True Mate Page 7

  “I suppose that makes sense.”

  I took his hand. “Come on, Romeo. Let’s get you that coffee. Something happened yesterday and I have to tell you all about it.”

  He glanced at me as we stepped into the elevator, looking adorably puzzled. “What happened? It must have been serious if it had to wait.”

  I frowned. “I wanted you to be fully awake and focused because you’re not going to like it,” I replied as the elevator stopped at ground level. We stepped out into my fake master bedroom, and I could practically feel the tension coming off him as we followed the scent of coffee to the kitchen. He said nothing as he poured a cup for himself and then offered me one. I indicated a half cup with thumb and forefinger only out of politeness and we took our cups to the couch where we sat. I could practically feel the thrum of anticipation from him as we took our seats.

  “Well, what is it I’m not going to like? What happened?” he asked, getting right to the point.

  “I’ll tell you, and then you’ll explain to me why you returned to the house smelling like death and werewolves last night, okay?”

  Romeo nodded, and I cleared my throat.

  “I had three unexpected visitors at the store yesterday afternoon,” I said.

  “Who?” he asked.

  “Three vampires, two of whom I’ve known a long time, and a new one, made vampire less than a hundred years ago. I didn’t know him,” I rushed to explain.

  Romeo frowned deeply. “Who are they and what did they want from you?”

  I sighed again, hesitating only a second. “Honestly?”

  “Vincent…” he growled under his breath.

  “They wanted to kill me.”

  Chapter Five

  Prosper Woods Chronicle. Letters to the editor:

  “Last night, Curly and me couldn’t get into the old drive-in ‘cause the lot was full to the brim with ghost cars. Mama says that ain’t a thing and that the drive-in’s been closed for years. I think we’ll need more Budweiser to know for sure.” Signed, “Another twelve-pack or two.”

  Romeo

  It was with more than a little dread that I stared at Vincent with my mouth hanging open. More vampires? I rolled my eyes thinking that the last thing this town needed was more vampires. Vincent hadn’t said much about his encounters with other vampires over the centuries, but from what he had shared, the meetings hadn’t been good. A better description might be confrontations.

  Also, I had the feeling Vincent preferred the fact that he’d moved through life untethered to others of his species. From a law enforcement point of view, I was certain more vampires in a town full of werewolves who hated them would only bring more misery to the citizenry. It certainly couldn’t be good for the humans, shifters, or for my vampire.

  Recently, Vincent had been able to escape certain death from a pack of werewolves, and at the very least, a war between species because he had a unicorn mate. I was but one person and knew I couldn’t possibly do the same for others of his kind. Besides, hadn’t Vincent told me that he was unique among vampires? I knew the man had a heart of gold in his chest, beating or not. He’d explained that his maker, Robert, was a monster who fed off fear and horror in his human victims, making them hurt and killing with great cruelty. The last thing Prosper Woods needed was a band of vampires like that.

  “Tell me what happened. How do you know these vampires?” I asked.

  “While you were at work yesterday, I got a call from Scott, the manager at my store. He told me he’d unpacked a box of very old books, and there were customers in the store who wanted to buy them.”

  “The customers were the vampires?”

  “Yes.”

  “How did Scott know that?”

  “Know they were vampires?”

  I nodded.

  “He didn’t. Let me start again. I’m not explaining this right,” Vincent said. “When I packed up my home in preparations to move here, I had a box of books and other belongings that were once my maker’s. These books date back centuries. They are a set of eight books bound in brown leather and hand copied on parchment paper. In fact, they are some of the oldest manuscripts ever written and are museum quality.”

  “Okay.”

  “Anyway, they’d belonged to Robert, and he told me that within their pages were secrets, and I was always to keep them safe.” He blinked at me. “I made a terrible mistake.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I guess they somehow got loaded into the truck with all the other antique books which are being sold at the store. When I asked Scott to open the boxes and stock the bookshelves before leaving yesterday morning, I didn’t realize these books were among those boxes. The moment the box was open, the vampires swooped in and demanded Scott sell them to them.”

  “I don’t understand. How did they know about the books and the exact moment the box was opened and put on the shelves?” I asked.

  “There is something magical about the tomes,” Vincent said. “I don’t know what it is or even what the books say because they are written in an ancient vampiric language that only the eight oldest living vampires can read and write. They were never supposed to be exposed to the public. I’ve kept them for over seven hundred years because they’ve been packed away, hidden from all prying eyes in my private library. I thought they’d been delivered here to the house with my other belongings, but they somehow made it into the van being driven to the store.”

  “These old vampires…why don’t they own these books? Why do you still have them if they’re so important and coveted?”

  “Robert was once the consort of Victoria, one of the Conclave of Eight—the oldest vampires—and it’s my understanding that she gave them to him much like a lady of my time would bestow favors upon a favorite knight.”

  “I get it. They were lovers and she gave him the books,” I said.

  “Yes. I’m not sure whether she ever told him what they contained or whether it was just important to keep them safe. He only disclosed the existence of the books when I complained that we had to drag them along wherever we went.”

  “Which is why it’s odd that you sent them ahead with all your personal stuff, Vincent. I mean why? Wouldn’t the vampires have tried to steal them while they were on the road?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “Well, perhaps I miscalculated in shipping them ahead to my contractor, Lydia but I’ll never know now. At the time, my thoughts were, it would be safer to send them by special messenger, along with other things that were important. I did that on purpose for just this reason. I was counting on the vampires thinking I’d be an idiot to let them out of my sight.” He reached for my hand and stared at me with pleading eyes.

  “Romeo, you must understand this. Before modern day courier services, I had to risk taking them with me wherever I went. That was always risky. I thought that by doing it this way and leaving Lydia to be responsible for putting them on the bookshelves in the bedroom downstairs was actually much safer. I should have checked upon my immediate arrival in town, but I was so stupid and caught up when I first got here, I didn’t even realize they never made it to the shelves in my home. Their box was specially shipped to Lydia. I’m not sure why they ended up at the store, but they did. Perhaps she wasn’t at home to take the boxes and the courier just thought they’d drop them at the store instead.”

  I felt a stab of guilt. “You’re talking about getting caught up with me, aren’t you?”

  He nodded, looking devastated. “It wasn’t your fault. It was my own carelessness. Anyway, when Scott opened the box, whatever the vampires sensed about the location of the books drew them right to the store. They must have been following me and waiting for the opportunity to strike.”

  I nodded. “So, Scott called you when they came in inquiring about the books?” I asked.

  “Yes. He said he had no idea what price to put on them, since he could see that they were special. I told him it was a mistake and drove to the store as fast as possible. When I got t
here, things really went south.”

  I squeezed his hand. “Tell me what happened, Vincent, from the very beginning.”

  “I got the call from Scott and raced to the store,” he said.

  I sensed a wave of dread coming off my mate, and it threatened to drown me. “Go on.”

  “When I got there, the three vampires were waiting for me. They were threatening Scott’s life and demanding that I sell the books since he’d put them up for sale.”

  “But—”

  “Let me finish, sweetheart,” he said.

  I swallowed. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s fine. I have to explain how this works in vampire culture,” he said on a sigh. “A long time ago, another such incident occurred. Sergio Serrano, a vampire even older than me, learned that I had Robert’s books after his death. He demanded I give them to him or at the very least, sell them to him. When I refused, he complained to the Conclave.”

  “The older vampires you told me about,” I stated.

  Vincent nodded. “Yes. They live in a Siberian castle compound. To put it in modern day terms, these eight vampires rule the vampire race. All vampires have to follow the laws they make, and if they don’t, they are punished.”

  “Killed?” I asked.

  “Sometimes. It depends on the transgression. In any case, when Sergio made his claim on the volumes, saying they should belong to him because he was the oldest living vampire after the eight on the Conclave, they ruled that he had no claim on them. They ruled that they were to remain with Robert’s progeny.”

  “You?”

  “Yes. Because they had once been Robert’s property, and as such, after he met the true death, the books would remain in my care and under my protection.”

  “But somehow because Scott unpacked the books in the antique store, it meant that he’d put them up for sale?” I asked.

  Vincent nodded. “The fact is, under normal circumstances, Sergio would have a legitimate claim. He’s able to say that because they were put up for sale, he had every right to buy the books.”

  “Why doesn’t he have that right since Scott opened the box with the intent on making them available for sale?” I asked.

  “Because Scott is a human, and every vampire knows humans have no rights when it comes to vampire law,” Vincent said. He looked away and when his gaze returned, he looked slightly embarrassed. “Most vampires think humans are meant only for food. They consider them chattel if they decide to keep one around as a…as a source of sex and food. They don’t give them any credit.”

  Romeo laughed. “They consider them to be stupid slaves then.”

  “I’m sorry, but yes, that’s pretty much how they think of humans.”

  “It doesn’t bother me. I’ve watched vampire series on TV too, you know.”

  Vincent blushed. “Anyway, Sergio can and probably will take the claim to the Conclave. He has a case if he chooses to make it. He can claim that I abandoned the books by not caring for them as I should have, and it would be a good claim. I will argue that Scott wasn’t allowed to sell the books, but I might still lose them if the Conclave rules against me.”

  “So, what happened after they showed up?” I asked.

  “There is an ancient vampire law called the Law of Embargo. I claimed Prosper Woods mine by Law of Embargo…also the surrounding area,” he said. “The three vampires were forced to leave when Sid showed up just in time.”

  My eyes widened. “What does Sid have to do with this?”

  Vincent pinned me with a serious stare. “In order for me to claim the Law of Embargo for a territory—in this case, Prosper Woods—there has to be a witch present. As soon as Sid showed up, I claimed the town of Prosper Woods as mine by the Law of Embargo, Sid, as mine by the Law of the Soul, and you, as mine by the Law of the Heart. It forced the three vampires to leave. They will not be able to set foot in the town or the area surrounding it again unless I lift my claim.”

  “Which I assume you never will?” I asked, continuing the conversation but making a mental note to ask about these laws at a later time.

  He squeezed my hand and nodded. “Yes.”

  “So, the books are safe and so are we,” I stated.

  Vincent sighed deeply. “I hope so…definitely for the time being. If Sergio makes a new claim, the Conclave of Eight will have to travel here and they won’t be able to do that easily. They travel with a massive retinue of guards, so it’s never an easy thing when they do it. Also, since it’s already been adjudicated, they’ll be angry to have to come here to hear the same manner again, especially under these circumstances.”

  “I know it sounds redundant but why not just let those Conclave guys take the books and keep them?” I asked. “I understand why you want to keep them, but do you have any reason other than the fact that Robert told you to? You said you can’t read them.”

  Vincent frowned, yanking his hand out of mine and standing up to begin pacing around the room. “You don’t know what you’re saying, Romeo, and I don’t expect you can.” He stopped in front of me, looking down at where I still sat on the couch. “Perhaps I can explain it to you this way…you took a vow to protect and serve when you were sworn into your job with the LAPD. You promised not to shirk your responsibility. Then, let’s say, you were tempted to abandon that vow for something you wanted more than anything else in the world. Would you just give it up, compromise your morals and the ethics you’ve lived by for centuries, just because it’s the easy way out of the situation?” He held up his hand when I opened my mouth to speak.

  “No, you wouldn’t compromise your oath, Romeo. I know you are a man of honor. I am also. That’s why I won’t give the books up.”

  “I understand,” I said. “They mean something to you even though you don’t know what’s inside them because your maker told you to care for them and that they were precious.”

  “They’re much more than that. They hold secrets of some kind. I don’t know what those secrets are, but I do know that Robert knew they had to be kept safe and out of other vampires’ hands. I suspect Sergio knows what is in the volumes also, and I think whatever it is, is meaningful to him because it holds great power. I know this. He wouldn’t be trying so hard if it didn’t mean he’d advance his power.”

  “He’s not a good vampire, I take it,” I concluded.

  “Sergio Serrano is a vicious killer, and the other vampire with him, Justine, is just as lethal. I don’t know the third one—this Harvey Miller—but I do know if he travels with the others, it’s because he has the same propensity for violence that the other two do. It’s not good, Romeo. It’s a very good thing that they’re gone.”

  “Okay,” I said on a sigh of relief. “But that means you are basically protected as long as you’re here in this town. What happens if you leave Prosper Woods?”

  “I can’t leave. They’ll try to have me killed.” He sat down beside me, retaking my hands. “There’s one more thing, Romeo.”

  “What?”

  “It means you’re stuck here with me.”

  My eyes widened. “Why?”

  “I called out protection for you under the Law of the Heart. That means that you are my true mate, and now that they understand who you are to me, it makes you a target. You have no idea how powerful Sergio is, Romeo. He will kill you with ease if he gets a hold of you.”

  “So, I’m trapped here in town.”

  “I’m afraid so, my lover. I’m so sorry.” He looked truthfully regretful. “You will not be able to leave Prosper Woods and the surrounding area which includes Frederick. If you do, Sergio and the others will kill you. I’m so sorry, my love. I never wanted to hurt you. I do hope you understand why I did it.”

  “Believe it or not, I actually do understand.” I leaned in and kissed him, softly. I put all the love and heat I could into the kiss, wanting him to know that I didn’t blame him for trapping us here within these city walls. I felt at home here now. I had no siblings other than my stepbrother who I wasn’t c
lose to. My parents were dead. I’d been on my own for many years before meeting Vincent. I wasn’t upset with our circumstances. I really wasn’t. When I finally ended the kiss and leaned back, he was staring at me.

  “Can you ever forgive me?” He sounded small, worried.

  I smiled at him. “I already have, Vincent.” I paused for a minute. “By the way, you mentioned that Scott Templeton is human, but did you also know he’s a medium?” I said, remembering the conversation I’d had in front of Vincent’s store. Vincent’s eyes widened.

  “What? How do you know Scott’s last name? Did I mention it? And how in the world do you know he’s a medium?”

  I smirked. “Calm down, Vincent. I haven’t had a chance to tell you that I met him out in front of the store before Sally and I went out to the mine. He approached me to introduce himself, and when we were talking, he mentioned in passing that he knew you were a vampire, and I was a unicorn. He said he knows all about shifters.”

  “What?” Vincent still looked shocked, and he thought deeply for a minute. “If that’s the case, he must have known to call me as soon as the vampires walked into the store. He no doubt knew what they were.”

  “Yes, no doubt about it,” I said.

  “Now that makes me wonder if he knew about the books and what they were all along,” Vincent said, scratching his head. “Perhaps I need to give the man a medal for hopping on the phone and calling me immediately.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, you and Scott need to have a long talk, Vincent, but for now, maybe you can help me figure out some things about my new case.”

  “You have a new case?” He looked excited and almost relieved about the change in topic.

  “I do, but before I tell you everything about it, I need more coffee and some eggs. Do you have eggs in the house?” I was pretty sure he didn’t. I tried to put in a grocery order at Sid’s store every now and then to keep him stocked. I noticed Sid now tended to throw in things I liked for my own house, and I always had to smile when Vincent was stocking his shelves. Clearly, the witch knew I spent more time at the vampire’s residence than I did at my own cabin.