IMMORTAL MATCHMAKERS, INC. (21 page)

That was the other thing Cimil had explained. She’d chosen Sadie because she’d foreseen in some weird vision about her helping Andrus get back in touch with his human side, which she’d done successfully. Of course, Sadie refused the one hundred thousand dollars that Cimil (Bob) had promised since the beginning because it didn’t feel right taking it—she was happy to have been able to help Andrus—but Cimil didn’t “take orders from pesky humans.”

Sadie still didn’t know what to think about all that—the gods, demigods, vampires and these Uchben, this Brutus guy in particular. The man was just as big as Andrus, but his vibe was scary as hell, like he ate bullets for breakfast and perhaps enjoyed dining on small animals he strangled with his own two hands.

He also didn’t speak much. Except to the dog Niccolo, who he seemed to have bonded with because the arthritic little fur ball followed him everywhere.

Anyway, she didn’t know what she’d do next, but it was time to go home to see her family and try not to focus on the fact that every passing minute brought Andrus closer to meeting his special someone.

I need to get the hell away from here.

She’d swing by her place, grab a few personal things—some photos of her family and the materials from all of her acting classes—and then head out to the airport.

She looked at her watch. Seven o’clock. Less than an hour to party time.

She dug her cell from her purse and dialed Andrus, who answered almost immediately.

“Sadie, are you okay?” His deep voice sent a wave of hollowness through her heart.

“Yeah.” She swallowed back her tears. “I’m fine. I just…”
wanted to hear your voice one last time before your heart gets stolen by that woman.
“I wanted to wish you luck tonight. Just remember to make her feel special.”
Like you did for me.

There was a long moment of silence. “Thank you, Sadie. I wish you the same. Whoever this man is in your future, he will be very lucky.”

“Thanks,” she said quietly. “Take care.” Biting back her tears, she ended the call, grabbed her purse, and snuck out of the house before Brutus returned from walking Niccolo.

~~~

Andrus had endlessly debated with himself about whether or not to forget the stupid party. However, each time he thought it through, he landed on the same spot: He had to meet Charlotte. Hell, if he was lucky, meeting this woman might actually make him forget his feelings for Sadie, which were currently eating away at him like battery acid in his heart.

He took one final look at himself in the mirror and gave his messy hair a little fluff with his fingers.
Yeah, you look like the badass that you are.
Spiky hair, his leather pants—the ones with his lucky bloodstains—a plain black tee shirt, and his long leather duster to conceal his sword behind his back.

If this woman was going to be his mate, he wanted her to see the real him. He was tough, deadly, and enjoyed protecting people. There was nothing to be ashamed of because that was who he was now. His human side, the side he’d felt coming alive with Sadie, had been put down almost three hundred years ago for a reason, and trying to resurrect it was stupid. And pointless.
Never again.

An hour later—
godsdamned traffic!
—Andrus pulled up to the Beverly Hills Hotel. It was a bit cruel that Cimil had booked the party at the same place where he had begun his journey.
To meeting a sexy little she-devil.

Sitting in his car, he smiled, remembering the look on Sadie’s face when he’d opened the hotel suite’s door with his pants unzipped. He remembered thinking how sweet she smelled and how beautiful her eyes were—a golden brown that could warm even the coldest of hearts. They had certainly warmed his. Every godsdamned time she looked at him. And that little curvy body… It aroused him just thinking of how she’d looked writhing against the bed, moaning his name. He could still taste her on his tongue. Regrettably, he’d never gotten the chance to sample the rest of her body—those pink little nipples, the base of her back, that little spot behind her knees. Why hadn’t he brought a condom? Not that one time would’ve been enough.

Okay, a box of condoms.

Stop torturing yourself. Be a man, go in there, and meet Charlotte.

He blew out a breath and, with a heavy heart, exited his SUV, handing the keys over to the valet. He made his way through the lobby to the ballroom, where a petite blonde woman with big blue eyes, wearing a flowery dress, sat just out front. Her name tag read “Tula.”

“Well, good evening there, sir. May I get your name?” she asked.

“Andrus.”

Her eyes widened, and then she grabbed a walkie-talkie sitting on the table. “The eagle has landed. I repeat, the eagle has landed.”

He shot her a look, and she shrugged. “Cimil asked me to say that when you arrived.”

“Can you tell me where I might find Charlotte?”

“Cimil said she’d come and personally introduce—”

“I will introduce myself. If you’d please simply point her out.”

“Yes, sir,” Tula said nervously, standing from her chair and pointing to the bar inside. “She’s the woman in the green dress with the brown bob.”

“Thank you.” He dipped his head and made his way into the crowd, who buzzed with laughter and loud conversation over the techno music. As his eyes swept the room, he spotted many familiar faces—a few gods, some vampires who reported to Niccolo DiConti, and several Uchben he’d met over the years. On the far side of the room, the Goddess of—
damn, I can’t remember what she’s the goddess of—
DJed with her long blonde hair wrapped up in Princess Leia spirals. Belch, the God of Wine and Intoxication, stood behind the bar in his tightie whities, slinging drinks.
That deity really needs some wardrobe help.

As he walked toward the brunette, who had her back to him and was speaking with Zac, the God of Temptation, he felt his feet stick to the floor. She was right there, less than ten feet away, but his heart didn’t want to take another step. He felt it clawing and scratching inside his chest, trying to escape a terrible fate.

How fucked up is this?
Finding a mate was the one thing most immortals dreamed of—their special someone who’d love them unconditionally for eternity, who’d be their ideal in bed, who’d place their lives on the line merely to make them happy. Each and every immortal in the ballroom was looking for that kind of love. Yet, here he was dreading it. Hell, he should feel lucky. No one ever got a second mate. Of course, the Universe had considerably fucked him over with the first one, so he supposed the do-over made sense.

Zac looked at him, over the woman’s head. “Andrus! There you are!”

The woman turned around and Andrus felt like he’d been kicked in the balls.

Holy fuck. She looks like…Sadie
. The auburn hair, the golden-brown eyes, the pouty little lips. They could be sisters.

He could barely breathe, but he managed to shuffle his feet to her.

“Charlotte, may I introduce Andrus,” Zac said. “Andrus, Charlotte.”

“But you look like…you…” His brain tried to make sense of it.

Charlotte flashed a little smile. “Like Sadie? Yeah, Cimil mentioned that. Sadie’s my cousin.”

“She never mentioned you,” he said.

Charlotte shrugged. “Well, we haven’t seen each other since we were little.”

Andrus simply stared, his mind whirling a million miles per second.
What the fuck? Is this some sick joke?

“I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone,” Zac said.

She went on, “Sadie’s mom and my mom haven’t spoken in over twenty years. She probably doesn’t even remember me.”

“How did you end up here at this party?” he asked.

“A couple of weeks ago that crazy redhead found me. Said I needed to meet you. Hey, you look a little…pale. You okay?”

He bobbed his head. “No. Not really.”

“It’s not a heart attack, is it? Because that weird lady told me you’re way older than you look.”

“No. Not a heart attack.”

“Good.” She sipped her fruity-looking cocktail. “Because I don’t know CPR.”

Andrus tried to breathe, but his chest continued constricting as if a snake had wrapped around his heart. Was his interest in Sadie purely some sort of misdirected affection intended for this woman?

No. I feel…I feel
. His head snapped up as he stared into her warm brown eyes. “I feel a connection with you, Charlotte. Like I’ve known you my entire existence.”

“Yeah.” She sipped away. “I feel it, too. Like a love at first sight kind of thing. Yanno?”

He shook his head from side to side. “That’s the problem. I feel connected with you, but my heart still wants Sadie.”

Charlotte’s jaw dropped. “But I came here because that crazy redhead promised I’d find my Prince Charming.”

He shrugged. “I am sure you and I could make a life together, but you’d never own my heart.”

“What? You’re rejecting me?”

“I am very sorry to be so blunt and rude, but yes. I am.”

“And who the hell are you to reject me? You’re nothing but some guy who looks like a hot model in leather pants, but is just some washed-up unemployed foreigner—uh-huh, the redhead told me that you lost your job, but I came anyway. Super mistake.” Her hand waved over the front of his body. “You’re a big loser.”

“Andrus?” he heard a familiar feminine voice behind him. “Please slap that woman.”

When he turned, he found a set of big blue eyes staring up at him.

“Who’s the bitch?” said Charlotte.

Andrus cleared his throat. “Charlotte, this is Helena, the official leader of the vampire army. Helena, Charlotte.”

Helena’s blue eyes turned to charcoal black. “Did you just call me a bitch?” she growled.

“Well,” Charlotte said, “I didn’t…didn’t know that—did you say ‘vampire’?”

“Helena,” Andrus interrupted, “what are you doing here?”

Helena parked her fists on her hips. “I brought Matty to see you, and Niccolo wanted to speak with you. He feels really bad about the way things ended.”

Andrus blinked at her. “Matty is here? And Niccolo wants to apologize?”

“Yeah, they’re back at the beach house,” Helena replied, keeping a death grip on Charlotte with her eyes. “I also came because I wanted to make sure you didn’t fuck things up with your mate.” She flashed a glance at Andrus. “Is this really her?”

He bobbed his head. “According to Cimil.”

“I think I want to rip out her throat,” Helena growled.

Charlotte stepped back. “I didn’t mean any disrespect. I had no idea you were a crazy person.”

Helena narrowed her eyes. “First you call me a bitch, and now you’re calling me crazy?”

“No!” Charlotte looked terrified.

“Good,” Helena replied, “because I’d hate to have to slaughter the mother of my future son-in-law.”

Charlotte’s eyes went wide. “What are you talking about?”

Helena stepped in closer. “Didn’t Cimil tell you? You’re going to have a baby with Andrus and make my little girl happy someday.”

“No,” Charlotte replied, “I don’t want to be a mother. Especially not with him. You people are crazy.” She tried to run around Andrus and Helena, but ended up crashing straight into Cimil.

“Where do ya think you’re goin’?” Cimil said with an evil smirk.

“You’re all mad. Get away from me!” Charlotte dashed around Cimil and ran out the door.

Andrus gave Cimil a look. “You forgot to tell her what we are?”

Cimil’s mouth twisted into a guilty frown. “Whoopsies?”

“Well,” Andrus said, “it doesn’t matter. I don’t want a life with her.”

“Damn,” Helena said, “I really don’t blame you.” She rubbed the back of her neck and blew out a breath. “What are we going to do now? Poor Matty.”

Andrus looked at Cimil, who was busy staring at the ceiling like a cat watching an invisible game of Ping-Pong. “Cimil, is there any possibility that you were wrong about Charlotte?”

Cimil’s head continued moving side to side. “Nope. You felt the connection; she’s the one, and you have exactly twenty seconds left until the window closes with her.”

Andrus did feel something for the woman, but it was more like a dull ache in his gut, pulling him toward her.

“Andrus?” Helena said with a sorrow-filled voice. “I lied when I said I didn’t love you. I do. You’re my best friend and brother and protector and Matty’s uncle and—I couldn’t live with myself if you were unhappy for eternity, which you absolutely would be with that horrible shrew. We’ll just have to pray that Matty finds love some other way.”

Why did this feel too easy? On the other hand, wasn’t it about time for the Universe to cut him a little immortal slack?

“Do you think Matty’ll hate me when she grows up?” he asked.

Helena’s eyes filled with tears. “She loves you. I think she’ll understand.”

“I have to go now and find Sadie.”
I just hope it’s not too late.

“We’ll be at our beach house in Malibu. Come by tomorrow for dinner?” Helena asked.

They had homes all over the world—it was a vampire thing. “I will let you know!” he said, running for the door.

“Okay! Just call from wherever, and I’ll come sift you to my house!” Helena screamed.

He wanted to see Matty, but right now, he needed to fix a terrible wrong. He never should’ve let Sadie go, and if he got her, he didn’t intend to let her up for air for at least a few weeks.

~~~

Charlotte stood outside of the hotel, panting and trying her best not to pass out. The crazy people—
Oh, God! They think they’re vampires!
—hadn’t followed her, but they were still inside.
A whole room of them!
Like some creepy Goth mixer, only they weren’t dressed like vampire wannabes. They wore a variety of costumes and everyone she’d met had on bright blue contacts.

Freaky cult people!

But why had she come? She’d known something was weird about that redheaded woman who’d said she was a friend of Sadie’s and that she’d put them in touch. “Sadie’s in L.A.? My cousin Sadie?” she’d asked. It was only a short drive from Palm Springs, where she lived. Then the woman had placed her hand on her shoulder and stared deeply into her eyes, sending a cold shiver through her body. “The man from your dreams will be at the party,” the redhead had said. “He is the one.” How the crazy woman knew about her dreams, she didn’t know, but this odd tingling in her stomach had told her to take a leap of faith and come to the party. Huge mistake.