Chapter 44

February 15, 2002

Frank couldn't focus on his school project. He didn't like that she didn't call him back when he knew she was supposed to be with his sister. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and called his sister. Stephanie was busy preparing a pitcher of sangria, so she put him on speakerphone.

"Is Coralis with you?"

"No, she left a few minutes ago for Chicago. You do know that you are an idiot, right?"

"I know that… that's also why I wanted to talk to her. I paged her, but she didn't call me back."

"Bro, I'm serious. Do you have any idea how dangerous her work is? She didn't talk much about your fight, but with everything going on at her work, she now thinks it'd be better to break up with you, and that is if she makes it back alive."

"Wait, what do you mean by making it back alive? What did she say?"

"Sebastian made her spill her instructions. They work in the same field, remember?"

"Coralis is one of the best agents in our field. Technically, she's only an intern, but her bosses keep sending her on actual agent cases and lately, she's being sent to more dangerous crap, with barely any backup. Honestly, she's very skilled and resourceful, I don't think she will get killed, but I do think that some people want her dead, so to be fair, it also weighs a lot on her," said Sebastian.

Frank didn't know what to answer. He was worried about her and regretted even more what he said to her.

"We both remember the night mom got attacked while on her way to Uncle Louis and how Coralis underplayed what she did to save her against 4 guys. She's very good at what she does. If she can't spend time with you when you're free, it's really not because she doesn't want to be with you or is being inconsiderate," said Stephanie.

"I remember what she said the night I met her, on how she dealt with enough assholes at work, so she didn't want to deal with another one at home. I realize that I've been an ass to her, I should never have said what I did to her. I love her, I really do. Honestly, I want to move off campus, and I wanted to ask her if she'd move in with me, so there'd be less hit-and-miss. Does she really want to break up with me?"

"You should have led with that. I have other ways to reach out to her, and I'm supposed to see her tomorrow at work. Well, our other work. I can try to tell her to call you when she has a chance, but if you love her, make sure she knows it before she does something stupid."

Coralis stood in a forested area in suburban Chicago, surrounded by goblins. She felt her hologram trying to go off, but couldn't answer it. Another goblin charged at her and she beheaded it with the blade she was holding in her right hand while using her left hand to restrain those behind her.

Prince Hendrick and two of his loyal warriors were fighting five of Lucas' vampires a few meters away, while Eva approached the goblins behind Coralis to behead them.

Once all foes were dead, she walked away to check on her hologram. There was a message on it. She pressed to release it and a holographic video of Sebastian came out.

"I know you're busy, so I'm gonna be quick. Stephanie and I just spoke to Frank. Talk to him before you decide anything. He regrets whatever he said to you and really wants you to call him back when you have a minute. Stay safe."

"Trouble in paradise?" said Eva from behind her.

"You could say that. I'll call him back later, can't deal with this right now."

They headed back to Prince Hendrick and his warriors, who were busy dragging all the dead foes into a pile.

"Seems to me Lucas is trying to draw you all outside the city, which would leave your stronghold unguarded," said Eva.

"Which is odd, considering Lucas would have no use for the vase. I still think at least an elder in the EBEE is working with him. Get the warriors and guards to fight away from the city, which would leave your compound open for someone else to sneak in for the vase," said Coralis.

"Agreed, so we keep the plan as it is. I'll have more warriors patrolling this area and some other suburbs. Let them steal our vase, so we'll know who is after it," said Prince Hendrick.

They burned the bodies and returned to the royal vampire family headquarters in downtown Chicago.

"I'll meet you in the armoury, I need to make a quick phone call," said Coralis as they were about to walk into the building.

She walked to the first payphone she saw and called Frank's number. She was hoping that no one would notice her covered in blood and call the cops on her. It was almost midnight, so she wasn't sure if he'd be still up. He picked up after the first ring.

"Coralis?"

"Yes, it's me. I got Sebastian's message, but I don't have much time to talk."

"Can we talk when you get back? Doesn't matter what time, just tell me when."

"I probably will be here all night, but I need to be back for noon tomorrow. I can stop by your place before heading to my other work, but I can't give you an exact time."

"That's fine. I'll see you tomorrow at some point before noon?"

"Sure! I gotta go, I'll talk to you tomorrow."

She didn't know what to think of it, so she decided to try to ignore it for now and focus on helping Prince Hendrick with their plan, while fighting rogue vampires and goblins all night with the warriors, as instructed by her elders. She took a shower in Princess Veronica's suite before taking off to meet with Frank.

While up in the sky, on her way to Frank, she thought about what she should do. She wanted to go rogue against the EBEE, but to do that, she would need to fully end things with Frank. She trusted her friends' willingness to help her keep him safe, but the risk was too high. She didn't want anyone to potentially use him to make her do things she didn't want to do. If she wanted to continue her relationship with him, she knew she would need to come clean, tell him everything and play it safe with the EBEE.

She couldn't find a safe spot to land on the ground, so she landed on the rooftop of his building and jumped down from one balcony to another in cat form, making it look like she was chasing something. She changed back to her form between two parked cars and switched her paraphernalia while crouched down, making it look like she was searching for keys. She only had 15 minutes left before she had to leave for the flyball field, so she had to make it quick with Frank.

"Listen, I don't have that much time…"

She couldn't finish what she wanted to say, Frank kissed her as soon as he opened his door.

"I'll be quick then," he said when he broke it up to let her in and closed the door behind her. "First off, I need to apologize for my outburst last night. I was out of line. I was stressed out with my school projects and ended up lashing out at you. You didn't deserve that."

"It's fine," whispered Coralis.

"Second, and that's what I actually wanted to talk to you about last night. I see why Vic bailed out of the campus dorm as soon as she could, even Mark isn't staying here anymore. I still have a year left to complete my degree, but I want to look for an apartment off-campus at the end of this semester. I would like you to move in with me, that way, we'd at least be able to see each other in between work and stuff. Come home to me. You don't need to give me an answer now, but please, think about it."

Coralis closed her eyes for a moment, thinking about what to say next. She opened her eyes back and sighed.

"Two conditions. I have to leave now, but if I don't have to go back to Chicago right after work, I'll come see you here when done. Are you gonna be home tonight? If not, it'll be another time."

"I was supposed to see Mark tonight, but I'll cancel him if you're going to come after work."

"Wait a bit before doing that. If I can, I'll come see you here, and I will tell you everything about what I am and what I do. If you can handle it, then I will agree to move in with you. If you cannot, or want to take some time to think about it, then we'll go from there."

She turned around to open the door and walk out. Before she could fully open it, Frank put his right hand on the door, gently grabbed her chin with his left hand and kissed her.

"I love you. I don't think there is anything you could tell me that would make me change my mind," he said as he stepped back.

"We'll see if it's still the case once you hear it all."