February 15, 2002
Frank couldn't focus on his school project. He didn't like that she didn't call him back when he said she went to his sister. He grabbed his phone 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 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 happening 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 together, remember?"
"Coralis is one of the best agents in our field, but her superiors keep sending her 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 believe that some people at work want her dead," 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 when 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, I've seen her at work. 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 and 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 was planning on asking 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 do 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 vibrating 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 returned to Prince Hendrick and his warriors, who were busy dragging dead bodies into a pile.
"Seems to me Lucas is trying to draw you all outside the city, which would leave your stronghold unguarded," said Eva.
"Indeed. 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 stronghold 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. Along with Veronica and some warriors, they fought more rogue vampires and goblins during the night. She took a shower in Veronica's suite before taking off to meet with Frank.
On her way to Frank, she thought about her options. She wanted to go rogue and leave the EBEE but to do that, she would need to end things with Frank. She trusted the willingness of her friends 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 and tell him everything, but she'd need to play it safe with the EBEE.
She couldn't find a safe spot to land around his campus, so she landed on the rooftop of an apartment building near his and jumped down from one balcony to another in cat form, making it look like she was chasing something.
She shifted back to her mage 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 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," said Frank when he broke it up to let her in and closed the door behind her. "First, 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."
Coralis sighed.
"It's fine," whispered Coralis.
"Second, and that's what I honestly 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'd 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 I get off work. 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 to leave, 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," said Frank as he stepped back.
"We'll see if it's still the case once you hear it all."