"Can you do that without your throne, and the assistance of the fallen angel... since I'm already dead?" she asked as innocently as possible, already knowing the answer was no. "Because, then..." She allowed the possibility to hang between them.
The Chairman sighed, appraising her beauty and wishing the tedious conversation could wait until another night.
"You are well aware that my father is insane and took issue with his wife's treachery... and my assisting your Neteru to injure her. Since the embryo went into the Light, Level Six cannot procreate. Vampiric turns are going to ash, until he is finished with his rage. I may have overstated my capacities at the moment, but for you, dear Eve, I would endure another thousand years of his wrath." He chuckled sadly. "If you visit me, and they find out, at least we'll be together in the realms, hmmm?"
"Oh, Dante," she whispered, her hand going to her mouth, avoiding the twisted offer and decisively changing the subject. "What does that mean for the vampire nations - and you?"
"Nothing," he said as calmly as possible, her concern for him a torch to his libido. "He simply replaced me with his other heir apparent. That's who flushed the pit in the midst of his young, blind fury."
Feeling suddenly trapped, the Chairman stepped away from Eve, walking back and forth as the gravity of the situation and the indignity of it accosted him. He began to talk with his hands as he sputtered in outrage. "Young, stupid, insolent bastard! He thought he could just step into a ruling-level throne and run six realms without grooming and experience!"
The more he paced, the more fury entered his system as Eve stared at him. "I would have shown him everything I knew... brought him into his season with majesty in due time! But the sonofabitch pulled one of the most treacherous coups I have ever witnessed. Then, he threw it all away by flooding the realms instead of closing the breach and rebuilding layer by layer. His dark energy is scattered, affecting everything, bringing notice!" He parted his hair with his fingers and stared at Eve for answers. "What is wrong with our children? What has become of our future? They don't take a stand. They waffle from the Light and into the darkness, and back. How can either side empire-build on sand?" He looked down at his Grecian sandal - clad feet and then bent to collect a fistful of the grainy beach, allowing it to filter away through his fingers.
She came to him and hugged him, and her compassion almost made him sob. "I don't know, Dante," she whispered. "I don't know. We have the same problem on our side."
"Things should be black or white, shouldn't they?"
He held her back to stare into her eyes.
She almost felt sorry for Dante as she watched him struggle with the way the world had changed since his time in it. It was so tempting to ask who this new heir was, and how to locate him, so that the young Neteru could slaughter him. But she didn't dare press for more information than she'd already gleaned through just the merest suggestion of an affair. Any more, and she would have to offer Dante a night - an unacceptable trade. So she gave him empathy instead.
"Things were indeed once black and white," she finally murmured, her tone wistful. "But your father's bargain created a gray zone..."
He came to her and leaned his head against her forehead. "My absolutely insane father..."
"Dante... listen to me," she said softly.
He kissed the top of her head, stopping her words. "I love the way you say my name, even under these circumstances... Say it again, on a deeper breath, and allow it to run all through me." He couldn't even bring himself to smile as her eyes searched his face. "I can't talk about this sordid shit in the realms anymore... Send me a pain block through your voice... my name lingering in your mouth as I capture it." He closed his eyes and attempted a mental siphon without her permission.
She chuckled. "The answer is no before you even ask. Do not go further into my mind for an immediate beachfront seduction."
He pretended to shudder just to keep her melodic laughter mingling with the pound of the surf. "Just another little mind lock, Eve, after all these years? They surely aren't still guarding you as though you were a teenager... You're a grown woman now, love... They'll never know."
She laughed and pushed him away, seizing his mercurial transition into a good mood as an opportunity. "Who is the new threat? I'd rather have you on your old throne, where order was maintained, than this new problem." She folded her arms over her br**sts. "At least you and I understood each other. You were never rash and impetuous." She smiled and gave him a sexy wink. "Well, maybe just once."
"Ah... you do remember." He clucked his tongue and chuckled low in his throat as his hot gaze raked her. "Flattery will get you everywhere. But to extract that level of information, only a barter in Dananu would be acceptable."
"Propose your requirement," she whispered to him in Dananu.
Just allowing him to see that she remembered all he'd taught her at the base of the Tree of Knowledge compromised him fully, so a flat-out seduction attempt was more than fair, he reasoned. He filled his hands with her hair and took her mouth slowly.
"All night, once again... in a garden. Then we can discuss it."
He watched her study his face, then glance up at the stars as though seriously considering his offer. The seconds of hesitation that she drew out made him tremble. But suddenly every light that had been in the sky, save the moon, went out. She giggled and shook her head.
"No can do," she whispered seductively. "They'll do the Armageddon, first, before they cosign that."
He chuckled low in his throat and ran a sharp fang down her jugular. "I ought to bite you just for teasing me - just take the plunge out of spite."
"And torch on impact," she whispered. Running her hands over his broad shoulders. "I have very old silver in my veins that stirs hot when unwilling... Shall we be serious?"
"You're sure you're unwilling?" He nuzzled her hair. "Not even for old time's sake?"
"No," she cooed.
"Why are you so uncooperative, love?"
"It's my job," she said laughing low and sexy.