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“Evan?” I whispered out. Upon hearing my voice his eyes flew open and he struggled from beneath them and pulled the sheet around him before I could blink. Leslie started giggling, but the giggle was cut short by a moan as Tristan walked her further onto the bed.

“
Aut-Autumn,” Evan swallowed out, scrambling for his clothes.

“Colette n-needs you
,” I whispered out keeping my eyes on the floor.

“O-okay, I’ll be… I’ll be out in a jiff.”

“Alright…” I turned to leave.

“Good night, Autumn,
” Leslie snickered out between moans before twisting back around, seizing Tristan’s blood drenched mouth for a kiss. Blushing I left the room followed seconds later by Evan drenched in sweat in rumpled khakis and a crumpled, half buttoned, ballet slipper pink shirt. I couldn’t look at him without blushing.

“She…” Evan started and then trailed off, I shook my head.

“Colette’s right here.” I gestured to
Colette, who was beaming at Evan as she kissed the baby’s forehead. Something silent and unfriendly passed between the two of them that stopped Evan’s embarrassment dead in its tracks. The three of us walked to the end of the hall and then Colette unlocked another door and Evan opened it.

The room wasn’t familiar but the furniture was, this was clearly Colette’s room. Two walls were pale pink and the other two were covered from floor to ceiling in one continuous old mirror. Next to a dresser was a small white crib and a bottle of formula. And in the middle of the room was that massive bed with its amazing mattress.

“She’s such a quiet little girl, not fussy at all.
He was so fussy, but he was so much more like his father,” Colette murmured softly. She picked up a bottle of formula and tested it on her wrist before bringing it to the baby’s little mouth. In the mirror I could see Evan looking at me, he was frowning with those almost nonexistently pale brows furrowed.

“I think I should get b-back, Aleksi will probably be wonderin
g where…where I am,” I stammered, glancing at Colette.

“Of course, I didn’t mean to keep you so long. It’s just hard to juggle keys and open doors and hold the baby. Evan can walk you back if you need it. His room is in that hallway and I think I left my
cell phone in there.”

“Ye-yeah,
” Evan added, he didn’t stop staring at me. “I’ll ma-make sure she gets there safely.” He flashed me a nervous smile.
Thank him.

“Thank you.” I bowed my head a little and started for the door as Colette continued purring to the baby. She didn’t look up, that baby was her whole world. Evan and I left and started down the hall together. He led me ably through the labyrinth. A few times he looked at me and took a breath to start speaking but didn’t say anything.

“I’m not going to judge you, Evan. What you do… what you and Leslie and Tristan do… that’s your business.”

“A-and Colette,
” He added softly passing his fingers back through his shortish copper-colored locks.

“And Colette’s business
too I suppose.” I quickly stepped in front of him and smiled at him.
No he meant Colette’s usually in there too.

“What I meant was Colette also joins.” It was my turn to flush as red as my corset.

“O-oh. Well, whatever you enjoy is…” I trailed off and rubbed my neck remembering being pressed against him as he
fed from me and Aleksi kissed me. My toes curled in the carpet and I let out a shaky breath. “Are you excited about Monday?”

“Somewhat, but I’d much rather be dancing myself.”

“Leslie is…” I trailed off.

“
A distraction,” Evan divulged with a sigh as he stopped outside of a familiar door. “Aleksi’s room.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re more than welcome, my room is just next door.” He gestured down the hall and wrung his hands. “I guess I should go find Colette’s mobile. Have a good night.”

“You too.” I opened the door and Evan nodded and continued down the hall.

The room was pitch black. I couldn’t see anything, it was like standing in a void of nothingness. With no sight and sound, the room was disorienting.

“Don’t turn on the light
,” Aleksi said, his voice empty. I closed the door but kept the light off, leaning against the wall and trying to get my eyes to adjust. They refused to comply with the darkness around me so I stumbled to the bed and tripped onto it. “I was starting to get worried, I’m glad you’re okay.”

“You left me alone
,” I whispered as I crawled to the head of the larger than king sized bed. “So I helped Colette with the baby.” My words brought a small scoff from him, and seconds later the blanket was thrown over me.

“Part of me wants to leave your bottom black and blue. Then bend you over and take you as rough as I please because of that little show you put on.”—
Yes, please
.—“
But, another part of me is just too tired to deal with it right now.” He sighed. “I just want to lay here in the dark with you.” I wriggled across the bed to him and laid my head on his chest, his warm arms closed over me. One hand played in my hair and the other stroked my back, his fingers idly playing with the ribbon that held the corset closed. “Elizabeta is going to name her Margot.”

“You called her?”

“When I came back and found you weren’t here. You probably think I’m heartless for not wanting to be around her.”

“
No, she’s…she’s the product of a form of rape…maybe not as violent or as clean cut as most perceive it… but still…you didn’t want to have sex with her, right?”

“Not even once. I should have protested more…but at least Elizabeta gets what she wants. But she always gets what she wants. And I…” He trailed off. “I have only ever gotten one thing I really wanted, and I keep waiting for that to be taken from me. I’m not allowed to be happy, my life is nothing but sadness, capitulation for survival, and distraction.”

“But you like dancing, doesn’t that make you happy?”

“More than not dancing, yes…” He trailed off. “I wish you had been alive when I was mortal. I wish I had met you walking back to the dormitory before Elizabeta, before Vlad, before Colette… before any of this. I ache to have a life with you, Autumn. But I’m not allowed
that, I’m not allowed the children I want. I bet if we tried we’d never conceive, or if we did it would be stillborn like the thousands of other children with one vampire parent. I’m not allowed the life I want. I get clips and pieces, but never all of the parts that fit together. You’re going to leave me, or worse. I’d ask if you want the second mark, but…”—He started laughing—“I’m afraid you’ll say no, or I’m afraid you’ll say yes and someone will do something to you to hurt me.”

“Shh.” I kissed his chest and slid my leg over his. “I couldn’t see leaving you, Aleksi. I love you, and… I think we want the same things. Maybe one day we’ll even have a family, no one knows what the future holds.” Even as I said
it, I got a flash of that bright blue eyed boy playing on my grave, but I kept it to myself. I would leave him—I’d die. But judging from the dirt on my grave, it would be a few years off still. Or had it changed?
It changed, it was an old grave before.

“You do.”

“Maybe, I don’t know how it works still. I see snippets, which can be the moment I see them or years in the future. They’re conditional, so I don’t really know the future. I know what could happen if things don’t change. But it’s not as reliable as it seems… and I…I get the feeling that I can influence things. But I don’t know how to do it intentionally. I don’t… really know a lot about it.”

“You’ll figure it out, you’re smart.”

“Not that smart…I’m dropping out of University—without my notes I’m stuck. No dissertation, no Ph.D. So I should stop wasting money and give up.”

“Don’t give up. I’ll pay for it if it’s a matter of money.”

“It’s not the money, I’m…I’m burnt out.”

“Well, take a year off. Come with me to Europe.” He wrapped both his legs around me and pulled me tight against his body.

“Sure, I’ll go with you.”

“Good. No one calms me like you do…
well, you’re the only one whose company calms me without you being tied up and at my mercy.” He growled teasing my neck. He then released me, and with a twitch of his wrist untied the corset. “I love you, Autumn my own darling.” He purred as he tugged the ribbon of the corset loose and that stiff red satin fell open.

      
Stifling a yawn, he shifted from under me and took off his vest and shirt. He then pulled me down on top of him so my thighs were on either side of his hips and my head was on his chest. He held me captive by wrapping his arms around me.

He fell asleep almost instantly, but I didn’t get that luxury. I laid there listening to his breathing and feeling the faint, delicate thudding of his heartbeat
that matched my own. Something made my spine tingle, and I slowly slid myself from Aleksi’s grasp. When I turned around, I noticed a shadow at the foot of the bed that shouldn’t have been there. The door never opened, there was no way someone could be standing there. I slowly backed up so my back was against the wall. Aleksi still slept soundly.

“I gave you… simple…
task...naive…girl. Find Gregory…before…the envoy…too late… too late.” The shadows of the room hissed to me. “Dire Consequencessss…heed my…warningsss.” Then I blinked and the shadow wasn’t there anymore. But I had found Gregory, and I told Elizabeta…
You should have looked for a more specific location. No one knows where he is, remember?
What did I do? I closed my eyes and for the first time in a very long while, whispered a little prayer that Aleksi and I would be safe no matter what happened.

When I did finally get to sleep, I had the dream again. Tristan and Leslie dancing their second Pas de Deux in front of the massive, ornate, white clock in full makeup. And then right in the middle of it, a gunshot that makes my ears ring. This time, they both fell over and blood soaked the stage as the audience screamed.

I woke up alone, drenched in sweat and panting. I fucked up. I fucked up big time, there was no doubt now.
Yes, you did.
It was a vision and not a dream. Pulling the comforter up around me I pressed my hands to my face and took a few deep breaths. Was there time to make things right?
Vlad says it’s too late, it’s probably too late
.
SHUT UP. I slipped out of bed and grabbed my change of clothes from the bag and went into the bathroom. I had two days… two days to stop it. But how? Where would I even begin?

I spent a day and a half standing in front of
the mirror in the dark. I didn’t eat. I didn’t sleep. I just exhausted myself and my power. I saw so many things, half snippets of Gregory in dark rooms with nondescript windows. There were no hints as to where he was; he could be anywhere. I told Aleksi about my dream, and he informed Tristan. Then, they all expressed in some form or another that I was worried about nothing and that the envoy would find him before anything happened.

Bang. Bang. Bang.
I could hear the knocking on the bathroom door as I drifted through a vision. Gregory walking through another windowless hallway. He knew he was being followed, he opened a door to a windowless bedroom, written on the white wall in blood were the words: ‘I know you’re watching. You’ve already lost.’ It took every little bit of me to surrender myself to my vision and let it carry me along.

Next I was treated to the vision of the fabled shot, but I never saw where the shot came from or who it hit. I had seen it so many times now I was numb to it. I couldn’t tell which direction the shot came from exactly, I just knew it didn’t come from the right side. The right side, a handful of rows back was where I watched from every time. Who was I watching through? Was I watching it through Gregory?

Suddenly, I was staring down the hallway that lead to the stage door at the theater. Evan was walking down the hall, wearing that pale pink button down I saw him in at the execution and black pants. A figure dressed in that earthy brown tone opened the door and Evan paused. That ginger vampire yelled something I couldn’t hear and then there was another gunshot. Evan staggered back against those pale gray walls and slid down clutching his stomach while the blood blossomed across his abdomen and the brown-clad man walked past without even pausing.

That was new. I was released from the vision as the candle snuffed itself. I clung to the sink and screamed in frustration and was met with the distinct pop of glass breaking. My grip slipped with exhaustion and I fell back onto the hard, cold tile crying and shaking.

Bang. Bang. Bang.
The knock changed, it was Leslie now. I didn’t want to face her, so I didn’t acknowledge the knock, I just curled up on the floor. I could hear them murmuring, and then the crack and crash of the door being kicked in
. Hiding won’t solve anything.
I shut my eyes hard against the light as I heard the footsteps flood into the room. Someone lifted me and pressed their small hand over my eyes.

“Aleksi… you shoul
d see this,” Leslie's voice sounded from some nondescript direction as I was sat on the bed. “Is she bleeding?”

“No… she didn’t do it, the wood f
rom the door frame probably did,” Aleksi explained from across the room. Who had me in their arms?

“I understand your concern for your friend Leslie, and you as well Evan. But I need to speak to Autumn alone.” Elizabeta’s sure voice rang out in my ears. “You have to go too, Aleksi.”

“Fine
,” He clipped out before the door was slammed hard.