“I had no idea you were married,” she added.
“You think I’d send you a wedding invitation?” he moved back. “I’m talking now, could we get this blade out of the way, please?”
Mina agreed, hiding the blade back in her pocket but her hand still rested on it, just in case.
“She doesn’t know anything about my clan and what happened. I feel…” as he spoke, Mina was surprised to hear remorse and shame in his voice. She never expected that from him. “She just thinks I managed to escape the infamous slayers. I’m a different person now, ever since I met her, I’m a better…”
“Alright, Romeo, spare me the sappy story. How go I get those references?” she interrupted him.
She wasn’t here to listen to his love story and how love changed him. She didn’t believe that love could change anybody. It was just a chemical reaction in your brain, nothing else.
“I’ll tell her you need them,” he said, matter-of-factly.
It was Mina’s turn to laugh now. This sounded highly implausible.
“And, she’s gonna give them to me, just like that?”
“No, we have to… lie to her. We have to tell her that you’re on your own, a vampire orphan, from my own clan and you need references for Zeadore Academy. She can get her father to write you one. There are no better references than ones which come from a clan leader. You’re bound to get in.”
Mina eyed him suspiciously. It all seemed so convenient, almost a little too convenient. Maybe this was their plan the whole time, to get her there, and Emile was in on it. Then, once she was there, it would be so easy to kill her and dispose of her body. It would be like she never existed. It all sounded so frightening, but she couldn’t back down. Not when Kellam needed her help.
“How do I know I can trust you?” she asked. “Maybe this is all a trap to get me there.”
“I want out,” he suddenly told her.
“Out?” she repeated, not understanding what exactly he meant by this.
“I don’t want to be your source anymore.”
She could hear the fear, but also confidence in his voice. It probably took him a lot to muster up the courage to tell her this.
“I want my life back. I don’t want to live in between,” he continued. “That is why I want to help you this one, last time. I don’t know where your brother is. I don’t even know if Dante took him. I can get you there but that means we’re done.”
He finally finished his monologue. Mina could tell that he had probably practiced this speech many times before but never had the guts to actually tell her until now. His whole body was shaking, as if he expected her to smite him down and get it over with. Instead of hate, she was washed over
by a sense of relief. To his surprise, she smiled at him. A real, genuine smile, the kind he had never received from the likes of her.
“Your wife is pregnant, isn’t she?” she asked, not being able to imagine any other reason for a man to be willing to change so much and for the better.
He lowered his head. This wasn’t something he wanted to share with her, she knew that. Her knowledge of this was a risk, a danger. But, she read him like an open book. He couldn’t hide it.
“Then, I can’t protect you anymore,” she replied, and they both remembered that one time when Kellam and Mina saved his life, allowing him to run away, while they dealt with everyone else. “We will be on opposite sides. If we come into battle, then…”
“If that is what has to be, so be it,” Emile nodded, smiling back at her.
“Alright then,” she agreed. “As soon I get accepted at the Academy, I will erase your number and you will never hear from me or my brother again.”
“Thank you,” he echoed his gratitude.
“I’ll call you in a week,” she quickly motioned, unwilling to rest on the emotional side of their conversation any longer.
“It’ll be ready,” he told her, in a reassuring voice..
She was already standing on her feet, ready to go.
When she turned around, she noticed that the biker gang was gone. The place was almost empty, save for a few sad faces trying to drown their sorrow in cheap liquor. She couldn’t wait to get out of here.
Chapter 3