His lips pulled back, although he didn’t look away. His eyes were focused on mine with a force that almost brought me to my knees in front of him. I realized we were in the middle of the living room with three sets of curious eyes focused on us and I shyly cleared my throat.
“We can’t do this now, Stefan.”
He pouted for a moment, his teeth catching against his full bottom lip, releasing his grip on my hand and waist. His hand cupped my face, his thumb tracing against my cheekbone. “I know. It was entertaining while it lasted.”
Giving him an affectionate shove, I didn’t resist when his fingers interlaced with mine. We rejoined our little group that had been watching our display with fascination. Georgia was the only one that chose to speak.
“You love her.” Her statement sounded more like a question and it was directed to Stefan. He looked down at her for a moment before he replied.
“As I have told you many times, I love her more than my own existence,” Stefan paused and studied Georgia’s unsmiling face. “If I had to sacrifice my life for her, there would be no choice. She will always come first.”
“You’ll take care of her?”
He let out an exasperated sigh. “Georgia, did I just not tell you how I felt for Josephine?”
“Yeah, yeah. I just had to ask.” She smoothed her hand over her dark hair. “I have friends in New York, you know. I’ll be visiting you. A lot.”
His entire body tensed for a split second. I’m sure Georgia missed it; however being familiar with his mannerisms I was quick to notice the change in his demeanor.
“Josephine will be thrilled to see you.” He squeezed my fingers tightly.
Georgia smiled an unnatural, peculiar smile. It was forced, as if she’d watched other people and was mimicking it, the perfect replica of a real smile with no actual emotion behind it. An alarm bell rang loudly in my head, causing my stomach to knot with dread as I observed my friend. Whatever was happening to Georgia wasn’t going to end well. I couldn’t see around the voids and swirls of darkness to figure out what she’d gotten herself into, or the better question, with whom.
“Something isn’t right, Stefan. She’s different. She’s not the same Georgia anymore.” I sent my thoughts to him and cleared my throat audibly. Stefan met my anxious gaze and his handsome face tensed his chiseled jaw clenching as he ground his teeth.
“Georgia, if you will excuse us, we need to talk to Lukas,” Stefan said, smiling apologetically at Georgia. He looked away from me to study Georgia’s face as he waited for her reply.
She only nodded and focused back on her drink. Stefan pulled me into the kitchen and started pacing.
“Explain what isn’t right.” Stefan’s mind voice was demanding and eager for information.
“She’s putting off weird emotions. She realizes something isn’t right but can’t figure out why. And her smile… it’s like she imitating what a smile looks like. There’s no feeling behind it. Is this because of what you had to do?”
His pacing stopped as he rested against the countertop and his hands gripped his hair. “I would assume the change in her personality has to do with me removing part of her memories. It was traumatic for her to discover that there are vampires, to know what we are and what you are, only to then rip those from her and replace those with scant recollections of watching a movie and going to bed. I feared this would happen.”
His head fell back against his broad shoulders. His hands tensed to make fists and then he relaxed them again. “Fuck!”
I flinched at his sudden expletive. Moving to stand in front of him, I placed my hands against his hard chest and looked up at him. Our eyes met and his were stoic. “This seems like more than that, Stefan. So what happens now?”
“For now, nothing. We watch, we listen and we wait. This could be temporary.”
I didn’t move. My hands were still on his chest and I stood breathless. “And if it’s not temporary?”
He let out an audible chuckle, dry and humorless. “You know the options, Josephine. She will either die or be forced to accept the truth again. Or be changed.” His hands floated along my arms. “Do not ask me to change her. I will refuse.”
A cold chill ran along my spine. I couldn’t force Stefan to do anything he didn’t want to do. And he’d attempted to save Georgia already. If she hadn’t been so damn nosy and impulsive we wouldn’t be having this discussion about the precarious fate of her life right now.
“So we wait.”
He nodded. “I am proficient at waiting. I waited 200 years for you.”