The Fabled (2 page)

“Roman, I didn’t know you were going to be
here tonight,” K said to the man.

“I hadn’t planned on it either. Who is your
lovely friend, Karen?”

He had been looking at me while talking to K.
I don’t know what his interest is. I am at least fifteen years
older than him and although I’m not ugly I’m certainly not the best
looking woman while he on the other hand, I wouldn’t be surprised
to see on the cover of a magazine talking about the hottest men in
America. He would probably be toward the top of the list too. Those
dark eyes made me think wicked thoughts and I’m ashamed to say he
had a starring role in all of them.

“Oh, this is my friend and business
associate, Samantha Wilson. Sam, this is Roman. He’s a friend of
mine.”

I just bet he is. Even though K is my age she
likes to look at and even date younger men. Personally, I wouldn’t
date anyone that wasn’t at least in his forties. I mean, how could
I bring a twenty-something year old man home to meet my kids who
are almost the same age?

“Hello, Roman.”

“Samantha. What a lovely name.”

“Everyone calls me Sam.”

He frowned. “Do you prefer to have a man’s
name?”

I shrugged. “I like it.” And, I don’t really
give a fuck if you do or not. That’s it Sam. Stick to your guns.
You don’t need some child telling you what name you need. Even if
he is the nicest looking guy you’ve seen in a while.

“I think you are definitely too feminine to
have a man’s name.”

I looked at K and rolled my eyes. She was
looking strangely at Roman then at me and back to him. I brought my
brows together in a typical “what” expression. She shook her head
slightly.

“So, what do you do at Karen’s business,
Samantha?” Roman asked as he took a seat at the table
uninvited.

Apparently, he thought he had the right. I’m
sure with his good looks he was used to getting anything and anyone
he wanted.

“Actually, Sam owns half of the business,”
Karen interjected.

“Really. Attractive and successful. What a
combination.”

Okay. So this guy must have a thing for older
women. It’s time to nip this in the bud. Even though my inner
libido is begging me to indulge him I don’t have it in me to lead
someone on. I know there is no chance I would ever be in any kind
of relationship with him and I wasn’t looking for a one night
stand.

“I’m sorry Roman but me and K were kind of in
the middle of something so if you don’t mind…” I let it hang.

He looked shocked. I looked over at K in
hopes she would back me in getting rid of him and she looked almost
worried. Did she think he would get mad because I’m not interested
in him?

After a moment he seemed to snap out of his
shock and instead seemed confused. “I apologize. I didn’t realize I
was intruding.” He stood up. “I hope you both have a wonderful
evening. Karen. Samantha.” He nodded to each of us as he said our
names. Then he walked over to the bar and had a seat on one of the
stools.

“Wow. I’ve never seen him act that way about
a woman before,” K said as she stared at his back.

“You mean you two weren’t involved.”

She looked at me. “No! I told you we were
just old friends. It was never anything like that.”

“Oh.” Old friends? From when? When he was a
toddler and she used to babysit him?

“Weren’t you attracted to him?” She asked
me.

Hell yeah!! I shrugged to play it down. I
really didn’t want her to think I was some kind of cougar. “He’s
good looking sure. But he’s way too young for me. Could you imagine
me bringing him home to meet my kids?”

“You could just have a fling with him. You’re
halfway across the US from your kids. They’ll never know.”

“Ugh. I would feel like a cradle robber. No
thank you. I think I’ll stick with men my own age.”

“He’s older than he looks you know.”

“If you tell me he’s my age, I’ll be asking
what the name of his plastic surgeon is because his work is totally
worth the money.”

She laughed. “No. I guess he doesn’t look our
age. Maybe it’s just that he’s an old soul.”

I raised a brow.

“Well, one things for sure. He was totally
smitten with you. I wonder what he’s going to do about it.”

“There’s nothing he can do.” Oh, if only I
had known. It turned out there was a lot he could do.

The next morning I stood outside the building
in which K had leased an office for our publishing business. It was
a new twelve story building that looked sleek and expensive. Which
was why K chose it. Image was everything and she couldn’t very well
meet clients in her kitchen. Or, at least that’s what she told me
when she rented it.

I entered the building and walked to the wall
of elevators on the other side. As I stood waiting a man walked up
to stand beside me. The elevator dinged and both of us entered. He
reached forward to push the button for his floor then turned to me.
I saw he had already pushed the tenth.

“I’m getting off at the tenth as well,” I
told him.

He nodded with a polite smile then stood
toward the back of the elevator. He could have been the older
brother to Roman from last night. Same dark hair and eyes, even the
mouth looked just as kissable. But this man was probably twenty
years older. He looked at me and, catching me checking him out,
smiled again. I suddenly felt nervous so I decided to talk. It’s
what I usually do.

“So you work on the tenth floor?”

“Yes, I recently moved my practice
there.”

“You’re a shrink?”

His smile grew. “We prefer clinical
psychologist.”

“Sorry, didn’t mean to be rude.”

“On the contrary, it’s nice to find someone
who isn’t afraid to tell me what they really think. Have you rented
an office as well? I didn’t think there were any more available on
my floor.”

“My business partner rented one a couple of
months ago. I’ve been out of town and this is the first I’ve
actually been able to get here.”

“That explains it. I’m sure I would have
noticed if you had visited before.”

The elevator opened on our floor and he
reached forward to put his hand in the doorway allowing me to exit
first. I stepped off and he took up step beside me as we walked
down the hallway. He stopped at the first door and I saw “Dr.
Alexander, Ph. D.” on a plaque beside the door.

“This is me,” he said.

“Well, it was nice to meet you Dr.
Alexander.”

“Please, call me Roman.”

*****

My face was vibrating. I tried to swipe it
away and only managed to move the vibration to my chest. What in
the world was that? I opened my eyes. I was laying on my stomach in
my bed and the vibration was my phone. As my befuddled brain
evaluated what was going on my phone stopped vibrating then
immediately started again. I climbed up to my hands and knees and
sat back on my heels while answering the phone.

“Sunny Dubois,” I said as I threw my long
dark hair out of my face.

“Hello daughter. I am sorry to wake you but I
have a case for you. If you’re up for it.”

Is he kidding? “As long as it doesn’t involve
handing out tickets for misdemeanors you found your girl.”

He laughed. “Oh this is most assuredly not a
misdemeanor case. A dead Vampere was found in the middle of the
street in Dallas.”

“In the middle of the street? Was he killed
there?”

“That would be for you to determine but my
sources say no. Calvin is currently on his way so we will learn
more once he conducts his evaluation.”

“Alright. I’ll get Tristan and hop a
portal.”

“Very good. The local police are being taken
care of but I would like as little exposure as possible.”

“I’ll do a quick look-see then we’ll bring
the Vamp back for further examination.”

“That sounds like the most feasible plan. Be
well, daughter.”

“You as well, father.”

I hung up then called Tristan.

“Hey mom. ‘Sup?”

“Meet me on the corner in five minutes.”

“Whoa. I’m kinda in the middle of
something.”

“Duty calls son. Unless you’d rather sit this
one out.”

“It’s a real case? No baby shit?”

“If you’re not at the portal in five minutes,
I’m leaving without you.”

I hung up. He’ll be there. He’s been an
actual agent for almost six months now but has been on probation
which has consisted of only handling misdemeanor cases. As his
partner that meant I have been stuck working the same cases. Boring
doesn’t begin to describe it. But I knew I would have to do it when
I first agreed to let him become one of the council’s agents. My
one concession was that he work as my partner for the first year or
until I thought he was ready to be on his own. He was my only child
after all.

I threw on my clothes and grabbed my phone
before leaving my house through the garage. Being able to bring my
car will make getting around Dallas easier. Or I hope it will. When
I reached the gate I entered the code and held my hand to the
monitor until it was accepted and the gate began to open. Tristan
was standing on the other side. I stopped and he got in.

“Nothing like giving me advanced notice.”

“Sorry if I interrupted your nightly romp.
Next time I’ll leave you to your women and go by myself.”

“Now, let’s not get hasty. I don’t give you
grief over your relationship with Doyle. I was just asking for
common courtesy.”

“Doyle’s and my relationship isn’t like that.
It’s merely a trade-off. I have what he needs and he takes what I
can’t otherwise get rid of.”

“Yeah, you’ve told me before but I tell you
that he wants more than that from you.”

“We are both contented with our current
partnership.”

“No, you are content. He would rather it be
more permanent. And, wouldn’t you prefer a more stable
relationship. You know with a man. Not Doyle.”

“I have two stable relationships with men
currently and believe me when I say it’s more than enough.”

“I was referring to an intimate relationship
with someone that isn’t related to you.”

“Why, so I can break up with them and find a
new one every other week like you.”

“I can’t help it that women can’t be more
understanding when I tell them I can’t tell them what I do for a
living and that I work seventy plus hours a week.”

“And what was your excuse before becoming an
agent of the council? Oh yes, now I remember. You didn’t want to be
tied down to just one girl.”

His good looks had women practically flocking
to his bedroom. His blonde hair and dark eyes looked nothing like
my dark hair and blue eyes but age-wise I looked like I could be
his sister.

“I didn’t then. Now I wouldn’t mind a
relationship but being called in the wee hours of the morning to go
do something I can’t share with anyone kind of puts a damper on my
possible dates. I had to practically throw this one out the door
while she was, uh, less than appropriately dressed. She actually
accused me of being married. She thought my wife was on the way
home.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “You should have
told her your mom was on the way home.” I chuckled. “As far as work
goes, I notified you thirty seconds after I was notified. Would you
like me to ask Lucian to call you first next time? I’m sure he
would love to hear about how important your time is and that proper
notification should be given prior to you doing your job.”

“Ugh. Don’t tell grandfather. The last time I
complained about something he spent two hours lecturing me about
the proper behavior of young men and how I was failing.”

I smiled at him. “Just be lucky he wasn’t the
one to train you in becoming an agent. Trust me, no one knows how
to exploit failure like Lucian.”

“All I can say is, better you than me.”

“Is that any way to treat your mother?”

“Hey, he’s your father.”

“And, your grandfather. I think a little one
on one time with dear old gramps would do you good. I’ll be sure to
schedule your next training session with him. Of course I’ll be
there for moral support. And to watch.”

“You’re sadistic. You know that.”

“Mwah ha ha. How did that sound? Villainous
enough?”

He rolled his eyes.

We pulled into the park on the corner and
made our way around to the fountain. It was built just inside the
tree line and was surrounded by woods on three of the four sides.
Many thought it was to give one the peacefulness of the forest and
running water at the same time but the Fabled had built this
fountain as one of many portals around the globe. Essentially the
portal was closed unless someone with magical power decided to use
it. In which case there was a failsafe cloaking spell that would
activate as soon as the portal was opened. It certainly made it a
lot faster and easier to get from Georgia to Texas.

As we approached the fountain I sent out my
magic to open the portal and thought about where I wanted to go.
All of the portals were interconnected and every major city in the
world had at least one. Most of the larger cities had several.
Dallas was no exception and it had three that I could remember. I
aimed for the one that was closest to the coordinates the council
had sent to my phone. I could see the slight shimmer around the
fountain and knew the portal was open so I drove through.

We came out at the end of an alley in central
Dallas. I hit the GPS on my phone and followed the directions to
the street I was looking for. We were in the middle of the
industrial district and, even at five o’clock in the morning, there
was traffic and people everywhere. This wasn’t good.

“Damn, no wonder the council is involved in
this one.”

I nodded. “Even if this Vamp was killed in
self-defense, the killer will be put to death for bring attention
to our kind.”

“The cardinal sin,” Tristan joked.