CHAPTER 4: INVITATION TO DANCE

When Dietrich came back in, I was already dressed. I had skin tight but flexible black jeans with tall high heel boots. I had a tank top and fingerless gloves pulled taut on my pale hands. I was seated sideways in my chair, reading a book. It wasn't all that good, just another lame cliché romance story. Something that would interest a terran but had little influence over a methuselah. I looked over at him through narrowed eyes.

Dietrich walked across the threshold of Irena's suite. He was greeted by a cruel gaze from Irena herself; she was dressed sparsely, but he supposed that was casual for her. Everything black, which contrasted her pale skin beautifully. He couldn't help but admit that she was a beautiful specimen. She was vampire who truly showed her bloodlines in the way she acted, how she held her glasses, and her attitude. His face was unreadable, but his eyes glinted.

Irena kept her gaze locked on him like a predator observing potential prey. It was a hungry gaze similar to the one Isaak sometimes gave him right before he would either drag him into bed or pin him in a chair and drink from him. Needless to say, seeing it from another vampire freaked him out just a little bit. May as well get used to it, he supposed. He was going to see this girl quite often from now on.

Irena sniffed in irritation before getting right down to the question that Dietrich assumed had been nagging her for a while now," So why are you here, Dietrich? What does the Orden want with me?" Her gaze had softened to be almost straight, merely curious.

"I've come to deliver a message." He kneeled down, kept his eyes low, a submissive gesture to the vampire before him. He cleared his throat a bit and spoke, "My Lord Cain, Contra Mundi, Leader of the Rosenkruetz Orden, has sent me to extend an invitation to join the Orden. If you would be so kind as to accompany me back to our headquarters, you can discuss details with my Lord personally." He meant to sound confident, kind, and still submissive. He let his words hang in the air for a moment before he raised his head to look at her. Her face was unreadable.

It was when she smiled and began to snicker that Dietrich began to doubt she would come quietly.

"Isn't that interesting? He's the one who drove me away from the Orden and now he's sent a kid to beg for me to return to serve him. Hah. Sorry, Dietrich, but I have no intention of returning to the Rosenkruetz Orden." Wait, "return"? His eyes widened a bit. So this girl is a former member. This changed things. If she had left or had been, as she stated, driven away, then she will be a handful.

"Okay, I'm sure my lord will understand." Dietrich bowed low and backed out of the room. He made for the front door and left the manor. He kept walking on until he was deep in the woods. He called Isaak on his radio system," Isaak, I'll need some back up."

The mage's dark voice replied on the other line, "Understood."

Dietrich looked up at the sky. There were no birds out which was unusual. But he felt a chilly wind whisk through the forest. The sky began to darken with black clouds followed my distant rumbles of thunder. There was a storm coming. How appropriate.

I was right. I knew I was, even without Dietrich's formal invitation. Cain was a fool for sending him to find me. Now that I knew he was after me, they would never find me. I quickly gathered all my weapons and all the money I could fit in my satchel and went downstairs, sliding down on the banister.

Dietrich told the truth about my servants at least, not a living terran in sight. I moved toward the side door and poked my head out, searching for any sign of the cute terran boy. Finding none, I hasted into the stables to find my big black horse happily munching on his morning grain. How he got the grain, who could say? That didn't matter now. He was the only horse with enough endurance and speed to get me far away from here.

I took my time grooming him, paying close attention to his feet. Cleaning each of his coronets to perfection and scrubbing the bottom of his hoof to a dull shine. Meanwhile, he was eating some supplements, his premium feed, and golden hay. I felt bad about forcing him to eat then running like hell, but when you're fleeing for your life, it's a necessary evil. Nevertheless, I did give him at least an hour after eating for him to digest before throwing his tack on.

The winds outside were picking up, and the sky outside was turning black. A troublesome little storm was brewing, threatening me and my beloved horse, Jet. I huffed and slapped on the saddle, securing the girth tightly, but he didn't mind. His girth was covered in fluffy cotton. I put his bridle on, struggling a little with him about the bit, but otherwise he was compliant. I brought his face down to mine," I know you hate traveling, but we've got to go." Jet snorted in response and I led him outside. I stretched up quite a bit to get my foot in the stirrup, but I hauled myself up without a problem. I slipped a cloak on and put the hood up. Without another word, I urged him forward and he took off at a speedy gallop toward the storm. Wind was howling now, and the forest shuddered as we approached. Jet slowed to a stop and bent away from the forest. He snorted and gave a fearful whinny. I patted him reassuringly on the shoulder and kicked him," Forward!" He obeyed, rearing slightly before lunging into the trees.

Now we were running, dodging trees and leaping over logs. I cast my senses back to the area around the manor where Dietrich had disappeared to. It took me several minutes, but I finally locked onto him and several other people moving fast in our direction. They were beginning to close in on us.. One of them was Balthasar von Neuman, another was Isaak Fernand von Kampfer. I knew them well, and if we didn't widen the gap between us, and they caught up, I wouldn't have a chance against them, even with my power.

With a growl I urged Jet to go faster, steering him accurately and taking the path of least resistance. If I could make it to the countryside where Jet could really run, we wouldn't have anything to worry about, but that was a big "if". As if knowing I was moving away, they just kept on my tail. With Jet's large size being a hindrance in these tight spaces, it would be easy for them to simply speed up and take me down. Our speed was only about 20 kilometers per hour. We had at least another three miles before we were at the tree line. We might be able to make it. I smiled, Fine, let's dance.