A/N: I'm so pleased with all the positive feedback from my last chapter. Thanks so much to all of you for reading! The following chapter contains some rough language, and a word that I hate using, but seemed the worst possible word you could call a woman, so I had no choice but to use it, lol. You'll know what I mean when you get to it. Just cautioning you, since I'm writing this as a rated "T" story. Well, here' s some of the "M" I warned you might happen.

Chapter 8

JOSEF

Elise Walker, disgusted and offended, was truly a sight to behold. She flipped her platinum hair behind her shoulder and advanced on us, eyes shooting fire. I felt like Simone and I had been caught necking by the cops on lover's lane. I guess it wasn't too far from the truth.

I cleared my throat. "Mrs. Walker. Good to see you. Sorry, uh, for my lack of…" I struggled for the appropriate word, "…decorum. It's just that Simone and I haven't seen each other in three—"

"And whose fault is that?" she asked, setting down her groceries and walking closer into the sitting area. Well, I wasn't about to answer that one.

"Mine," replied Simone. "I sent him away, remember, Mother?" She reached for my hand. "I'm here to say good-bye to you and Daddy. I guess he's already at his studio."

"Good-bye? Why? What's changed, that you would go back to this—this playboy? What kind of life can you expect with him? I Googled him, Simone. I saw all the articles about his womanizing and wild parties. You think you'll ever be able to trust such a man?"

"Mother—"

"No, she's right, Simone,"I interrupted. "I'm sure everything you read about me was true, and there's lots of stuff I've done that never made it to the internet. But I'm a changed man. Simone has changed me. I'm more than willing to start a new life with her. To take care of her. You know I have the means to do it."

"It's not your money I'm worried about; she has her own money. No, I'm worried about you breaking her heart and embarrassing her in public with your orgies and your drugs."

How'd she hear about the orgies?

"I don't do drugs, ma'am, " I said solemnly, and she laughed.

"See, Simone, he can't deny the sleazy sex acts. Why can't you find someone else, someone more like that nice Mick St. John."

I snorted—I couldn't help myself. Simone would become bored with Mick's goody-two-shoes nature in about a week. Unless of course he was good in the sack, but I really didn't want to go there.

The dragon came closer, taking Simone's other hand, smoke seeming to seep from her nostrils.

"I'm not going to stand by and let you take my baby and turn her into someone like you," she continued.

Well, too late for that. I tried without success not to smirk.

She pulled on Simone's hand, and Simone would not release mine.

"Would you kindly quit with the tug-of-war," said Simone in annoyance. "Mother!" She yanked her hand away, no doubt having to use a bit of vamp force to do it. Elise looked down in shock.

"Simone! My hand!" And she held her supposedly injured claw—uh, hand—with the other.

Going for the sympathy card. Nice.

"Mother, you're fine. Let's not make this any harder than it already is for me. I love you and Daddy, but I've had time to think things through, and I know I belong back in LA with Josef. We're still planning to get married. I hope that you'll make it to the wedding, regardless of what you feel right now."

Now the steam began to pour out of her ears. "Listen to me, young lady. If you're willing to become this man's trophy wife, give up all the good morals your father and I instilled in you, to marry this—this—metro sexual, this—this—liberal, well, you'll be doing it over my dead body."

Well, I'd had about enough of that slander.

"Now see hear, Mrs. Walker. I voted Republican the last twenty elections!" Oops. I should have only said two elections, but she wasn't really listening to me, anyway. And I was trying my damndest not to jump on that "dead body" remark.

"Quit being such a bitch, Mother," said Simone softly, and when I glanced at her face, her eyes were taking on a distinctly silver cast.

"What did you call me?" Elise sputtered. Furious, she raised her arm to slap Simone, but Simone's vampire reflexes kicked in, and she caught her wrist mid-strike. I could smell Simone's wrath and knew she was seconds from vamping out completely if I didn't do something.

"Ladies, ladies. Please!" I said, getting between them, trying gently to make Simone let go of the vice grip she had on her mother's wrist. "Ease up, baby," I said to her under my breath. Simone looked into my eyes, realizing what she had almost given away. She shook her head to clear it, slowly releasing Elise's wrist. She walked away, trying to restore her control.

"Everyone's emotions are running high, here. Let's not make this physical. Simone, honey," I said, as if to a frightened mare, "let's go before this gets out of hand."

Elise's angry breaths filled the room, as if revving up to spew fire. I could hear her heart pounding furiously beneath her scales—I mean, her chest. "Go, then. But if you do, don't expect me to run to your rescue when he throws you over for a younger model. That's what his kind does, Simone. I'm warning you."

She turned back to face her mother, completely calm now, no sign of silver or fangs. "I've been taking care of myself for years now, Mother, and I don't need anyone, not even you, to do it for me. I have my own job, my own house, my own life. And soon, I'll have a husband who loves me, who'll be my partner, not my parent." She moved to stand by my side, and I watched in awe as the butterfly finally escaped her cocoon. I took her hand and led her to the door. I reached to pick up her suitcase, but she got to it first, and damned if she didn't grab the handle herself. She turned back to Elise.

"Tell Daddy I love him, and I'm sorry I left without saying good-bye. Despite all of this, I would love to have you both at the wedding, but only if you can be supportive. And I love you too, Mother. I'm sorry you don't respect me, or my choices. But those are my own, too."

"No one will take you seriously anymore, Simone," said her mother, acid dripping from her tongue. "Your career will become a joke, and your face will be splashed over every gossip rag in the country. Everyone will believe you are just a money-grubbing whore, who couldn't make it without a rich man to fall back on."

Simone stared at her mother now, as if this time she had actually been slapped.

I felt my body stiffen dangerously, and I fought now for my own self-control. I knew the best thing was just to get Simone out of there. I propelled her out the door before the shock could wear off, fearful that when it did, she might totally break down and undo all the good she'd just accomplished. As the door shut behind us, I heard the sound of something heavy landing hard against it, the crash of breaking glass. It sounded suspiciously like that vase from their mantle. I turned to Simone.

"Wait here. I'll see if she's alright."

Before she could protest, I went back into the dragon's lair, shutting the door again softly. Elise looked up in surprise from her crouched position, picking up large glass shards with one hand, wiping angry tears with the other. Slowly, she rose to her full height, every inch of her shaking, yet still obstinate and proud. Now I knew where Simone got her feistiness. I willed my fangs to emerge, my eyes to change, and watched in satisfaction as hers widened in horror. I got within an inch of her face.

"Now listen to me, you shriveled up old cunt. You ever talk to Simone like that again, and I'll rip your fuckin' throat out. And if you tell anyone what you saw here, mention even in passing what I've said, I'll know it. And there'll be no place on God's green earth you can hide from me, lady."

She still held a piece of glass in her hand, and I felt rather than saw what she intended to do with it. I grabbed that hand and held it lightly, but its sharp edge must have dug into her palm. I smelled her blood and heard her gasp of pain simultaneously.

"Uh, uh, uh," I cautioned, smiling around my fangs. I raised her bleeding hand to my mouth, squeezing her wrist so that she dropped the glass involuntarily. I slowly licked the warm blood from her palm, and she cringed at the rasp of my cold tongue. Her heart pounded in fear, so I knew she was taking me seriously. Good.

"So, do we have an understanding…Mother?"

She nodded in quick, jerky movements. My face slid smoothly back into its human form, and now I kissed her knuckles gallantly. "See you at the wedding?" I asked pleasantly. Her only reply was a mouse-like squeak. I smiled charmingly and took my leave.

Simone was waiting by the elevator. She looked at me in alarm, smelling her mother's blood .

"What happened in there?" she asked, eyes darting back toward her parents' apartment.

"I was helping your mother clean up the glass," I said nonchalantly.

"Is she okay?"

"She'll be fine. Just a little cut. I warned her to be careful around sharp objects." As she walked ahead of me into the elevator, I licked the residual blood from my teeth.

In the limo on the way to the airport, I pulled Simone close to me, smelling her hair, holding her hand in mine.

"Did you mean what you said in there," I asked tentatively, "about still planning to marry me? About us being…partners?"

"Yes," she breathed, as I fingered the pink diamond she still wore on her left hand.

"And you remember your promise to me a few weeks ago? About not running away when we have problems?"

"Yes. I promise. Never again." And she looked up into my face, her lips parting in wait for my kiss. I obliged her happily a few minutes before snuggling against her once again. We rode through New York traffic in silence, both our thoughts no doubt on the wonder of being together again, of the power of forgiveness. Speaking of which…

"Josef?"

"Hmmm?"

"You mentioned Sarah earlier. Are you ready to tell me what happened?"

I couldn't help cringing a little. The pain was still very raw, and I had to blink rapidly so I wouldn't embarrass myself with the tears that threatened. The morning's events had succeeded in taking my mind off why I had come to New York in the first place. I tried to find the words to tell her what I'd done, although I'm sure she had likely figured it out on her own.

"Josef?"

"Yes. Uh…yes, I guess I should tell you." I sighed. "It started out as a kind of penance. For Mick. He asked that I try to make up for what I did with Beth, by making a sacrifice." I laughed nervously. "I don't think he quite meant a human sacrifice, though maybe that doesn't exactly apply…"

"And you thought of Sarah."

Of course, Simone knew all about her, how I'd failed in Sarah's turning. It had been an excuse for not trying it with her, in the beginning.

"Yes. And when I went to see her, to do the deed, it instantly became more about her than about me or Mick. It was something I'd been putting off for years. It's what stood in the way of being closer to you, Simone. It kept me from turning you. It kept me from fully committing to you, even though I'd already proposed. Sarah—well, she was always in the back of my mind, haunting my decisions like a ghost. Yet she wasn't a ghost exactly. She was a living, breathing being, not fully alive, but certainly not fully dead. And it wasn't right to keep her in that limbo. I was selfishly holding onto her, to a lovely memory that could never be real again."

"So you…ended it?

I pressed my lips to her hair. "Yes," I said softly. "I killed her. Deliberately. With a poison meant to stop her heart. And it was quick. Quicker even than I expected. I didn't want her to starve to death, to slowly watch her shrivel up and fade away to nothing. It would have been just as cruel as letting her body live with no purpose but to prolong my unfounded hopes. I'm sure you must think I'm a murderer."

"But Josef, you are a murderer. Many times over, if I'm to believe your stories about the tar pits." She pulled away from my embrace so she could look me in the eye, let me see the brief flash of humor there. "But in this case. In this, you showed mercy. You freed her from that limbo you mentioned. Wouldn't you have wanted someone to do that for you? Don't you think Sarah would have wanted that, especially after you found there would be no way to save her? Would she have wanted you to have her existence prevent you from finding true happiness?"

I looked into Simone's eyes, shining with the light of understanding. She loved me, probably more than Sarah ever had, or at least more than she had had a chance to. And if I were being honest with myself, I loved Simone more than I ever loved Sarah. It was a truth both painful and awesome. A wave of peace washed over me, and I pulled Simone onto my lap, kissing her sweetly, relieved at last of this burden I'd carried all these years.

"I love you," I whispered against her mouth. "You know me better than I know myself."

A red-tipped finger reached up to trace my lips. "And you know me, my weaknesses, my flaws, but still, you came for me. You forgave me. We're going to be alright, Josef."

"More than alright," I said, taking her mouth again. From then on, we almost welcomed the slowness of the morning traffic.

TBC

A/N: Please review if you have a second. I'm seriously addicted to them!

Next up—Mick's reaction to Josef's sacrifice.