Fated(63)

I quietly left the room, my bare feet padding down the staircase to head for the kitchen. I'd just stepped into the living room when I noticed a strange man sitting on Stefan's couch. I froze in my tracks, unable to move.

His strange, heavily accented voice stopped me in my tracks. “You must be infamous Josephine I've heard so much about.”

He was tall and thin and his long arm stretched across the back of the couch. His hair was wavy, salt and pepper in color. His skin had the familiar iridescent pale quality of a vampire, however his had an almost tawny tinge and his features reflected his Spanish heritage. His brown eyes were sharp and piercing, his mouth thin with a slight cynical twist to it.

Slowly inching backwards towards the staircase to the master bedroom, my heart was racing against my chest. I wasn't sure if my mental thoughts could wake up Stefan but I figured now was a perfect time to try since I was alone with a potentially unfriendly vampire. I'm sure my mental voice was loud and probably sounded frantic it screamed out to him. “Stefan! I need you to get down here. Now.”

“Yes, I'm Josie. I'm at a disadvantage here since you obviously know me and I'm at a loss as to who you are. I wake up to find a stranger sitting on my boyfriend's couch. You have to understand why I'm confused.” My voice sounded level, even as my heart continued its frantic rhythm in my chest. I continued slowly backing towards the stairs as I kept sending mental pleas to Stefan.

A deep, mocking laugh came from him, his legs stretching to cross at his ankles. “Boyfriend,” he snorted, his eyebrow raising slightly. “I suppose you're right. I know everything about you, Josephine. You are more beautiful than Stefan said you'd be.”

“Adolfo.”

I let out a sigh of relief as I heard Stefan's voice at the top of the stairs. He was a blur as he came to stand beside of me, a possessive arm wrapping tightly around my waist.

“Josephine, since he is not polite enough to introduce himself, allow me to do the honors. This is my friend Adolfo Amaya. He is on the Council, the one I contacted about our concerns,” Stefan said, his voice sharp as he made the introductions. Glancing up to look at his face, my stomach sank as I observed the displeased expression on his face. When he looked down at me, his eyes were filled with regret. I knew this wasn't a social visit since it was apparent Stefan knew exactly why this vampire was here and it wasn't to catch up on gossip.

“Nice to meet you,” I whispered, pressing myself closer to Stefan. I sent a mental thought to him, the tone cutting. “Now would be a great time to tell me what the hell is going on, Stefan.”

Stefan's mental voice laughed sardonically. “He is here on Council business. We are going to need to go with him. Josephine, I need you to remain calm so he doesn't know we're communicating.”

He needed me to remain calm?! This strange vampire was here to take us to parts unknown and I'm supposed to stand here and act like he's here for a cup of coffee? I took a deep breath and made the decision to let Stefan do the talking. He could easily pick through Adolfo's future to gauge his intentions.

“Stefan, you know why I'm here so let's cut the pleasantries. I need you both to pack and come with me. There's a private plane waiting for us,” Adolfo said in his heavily accented voice, clasping his hands across his lap. His dark eyes roamed around the room before fixing his stare back at Stefan.

Watching as Stefan began to anxiously pace the room at a much faster pace than human speed, I uneasily sat down on the edge on a chair and chewed on my bottom lip. Lukas had warned us both this was going to happen. Even Stefan said they knew of me prior to us meeting. I wasn't expecting it to happen like this, especially from someone that Stefan said he could trust.

His mental voice was a warning in my head. “Vackra, we have no choice in the matter. We cannot refuse. We have to go with him.”

He stopped pacing to stand beside of me, his large hand caressing the strands of my hair. I glanced up at him, our eyes meeting again. His sea blue eyes were resigned and his mouth was tight and grim. He addressed Adolfo without bothering to look at him, his eyes still focused on mine as he spoke.

“How long until we leave, Adolfo?”

Adolfo stood and walked to the far wall of windows. He pulled back the arm of his suit jacket, glancing at his watch. “We need to leave here within the hour. I'll be your escort until the Council convenes.”

“Fine,” Stefan answered. He grabbed my elbow and led me up the steps into the bedroom. He closed the door behind us and his face finally relaxed.

As I started to open my mouth to speak, Stefan placed his index finger over his own lips and shook his head. He moved to tap his temple, reminding me to use mental speak. I rolled my eyes, remembering him telling me this would come in handy.