by Lynsay Sands
"Hmmm," Stephanie murmured, but she was looking at her with interest now. "Or maybe you have some psychic abilities and that's why I can't read or control you."
Sherry didn't comment. Her mind wanted to rebel at the possibility of anyone controlling her actions or thoughts, but she'd watched the pregnant mother slit her own throat. No one would do that under their own impetus. She did believe the customer must have been controlled . . . and if she could be controlled . . .
Pushing these disturbing thoughts away, Sherry said, "So, all of this being true, you don't want to call your Rogue Hunters because you're going to get hell for slipping away from your protectors and putting yourself at risk in the first place."
"Nah-ah," Stephanie said with a slow smile.
Sherry raised her eyebrows doubtfully. "You won't get in trouble?"
"Oh, yeah," Stephanie said dryly. "Once Drina, Katricia, Harper, Elvi, and Victor are done raking me over the coals, Lucian himself will probably show up to completely demoralize me," she admitted with unhappy resignation. "But that's not why I'm not calling."
"Okay," Sherry said slowly. "So why don't you want to call?"
"It's not that I don't want to call . . . I don't have to," she explained. "I already did. They're sending Bricker even as we speak." She tilted her head and then grinned and added, "And he's bringing you a surprise."
Two
"He's here."
Basileios was already on his way up the hall when Marguerite made that announcement. Reaching her side, he glanced out at the SUV now parked in the driveway as the sound of a honking horn reached his ears. He glanced to Marguerite, his eyebrows rising at her concerned expression. "Problem?"
"It isn't like Bricker to be so rude. He should have come to the door to get you," she said with a frown.
Basileios smiled faintly as he gave her a quick hug. "He's not picking me up for a date, Marguerite. He's probably just in a hurry to collect Stephanie and her friend before Leo and his progeny find them."
"Yes, I suppose," she murmured, but he could tell from her expression that she was concerned about the young immortal and what this "rudeness" might mean.
Shaking his head, Basil gave her hand a squeeze and then turned to slip out of the house, assuring her, "It's fine. I'll call when we get them to the Enforcer house."
Moving quickly, he made his way to the front passenger door of the SUV and slid in.
"I don't know why I'm the one they're sending to pick up Steph," Bricker complained the moment the door opened. "Drina and Katricia should be doing it. They're the ones who are supposed to be guarding her . . . and they're right there in the area."
As greetings went, that was pretty lame, Basileios decided, swallowing his own hello as he pulled the SUV's door closed and grabbed the seat belt.
"And why the heck would they make me take you?" Justin continued with irritation. "You're a lawyer for God's sake, not a hunter. What good are you going to be if things get dicey?"
Basileios glanced up from fastening his seat belt, one eyebrow cocked. He didn't know if Marguerite's concern was warranted, but Justin Bricker was definitely in a mood. He didn't know what had caused the man's ire, but didn't let it get to him. Voice mild, he said, "I was not always a lawyer, Justin. I was a warrior for more than a millennia. I've only been a lawyer the last twenty years. If the situation gets dicey--" He shrugged. "We'll handle it."
When Bricker merely scowled at the road ahead, Basileios added, "As for why we're collecting the ladies, I gather Drina and my daughter were sent to clean up the situation at the store. It needed prompt attention to avoid exposure and they were the closest available team. Besides, there's not much chance of things getting dicey. Apparently the danger has already passed. We're just picking up the girls and taking them to the Enforcer house until Lucian decides how to handle the situation."
"Yeah, babysitting duty once again," Justin groused, and then glanced to him. "So, let me guess, Marguerite wanted you to come because Stephanie is your life mate?"
Basileios shook his head. "No, but she thinks that the mortal, Sherry may be."
Justin's eyebrows flew up. "That can't be. Marguerite hasn't met her," he said, and then frowned and asked, "Has she?"
"Who can say with Marguerite?" Basileios asked with amusement. "She's been doing a lot of shopping for her kitchen now that she enjoys food again, and I gather the woman in question owns a kitchenware store." He smiled faintly and then added, "However, I was told that Stephanie has some skill in the life mate area as well, and she seems to think this mortal is mine."
Bricker glanced around with surprise as he drove. "You've met Stephanie?"
"Yes," Basileios answered, and then frowned and admitted, "Well, I did not actually meet her. We were not introduced, but I visited Katricia at the Enforcer house when the girls first arrived and we saw each other in passing. I presume someone told her who I was just as Katricia told me who she was." Giving a helpless shrug, he admitted, "I am not sure how this identifying a life mate business works, but I presume that brief encounter was enough for her to read whatever it is she reads and decide that this Sherry woman would be a suitable life mate for me."
"Well, hell," Bricker muttered with disgust, hitting the brakes a little harder than necessary as they reached the corner.
The action sent Basil jerking forward until the seat belt caught him. He glanced at the younger man with a touch of exasperation. "Well hell, what?"
"Do you know how many life mates I've watched pair up the last couple of years?" Bricker asked grimly. "I don't even know. There must be at least twenty, although I didn't witness them all from the start. Christian and Caro hooked up in St. Lucia, but they're here now, blissfully happy in their life mate relationship." He grimaced. "I just wish Marguerite or Stephanie would take a minute and find me a life mate."
Basileios relaxed and smiled with mild amusement. "You sound like a mortal child."
"What?" he asked indignantly.
"Mortal children can't wait until they're old enough to drive, then to finish school, then to drink, etcetera," he explained and then added gently, "You're only just over a century old, Justin."
"Yeah, yeah, and some of you guys have waited millennia so I should just be patient. It will happen when the time is right," he mumbled with disgust, obviously having heard the lecture before.
Basileios didn't comment. The man was impatient and bitter and nothing he said would change that. It was better just to let it go. He'd find his way . . . or not.
"How old are you anyway?" Justin asked suddenly. "You're one of the older Argeneaus, aren't you?"
"I was born in 1529 BC," Basileios acknowledged quietly, and wasn't surprised when Justin glanced at him sharply.
"But Lucian and Jean Claude were born in 1534 BC," he said. "That means you're only five years younger than them."
Basileios nodded, unperturbed by the accusation in his voice.
"Hmmph," Justin grunted, and then said bitterly, "I guess the hundred year rule doesn't apply to you Argeneaus."
"I was born in Atlantis, Bricker," Basileios said patiently. "The hundred year rule wasn't in place yet at that time. It was only created after the fall, after Leonius Livius's efforts to make an army of his progeny."
"Right," Justin growled. He was silent for a moment and then said, "So, Katricia is your daughter? You've been mated before?"
"I was mated briefly in Atlantis. However, she wasn't Katricia's mother. We had no children and she didn't survive the fall."
"So, you've been mated twice," he commented. "Nice."
"Actually, no I haven't. Mary Delacort, the mother of my children, is an immortal who is a good friend and nothing more."
Bricker glanced at him sharply. "You had kids outside of a life mate relationship?"
"You make it sound so naughty," Basileios said with amusement, and then pointed out quietly, "I lost my life mate in the fall, Bricker. I have been alone a very long time. Lucian had his guardianship of the family and immo
rtals and mortals in general to help keep his sanity and humanity. I did not have that. I needed an anchor, someone to care for, a reason to get up in the evening. If I could not have a life mate, then children to care about and look out for was the next best thing."
He glanced out the window and added quietly, "My children are probably the only reason I didn't go rogue like my brother Jean Claude."
Justin glanced at him again, and then asked curiously, "And this Mary? She didn't mind?"
"Fortunately, Mary was in much the same situation. Well, not really fortunately for her, I suppose," he added with a frown. "But you know what I mean."
"Hmmm," Justin released a deep sigh, and asked, "So what is your fantasy life mate like?"
Basileios glanced at him in question. "I'm not sure I understand what you mean?"
"Well, you must have pictured her in your mind over the millennia. What did you imagine your life mate would look like? Tall, short? Thin, curvy? Blond or dark-haired?" he explained, and then added, "And what kind of personality did you imagine? Funny, smart, feisty, sweet . . . ?" He glanced at him curiously. "What did you dream about?"
Basileios considered the question solemnly. Of course he had imagined someday having a life mate and what she might be like. He had never really imagined the whole package, but he supposed he had some ideas. "I prefer blondes to dark-haired women, and I prefer smaller women, short and petite with an agreeable personality, sweet and biddable."
"Biddable?" Justin snorted. "Man, someone's stuck in fifteenth century BC. Women nowadays are not biddable." He paused briefly and then added, "Well, maybe if you found yourself a mail order bride from somewhere women are expected to do as they're told you might. But I hear once they're in Canada or the U.S. for any length of time, they get infected with our women's attitude and sass."
Basileios shrugged. He suspected he'd be happy with his life mate despite what she looked like or her personality type. That was what life mates were all about, after all. The nanos selected the one you could be happy with.
"Now me," Justin said suddenly, "I don't care if she's smart or funny as long as she's a tall, curvy, dark-haired gal with sass and a nice ass."
"Ah," Basileios said quietly. It was the only thing he could think to say. After all, no matter what a life mate looked like prior to the turn, they would be at least somewhat altered after it, and whether that alteration included a "nice ass" depended on their genetics. It was also a petty thing to be concerned about when it came to a life mate. Which just showed him how young and immature the boy was. He'd grow up, though, and time would teach him what was important in life and what wasn't.
Sherry stared at the girl across from her with amazement. "You already called? When? How?"
"I used the phone in the office here while I was waiting for the pizza and pops," Stephanie explained. "I had to get help to the people in the store, and make sure a clean-up crew was sent to wipe memories and handle the mess." She tilted her head, smiled and added, "And I wanted to talk to Marguerite and have her send something for you."
"What?" Sherry asked suspiciously.
Stephanie grinned and then said, "Basil."
"Basil?" Sherry asked incredulously. "Your surprise for me is basil?"
Stephanie nodded her head.
"What am I supposed to do with it? Put it on my pizza?" she asked with bewilderment, and then tilted her head. "Or does basil work like garlic to keep vampires away?"
Stephanie laughed and then explained, "Basil the person, not the spice."
"Oh," Sherry said, and then, "Oh!" Frowning, she shook her head quickly in denial. "No, no, no, I don't want a man. Why is it everyone wants to set me up with someone?" she asked plaintively, and then mimicked a much higher voice and said, "'Oh Sherry, my cousin is in town and he'd be perfect for you.' 'Oh Sherry, my son is single. I think you'd like him.' 'Oh Sherry, you're such a sweetheart, you should be with a man. I have a neighbor who's single. Why don't I just arrange a dinner and . . .'" She grimaced and shook her head. "I am so not interested.
"Besides," she added quietly, "this is no time to be setting me up on a date. For heaven's sake, my store is a shambles, a woman may or may not be dead or at least badly injured, and we're hiding in a pizzeria from a pack of two-legged wild dogs. Could you pick a worse time to decide you're cupid? This is a serious business, Stephanie."
"So are life mates," Stephanie countered at once.
Sherry pinched the bridge of her nose between thumb and forefinger and murmured, "Right, of course they are. What are life mates?"
"Among our kind--"
"'Our' kind?" Sherry interrupted sharply.
"Vampires," Stephanie said pointedly.
"Oh, right." Sherry forced a smile. For a moment there she'd forgotten the kid thought she was a bloodsucking fiend. Hell, she might even really be one for all she knew. When had her life turned into a takeoff of Fright Night? Shaking that thought away, she said, "Your parents aren't vampires, so you weren't born one."
"No," Stephanie admitted quietly, and then sighed and said, "When Leo kidnapped us, he also turned us both. Dani and I are vampires too."
Sherry's eyebrows rose at this admission, but that was all. She'd guessed that by the way the girl spoke. The truth was, she'd protested at the term "our kind" not because Stephanie was claiming to be one, but because the term made it sound like there were a lot of "her kind," which was disturbing. Sherry didn't get the chance to say as much, though, because Stephanie was now hurrying to explain.
"Anyway, so with immortals, or vampires, there are certain people who are life mates for us. They're the perfect mate for the immortal. They bring back his or her passions, make food taste good again, make sex mind-blowing, and can live contentedly together for eons."
"Make food taste good again?" Sherry murmured, and then glanced at what was left of the large slice of pizza the girl had nearly demolished. "Food doesn't taste good to you?"
"Oh, I like food still," Stephanie assured her. "But I'm young. I guess after you've been around for a couple of centuries, food sort of gets old and sex gets boring."
"I see," Sherry said slowly, and she kind of did see. Or at least she could see how that would be the case. She was only thirty-two, but many was the night when she considered what to have for supper and nothing sounded appealing. At least, not appealing enough to go to the trouble of making it for just herself.
"Anyway," Stephanie continued, "a life mate changes all that. They're also a very rare find. Many immortals have lived centuries or even millennia waiting to find theirs. Some never do. Others go rogue from the lack of one. So you see, it is a very serious business."
"Hmm," Sherry said, and then asked dubiously, "And you think I am a life mate for this guy named after a spice?"
"Basil." Stephanie nodded.
"Why?" Sherry asked.
"Because I've noticed that life mates always give off the same . . ." She paused briefly, and then said, "Well, I guess the best way to describe it is energy signal or frequency. And you have the same type of energy signal or frequency as Basil."
She reached across the table suddenly and clasped Sherry's hand to get her attention. Once she was looking her in the eyes, she added, "This is big, Sherry. This is a once in a lifetime thing. I mean, I know you're upset about the whole Leo thing, and I am too. But rogues like him pop up all the time. That's why we need hunters. A life mate, though? That's like . . . epic."
"Epic, huh?" she asked with amusement.
Stephanie nodded, her expression serious. "Yes, epic. Elvi says the happiness and contentment she's found since hooking up with Victor is like nothing she's ever experienced in her life. She says it's worth waiting for."
Releasing her hand, the girl sat back and tilted her head before saying, "Mind you, Elvi said that after giving me the sex lecture, and I think she's trying to convince me not to sleep around and be a ho 'cause it could never compare anyway, but she doesn't lie to me either, so it's probably true. Besides, I've seen life m
ates together and been inside their thoughts and--" She grimaced and shook her head. "It's kind of sick how drenched they are in each other. Gross, really. It's like they're in heat or something."
Sherry had to bite her lip to keep from laughing.
"Anyway," she added, shaking off her disgust, "this isn't me playing cupid, or setting you up on a date. This is . . . bigger than winning the biggest lottery. A life mate is precious and . . . and there's a bunch of other stuff too," she finished with a shrug.
"Other stuff?" Sherry asked curiously.
"Yeah, like I guess life mates never cheat on each other, 'cause . . . well, no one else can compare. And the guy would cherish you to the point he'd give his life for you if he had to."
"Just the guy?" Sherry asked with amusement. "The female life mate wouldn't give her life for him?"
"Yeah, she would." The girl shrugged as if that wasn't important. "But the big deal is that the two become one. They work together like . . ." She frowned, obviously searching for a way to explain it, and then she glanced to the crusts on the paper plate and said triumphantly, "Like pizza."
Sherry peered at the remains and asked uncertainly, "Like pizza?"
"Yeah. Cheese is nice on its own, and so is pepperoni, but put them together on dough, and it's perfect pizza. Like it was created to be that way."
"Hmmm." Sherry peered down at her own slice and wondered wryly if she was the cheese or pepperoni--soft, white, and boring, or more colorful and a little spicy? She was probably the cheese, she acknowledged. She was definitely soft in places she'd rather be firm, and she'd been working long hours and barely seen the sun last summer and so was as white as could be. Yeah, she was the cheese . . . which meant this Basil guy was the spicy pepperoni. She supposed that was only fair since he'd been named after a spice.
Sherry shook her head at her own thoughts. In the midst of the chaos that had exploded into her life in the form of one Stephanie the vampire, not only was she making jokes--if only in her head--but was actually now considering this life mate business. She hated being set up on dates, and this was the ultimate setup. This guy named after a spice was apparently being brought to size her up as a prospective life mate. The thought made her squirm and sweat, but it also made her wonder. What would it be like to be a life mate? To have someone meant for you? Someone who fit you like pepperoni and cheese mixed on pizza? To enjoy a happiness and contentment never before experienced?