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First, I had to give it one last chance.
"It's good to see you,” my friend Connor said, hugging me tightly and slapping his hand on my back. "Look at you," he laughed, pushing back and holding my shoulders as he examined my face in that piercing way of his. Connor was a human, fifty-seven this year, with sky-blue eyes and salt-and-pepper hair. His skin was weathered, and he had laugh lines around his eyes.
There was no one I trusted more in the world.
"It's been too long," he said solemnly after he let me go.
I gave him a halfhearted smile, because it had been.
"You seem…different?" he mused. Walking over to the bottle of cognac he’d brought over, he poured two glasses quite full.
Different.
That was a way of stating it. Before Rune, this had been the only soft part of me, perhaps the only good thing I'd ever done in my life, the place where I could be someone else. After Rune, I felt changed, like I'd been reborn. For the first time…I wanted to be good for her, though I had no doubt I would do whatever it took to keep her safe and happy, even if it went against that new desire.
"I'm in love," I announced.
His mouth dropped open, because that was probably the last thing he would've expected to hear from me.
"She's my blood match."
"The woman who was in the car with you?" he asked.
I rolled my eyes, knowing he hadn’t actually seen her today, and the town's gossip mills were in full swing. One of their favorite things to do was discuss my love life…or lack of love life as it was.
Everyone in the town was human, and although they knew I was a vampire, they never showed any care about that, and it seemed to be the women's main goal to try and catch my heart. I never slept with anyone in the town, not wanting anything to damper my relationship with these people, but it would be nice to actually confirm I was taken and stop the many advances.
"Yes," I said when I realized I hadn't answered. "Her name's Rune. She's…perfect." I knew I sounded like a lovestruck fool, but I couldn't help it. Iwasa lovestruck fool.
"I'm happy for you, old friend," he murmured, handing me my drink. I grinned and lightly punched his shoulder, knowing he was telling the truth.
“But enough about me, you'll meet her soon enough. How are things?"
I kept a burner phone while out with the Hunters, and we had a code we used so that anyone reading the messages would never know what we were discussing–so I was mostly caught up with how things had gone. Connor still asked my advice for any major decisions for the town, even though I told him that I trusted him. But of course there were always things that would take too long to text. I cared about every part of this town, the important stuff…and the unimportant.
"Well, Kelly's getting married," he said proudly.
My eyes widened, Kelly was his twenty-two-year old daughter. She hadn't been dating anyone before I left.
"Who's the lucky guy?" I asked, thinking he was truly lucky to be joining their family.
"Tanner Dawson," he announced. "He's a good boy, and I think he'll make her very happy."
Tanner was a quiet boy, but I agreed with his assessment. From what I'd seen, he had a very gentle, loving soul, and he was always helping out with the young children of the town.
"When’s the big day?" I would have to figure out a way to be here no matter the date. And hopefully, Rune would be here right along with me.
"She’s doing it at the festival celebrations next week. She wanted to make sure that you were there," he said, studying my face for my reaction.
I grinned at him, immediately feeling excited.
"She wants you to officiate."
"Over the Reverend?" I teased, thinking of one of our less popular members of the community. The Reverend was very passionate about our souls, or my lack of soul as it were. I knew he had good intentions though, as ridiculous as he went about them.
Connor chuckled and shook his head before taking another sip of his drink.
"We'll have another shipment of emeralds ready to go by the start of the festival," he said more seriously.
