I want to thank all those who have read and/or reviewed the start of this story. Your comments make my day, and a great start to the New Year!

Chapter 3

He adjusted his tie again, and the woman next to him gave a small smile. "You look fine, cariño." He looked down at her beautiful eyes and counted himself a lucky man.

They stood next to each other as the elevator in the Kostan building moved silently to the floor that held Josef Kostan's office suite. After being vetted at the security desk, Gerald Stofsky and Sonora Vargas were directed to the private elevator where Josef Kostan was waiting to see them. A year ago, Gerald would have been nervous meeting with the region's Elder. Now after his trip to Japan, and becoming involved with Sonora, he felt like a transformed vampire. He no longer wore tweeds and a bowtie, and even if his suits weren't Armani, they were well-cut and gave him a feeling of confidence.

The doors whooshed open and the couple found themselves in a luxurious lobby. Seated at a desk at the far end was Josef's assistant and they were admitted to the office immediately.

Gerald and Sonora barely had time to note the dark colors and beautiful mural on the ceiling when Josef stood up from his desk and came toward them. He shook Gerald's hand and smiled a greeting at Sonora.

"Please, sit down. Can I get you some refreshment?"

They both declined, and they all sat in comfortable chairs.

Sonora smiled at Josef and said, "We had a lovely time at your wedding. It was a beautiful setting and we tried some skiing afterward."

"I fell down a lot," Gerald said, smirking at himself.

"Did you have a nice trip to Geneva?" Sonora asked.

"No, we didn't," Josef said, shortly. He got up and fixed himself a scotch as his guests looked at him with concern.

"What happened?" Gerald plucked up the courage to ask. They could feel Josef's anger and frustration.

Josef sat back down at his desk and said grimly, "What I'm going to tell you can't leave this room."

Sonora glanced at Gerald and he took her hand. "Of course," he said.

"While we were in Geneva, our blood supply was tampered with and Beth and I were poisoned." Josef looked at his guest's shocked faces as he told them all that had happened. "We found the person who did it, and know he was in league with a powerful vampire in France. Have you heard of the Duvall family?"

Both Gerald and Sonora shook their heads. "No," Gerald said, "I've spent most of my time in the US."

Sonora shrugged, "I've only been a vampire for about a century, and have been in Mexico and then studying at university here in the States."

"The Duvalls are some of the oldest vampires in France, although, not as old as me," Josef said with an evil grin. "Normally, we'd ignore each other, but the family has a vendetta against Mick St. John, and by extension, me."

Gerald and Sonora remained silent, and Josef continued.

"I didn't ask you here to relate ancient history, but I hoped Sonora could help with something we found in Geneva." Josef went to his desk and handed Sonora some papers. "Can you make anything of these? I think they have to do with blood chemistry."

She thumbed through the sheets, frowning. "It looks like medical research, but I'd have to see more to tell what it's about."

Josef asked, "Do you think you could find out what it is and complete the formula?"

Sonora looked again. "I don't know, I'd have to go over the entire sequence." She put the papers aside. "I'd be happy to try if you'd like."

For the first time, Josef smiled. "I'd be grateful if you could."

"All right, let me have the information and—"

"No. This is too important, I'm afraid it can't leave this office."

Sonora looked at him blankly, and Gerald asked, "What do you mean?"

"I was hoping Sonora might be able to help us, but these compounds are dangerous." Josef looked at her intently. "I do trust you, of course, but I can't risk anything getting out. I'm going to ask that you would work on them here at the office."

She sat back and thought. At the moment, she had nothing lined up, and she had been putting off leaving Los Angeles to return to MIT because of Gerald. She had temporary living arrangements at a vampire hotel, but she couldn't hang around on holiday forever. This might be what she needed to establish herself in the California community.

"What did you have in mind?" she asked.

"I'll give you an office here and a laboratory if you need it, to investigate anything you find."

Sonora nodded. "While I'm researching I'll want a salary, and if anything is commercially viable, a part of the profits. Five percent would be acceptable. If nothing comes of it, then we're even."

Gerald stared at her, but Josef chuckled and held out his hand. "Done."

Josef shook hands with Sonora, and decided he liked the Latina vampire—she reminded him of Simone and Beth. He got up and sat back down at his desk. "I'll arrange for your workspace and get you security clearance. I don't want the actual research to leave the building, but you have free reign when you're here."

Sonora stood up, as did Gerald and Josef. "I think I will enjoy working here," she smiled brightly. "A new challenge is just what I needed."

Josef glanced at the papers again. "It looks like most of it's in French, so if you need a translator—"

Sonora shook her head. "I speak and write French fluently. I also have some German, and of course Spanish."

"Good," Josef said, noting the besotted look Gerald gave Sonora. "If you want to come tomorrow night about 10 pm, I'll have security get you set up."

They left the office and once in the elevator going down, Sonora said, "Now that I'll be in the city for a while, I think I'll need somewhere more permanent to stay. Perhaps your large comfortable flat, yes?"

"Really?" Gerald said, grinning widely. "I'll get a larger freezer right away." With that, he swept her up in his arms and gave her a passionate kiss, not noticing the doors had opened onto the lobby.

When he finally felt the elevator had stopped, he let her go and her eyes danced at his slight embarrassment.

"Come, let us celebrate," she said, and they made their way out of the building.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mick hung up the phone with a grimace. He had to go, but didn't know how to tell Beth. She was upstairs in her office finishing some work for Josef. He went up the stairs slowly, wanting to give himself some more time to figure out what to say.

Beth looked up from her computer. "Hi, honey." She immediately felt his concern and asked, "What's wrong?"

He pulled her up into his arms. "I love you so much, you know that."

"I know," she said into his strong chest.

He stepped back and sighed, "I just got a call from Coraline."

She frowned. "Why?"

"She said she heard from Lance and she was afraid."

Beth pulled away from him and scoffed, "She's not afraid of anything. She's after you, Mick."

Mick felt Beth's insecurity and tried to reassure her. "Coraline is nothing to me now. She's not even my sire anymore, not after Josef."

"But she's always trying to come between us," Beth said, trying to not to sound like a nagging wife.

Mick kissed her soundly. "That's never going to happen. You're my life now, nothing will change that."

She knew he told the truth, and it quieted some of her fears. "What did she want?"

"She wants to talk to me about Lance. After what he did to you and Josef, I have to see what she knows."

Beth didn't want Mick to see his ex, but she knew he had to. "What are you going to do?"

"She wants me to come up to the hill house tonight. Don't worry, it will be okay."

"Do you want me to come with you? I'll stay in the car, I promise."

He gave her that half-smile she loved. "No, I don't want you to be upset. I'm just going to find out what she knows. Josef is after Lance, and if Coraline can give us information about him I have to try to find out."

She knew he was right, but hated the fact he would be seeing his ex-wife and ex-sire. "Okay, but if you're not back in a couple of hours, I'm coming up there with Annie and all your weapons. I know where she lives." Beth said, half-joking.

Mick's mood lightened, and he replied, "Don't worry, I have no intention of staying longer than I need to find out what she has to say."

"Are you leaving now?" She said in a small voice.

He felt her worry. "Yes, the sooner I go the sooner I'll be back. Get your work done and then we can go out. I'd like to go to the club for a little dancing. Okay?" He kissed her again, feeling her body respond to his ministrations. She sighed as he let her go.

"You know," he said playfully, "even though we have a regular bathtub, I was thinking of expanding the bathroom to include a spa tub. Big enough for two."

"Really," she said, smiling, "Whatever for?"

"For the times I don't feel like standing up to make love to you."

Beth's eyes flashed silver, and she pulled him down to bite softly on his neck. "That's a lovely idea. We need to make sure it's really deep, or there'll be water everywhere."

"I'll get on it tomorrow," he said, nipping her neck back. "It's a good thing I own the building and we have lots more space on this floor." Mick held Beth to him, running his hands over her until she was limp with desire.

Finally she pushed him away. "Okay, hurry up and see your ex-bitch and come back to me."

Mick's eyes were silver and his fangs out as all thoughts of Coraline had been wiped out of his mind. Reality surged back, and he sighed. "I'll be home soon."

"You better, handsome," Beth said, with a wicked grin. "You owe me for this one."

The Benz purred its way up the sloping driveway to Coraline's hill house. He hated the place because there were so many memories he didn't want to relive. He remembered the first time he played at Coraline's party when he was human. She was the most beautiful, fascinating woman he'd ever seen. He walked past the expanse of glass windows, recalling the time he'd smashed through one just to get to her when she was teasing him before their marriage. It seemed like another lifetime, and he was no longer the same person, human or vampire.

He opened the door, and went to the large lounge area. He scented Coraline was here, and then saw her on the far side of the room.

Coraline turned to him. She'd spent a sleepless day thinking about Mick. She knew he no longer loved her, if he ever had, she thought bitterly. She thought when she turned him he'd be happy to be with her forever. How wrong she was, and she finally realized her mistake. She should have seduced him into the vampire life, and then he would have loved her eternally. Since Mick tried to kill her more than twenty years ago, she had kept trying to show him he belonged with her. He had made peace with himself, but only because of Beth. She had hated the blond reporter for all this time, had plotted as Morgan Vincent to try to take Mick back, but none of it had worked. She thought the only reason Mick had fallen for Beth was that the blond was human, and he was still searching for his humanity. All her plots to rid herself of Beth had failed. She squared her shoulders and turned to see him.

In the semi-darkness he was still irresistible to her, his dark hair curling around his ears, and his hazel eyes picking up the snatches of light in the room. Her courage faltered for a moment before her pride came to the fore.

"Hello, Mick. Thank you for coming," she said softly.

Mick's rigid stance told her how difficult it was for him to be in there. "What do have to tell me about Lance?"

Trying to maintain some naturalness, she turned toward the bar. "Would you like a drink?"

"No thanks."

Coraline poured some vodka over ice, and turned to him. He was silent as a statue and she felt his wariness.

Taking a breath, she said, "Lance called me. He wants me to find things out about you and Josef."

Mick moved further into the room. "What did he want to know?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "He wants to know what you're doing and if you're in Los Angeles. I told him I was in San Francisco and I didn't know."

For the first time, Mick felt fear coming off his ex-wife. "Do you know why?"

Coraline walked up and down the large room. Most of the furniture was covered by sheets, giving it a ghostly appearance. "He thinks Josef is after him, but didn't say didn't say how. He was furious, angrier than I'd ever heard him. He told me if I didn't find out what he wanted; he'd find me and kill me. He's never said that before, even when I took the compound for the cure and left. He sounded….deranged."

Mick regarded her with curiosity. In all the years he'd known her, Coraline had been many things, but he'd never seen her afraid.

"He ranted about how he'd failed to kill you all in Europe and now he had to come here to do it. He wants me to help him." She took a large gulp of her drink, wishing alcohol could numb her.

Mick pulled covers off a couple of the chairs in the room. There was the smell of dust and disuse, but he ignored it and they sat down, facing each other.

"What did you tell him?" he asked.

She took an unneeded breath, "I said I didn't know anything that I was out of town on a photo shoot. He told me to come back to LA and get him the information he wanted." Coraline looked at Mick, and tried to divine his feelings. He was like a brick wall and she knew he she no longer had any influence with him.

Mick sat back, regarding her carefully. Coraline had tricked him before, and he wasn't going to place Beth's safety in his ex-wife's hands. "Are you really afraid of him?"

"Yes," she said, her hand shaking a bit as she held her drink. "Since our sire was killed a few years ago, Lance has become a tyrant. We all agreed that any family matters would be voted on by all of us, but Lance has usurped the power, and except for Henri, they're all afraid of him."

She got up to refresh her drink, lost in thought. "It was all so different after we were turned. Our sire was high in the court, and we prospered. Then came the Terror, and we banded together, all of us, to make sure we survived. We used the cure to appear human and left Paris for a time to avoid Madame la Guillotine."

Mick listened with fascination. During their marriage, Coraline had never talked about her sire or her brothers.

"After it was safe we went back and managed to continue through Napoleon and all the subsequent upheaval. I became restless and traveled Europe, then came to America." She gave a small smile. "I met Josef in New York when Lincoln was president, but he left for Canada after your Civil War."

Mick made a mental note to ask Josef about that, but he needed to bring her back to the present. "What do you want from me, Coraline?"

Her heart burst inside her. I want you to love me. "I want to be safe from Lance. He'll be after me to tell him about you and Josef."

Mick thought hard for a moment. Coraline seemed to be sincere, and he made a decision. "I'll tell you that when Lance tried to kill us in Geneva, he signed his death warrant. He is going to die."

Coraline sat down in the chair, her legs going out from under her. "Can you do it?"

Mick nodded grimly. "Yes, we will. I'm telling you this because it won't matter if you inform Lance. He's probably already figured it out, that's why he wants your help."

Coraline paused, taking it in. "I suppose I should change my identity and run," she said slowly. "How will you do it?"

"Josef has a plan, but he hasn't told me all of it. But listen, Coraline, if you run, Lance will follow you. It may make it more difficult for us to get to him if he's chasing after you."

"What—what do you want me to do?"

Mick leaned forward to emphasize his point. "Keep in touch with him. I'll let you know what to tell him, and in the meantime, I'll get you some new ID and you can be ready to leave. Do you have any money?"

She nodded weakly. "Yes, I have a numbered account in the Caymans. Lance doesn't know about it and I can access it from anywhere."

"Good. We'll set you up with new identification and you can stay in LA for as long as you need to. If it gets too dangerous, you can leave."

"This is the only way?" Coraline was afraid of Lance, but he was still her brother.

"If you want to be free of him, then you need to help us."

"What of my other brothers?"

Mick didn't want to tell Coraline that Josef would just as soon dispose of all the Duvalls.

"If they agree to leave us alone, then we won't bother them. You can help with that, too."

"If I do this and I have to leave, would you come with me? Just until I'm safe?" She looked at him, her eyes shimmering with all the power she possessed as she placed her hand on his chest.

He backed away from her touch quickly. "I'll make sure you're safe, but I can't leave Beth."

Coraline brought her hand down, and turned away from him. "I understand," she said.

Mick was relieved his ex-wife wasn't going to cause a scene, and said, "I'll start on a new ID for you. Try to find out what Lance is doing and let me know."

Coraline walked into the shadows of the room and looked at him. He couldn't read her face, but felt her emotions tightly under control.

"Yes, I'll find out what I can," she replied in a toneless voice. "Good night, Mick."

She watched him leave and fury claimed her as she heard his car fade away. Rage welled up, and she threw the glass with her drink into the wall, screaming loudly. She stormed against the unfairness that Mick no longer loved her. She swept the ornaments off the mantle and felt satisfaction as they shattered on the floor. How dare he dismiss her, as if she was nothing? All her planning and pretending to accept his relationship with the blond bitch hadn't worked. Beth needed to be truly dead, then Mick would turn to her, she knew it.

Coraline paced the room, thinking. She had the upper hand with Lance. He was blind, sitting in their castle near Versailles. Her brother needed her. If he promised not to harm Mick, she would help him. She wanted Beth dead—Josef, too. If both Mick's childe and sire were gone, Mick would surely come to her. And if Lance kills them, Mick can't blame me, she thought.

She needed to plan this very carefully.

TBC

Well, if you push Coraline far enough, she's going to revert to her true self. Next, Josef finds out more about the formulas, and Lance isn't too happy. Thanks for reading and reviewing!