Faerie Godmother: Mythic Series, Book 1 (6 page)

“I am to await your response,” he explained apologetically. His words held the slightest hint of an accent, making her think vaguely of the Mediterranean. Corsica, perhaps? Or maybe Crete.

“My response?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said with a patient smile.

“Oh. Of course. I’m sorry. Please, won’t you come in?” Ana felt the color rising in her cheeks, a bit embarrassed. She was not familiar with the proper etiquette for dealing with a formal dinner invitation. No one had ever issued her one before.

“Can I offer you something to drink?” she asked.

She thought she saw a devilish twinkle in his eye, but it was gone too quickly for her to be sure. There was no mistaking his amusement, however. “Thank you, ma’am, but no.”

“Honestly, do you have to call me ma’am? You don’t look any older than I do.”

“I meant no offense, Doctor.”

“Ana, please.”

“
Ana
.” She felt a slight ripple run down her spine as the man spoke her name softly.

Still wearing her animal print scrubs (mint green with big fluffy white lambs), Ana proceeded to the reception desk and reached for a pen. She thought about it for a moment, then scribbled a few words on what she guessed was the response card. When she was finished, she tucked everything back into the expensive-looking envelope and handed it to him.

She received a genuine smile in response before he bid her a good day.

* * *

W
hen Jason returned to the Masterson Estate, he went directly to Vlane’s private office as instructed, and handed him the envelope.

“You saw to this personally?” Vlane asked, forcing himself not to snatch it out of his progeny’s hand. Like Kristoff, Vlane had brought Jason into the vampire life at the young man’s dying request. Unlike some sires, Vlane felt a personal responsibility to those he’d turned, and ensured that any of his bloodline held a position within his household if they so wished.

“Yes, sire.”

“And how do you find her?”

Jason’s lips quirked when he recalled the strange garb adorned with fluffy white sheep and the riot of golden hair refusing to remain neatly coiffed in the clip meant to hold it. “She was...interesting.” He hesitated, unable to suppress the slight tilt to his lips. “She willingly offered me her name.”

“Her
real
name?” Most people had human monikers assigned to them, created by ignorant parents for ridiculous reasons. Those held no power whatsoever. But a being’s true name, the one inscribed in the Book of Souls, was priceless. Very few actually knew theirs until they stood before the Scribes of Judgment. The fact that she did — and was quite open about it — was rather confounding.

It was entirely possible she was ignorant of such things; that she had no idea names held great power, especially in the hands of one who could wield and shape it like a man of Jason’s caliber. He was a vampire, yes, and had been for nearly two hundred years, but as a human, he had been a practicing sorcerer, apprenticing under one of the greatest mages of Eastern Europe. The fact that she had given her name — her real one based on her reaction when he spoke it — suggested she was every bit as innocent and naïve as she appeared. Either that, or she was laying yet another ingenious trap.

Vlane’s eyes narrowed, but Jason said nothing more. Vlane extracted the small notecard and saw the delicate, feminine script:

“S
he declined?” Armand said in disbelief, looking over Vlane’s shoulder. Vlane waved at the note card. Armand picked it up and studied it as if he had never seen such a thing before. “She
declined!
”

“So it would appear,” Vlane said with the hint of a smile. Now he was more intrigued than ever.

The visit to Marilyn Connors’ hospital room was brief, lasting barely more than a minute or two. She was sleeping under sedation when they arrived. Vlane took one look at the form beneath the sterile, white sheets and camel-colored thermal blanket and knew she was not the woman he had tasted. She was much too tall, too broad-boned. Her features, while attractive, held no recognition for him. In the interest of thoroughness, however, he leaned down close to her neck and inhaled deeply. Her scent was mild and unremarkable; nothing like the one he sought at all.

He shook his head. “It is not her.”

They left as quietly as they came.

Later that evening, Vlane turned the glass in his hand, his eyes fixed upon the dark red liquid. At one time, this particular human’s blood had been one of his favorites, but it no longer held the pleasure it once had. Compared to
her
taste, it was flat. Dull. Lifeless.

Kristoff had yet to speak with Karthik about Trudy Anderson (the demon was being particularly evasive) but it mattered little. Vlane no longer believed her to be his mysterious guest. Perhaps he was wrong, but he did not think the woman he was looking for would have sold herself so cheaply to the likes of a demon, even a powerful demon lord such as Karthik. And if she had, Karthik would be crowing about it to every immortal within a hundred miles.

No. The woman he sought would have plucked a bloodied and battered lethal she-wolf from the side of the road and tried to save it.

She would have the temerity to oh-so-politely decline his personal, exclusive invitation.

Dr. Ana McKinnon was the one he was looking for. He felt it in his very bones.

“W
hy was Jason here?” Matt asked, tilting his face ever so slightly and subtly sniffing the air.

Ana’s hands clutched the glass of warm, sweetened milk. People had been in and out all day, but she had wiped down the entire waiting area with an organic antiseptic because of a particularly messy emergency not long before. A pleasant hint of lemons still hung in the air.

“How can you possibly distinguish one person’s scent after I just cleaned?”

He grinned. “I can’t. One of the brutes saw him leaving and told me about it.” He leaned toward her and inhaled. “I can, however, smell
you
.” His eyes closed and a smile curved his lips. “It’s something new, isn’t it?”

Yes, it was. Something she had hoped might mask her “natural” scent in case vampires had the same scent-signature-recognition thing the werewolves had going on.

He opened his eyes and shot her a heart-stopping grin. “I like it. Makes me think of tropical beaches and sunsets.”

Ana’s cheeks flamed red. Wearing comfortable harem-style sweats and a loose fitting tank (her favorite sleepwear), even she could easily smell the vanilla and coconut body butter. She indulged in the calming scents whenever she was feeling particularly anxious.

“So, what did he want?” Matt asked, pinning her with his intense gaze.

“Who?” A mental image of Matt’s finely honed body on display in nothing but swim trunks rose unbidden the moment he mentioned tropical beaches and sunsets. It was difficult to concentrate on anything else. He was the walking personification of hot and sweaty sex, calling to anything with double-X chromosomes. Making matters worse, this past week she’d been a pathetic and highly combustive cocktail of female hormones.

“Jason,” Matt repeated, his eyes twinkling. Oh yes, he’d probably guessed the direction her thoughts had taken. Clever wolf.

“Who is Jason?”

“He’s one of Masterson’s minions. Is he harassing you?”

Ana realized he was talking about the good-looking man who had brought her the invitation. She should have known he was a vamp. Human men weren’t that perfect.

“Oh. No, nothing like that. Is that why you came all the way over here?”

“It’s not that far,” he hedged. “And seeing you in your jammies is always a nice way to end the day. What did he want, Ana?”

She blew out a breath, crossing her arms to hide the way her nipples hardened under Matt’s gaze. Damn him and his Alpha pheromones when her hormones were preparing to revolt and overrun her common sense and propriety. The beast in him could probably scent it, too. “He just delivered an invitation.”

“To what?”

Ana hesitated. “Dinner, I think.”

“With Masterson?”

“I assume so, but it didn’t say that specifically.”

“And?”

“And I declined. End of story.”

Matt shook his head. “Clearly, you have no concept of the male psyche. Don’t you know it’s all about the chase? All you’ve done is wave a red flag in front of a blood-sucking bull.”

She stared at him, bemused. Matt leaned forward and pushed a stray, riotous curl away from her face. She blinked, but the rest of her went completely still as she held her breath.

“I won’t hurt you,” he breathed in exasperation.

“I know,” she whispered, but she still couldn’t keep herself from trembling a little. While her mind might understand he was her friend, the more primitive parts of her brain recognized him for what he was — a very large, very dangerous, Alpha predator.

What she didn’t know was if her reaction was based on fear or his irrefutable sexuality. Male wolves made no attempt to hide their base sensuality, and Matt had it in spades. She wondered idly if he’d chosen a mate yet. According to Dani, he was looking. A male in his prime was expected to sire, and Matt was definitely in his prime. He oozed virility.

And yet, the sexually charged Alpha wolf was not the one consuming her dreams and a substantial part of her waking moments.

“Do you think Masterson remembers you?” he asked, breaking into thoughts she had no business thinking.

“I don’t know what to think,” she said, shaking her head to rise above her fear...or whatever that tingly, anxious feeling was. “It was a formal invitation. Maybe he sent it out to a bunch of people.”

“Is that what you believe, Ana?” He was closer now, his presence a tangible thing around her.

“No,” she answered, her voice reverting to a whisper. When Matt was this close, he literally stole her breath away. “I think he suspects that whatever happened has something to do with me.”

“You are frightened.”

There was no use denying it. Surely, he could scent her fear. Hopefully it overpowered every other possible fragrance she might inadvertently be producing. “Yes.”

“I can protect you, Ana.”

Though she appreciated the offer, she shook her head immediately. She had only been in Vlane Masterson’s presence for a short time, but she had never felt anything quite so powerful. Even a strapping Alpha like Matt might not be able to fight against him. It was her problem, not his. She liked him too much to put him in danger.

Besides, his pack needed him.  She was expendable.

“No, Matt. I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to you or your pack because of me.”

“I could mark you. Make you one of us.”

“You said
he
marked me.”

“He did, but only partially.”

“What does that mean?”

Matt blew out a breath. “His mark is very faint, which means he probably didn’t even mean for it to happen. My guess is it happened accidentally when you whammied him. He doesn’t realize what he did, I know that much.”

“How could you possibly know that?”

He shifted his weight uncomfortably, and anything that made Matt uncomfortable sent ripples of terror through her. “Because he would know he already has a link to you. Masterson has been around a long time, Ana. He’s an expert in mind control and manipulation. If he wanted to, he could simply invoke the link and summon you. You would have no choice but to comply.”

The color drained from her face. “You knew this and you didn’t tell me?”

“You led me to believe he would have no recollection of what happened, so I didn’t want to worry you unnecessarily. But now he’s sniffing around you and I’m no longer willing to take that chance.”

Ana hugged herself tightly, subconsciously trying to make herself as small and insignificant as possible.

“And what do you propose?”

* * *

H
er eyes, as wide as saucers, tugged at something deep in his gut.  He watched as her expression changed from one of shock, to anger, to fear. He didn’t like seeing fear on her face; it had no business there.

Unlike the females of his kind, Ana did not have natural instincts urging her to fight. Hers had her cowering and trying to make herself as small as possible in the hopes of being viewed as not worth the effort. The little bit of nervousness she normally felt in his presence was flattering, but this was different. His natural instinct to protect rose to the surface.