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“Ms. Kamra?” I turned at the sound of my name to see a very nice-looking gentleman walking my way. “I’m Dr. Simms,” he said when he stopped in front of me.
I reached out to shake his hand. “Hello, Doctor,” I greeted as he took my hand in his, causing Kalon to growl under his breath. “I’m Mora Kamra.” In an attempt to soothe Kalon’s uneasiness, I gestured towards the irate vampire. “This is Kalon Dreven, my fiancé.”
Dr. Simms’ brows shot upward. “Oh, you own The Rose, do you not?”
Kalon nodded politely as he reached for the doctor’s hand to shake. “I do,” he replied. “The Spherical, Celestial, and the Orion are also mine.”
Dr. Simms grinned. “I’ve been to the Celestial, and it’s a fabulous place to have a good time.” Kalon and I both knew what was coming next, and neither of us had to be psychic to know it. “However, I’ve never been to The Rose. It takes an act of God to get reservations for that place.”
I felt Kalon’s hand give my hip a quick squeeze. “If your schedule allows it, I can have you on the guest list this Friday,” Kalon offered, and it was hard not to smile at the obvious. You’d think that Kalon had offered him a million dollars with that invitation.
“Oh…uh, wow,” he stammered. “You’d do that?”
Kalon nodded. “It’s the least I can do for taking such good care of my future-father-in-law.”
Dr. Simms blinked. “Oh…uhm, yeah, we should probably get going,” he replied. “Hugo’s been waiting, and I’m sure he’s eager to meet you both.” He smiled again. “And thank you for the reservations. My wife is going to be thrilled.”
Kalon gave him a terse nod. “Well, if it’s a date for your wife, then I’ll sign you up as my guests, everything on the house.”
Men and their penises.
Dr. Simms went all fangirl on Kalon. “Oh, wow…oh…that’s so…so incredibly generous,” he rushed out, a bumbling mess. “Oh, I can’t wait to call Geena and tell her.” Gesturing towards the hallway behind him, he added, “Please, follow me.”
Turning, Kalon grabbed my hand as we followed the doctor, and I smiled to myself at what a human thing that was for him to do. Granted, the man had over three-hundred years of practice to perfect the façade of being the perfect human being, but still. I hadn’t expected him to grab my hand, but I was glad that he’d had.
When we reached a door with a sight glass in it, I could easily see through it, and an older man was sitting at a round table, staring at his hands that were clasped in front of him. He didn’t appear nervous or jittery. He didn’t appear sedated to incompetence, either. However, he did remind me of a prison inmate that was waiting for his visitor, and it seemed kind of sad.
Especially, since Hugo wasn’t insane.
There was also a book next to his hands, and it looked to be very worn and used.
“Now, I know we spoke about-”
“Dr. Simms, I just want to meet my father,” I told him, cutting him off. When we’d spoken on the phone, he’d gone into great detail about Hugo’s condition and the importance of baby steps, but he hadn’t needed to. If you asked me, it was common sense when dealing with someone that was unwell. However, only Kalon, Hugo, and I knew that Hugo really wasn’t unwell.
“Of course, Ms. Kamra,” he replied quickly, probably not wanting to ruin his chances of getting into The Rose. “Hugo is expecting you, so you can go right in.”
I nodded, took a deep breath, then pushed the door open. As soon as I did, Hugo’s head came up, and his eyes widened when he saw me, Kalon, and Dr. Simms walking his way. When he paled, I knew why, and I could only pray that he wouldn’t begin ranting and raving about vampires. Dr. Simms would shut this meeting down immediately if Hugo began showing signs of a meltdown.
When we got near the table, Dr. Simms said, “Hugo, this is Mora and her fiancé, Kalon Dreven.”
“Hello, Hugo,” I greeted.
Emotion flooded his face in a way that I’d never seen on a person before. “You look just like her,” he replied, his voice soft but firm. “It’s like looking into her face so many years ago.”
“I’ll let you guys get acquainted,” Dr. Simms said right before leaving the room to do just that.
“May we sit?” Kalon asked when it was obvious that Hugo was too absorbed in his memories of my mother to exercise good manners.
“Uh…no, of course,” he stammered, snapping out of his musings. “Please…yeah, yes.”
Kalon pulled my chair out for me, then waited for me to get comfortable before taking a seat himself. He also made sure that his chair was as close to mine as possible. I was going to have to get used to Kalon’s real age. Though chivalry still existed in this day and age, you had to go through a lot of assholes to find it.
“I see the prophecy has finally found you,” Hugo said, finally addressing the truth of our meeting. “Emmaline feared that this day would come. She did all that she could to prevent it.”
“What can you tell me about her?” I asked, and he had no shame when it came to my mother. The love that he had for her shown in his eyes, his face both sad and happy to be talking about her.
“You could sit in that chair for weeks, and that still wouldn’t be enough time for me to tell you everything that was your mother,” he replied fondly. “Emmaline was so many things. She was…I remember every single moment that I spent with her. Even the mundane moments hadn’t been mundane between us, and I remember them all.”
