The Immortal Compromise (The Mortal One Series Book 3) (18 page)

A few minutes later, I heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

“Dylan?”

“In the kitchen.”

Jen rounded the corner and walked into the kitchen. She looked at my empty plate and then around the counters. “No coffee?” She frowned.

“The coffee maker is right there. It’s almost noon.”

“Need coffee,” she said, placing her hand on her forehead and leaning against the counter.

I laughed. “You’re no longer a guest. I’m not waiting on you.”

“Fine,” she huffed and reached into the refrigerator for the coffee.

“Want to go grocery shopping later?” I asked.

She stared at me for a moment. “That sounds exciting.”

“Well, there are responsibilities. Cooking, shopping, laundry.”

“I don’t like the sound of any of that,” she said and wasn’t joking.

“I know you don’t. You have never liked being an adult,” I smiled.

She stuck her tongue out at me and continued to make the coffee. “After I’m dressed and showered, I will go to the store with you. Maybe I can pick out some food that I like?”

“Of course.”

She made her coffee and then proceeded to go upstairs and shower. I made a full list of what we needed at the store. There was part of me that wondered about getting someone to do the shopping for me. They did have shopping services. But, there was something about being able to pick out your own food. I had preferences on brands and flavors and didn’t want someone else choosing what I would eat.

“Ready?” Jen asked.

I nodded and grabbed the list.

The drive to the grocery store was about ten minutes because it was in the next town over. We filled up the cart with plenty of food, including some easier meals so Jen could contribute to the cooking. I was surprised that she was making the effort and wouldn’t complain with what she ultimately put on the plate. That didn’t mean Olivier wouldn’t complain. He seemed to have a sophisticated palate, which I could appreciate.

On the way home, Jen started in with more questions.

“Why can’t anyone explain why Olivier has started to eat real food?” She asked.

I shrugged, keeping my eyes on the road. “I’m really not sure.” I didn’t want to be the one to tell her about the two blood lines and other details. That was for Olivier to share. I also knew it wasn’t supposed to be something we were to speak about to just anyone.

I was tired of trying to explain everything to Jen. She wanted to know everything about everything and it was making me dizzy. It was one question after another and I couldn’t figure out where she was getting all of this energy from.

“I think you need to talk to Olivier,” I finally suggested. “It is his duty to provide his pet with this information.”

“Pet? I hate that term. I don’t want to be anyone’s pet.”

“I know. I’m not too fond of it, either. You will have that name until you are turned. Once turned, you can say goodbye to it.”

“Great,” she said, sitting back in the seat.

“You really want to turn in a week?” I asked.

She nodded. “I don’t trust anyone. Well, I mean I trust you and Olivier and Nico, but especially after Violante and what you told me happened to you in Germany, I don’t like knowing this secret and knowing that someone could kill me.”

“Okay,” I said. While I understood where she was coming from, I guess I was okay with being in danger for a little longer.

Chapter 23

Jen and I were sitting in the living room, each on a Kindle. She had her head on one end of the couch and mine was on the other. Our feet overlapped in the middle and we were content with the silence as we read our romance novels.

“Don’t you two look cozy,” Nico said, walking down the stairs.

I smiled and sat up a little more. “I didn’t even realize what time it was.”

Jen closed her Kindle and sat up as well. “Is Olivier coming over?”

Nico looked in her direction. “He should be, yes.”

I headed into the kitchen. “I’ll go ahead and start dinner. So you had a late night last night,” I said to Nico.

He followed me and sat down at the counter. “Much later than I intended. I was hoping to be able to take you back home myself.”

“What happened?” I asked.

“The vampire that was feeding information to Violante was killed,” he said.

I nodded. “By you and Olivier?” I assumed as much, but it was always a good idea to confirm the details, especially when it comes to the vampire politics because there are so many rules.

“Yes.”

Jen came into the room. “You killed someone?” She asked, her eyes wide.

Nico looked at me and then to her. “It needed to be done.”

She shook her head. “I’m going to be up in the guest room for a while,” she said and left the room.

I walked over to Nico. He wrapped his arm around my waist and nuzzled my neck for a moment.

“You have to talk to Olivier,” I said.

Nico pulled away a little. “About what?”

“He is not sharing enough information with her. I’ve been bombarded with questions and it’s not my place to answer what she wants to know.” I felt bad for throwing Olivier under the bus, but he needed to take his role seriously.

Nico rubbed at the bridge of his nose and pulled me in for a kiss. “We need to get her out of this house soon,” he said between kisses.

I laughed. “I know. Is the scent of her blood bothering you?”

“It would be better if she didn’t have Type B blood, but no, I want my wife back. I want to be able to fuck you without Jen hearing in the next room or Olivier down the hall.”

He gave me goosebumps with the way he emphasized how he wanted to
fuck me
. I wanted that just as much as he did.

“How do we get her out?” I asked.

Nico shrugged. “I will speak to Olivier to see what can be arranged. He needs to start taking responsibility for having a pet. I provided you with an apartment. She may need an apartment in Paris close to him.”

Nico moved to the front door and opened it to Olivier standing there. I hadn’t even heard the car out in the driveway. “We were just talking about you,” Nico said, closing the door behind him.

Olivier raised his eyebrows in interest and looked back and forth between the two of us. “Are one of you going to tell me what about?”

“Jen,” I said.

“Okay,” he said. “What about her?”

Nico stepped in. “You need to be specific with her. Explain what it means to be vampire. Explain what she will have to do to survive. Take her hunting with you.”

Olivier remained silent for a moment. “I know I must do these things.”

“What is your hesitation?” I asked. That’s what it was. He was hesitating for one reason or another, but the only person who suffered from such was Jen. She needed to know these things, especially if she was to be turned within a week’s time.

Olivier shrugged. “She is filled with questions. It’s hard to explain a lot because there were some things I simply accepted. She is naïve about how the world works.”

I nodded, understanding what he meant.

He looked at me. “You and I are truth seekers. It makes sense to you about vampires because you did research. You knew the myths, so you expected blood and death and violence.”

“Yes,” I said. It was true. There were things that didn’t bother me about what Nico and Olivier were because I accepted them as vampires. Before meeting Nico in Florence, I had my opinions on what vampires were and he fit many of the stereotypes. He didn’t go out during the day, he drank blood, and he could kill quickly and without remorse for the purpose of survival. It made sense to me and I was okay with doing the same once I made the decision to be turned.

“Regardless,” Nico said, “she needs to be filled in. She needs to be okay with everything you present because she does not have a choice. If she ultimately decides she cannot be a vampire or does not want to be, there is only one alternative.”

I looked at Nico, knowing full well he meant death. “It won’t come to that. Olivier, you are going to make sure it won’t come to that.”

He nodded. “She is upstairs?”

“Yes. She has been up there since she learned that you and I killed the vampire who was helping Violante,” Nico said.

Olivier said nothing, but left the kitchen to go and speak to her.

“I think he understands what he has to do,” I said to Nico. While I knew he knew that, I wanted to make sure Nico was ready to give Jen a period of adjustment. The last thing I wanted was for him to kill her before she had the chance to let everything really sink in and make an educated decision. Olivier hit it on the head when he said that Jen was naïve about life. Unfortunately, she was a little too naïve about a lot of things. People died. It was a way of life. She didn’t know the man and he was helping the enemy. Maybe it made me twisted that I was okay with it. Nico always said that was what would make me a good vampire. I was beginning to believe him.

Jen and Olivier came down the stairs together. “I’m going to take her to my apartment tonight. We need to have some training sessions.”

I looked at Jen. Her eyes were puffy and red, but she had pulled it together, at least for now. I would bet that the tears weren’t done for the night once she heard more of what Olivier had to tell her about what her life would include.

“Do you want me to pick you up tomorrow or do you want to take a taxi here?” I asked.

Jen shrugged. “I may just stay there for the day, do a little sightseeing on my own. I’ll see,” she said.

Oh
. I didn’t even know what to say to the sudden independent streak. Part of me was offended, but there was the bigger part that was impressed. Good for her. “Okay,” I finally said. “If you need anything, just call.

She came and gave me a hug before she walked out the door with Olivier. She didn’t say anything more, but the hug was her way of telling me that she and I were still okay. She was lost and I understood. She needed time to think about all that was going on. I was there once and remember doing the same thing. I wouldn’t push her. She needed to be good with it all and she had to get there on her own.

“Well, that settles that,” I said as the door closed.

Nico nodded. “Hopefully he shares with her all that she needs to hear.”

My stomach growled, remembering I still needed to cook dinner. I nodded at Nico and dug through the freezer to get one of the frozen meals I had picked up at the store.

I took the pasta dish out of the carton and poked holes in the plastic. Nico was peaking over my shoulder while I read the instructions.

“You’re going to eat that?” He asked.

The microwaveable meal wasn’t the most impressive, but it was better than nothing. “Yes,” I laughed. “It’s not that bad.”

Nico shook his head and I knew he wanted to say something about me being an American, but he knew enough to keep silent.

The microwave sounded and I took the tray out. It actually had a strong smell of tomato sauce and basil, which was promising. I transferred it to a plate, sprinkled some parmesan cheese on it all, and grabbed a fork.

Nico watched in silent fascination as I ate.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing,” he said. “Just curious what it tastes like.”

“Do you want a bite?” I asked, holding a fork out at him.

He shooed my hand away and made a face of disgust. “No, no.”

I laughed and popped the bite in my mouth. “Okay, then.”

The meal wasn’t very big, but I also wasn’t that hungry. I put the plate in the dishwasher and then gave Nico a kiss on the mouth.

He licked his lips. “Garlic and basil,” he determined.

I smiled and was going to say something else, but his phone started to ring.

“It’s Costin,” he said and stepped outside.

***

Nico had been outside for a while, so I finally went to bed to read. It was my one way of relaxing with all of the chaos in this life of mine. I was still secretly hoping for things to get normal enough that I could go and get a job bartending somewhere.

“Violante is dead,” Nico announced as he walked into our bedroom.

I looked up from my Kindle. “Good.”

“Dylan…,” Nico said.

“What? Should I feel bad for saying that? She hated me from the moment she met me all because I was mortal and because you liked me.”

“She was a good friend of mine for more than one hundred years,” Nico said.

I felt bad for a moment. “I am sorry you lost a friend, but she was not a friend of mine.”

“I understand that.” He motioned towards the phone in his hand. “Costin thought he should call to tell me.”

“I figured it had to be something serious. You were on the phone with him for a while.”

He nodded, but said nothing.

There were still vampire issues that I still didn’t understand or know about. “Is there going to be a ceremony or something? Does she get buried?” It was akward to ask. He was in mourning and the curiosity of it all was getting the best of me.

Nico shook his head. “No,
mia mortale
. She was decapitated and what was left of her at that point was burned.”

I thought I was going to be sick at the idea. He didn’t have to tell me all of the gruesome details about her death, but maybe that was part of why he was so distraught. Costin probably told him and so he needed to tell me as a way of dealing with it all. He stood at the foot of the bed with his head hanging low. He took a deep breath. Even though he didn’t need to breathe, he did it out of old habits whenever he was stressed.

I was never the sympathetic person. I wanted to be there for him, but I didn’t know what to say. Plus, we were talking about Violante and it was hard for me to be upset with what happened. I only wished it had happened sooner. She was not a nice person. She was a vindictive bitch who seemed to want nothing more than to punish me. Why should I mourn her death?

Nico kicked off his shoes and came to lie on the bed next to me. He laid on his side with his one elbow propped, supporting his head. He watched me with an intense gaze for a moment.

I smiled at him and set my Kindle on the nightstand. “Can I help you?” I moved onto my side to mirror his position.

“You’re beautiful,” he said.

I rolled my eyes, not believing him. There were still times where I looked at him and wondered what the hell he was doing with me. While I had lost some weight in the past few months because of running, I still had curves. He was beyond gorgeous with his chiseled jaw and piercing blue eyes.

“Take the compliment,” he said, moving closer to me.

“Okay,” I said, “but if I’m beautiful, then what are you?”

“A lucky man.”

I couldn’t help but laugh because it was a cheesy line. Looking at him, though, with his gaze on me the whole time, I knew he meant every word.

He kissed me. I think it was supposed to be a peck, but it deepened as soon as our lips touched. I rolled into him and he grabbed my waist with his free hand, pulling me closer to him so there was no space between the lengths of our bodies.

“I love you,” I whispered.

He slid his hand up and under my tank top. “I love you, too.” His fingers were cold to the touch, so I knew he never got around to feeding tonight. They caused my nipples to harden instantly. He squeezed one ever so gently and it evoked a moan out of me. He smiled, satisfied by his actions.