The Young Vampire Mate: The Airendell Chronicler Diaries - Book 1.5 (13 page)

“Yes, both parts are true.  When I saw you through Morna’s eyes, I recognized you as my potential soul mate.  But don’t panic, I am not planning on seducing you and forcing you into some kind of relationship anytime soon.  You are young Damian, compared to me, you are very, very young.  But the connection is there between us, don’t you feel it?”

He nods.  “I have been dreaming about you too, Breena.  Dreams about you and my little sister brought me back from the depths of hell.  I was living like those Stone Colds that you and George hunt down and destroy.  I deserve the same fate, mon cher.”

I shake my head no. “You don’t, Damian.  You made a choice to not live that way and you are sticking to it.  I can only imagine the guilt you live with… But you can and will make a difference.”  I reach up and touch his face gently, “I have faith in you, leannan.”

“God, your voice is so pretty when you slip into that accent.  What does that word mean?” he asks me quietly.

“It means lover or sweetheart.”

“Oh God, mon amour, I don’t deserve you,” he whispers.

I lean towards him, tilting my face upwards, fully intending to kiss him, even though I know I am moving way too fast.  But I want to cuss like a drunken sailor when just as I brush my lips across Damian’s icy, hard lips, some asshole behind me lays down on his horn. 

I turn ready to cuss someone out when I forget all about my anger because the bozo with the horn is Micah O’Toole.  And sitting in the passenger seat is his little brother, Elias O’Toole.

The boys rush out of the car and grab me up, hugging and kissing me. They pass me back and forth like I am a small child.  Both of them slathering me in good natured affection.  I feel possessiveness and mild irritation radiate off of Damian until Elias calls me Auntie Breena.

“Micah, I am a grown woman, not a small child to be passed around.  Would you please put me back on my feet before I have to tan your backside for you?”  The brothers laugh and set me down.  I look up and see Fionn and Rinda sitting in Rinda’s slick white 69 Nova.  I can’t decipher the look on Fionn’s face and he’s completely shut his emotions off from me.  That’s not good.  Fionn never hides from me.  I force my attention back to the O’Toole brothers before I look up and see Damian turn as though to go on into the house.

“Leannan, come here and meet my friends.”  I feel the weight of four sets of eyes on me when I call Damian my lover in Gaelic.  Damian smiles at me, recognizing the significance of me using that name for him in front of my friends, before walking over so that I can introduce him to the O’Toole brothers.

After the introductions Elias says, “Maggie Fine told me about you, Damian.”

“Who’s Maggie Fine and just what did she tell you about me?” Damian asks quietly.  I can feel Damian’s confusion over Elias’ comment.  I am feeling a little confused too and very curious about what Maggie Fine, one our clan’s most accurate seers has to say about Damian.

Elias chuckles, “Maggie is Rinda’s mother and she’s very powerful seer.  Basically, she told me that you are a good man and that I shouldn’t punch you when you call my Auntie Breena mon amour, because you mean it.”  Elias looks at me and asks, “So when did you two first meet?”

“In person? A couple of hours ago… in my dreams, over six hundred years ago,” I answer honestly.

Damian looks at me in me in disbelief, “Over six hundred years ago?” 

I nod and Fionn comes up and kisses my cheek.  “Baby, don’t scare the boy off.”

“She’s not scaring me off.  I am just surprised by her age.  She looks younger than me.”

Fionn laughs, “Yeah, well don’t let her looks fool you.  Breena’s a real cougar, Damian.  She was born in 1166.  When were you born?”  I want to smack my friend for being an asshole but Rinda distracts me.

Rinda laughs and says; “Metaphysically, I would say his soul was born in the mid fifteenth century.  Someone held him back.”

“Cocidius,” I growl.  “I have a bone to pick with him next time I see him.  Damian was supposed to be born centuries ago.  Cocidius delayed our meeting on purpose for his own purposes.”

“Why?  And who is Cocidius?” Damian asks me.

“Cocidius is the Brythonic god, (The Red One) an ancient Celtic/Roman god of war, and woodland creatures.  Actually, I am not sure about his origins.  He’s very evasive about his history.  But I do know that he’s the creator of the original Dragons, Shape Shifters, Changelings, and indirectly vampires and ghouls.  Many immortals suspect that Nyx murdered ancient Dragon queens and used their blood to create the Stone Colds and later the Ghouls.  Cocidius apparently delayed our meeting so that we could be united at a time more convenient for his plans…”  I look at Damian feeling guilty because we are dragging him into this mess.  “An epic battle or many battles looms in the future of all Immortals.”  I take Damian’s hand and hold it tenderly.  “Leannan, your connection to Morna and me will probably land you right smack dab in the middle of all of it.  It won’t be pretty.”

He squeezes my hand gently and tugs me slightly closer to his body.  “Well, they can just bring it.  Now that I have found you, mon amour, I will never leave your side.”

I hear Rinda heave a sigh that sounds suspiciously like the word ‘wow’ and the O’Toole brothers are radiating amused appreciation.  But I can’t feel anything from Fionn until he lets his guards down and slaps Damian on the back.  “You bastard!  I was fully prepared to hate your fucking guts.  To hate any man that will take my Breena away from me… but you will be good to her and I suspect, you will make her happy.  And if you don’t… I mean if you ever hurt her…”  He steps back and shifts into his massive midnight black wolf who snarls menacingly at Damian.

Damian smiles, “I get it, bro.  You will rip my head off and piss down my neck for me.  But know this, wolf boy, you ever get in between my mate and me or hurt her… I will not hesitate to turn your doggie ass into a can of Alpo.”

“Ooookay!” I snap.  “Why don’t you boys just whip em out and we can all see whose is biggest?” Rinda is giggling so hard I want to tell her to hush.  I turn to walk towards the house muttering as I go; “Fucking juvenile, goddamned, testosterone filled fucking morons!”

I feel Fionn shift behind me and I hear him laughing so hard I want to turn around and go kick his ass for him.  “Suck it up, baby!  You know I love you and you love me too!  That won’t ever change and I won’t ever stop looking out for you.” 

I just lift my hand to show Fionn my middle finger before I reach the front door.  But I stop dead in my tracks before I go inside when I hear Damian growl; “You love her?  So it’s true?  You have been shacked up with her for centuries?”

Hearing that makes me so damned angry I am back in front of Damian and leaning up into his face growling at him before Fionn can answer him.  “IF you ever want to know who I may or may not have fucked, Damian Summers, you will ask me and no one else!  Got it?”

He swallows hard and nods.  But I can still feel the rage and possessiveness flowing off of him like hot lava from a volcano.

“My sex life or lack of it is no one’s damned business.  Hell, I am so mad at you both right now…GRRRRRR!”  I storm into the house and head for the bathroom downstairs.  “Fuckin’ men,” I mumble as I wash my face.

I take my time in the bathroom because I can feel Fionn standing outside of the door waiting for me.  Finally I say, “Go away, Fionn.  I am pissed at you.”

“I know, baby, and I don’t blame you.  But I am going away, that’s why I am standing out here waiting for you.  A friend from New Orleans called me.  They need a non-were who is magic to help them out for a little while.  I will be back as soon as possible.”

I quickly open the door and wrap my arms around my best friend.  I am crying because I suspect what he’s going to do is dangerous.  I am hanging on tight to Fionn, crying like a baby.  “Asshole, you better not get dead, you hear me?”

He chuckles, “Baby, who would give you hell if I get dead?  It’s not that big of a deal.  I will be back before you even know I am gone.  You will so busy getting to know vampire boy you won’t even know I am gone.”

“Fuck you, Fionn,” I mutter angrily.

“Promises, promises, baby.  All this talk and no action.”  I smirk at him. I can’t help it, Fionn always has a way about him that I can’t resist.  He’s my best friend and I love him dearly. I giggle a little.  Fionn kisses me hard and then pulls back breathless, stepping away from me.  I can feel him struggle with his passion and his need for me.  I want to cuss for a being a fool and letting him kiss me again. 

He grins and shakes his head.  “No, baby, don’t worry.  I am not stupid, I won’t get dead.  And I damned sure know you don’t feel the same way about me that I feel about you.  But that’s okay, baby, it’s the way it’s supposed to be.”  Fionn reaches down and takes my hand into his.  “Baby, your mate is a good man.  He really, really wanted to tear me to pieces to keep me from you.  He is wildly protective and possessive.  But he won’t allow himself to lose control.  He won’t risk ever becoming a beast around you.”

I nod, and lean my forehead against Fionn’s chest.  “I know.  I could feel all of that too and I should have known you were just baiting him.”

“I was and I wasn’t, baby.”  Fionn gently lifts my head from his chest and then rubs his face with both hands.  He meets my eyes; “Look, baby, if I thought there was chance you would be in danger from him… I would keep trying to seduce you and make you mine.  All though why after all of this time I am still dumb enough to keep trying is beyond me.  You may love me, you may need me, you may even find me sexually attractive, but you will never give yourself to me.  Summers doesn’t even know yet how lucky he is.”  He kisses me chastely and says; “Please call Jenny, I am gonna teleport to your house and get my Ducati out of your garage.”

“What are you into that you need the Diavel?”

“Nothing as bad as you are thinking.  But a fast bike will be handy.”

“Bullshit!  Tell The Greek that I will come after him if he lets you get hurt,” I mutter.

“How do you know it’s The Greek that asked me to come help?”

“Cause you wouldn’t leave me right now for anyone else but The Greek.  And don’t lie to me, it must be serious or you wouldn’t leave even for The Greek.”  Fionn grins at me but doesn’t confirm or deny.  “I mean it Fionn, tell The Greek he better not get you dead.  I will hurt him if he does.”

“I’ll be sure and pass that along,” Fionn smirks.  “But I think he’s scared of you anyway.”  I snort and roll my eyes.  I know that’s bullshit.  “Well, at least he respects you.  He’s no idiot, he’s knows you are a badass.” 

I snort.  “Yeah, that’s me.  The badass with questionable sexual morals.”

Fionn laughs at that, hard.  “Only a dumbass like Aideen might think you fuck around, baby.  Damian only wanted to know if I deserved to have my balls cut off for not making you my wife, like you would deserve if we had been lovers.  He was pretty shocked at the idea that I might have gotten into your panties.  He recognizes what a moral woman you are.” 

“A woman would not have to be immoral to choose to be your lover, Fionn MacLeod.  Anyone would be lucky to have you,” I say softly.

Fionn snorts and then smirks before he lowers his voice to a sexy growl.  “Like you would let me anywhere near your sweet pussy.” 

I start to say something and Fionn puts his fingers over my lips to keep me quiet.  “Baby, that didn’t count.  You were in the middle of a vision about your mate.  You didn’t do anything wrong.”  He smiles tenderly at me and says; “Baby, call Jenny.  I need to get going.” 

He stands there holding my hand while I call Jenny and give her a heads up.  Jenny monitors the wards around my home and would know when Fionn flashed into the garage.  He then gives me a quick kiss before he translocates to my house in New Orleans.

I don’t know how long I stand there worrying about Fionn’s wellbeing and to a lesser extent what Damian must think of me after my outburst.  I jump when my phone rings again.  Its Morna’s ring tone, Theft, and wandering around lost.  I feel Damian’s presence and look up to meet his eyes.

“Is that Morna’s ring tone?”  I nod.  “I guess she has had a lot stolen from her and has been wandering around lost for a long time.  That’s a really disturbing song you chose for her ring tone.”  I nod again and answer the phone.  She wants to speak to one of the O’Toole brothers so I walk past Damian to go find them. 

It turns out that Morna needs someone to come watch the Gateway.  The Gateway Guardian is missing.  Elias and Micah volunteer to go watch it and Damian offers to lead them to it.  But before they go he takes my hand and leads me into what’s probably Luca’s office.  He closes the door and begins to reach for my hand but drops his hand to his side.  “I got off to a bad start with you, didn’t I?”

I laugh.  “Damian, I just don’t like watching men act like that.  But I understand why you reacted that way to Fionn.  God knows, I love that man, he’s like my brother and he’s my very best friend in my life…but he’s an asshole sometimes and could try the patience of a saint.”

Damian laughs, “Actually, I think I like him a lot.  At least I will as long as he’s not trying to steal my mate.”  I smile and shake my head.  “Breena, I am a vamp.  We are very territorial.  If we actually have DNA, it must be imprinted in it.”

I smile.  “I know, Damian.  You are basically a Dragon.  The ancient queens used to eat their mates for looking at other women.  Possessiveness is in your DNA.  But if we are going to be successful mates you can’t go all testosterone driven asshole on me.  Cause that pisses me off, big time.”  I step forward and take both of his hands into mine.  “Having said that, I must confess that I too have a very territorial and possessive streak when it comes to you.  I‘ve been waiting for you for a very, very long time.”