Black Moon

Scarlet watched as the water rose to meet her. The ocean that she once danced in for Stephan, the waters that she had come to love just as he did was going to cause her death. Envelope her and drown her. Scarlet tried to pull the seat belt free, but it was stuck. Her palms hit against the glass, but it wouldn’t even crack. Her arms circled her unborn child, protecting him the only way she knew how. The car hit the water and the pressure pushed her against the car, and then forced her head down, hitting the steering wheel.

“Stephan, you have to save us. Save our baby.” Scarlet was whimpering as she watched the water fill the black Mustang. Soon she wouldn’t have any air to breathe. She was slipping into unconsciousness. She tried to fight it but soon she was engulfed by darkness.

***

Stephan dove deeper into the ocean, Solara by his side. Solara caught the Mustang by the exhaust and pulled it behind him as he swam. Stephan pulled the door open and cut the seat belt that held her to the seat.

Solara let go of the car that sank into the water. He went to Stephan and helped him pull her to the peer.

“Scarlet, breathe.” Stephan pumped his palms against her frail body. Solara blew air into her mouth trying to breathe air into her lungs.

“You are going to kill her Stephan. You can’t use that kind of force on her,” Nikki stepped next to where Stephan knelt beside Scarlet’s lifeless body.

Kayla sat on the ground on the other side. She held on to Scarlet’s hand and watched Stephan tirelessly try to pump life into her friend. The others stood around them watching silently. They couldn’t hide the grief and terror on their faces. Scarlet hadn’t shown any sign of life for the past five minutes. Stephan’s hands moved from her chest and his fingers locked behind his head. Tears streamed down his face as he watched Scarlet’s body willing her chest to move.

“Scarlet,” Kayla whispered her name as tearless sobs erupted from her chest.

Nikki took his previous position and did both pumping and blowing into her mouth.

***

Scarlet was back at the beach. She was playing in the water as she did before. She looked towards the shore and the sight of the two people she loved the most playing in the sand warmed her heart.

Stephan and SJ were building a sand fortress. He was a normal little boy, and he was a normal father and companion. She saw them as humans and they were living ordinary lives like everyone else, Away from the danger and the pain of the unnatural world.

Scarlet held her arms out to the little boy who bore the exact resemblance of his father. He ran to her and leaped into her arms. She cradled him close to her chest. Stephan walked into the water and danced with them under the moon. He took the giggling boy from her arms and carried him on the nook of his left arm, while his right arm circled his waist. She admired the sight of them, so happy together under the moon. She stroked the boy's black hair and tiptoed to kiss Stephan. She was about to lean into his chest when she felt pressure against her chest. When she looked up to them, they seemed to be fading away. Something was pulling her away from them.

“No, No.” Her arms stretched out towards them as they faded into a cloud of smoke.

Scarlet was choking on water, she coughed it out. She slowly opened her eyes and let them adjust to the darkness.

“She’s fine. Stephan, she is fine.” Scarlet could hear Nikki’s voice. She didn’t understand what was going on. Why wouldn’t she be fine?

She could feel a cold hand on hers, it was Kayla. She sat up and Kayla held her tightly against her chest. Scarlet was still confused, Vincent, Victor, Eric, and Solara were standing around them. Nikki was kneeling by her side and Stephan sat on the floor his head between his knees.

“Stephan.” Scarlet managed to croak out his name.

Stephan looked up at her, grief and fear in his eyes. He crawled towards her, he didn’t try to hold her or even touch her. He just stared at her.

Scarlet saw the look in his eyes and immediately recognized it. All the memories of the past hour flooded into her head. Zen was throwing her into the ocean, the mustang filling up with water and her not being able to breathe.

Her hand dropped to her belly, the baby was fine, and she could feel him move around. Scarlet scrambled to her feet, her breaths were shallow and quick. She was afraid, she looked around the peer but there was no sight of Zen. The only odd thing she saw was a little fire burning out at the far end.

“Zen?”

“Zen is gone. He isn’t here anymore.” Kayla volunteered the information.

“Is he dead?”

“No, but Xavier and Sam went after him.”

Scarlet steadied herself on Kayla’s arm. The threat was still out there. She had to leave San Francisco. She had to leave Stephan.

Stephan had stood up, but he stayed away from her. She didn’t understand his reaction to her but didn’t try to approach him either.

Xavier and Sam returned seconds later. By the looks on their faces, it was clear that Zen had escaped yet again. Scarlet could feel a wave of fear tighten in her chest.

“We lost him a mile down the road.” Xavier was looking from Scarlet to Stephan.

“We are going to find him sooner or later. And I am going to kill him.” Stephan’s voice was low, and it made him sound even more lethal. His fists clenched at his sides, his gaze on the ground, he wanted to hide his eyes from Scarlet. He didn’t want to scare her.

Scarlet walked to him, she stood next to him. Her height allowed her to look straight up into his eyes. His red eyes took her by surprise as they did before. She tried to hide the fear, but he caught it before she could.

Stephan closed his eyes, a tear streaming down the corner of his left eye. He felt her cold arms wrapping around his body. Her clothes were wet and so were his. He held her as tight as he could, the realization of almost losing her setting in. She almost died and it was his fault. His love almost killed her; unlike Sotera he had the strength to save her.

“I am so sorry, Scarlet. I promised to protect you...” Stephan choked on the lump that formed in his throat.

“Shh!” she stroked his cheeks, wiping away the tears rolling down from his red eyes. “I am fine. You need to relax.”

She leaned into his chest, feeling the warmth his body radiated. Her wet clothes were chilling her to the bone. She shivered once and Stephan tightened his arms around her.

“You are cold. Let’s get you home first then to the hospital.” He whispered into her damp hair.

Scarlet knew what going to the hospital would mean. She didn’t want to run into Dr. Murphy, she was sure he was going to bring the pregnancy up.

“No. No hospitals, not now maybe in the morning. I just want to get home and get into some dry clothes.” Scarlet looked around, there was no other way for them to get home. The car was at the bottom of the ocean and the others had run there.

“How are we going to get home?” she shivered in his arms, his warm body wasn’t doing much good.

“I’ll go hail down a taxi.” Vincent and Victor disappeared into the alley. They were inseparable since they met earlier that day.

Kayla rubbed her hand up and down Scarlet’s back. She wanted to feel her heartbeat, the warmth coming back to her body. She was glad that she was on her feet and talking again.

“You scared me Scar.”

“Am sorry, I guess I should have driven off when you told me the first time.” she didn’t move from Stephan’s arms but turned her head towards her. She forced a hard smile and her gaze rested on Kayla’s face. For an immortal, she looked exhausted and worn out.

They heard the engine of a car approach them. Victor and Vincent were in the yellow cab as it pulled over a few feet from them.

“Let’s go. I don’t want you to catch a cold.” Stephan walked with her to the car. He, Scarlet, Solara, and Kayla shared the cab, the others ran it was dark enough for them to run.

Kayla, Stephan, and Scarlet squeezed into the back seat while Solara sat upfront. Scarlet sat closer to Stephan, he was warmer than Kayla and every time their skin came into contact an electrifying cold shot through her spine.

The ride home was silent. They found the others in the house. Xavier, Sam, and Eric had changed out of the tattered clothes they had. Nikki was brewing tea in the kitchen for Scarlet. Vincent suggested it would be a good way to warm her up. Scarlet went straight to her room and dumped her wet clothes. She turned on the hot water and let it fill the bathtub. Stephan was behind her wrapping a towel around her naked body. 

“Don’t worry. Once I get into this hot bath, I’ll get warm.” She waited until she was completely covered before she turned to him. She smiled up at him for his sake more than anything else.

Scarlet twirled a wet strand of his hair around her finger. Something about his wet hair reminded her about the dream of them at the beach. The little boy who was an exact copy of him. The beautiful boy he held in his arm as he held her.

Stephan Leonard Jeraldi. She had decided to name him after Stephan and her father. It was a good way to honor his memory and if he was a she, she was going to name her after her mother. But she hoped for a boy. She didn’t know how long she was going to be away from Stephan. A walking, talking reminder of him would comfort her.

She stepped into the bathtub when it was full, Stephan stepped in after her and sat behind her. She settled against his hard chest. Scarlet wasn’t comfortable; she was sure that he was going to want to hold her, but she couldn’t allow any direct contact.

Scarlet took his hands and weaved his fingers with hers. “I love you; I hope you know that. And I will always love you.” Scarlet kissed both his palms and wrapped his arms around her chest.

“I love you too and I am sorry for putting you in danger today. I had no right to get you mixed up in my problems.”

“We need to talk about my leaving. I am still going to Washington; I can’t stay here anymore. I have to leave you. I have to sort all this mess out.” She knew it was too soon to talk about leaving, but she had to make him understand.

“Scarlet.” She winced; she could hear his heartbreak from the desperate way he said her name.

“No, there is no other way. You say you love me, and you want to protect me, so do this for me. Let me go; I’m not safe here. I don’t want to be tossed into any more oceans.” She was shaking her head, trying to fight back the sobs rising in her chest.

“I know. I just wanted you to stay for a while. Stay here with me for a week at least. I almost lost you and I am not ready to be away from you just yet.”

Scarlet had a feeling that leaving him would be difficult especially after the attack, but she couldn’t stay. She couldn’t stay here and wait for Zen to target them again. He knew who she was now, and she couldn’t risk her baby’s life. His life was tied to hers and if she got hurt, he would too.

“I’ll think about it.” She felt him pull his hand free and she let him. “Kayla is taking me to the hospital in the morning. She is calling the doctor and setting up an appointment for seven in the morning.”

“Why so early? You need to rest. You’ve been through a lot today.” His fingers traced her bent knee up to her thigh. She was sure that her trail of thought was about to be derailed, but she kept her hand close to his just in case his fingers got close to her belly.

She cleared her throat before she spoke, “I just want to be in and out of there as fast as possible. If I go later, I’ll find a long queue.”

“That’s fine. Do you want me to take you?” His eyes followed his finger as it traveled down her glistening thigh.

“Kayla wants some me time and since I have seen enough violence today to last me a lifetime, I think it's best if you let her take me alone.”

Stephan didn’t argue with that. “Ok. That’s fine.”

Scarlet had to let Kayla in on her plan. She wasn’t going to go to the hospital; she was going to use it as a front and take the opportunity to get away from San Francisco. Kayla would drive her to the airport, and she would get some new clothes when she got to Washington. The clothes she had packed were lying at the bottom of the ocean in the Mustang’s boot. She would collect her ticket at the airport. Scarlet was glad she had decided to rebook her flight for the next day. The longer she stayed here the more time she gave Zen to plan his attack.

A knock on the door distracted Scarlet from her thoughts. Stephan didn’t get up, but he bellowed in response.

“Scarlet, you need to eat something. And Nikki made some tea for you.” Kayla’s voice answered back through the bathroom door.

“We will be out in a minute.” Stephan stepped out of the bath and held a towel up for her. “I hope we can talk more about this when you get back from the hospital tomorrow.”

Scarlet folded the towel under her arms and walked past him. She didn’t want him to see the guilt on her face. Tonight would be their last night together for a while. Her heart broke at the thought of leaving him, but she had no choice. 

But she did have a choice; stay with the man she loved, raise their child together, and never live in peace. They would always be waiting for Zen’s impending attack against them and risk the death of both her and her child. Or she could leave for Washington the next day and take her child away from the madness that surrounded his father. She could keep their son away until it was safe enough for them to return.

In another situation, she would stay with him. But now the love of her child trumped her love for Stephan. She hoped he would understand when the time came. She got dressed in a hurry. Despite what had happened earlier her appetite had not been interrupted. Stephan left the room before she did to check whether the food had been delivered. 

Scarlet popped her head through the door and called out Kayla’s name, but she didn’t shout. She said it in a low tone that she was sure Kayla would hear. Kayla walked into the room with a confused look on her face. 

“What?”

Scarlet pulled her into the bathroom and closed the door behind them. “I told Stephan that you’re driving me to the hospital in the morning. But you’re going to drive me to the airport.” She paused to see whether Kayla had understood her plan.

“I am ready to drive you there now, this minute, this second. You need to get away from all this as soon as possible. When the drama of you leaving dies down, I’ll come see you and help you deliver the baby.” She smiled at her. Kayla supported her decision to slip away quietly. Stephan wouldn’t let her leave without a fight. “Besides we don’t know what’s in there. You are going to need all the backup you can get.”

“Kayla, if I didn’t need you desperately, I would drive a stake through your heart.” Scarlet giggled then firmly placed both hands on her baby bump, “This right here is your nephew and if he comes out looking like a jaguar like his daddy, we are going to deal with it.”

Scarlet had never thought about what form the baby would take once he was born. She was sure he would look human considering all the beasts did. She didn’t think he would have any vampire traits; going by Kayla’s information male vampires couldn’t reproduce, so there was no chance he would. Although Nikki suspected otherwise, there was much they didn’t know about the vampires’ world other than what they heard.

“Let’s go feed my nephew. I am going to miss you, Scar.” She gave her a bear hug before leading her downstairs where the food was.

Scarlet walked down the stairs and immediately felt wary of herself. Nine pairs of eyes were staring at her. They all seemed to be waiting for her.

“Hi guys,” she said and headed for the pizza, not looking at what she had picked. She shoved it in her mouth and squeezed herself between Eric and Vincent on the sofa. Victor sat by his brother’s side at the far end. She leaned forward to see him; they looked exactly alike.

“You’re the twin huh?” She looked back and forth at them and pouted her lower lip. “Well Vincent, at least you now know how you would look without those hideous gold blonde streaks in your hair.” She smiled at him and his face relaxed.

He caught her in an awkward hug. “I am really glad you are ok.”

“I should be thanking you and your brother; him for coming to warn us and you for hailing a taxi for me.” She chuckled once more and his whole body relaxed as he laughed with her.

“I just wish I was able to stop Zen from tossing you into the water,” Victor added amidst their laughter. His voice sounded just like Vincent’s, but he had a serious edge.

“Don’t worry about it. I needed the swim. You should feel sorry for Stephan. His car is lying at the bottom of the ocean.” She looked up at Stephan, he was leaning against the wall, his expression was less than amused by her joke.

She always understood how her safety was important to him. She knew he would understand sooner or later after he got past the feelings of betrayal and anger.

“Drowned and doorless,” Solara added.

“What? What do you mean?”

“Stephan had to pull the door off so that he could get you out. He didn’t even flinch when he destroyed that car.” Solara chuckled once.

“There was someone more important than the car that I was after. I can always buy a new car, but Scarlet isn’t replaceable.” His body was tense, and his gaze shifted from her to the door. It was as if he expected someone to crash into the house through it.

“I am exhausted.” Scarlet yawned and sighed. She had gone through a box on her own and now that she was fed it was time for her to sleep.

“Do you want me to carry you or will you make it on your own.” Stephan had stepped forward and extended his hand to her.

“I can make it, but thanks for the offer.” She took his hand and let him lead her to her bedroom. She watched his back as he moved. She was going to miss how his muscles moved under his shirt.

She watched as he turned the bed down for her. He took a step back giving her room to get under the covers. He climbed in and snuggled deep so that she could be comfortably cuddled beside him.

“I am going to miss this when I eventually go to Washington,” Scarlet added the last part, though she was afraid that she may have given him a hint of her departure.

“It won’t be for long, soon we will be together, and I will hold you in my arms for the rest of eternity.” He kissed the top of her head and held her tightly against his chest. “You should sleep now; tomorrow morning Kayla is going to be banging on this door at six in the morning.” He laughed and the deep boom of it made Scarlet happy.

Scarlet knew that she was going to take his laughter away from him, and she felt guilty because of it.

“Stephan, will you please kiss me?” She turned her head to look up at him.

He responded by flipping her on her back and gently mounting on top of her. He leaned his head to hers and his lips traced hers. Gently at first, he kissed her, and then his kiss grew urgent and intense.

Scarlet was getting dizzy under his strong body. Her hands traced the contours the muscles made on his back. When he began to pull away, she moved with him. It was too soon to break the kiss; to break the spell he always had her under whenever their bodies were this close.

“No, your body has been through enough traumas for one day.” He could feel her need for him, but he held himself back. He rolled onto his back and pulled her into his arms once more. “Sleep my love, we have the rest of our lives to make love.”

Scarlet couldn’t help but feel a fresh wave of guilt take over her. A hot salty tear rolled down her cheek and on Stephan’s black shirt. She didn’t allow herself to cry. Stephan would know something was wrong, and Scarlet didn’t know if she had the strength to lie to him when he held her so close.

***

Stephan woke Scarlet up just as Kayla’s knuckles rapped on the door. Kayla had packed some of her clothes in the bag and put them in the boot of Solara’s car. Now all that was left to do was to get Scarlet in the car before Stephan realized what was going on.

Scarlet gave Stephan a long kiss goodbye, taking in every moment of it, she was going to keep the memory of this kiss with her until the next time they saw each other.

“I love you.”

With those last words, Scarlet ran down the stairs and out the door. She figured that it would be a lot easier to get it over with as fast as she could. Like ripping off a band-aid.

When she got to the car Nikki was there, but Kayla hadn’t come out yet. She sat in the back seat quietly. Although they had spent the last night in a near-death situation and she hadn’t given up on her, they weren’t as close as they ought to be.

“Thank you.”

“For what?” Nikki didn’t look back at her when she spoke.

“For saving my life yesterday, not giving up when the others had.”

“Don’t worry about it.” She turned and eyed her curiously with a hint of annoyance in her eyes. “I still don’t understand why you are taking away his child?”

“I don’t expect you to.” Scarlet tried to hide the anger building up in her. “You give birth and raise children in this world. You know what you are facing, and you are willing to risk your lives and that of your children. I am not. Stephan will understand.”

Scarlet waited for a reply, a comeback of some sort but Nikki remained quiet.

“Kayla says we should shut up, apparently Solara is eavesdropping.”

Scarlet looked towards the house, she could see Kayla and Solara, they seemed to be quarreling. Kayla was doing most of the talking, her hands akimbo and her head shaking. She planted a quick kiss on his lips and shuffled to the car.

“Solara was listening in on your conversation. He could see the tension heating up.” Kayla looked in the rearview mirror to catch a glimpse of Scarlet. “Scar, are you sure about this?”

Scarlet nodded; she couldn’t trust her voice not to betray her. Kayla fastened her seat belt and turned on the ignition, bringing a roar of life into the machine.

They sped down the street once they were a good distance away Kayla continued her line of thought, “Nikki, all Scarlet wants to do is protect her child, and besides I didn’t ask you along so that we can hear what you approve or disapprove of, or your opinions, and not for your sparkling personality. I need you to explain to Scarlet what she should prepare herself for.” She gave Nikki a tranquil insincere smile. “No offense, but you are the only female beast we are acquainted with.”

“Fine. I don’t particularly like you either,” Nikki huffed.

“Why is that exactly?” Scarlet wanted to find out if she truly fancied Stephan just as Kayla had thought.

“Honestly, I desire him. At a personal level, I like him, physically mostly. As a beast, he is the strongest creature I know of so that attracts me to him.” Nikki turned to look at her with a smirk on her face, “Does that answer your question. If I do get him to mate with me remind me to thank you.”

“How about we get back to why you are here.” Scarlet scowled and rolled her eyes at her. The thought of Stephan replacing her with Nikki was ridiculous.

“I can’t be sure of what you are having but, male children are much simpler to bear. They only develop their instincts once they are born, per their surroundings. Females are more cautious from the get-go; in the first few days of birth, they are much stronger than male infants. They develop much faster.

“They are born just as the human children are, but you won’t have any warning. Their first instincts are to feed and defend themselves. Your scent will be attached to him; so will his father’s, so he will immediately know who his parents are.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad.” Scarlet breathed a sigh of relief; she hadn’t heard of anything life-threatening. So far all she heard was that they were just like normal human babies.

“I wouldn’t get too comfortable if I were you.” Nikki’s voice was mocking her. “Bearing a beast isn’t as simple as just pushing. They will claw their way out and rip you apart if they must. It takes a female like me a week to heal from those injuries, that is, if we survive them. A human will die in the process.”

“Nikki, we get your point now. Stop scaring Scarlet.” Kayla interrupted Nikki, who seemed satisfied with the fear on Scarlet’s face. “Don’t worry, I’ll follow you to Washington in a week or so. You won’t do this alone.”

“I’m sorry about scaring you but you need to understand the danger of what you are doing. If Kayla and I haven’t killed each other by that time, I may just come with her.” Nikki seemed sincere, so Scarlet thanked her.

Scarlet thought about the irony and couldn’t help but feel amused by it. The life that she was trying so hard to protect may kill her. She planned to deliver the baby and his safety was more important than hers. If she didn’t survive it, Kayla would take him to Stephan.

They pulled up to the airport entrance. Scarlet and Nikki said their quick goodbyes at the car. Kayla walked Scarlet in with the duffle bag she had packed. They headed for the gift shop to buy her a new cell phone and then headed to the ticket counter. Once Scarlet got her new printed ticket, she headed for the departure gate.

“I packed some of your clothes in here. The phone is in the side pocket as well as some cash. Try not to fall into any pools while you’re there.” Kayla hugged her tightly and only let go when a female voice called out her flight number. “Take care of the little one.” She jabbed her finger at her baby bump.

“I love you, K. Take care of yourself. Tell Vincent and Eric I am sorry. The rest you can tell them farewell. Tell Solara to take care of you and tell Stephan that I love him and to give me some time on my own. I will call him when I’m ready.” Tears rolled down her cheeks and her eyes were clouded with new ones.

“I love you, Scar.”

“I love you, K.”

Scarlet ran into the departure waiting area, she couldn’t bear prolonging the goodbyes. She took her place at the end of the queue and took small slow steps to the ground hostess. Once her ticket was cut and she was given a boarding pass, she walked onto the plane determined to start her new life with her baby.

When the plane lifted into the air, Scarlet bid farewell to San Francisco, and all that she had left there. Stephan couldn’t get to her now and if he intended to follow her, she had a head start. It hurt her to know how much pain she would cause him. But she knew that losing her child would kill her. This was a necessary evil.

***

Stephan was still in bed; it was almost ten o’clock and he was sure that Scarlet would return soon. He decided to arrange the room and take a shower before she did. He went about the room, picking up their wet clothes from where they had dumped them the previous night. He tossed all the clothes in the laundry basket; he was sure Scarlet would get to them once she arrived.

He took a quick shower and began looking for the only clean shirt he knew he had. When he couldn’t find it in any of his draws he checked in Scarlet’s.

Stephan was confused when one drawer after the other was empty. He went into her closet and it was empty too. Her suitcases were gone, and all her toiletries had disappeared from the bathroom.

Fear began to set in as anger also began to take its toll. He heard the engine of Solara’s car; he could recognize it anywhere. Stephan pulled on his flannel trousers and bolted down the stairs. He stood at the doorway before Kayla and Nikki had a chance to get into the house.

“Oh snap!” Kayla hissed under her breath when she saw the robust half breed blocking the only entrance to the house. She could see the rage radiating from his body. His body posture, his once silver-gray eyes now black as coal and his fists clenching at his sides. His expression was a mixture of dread, fear, and anger.

Nikki took a step back, “To think I survived a murderous vampire yesterday to die at the hand of an angry lover.”

Solara. Kayla thought it would be wise to call for backup. The second she thought it, Solara was there standing behind Stephan.

“Where is she?” Stephan noticed the small crowd that was forming at his back, but he didn’t let them distract him. “Kayla, where is Scarlet? All her things are gone, and I know you didn’t take her to the hospital.” His voice was low and calm which only made him sound more threatening.

“Her clothes are in the boot of your car at the bottom of the ocean. So is her phone, so don’t bother calling her,” Kayla told him when she saw him remove his phone from his pocket.

“I have no part in this conversation, so if you will excuse me.” Nikki headed to the house.

“Coward.”

“I am not trying to deny that, Kayla,” she shamelessly admitted and squeezed past Stephan and Solara.

“Scarlet left for Washington about two hours ago. Stephan, where are you going?” Kayla ran into the house after him.

Stephan was pacing around the room looking for a clean shirt to wear. He disappeared into the bathroom for a second and walked out dressed in his jeans and boots.

“I’m going after her. She promised that we would talk about this and if she wants to stay there, I’ll stay with her.” Stephan stopped when he realized he had nothing to wear.

“Where is my shirt? Vincent, bring me one of Solara’s shirts.” Solara was the only man who was remotely close to his size.

Vincent was back in a second and tossed a white shirt at Stephan. He pulled it on as fast as he could.

“She said that she wanted time to herself, to think and to sort out her life.” Kayla walked to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “She needs time, she will be back soon. Scarlet wants to focus on the fellowship. It’s the last thing she promised her parents. You need to find Zen and kill him before he uses any of us as a pawn to hurt you, especially Scarlet.”

Solara walked in and interjected, “Think about it Stephan. She is much safer now that she is away from you. It's not like you don’t know where she is, Kayla has all the details and when she is ready you can go to her.” 

Solara tried to understand the position Stephan was in. One thing was for sure, if it was Kayla on her way to Washington Solara would follow her regardless of what anyone said.

“Fine, but as soon as she calls you, you tell me. Do you hear me, Kayla?” he couldn’t argue with reason.

Kayla nodded in response. She was afraid of opening her mouth and saying the wrong thing.

“Leave me alone, I need to think.” Stephan kicked the door closed once the room was cleared. It banged shut and shook at its hinges. 

Stephan looked around Scarlet’s room, it was so quiet without her chirpy voice and lifeless without her buzzing about trying to clean everything. He felt her absence like an ache in his soul. His heart yearned for her presence and her sweet scent.

Closing his eyes, he took his thoughts back to the day he met her. Since that night her life had always been in danger. He lay on her bed and wrapped himself in her duvet, inhaling the only part left of her. Her scent.