Page 6 of Protecting His Vampire Mate

The truth must have shown, clear as the harsh light of day, all over my face.

She grimaced, the sympathy deepening. I noticed, for the first time, that her features were strong and kind, almost motherly, hidden underneath all the pancaked-on makeup she wore. Strange, how I’d missed it at first.

“What’s your real name, hon?”

“Bryan,” I admitted, feeling disarmed by her sudden about-face.

“Well, Bryan, pleased to meet you. My name is Liz. And I promise you that he’s not going to find you here. I’ll be on the lookout for any guys who come in here solo. And you can stay as long as you like.” She handed me a key. “Second floor, third door from the stairs.”

“Thanks,” I replied, feeling suddenly puzzled—and increasingly alarmed. “Don’t you need a credit card or something to put on file? For incidentals or whatever?”

That caused her to laugh. “We don’t have incidentals here, kiddo. We’ve got a room for you to sleep in, plain and simple. No more, no less.” She paused, then added, “Go on, then. Get some shut eye. You’re safe here. And if anyone comes asking around about you, I’ve never seen anyone matching your description in my life.”

Feeling mildly guilty that I’d allowed her to believe that Tobias was someone dangerous who I’d needed to flee from—not that it was any of her business in the first place—I nodded my gratitude at her and slipped out the office door. The motel at the edge of town was two stories tall, with access to the rooms directly from the parking lot.

I climbed the flight of concrete stairs to the second floor, careful to move only at human speed. I clenched my teeth against the early morning sun, trying to ignore the wave of weakness I felt when it touched my skin. I breathed a sigh of relief when I found the correct room, used the key to open the door, and then slipped inside, away from the daylight.

The space was spartan and cheerless. Just a large bed, a nightstand with an alarm clock on it, a television covered in a thin layer of dust, a depressed-looking lime-green chair in the corner, a stained floral-print rug, and a closet-sized bathroom with a massive mirror hanging on the wall beside it.

It was kind of perfect.

I closed the door behind me, then crossed the room and sank down onto the edge of the bed, dropping my backpack to the floor beside me with a dull thud.

It hit me that I was really doing this.

As if on cue, my phone rang. I pulled it out of my pocket and looked at the caller ID. I answered it immediately.

“You left without saying anything,” came the silken voice of my maker, Veronika. “I’m officially worried.”

I grimaced. “Sorry. I left a note.”

She snorted. “Right. ‘I’ve gone to Poplar Creek. I’ll call soon. Don’t worry about me. And don’t follow.’ Real verbose. It was basically a dear Jane letter.”

“There wasn’t a whole lot else to say.”

“Look, I was hoping I’d have time to talk you out of doing this.” Her even-keel façade slipped, and I heard the concern in her voice for the first time. It would have been touching, but I knew exactly where this conversation was heading. She added, “But you are already there, aren’t you?”

“I am.”

“Would it change anything if I told you not to do this?”

“No.”

“Fine.” She sighed. “Would you at least wait for me? Hang out for a couple of days and then when I get there, we can hunt ghosts together. I could teach you everything I know.”

“You’re the one who told me about the haunting in the first place,” I reminded her. “Why tell me if you didn’t want me to go and—”

“Get yourself killed all kamikaze-style?”

“I’m a vampire,” I reminded her. “We’re hard to kill.”

“Hard, yes. Impossible, no. All it would take is for some asshole to hit you in the heart with a wooden stake. Or take your head off with a machete. Or set you on fire. Depending on the type of ghost, they’re capable of all three.”

“Careful now, it almost sounds like you care.”

The line went quiet for a long moment. I could picture her on the other end, her long and straight black hair pulled into a loose braid, her dark eyes narrowed at the phone, her severe features bunched into a scowl.

“I preserved your life so that you could have one,” she said at last. “So that you could go back to college and have relationships with your friends and family. So that you could still have your life, even if it was going to be different. And you’re running from that. You’re running from all the things that made you human.”

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