Exton

Adrian's room is organized chaos. He and Thea will be departing for Deimos again in an hour or so, and  packing for the trip is proving to be a challenge. Thea would normally smooth things out, but she's been busy getting to know her sister again, and it's time that Lord Adrian has not begrudged her, knowing it may be quite a while before they can be together again.

In truth, it does his heart good to see Thea so much her old self these days. It has been a long time since she has had a life of her own. While her service has in no way been as onerous as Laila's had been, still she is Adrian's right hand, and his affairs occupy much of her time. She is very nearly as much a vampire as I, he muses, given that there are many nights that she does not get to sleep until after dawn. He vows to change that when they return. He is what he is; there is no reason so urgent as to compel Thea to live his life for him.

He looks at the neatly-folded clothes spread across the bed and gives the unbreathing equivalent of a sigh. Somehow Thea managed to fit all this into two suitcases, but he is at a loss to comprehend how it was done. It's rather like a Rubik's Cube; once the pieces are moved, you'll never get them back in place again.

Yet another thing I must learn to do for myself. Humans do not live forever, and who but a nincompoop like Stefan would choose a life such as this?