Here's another chapter for you guys to enjoy!
Tanya sped through the streets. She had managed to lose Blade through the traffic. She didn't feel like talking to him at the moment. She needed to relax. She recalled a hair-spa-fitness place near downtown. And next door, they had a beauty supply store filled with almost any type of beauty products.

With the traffic, it took her atleast half an hour to get there. She booked a massage and a hair appointment. Blade had made her cut her nails, so there wasn't much of a point to get a manicure.

Tanya sat in the stylist chair flipping through a book of hairstyles. The stylist was hovering over shoulder pointing at the styles that would look best on her.

"I think that the color golden-brown would look best on you with blonde highlights," the stylist suggested. Tanya cringed at the thought of looking like a blonde, but the stylist rested a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry. You will look great. And I also suggest that you get honey-colored contacts from our store next door. It would look better with your new hair do."

"Thanks, I will. Should I keep my hair straight or get ringlets," Tanya asked. The stylist studied her for a minute before answering.

"At your age, you should keep your hair straight."

"Ok, let's do this."

It seemed to take forever for her hair to be done. Her butt was sore by the time the stylist was done. She looked in the mirror and was stunned by the transformation. She looked a little bit older and had a natural glow. The stylist did a wonderful job. She paid her and went to the store next door. She bought several pairs of colored contacts and went off to her massage.

She entered the candle-lit massage room. She only had a towel wrapped around her naked body. She lay facedown on the table and waited for the masseur.

The masseur entered and began the massage. As he worked on her shoulders, he leaned down and whispered in her ear, "It's been awhile, Tanya."

Tanya sat up and stared at her masseur. She reached out to touch his face.

"Raoul? What are you doing here? I thought you were in Italy!" Raoul had been her first and only lover. She had been heartbroken when his parents forced him to go to Italy.

"I'm doing good. You look wonderful. It's so great seeing you again," he said in his sexy Italian accent.

"I missed you," she said with a smile. He leaned down until his lips were millimeters away from hers.

"I missed you too." She closed the gap and kissed him lightly. He pulled her closer with his strong arms and devoured her mouth hungrily. She moaned into his mouth.

Then the door burst open, and there stood Blade in the doorway. Raoul and Tanya jumped apart.

"Tanya, we need to talk," he said through gritted teeth.

"Raoul, this is Eric. Eric, this is Raoul, an old boyfriend of mine. Eric is my personal trainer/pain-in-my-ass. Why don't I reschedule this appointment?" she said. Raoul nodded.

"Yeah, just give me a call." He handed her his card. When Tanya pulled out her purse, Raoul shook his head.

"No charge for the massage. It's on the house. I don't think you should have to pay to meet an old lover." He placed a gentle kiss on her lips and with a quick glance at "Eric", he left the room.

Tanya wrapped the towel more tightly around her body. She turned to Blade, the smile she had was now gone from her face.

"What the hell was that?" Blade demanded.

"That was you ruining my relaxing massage. God you are such an ass." Tanya jumped down from the table and headed towards the locker room, but Blade grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him.

"What the hell has gotten into you? If you're not careful, you're going to end up with another life-threatening wound!" Blade scolded.

"You're hurting me," she said through clenched teeth. He only hardened his grip.

"Then maybe it'll teach you not to go gallivanting across town every time you get upset!" He threw her in the locker room. She glared at him.

"Get dressed," he growled. As he slammed the door, he caught a brief glimpse of her giving him the finger.

Blade waited 15 minutes outside the locker room before he realized that Tanya wasn't coming back out. It would be useless to search the room for her, so he went straight to the parking lot. Her car was still there. Where was she?

-

Raoul led Tanya out through a side door. She turned around to face him.

"James is furious with you. You haven't contacted any of the House members in six months, and Marcus is starting to think you turning against us. But I know you're not. I trust you," Raoul said all in one breath.

"I know. I'm sorry. Since James staked me…" she began.

"He staked you! Marcus told him only to give you a minor injury. I'm going to kill him!"

"You mean he did it for his own reasons?" Tanya asked confused.

"Yeah. He's sadistic. You need to remove the veil from your eyes. The guy's evil. Marcus is going to give you another month to get more information. He wants you to collect the names of human victims of the Daywalker and/or Whistler. Get as many as you can. Meet me back here in a month." He leaned down and kissed her.

"Or we can meet more often," she suggested with a twinkle in her eye. Raoul gave her another kiss and rested his forehead on hers.

"Until this thing is over, it might not be wised to see each other. Blade might get suspicious and your cover might be blown." She leaned into him, and he held her for a moment. Then she pulled away reluctantly.

Tanya walked back to the parking lot to see Blade waiting for her by her car.

She ignored him as she walked to the car. He grabbed her arm and slammed her against the car.

"An abusive relationship isn't healthy for us, darlin'" she said mockingly. He grabbed her chin and forced her to look in his eyes.

"You will not go out anywhere without clearing it with me or Whistler, understand?" he said. His eyes were blazing with fire. He was extremely pissed off.

"You're not my father," she snapped.

"No, but he is dead. And unless you want to end up like him, I suggest…" he was cut off by the palm of her hand slamming into his nose.

"You son of a bitch! Don't you ever talk about my father like that!" Her eyes were glazed in fury. He recovered after a few seconds. He was lucky that she didn't break it.

"Like I said, you will join him if you're not more careful. You need to understand that there are people out there that want to kill you. If you're not going to take responsibility over your own safety, then I will. Because I care. I don't want you to end up like…nevermind."

Tanya stepped closer to him. "You mean like Saffron," she finished for him.

Blade looked up at her, and for the first time Tanya saw pain in his eyes.

"Yeah, like her."

"I'm sorry," she whispered and leaned into him. He wrapped his arms around her. He felt responsible for her because he was the one who turned her. She might be the closest thing he had to a friend.

All of a sudden, a bullet whizzed past his head. His instincts kicked into gear and he dropped down to the ground bringing Tanya with him. She slowly peaked over the car and ducked back down when more bullets came their way.

"I know who it is," she said.

"Who?"

"The same guy who staked me six months ago."


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