Page 31 of The HalloQueen

“Usually a mortal that is an exclusive-” I swallow hard, cringing at the next words, “ source…” She grimaced and I gave her an apologetic look, “is called a Claimed Mortal. That mortal belongs specifically to a member of the…lions.”

“And why is that?”

“It’s a fairly serious thing,” I shrugged, I had never claimed a mortal. Yusuf, Monique, and I had bonded together after leaving France while the mortals were busy chopping each other’s heads off and got the hell out of there and never separated. “But, it’s also a safety concern. If you were my only source of energy, that means that my entire existence would depend on you. It would be needed to make you untouchable to other…lions… because what if they fed from you? You’d have nothing left for me and I could…”

“Oh.”

“Yes, but it also protects you from any random were-whatevers or beasties coming after you. Unless they’re looking for a whooping, that is. Untouchables are a very serious thing among any of the ‘Others’.”

“Untouchables…”

“Another term for Claimed Mortals,” I clarified, “There is a ceremony called a Handfeasting which solidifies the bond magically. It can only be broken by the Coalition and is…quite painful to terminate. The ceremony is simple enough to perform, basically a mortal Handfasting, stating commitments and intentions, but instead of only tying a knot between the parties, we feed from each other’s wrists.”

“Jesus, I’m not like…marrying you with this am I?”

I shrugged, “if you want your proposal to stand, it is as good as a mortal marriage.”Be mine, my beast roared.

“But like, 50% of marriages end in divorce.” Her eyes were as wide as saucers and she seemed paler than usual. I couldn’t help but grin at her discomfort.

“By that logic Bels, 50% live happily ever after. Who’s to decide we’d fail other than us?”

“You’re a vampire!”

“Oui.”

“There’s no happily ever after for vampires. You’re not alive!”

I shrugged again, “you were the one who brought up that insipid movie. It took four books and a creepy CGI baby, but they got there. Also, I am very much alive.”

“I met you yesterday.” She bit out, “I’m not marrying you.”

“Then I suppose I will ‘eat’ however many teenagers I please while I serve out eternity in my vampy ‘No Happily Ever After’.”

She groaned and stood from her stool to take her dishes to the sink, rinsing them and loading them into the dishwasher, “You’re not actually going to eat anyone are you?”

I scoffed, “I told you, I get blood delivered.”

“Right. Like some kind of meal subscription box from hell,” She leaned against her sink and looked out the window into her backyard, “and there’s no like…energy drink subscription? Some horrific caffeinated coffee shot that can do the same thing?”

I shook my head with a faint smile, “Non, belle.”

“I’m just saying this seems like it can be a mutually beneficial situation,” she said after a moment, “I don’t think we need to complicate it. You keep me level-headed enough to get through the launch, I keep you fed through Halloween. I think that’s decent enough of a setup, don’t you? No need for wedding bells.”

I got up from my stool and went to her, wrapping my arms around her waist, and nuzzling into her neck, not failing to notice that she leaned into me instead of pulling away, “may I submit a counter proposal?”

“I suppose that’s only fair.”

“You pair with me until Halloween, unofficially, but come the first week of November when the shop closes, you will either commit to me and we will bond, or I will leave town, free to raid and pillage villages along the eastern seaboard as I see fit and you agree to never tell anyone that I was here. I will also need you to help me pay to move.”

“What?” She turned around, “You want me to pay you to leave town? That’s absurd, I don’t have money like that.”

“Fine, then make me a shareholder in HalloQueens and commit to depositing a percentage of profits into an account that I can access from anywhere in the world.”

She growled, “So pay you a ton of money I don’t have now, or commit to paying you off forever? Are you insane?”

“There’s gotta be something in this for me that makes it worth me packing up and leaving you behind.” I smiled internally, knowing that I’d already been trying to figure out what my next step was. If I could benefit from this arrangement, be it with an Untouchable or regaining some of my financial security, then all the better.

“And what if I just flat out say no, never mind?” Her eyes narrowed like she was shooting daggers at me. I moved to cup her cheek and she flinched, swatting my hand away, “you’re not touching my skin until this conversation is over. Free milk and the cow and all that.”

---