Fated(64)

Damn it if he wasn't right again!

“Can you see what's going to happen? You know I can't see our futures, Stefan.”

He was a blur as he moved back and forth from the bed to the closet, opening a large suitcase and placing jeans, shirts and shoes in the bag.

“They are curious about you. It is not typical of a vampire to choose to be in a romantic relationship with a human and they want to evaluate the strength of it. Of course, they knew of you from my own mind as we discussed and I'm assuming Adolfo's questions piqued their interest. Start packing, vackra.”

His hand pointed to the closet and motioned for me to start moving. My feet felt as if they were encased in cement as I walked towards the closet, my hands clenching until I felt my fingernails cut into my palms.

“How long are we going to be there? And what they hell do they want to know, Stefan?”

Turning away and not waiting for an answer, I focused on the closet and searched through the clothes Lukas had picked out for me. I mentally gave Lukas a thank you for his obsessive shopping behavior.

“Two days at the most, Josephine. They want to assess your ability and make sure you are not a threat. If it puts your mind at ease, I see us returning back to Bali. There are things that are variables. However, I see us returning together.”

“Variables? What kind of variables?”

Stefan shrugged his shoulders as he began getting dressed. “That I do not know. Our gifts are not exact sciences.”

Throwing up my hands in exasperation, I angrily pulled clothes from the closet and added it to Stefan's suitcase. I hurried into the bathroom and grabbed my cosmetic bag and toiletries from the sink, rushing back into the bedroom. Stepping back into the closet, I grabbed jeans and yanked a white smocked henley blouse from the hanger. Dressing quickly, I shoved my feet into a pair of ballet flats and ran my fingers through my hair to attempt to smooth the wild waves. I walked to the edge of the bed to stand beside Stefan, my hands trembling as I reached for the zipper of the suitcase to close the suitcase.

“You look beautiful.” His thought was a whisper as he turned to encircle me in his arms, pulling me against the hardness of his body. His blond head lowered to brush his lips against mine gently and I let myself relax into the comfort of his embrace. I reminded myself that he said we'd be returning together. The thought of losing him or coming home without him tore apart my insides.

His mental voice was a whisper as it entered my mind. “Remember that I love you and I promise to keep you safe. For now, you need to follow my lead. If I tell you to answer in a certain way, it is imperative you do so.”

Squaring my shoulders, I pulled away from him and my mouth was set in a grim line. “I'm so going to kick your ass when we get home, Stefan. This is the vampire bullshit you were referring to I assume?”

He chuckled aloud, breaking the silence of the room. He nodded and picked the suitcase off the bed with one hand. He hesitantly offered me his other hand, waiting for me to join him. I reluctantly put my hand in his and squeezed it affectionately.

Are you ready for this, vackra?

Releasing a resigned sigh, my shoulders drooped slightly. That was the million dollar question. I knew I'd never be ready to fly off to meet a council of vampires and rely on Stefan's mental queues to make it out alive but I didn't have a choice in the matter.

“I'm as ready as I'll ever be. Let's go so we can come home.”



The drive to Denpasar International Airport was silent and filled with tension. I clung to Stefan's arm during most of the car ride and Adolfo made no attempt to make any conversation as we drove along. I found myself looking out the tinted backseat window, the beautiful scenery a blur as my mind tried to make sense of what happened. Just this morning I was considering becoming one and now I was on my way to go before a Council of vampires that wanted to assess my abilities, most likely ridicule our relationship and all Stefan could tell me is that we'd be coming home together. On a scale of 1-10 on having a bad day this had to be a 40. Resting my head against the car seat, I turned my head slightly to look at Stefan sitting next to me.

He was staring straight ahead and his posture was rigid. The chiseled lines of his face were hard, his jaw set rigidly. One of his hands rested on my thigh and the other absently tapped on the seat. He was nervous and I was trying to figure out why since he'd assured me we'd be coming home together.

Closing my eyes, I mentally reached out to read his thoughts. The recurring theme in his mind was seeing us on a flight home together. The remainder of his vision was a jumble of black spots and blurs as his mind calculated the situation we were walking into, flashes of faces and conversation flying through his mind. His thoughts would change direction to focus on Adolfo and his mind became dark and sinister. I was almost dizzy from the speed of his mind working.