A Heart For The Heartless

“All right, so let’s say that the mate bond exists between a human and a vampire,” Melissa said skeptically, crossing her arms over her chest. “Am I to assume that Mr. Ivanov wants you to live with him for your protection?”

“We haven’t established the protection part yet, but yes, I assume that is indeed the case,” Cassy said blankly. “But I agreed because he saved my life and I wanted to repay him.”

Melissa looked flabbergasted. “Repay him? A vampire? Surely you jest!”

“He’s my mate. I feel safe around him,” Cassy said quietly. “I know he’d never do anything to hurt me.”

“This is unbelievable! A human exclaiming that a vampire will never hurt-”

“Miss Lincoln, I think you’ve said more than enough,” Samuel Alderman interrupted quickly before things got out of hand. “I think we have established by now that Cassandra here wasn’t brought to the house against her will.”

“You cannot be serious, Samuel! We can’t just believe this mate nonsense when a vampire is involved,” Melissa protested. “What will happen to this human if we accept this situation and leave her alone? She’ll only become a food source for this vampire! He will keep her alive, yes, but he’ll destroy her piece by piece!”

Eron raised an eyebrow. “You’re unusually passionate about this,” he remarked. “Are you perhaps speaking from personal experience?”

The jab was enough to make Melissa bristle. “Now listen here, you vampire frea-”

“That’s enough,” Samuel said, his voice suddenly firm and loud, effectively catching the attention of everyone in the room. “Miss Lincoln. I must sadly say that I have witnessed your unprofessionalism here. You cannot just say everything that’s on your mind.”

Melissa flinched. “But! Samuel, this is-”

Samuel shook his head. “We Council members are supposed to be professional enough to handle things like this properly. You have only recently joined the Council, so I understand your frustration, but this is not the way to air these sensitive issues. I am sorry to say that I will have to ask you to either be quiet and let me do the talking, or leave if you insist on making a scene.”

Melissa’s face turned red with humiliation. She opened her mouth, seemingly about to say something, but then quickly closed it after thinking better of it.

“…I understand,” she gritted out. “I will be professional from now on.”

Samuel looked at her pityingly. “All right. I’m sorry for being harsh, but it’s my duty to see that the situation is handled properly and without bias.”

Melissa bowed her head. “Of course.”

Samuel looked relieved before turning to Mikhail and then to Cassy. “I apologize,” he said quietly. “We must have shown you an unsightly side of the Council. I want to assure you that we will think of the best solution for this situation.”

Cassy shook her head. “It’s okay. I understand.”

Mikhail said nothing, continuing to watch the scene as if he were a mere spectator and not involved in the matter at all.

“Now, Miss Lenoir,” Samuel said as he turned to Cassy. “I’ll ask you again for confirmation. Are you sure you weren’t forced to stay here in any way?”

Cassy nodded without hesitation. “I came here and agreed of my own free will, sir,” she said calmly.

Samuel nodded. “Very well. I’ll take your word for it. Next…” He looked at Mikhail. “Mr. Ivanov, if Miss Lenoir here is truly your fated mate… then we have some things to discuss. Your safety, for example.”

“Is… my safety compromised in any way?” Cassy asked. Suddenly she seemed unsure.

“I’m afraid so, Miss Lenoir,” Samuel told her solemnly. “Because of Mr. Ivanov’s reputation, he has quite a few enemies around the world. With his status as an Elite, the position is something that hundreds of vampires will want a taste of.”

“Ah.” Cassy nodded. “So they want to remove him from his throne.”

“Correct. But none of them can hold a candle to Mr. Ivanov’s power,” Samuel remarked, glancing at Mikhail. “He did not gain the position without effort. So if they cannot touch him, then you will be their target instead.”

The realization dawned on Cassy’s face.

“Since you are his mate, there is a bond between the two of you that was formed after your first face-to-face meeting, which I can assume was the night he saved you. When you looked into each other’s eyes,” Samuel said. “From now on, if anyone else hurts you, he will feel the pain as well.”

Cassy looked at Mikhail, who stared back emotionlessly. “Even if he is a vampire?” she asked.

Samuel nodded. “It doesn’t matter if he’s a vampire or not. Even if he’s a werewolf or a witch. He’ll still feel pain as long as you feel pain and vice versa. Worse, if he gets hurt badly, you will feel the brunt of it. You are not a vampire, so the pain might be too much for you. You might even die.”

Cassy winced slightly. “That sounds… unpleasant. In fact, it’s worse than I thought…”

“It is. Which is why we have to make a careful decision about this.”

Eron sighed. “This will put a damper on our plans to investigate RV-13400,” he remarked. “Mikhail here must not be put in danger. Otherwise the human could die.”

Melissa looked annoyed. “I still do not understand why vampires are given mates, but I will have to accept it.”

She turned to Cassy, the authoritative air back in her person.

“Young lady, we must discuss this further today so that we can return to headquarters and make a final decision. We must hurry, for this is a precarious situation. The rogue vampires are still a threat to us humans. We cannot afford any delays.”

Cassy nodded. “Understood, Miss Lincoln.”

***

After being questioned, Cassy watched as the Council members interrogated Mikhail next. She always wondered how he could be so calm. Granted, it was his personality, one that the citizens of this city knew quite well.

But it still surprised her a little to see it for herself. After all, she had never been so close to a vampire before.

In fact, she had never been in the company of a vampire for such a long time. She never had the chance, and there was no way she would let herself get into such a situation.

But fate was a funny thing, for it led her here on an unexpected path.

For the past few weeks, she had been observing him carefully. Aside from the heat and attraction she felt whenever he came into her room and fed on her, she felt nothing else. It was as if the mating bond only ignited when they were together. She didn’t feel any particular urge to get to know him or touch him.

Probably because he hadn’t marked her yet…

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After all, their current feelings would amplify once the marking was complete. Mikhail would probably find that troublesome.

And so would she.

“That concludes our questioning,” Melissa said, crossing her arms over her chest. “The two Councils will deliberate on this matter, and we will inform you of our final decision as soon as possible.”

“It won’t be easy to get everyone in one place, especially with the current turmoil the rogues are causing, but we’ll manage,” Samuel added. “After all, Mikhail Ivanov is an indispensable asset to the city. We cannot afford to take this matter lightly.”

Eron sighed. “I’ll round up the other two Elites.”

“Goodbye.”

Cassy watched as Deidre showed them out to the door.

‘Well, that was definitely following protocol,’ she thought.

Council members were, in short, the most important people in the city. They were the superiors. They made the decisions, and they wanted to protect their own kind as much as possible.

Frankly, she was still amazed that they had managed to get Mikhail Ivanov, of all people, to investigate the case of the rogue vampires.

‘A vampire investigating vampires who have gone insane. What an irony.’

“What’s on your mind?”

Cassy turned her head towards Mikhail, who was staring right at her.

“Pardon?” she asked.

“You look like you’re mulling over something,” he said. “Is something troubling you?”