Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 122946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 615(@200wpm)___ 492(@250wpm)___ 410(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 615(@200wpm)___ 492(@250wpm)___ 410(@300wpm)
“The cost of hydrogen peroxide and stain remover has gone up. But you are free to try Daniel’s Dry Cleaning up the street or Zips on H Street if you think I’m being unfair.”
I frowned and pouted as I handed her my card. “Zips on H Street closed six months ago.”
She lifted her head just as the receipt printed out to give me a stern-old-grandma-type look, her small pink lips in a fine line. “Loyal, huh?”
“Yes! What? I just happened to be walking by and noticed. Am I not allowed to even look at other dry cleaners, anymore?” I grinned, signing the slip.
She gave me a look and pounded the keys of her machine with a little more vigor, making me laugh. Mrs. Ming had been the first vampire I’d met after I’d changed. She was feeding in the forest when she smelled blood…mine apparently, but by the time she came, she said I’d already been turned.
“Now that my dry cleaning is taken care of,” I said, crossing my arms. “Can you please tell me why the only three things you told me after my change were, don’t get caught by the humans, stay away from witches, and mating rituals?”
She didn’t even bother to look up. “What else was there to know?”
“I don’t know; how about Lesser and Noble bloods, witch blood that determines the difference, maybe having supernatural powers. You know…everything.”
That got her attention, and just like that, her old gaze was on mine. “Who told you this?”
I frowned. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because you chose to continue living amongst humans as if you were them. I didn’t even think you knew you were most likely a witch. It was irrelevant to your current life and mine. Now, who told you?” She pressed again without any emotion in her voice.
Her seriousness was now a bit strange. I wasn’t sure exactly how much to tell. “I met a vampire in the woods while hunting last night. He told me that he believed me to be his mate.”
Immediately she sniffed me, and I stepped back a bit. “That is the faint scent on you.” She spoke but mostly to herself. “You did not mate with him?”
“I don’t know him.”
“Hmm.” Was her reply.
“Hmm? Why hmm?” I asked.
“Where you listening when I told you about mating rituals?”
“Yes, you told me how it worked—”
“Not just how it worked but how it felt.” She cut in, and I thought back, but I couldn’t remember that part, making her point her finger at me annoyed. “See you were not paying attention!”
“In my defense, you told me a lot at one time!”
“You are such a child. I told you a lot, but apparently not enough.” She scoffed.
I was getting really tired of the mentions toward my age at this point. I was twenty-seven…well, eternally twenty-six. But still. I didn’t feel like a child. “Please explain, sensei.” I bowed to her.
“I’m Korean, not Japanese, Druella.”
“Mrs. Ming!” I tried not to whine at her stalling; that would just make her see me as more of a child. “What did I fail to listen to?”
“Everything I told you when I first met you were things that were essential to your survival. Exposing yourself to humans would bring elder Noble vampires down upon your head, and your punishment could be death. Exposure to witches, especially powerful covens, could bring certain death. And lastly, finding a mate…”
“Could also bring death?” I joked, but she wasn’t amused.
“It would prevent madness,” she said seriously. “Eternity is a long time, Dru, especially if you’re abandoned from the beginning. Our kind needs connection as much as witches need covens and the humans need their own families. Without any family, without a name, you are worse off than a Lesser blood. Vampires have been known to go mad with blood lust or rage. Some develop a thirst that never ends—there were wars that began because of them alone. Then there are some who begin to create massive families out of their loneliness that they can’t control, turning any and every one near them. They would suck whole towns dry. Mates provide mental stability, warmth. When you met yours, you will feel that calmness, you feel almost human. You can live beyond the call of blood.”
I couldn’t help but think about my time with Theseus. I was calm. I couldn’t remember the last time I had felt so many different emotions at once.
“Even today, you seem less tense and anxious.” That felt like a question. “Is he still with you?” There was the question.
“He’s sleeping in my apartment.”
“Sleeping?” She gasped. “He must be centuries old then. A Noble blood.”
I nodded.
“Well, isn’t this a happily ever after for you?” She chuckled to herself, lifting her drink and straw to her lips and sitting back down on her stool. “Congratulations, Dru, most people spend centuries searching.”