Page 16 of Protecting His Vampire Mate

She sighed, shaking her head at me. “What kind of favor?”

“I need you to locate a woman. She and her daughter witnessed this ghost in action. I need to find her and learn what she saw in that house. And you know I suck at locator spells.”

She frowned at me. “You can’t just convince Bryan to maybe not randomly battle murderous ghosts for literally no reason?”

“It’s not for no reason,” I replied.

I used a bit more of my magic to solidify my form. Poppy’s location swam into focus. It was a rather nice apartment, decorated with a mix of expensive-looking ultra-modern furniture and antiques. Oddly enough, the mix wasn’t jarring. It actually seemed kind of cozy. The breathtaking view of the Puget Sound beyond the massive windows on one side of the room told me that she was somewhere high, probably in one of the skyscrapers in the heart of downtown Seattle.

Odd. My sister still lived at the coven’s stronghold. I wondered, for the first time, where she was.

Though I sucked at locating people with magic, because she was my twin sister, I never had any trouble finding her. Just focusing on her while out of body was always enough to bring me right to her.

Poppy caught me checking the place out and her cheeks went red. I raised my eyebrows, watching her look around the room wildly before she turned back to me, eyes wide with alarm. “Oh. Yeah. Right.” She let out a nervous laugh. “I’m, uh—well, I’m—”

That’s when Simone stepped around the corner that must’ve led to the kitchen. She was carrying two steaming mugs. Presumably filled with coffee. Or maybe tea.

Poppy looked like she wished the floor would open up and swallow her whole. She’d clearly stayed over at Simone’s place last night.

My twin sister’s vampire girlfriend barely batted an eyelash at seeing me standing there, only halfway corporeal, in the middle of what was apparently her living room. But then, Simone was a vampire with over a thousand years of life experience. She was probably pretty difficult to startle.

“Hello, Tobias.” She handed Poppy one of the steaming mugs. “Welcome. Please do make yourself comfortable in my personal space.” Her dark eyes danced with amusement, but her regal face was perfectly serene as she regarded me.

Standing side by side with my sister, the two women were quite the contrast. My twin sister was short and wiry, with skin so pale she practically glowed in the dark. Her heart-shaped face was wreathed in a long mane of wild bright red hair, and there was a perpetual scowl on her lips. Simone, on the other hand, was tall and willowy, with cheekbones for days and flawless dark skin. She’d cut her black hair very short since the last time we’d seen each other. It was a good look on her—very sleek and modern.

“I believe you were in the process of explaining to your sister why you have no other choice but to help your mate battle evil ghosts,” Simone prompted. “Given the fact that you are aware of your bonded status, I can only imagine how imperative it must feel to you to provide for his needs and his protection.”

“Right,” Poppy put in. “And I was in the process of telling him that he should convince Bryan not to battle evil ghosts for fun and profit.” Poppy shot Simone a scowl that still somehow managed to be affectionate. Only my sister could pull off an expression like that. She turned back to me. “Seriously, Toby. Just convince him to go talk to a therapist. And then take him to dinner and a movie, like a normal person would. Problem solved.”

“For the thousandth time, it’s not Toby.” I narrowed my eyes at her. “It’s never been Toby. Stop trying to make Toby happen.”

Simone shrugged, but her lips twitched, like she was fighting back a smile. “I rather think Toby suits you. And it pleases your sister, therefore it pleases me.” She punctuated that by giving Poppy a tender look.

My sister’s blush deepened and I watched in total amazement as her scowl melted into a soft, almost shy, smile.

Simone raised her eyebrows at my sister and added, “But darling, they are not a normal couple.”

Poppy rolled her eyes, still smiling, and I watched her cave. “Right. They’re all fated and destined or whatever.”

“Yes, precisely.”

“But we’re not fated?” Poppy cocked her head slightly at Simone. Her eyebrows drew together. She sounded more hesitant. “I mean, right?”

Simone shrugged, but her lips twitched again. “You’re aware of how this works. We might recognize each other immediately and we might not. We wouldn’t know for certain until we’ve exchanged blood.”

“And we’re taking this slow for right now.” Poppy’s scowl returned.

I bit my lip to keep from laughing out loud. Patience had never been her strong suit.

“Yes, that is exactly right,” Simone replied, too innocently. She took a sip of her coffee and from the way her eyes were twinkling with amusement, I was one hundred percent certain that it was mostly so she could hide her smile from my sister.

“Look, this is important to Bryan,” I said to Poppy. “And so, it’s important to me that he’s able to get this done. Without getting himself killed in the process. Will you help me?”

Poppy huffed. “Fine, you big sappy weirdo. Obviously I’m going to help you. I still think you ought to get him therapy instead, though.”

“Let’s focus on him living through this situation first.”

“Excuse me for being the fucking voice of reason. Anyway, whatever. I tried.” My sister shook her head again, clearly exasperated with me. “Text me the name and whatever else you know about this woman you want me to locate, and I’ll find out where she is. But I’ve got a training session with Ethan and the Witch Queen coming up in like twenty minutes and that takes priority. She’s trying to teach me the bilocation spell.”

---