She was staring up at the dark haired vampire with a look of confusion on her face as she waited for her to respond.

The sound of the young human’s voice broke the memories that threatened to overwhelm her and she looked down at her.
Blinking a few times, she remembered where she was, and what time she was in and shook her head, “Nothing, I’m fine. Let’s get a table to sit at.”

“Sure,” she replied with a nod. She followed the vampire further into the café as she kept an eye on her for a few moments. Vayna still had a dazed look on her face and the only thing Sage could figure that made her that way was the way the café looked. Once they were seated at a table near the back, she asked, “It reminds you of Egypt, doesn’t it?”

Vayna’s blue eyes shot up and looked at her with a startled look in her eyes. She’d been so caught up in her thoughts that she forgot that her human lover knew she was a vampire. She opened her mouth to reply when she said, “Wait… how did you know I was from Egypt? I don’t remember ever telling you that.”

“You didn’t…” Sage replied as she got a sheepish look on her face. Before she could reply, a girl came over with
a small menu and asked them if they wanted to try anything on the new menu. Vayna declined and Sage ordered the café’s special herbal tea. The girl left and Sage continued, “I did the math. If you’re over 3,000 years old, that would put you around the time of the Pharaohs of Egypt.”

Vayna visibly froze at those words. The word Pharaoh often caused a rush of memories she didn’t want to remember to hit her, and that moment was no exception. She stared wide eyed at Sage as she fought off the memories that threatened to overwhelm her. Comprehension dawned on the young human’s face and she asked, “No way… you were a
Pharaoh
?!”

“Not so loud!” Vayna said as she snapped out of her
daze. She leaned forward and placed a single hand over her human’s mouth as she hissed softly, “Yes, I was Pharaoh. No, I’m not going to tell you which one, at least not
here
. I don’t need anyone overhearing about what I am.”

Sage nodded slightly from behind her vampire’s hand as she stared at her
in astonishment. Vayna drew her hand back and the young woman murmured softly, “I promise I won’t say anything while we’re here, but wow…”

Vayna gently rubbed her forehead as she sighed. She didn’t intend on the young human figuring out who she was. She expected her to figure out what country she came from originally, but Sage was most certainly smarter than she gave her credit for. She ran her hand through her hair as she said softly, “Yeah. So now you know.”

“That explains why you reacted the way you did,” Sage said as the girl came back with her tea. She was about to take a sip when Vayna stopped her with a hand on her arm and lifted the cup up to her nose.

“Hmm… Hibiscus, cherry blossoms, rose petals, and…” she murmured as she took another sniff of the liquid, “White tea.
Interesting combination.”

“You could tell that all from smelling it?” Sage asked as she took the cup from her vampire lover and took a sip. The liquid flowed over her tongue and she hummed softly from the peculiar taste of it.

“Heightened sense of smell, remember?” the ancient vampire replied as she sat back and gazed at her human. The young female was dressed in a set of her clothes. It should’ve looked out of place on her, but Sage actually managed to pull the outfit off. She wore one of the ancient vampire’s old button up blouses the color of amethyst and a pair of her old jeans. They went well with the shirt and made the young female’s grey eyes stand out all the more.

Sage caught the look her vampire was giving her and raised an
eyebrow . She was wondering why the ancient vampire was staring at her so intently. If she didn’t know better, she would think Vayna was trying to read her mind.

“I was just thinking of how good you look in that outfit,” she said as she tilted her head and smiled softly at her. A part of her deep down was pleased at seeing the young human in her clothes, but she wouldn’t admit that out loud. It was bad enough that her inner vampire liked it. She didn’t want to scare the young human away with such possessive thoughts.

Sage looked down at the clothes she was wearing and blushed lightly. She was wearing some of the vampire’s clothes that she randomly picked out because they looked nice. She didn’t really care how she looked in them until that moment. With a shy smile, she said, “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” she said as she nodded softly, still gazing at her human.

It was Sage’s turn to study her companion. Vayna was playing up the vampire part that night, she noticed. The black t-shirt she wore clung to her body and the leather pants definitely made her seem taller. Or that could’ve been the pair of stylish boots she was wearing, but Sage wasn’t sure. Around her neck was a choker with a crescent moon hanging delicately from it. Her black hair flowed down around her shoulders and the entire outfit only served to enhance her pale skin and blue eyes. She almost wondered what it would be like to see Vayna in her vampire form in that outfit…

“Ladies and Gentlemen, may I have your attention, please?” a male voice rang out over the crowd. Both women turned to look up at the stage and Sage heard Vayna curse softly.

“I’ll be damned…”

She shot her a questioning look, but the vampire merely shook her head as the man continued to speak, “Welcome to the new Café Scarab. Please enjoy the evening. We have a live band tonight and a new dance floor for all of you who like to dance. But don’t forget to spend that money you brought with you!”

The crowd laughed softly as he walked off the stage. He spotted the two of them and his eyes widened a fraction before he sauntered over to the two of them as he asked, “And just what are we doing, Miss Chronos?”

“Jeran Nikodemus,” she replied as she simply looked at him. Of course he would be here, she thought. The man
always
seemed to know where she was, no matter how hard she tried to shake him off of her.

The man stepped closer to their table at her acknowledgement. Sage was able to see him much better now that he was closer to them. He stood wearing an old fashioned suit of pure black with a red ascot tied around his neck, the only spot of color on him. His dark skin looked deathly pale as he stood there, a grin on his face showing off his sharp fangs. He bowed low to her as he said, “At your service, my
Pharaoh.”

“I told you not to call me that,” she said as she turned around in her chair to face him. She took in the sight of his fangs and almost hissed, “What do you think you’re doing, showing off your fangs like that?”

“Relax, Vayna,” he said as he held up both of his hands. His grin never diminished even as a group of humans passed them. He shook his head as he spoke, “You really need to get out more often. Everyone around here thinks they’re caps. Fake teeth. No one really believes they’re real fangs. Speaking of which, I take it this delightful morsel knows what you are?”

Sage blushed when he took her hand and kissed the back of it, a small smile on her lips as she replied, “The delightful morsel does know, but I don’t quite enjoy being thought of as a snack, Mr. Nikodemus.”

“Jeran, please,” he said as he straightened up and flashed her a seductive grin. If it hadn’t been for Vayna right there, she would’ve thought he was trying to bed her. And he would have, if it weren’t for the very loud growl that came from his Pharaoh, “If I knew the delightful morsel’s name, I would say that instead.”

“Sage, Sage Loveren,” she replied as she gazed in amusement at her vampire. She didn’t have to have advanced hearing to hear the growl that came from Vayna. She glanced back at Jeran as she continued, “And I think that, what
did you call her? Your Pharaoh? Doesn’t like you trying to seduce me, Jeran.”

Jeran turned his head and all but pouted at Vayna as he said, “Oh, come now, Vayna. We’ve shared food before. Surely
you’re not saying I can’t have just a little taste…?”

As he said this he moved closer to Sage and Vayna’s eyes turned crimson for a split second as she barked out his name, “Jeran!”

Said vampire immediately stood up straight and gazed straight ahead, “Yes, Ma’am!”

Sage couldn’t resist the giggle that escaped her at that and she pressed a hand to her mouth. Jeran relaxed and shot a glare at Vayna, whom merely shrugged her shoulders at him and grinned as she said, “This one’s not just food, Jeran.”

“Not just…?” he murmured as he looked between the two of them. He saw the look in Vayna’s eyes and his mouth dropped open as he asked, “You mean…?”

Vayna simply nodded and he closed his mouth with a thoughtful hum. In all the years he had known Vayna, never had she taken a true lover. There were many lovers in her life, but no
lovers
. The kind that stayed for more than one night in her bed. To think that she was taking one in this human woman… He nodded his head as he said, “I understand.”

Before any of them could do anything, a waitress came up and whispered into his ear. He nodded his head and replied to her as he looked over toward the bar. His eyes narrowed dangerously as he said, “You ladies will have to excuse me. My
Pharaoh, I’m happy for you, and I have something to talk about with you privately later on at some point.”

“About?” She asked with a slight frown. What could be that important that he’d have to talk to her privately about it, she
wondered. The two of them hadn’t seen each other is so long… it could’ve been anything.

“A certain group of people.
Now I really must go,” he said as he bowed formally to her and disappeared into the crowd.

Vayna groaned softly as she realized what he meant. She made it her life’s mission to
avoid having anything to do with them and she had a feeling she just knew what it was that they were going to want with her.

“Who…?” Sage asked as she looked between her groaning vampire and the one that disappeared seemingly into nowhere. She felt very confused at that moment as she wondered what was going on.

“The council,” was all Vayna said as she rubbed her forehead with an annoyed sigh. Really, why did she have to form that damn council to begin with? She should’ve just left the vampire nation to fend for themselves. That council was more trouble than it was worth anyway.

“Oh,” Sage said as she too frowned. The way her vampire acted, she was starting to get a less and less
favorable impression of the council. It was easy to tell that Vayna didn’t care for the council one bit. She could be blind and still be able to tell that the ancient vampire wanted nothing to do with them. They must be worse than she thought they were…

The two sat in silence for the next few minutes, both lost in their own thoughts.
Vayna trying to come up with a plan to avoid the council, and Sage wondering how bad they really were. The two were so caught up in their thoughts that they failed to hear anything that went on around them.

Chapter 8

Reality came crashing back in on them harshly when a young woman, no older than Sage approached them and asked, “Sage…?
Sage Loveren? Is that you?”

Both women turned their heads and looked at her. Vayna eyed her suspiciously while Sage sat there nervously, a confused look on her face. She tentively nodded her head and said, “Yes, my name is Sage Loveren… who are you?”

“You don’t remember me? What happened, did you get amnesia or something?” the young woman asked in teasing tone. Her hair was a fine, white-blonde and her eyes sparkling green. She had an air of youth about her that annoyed the ancient vampire for some reason that she couldn’t figure out.

Vayna reached over and rested her hand on top of Sage’s, providing her comfort as she resisted the urge to hiss at this new woman. She intruded into their world rudely and uninvited. The ancient vampire did not like her. There was just something very off about the blonde woman.

Sage felt her vampire tighten place her hand on top of hers and felt a small bit of comfort from the action. Though… she could tell that the ancient vampire didn’t trust this newcomer, and if her vampire didn’t like the woman in front of them… that told her that there was something wrong with her. She didn’t intend to judge, but… she wasn’t just about to ignore over 3,000 years worth of knowledge and instinct. Especially when
her
instincts were screaming to run away. She smiled politely as she said, “Actually, yes, I did. You know who I am?”