VAMPIRE TEMPTATION

Upheaval

**

Ruby Pov

Ruby, redo those reports! I want the errors highlighted in YELLOW, not ORANGE!”

Klaus slams his office door shut without waiting for a response from me.

Amelia rolls her eyes. Klaus was shouting clear across the office, and I’m sure everyone heard him.

Gritting my teeth, I start redoing the reports. Klaus is in a foul mood today, and it’s not. difficult to guess why.

He never called me last night after the confrontation with Katherine. I can only. assume that it went badly.

Katherine hasn’t come into work today, which doesn’t bode well. As much as I like not having her here, the implications make me nervous.

I’ve only done four more lines of the report. when I get an email from Klaus.

Well, at least he’s not shouting at me from across the office anymore.

“Ruby, I’m afraid l can’t make our date tonight.”

That’s it. Just that one line. Hurt and anger have me clenching my hands on the desk, a habit I picked up from Klaus”

Fortunately, I don’t have the strength to splinter wood.

Amelia comes over, looking concerned. Ruby? What’s wrong?

“Nothing.” I can’t tell her. No one knows Klaus and I are dating. Except perhaps Katherine.

Klaus is a real dick. I can’t believe how he treats you.”

It’s on the tip of my tongue to defend him, to tell Amelia he’s not that bad. But I can’t do that without revealing that Klaus and I are together.

Or were together. I’m not really sure which.

The thing is, I thought Klaus was a dick too until I got to know him.

He’s only hinted at the losses he’s suffered in the past that have made it hard for him to have meaningful relationships.

I know that this behavior isn’t him, not who he truly is. He’s stressed, probably about Katherine, and venting the only way he knows how. It’s not right, but I understand it.

I am also not going to let him stew in this mess alone, a mess that I helped create.

“You know what? You’re right, Amelia. He can’t treat me like this. I’m going to go talk to him.”

“Woah, bad idea! He’s your boss! Are you looking to get fired?”

“I’ll be fine.” I dodge Amelia and hurry to Klaus’s office.

I enter without knocking and close the door behind me.

“What!” Klaus snaps.

I don’t rise to the bait and snapback. Instead, I go around his desk, perching on the edge facing him, so that our faces are only a few inches apart.

“What’s wrong, Klaus?”

“What’s wrong is that I’ve been waiting over an hour for that report and it still -”

“No.” I take his face in my hands, shocking him into silence with my interruption.

You’re not mad about the report. I’m in this too, you know. What happened with. Katherine?”

For a moment, I think I’ve misjudged this. horrible, and he’s about to shout at me, or. fire me.

Then the anger seems to go out of Klaus all at once. He visibly deflates before me. “She. broke off our alliance. Well, no, that’s not strictly true. I broke off our alliance.

Why?” I ask carefully. I know how much Klaus needs the alliance.

She figured out that we were together. That there’s more than just sex between us. She threatened to break off our alliance unless I broke things off with you.

I don’t like being threatened, and I will not let anyone push me around. I told her that if that’s how she felt,

then I didn’t want to be allied with her at all.”

I swallow around the lump in my throat.

You didn’t need to do that. I never wanted to cost you your alliance. What are you going to do?”

“I haven’t decided. I could go back and grovel before her, begging her to take one back.”

His distaste for the option is clear in his tone. I know Klaus won’t do that. He doesn’t. have it in him.

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There are only two other options. One, I find another coven to ally with. The problem is that most covens are allied via matings, and that’s not an option for me anymore.”

The other is that my and Katherine’s covers are unusual in that we respect human rights.

I could never be a party to humans being raped and murdered. Finding someone. suitable to ally with will be hard.”

There’s another option?”

Klaus grimaces.

“Not a good one. The only other thing is to try to make it on our own, without any allies.

My coven is too small to stand against others fighting for dominance. I… I don’t know what to do.”

I pull him into a hug, which Klaus accepts gratefully.

You need your alliance with Katherine.

Klaus, there’s really only one option here.

We need to end things between us.”

“That’s not an option.”

“Yes, it is! I’m not going to be responsible for you being in danger.”

“You forget that I can read your thoughts. You don’t want to end this any more than I do.”

“I don’t, “I admit. “But how else can you keep your coven safe? Klaus isn’t likely to come back to the table if you and I are still an item.”

I don’t care. I’ll find another way.”

No way am I falling for that.

You do care. I don’t need to be able to read your mind to know that. You may not care about the consequences to yourself, but you care about your coven.”

“You don’t even know who is in my coven.”

“Yes, I do. I see more than you think, Klaus. The way you interact with the other vampires here tells a lot. Amelia is in your coven, but Luke isn’t. Harriet is with

Katherine and Scott are with you. Shall I keep going?”

Klaus gapes at me. “I didn’t realize I was so transparent. I never meant to mistreat members of Katherine’s coven. No wonder she’s ending the alliance.”

You don’t mistreat them – at least, not any more than anyone else. You just seem more protective of people in your coven. It’s sweet really.”

Klaus grimaces. “I don’t do sweet.”

Except when you do.

Shut up.” He’s grinning, though.

Not my fault if you’re reading my thoughts. Isn’t there any way you could not do it?”

“Does it bother you?”

“Sometimes.” I pull back a little so that I can see Klaus’s face. “Most of the time, I don’t mind, but there are times when I would like a bit of privacy.”

I’m not sure how possible that would be. Think of it like trying to not hear someone speaking to you, except you can’t block your ears,”

Well, it was worth a shot.

It’s ok. I guess I’ll just have to get used to it.”

We’re silent for a few minutes, and I can practically hear Klaus’s brain working.

I’m not leaving you,” I tell him firmly.

“Either Katherine comes to her senses – shell also is vulnerable if she breaks the alliance, after all – or you start looking into other covens you can ally with. There must be some who share your morals.”

I’m not sure -” Klaus breaks off, his eyes fixed on the door. “Go back to work, quickly.”

I recognize the urgency in his voice and do what I’m told.

Just as I’m sitting down, the lift pings and Katherine steps out. I stiffen but force my eyes onto my computer screen.

Could she be here to renew the alliance?

She walks straight into Klaus’s office and closes the door.

I can’t hear them, but I keep my eyes on the other vampires, to whom a closed-door provides no barrier.

As the minutes tick by, they go tense and exchange worried glances. Crap. It’s not going well, then.

The suspense is killing me. I wish I could hear what was going on.

That wish is answered a moment later as Klaus starts shouting.

“I will not be threatened, Katherine! Things have changed for me. You take the alliance without the mating, or you can find someone else who will take you!”

I wince. There’s no way Katherine will take that well.

Sure enough, Katherine storms out of the office a moment later. She glares around the room, making eye contact with the vampires of her coven.

Get your stuff. We’re leaving, right now.”

Worry is replaced with an alarm. No one dares speak out against Katherine, but I can see their fear.

If we split this office in half, how long before we are attacked?

Now!” Katherine snarls.

Everyone picks up the pace. The humans huddle together, surveying the general upheaval nervously. The vampires of Klaus’s coven shoot dark looks at their colleagues.

I desperately want to do something, but I don’t know-how.

I can’t let Klaus lose this alliance because of me… but what other option is there? I can’t give up Klaus. I can’t.