Where Secrets Lie

A flash of worry crossed Elijah's face, and it wasn't lost on John. "Something wrong?" he asked.

Elijah shook his head. "No, I just worry that Michael will protest this action, but it doesn't matter. It's for his own good as well as the good of our clans." He turned to Hannah. "You are the one he is going to marry, so it is your responsibility to annihilate your competition. Do it promptly."

Shock paralyzed Hannah. She had never been allowed to interfere with any clan business. Now, they wanted her to actually kill someone, and she really didn't want to. She didn't care for Kara and wouldn't miss her, but she didn't want to actually have to kill someone. It seemed too dirty. She knew, however, it was pointless to argue.

"I'm going to have to get her alone with me somehow," she spoke to Kate, who was far more thrilled at the prospect of getting rid of Kara than Hannah was. "How am I supposed to do that?" She walked to the window and watched the trees bending in the wind. She would have given anything to be a tree at that moment.

"I know exactly what to do," Kate told her. She walked up and put her arms around the vampire, whispering the dark plans into her ear.

**********************************

Logan and Alyssa returned alone to the empty mansion. Logan walked her to her bedroom, but just when Alyssa was sure he would ask to spend the night with her, he bid her an awkward goodnight. Alyssa shut the door. She turned her back to the door and fell against it just as the sound of his door shutting echoed.

"Dang you, Logan," she said with a laugh.

The night she spent with Logan in the gallery was amazing, but it was also the last night with him. He hadn't tried to be with her again or even talk about it since. She honestly thought this evening might be different. Perhaps that special evening meant more to her than it did to him.

Just as she was about to go collapse on her bed, there was a knock at her door. She grabbed the knob, but before she could turn it, Logan burst through the door. "Logan!" she exclaimed, but before she had a chance to question him, he wrapped her in his arms and enveloped her lips in the most passionate kiss of her life.

She pulled away just long enough to catch her breath. She leaped back into his arms and began kissing him once more. He picked her up, and she wrapped her slender legs around his waist as he propped her up on the arm of the couch.

She pushed him away. "Wait," she said, her messy brown hair falling in her eyes. "Before we do this, I need to know something. Is this just sex, or do I mean more to you than that?"

Logan wore an expression of pure shock. "Alyssa, look around. You're my only servant. I thought it was obvious how much I care about you. I can get sex from anyone, but you're the only one I want it from."

Alyssa felt herself getting hot and sweaty. "Then why didn't you say anything about it to me before?"

His eyes twinkled as he spoke. "I liked watching you squirm over it." It was almost sadistic, but at the same time, it made him more attractive to her. She realized just how strange love could be. "Be mine," he said.

He began planting kisses up and down her neck, holding her in a deep embrace. His words tantalized her, and she wanted to ask him what he meant by them exactly, but his kisses made it hard to speak. "What do you mean?" She squealed. "Be yours−"

"Forever," he finished.

She pulled away and nodded fervently before giving in to his advances.

********************************

"I'm glad she's going to be alright," she said as she tried to think of a reason to leave. She had no intention of talking to the police.

Before she could think of an excuse, her phone started to vibrate. She glanced at the screen: a new message from Michael.

"Meet me at the café on 3rd street," she said as she read the text.

"What?" Amy asked.

"It's a text from Michael, asking me to meet him at the café on 3rd street," she explained.

"You better go," Amy said. "I can handle this." She smiled and shooed for Kara to leave.

Kara looked at the text again. Something about it seemed strange. It just didn't feel right, but she really didn't want to face any police officers, especially ones she might know.

"Are you sure? I feel like I'm abandoning my post."

"You aren't," Amy said with a laugh. "I'm just taking over for you."

"Alright, I'll be back later. Let me know if anything changes." She gathered her coat and purse and headed for the café.

As she headed down the street, her footsteps echoed off of the sidewalk. The city felt empty and cold, and she wished she had remained at the hospital. She didn't want to be on the street longer than she had to, so she decided to take a shortcut. She ducked into an alley that she knew came out right in front of the café and emerged next to a storage building. She spotted the café and was about to dart across the street, when a group of men stepped out before her, blocking her.

As they came into the light, she realized that it was the vampire and a few others from his clan that was at the party. He popped his knuckles and stepped closer to her. "Hi sweetie, remember me?"