Chapter 25

Have you ever met someone that as soon as you see them, you know they are going to be fun?

That's how I felt when I saw him.

I order my grande iced green tea latte and found a set.

His eyes never left mine as he followed me across the room and took the chair in front of me.

"Hello, domnisoara," he said again.

This time I smiled at him as I took a sip of my drink.

"Hello, Pure-blood," I replied, letting him know that I knew what he was, it was my own secret that I also knew who he was.

"How is it that in all the time I have been in New York, I have never met you until now?" He asked, still staring at me, still smiling.

"There are over 9 million people in this city, do you really think it is strange that we have never met before?" I replied, enjoying myself for once.

No pressure, no cases, no people dying. Just two people in a coffee shop.

"Then it must be fated for us to meet on this day, at this time,"

"Or coincidence," I laughed. "I don't really believe in fate these days."

"No? What did fate ever do to you?" He asked.

"It put me on your paths," I chuckled.

I had left all that behind for 200 years, and all of a sudden, I was being dragged back in. Forgive me for not being overjoyed.

"My path specifically? Or all of ours?"

"Is there ever one without all?" I shot back. I took another sip of my drink, enjoying the taste.

I was a simple girl. I could live off green tea and peanut butter for the rest of eternity and be completely happy.

"So, if we can't have one without all, which one are you?" He asked, looking me up and down as if my House was tattooed on my face.

I mean, it was tattooed on me, but it was hidden in the massive tattoo that covered my back, not easily visible to the general public.

"Wanna take a guess?"

"I don't know you, so you can't be from my House," he started, rubbing the tips of his fingers together in a mindless gesture. I'm not even sure he knew he was doing it.

"Nope," I confirmed.

"You don't smell like a mutt, so you can't be part of Lucas' House." I laughed at that statement.

"You don't seem to have a stick up your ass, so there is no way you can be a Van Helsing."

"Correct again."

"You seem too smart to be a Monstru," he guessed again.

"That seems a bit harsh, I am sure there are intelligent people in that House."

"Maybe Mary, but honestly between you and I, I think they've been hit by lightning one too many times. If you know what I mean."

I couldn't help but throw my head back laughing. The Monstru's were not known as the most, put-together, of Houses. I felt bad for them most of the time, knowing that it was the decision of their Head that caused them to be cursed. But no one's hands were clean in this whole mess.

"So, I don't stink, I don't have a stick up my ass, you don't know me, and I am seemingly intelligent. Has that narrowed it down any for you?" I smirked, waiting to see where he was going to go next.

"You don't seem to be evil--" he started.

"Hey! I can be plenty evil when I want to be," I pouted, still not able to take the smile off my face.

The stress I had been under the last few days was melting away with every word that he spoke.

"Well, not Skinwalker evil," he clarified.

I tilted my head in agreement. There was a level of bloodlust, of evil, that seemed to seep from a Skinwalker. "No, not Skinwalker evil."

"So, the winner is?" I asked.

"You are a human from the House of Gypsy," he said, raising his hand as if he was looking for a high-five.

"Nope," I laughed again. "You lost!"

"What?!? How can that be?!? I don't lose," he growled.

I smirked at him. "And yet, you've lost… Vladimir Vampyre."

"No fair!" He whined. "You know who I am, but I don't know you!" He pouted.

"I am me, Nadezda Sokol, a Pure-blood with all my pride intact." I smiled at him and stood up, leaving him alone at our table.

"Oh no you don't," he yelled as he stumbled over his chair trying to chase after me.

I looked over my shoulder and bolted, running down the street, my peals of laughter following behind me.

I heard his bark of laughter as he took off after me. We ran down the street, weaving in and out of people, not caring about a thing.

It was not long before he caught me and tossed me over his shoulder.

He carried me a few more feet before putting me down away from the New York crowds.

"You should know better than to run from a predator," he smirked.

"And yet, I did."

"Who are you Nadezda?" He asked, holding me close and looking into my eyes.

"I am not prey." With that, I spun out of his arms and disappeared into the crowd. This time, he let me.

Maybe I should explain, just so you don't get the wrong idea.

Vladimir Vampyre was my brother's best friend, and I followed those two around everywhere they went. At one point in time, the three of us were inseparable.

But that was before my older brother was killed.

Vlad took his death hard, harder than I ever did and I still have nightmares about that night.

He never slept for two weeks. During that time, he hunted down the hunters that killed Nicholas, and one by one he tortured them the same way they tortured my brother. At the end of it, he was still not appeased, so he drank their blood.

This was when he was still human; before he was turned into a vampire.

The relationship between Vlad and Nicholas was closer than brothers, closer than any of the other families had with each other.

The death of Nicholas did something to him, it caused him to snap, but when Elena died, he was no longer the Vlad that I knew.

But I still loved him.

To me, he was my safety net, he was my home. To the young child that I was, he was the only one there when my mother, lost in her grief, forgot about me.

Even as those of my family died around me, Vlad was my one constant. Holding me in his arms, rocking me to sleep when the nightmares became too much.

I didn't care if he drank the blood of his enemies, to me, he was everything.

And then Mother packed up what remained of our clan and took us to the New World, ripping me away from the only place I felt safe.

I was 16 years old when I had to leave Vlad, and like any crush at that age, I thought my life was over when I couldn't see him anymore. And to a certain extent, I was right.

Two years later, my life was over, and my new life required me to turn my back on everything that I knew and loved.

But I never forgot about Vlad. About who he was to me.

However, as it turned out, he forgot about me.