Page 24 of Wynter's Bite

She loved him.

Heart rejoicing with that monumental fact, Justus raced to Darkwood Manor to submit his request to Gavin to grant him permission to Change her.

Benson, Rochester’s third in command, stopped him at the edge of the manicured path to Lord of Rochester’s manor house. “Justus! I haven’t seen you in a spell. What have you been about?”

“The same as usual,” Justus said, impatient to be on. He sensed two other vampires approaching with rampant curiosity when they should have remained at their posts. “Now I must see His Lordship.”

Undeterred, Benson pointed at the locket Bethany gave him. “What have you got there?”

Justus grasped the necklace in his fist, hiding it from view as if the eyes of another would taint the gold. “It is none of your concern, now let me pass. I have urgent business.”

Thumb stroking the locket, he made his way up the steps to Darkwood Manor.

Gavin opened the door before Justus knocked. His elderly butler had doubtless long since gone to bed. “I’d wondered when you’d bother to come round for a report.” The Lord Vampire of Rochester studied him intently, his black eyes seeming to bore into his soul. His nostrils flared and he frowned. “You’ve fed on that girl. Is that what you are here to confess?”

“She’s a woman,” Justus argued even as a shiver of unease coursed down his spine. Gavin recognized Bethany’s scent.

“She hasn’t yet reached her age of majority, so she is indeed yet a girl,” Gavin said firmly before opening the door wider. “But let’s not argue semantics. Come in.”

Justus’s trepidation rose as he followed his lord through the manor with mismatched décor from Gavin’s past few wives. When they entered the study, Gavin poured two small glasses of Maderia and bade him to sit. “From the scent of Miss Mead emanating from you like a miasma and that new bauble around your neck, I gather you are not here to report on any rogue sightings.”

“I wish to wed Miss Mead and Change her.” Justus said, ignoring the wine. “I’ve come to seek your permission to do so.”

Gavin’s brows rose to his hairline. “Well then, your encounters with her have been more intimate than I’d thought. And does she return your affections?”

Justus nodded and opened the locket to reveal Bethany’s miniature and lock of hair. “She gave me this and told me it was intended for the man she would marry. I will be that man.”

“And when did you plan on doing that?” Gavin inquired mildly. Something in his tone made his question seem like a trick.

“As soon as possible. I’d speak to her parents and secure a special license.” Justus spoke faster as his excitement built. “I love her, my lord, and I’m certain she will make a fine vampire. She is intelligent, prudent, and—”

“And a minor,” Gavin cut him off. “It is forbidden to Change mortals under the age of twenty-one.”

“But Julia was only eighteen when she was Changed,” Justus argued.

“She was Changed before the law was made.” Gavin sipped his wine. “Do you not remember when I announced the decree from the Elders back in 1750?”

Justus shook his head. “That was over sixty years ago.”

Gavin snorted. “You have the memory of a mortal, I swear.”

“But surely exceptions can be made.” A pleading cadence imbued his voice, to his shame. “She’s of marriageable age.”

His Lordship shrugged. “That means nothing. Sometimes the nobility has married off infants.”

“But her parents are trying to marry her off now.” Justus’s heart clenched with urgency. “May I wed Bethany now and Change her when she comes of age?”

“I’m afraid not.” A flicker of pity flashed in Gavin’s normally implacable eyes. “We cannot afford the risk of her discovering what you are and telling the world. Besides, we are already discouraged from Changing members of prominent families in the first place. The Meads have been a fixture in Rochester for centuries. Her father has a high position in the House of Lords and is being considered for governor here. One of her ancestors was the Bishop when I was training for the priesthood.”

Dread pooled in Justus’s belly. The Lord of Rochester could never learn that he’d already revealed himself to Bethany. Gavin wasn’t called “Ruthless Rochester” for nothing. His heart sank. “Is there no hope at all?”

Gavin sighed, his stern veneer cracking slightly. “As she is a girl, her prominence is diminished at least. But you must wait until she reaches the age of majority to wed her. I cannot bend that rule.”

“But surely someone has,” Justus grasped at any straw that could provide a precedent.

“Very likely,” Gavin agreed mildly. “But what some can get away with and what you and I can are different things altogether. I do not kowtow to the Elders, so I may miss some of their indulgences, but I am also not indebted to them for any favors and they leave me alone.” Gavin sneered, his irritation with the world’s most powerful vampires apparent.

Justus closed his eyes as hopelessness threatened to drown him. “I love her.” Why could that not be enough?

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