You Both (Vampire Assassin League Book 29) (10 page)

Vaughn stuck his head through the door. All kinds of shrieks and laughter came from behind him. He gestured toward them. “Nigel? Buddy! Hurry up already! Takeshi needs you!”

“Hey, Steph? How are you at dictation?”

“Excuse me?” she asked.

“We can’t be taped. We can’t be photographed, and I think we need a hand-written record of events! Here. Take this! Follow me. You’re a reporter, right?”

Nigel pulled the pencil from his ear, stuck it with the clipboard and shoved the bundle at her. Stephanie took them and then looked up at Ethelstone.

“I love you,
vif
. I will return. And we will be together for eternity.”

He dropped a kiss to her forehead before turning away. Her eyes smarted with unshed tears. She didn’t watch him leave. But then, he must have stopped.

“What is it, now?” Nigel didn’t sound amused.

“This feels strange. Without my brother.”

“It probably will for some time.”

“He is a
rasshole
, but I miss him.”

Ethelstone’s voice lowered. Warbled. Stephanie blinked a tear into existence, and then licked at it as it reached her lip. She didn’t dare turn around.

“Ethelstone. Buddy. Listen up. There are very few things we can count on in this world. Okay? One is the mating gift. Another is the fact that everything changes. It does. Really. I didn’t believe it, either. I was locked in my late teens. But guess what? Mating jump-started me out of them. Get it? You and Athlerod were stuck in…oh, I don’t know. Something like locker-room sports-guy stuff. For over a millennia. That’s a long time. But then, you got lucky. You found your mate. You changed. He didn’t.”

“I am worried about him.”

“If it helps…Athlerod has two things going for him right now. The first is me. I’m responsible for the guy. I’ll be keeping tabs on him. Often. Trust me.”

“What is the other thing?”

“He’s still undead.”

“That is why I feel bad.”

“Buck up, my man. He doesn’t feel this separation like you are. Any emotions he experiences are like echoes from his mortal life. He cannot feel this to the level you are. Get it?”

“Yes.”

“Besides…I have a suspicion it won’t be long before change catches up to him, too. He’ll get lucky, too. He’ll find that mating is a massive force. Unbelievably wonderful. And impossible to fight. Now. Will you get your butt in gear? Darryl is waiting.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Ethelstone sounded strong again. Grounded. Nigel looked a little taken aback.

“Did he just call me, ‘sir’?” he asked.

“Hello! Earth to Nigel! Remember Takeshi? You might want to hurry just a tad!” Vaughn hollered from the doorway. Stephanie and Nigel turned to him.

“Oh! Yeah. Right. We’re coming! Steph?”

“I’ll be right behind you,” she replied.

“I think you’re in for a surprise.”

Vaughn commented it dryly as he ushered them through the door. They entered the hall at a jog that made the wood floor rumble and the walls waver.

“What? Having twins isn’t enough?”

“It’s not twins, bucko. It’s triplets.”

Nigel stopped. Stephanie nearly ran into him. And then the kid did something completely surprising and totally un-vampiric. Something the previously-human Stephanie would have highlighted in any article on vampire killers. She might have even made it the headline.

He fainted.

~~~

Jackie Ivie lives in the enormous state of Alaska with her husband and three very spoiled pets. She started her writing career writing hot highland historical romances for Kensington Publishing. There are now ten “Clans series” books, available in seven languages. Keeping her head in the clouds most of the time, Jackie now spends her time researching, developing, and writing her paranormal series – the Vampire Assassin League, as well as her other historical line – the Brocade Collection.

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www.jackieivie.com
or
www.VampireAssassinLeague.com

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