She hadn’t discussed the paper or the locket with him. “Do you wonder why people call you Mind Stalker?”
He tapped the locket. “Don’t change the subject, please.”
“I think, at this point, I consider it a good luck charm.” She smiled crookedly, a little embarrassed. “And I’m afraid to remove it. Dumb, I know.”
“It’s not dumb, if it makes you feel secure.” The corner of his mouth cocked. “Can I add this to the chain?”
“Sure.” She unclasped her chain and handed it to him.
He snagged a fang in the fingertip of his leather glove and pulled it off, using his nimble fingers to lace the glittering charm next to her duller locket. He smiled down at her. “This belonged to my grouchy mother, a gift from my father.”
Oh, she couldn’t possibly take this. “Wait, Oycher.”
“Just listen.” He cupped her face with his gloveless hand, the current moving beneath his skin stroking hers. “As Commanding Vojak of Russia, father suffered through years of battle after battle and always seemed to make it home to us alive. And no matter how the road separated Mother and Father more times than it brought them together, every time he came home, he danced with her in the air beneath the stars.”
“In the air?”
“Yes.” He opened the necklace, waiting patiently while she lifted her hair, and fastened the clasp at her nape. “A time or two, I would watch from my bedroom window. They would twirl about the air as vampires do, giggling and kissing, acting like Younglings again. And Father always swore that if he ever found a way, he would climb higher and capture a star just for her. Of course, that never came about, so he commissioned a Druid to form this immortal star from a flawless diamond.”
“This is a diamond?” The weight pressed heavily against her breastbone. “It’s remarkable.”
“On you, yes, it is.” He stared unfocused, his eyes searching into his childhood. “Father received the finished piece during his final day of service. He was going to retire finally. On his way home to my mother, he was murdered.”
“Oh,” she gasped. “I can’t take something this precious.”
“But you can.” He was with her now, the flaming ocher she would see forever in her dreams blazing down at her. “It’s hard to have faith, when I have blood dripping from my hands nightly. You see, I have seen centuries of cruelty and death.”
Years were bad enough, but she couldn’t imagine centuries of fighting. “That’s terrible.”
“It’s terrible on the days when I wonder if I’ve grown callous, when one body bleeds into the next.” He ran his hand through his hair, the beads clacking and then resettling. “And when that happens” — he tapped the star gleaming between her breasts — “I touch the most cherished possession I own, which was this. And now, it is you.” He gripped her waist, his strength pouring into her. “If you will have any of me, yet still refuse to wear the mark of my claiming bite, at least, honor me by wearing this.”
Standing on her tiptoes, Isla kissed him hard, gripping his face until her knuckles cracked. “Thank you,” she whispered when she pulled away.
He started dissolving in her hands, the moist air flittering over her skin. “Moje srdce, I will return.”
“Oh, you have to be the luckiest female in our Pack!” Haley screeched from the doorway, jumping up and down. “You have a Nordic and a Vojak!” She tossed down a stack of boxes on the desk and lunged at Isla, twirling her around the room. “And now you’re working with your best friend. Hasn’t your life turned around for the better?”
Isla took a peek inside the boxes. “You’re working here, with me?”
“No more waiting tables at The Blue Pelican. This,” she said, opening her arms in grand gesture, “is our office!”
“Well…great.” Isla didn't know what to say. The room was far too small for two people, especially considering Haley’s daily, boisterous enthusiasm. Isla tapped her lips with her fingertips, contemplating. Maybe if she hid the coffeepot and wore ear plugs, everything would work out. Isla lifted a box of pens from the box, followed by a ream of paper. “I don’t even know where the printer is.” Something wasn’t adding up here.
“I’ve got it.” Haley hefted the boxed printer to the desk, tearing off the sealing tape. “Maybe we can put it on that hutch by the window.”
“Yeah…You really enjoyed waiting tables at The Blue Pelican.” They’d just promoted Haley, and the tips were awesome. “What’s going on?”
She flushed beneath a dusting of freckles. “I think Terje may have had some pull. You know, he’s trying to make you happy.” She snapped her fingers over her head, wiggling her ass. “So he gave you a friendly sidekick for your new career.”
“I don’t believe that for one lousy second,” Isla pressed.
Haley’s shoulders dropped, and she leaned against the corner of the desk. “I sneaked out again last night.”
“You did what?” Isla thought her chin must’ve hit the floor. “Wasn’t life complicated enough, after we were caught running from the Gryphs. When Sage had to scoop in and send us back to the island with Alpha Dax like disobedient children, your brother was both furious and embarrassed.”
She picked at her skirt. “Well, I was at a distinct disadvantage when Ryan wouldn’t answer his phone.”
“You’d better watch who you communicate with, given the fact that powerful vampires can mist to your phone’s location,” Isla reminded, plugging in the printer and opening the corresponding paper to load. “Back to Ryan, the owner slash bartender of Six Feet Under, so he didn’t answer.” She shrugged. “He has a big place to run. He would have called you eventually, right? What’s a few days?”
Her eyes turned into green pools. “You wouldn’t believe the women after him, immortals and humans.”
Isla kneeled and started removing the cardboard inserts from the wheels of her desk chair. “So…I’m guessing you ended up at Six Feet Under last night. Again.”
“Yeah.” She pouted. “Some snarky server told me exactly where to find him…in the bathroom.”
“Uh oh.” Satisfied with the chair, she shoved the desk near the window. “I’m guessing he was in one of the larger wink-wink club members’ bathrooms.”
Haley actually whimpered. “He didn't bother to lock the door. I’ll have the vision forever etched in my mind. Three women,” she said, holding up three fingers in case Isla hadn’t heard her right. “All of them were naked and on there knees, while taking turns worshiping his cock.”
Isla stopped a moment, clutching her new pencil holder, and wondered how that worked. “Imagine that.” Then another thought crossed her mind. “Please don’t say you joined them.”
“Of course not,” she said with an infinite lifting of her shoulders. “He screamed at me to get the hell out.”
Isla tossed the empty box into the hallway, and dove into the next one. “Is that when your brother caught you, during all the screaming?”
“No, he didn’t catch me until much later.” A dreamy smile drifted across her lips. “I met another vampire, and I mean a vampire.” Her smile turned into a scowl. “So…you’re probably going to find out anyway that my brother insisted I quit The Blue Pelican.”
“I thought as much. Vampires come in there, too, though I don’t understand why.” Isla waved her hand over the other boxes. “Pick a box, any box.”
Haley lifted some empty binders, tearing off the plastic shrink wrap. “So Dax says the Donor complex will be a nurturing environment for me to stop acting, and I quote ‘without any sense of self-preservation’. If the Alpha wasn’t such an asshole, he’d be hot.”
Isla couldn’t say that Dax was an asshole, but he was definitely an Alpha. “So, that’s it, you’re stuck working here?”
Haley pitched a box of highlighters in a desk drawer. “Well, my brother’s taking a different approach. He’s trying to get me to participate in Rights To Mate.”
A ceremony where any unmated werewolf attended while an unmated female was brought to orgasm. Any werewolf within a mile radius could scent her release and discover if she’s his celestially appointed mate.
Isla dusted off her knees, wishing she’d worn jeans instead of a sundress. “But you don’t want to give up your vampires.”
“You’re right. I’m not participating in any werewolf ceremony,” she said sourly. “You, on the other hand, got prime grade A. Holy shit, if I had five minutes alone with Oy-”
Isla pointed a letter opener at Haley. “Don’t even think of finishing that sentence.”
“Oh, so you’re already getting territorial.” Haley waved a hand. “It doesn’t matter. I’m meeting my newest hottie vamp, after we leave here tonight.” She turned to the side, grabbing something out of her purse.
Immediately, Isla noticed the telltale bruising centered by two puncture holes on Haley’s throat. That, Isla thought, was going to get her friend into bigger trouble than she’d bargained for. “You know there’s a maddened Gryph on the loose, and two funky dogs, right? You sneaking out is crazy, Haley.”
“I’m not exactly sneaking out this time.” Her face lit up, when she received a text. Haley texted back in blurring speed. “I wasn’t told I couldn’t visit The Blue Pelican.” She shrugged. “We’re going to take a walk on the beach, maybe find somewhere secluded,” she murmured, rubbing her throat.
How could her friend enjoy being a pincushion for the inherently fanged? But Haley was a wealth of information regarding all things vampire, so Isla thought a little interrogation would go a long way. She lowered her voice, hoping Sage wouldn’t hear from the other side of the building. “So, about the vampiric wedding ceremony, tell me all that you know.”
Haley clutched her hands over her heart. “You’re really considering it?”
“I want to weigh all my options,” she said, pulling a chocolate bar out of her purse and splitting it with Haley, “and I need an unbiased version.”
Haley took a bite, chewed thoughtfully. “Well, sorry to tell you there’s a lot of biting involved.”
“I figured as much.” Isla munched slowly, suddenly losing her appetite.
“And during Oycher’s screwing-you-senseless ritual, he summons whatever vampiric magic he’s inherited. Since he’s a Vojak, that amounts to a whole hell of a lot — then he says some binding words.” She finished off her half of the bar.
Isla rubbed her finger along a settling crack in the wall. “By blood and magic our souls are linked…forever?”
“Well, that’s the main part of it.” She checked another incoming text. “After all, you are his soul mate, the same as you and Terje. Plus, you could possibly lose your Donor status. I hear, though there’s not much talk, the transformation can change your blood significantly enough for that to happen.”
“I wouldn’t be a Donor anymore?” Her head was spinning with possibilities. What if she were no longer a walking drug to vampires? How would that welcome relief even feel? “Why do you suppose Oycher nor Terje told me this?”
“Mainly, I suspect Oycher wants you to make the decision based on your feelings for him.” She responded to her text. “Partly, I suppose they’re thinking that during transformation, there’s no foolproof guarantee you’ll leave Donor status. So why get your hopes up?”
“Transformation,” Isla muttered, pacing, “the binding of our souls.”
“Well,” Haley said, gripping both of Isla’s arms so she stilled, “binding of souls is part of the transformation to vampiress.”
The floor dropped from beneath her feet. “What did you say?”
“By your pallor, this must be the reason Oycher didn’t tell you. Sometimes, the female joining with the vampire transforms to vampiress. Now, I think it depends a lot on your blood and the vampire you’re mating. But it happens.”
“You’re saying he could turn me into one of…them.”
Haley clutched her tightly, leaning her against the wall. “The irony’s not lost on me. But what are the odds you would become…”
“The very thing I…I can’t breathe.” Her heart slammed against her ribs. “I need to talk to Terje.”
“Of course, you do.” Haley put her arm around Isla’s waist. “I’ll go with you, okay?”
Isla waved her off, turning to the hallway that led to the front. “It’s a five minute walk.” Haley followed her out anyway.
When Isla’s hands touched the front doors, Sage whirled before them, his eyebrows lifted. “Oh, no, not again,” he warned.
“I want to talk to Terje,” Isla explained patiently, though she felt anything but.
“Conveniently,” Sage said, lifting his phone and pushing a button. “I have him on speed dial.”
“Fine, I’ll wait.” The world was choking her again. She couldn’t deny the way she wanted Oycher, but this? No, she couldn’t turn into one of them, not ever. So what could she do? If she mated Terje, she would become immortal. Then, she would be around to stay with Oycher all his immortal life. So what was the problem? Why was Oycher pressing for this vampiric wedding ceremony? Why would he want for her to become the creature she despised the most — a blood drinker?
“Terje.” Isla jumped into his arms the second he misted to her side. “I can’t breathe.” Swiftly, he brought her outside, the salt air slowly filling her lungs.
“Slow down,” he said, leading her to the side of the next building, hiding them beneath the canopies of hard trees. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
“Haley told me about the transformation,” she said accusingly.
“But, I thought you knew all about full moon mating.”
“Not that, the vampiric wedding ceremony,” she said. “Did you know that I might turn into a vampiress?”
“I knew there was a distinct possibility, especially considering Oycher’s bloodlines. He’s deep-rooted to the original Vojak. In a fated joining, you would become stronger to stand side-by-side with your Vojak husband.”
“And this wouldn’t bother you?” She couldn’t even stand the thought of being bitten, much less biting someone.
“If you’re asking if you would let me down by becoming a vampiress, that’s the furthest thing from my mind and my heart. You could still mate me under the full moon, joining me soul to soul. We could have little Nordic werewolves running with us in the marsh, same as we could if you didn’t transform. You changing into a vampiress means little between us, apart from the fact that you’ll become even stronger throughout the years, and you’ll eat differently.”
Eat differently? She was going to be sick. “I need you.”