“Sorry, boy. Your mistress commands and I obey.”
Mia laughed softly at that and snuggled down into the baby blue blankets. She grabbed a remote from her bedside table and fussed with it for a moment before a fan across the room came on, circulating air into the room.
“You sleep with a fan on?”
“Always,” she said. “I can’t sleep without one. I need the noise and the cool air, even if it’s the dead of winter.” She turned on her side. “Will you be cold?”
I slid a lock of her hair away from her damp cheek and ghosted my hand down the warmth there before I removed my hand. “No. Vampires are pretty temperature regulated. It would take extreme temperatures for me to either be hot or cold.”
She reached for my hand, and I didn’t protest as she laced our fingers together. I could feel the pulse of her heartbeat through her fingers. It was comforting to me, and my heart settled.
“Thanks, Draven,” she whispered. “Sleep well.”
She fell asleep within minutes, while I, I didn’t sleep at all.
Chapter8
Mia
Iwas sore for basically another week or so, and then Rhys keyed in another potion to my DNA and I healed after that completely. It had been a painful process. As I’d drank the last potion, I’d looked at my eyes changing blue in the mirror and almost spit the potion into my sink. I hadn’t seen that happen before, and no one had told me it was common when drinking potions, so I thought I truly was turning into a Smurf. That Rhys had decided to play a practical joke on me. When I remained human, I sighed in relief. Rhys thought it would up his cool factor with me that he could brew potions like an elven warlock, but he already had so many cool points just because he was a star elf. I didn’t tell him that, though. I thanked him, but played it off like potion brewing, and connecting it to someone’s DNA was the most mundane thing on the planet.
He was currently disgruntled with me.
I smirked as I applied my makeup. I usually went light on makeup. Just a light, mineral powder foundation, some blush, some brown and bronze eyeshadow, mascara to make my eyes pop, and some vanilla mint lipgloss. I curled my hair next, glossed it with my favorite citrus smelling frizz reducer, and added a final spray of hairspray to set the curls. Then I slid into the white, bohemian beachy dress and flats I’d picked out for tonight, and gave Zian a scratch under his chin.
“Well, Zian, what do you think?”
He chuffed at me and rubbed his nose along my hip.
“I think that’s approval. I’ll be late getting in tonight. You can go swimming if you want. Draven had a ramp built into the pool for you to get in and out by yourself.”
Zian looked at me as though he understood every word, and I just proceeded through our conversations like he actually could. I knew he was smarter than the average tiger; I just didn’t knowhowsmart. He really seemed to follow all of my conversations with him. Obviously, he couldn’t speak back, but he followed them and acted like he understood.
I drew in a deep breath.
“Okay, Zian. Show time.”
I made my way down to the main floor just as the doorbell rang. Aiwin answered the door, and let in my date.
I’d finally been able to go to the grocery store last week (Daygood Goblin Groceries), and as I’d been shopping in the tampon isle (I hadn’t ended up asking Mesmer), a cute guy with scruffy blonde hair and mesmerizing golden eyes bumped into me. We’d started talking, and he’d asked me to a luau on a small island that was still in the boundaries the original witch clan had set up for Moonhaven Cove. The boundaries that were protected by a net of spells that rebuffed non-paranormals.
As we left the villa, I saw Draven in an upstairs window, looking down at us. I smiled and waved goodbye, but he just continued to stare and didn’t wave back. I shrugged it off, and we zoomed away in Montblanc’s red sports car.
I looked over at him as he drove. He was a good-looking guy. His arms were corded with muscle, and he had a nice smile and warm eyes.
“So what kind of name is Montblanc?”
He chuckled, and pursed his lips as he downshifted to hug the twisty curves we’d just hit leading out of town, and to the bridge that would take us to the island. “My wolf is huge, has white fur, and my parents hail from France, where the Mont Blanc mountain is the second highest mountain in Europe. Mont is French for mountain, and Blanc for white, hence the name.”
“That’s pretty awesome. I’ve never met a Montblanc before.”
He grinned. “Neither have I. It’s just oddball enough to be original.”
I laughed and on a tight, zippy turn grabbed theI’m Going to Die!bar above my head to keep from sliding around in my seat. Montblanc drove like a NASCAR driver with about a hundred cups of coffee percolating in his veins.
He smirked at me out of the corners of his eyes, but thankfully kept his mostly full attention on the winding roads. “Did you know I had to submit a full DNA sample and a background check before I could take you out?”
His question was asked super casually, but I winced anyway. “Yeah, umm, I’m sorry? Draven, my boss, is a little protective of me at the moment.”
