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Six hundred years ago, he’d been arrogant enough to let Gabby go, confident in the belief she’d return to him of her own will. After all, she was his fated mate. They were meant to be together.
Instead, she’d gone gallivanting around the New World, or the Americas, as they used to call it, before going aground and disappearing from his reach, leaving him to suffer the lonely, desperate yearning of their mating.
This time, he would do everything in his power to bind her to his side, even if he had to lock her in the dungeon again.
“Did you make the preparations I asked for?”
Nasir’s lips thinned. They’d had this discussion several times, but Felix had a one-track mind when it came to his wayward mate and would not be swayed off his course. “Yes. Everyone is ready if you kidnap Mistress Gabriella and start a war.”
Felix clapped Nasir on the shoulder and grinned. “Don’t look so worried. War’s good for us. All those vampires waiting to climb up the ladder. It is an excellent distraction.”
“Maybe someone will stab you in the back,” Nasir grumbled.
Felix’s smile widened. His grip on Nasir’s shoulder tightened. “That’s why I keep you around. To protect my back.”
And Nasir had done so countless times. Nasir and Felix had cut a swath through Europe in their time, expanding House Eden before following Gabby here. Felix hadn’t been the best Head of the House since Gabby’s departure. House Eden’s numbers swelled with vampires hoping to topple him while he pined after his mate, but he had no plans to die soon.
Nasir had taken care of his challengers, allowing few to reach him when he was in his darkest moments. The fights had always rejuvenated Felix. After all, there was nothing quite like the threat of death for one to find the will to live.
“There is something else,” Nasir said, his tone serious. “More vampires have gone missing.”
Felix strode to his window and gazed out into the gardens. The blooming moonflower glowed in the darkness. An ache spread in his chest as he recalled Gabby’s glorious smile when she’d seen one.
“Let Alfred deal with it,” Felix said, referring to Eden’s Captain of the Guard. “It’s time we leave for Vegas.”
Any other time, he’d have paid more attention, cared more about what Nasir was saying. Yet, with the Gathering in four days, with Gabby within his grasp, he could concentrate on nothing else. If he closed his eyes, would he be able to detect her scent? Or was that another trick born of the centuries of longing?
He opened the windows and summoned his wings. With a slight pinch, the ebony, leathery wings emerged from his shoulder blades, and he spread them wide. Shaped like a bat’s, the wings, when fully expanded, were about four times his shoulder width.
Nasir sighed, knowing it was useless to waste energy to sway Felix, and tugged off his shirt.
Felix leaped out from the balcony and rose high into the sky with two flaps of his powerful wings. As he ascended, he left behind the hellish Texas heat, the cooler air caressing him.
Sometimes he wondered if he should’ve picked somewhere other than the back door of hell as Eden’s headquarters. The only other territory close to Gabby’s would’ve required him to clear out the shifter pack up in Idaho and Wyoming. As much as he welcomed an invigorating fight, he hadn’t wanted to destroy his House, or start a war with the shifters.
His mind reached for his mate, only to slam into a familiar wall. On the bright side, it was better than the desolate emptiness that greeted him when she’d been aground.
His entire being was buoyed by the knowledge that she was back.
His Gabby.
With her golden curls and laughing eyes full of life and naiveté. The life that had suffused his dim world the second he’d seen her.
The life he’d failed to protect.
Felix shook his head. Remembering the past was pointless.
His focus was on the future. A future where Gabby returned and remained by his side. Even if he had to drag her into it kicking and screaming.
I’ve missed you,tesoro mio.
Chapter Two
I’vemissedyou,tesoro mio.
Gabby’s head jerked to the side. She scanned the grounds outside her windows restlessly. The wide windows looked out into manicured gardens, past which was a dense patch of forest with tall, thick trees that protected the House’s privacy. Her vampire vision detected nothing. Yet, that voice… She had definitely heard it. There was no mistaking the sensual voice that made her body ache with desire.
Lust gripped her in an iron fist, making her dizzy. The reason for her centuries of slumber was still alive, much to her chagrin.
