Sabina was nervous. She and Adam were in the elevator heading up to the fifth floor where Rhea's office was. Rhea was who they were going to see. She had asked to see both Sabina and Adam. And while Sabina could think of no particular reason, Adam kept telling her not to worry, Rhea would explain when they got there. The elevator dinged and the two exited, though Sabina seriously thought about staying on the elevator. Because they were expected, Adam didn't bother to knock on Rhea's door, he just went in, which forced Sabina to follow him. She was surprised when she made it in, seated in the chair in front of Rhea's desk was a man with dark brown hair and brown eyes.
"Eric?" Sabina asked, for she had immediately recognized him. He turned around to face her with a smile.
"Hey, Sabina. It's great to see you. It's been what, twenty years or so?"
"About that." She nodded. But then she frowned. "What are you doing here?"
"I heard a rumor that Lavinia was dead. And I need help. When I left her employ all those years ago, she took some very important things from me, and I'd like them back. I figured I'd ask you."
"Oh sure. Because they'll be happy to see Lavinia's killer." She said, somewhat sarcastically.
"Don't tell me that seeing her under council is too hard for the vampire assassin." He said.
"Fine, I'll help you," she snapped. "But you're going to owe me big time. What did she take?"
"She took a chain necklace I had, my journal, and a gold bracelet that was my father's." He told her.
"How long do I have?"
"As long as you need. You do remember where I live don't you?"
"Yes." She answered, irritably. She would rather he hadn't said that in front of Adam. Of course, how was he to know that the male in the room, besides him, was her lover.
"Great. How about I give you a week to start?" He asked.
"Sure." She said, nodding again. After that he left the room, Adam and Sabina followed him and went back downstairs to teleport back to Louisiana. Once they got home Adam said, "Well, he's interesting. Did you two have a romantic past?"
Sabina sighed, unsurprised about his question. "It only happened once. And it was a long time ago." She told him.
"Should I be jealous?" He asked, grinning.
"No! As I said, it was a long time ago."
With that they went up to bed since they both knew that the next night would be long. When the sun set, they teleported to California to the main vampire compound. The both crouched in the bushes before Sabina realized that Adam was waiting for her to go first since she knew the way in and upstairs. Taking a deep breath, she led him in. They went upstairs to where the offices of the under councilors were. She chose one on the left side that belonged to a woman who had been like Lavinia's shadow. If anyone knew where Eric's things were it was her. She was at her desk when they came in, but she looked up from her piles of papers.
"Sabina? What are you doing here?" She asked.
"Hello Sarah. Funny story. I'm currently working for Eric Wright. And he says that when he left here Lavinia stole some of his property that he would like back."
While Sabina was talking, Sarah began rummaging through her top drawer. Sabina had no idea what she was looking for, but apparently Adam did. About the time Sarah found it Adam reached over and yanked Sabina to the floor, so the bullet Sarah fired went into the wall behind them. Sabina started cursing before she yanked her own gun from the waist of her jeans and fired her own bullet. Unlike Sarah though, Sabina didn't miss.
"Well, that was fun." Adam said.
Sabina shrugged. "I said they wouldn't want to see me."
Adam stood, helping Sabina up as well.
"Are we done now?" Adam asked.
"Not yet." Sabina told him, leading the way back out into the hall and walking towards the council chamber. This time she chose a door on the right side that belonged to a male. They went in to find basically the same thing. He was at his desk, going through a pile of papers.
"Hello Vincent." She said.
"Sabina, why are you here?" He asked.
"I'm currently working for Eric Wright who says that when he left Lavinia's employment she took some of his personal items that he now wants back."
"Personal items like what?" He questioned.
"Well, his journal for one, a chain necklace and his father's bracelet."
"I happen to know where one of things is." And with that he stood and led the way down the hall to Lavinia's old office. They went in and Vincent grabbed a foot stool to reach the top bookshelf before bringing down the journal. While he was busy, Sabina searched the drawers, finally finding one that was full of assortments. She dug around for a bit and found Eric's chain necklace, and his gold bracelet. Vincent was surprised to find her holding them when he turned around.
"Thanks for the help Vincent." She said as she took the journal and then led the way back out into the hall. She led the way back downstairs, and then back outside.
"Remind about this if I ever think coming here is a good idea." She told Adam.
"No problem." He said, wrapping his arms around her before transporting them back to New York. Surprisingly Eric was still at the mages compound when they arrived. Without saying anything, Sabina handed over the journal and jewelry to him.
"Thanks. How much do I you?" He said.
"Well considering I was almost killed, I'd say a lot." She told him.
"Will five grand do it?" He asked.
"That's fine." She said, nodding.
After that Adam took them back home. Sabina could tell he was cross, just by the way his body was tight.
"What's wrong?" She asked.
"I don't know why you think you have to help everyone who asks for it." He said.
"Eric is an old friend. Where is this coming from?" She asked testily.
"Maybe from the fact you were almost killed, helping that old friend who couldn't help himself!" He exploded.
"Surprisingly, Vampires do need help sometimes. And I didn't get shot thanks to you." She told him.
"And what if I hadn't been there?" He challenged. "You know, sooner or later you're going to have to stop helping you're old friends if you want to survive." He said, clearly still angry.
"Well, I'm sorry you feel that way." Sabina told him.
"Which is you're way saying, No." He said.
"I just don't understand why this is such a big deal." She told him.
"Maybe because I don't want to lose you the way I lost Maisie." He yelled, before dissapparting.
"Well that's just great." Sabina told the empty room.
She sat down at the desk and grabbed her notebook, flipping it open to an empty page. She began writing, about how Adam maybe had a point, that she didn't want to die like her sister." She also wrote about how the only problem with helping Eric had come at the hands of Sarah. She wrote about how Adam might be upset because he was jealous of her long past and over with interest in Eric. Then she began writing some poetry about how she felt at the moment and the importance of this fight not being there last conversation.
I've been staring at the ceiling
Watching the fans flow around, round and round
'Cause I can't hear my breathing
The words we said are still so loud, loud, loud
And we been drifting off so far
And I don't even know where we are
Before we jump, before we leave
And all is lost for you and me, yeah
If we're not stupid
We'll both hold on for dear love
Find our way through this
It's not worth just giving up
'Cause I've got some fire left in me
And I don't see us ending this way
If we're not stupid
We'll both hold on for dear love, love
I've been weighed down by the silence
All these words that don't come out, out
Been tempted just to write it
And say I'm sorry without a sound, sound, sound
'Cause we been drifting off so far
That I don't even know where we are
But we can try and we can speak
Before we're lost indefinitely
If we're not stupid
We'll both hold on for dear love
Find our way through this
It's not worth just giving up
'Cause I've got some fire left in me
And I don't see us ending this way
If we're not stupid
We'll both hold on for dear love, love
I been terribly human
Using you like a punching bag
And you been terribly angry
Taking out all your worst words on me
And I see what we were
And I know that we've hurt
But I know that it's worth it to fight
For all our love tonight
If we're not stupid
We'll both hold on for dear love
Find our way through this
It's not worth just giving up
'Cause I've got some fire left in me
And I don't see us ending this way
If we're not stupid
We'll both hold on for dear love, love
Love, love, love.
When she was done, she just left her journal on the desk and went to bed. She was exhausted so she fell asleep quickly and didn't hear Adam sneak into the room. Since she wasn't awake, she didn't notice him reading her journal, or his smile as he read her poetry. Then he snuck over to the bed and woke her by kissing her forehead. She opened her eyes and smiled back at him.
"Hey." She whispered.
"Hey." He said back. "I'm sorry." He told her.
She shook her head. "I actually I think you're kind of right, maybe I do say yes too easily."
"Does that mean from now on you'll think carefully before saying yes?" He asked.
"Yes." She nodded her assent.
After that Adam kissed her, wrapping his arms around her, just glad that this time they had survived. He pulled her down next to him on the bed, whispering, "I love you."
"I love you too." She answered.
