49. Honor

Genre: Paranormal romance, drama

Type: Series
Characters: Leigh, Jacqueline
Prompt:033. Honor

Word Count: 1080 +

Warning: language

Rating:  M- (coarse language, adult situations, nudity. N.B-Applies to the whole series)

Summary: A battle without honor

033. Honor

_______

Bridgeport, present day

Leigh was at Plasma 501 waiting for Krisis. It was almost a week after the birth of his daughter, Lily Frost, and she’d hardly seen him. Jacqueline was keeping him busy, making demands, insisting she needed help 24/7. Leigh understood she was a new mom, anxious and frightened and overly protective. But she just wished she’d loosen her hold over Krisis a little.

“Let’s talk,” Jacqueline murmured when she slid into the booth. Her private booth with Krisis.

Leigh quickly added things up over and over and still came to the same conclusion. Jacqueline had lured her over there. She’s the one who’d sent her a text message from Krisis’ phone, asking for the meeting. She should have known. The text message was a little abrupt, but she’d just assumed it had to do with the sudden tension at home since the baby’s arrival.

“So it was you,” she stated the obvious.

Silently, Jacqueline handed the file over to her. With unsteady hands Leigh leafed through it, and gagged over her drink. She closed her eyes, trying to block off the painful memories.

“Why?” She asked. “Why would you keep these?”

“Insurance.” Jacqueline replied. Krisis should never have underestimated her. This little stunt hadn’t worked with him, but it would work with his human. They were weak-minded and ready to believe anything.

“Krisis killed a vampire. I don’t have to explain to you how serious his crime is. And he did it for you. He has a daughter now he needs to think about. He can’t keep getting distracted, and you, Leigh, are a distraction. Face it, he can’t think whenever you’re around, and right now he’s still excited over the baby, but soon his interest will wane and I can’t have that,” Jacqueline smiled, her fangs glistening in the light.

“What do you want me to do? I don’t control Krisis’ actions. He’s a grown man,” Leigh replied, still unable to grasp where the conversation was headed.

“I’m asking you to do the honorable thing Leigh. Leave him alone; allow him to step up to his fatherly responsibilities. And these," Jacqueline tapped the photos,  "won’t end up in the papers, and you and Krisis can live in bliss…separately.”

Leigh closed her eyes, remembering the media backlash when the story broke about their relationship. These pictures, of her and Vladimir…were deadly. It would seem like she was some twisted, pathetic fool, reliving a dead woman’s life; after all Laura did have both Krisis and Vladimir.

She imagined the frenzy, the constant paparazzi at her door, hounding Devon and Eloise…Shit. Sweet Eloise and Devon. And what about Krisis? It would destroy his career if they found out what he did for her…it would destroy K-Infinity.

“Look,” Jacqueline snapped her out of her frightened trance, and threw a couple of photographs on the table. The baby. Lily Frost. She looked so tiny and beautiful.

“Can you honestly let that little girl be raised without a father?” Jacqueline went for the kill now.

“No, I’m sorry, but…” Leigh shook her head firmly, refusing to be backed into a corner.

“Woman to woman, Leigh, please give us the space to bond as a family. Give us a chance…”

Leigh lost it then. “No…I love Krisis, and he loves me too. I’m not backing down,” She cried angrily.

“Well then I guess you’ve forced my hand. I’ll just have to let the council know about that mysterious fire. They’ll come after you Leigh. And prepare yourself for a media blast tomorrow morning.” Jacqueline held her gaze; the bright jewels in her eyes cut her to pieces.

For a long time Leigh sat in silence, unable to think. Krisis had told her the vampire council was an unforgiving bunch, relentless in meting out justice, and keeping their vampire community in line…

Surely they’d go after him too…Krisis the love of her life. And Eloise and Devon? Would they be safe? And what would the council do to her? Torture her? She remembered the brutality she’d endured at Vladimir’s hands. Could she afford to go through that again?

 “You’re asking me to walk away, sacrifice my happiness for yours, and all because you have a baby with him? That’s not fair!” She replied at last.

“Your choice Leigh…Krisis, or your life?”

“I can’t…I just can’t. I’m sorry. I love him. I’ll take my chances,” she cried shrilly.

Damn human! Jacqueline thought bitterly. She’d hoped frightening her would do the trick. Obviously not.

She took Leigh’s hands, trying her damnedest to conceal her repulsion. She hated humans, their scent disgusted her. That’s why she didn’t feed on them. She was what most would call a ‘vegetarian vampire’, and she fed on Plasma fruit and plasma juice only.

Leigh tried to pull her hand away from her, but Jacqueline held on tightly to it, silently willing her to look into her eyes.

“Look at me Leigh!” She planted the thought in Leigh's head forcefully, along with graphic images of herself and Krisis when they were still partners, wrapped in each others' arms after their intense sex sessions.

Leigh stared at her, confusion in her eyes, unable to understand why she was suddenly thinking about Krisis having sex with Jacqueline.

“Krisis loves me, and Lily. He doesn’t love you. He never did. He never will. Do you understand?” Jacqueline held eyes, mesmerizing her into submission.

“Yes. Krisis doesn’t love me.” Leigh affirmed stupidly.

“Take this envelope with you. Inside there’s a one way ticket to Le Ches Sims. The flight leaves in four hours. You will board the plane  and never return to Bridgeport because Krisis doesn’t love you. You will leave him a note, telling him you don’t love him anymore. And you will leave your brother a note too, explaining to him you’ve decided to travel and you need some time away to figure things out. Are we clear?”

“I will board the plane to Le Ches Sims and never return Bridgeport because Krisis doesn’t love me. I will leave him a note. And my brother too. Krisis doesn’t love me. He never did, and he never will.” Leigh replied again.

“Atta girl. Now you will forget we ever had this conversation. We never met, and it never happened.”

“We never met. It never happened.” Leigh agreed before making her way out of the club, with the manila envelope in her hand.

Jacqueline wanted to order the most expensive bottle of Champagne then, but it was too early to celebrate the success of her compulsion. She still had Krisis to deal with. She just had to keep him away from Leigh for the next few hours. It wouldn’t be too difficult. His daughter would do the trick…

Continued in the next prompt...Read more