Sasha had gained mobility shortly after he finished carrying her to their car. Ivan had taken one glance at the two of them and looked ready to have an epileptic seizure. It had been almost comical the way his veins had bulged. The muscles in his neck had tightened to the point where they picked up a slight spasm.
Sasha had left with Ivan and Svetlana, leaving Anthony alone with his three ladies. He, Secilia, Trinity, and Brianna sat on the couch as Marianne prepared a meal using the embassy suite’s small kitchenette. It didn’t look like much, but the woman was a pro at working with tiny kitchens now thanks to living in his old apartment.
“So what’s the plan now?” asked Brianna.
Anthony leaned back in the couch. “Now? We wait for Ivan to set a date for our duel I guess. It might be a while. I think I’ll train in the meantime.” He paused as he felt discontent flood his body. It wasn’t coming from him, however. “Secilia? You have something you want to share?”
“I didn’t say anything,” Secilia said.
“No, but you can’t hide your feelings from me. Even if you don’t say something, I can feel your discontent. What’s on your mind?”
“If you’re so good at sensing my emotions, can’t you tell what I’m feeling?” she asked.
But he shook his head. “No. You know I can only tell what you’re feeling. I can’t tell what you’re thinking. So what’s got your panties in a twist?”
“Twisted panties,” Trinity snickered slightly, and Anthony had no idea why that was funny.
Secilia also looked at the oldest among them with raised eyebrows before turning back to him. “What’s wrong is that we’ve been moving from one crisis to the next with little to no breaks in between. We haven’t done anything fun in how long now?”
“You say that like sex isn’t fun,” Anthony said.
“Sex is great, but that’s not everything to a relationship and you know it. I want to have fun. I want to go out and enjoy myself,” Secilia said with her arms crossed.
Anthony glanced at Trinity. “How long do you think it will take for Ivan to set a date for our duel?”
Trinity rubbed her chin in thought, head tilting. “I don’t know, but it won’t be any time soon. Your duel with Sasha happened pretty quickly, but a duel with Ivan will take a lot longer to set up. They won’t be able to use the arena. He’s going to have a find someplace he doesn’t mind getting destroyed. Plus, he’ll want to publicize this event. Getting a bunch of influencers and news media outlets is going to take a while, especially if he decides to make this an international event. I imagine it will take at least a week if not two, but really, it depends on what he decides to do.”
“Hmmm. I think we’ve got time then.” He glanced at each woman in turn, including Marianne who was busy in the kitchen. He turned fully to Secilia. “How about we plan a date for tomorrow?”
“I do like that decisiveness of yours,” Secilia said with a grin. “All right. You’ve got yourself a date, but you’d better plan something good. Fail to live up to my expectations and I’ll give you a failing grade.”
“So you’re grading me on this? Should I start calling you Secilia-sensei?” asked Anthony.
“Secilia-sensei does have a nice ring to it,” the woman mused. “It really rolls off the tongue.”
Brianna rolled her eyes, but she didn’t say anything to Secilia, instead focusing on Anthony. “So you’re going to take us on a date?”
Anthony shook his head. “This won’t be a group date. I will take each one of you on a date individually.”
“I’ve never been on a date before,” Trinity mused.
“Really?” Secilia looked shocked. “But aren’t you, like, ancient?”
“It’s because I’m so old that I’ve never been on a date,” Trinity told her. She looked vaguely amused and somewhat annoyed at being called ancient. “Back when I was younger, dating wasn’t an existing concept. There were only courtships, and that was an entirely different process. By the time dating became a thing, I was already neck-deep in running Custodes Daemonium. I had no time for dates or anything fun.”
“Then I suppose it’s about time you experienced a date for yourself,” Anthony mused.
Trinity’s eyes shone as she smiled at him. “Yes, I’m looking forward to our date.”
***
It really had been a long time since Anthony had taken any of his ladies on a date. They had been traveling from one disaster to another with little time in-between to rest, and the one time they did have to rest, he had buried himself in work to forget about how his brother had gone missing.
Anthony realized now that he had still been neglecting them.
But he could make it up to them.
And these dates were his first step.
Secilia had said she wanted to go on a fancy date, so Anthony had called up Svetlana, told her about his predicament, and asked her if she had any dinner recommendations. He figured the refined yet dangerous woman would know of a place he could take his sarcastic bondmate to.
She hadn’t let him down.
Anthony stood in the main room of the Academy Island embassy, waiting on his date. He was dressed in an outfit that Svetlana had sent over after she asked for his measurements. The black pants were a bit of a snug fit, and he wasn’t super fond of turtleneck sweaters, but he had to admit they looked good, especially when combined with the red and black blazer.
He had been ready to leave a few hours ago. This was the first date that he and Secilia had been on that really felt like a date. Going out to dinner was a classic date. Anthony pressed a hand to his chest. He had an odd case of butterflies.
Footsteps echoing behind him caused Anthony to turn, and he almost let his jaw drop when he saw Secilia walking down the steps in a gown that made her entire body shimmer.
Secilia did not often wear dresses. She much preferred casual clothes that she didn’t have to worry about getting dirty. Seeing her in a backless black dress that also revealed hints of her collarbone was a treat. The dress had no sleeves. He wondered how it stayed up. Adorning her hands were long gloves that went past her elbows. A simple diamond necklace around her neck brought attention to her smooth skin, and her hair had been done up.
Secilia smirked. “You’re gonna catch flies if you let your mouth hang open like--ack!”
Secilia was not the type to wear dresses, which also meant she rarely ever wore heels… which of course meant she had awful balance. Anthony darted forward as the woman stepped on her heel wrong and nearly faceplanted. Luckily, he was fast enough to catch her. His arm went around her waist and he pulled her up.
“That was quite the fall. You would have had quite the embarrassing faceplant if it wasn’t for me,” he said with a grin.
Secilia rolled her eyes. “Yes, yes. You’re my knight in a shining tuxedo. How dashing you are.”
“I’m glad you recognize my charm,” Anthony said, then held out his arm. “Best keep a tight hold so you don’t lose your balance again.”
Secilia wrapped her arm around his with a huff. She squeezed tight, letting him feel the sensation of his arm sinking between her breasts. “You just want to feel my chest. Admit it.”
“You have great tits,” he confessed.
They continued to bicker as they walked outside, where a vehicle waited for them. A butler opened the door and they stepped inside, sitting down close together, fingers entwined.
“So where are we going?” asked Secilia.
“It’s called The Velvet Czar,” Anthony told her. He raised an eyebrow. “Are you really comfortable in that?”
Secilia stopped shifting around and smiled at him. “Of course. Why do you ask?”
“No reason…”
The name of the restaurant was based on its theme. There was apparently a prominent playwright who earned his title due to his leadership in the nonviolent Velvet Revolution in the Czech Republic of 1989. Anthony knew next to nothing about the man beyond that.
He wasn’t sure what to expect when he saw the cold gray building. It had sharp geometric angles, narrow windows, and heavy steel doors. A luxury restaurant was the furthest thing from what this appeared to be, but after they went past security and stepped through the intimidating doors, the entire world seemed to change.
The first thing he noticed was the massive chandelier. It was made of crystal, had a golden frame, and so many tiers that it looked like an inverted wedding cake. Holographic lights that projected shapes and patterns onto the floor replaced regular candles.
“Swanky,” Secilia mumbled as he led her up to concierge manning the front.
“That’s an awfully big chandelier.”
“Think the owner is overcompensating for something?”
“Maybe.”
“Are you… Mr. Amasius?” asked the man.
“I am,” Anthony said.
“We have been expecting you. Right this way, please.”
The man stepped out from behind the counter and led him away from the other guests. They walked through several rooms that were decorated with all manner of exoticness. All the floors were made of marble containing gold veins. It wasn’t long before they were led to a smaller but no less luxurious room. This one had a much more intimate feel, however.
Anthony pulled back the chair for Secilia before sitting down himself.
“Now, allow me to tell you about our restaurant. It was founded over a century ago and is one of the few 5-star restaurants to survive the changing of the times. We pride ourselves on our presentation of classic cuisines,” the man said in his thick Russian accent. “You can choose from the 7-course meal or 12-course meal. Each is paired with one of our rare alcohols. Before each meal, I will tell you about its history.”
They chose the 7-course meal. Anthony could feel Secilia’s discomfort through the bond. The woman had wanted to eat at a fancy restaurant, but she was clearly not comfortable there.
The first meal was an imperial osetra caviar service. Served on a chilled black stone plate, the service came not only with caviar but several additions. The idea was to add creme fraiche onto a miniature buckwheat blinis, then add the caviar along with seasonings of your choice. Anthony added quail egg yolk and finely chopped chives to his.
“To cleanse your palate, we have here an ice-cold ultra premium vodka. The vodka is nearly frozen. I recommend you drink this after you finish your food,” the concierge said.
“Thank you,” Anthony said.
The man bowed before leaving.
“You seem awfully comfortable eating like this,” Secilia observed.
He nodded before eating one of the caviar crackers. “Lilith was an enjoyer of the finer things in life. She often took us to restaurants like this. It was one of her favorite pastimes.”
“You never talk much about your time with Lilith,” Secilia said after a moment.
“There’s not much to tell,” Anthony said with a shrug. “For all the traveling we did, we actually did very little. Lilith seemed to travel simply for the sake of it. We would move from one place to another, eat at fine restaurants, and then move onto the next place. All we did besides that was help various governments where needed. Really, the only story that you might find interesting is our encounter with Cane.”
“The asshole who nearly killed you?” asked Secilia.
“The very same.” Anthony nodded. “Cane was the strongest vampire progenitor the world has ever seen. He met Lilith once and became obsessed with her. She rebuffed all of his advances, but it eventually reached a point where he tried to take her by force. That final battle was the one where we managed to kill Cane, but…”
“You don’t need to say anything more,” Secilia said with a small grimace.
“No. It’s fine. I don’t mind talking about it,” Anthony said. “That was the battle where Lilith gave her life for mine. Everyone else was dead, and I was dying. Lilith spent the last of her spirit to turn me into an incubus and passed away.”
“This is not dinner conversation,” Secilia muttered.
“Then let’s change the topic. Have any good games come out recently?” asked Anthony, and like that, conversation drifted somewhere more pleasant.