“They were vampires, right?” She looked past us, as though she’d see their corpses littering the ground. By now, there was no sign of them, their ashes having been blown away or blended into the dirt.
“Yes,” I responded. “We are too, but you needn't fear us.” I gave her a brief rundown, and to my relief, she seemed fascinated by the information rather than skeptical. Those who didn’t believe were so much harder to deal with and usually required some compulsion to get them to the council.
I closed the distance between us and held out my hand. She took it, and I helped her down the steps, feeling nothing between us. Stephan proffered his arm and when she took it, he patted her hand. His slight shake of the head told us he’d experienced the same lack of reaction.
Whenever we came across a consort—human or vampire—we were tasked with delivering them, or at least their information, to the vampire council that kept records to help pair mates. They also assigned protection to keep the human ones safe from those who would seek to kill them.
Beth had relaxed and seemed quite comfortable in our presence, so I explained her destiny and hoped she wouldn’t try to bolt. I hated using compulsion.
“Do you know what the mark on your neck is?”
Her hand reached up to cover it, and she looked at me curiously. “My birthmark?”
I shook my head and told her about its significance. Her eyes brightened, and she looked at the three of us, scanning us each from head to toe. “One of you?” she asked hopefully.
“No,” Athan replied with a chuckle. “But thank you for the compliment.”
Vampires were naturally beautiful creatures, but my brothers and I had long ago accepted that humans particularly liked our muscular bodies, black hair, and light blue eyes. Although, that was where our similarities ended. We were all on the taller side, but at six feet five, Stephan had outgrown both Athan and me by half a foot. None of us shared the same facial features, but it was still hard to miss that we were brothers.
“Word of you will have spread through the nightwalkers by now,” Athan continued. “If you contact our council, they will help you in any way you need.”
I retrieved my wallet from my back pocket and pulled out a card with the information she required. “They will already have a car on the way to pick you up. It’s your choice whether to go with them, but it’s your safest option.” She took the card and held it to her chest as she nodded.
In eerily perfect timing, a black Town Car pulled up to the park and idled by the curb. Most humans took some time to get used to teleporting, so the council always sent a vehicle.
After escorting Beth to her ride, we watched in silence as it drove off. Then Athan sighed, audibly expressing what we were all feeling.
We didn’t dwell on our lack of mates often, living enjoyable lives, but it didn’t mean the longing wasn’t always with us. Hunting nightwalkers was one of our jobs, though we’d each made a fortune with other talents as well. Athan was also particularly gifted at growing our portfolios, making us each a billionaire. These days, I ran a billion-dollar tech firm that worked with black ops agencies all over the world.
“Do you want a ride home?” I asked as I pressed my thumb to the pad on the driver’s side door of my SUV. I had a collection of sports cars, but since we were such big guys, I took the larger ones when we were together.
They both nodded and climbed in. We each owned a mansion just outside of town—among other homes around the world—around ten minutes from each other. Considering we could teleport, the proximity wasn’t necessary. But we’d always been close, and living near each other had felt right.
After dropping them off, I made my way to my empty house. I grabbed a snack and worked for a few hours to distract myself. As the sun peeked over the horizon, I yawned and decided it was time for bed.
I stripped down and hopped into a quick shower, making sure there wasn’t any residual ash from the fight. Then I fell naked into my large, empty bed and passed out.
1
Thana
“I don’t understand what we’re doing here. Whose house is this?” I peered out the window of the limousine at the imposing gate that was swinging open. My aunt had been acting strange all day, but that wasn’t much of a surprise. I’d lived with her mood swings ever since she’d taken me into her home after my parents died when I was twelve years old. One of the first lessons I’d learned was to stay out of her way when she was wound up about something. That hadn’t been possible today, though. Not when she had been dead set on getting me all gussied up to celebrate my birthday tonight. “And what are we doing here?”
“It’s your birthday celebration, dear. The Thackers offered to host a dinner for you, and I couldn’t turn them down.” Aunt Judy waved her hand toward the mansion looming outside the limousine’s door. “They’re a very powerful family. It wouldn’t do to alienate them.”
My aunt didn’t really have friends, but she was obsessed with cultivating the right connections. She would never turn down someone she was trying to impress. I had no doubt that she fully expected me to go along with whatever she promised the Thackers. Shaking my head, I huffed out a sigh. “Why would people I don’t even know want to throw a party for me?”
“I’m not certain how you managed it when you normally don’t bother to dress up or do anything with your hair, but their son is apparently quite taken with you,” she explained, smoothing her hand down the skirt of her dress.
I tilted my head to
