Anthony had called for Naomi Vasquez. She did not know why. The man had been a machine ever since he and his harem returned from New Denver and The Rockies, working day in and day out as though his life depended on it. He was obviously trying to keep himself busy. Never once had he asked for her in that entire time.
She arrived at his office and touched the button to announce her arrival. A scanner appeared and then retracted after scanning her face. The door opened seconds later.
Anthony wasn’t alone. Naomi noticed Brianna, Marianne, and Secilia the moment she entered. Marianne was cleaning the room, duster in one hand, vacuum in the other, smiling as she hummed to herself. She glanced from the vampiress to Anthony. He sat on the couch instead of behind his table, Secilia and Brianna on either side of him. While the hacker and genius engineer was tinkering with some contraption, Brianna was glued to Anthony’s side.
Something’s changed.
Anthony looked… well, better than he had since learning about Lucretia Incanscino and his brother’s disappearance. His eyes were no longer dark and brooding. They were now vibrant and full of life, like they had been before he left for New Denver.
“You called?” she asked.
“Yeah, I need your help.”
He tapped at his IDband and a soft ping alerted her to someone sending something. She accessed her IDband and saw that he had sent several files. Anthony began talking more as she accessed the files and read them.
“I’ve noticed the Board of Directors has been shoving all their work onto me. That stops today. I will do my portion of the work, but from no one, the board will also have to do theirs.”
She nodded. “That’s reasonable.”
She had known that other members of the board were sending their own work his way lately. It had started with one of them slipping in some of his documents alongside Anthony’s to test the waters, and when the young president had done it without complaint, others began slowly but surely sending their work his way. Naomi was the only one who had continued to do her own work herself. Personally, she thought those people were a disgrace for letting someone else do their job.
“Also, you are going to be my voice on the board of directors. Barring official meetings where I have to show up, I won’t be communicating with them much.”
“Are you asking me to be your golfer?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.
“More like my go-between,” Anthony amended her words. “I’m gonna be busy soon, and I’d like someone I can trust to relay my messages to everyone.”
Naomi frowned but nodded. “Might I ask what you are going to be busy with?”
Anthony turned his head to look at the woman glued to his side. “Bri? The message?”
“Yes,” Brianna tapped at her own IDband.
Naomi expected to get a notification of a message sent to her IDband, but instead, an image appeared on the coffee table. It was a holographic 3D representation of a beautiful woman with long hair. Naomi only needed a moment to put a name to her face.
Trinity. Leader of Custodes Daemonium.
“Anthony, I apologize for the abrupt message, but we are getting ready to strike against the traitors in other parts of the world, and I would like to request your help. I’ll tell you the details when we meet in person. I’ll be arriving on Academy Island in ten days time.” The holographic image gave a tender smile that took Naomi back. “I look forward to seeing you again.”
The holographic image fizzled out and Naomi was silent for a moment. She needed some time to get her thoughts in order.
“You are going to help Trinity deal with… more traitors?” she asked.
Anthony nodded. “Several branches of Custodes Daemonium declared independence after we defeated Hendricks and Chloe. Trinity has been preparing to deal with them, but the civil war within her organization has left her power fractured. I plan to help her.”
“Are you helping her in an official capacity, or a personal one?” she asked.
“What do you think?” asked Anthony.
Naomi thought about it for a moment. “Publically, I think you’re going to say you’re helping in an official capacity. Custodes Daemounium is a powerful organization, and this kind of fragmentation can create international instability. You can easily claim you’re doing this to protect Academy Island’s interests and prevent further destabilization. It will also send a strong warning to other nations and organizations that you aren’t powerless.”
“You said publicly. You think I have ulterior motives?” asked Anthony.
“I think you have some kind of attachment to Trinity… either because of the woman next to you, or because of something else,” Naomi looked pointedly at Brianna.
“And do you think I should not follow through with my plan to help because I might have some emotional investment?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No. I think it’s fine to have an emotional stake in this. It doesn’t change that your other reasons are legitimate… though I would hope that you will put Academy Island’s interests first.”
“There is another reason for offering to help Trinity,” Anthony suggested.
Naomi raised an eyebrow. “And that is?”
“Secilia?” Anthony turned to the woman tinkering with a device.
“We recently came across a group of vamps who were smuggling illegals into Academy Island and using them as bloodbanks and selling their organs,” Secilia began. “All of them had somehow been turned into ghouls.”
“That’s… not possible,” Naomi said.
Secilia nodded. “That’s what we all thought, too. However, I had some of my friends in college who study vampire physiology exclusively study the bodies, and they confirmed these were vampires that were turned into ghouls. From this knowledge, they proposed a new theory that a vampire of sufficient strength can turn anyone from any race into a ghoul. Of course, the only vampires who have that kind of power are the progenitors.”
“This theory has not been made public yet,” Anthony added. “So you’ll need to keep quiet.”
Naomi nodded. “I won’t say anything. I can’t imagine the panic that would happen if people learned of this. We’d have another riot like the Werewolf Protests a decade ago.”
She was referring to an incident where a human gained werewolf traits after being bitten. It was a rare, genetic mutation from someone who had a very specific genetic code within their DNA. The amount of people who have this code was less than .001%. However, the knowledge got out, and people who didn’t understand started to panic. A coalition of humans formed a group with strong anti-werewolf sentiment to “protest.” What really happened was terrorism. They attacked several werewolf owned shops and killed a number of families. It had been an awful incident.
“Good,” Anthony said, then continued with the previous topic. “We’ve discovered where those illegals were being smuggled from.”
“And that is?”
“Britannia, where Lucius Alfoy, former member of Custodes Daemonium, is based,” Anthony answered.
***
Trinity barely felt the plane land as she stared at herself in the mirror. Her ears were currently hidden by an illusion, but she wondered if she should bring them out. Anthony said he liked her ears. She was tempted to reveal her origins just to see the way he looked at them. She shook her head. No, that would not be a good idea. It would cause more trouble. She’d show off her ears in private.
“Commander… we’ve landed,” a voice said from the other side of her room.
“Coming,” she said. On the other side of the door was Noelle Fortis, who looked a little less haggard than usual, though not by much. “I’m ready.”
Noelle took one look at her and sighed. “Is it really so important to you that you impress Anthony that you needed to wear makeup?”
“Of course,” she chirped, walking out of the room. “Anthony is my man. I want to look good for him.”
Noelle was the only person outside of Anthony’s harem who knew they had bonded. She had been… resigned after finding out. Not shocked. Just resigned. The woman had a sharp intuition and must have known this would happen.
“Please don’t let others find out about this,” Noelle said. “It could cause a diplomatic incident if people realize Custodes Daemonium has tied itself to the president through what amounts to marriage.”
Trinity pouted as Noelle opened the door leading outside. “I know that. Do you think I’m the type of woman who can’t contain herself? You think I’m going to start gushing about my man to anyone and everyone?”
“I think you are very happy that you’ve finally found someone after so long and it might cloud your judgement,” Noelle answered honestly.
Trinity huffed, but then she put on a smile as she stepped outside to the flashing of cameras. There was a large crowd gathered. Newscasters, streamers, and other media personnel were surrounding the vessel as she walked down the steps. There was also Anthony and his harem alongside several members of Academy Island’s private security forces.
Trinity wasn’t alone either. It wasn’t just Noelle. Several other members of her organization had joined her as a sort of honor guard. Of course, there were even more inside of the plane that brought her to Academy Island. However, they would not be used until later.
She ignored the media as she stepped onto solid ground and walked over to Anthony.
Should I hug him? Maybe a kiss on the cheek would be okay? Oh! Maybe he’ll wrap me in a hug!
Trinity was giddy at the thought, but Anthony merely held out his hand and smiled at her. She almost pouted.
“Trinity, it’s good to see you again,” he said.
She forced a smile. Of course, he would try to be diplomatic. She knew it was necessary, but that didn’t mean she had to like it.
“Thank you. It is nice to see you as well.”
She reached out and took his hand, and the moment she did, his warmth flooded her. It wasn’t just the warmth of his hand. It was the warmth of his soul. Trinity felt like she was being wrapped in a hug, like warm lips were being pressed against her cheek.
I missed you, the warmth seemed to say.
Her cheeks flushed pink with heat.
Anthony continued to smile as he slowly let go of her hand. “Come on, we have a vehicle ready for you. It’ll take us to a place where we can speak in private.”
“M-mm. Good. Thank you.”
Anthony turned, and his women turned with him, adopting a unified front as they seamlessly walked inside of the formation of security officers. Her own security forces mixed into the group as well. It was a formation designed both to provide extra protection and attack the other security guards in case they were hostile.
“Brianna,” Noelle said as she fell in step next to her pupil. “You look like you are taking care of yourself.”
Brianna smiled. “Thank you, Instructor. I have been doing my best.”
“Have there been any issues since coming back to Academy Island?”
“Not really.” Brianna paused. “Well, we’ve run into a few problems, but they have nothing to do with us… per se.”
“Per se.”
“The problem she is referring to is one that we will discuss with you… since we believe it has something to do with your friends in Britannia,” Anthony said.
“Ah,” Noelle muttered and went silent.
They soon reached a beautiful black limousine that was large enough for all of them. A pair of security guards held the door open. Anthony helped each of the women in, including Noelle. When he got to Trinity, she kept a firm hold of his hand and pulled him into the vehicle. As the doors shut, she pushed him against a chair and climbed onto his lap, pressing her lips to his.
His lips tasted good.
“This vehicle is private?” she asked suddenly.
“You should have asked that before jumping me,” Anthony gasped. “But yes.”
“Good.” Trinity went back to kissing him.
“You’re. So. Eager…” Anthony muttered between kisses. “Did. You. Miss me. That much?”
“Oh, you have no idea,” Trinity muttered. She pulled back for a second to answer him. “Ever since we slept together, my body has been aching. I’ve been craving your touch from the moment you left. Now that I have you again, there’s no way I can stop.”
She quickly undid the top two buttons of his shirt, exposing his neck, which she began kissing as well. Anthony sighed. But then he grabbed her ears.
“Eeeek!” She shrieked as he gently but firmly pulled her back.
“Later,” he said. “You have absolutely no restraint, do you?”
“She does not,” Noelle confirmed. “I’m glad you do, however. I don’t want to see my boss doing the nasty.”
“Damn, this woman is thirsty as fuck,” Secilia muttered.
Brianna buried her face into her hands and refused to say anything, as if she was ashamed that she belonged to the organization this woman managed.