Page 9 of Midlife Vampire Unexpected

“Xavier turned you before he died?” Bianca walked closer to me and sniffed, her nose rippling.

“Yes,” I said.

Mae looked to the tall dark woman who stood over Antonio. “What do you think, Jane?”

“She’s telling the truth.” Jane nodded in my direction. “She doesn’t know him. He’s a bounty hunter.”

“I’m not here for the bounty,” he said. “I’m here to protect her.”

“I don’t need protecting,” I said.

“Not you,” Antonio shook his head at me.

I hated the way I felt a little stab of hurt at that. I was way out of my depth in this new world and needed to figure out the rules. The last thing I needed to do was get all caught up in my feelings.

“There’s a bounty out on Bianca,” Jane said. “If you’re a bounty hunter, why do you want to protect her? Wouldn’t you want to turn her in?”

“I don’t think people should make rules like werewolves can’t go to Southern Oregon,” Antonio said with a shrug. “I collect bounties on bad guys. Not on innocents.”

“I already have a bodyguard,” Bianca pointed out. “A satyr.”

Antonio smirked. “Scary.”

Bianca frowned as if her neck was bristling. “He’s a badass satyr.”

“You’re a wolf,” Antonio said. “Wolves have to stick together.”

“I have a boyfriend,” Bianca growled.

“I’m not interested in the position. I’m interested in keeping you alive.”

“That’s not a bad thing,” Mae shrugged.

I turned on Antonio. “I thought you said you were a loner.”

“I didn’t say that,” Antonio said.

“You said you didn’t have a pack.” I countered.

Bianca crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back against the doorstop. “Why doesn’t anyone want you in their pack?”

“I was waiting for the right pack,” Antonio said. “I’m here for one reason and one reason only. I protect werewolves from the people who hunt them, and when I heard a werewolf had taken up residence in Oregon, I figured there must be a pretty good reason for it.” His gaze went to me. “I want to be part of this pack.”

“I will have to decide about that,” Mae said.

I looked at her in surprise. She held the pendant out in her open palm. It was a pentacle with a stone in the center. The center stone swirled in green and purple light, like the light that had shown from Mae’s hands. One of the stones was swirling with a bright green light, and one was with a turquoise blue light. Slowly a spark appeared above the ruby read stone. The spark grew until the stone glowed with blood red light.

“One thing’s for sure,” she said, holding the pendant out in her open palm. “As the child of Xavier, you are the heir to the blood bond of the Cougar Creek Coven. You are one of us.”

“Welcome to the Coven.” Bianca smiled at me.

Chapter 6

“What the hell is that?” I asked staring at the pendant with its glowing magical lights floating over it.

“It’s the Pentacle of Times,” Mae said.

“That sounds ominous. Does it kill everyone at a certain time?” I asked.

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