After folding yet another blouse and tucking it away in the suitcase, my thoughts focused on Georgia and the incident at my villa. I was extremely concerned about her state of mind and confused at her strange behavior. I still couldn’t figure out what had possessed her to seek out Stefan and Lukas alone. Had she always been off kilter and I hadn’t seen it? Was it the knowledge of mythical creatures existing that had pushed her over the edge? Every time I tried to focus on her future, it was it was scrambled with gaping holes in it. It was comparable to staring through Swiss cheese.
And then there was Stefan… he had been exceptionally careful with his thoughts, almost as if he was afraid for me to know how he was truly feeling. I glanced up to see Stefan staring out the windows, and I studied his profile from across the room. His chiseled face was contemplative, stress deepening the feathery lines around his eyes. He had his hands shoved in the front pockets of his dark wash blue jeans, the muscles in his arms tight.
“You’re awfully quiet over there. What’s going on in that head of yours?” I asked, reaching for the next item to pack away. “You’ve closed your mind to me or I wouldn’t have to ask.”
He turned to face me and his eyebrows furrowed over his blue eyes. “Do you need to ask?” Stefan snorted. “I had no choice but to erase a huge portion of your friend’s memory and we are heading back to New York tomorrow. I am worried about Georgia’s state of mind and your safety once we return to the US.”
Exhaling a deep breath, I nodded in agreement. If I were to be completely honest, I was worried about not only my safety, but his as well. My father was a big unknown to us since he had the capability to deflect Stefan’s psychic ability. Stefan was a meticulous schemer, careful and precise. He didn’t like to be caught off guard by a rogue vampire that was older and considerably more powerful.
“Georgia seemed fine when she left. We’ll be able to watch her tonight. As for Kian… maybe my shield will work on him. Nikolaus can work around his power, maybe I can too.” I resumed folding clothes and sighed. “I can’t let him control my life, Stefan. I refuse to do it.”
“That we are in agreement with, vackra. I refuse to let him control you and what we have. I am also unwilling to let you be a guinea pig and test your shield. We cannot assume your mind works the same simply because he can thwart Kian’s ability.” His voice had a sharp, cutting edge to it, like the blade of a newly sharpened knife. Glancing up at his expression, his beautiful face momentarily had an inhuman quality to it, cold and unfeeling. By the time I blinked again, it had rapidly been replaced to reflect the Stefan I loved, his handsome face was unworried and lips quirked slightly at the corners. His other expression had been so fleeting that I almost thought I imagined it. Almost.
Even though it was tempting to just stand and observe him longer, I disappeared into the closet, bringing out the final things I wanted to pack away. Packing away clothing into the luggage gave me time to deduce exactly what Stefan was planning, most likely for my father. He would not be hasty in how he chose to attack. Call it intuition or a hunch, I could sense the smoothly-oiled wheels of his mind cataloging information into the vast filing cabinet of his mind, each piece of information vital to his strategy.
Zipping up the suitcase, I turned and carried it to stand by its mate at the closet door, my hands on my hips. Logically, I should be disturbed to know that the love of my life was planning my father’s death. I had no emotional tie to my father, the only link I had to Kian was the blood that ran through my veins. The knowledge that he had single-handedly killed my mother quickly alleviated any troubled thoughts that lingered. It was a necessity, as Nikolaus had told Stefan. It was either kill or be killed.
I wasn’t ready to die.
I glanced up at the windows where Stefan had been standing only moments ago to find that he had moved silently and swiftly to stretch his long body across the bed, ridding himself of his clothes to lie naked. He was reclining on his back, his long arms behind his head. Even though I’d seen him nude many times, seeing him like this never lost its powerful effect on me. My breathing shifted into rapid pants and I suddenly felt like I had on too many clothes. My concerns were pushed away as I stared at him, transfixed by the sight of his pale skin against the chocolate brown of the duvet cover. My hands moved on their own accord to undress, letting my discarded clothes fall behind me, unwanted and unneeded as I approached the bed.
He was a paradox of sorts: dark and light, vampire and man. And I craved him like any addict would hunger after the object they desired. He had gotten under my skin in the most mysterious of ways with his charm and beauty.