The Scent Of Vampires (Book 1)

Chapter 16: Preparing for a Meeting

Rafael couldn't help but find Zephora's reactions amusing. He found he quite enjoyed tormenting her in small ways. They had been searching for Amelie for some time with no luck. After a heated argument on what to do next, he finally convinced Zephora to pose as his human pet and do a little undercover work. Okay, if he was being truthful, he supposed she hadn't really agreed. She could hardly refuse though, when he took off with both of them at inhuman speeds.

When he came to an abrupt stop outside Jale's gated home, he couldn't help but chuckle as Zephora's momentum propelled her forward. He watched in amusement as she stumbled and landed on her backside. The nasty look she sent him would have scared anyone else. Lucky for him, he wasn't just anyone.

She quickly jumped to her feet, spitting mad. "What is the matter with you! You can't just cart people around like that. You may be used to traveling at lighting speed but I am not. Further more, I refuse to go along with this plan!"

"You must really not want to find Amelie then." Rafael said nonchalantly, flicking imaginary dust off of his sleeve as if he were bored.

"That's absurd! Just because I don't like your plan doesn't mean I don't want to find he," said Zephora furiously. She started to walk away and Rafael knew he'd have to play dirty to get her to go along with his plan.

"I understand." Rafael said simply.

Zephora turned in surprise. "You do?"

"Well...yes. You have every right to be scared. After all, you are just human and clearly no match for my superior species." He explained.

Zephora narrowed her eyes and took a step or two closer. "I know what you're trying to do and it's not going to work.

"Really? What would that be?" Rafael asked innocently. 

"You are trying to bait me into going along with your stupid idea and I'm not falling for it." Zephora said in aggravation, then started walking away again.

Rafael began to count in his mind 1...2...3... When Zephora suddenly stopped walking, he tried to hide the grin slowly spreading across his face. He couldn't help chuckle again when she stomped her foot and then let out a noise of frustration. 

She moved toward him slowly not looking him in the eyes until they were only a few feet apart. When she did look at him, he could see the anger swirling like a storm in her eyes.

"Fine." she managed through clenched teeth.

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that?" He questioned, wanting to hear her say the words.

"I'll pretend to be your pet." She spit the last word out like it tasted foul in her mouth.

"Good." Rafael said taking her hand and placing it on his arm then urged her to fall in step next to him. "Now.... the first thing we need to address, if we are going to successfully pull this off, is your temper."

*******

"When did you say they would be here again?" Rafael questioned Jale impatiently. 

"Should be anytime." Jale reassured him.

They were sitting comfortably in the Jale's living room.  Severo had managed to set up a meeting with Draedyn. He hoped to gain as much information as possible about Amelie. Something wasn't sitting right with Rafael. He hadn't been lying to Zephora and her friends, when he'd said they had no idea what they were getting themselves into. The problem was, he wasn't even sure he knew.

He couldn't help but feel a tiny bit apprehensive about the meeting. He prompted Zephora on how she should behave and what to say and not to say. Which was no easy task. He could tell she was no more happy about the situation than she was before.  In fact, if it hadn't been for Jale, he wasn't so certain she wouldn't have tried to strangle him with her bare hands. He hadn't planned on telling Jale about his plan to pretend Zephora was his human pet, but one look at the both of them and Jale knew something was up.