Chapter 28

February 14, 2001

Coralis sat next to Andrew, her mentor, in the middle of a room. They had to attend a meeting with some EBEE senior agents in London. She was hoping that the meeting wouldn't last long: she promised Frank that she'd be spending the evening with him and would try to ignore work calls. Victoria was going to be out for the day, so she told him to be there at 17:00.

Elder agents Alfredino, Rolland, and Phraton were sitting behind a table by the windows.

"Blue Thunder," said Rolland, a fire mage, "I must say, your track record with us is stellar. Your mentor only has praises for you."

"Officially, you're an apprentice with us. However, it came to our attention that your contract with The Northerners will be ending soon. When your flyball career ends, after this flyball season, we are going to formally appoint you as an agent," said Alfredino, a wind mage.

"In all due respect, elders, my flyball career will not be ending after this season. My contract with the Northerners is currently being renegotiated."

"With the rise of extremist groups and rogue clans in all subspecies, we need you to be focused on your work as an agent for the European Bureau of Elemental Energy," said Alfredino.

"In the recent year, we have overlooked your relationship with Princess Veronica, because you were still an apprentice with us. This relationship must end now: do not get attached to people who could betray you," said Phraton, an elf.

Coralis steeled her mind and kept a poker face on, while wondering what were they actually up to.

"When I agreed to sign up as an apprentice for the European Bureau of Elemental Energy, I told you all that my flyball career had priority over my apprenticeship with you. As of now, my flyball career is not over and I will be renewing my contract with The Northerners. If you are going to appoint me as an agent after this flyball season, so be it, but know that my flyball career will not be over and will still take priority, as stipulated in the signed contract."

"Is that all, gentlemen?" said Andrew while getting up and gesturing for Coralis to do the same. "We all know that Blue Thunder had been doing the work of an actual agent for the past few years, so this formal appointment would be quite useless, in my opinion. If there is nothing else, then we shall take our leave."

The three elder agents looked at Andrew.

"That is all, for now," said Phraton, gesturing toward the door.

Coralis and Andrew left the meeting room and closed the door behind them.

"I am not one who could tell you what to do in regards to your relationship with Princess Veronica, you know very well that I would never give up on Lalima. All I can tell you is to be careful. I don't think that they will be stupid enough to try anything against the royal vampire family of Chicago… but stay close to them. I have suspicions against some of our elders, I think some of them are working for rogue vampire clans, but I can't prove it," said Andrew when they were out of the EBEE compound.

"I'm not planning on cutting ties with Princess Veronica. In fact, I think I'm going to fly to Chicago right now. I'll see you at combat training Sunday morning."

Coralis took off on her stick and headed to Chicago. It would still be early afternoon in Chicago and Montreal local time, so she figured that she had time to make a stop in Chicago to have a chat with the royal vampire family. If needed, she'd call Frank from there. She hated using portals, but didn't exclude using them to get her closer to Montreal, so that she'd be back on time.

The royal vampire family of Chicago was living on the upper floors of an old theater that had been converted into a nightclub and condominiums. The nightclub occupied the main floor and mezzanine, while clan members were occupying the condominiums on the middle floors. The three upper floors were for royal family members. The building itself was 7 stories.

Coralis walked into the club. Although it was technically a nightclub, it was open all day, within legal opening hours. The royal vampire family couldn't have human authorities looking into their business, so they made sure that their establishment would abide by all human laws and city regulations. There weren't a lot of people at this time, so she was able to get the bartender's attention as soon as she reached the bar.

"I'll have a double scotch," she said and the bartender nodded.

She looked around and spotted Prince Hendrick sitting in a booth at the left of the bar. She paid for her drink, chugged it, walked to where Prince Hendrick was sitting, and sat on the bench on the other side of the table.

"Blue Thunder," he said, looking at her. "What brings you here today? Didn't talk to the EBEE lately, didn't know you were coming today."

"I just spoke with them. Trust, they didn't send me. Is Princess Veronica around?"

"She's somewhere in the building, I believe. You know she'll have your head if she hears you calling her Princess in here, it's Veronica to you, think she made that clear."

"She did, but I'm currently in the middle of your family headquarters, so I will keep observing protocol."

"She'll be down here in a minute, I just linked her," he said, closing the ledger book he'd been working on. "Mind to tell me what brings you here, if the EBEE didn't send you?"

"I certainly don't mind, but might be better to discuss it in private, with Princess Veronica."

Just as she finished her sentence, she felt someone slapping her behind her head. She turned and saw Princess Veronica smirking.

"How often do I need to repeat that it's just Veronica for you?" said Veronica, while sitting next to Coralis.

"I don't have much time, promised Frank I'd see him tonight, don't think he'll ever forgive me if I get to him a few hours late. Can we talk somewhere private? Never know who's listening."

"Sure, let's go to father's study."

They got up and walked to the service elevator located next to the bathrooms. Prince Hendrick passed his keypass and pressed the button for the 5th floor. Coralis and Princess Veronica sat on the chairs surrounding a round table in the middle table, while Prince Hendrick grabbed a bottle of brandy in a cabinet across the room.

While Prince Hendrick poured brandy into three small glasses, Coralis told them what was said at her EBEE meeting.

"Wait, the EBEE actually believes that we're together? I mean, I never cared about that rumour, but we only played it out at the Swamtons mating ball," said Princess Veronica.

"Isn't that interesting? I didn't deny it to them, hope you ain't mad about that."

"This implies that these EBEE elders are close to the Swamtons," said Prince Hendrick as he was sitting down on the chair next to hers, to her right. "If you don't mind, I'll relay that information to our father."

"Please do, I think that's something that he should be aware of. He needs to be careful of what he says to the EBEE."

"Are you sure you can't come to the nightclub tonight? Think we should feed the rumour mill. The mating ball turned out fun after all."

"Nah, actually, I think it'd be best to let that rumour run as it is. You two have only been seen making out in public at that mating ball, so I want to make some inquiries about who believes that rumour and where they've heard it from. I like that rumour, so I won't deny it," said Prince Hendrick.

"I'll do the same when I go back to the EBEE headquarters on Sunday, for combat training, see what I can find out. That rumour is also helping to keep Frank safe: they can't find out that I'm actually seeing a human, especially if we think they're close to the Swamtons. If they want me to break up with Veronica, they could also be planning something against your family and don't want me involved, potentially turning against them."

"I'm starting to like you more. Don't worry sis, I won't steal your beloved from you. I will make sure that the Swamtons and other questionable clans remain convinced that you two still have the hots for each other."

Coralis looked at the clock above the liquor cabinet: it was 15:45.

"I need to get going, before I'm late for my Valentine's date."

The siblings' eyes turned white for a minute, and they bolted toward the service elevator.

"There is a situation at the club. Some elves attacking club patrons," said Princess Veronica.

"I'll help out where I can before taking off, in that case."

They exited the elevator and took in the commotion. They quickly spotted the attackers and had their hands on them within a second. Bouncers had locked the front door to make sure the attackers wouldn't escape, while the bar staff helped the patrons evacuate through the back door, making sure that the human ones wouldn't remember anything they saw.

There were eleven elves involved in the attack, males and females, all dressed in dark purple cloaks. Coralis was about to kill a fifth one, a redheaded female, but Prince Hendrick told her to keep her alive. She rendered her unconscious, and Prince Hendrick ordered one of the bouncers to take her to the dungeon.

"Thank you so much for helping, you didn't have to, so that's very appreciated," said Prince Hendrick.

"No problem. Mind if I borrow a phone? I'll pay for the long distance."

"You think any of us would accept your money? Don't even think about it, I don't even want the bartender to charge you for drinks. With what you just told us, I am going to take a devious amount of pleasure in questioning that elf we took to the dungeon."

"I want in," said Princess Veronica.

Coralis tried to call Frank, but the call wouldn't go through. She figured that he probably was in the metro, on his way to her place. She cursed. It was 16:15 and it would take her an hour to fly back to Montreal. She was covered with elf blood, which had a dark purple shade on it.

"I'll have to use the portal network to get back home, if I want to be home on time, but I can't walk among humans looking like this. He'll probably be waiting on my doorstep when I get home. I can explain a small amount of blood on me, but there is no way I can explain elf blood."

"I'll pass you a change of clothes, don't worry about it. Use my phone to send him a text message, so he can read it when he gets signal," said Princess Veronica.

"I swear, you're saving my life more than I'm saving yours," said Coralis, as she sent a text message from Princess Veronica's phone.

She went to the bathroom to change clothes, shrunk her dirty ones to make them fit into her cloak's inner pockets, and washed up the blood that was on her face. She told Frank that she'd be about 30 minutes late.

She used the portals to go from Detroit to Boston, and from Boston to Trois-Rivières. She landed on her rooftop at 17:20. She turned her elemental paraphernalia into keychains, shifted into Cheetah, and grabbed her eyeglasses into her mouth. She jumped down on her back balcony, bolted down the stairs, and ran to the other end of the alley. She ran up to the park down the street and shifted back to her normal form behind a bush. She put her eyeglasses on and stepped out of the bushes.

She arrived at her place at 17:33.

"Here you are, finally," said Frank, reaching out to her waist with his right hand as she walked up the stairs to unlock the door.

He brought her closer to him to kiss her.

"Luv, what's this?" he said, passing his left thumb over a patch of crusted blood above her right ear.

"Not important, it's not mine," she said, and kissed him before he could add anything else.