Authors: Tabitha Conall
Tags: #steamy werewolf shifter paranormal romance novella
Her Vampire Mate
A steamy werewolf romance in the Colliding Worlds series from New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Tabitha Conall...
A vampire and a werewolf. Enemies. Mates.
While searching for a world-walker, werewolf Jennalynn Bishop finds her mate. But instead of feeling excited, she's horrified. He's a vampire, an enemy.
Searching for the same world-walker, vampire and professional poisoner Antonio de Marco feels drawn to his werewolf foe. He loves women, always has, so he rolls with it. Maybe seducing her will throw her off her game.
Thrown together repeatedly, they finally team up to track down the world-walker, never realizing the danger waiting for them if they succeed in finding her.
This 30,000+ word long book is the fourth in the Colliding Worlds series. HEA included.
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The Colliding Worlds Series
Her Vampire Mate
Her Vampire Mate © 2014 Tabitha Conall
Her Vampire Mate
by
Tabitha Conall
Chapter 1
Jennalynn still felt guilty about Darius and Aislinn. Over a month earlier, Darius had found his mate, which was usually a happy occasion, except Aislinn was the daughter of the leader of the Humans Firsters, the werewolves’ greatest enemy. Her father nearly blew up the castle trying to keep Darius and Aislinn apart. Jennalynn had suggested Darius give Aislinn up for the good of the wolves, not understanding the kind of hell her brother would go through if he did.
Even though it had all worked out well in the end, she still felt guilty for what she’d asked of him. Darius and Aislinn told her they forgave her but she couldn’t forgive herself. She hadn’t meant to, but she’d started avoiding the two of them as much as she could.
So when Darius summoned her to his office, she figured he wanted to talk to her about the way she’d been ducking out on him. It wasn’t a conversation she was looking forward to.
After making her way through the Holding—the castle the North American Pack top wolves called home—she stopped in the open doorway of Darius's office. As Alpha, he had a lot of duties running the Pack but she wouldn’t know it from this room. Just large enough to squeeze three big desks, she wondered yet again why Darius wouldn’t just use a corner of the expansive war room instead.
No matter. She couldn’t procrastinate any longer. Jennalynn knocked lightly on the door frame. The three men inside—her brothers Darius and Killion and Darius's third, Cael--lifted their heads.
“Come in.” Darius waved her toward him. His black hair was a little longer than it used to be but his dark eyes were just as piercing. “Close the door behind you.”
“About time,” Killion said. Killion was Darius's second while Jennalynn was the top-ranked female at fourth in the Pack.
Jennalynn closed the door then perched on the edge of Cael’s desk. There wasn’t room for a fourth chair.
“Lachlan called,” Darius said.
Lachlan, Alpha of the UK and a family friend. Jennalynn took a deep breath. Darius hadn’t brought her here to talk about her avoiding him after all.
So, he hadn’t brought her here to talk about her avoiding him after all. Jennalynn took a deep breath.
Darius continued, “The dragon shifter Damon Knightley contacted him to talk about getting us a world-walker. Damon has a lead on one but in exchange he wants in on our alliance.” World-walkers were people with special magic that allowed them to ‘walk’ between dimensions or ‘worlds.’
“Dragons can’t be trusted,” Killion said. His hair and eyes were as dark as Darius's and his muscles just as big, but Killion was a full inch shorter, something Darius had never let him forget as they grew up.
“They’ll steal the money right out of your pocket.” Cael fiddled with his pen.
“They’ll double-cross you without a second thought if it brings them more cash,” Jennalynn said.
“Exactly,” Darius said. “So we want to try to find this world-walker without Knightley. I had Cael look into Knightley’s recent activities. Cael, tell them what you found.”
Big, blond-haired Cael shifted in his seat so he faced Killion and Jennalynn a little better. “Knightley’s based in the UK. I got ahold of his phone records and he’s been making a lot of calls to the US.” He couldn’t have gotten the phone records legally but he didn’t elaborate on how he got them.
Cael continued. “The most recent calls have been to a guy in Detroit named Phillip Kent. The first few calls were longer, like they actually talked. Then they got very short, like Knightley’s leaving messages on a machine or getting voicemail and then hanging up.”
Cael flipped a page on his notepad. “I dug into Kent a little; seems he works as a bartender and deals in small-time magic on the side. Potions, amulets, that sort of thing. Nothing actually illegal but all of it a little gray. I couldn’t find anything to explain why Knightley keeps calling him but I doubt it’s for his bartending or magical skills. So I think Kent’s a good place to start.”
Darius took over. “Since it seems Kent has been ducking Knightley’s calls, we think it would be better to go to him in person—check him out, tail him a little, then talk to him. Think you’re up for it, Jennalynn?”
Up for a task that might get her back in Darius's good graces while also taking her away from the Holding for a while? “Hell, yes.”
Darius chuckled. “I was hoping you’d say that. We’ll get you on a plane this afternoon. You can be in Detroit by tonight.”
“Sounds good,” she said. “Anything else I should know?”
Killion leaned forward, elbow on the desk. “We think the vampires are after the same world-walker.”
Shit. The vampires were enemies of the shifters. While the two groups weren’t in out-and-out war, they enjoyed poking at each other and sometimes it got deadly.
It wasn’t surprising the vampires would want a world-walker of their own. They’d want exactly what the werewolves wanted—to find out about the world headed for them before it actually got there, to forge alliances before they were needed, to get an edge on their competitors.
“If you get a whiff of a vamp, call us immediately and we’ll send backup,” Darius said.
“What about Knightley? Can I expect to run into him too?” Jennalynn said.
“Lachlan said Knightley’s disappeared,” Darius said. “Took some woman and went off the grid. Hopefully he’s occupied for a little while. The vampires would be enough to deal with; we don’t need Knightley in the middle of it too.”
“Good.” Jennalynn felt excited to be in the middle of the hunt. The wolves had been trying to get a lead on a world-walker since they first got a sense that a new world was approaching.
In the beginning, all that existed was Earth—or Earth Prime, as scientists now called it. Then human beings came along and did something no other animal had done. They dreamed. Daydreams that became stories that became myths. And when enough people believed in one of those dreams, it spawned a whole new dimension, a different Earth somewhere else where those dreams became real.
Those other worlds floated like bubbles in the ether, drawn by invisible strings toward Earth Prime. Those on Earth couldn’t see them because they were out of phase but when another world inevitably overlapped Earth Prime, the dimensions collapsed into one and all of the creatures on the other world now existed on Earth Prime as well.
No one could know what creatures or politics or advantages a new world might bring except those few who could jump dimensions—the world-walkers. When a new world drew close, as it was now, all the different political factions on Earth Prime scrambled to find world-walkers who could help them gain an advantage with the newcomers.
And so Jennalynn would go to Detroit to try to land a world-walker for the shifter faction. If she succeeded, it would be a big coup not just for her but for all of the shifters. She had to succeed.
***
Vicenzo Cellini was finally going to get his revenge. As he walked down the hall toward the Vampire High Council chambers with the high councilor himself, he fought to keep a grin off his face.
“Are you sure this man can do the job?” High Councilor Jacques Amirault said, his robes swishing against the stone floor as he walked. His black, slicked-back hair and gaunt, pale face against the rich purple and gold robes made him look almost regal.
Jacques could never know how much Vicenzo stood to gain or he’d never agree—just on principal. “I’m certain. He’s been a successful assassin for centuries. Which isn’t the same as being a tracker, but unlike our trackers, he’s expendable.”
Jacques stopped in front of the doors to the High Council chambers and looked down his long nose at Vicenzo. “What about his sire? Will I have to make restitution after I kill him?”
“His sire is dead,” Vicenzo lied. “He’s the last of his line. So no restitution will be necessary.”
“Well. Good.” Jacques nodded at the guard, who opened the door for him. The high councilor stopped in the doorway. “Make it happen.” As he entered the room, the guard closed the door behind him, shutting Vicenzo out.
Jacques always had been a cold bastard but he had his uses. If everything went right on this job, Vicenzo would gain much-needed favor with the High Council. And even if everything went wrong, he’d still get something he’d wanted for a very long time—the death of Antonio de Marco.
Vicenzo made his way out of the large Gothic building that held the High Council chambers as well as several offices devoted to vampire bureaucracy. When he reached the sidewalk he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed his newest progeny, Robert Hanson.
Robert answered by saying, “Yes, sire?”
Such a good choice he’d made in turning him. Not like Antonio. “I have a job for you. The High Council is about to task Antonio de Marco with finding the world-walker. I want you to tail him and make sure he doesn’t screw it up.”
After a short silence, Robert said, “If you’re concerned about him, why not suggest someone else do the job?”
“No, he’s perfect for it. Not only can he find the man, he’ll finally get his comeuppance in the end. The Council doesn’t want any loose ends. They’re going to kill him after he finishes the job.”
“Ah.” The word was long and drawn-out. “And he is the one you’ve been wanting dead for a long time.”
“He is. But nothing must go wrong with this. That’s why I want you to tail him and make sure there are no problems.”
“Of course, sire. It would be my pleasure.”
After Vicenzo gave Robert the details about how to find Antonio, they hung up.
At last. At long last, Antonio would finally die.
