Page 15 of Heir

“Oh fuck,” Voltan murmured. “You ripped his head clean off.”

Unlike a shifter, a vampire’s sense of smell isn’t much better than a human’s—until it comes to his mate. He can smell his mate from across the country. And she was across the country.

Voltan sent me on my way to find the King, saying he’d clean up the bloody mess in the dungeon. I felt a little bad that I’d decapitated the man. I didn’t intend to.

I found my cousin speaking softly to his five-year-old daughter, Fiorella, in her bedroom. So, not wanting to interrupt father-daughter bonding, or rile up the young princess, I waited until he kissed her goodnight and left her door open just a crack.

“What news do you have from the mage?” King Howar asked me as we walked down the dimly lit hallway of his Upstate New York mansion. He could have lived in a castle in Europe, but he didn’t like how drafty they were. He preferred modern and cozy.

I told him what the mage told us. We entered his study, and he poured us each two ounces of scotch, which we took to the big, green velvet chairs in front of the roaring fire.

“And where is he now?”

I glanced down into my glass, swirling the amber liquid around. “He’s dead.”

“You killed him before he told you who he’s working for?”

I couldn’t look at my cousin.

“Drak?” Howar pulled out his best kingly voice.

“Lightning hit me when I had him by the hair. It threw me against the wall and I took his head off . . . by accident.” I glanced up at my cousin and frowned. “I’ve never had an accident like this before.”

But Howar was already on his feet, yanking me to my feet as well so he could wrap me up in an enormous hug. I stood stiffly, arms at my side, in his jovial embrace. I wasn’t used to affection from anyone, not even family. Howar had softened since finding a mate and having a daughter though. He’d turned into a hugger since Fiorella was born. “At long last, you finally have a mate! Dear god, we were starting to wonder if she’d ever come of age. If you’d ever get struck. Where is she? What is her scent?”

He released me and I cleared my throat, dropping back into my seat and taking a sip of the scotch. “I don’t know where she is, but it’s far. Her scent is not strong.”

“What is it though?”

“Lilac, honeysuckle, and cayenne.”

He smiled, went over to a small box on his desk, and pulled out two cigars. He cut them and put one in his mouth, bringing the other over to me. As happy as I should be right now, I didn’t feel quite right celebrating. I’d just killed an informant. Our species was being targeted, and now I had a mate—a vampire—which meant she would have a target on her back too.

Howar lit his cigar, then passed the metal box of matches to me. I waved him off. “Not right now.”

Shrugging, he puffed away, all smiles. “Why are you not happier? You’re over five hundred years old. It’s about time you settled down and started a family. Aren’t you dying to know what she’s like?”

I was. A hollow ache sat in my chest the longer I was apart from her. I needed to get on a plane ASAP and find her for the pain to stop.

“I’m worried,” I finally said. “Someone is after us. After our species. And they’re rallying troops of rogue mages to kill us. Why?”

“Not just someone though. A demon.” He sipped his scotch. “I’ll reach out to King Donovar in the morning and see what he knows. I doubt it’s him. He’s held peace in this realm longer than any other ruler.”

“But the informant said that if he helped him, he’d give him a place in his court.”

Howar’s mouth turned down. “Are you telling me you think Donovar is behind this?”

I shook my head. “He’s always rallied for peace. I can’t see it being him. Lerris, maybe?”

Howar tilted his head to the side. “I’ve always been suspicious of the King’s brother.”

“You’re not alone there.”

The ache in my sternum intensified until it felt like someone was driving a stake through my heart. I clutched at my chest, wincing.

“That is the Mate’s Ache,” Howar said, once again on his feet. “Take the jet. Go to her. It will only get worse the longer you are apart. It will weaken you. Being around her is what you need. You gain strength from your bond.”

Nodding, I grunted from the now-dull throb of pain between my ribs. Howar was already on his phone, making a call to fire up the jet. “Do you have any idea where she is?”

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