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I look at her in sheer shock and amazement, but I also wasn’t born yesterday. I have more than four centuries of wisdom underneath my belt. “She said all that to him, and you just happened to find your way in here and mention it to me because…”
Angel averts her eyes, looking as guilty as she should. “I asked you a question, Angel.”
She looks at me with reddened cheeks. “I can’t help it. Maybe I’m just a little matchmaker at heart, but Tansia means the world to me, and I want her to be happy. We grew up together, and she’s had nothing but heartbreak in her relationships. I selfishly just want her to have what I have with Trentino. I just thought you should know what she’s feeling.”
“And she didn’t tell you this but your brother Roman?”
Angel nods. “I don't know why she felt compelled to tell him except that we’ve all been friends for years. He's not the best at relationships, that’s for damn sure. He’s been in love with my best friend for more years than I can count, and I still can't seem to connect with her on any permanent level. I don't know if hethinks she's too good for him, doesn't want to sully a sweet girl who owns a bakery or what, but any fool can see how madly in love he is with her.”
“Roman isn’t interested in Tansia?”
Angel laughs right out loud. “Maybe when they were in high school for about a minute. It didn’t work out, and then he met one of our best friends. He’s been hiding it from her and everyone else for years, screwing everything in a skirt, thinking that it’s going to just go away. Let me tell you, the heat in the room when the two of them are together,” she says conspiratorially, “it’s not going away for either of them.”
“Why would Tansia tell Roman these things and not me?”
Angel shrugs. “I’m pretty sure she was keeping it all bottled up, waiting until I got here. He said you came down and seemed upset with her. After you went to your study, she just started babbling about it not working out. He tried to make her feel better, and that’s what she said. He told her she should talk to both of us about transitioning into the vampire community, about the rules and what things need to occur before that can happen. That’s the real reason I wanted to tell you. Tansia’s been through a lot. She doesn’t trust easily.”
Trentino walks in and looks from one of us to the other. “Alright, what are those looks about?” he says, grinning, but then turns serious as he watches the eyes of his mate go from deep dark black to bright flaming red in a nano second.
“Tansia is in trouble. She texted me earlier that she was meeting up with Lucianna and Embry at the Descallia.”
I fly out of my chair and race for my weapons, and not a second later Overmaster Descallia calls. “Lucianna just let me know that Tansia is hurt. If you’re committed to this human, you need to get to the Descallia now. Whatever you chose, you have my blessing.”
I transport from the room, not giving two fucks about our guests or our mission, my chest pounding with unprecedented fear that I might lose the only woman who I will ever want to be my mate.
Chapter
Sixteen
Ihear Calabrea come into the room long after I’ve come to bed. I feel the warmth of his eyes heating my skin. He watches me before walking to his side of the bed, and moments later it shifts with the weight of him getting in beside me. Perhaps I should turn over, say something to relieve the uncomfortable tension between us, but that's how it's always going to be for me and Calabrea.
Uncomfortable…
Whether it’s me not being able to give him what he wants and needs or a million other things that never crossed my mind until they did. But the sad truth is, I’m a human in a vampire world. I’m always going to be a little bit of an embarrassment. A weight holding him down wherever he goes. I'm never going to be able to truly fit into his world as a human. As much as I've come to love him, we are very different.
Maybe too different…
Maybe Angel and Trentino made it, but she was turned. She fits perfectly into his world now, and that's not something I'm ever going to have as a mortal. No amount of wishing it were so or wishing I could become a vampire is going to change that.
Night has found its way into the sky before I give up on trying to really sleep, having tossed and turned most of the time lying next to Calabrea. I slip out of bed and quietly get dressed, choking down my tears and head downstairs. I've committed not only to Calabrea, but also to the entire vampire community, and I'm not going to let them down.
Calabrea may not be able to see it right away, but he feels it. He said it out loud, for crying out loud, without even realizing what he was really saying. I won’t ever be able to give him what he wants. And if I don’t, why would he not eventually seek it from another vampire who can?
I may not be able to stay with Calabrea, but that doesn't mean I'm going to turn my back on Embry and Lucianna who believe I have this special ability to help them. I still don’t know about that, but I do know that I’m not walking away from the people who gave me a second chance in life and have done everything in their power to help me since I got here.
I text Embry to see if she can meet me at the Descallia. Surely she can miss a little sleep for to listen to my troubled life. I get an emoji with a thumbs-up and another one with a smiley face immediately. Doesn’t anyone ever talk to each other these days?
I walk out the front door unnoticed and toward the guard station. “Anyone able to give me a ride to the Descallia?” I ask.
One of the guards looks at the other. “Absolutely.” He hands a walkie talkie to the other guard. “Call Dramos and see if he can come keep you company while I give her a ride. It won’t take long, and it’s quiet tonight.” He pulls a few keys from a ring and hands them to the man, gesturing me to follow him.
He walks with me to the end of the garage and opens the door of an older style white sports car. “We’ll take my wheels. Quicker than going through the process of calling for coverage and another car,” he says, opening the door for me and getting into the low riding vehicle.
He turns onto the long dirt highway and drives for about a mile before we get to the turnoff for the main road into town. “Thanks for giving me a ride. I didn’t catch your name?” I tell him, watching as we pass by vineyards for as far as the eye can see. When we arrive, he pulls up to the lounge and looks at his watch. “I can send a driver back for you if you tell me what time?” he says.
No sense in getting his undies in a bunch or raising eyebrows. “How ’bout if I give you a call once I’ve met with a few people and know what time?”
“Sounds good. If you need anything, don’t be afraid to call. Master Calabrea gave strict orders to ensure that you felt comfortable at the estate. It may take us a while getting used to having a female on the grounds, but we’re pretty quick studies,” he says, giving me a genuine smile.
