The Accidental Vampire (24 page)

"No," he assured her solemnly. "There were too many for Marion to handle alone, but had I been there…" He let the sentence trail away on a weary sigh.

The memory obviously upset him. Elvi left the subject alone and asked instead, "Did you have any children?"

He opened his eyes to stare at the ceiling. "One. Vincent. He was born in 1590. He is four hundred and seventeen years old."

Elvi winced. Even the man's son was old. "Where is he?"

"He lives in California," Victor said quietly, then blurted, "I don't see him much."

"Well, he's older," she excused. "Once kids grow up and get a life of their own, parents never see them."

"My not seeing him is by choice."

"You don't want to see him?" she asked uncertainly, finding it difficult to even imagine such a thing. If Casey had survived the crash and only Harry had died, the poor girl would no doubt have been complaining to all and sundry because Elvi visited too much. "I don't understand. Why don't you see him?"

Victor closed his eyes again, a little sigh escaping him, "It's difficult to explain. Marion was… my lifemate. I waited so long for her, and was so lonely before she came into my life…" He paused and frowned, then glanced her way, repeating, "It's difficult to explain."

"Try," Elvi urged, really wanting to understand.

Victor looked away and then said, "Without training, I'm sure you haven't learned to read thoughts yet?"

Elvi shook her head. "Will I?"

"Yes. It's one of the extra abilities the nanos give us. You must have noticed that you were more intuitive?"

"Very," she admitted. Elvi had found she was extra-sensitive to feelings and could sense emotions.

He nodded. "Then you have the ability and just need the training to use it."

"I'm not sure I want to," Elvi murmured. "It seems an intrusion."

"You need to learn to do it to avoid doing it," Victor said with confusing logic, and Elvi blinked at him stupidly.

"What?"

He glanced her way to ask, "Do you suffer a lot of headaches?"

"Yes," she said with surprise. Elvi hadn't thought anything of it, she'd had headaches a lot before the turning and had just assumed they were continuing, but now she thought about it and realized, "They come every time I go to the restaurant or any of the local events. They aren't so bad when I'm home alone."

"And yet you continue to go to the restaurant and these local events," Victor murmured.

Elvi shrugged. "It's expected."

Victor looked as if he wanted to say something, but then glanced away. "The headaches are because you're picking up the thoughts of the people around you. They're worse at the restaurant and social events because there are more people there bombarding you."

Elvi shook her head. "I'm sure I don't pick up thoughts. My head just hurts, there are no thoughts with it."

"That's because there are too many," Victor explained. "You haven't been trained to control and focus so you're picking up everyone's thoughts. It becomes like static on a radio or white noise on a television. That's why you suffer headaches when you're around others but not when you're alone. Once you learn to focus, it will be better, but that's draining as well. You'll have to be constantly on guard, constantly blocking thoughts and protecting your own. It's wearying. Most immortals withdraw from society as much as possible because of that, but it leaves us alone all the time. A lifemate eases the loneliness. You don't have to guard your thoughts around them. Or block them. Your lifemate becomes your only safe haven, a cool and soothing breeze on a hot day."

"And Marion was that for you," Elvi murmured quietly.

"Yes… And much more," he admitted, "When she died… I was lost at first, not wanting to see anyone, do anything or go anywhere. I just wanted to curl into a ball and lick my wounds." He smiled suddenly and said with affection, "It was my pain-in-the-ass brother, Lucian, who pulled me out of that. He dragged me back into the world kicking and screaming and gave me a purpose."

"What purpose?" Elvi asked with a smile.

Victor paused and then admitted, "An enforcer for the council."

"What is an enforcer?"

"We hunt rogue immortals. Those who have gone bad and are breaking our laws," he explained.

Elvi nodded. "How did he get you to do it? I doubt asking nicely worked."

"No." Victor laughed. "Lucian came to my house one day with a family portrait; a huge painting of a family; a beautiful woman, a smiling man, and two happy children. The painting immediately infuriated me because my lovely family had been torn asunder. Then Lucian took out his epee and sliced the woman out of the picture and while I sat there, shocked, he told me she'd been taken by a rogue, her family was as devastated as I at the loss of Marion, but I could help stop it from happening to another family."

Victor gave a short laugh. "I pointed out it was mortals who took my Marion so why should I care if they suffered, and he asked if I would blame all for what one church official did? If so, didn't it mean that her family had every right to blame me and everyone of our kind for the loss of their mother and wife."

He shrugged. "I went hunting with him for this rogue, then another and another… It's been my only real purpose since then."

"And your son?" Elvi asked, wondering where he came in.

Victor sighed. "After the first hunt, I went to see Vincent. I hadn't seen him or anyone else but Lucian since Marion's death." Remembered pain flashed briefly in his eyes. "Vincent looks so like his mother. He has my coloring and build but her smile and eyes and… I couldn't bear to look at him. It hurt too much," he admitted, then added shamefaced, "I left as soon as I could and have seen him as little as possible since."

"You must have loved her deeply," Elvi murmured.

"She saved my soul," Victor said simply. "The loneliness was maddening and I was very close to going rogue myself when we met. Her arrival in my life was a blessing." He turned to stare deep into her eyes and added, "As is yours."

Elvi's pulled back slightly on the bed, feeling blind-sided by his words. "Mine?"

Victor nodded. "Some are never so lucky even once. I never thought I would be lucky enough to be blessed twice. But Elvi, you too are my lifemate."

"Calm down," Mabel said firmly. "Elvi, you have to calm down."

"But he thinks I'm his lifemate," Elvi squawked, pacing from one end of the restaurant office to the other. "We hardly know each other and he's talking about forever and—I'm not ready for this," she cried with dismay.

"You looked pretty ready to me in the car," Teddy commented and Elvi turned a glare on her old friend.

After Victor had made his announcement that she was his lifemate, she'd just lain there staring at him for the longest time, then she got up without a word and left the room.

The moment the door closed behind her, she'd broken into a run, flying down the stairs and out of the house in her wrinkled skirt and blouse, headed straight for Bella Black's and Mabel. She was halfway to the restaurant when Teddy's cruiser pulled into a driveway in front of her, forcing her to a halt. Seeing her running down the street "
like a mad thing"
as he'd put it, he'd stopped to be sure she was all right, but when all he could get out of her was incoherent ranting about lifemates, Teddy had done the sensible thing. He'd ushered her into his car and drove her to the restaurant. Mabel had taken one look at Elvi's face and ushered her into the office, only to be followed there by both Teddy and DJ.

"Listen to me," Mabel took her by the arms and turned her physically away from their old friend. "DJ has explained this all to me. I can help."

Elvi nodded. "Help."

"Yes," she said calmly, then took a breath and said, "Immortals can read everyone, often even other immortals unless they're much more powerful. They can also be read by other older and stronger immortals."

"Victor explained all that," Elvi muttered. "But how does that make me his lifemate?"

"He must not be able to read you," Mabel said simply.

Elvi just stared at her, her mind returning to the garage and his concentrating on her, attempting to read her. He'd said he couldn't. He'd also said the night she caught him outside Mabel's door that Mabel was DJ's lifemate because he couldn't read her. Elvi simply hadn't put the two things together.

"Marion was his lifemate," Elvi protested. "He loves her."

"And Harry was your husband and you love him," Mabel said reasonably. "So what? The human heart is big enough to love more than one in a lifetime."

That was true enough, she supposed, but… "What if it's just a fluke that he can't read me?"

"There are other signs too," Mabel assured her. "Like the fact that he's eating again."

Elvi waved that away as ridiculous. "They're all eating. Even DJ."

The sandy-haired man swallowed the bite of chimi-changa in his mouth and said, "That's because Mabel's my lifemate."

"Well, what about the others?" Elvi asked. "Edward, Harper, and Alessandro are all eating too."

"Yes," DJ admitted. "We're a bit concerned about that. And they're all still here as well, which suggests they can't read you either or they'd have left by now."

"Are you saying she could be a lifemate for any one of those four men?" Teddy asked with amazement, and then turned an impressed gaze Mabel's way. "Damn, you're good Mabel. Care to find me a woman?"

"This isn't funny, Teddy," Elvi snapped.

"Do you see me laughing?" he asked.

Turning away from him, she said, "So you're saying that all four of them could be my lifemate? What am I supposed to do?"

"Choose one," Mabel said reasonably. "I'd guess since you've slept with Victor, he'd be the wisest choice."

"How do you know that?" Elvi squawked with amazement as her face flushed with embarrassment.

"Elvi, your lips are swollen, your hairs a mess, you aren't wearing a bra and you look like a woman who's been well satisfied," Mabel said dryly.

"And we were at the house," DJ added. "Mabel forgot the work schedules for the week and we'd come back for them. When we started into the garage to head back, you and Victor were using the car. We decided to wait until you were finished."

"DJ!" Mabel snapped.

"Well, it's true," he said defensively.

"Oh God," Elvi mumbled, lowering her face into her hands. The car. Why hadn't it occurred to her that the car was there? They did it right there on the damned thing.

"Look, honey," Mabel rubbed a hand up and down her arm. "There's nothing to be embarrassed about. We're all adults here."

When Teddy snorted at the comment, Mabel turned a glare his way.

"Don't get mad at me," he said raising his hands. "I'm not the one acting like an idiot teenager."

Elvi lifted her head. "Are you saying I am?"

"Well, if the shoe fits, Ellen."

Her eyes widened at the use of her real name. Teddy hadn't called her that since the turning. No one had. She often bemoaned the fact, but now it sounded like an insult.

"Teddy," Mabel said in warning.

"Well, it's true," Teddy said in the same defensive tone DJ had used moments ago. Crossing his arms, he glared at Elvi. "You like the guy. He likes you. You have great sex in the garage and rather than pull some love 'em and leave 'em stunt, he wants a future with you. And what do you do?" he asked. "You run hell for leather up the street to the restaurant all in a panic asking what you should do."

"What does that expression mean exactly, hell for leather?" DJ asked in the silence that followed Brunswick's words. "And where does it come from?"

Teddy blinked at the immortal, and then said with exasperation, "How the hell should I know. People just use it all the damned time."

"I always thought it meant crazy fast," Mabel commented. "Though, I don't know why. It doesn't make sense when you think about it."

"Not now, but it's an old expression and we used to wear leather shoes rather than rubber soled," DJ murmured thoughtfully. "Maybe that's where it comes from, going fast or hard and being hell on the leather shoes."

"Oh, I never thought of that," Mabel said with surprise, then beamed. "You're so smart, love."

Shaking his head with disgust as the pair began to kiss, Teddy caught Elvi's arm and urged her toward the door. "Come on. You won't get any sense out of those two now. They'll be locking the office door in about three minutes."

Elvi allowed him to lead her out of the restaurant, but tried to pull free as they neared his car. "I can walk."

"Yes, but then I couldn't talk to you and I have some wisdom I'd like to impart," he snapped. Opening the passenger door, he ushered her in, slammed it, and then walked around to his side.

Elvi was silent as Teddy started the car, and left him to get to the point in his own time. It didn't take long.

"Mabel and I arranged this week to find you a mate," he started as he steered out of the parking lot. "We don't like the idea of leaving you here on your own."

"Yes, I know. She told me."

Teddy nodded. "Well, it seems we did good. Out of all the vampires in the world, she picked the four who would be suitable lifemates." He paused, and concentrated on driving for a minute before saying, "Elvi, if you love this guy, don't let fear keep you from him. You'll regret it. Trust me, I know," he added solemnly, and then said, "You're home. Get out."

Elvi glanced around with surprise to see that they were indeed in her driveway, and then turned an incredulous gaze back to Teddy.

"That's it?" she asked with disbelief. "Don't let fear stop me. We're home, now get out? That's your wisdom?"

"The best advice is often the simplest," he said with a shrug, then softened slightly and added, "Elvi, you're scared. I understand that. I've been there. I let it stop me once from asking someone to a high school dance, someone else asked her and she ended up marrying him. Forty years later I still regret it, but my life is almost over. You have a hell of a lot longer to regret it than me."

Elvi recalled Victor's saying Teddy loved her and had for a long time. She suspected she was the girl he hadn't asked to the dance, and wanted to say something to make it better for him, but there wasn't really anything to say.