Eternal Night

(III) Chapter 10: Back in the Game

"Looks like I win our bet. Time to pay up, Šarić!"

"Not so fast, Kennedy. Look," and he motioned to the screen. The two women followed his gaze toward the live-feed of the back-alley security camera. Vlad and Frankie had just arrived, the two arm in arm as they talked, clearly hesitant to head inside.

"Can we get any audio?" Carmen asked.

A few keystrokes later and the private conversation ceased being private.

"Are you sure you don't want to tell Rémy the truth?" Frankie was saying, her voice intentionally low, though not enough. Vlad's face was mostly neutral, but there was something in his eyes – a flash of guilt maybe.

"If I tell him now, especially with everything that's happened, that is on the cusp of taking place... he'd see it as a betrayal," Vladislaus explained.

"Glad to see we agree on something," Lyra replied. "Sheesh, where's the popcorn when you need it?"

"If you wait, his reaction could be much worse," Frankie countered gently. "Especially if things continue going awry."

And they all knew – even Vlad – that she was right.

Yet still, Dracula appeared unmoved in his decision. They watched as Frankie took a step toward him, caressing his cheek with a tenderness that made even Lyra's heart tighten a little. She looked so different from the Francesca of four days ago – she was so serene, so steady. A queen, a pillar of strength standing beside her king.

"You're troubled," she stated knowingly.

"I'm trying to brace myself for the fact that I have to go back to pretending indifference toward you," Vlad confessed, the words so low and so sincere. Lyra reached forward to turn up the volume on the laptop. "I don't want to go back to sharing you..."

"We could always run away," Frankie offered with a mischievous smile. "We could leave Budapest right now."

"Here we go..." Jacob announced with a smirk.

"And where would we go? To France?" and they all watched as the look in Dracula's eyes shifted, his fingers brushing thoughtfully over Francesca's mouth. "Perhaps we could take up residence in that old abandoned château on your family's estate. I'd hate to have such a beautiful structure go to waste any more than it already has."

"I intended to do that anyway when all of this is done," she admitted. "But no – I was thinking something a bit more remote for the time being, someplace secret – somewhere dark and cold and secluded where no one could find us..." and Frankie wrapped an arm around his neck, pulling him a little closer to her, her other hand resting over his heart. "Or hear us..."

Vlad murmured something indiscernible in evident approval as Francesca gripped the front of his shirt to pull him down a bit more to her level so she could kiss him.

"Carmen, do you still have those buckets in the kitchen?" Jacob asked.

"The ones for the ice? Yeah, why?"

The man sent Lyra a look and she nodded immediately.

"I'll go fill them up with cold water," the redhead replied, standing.

"Want to help?" Jake asked, looking to the Spaniard, but Carmen just grinned, following their train of thought.

"Nah – I'll stay here to watch, if you don't mind," and she immediately commandeered Lyra's abandoned seat. He handed her his half-drunk mug of blood with a Machiavellian grin.