"Oh, no, I have my charger," DJ said honestly, and then added the lie, "I forgot my
phone."
Lucian's eyes narrowed. "Right."
The three of them fell silent, Victor ignoring the light tugs Elvi was giving his hand. He
knew she was expecting him to introduce her, but was still hesitant to do so, so stood
there silently, doing his best not to fidget under his brother's narrow gaze.
It was Elvi herself who finally ended the silence. Letting out an annoyed little cluck, she
tugged her hand free of his and stepped forward, offering it to Lucian. "I'm Ellen Stone.
Welcome to Port Henry."
"Hello, Ellen," Lucian said politely, accepting and shaking her hand even as he turned a
questioning gaze to Victor.
"She's my lifemate," Victor growled in response to the look, and wasn't the only one to
notice that he sounded less than pleased to say as much.
Elvi frowned at him, then forced a laugh and said, "Don't mind him. I think Victor's
afraid you're going to want to kill me, but I'm sure you won't once we explain
everything. This is my friend, Mabel. She's DJ's lifemate and this is—"
"Excuse me," Lucian said over Victor's groan when she dropped that bomb and then
tried to jump right into the introductions he'd neglected. "Why would Victor think I'd
want to kill you?"
"Because I've bitten mortals and everyone knows I'm a vampire," she explained.
Victor groaned again.
"Now, now," Brunswick said, stepping nervously to her other side. "You'll have the
man thinking you're some rogue or something. She's not a rogue," he added firmly to
Lucian.
Lucian raised an eyebrow. "Who are you?"
"I'm Captain Teddy Brunswick," he introduced himself, offering a hand. When Lucian
automatically took it, he added, "I'm head of the police force here in Port Henry so you
can believe me when I say you needn't fear Elvi breaking your laws now that she
knows them. I've known her all my life. She's a good God‐fearing, law‐abiding citizen of
this town. She hasn't broken a law ever in her life. Not even jaywalking…" He paused
and pursed his lips, then added reluctantly, "Well, except for when she stole my patrol
car tonight. But it wasn't really stealing, it was borrowing. I mean we were threatening
to lock them in the cold room and I did leave the keys in the car, so it was more like
borrowing than stealing if you see what I mean."
When Victor groaned again, Mike stepped nervously forward and tried to help
matters.
"Teddy's right," he said firmly. "It wasn't stealing really. And Elvi didn't know she
wasn't supposed to bite us, none of us did or she never would have bitten all the boys
as they turned eighteen. Besides, she only ever bit the willing."
"Well, except for when she bit Mabel while she was sick with the turning," Karen
interjected, then quickly added, "but Mabel forgave her and they're still friends and
Mabel bit her back during her own turn so it kind of cancels it out, right?"
"Who are these mortals?" Lucian asked Victor with bewilderment.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Mike held out his hand, "Michael Knight, fire chief for Port Henry. And
this is my lovely wife, Karen."
"I thought they didn't want to kill you anymore, Elvi," DJ muttered under his breath.
"And I didn't realize Brunswick had it in for you too."
Sighing, Victor decided it was time to intercede, but before he could, Harper said, "She
didn't put the ad in the single's column, and has never been to Toronto. She isn't the
source of the rumors going around the clubs."
"I put the ad in," Mabel admitted.
"And the rumors around Toronto were caused by Brunswick hitting the club scene
there in search of other vampires," Edward announced.
"Si," Alessandro nodded. "They were looking for the mate for the Elvi."
"We didn't know we were doing anything wrong," Teddy assured him. "We won't do it
again."
When Lucian turned his way, Victor ran a weary hand through his hair and said, "Look
Lucian, there's a lot to explain here. Maybe we should head back to the house and
discuss this."
"You aren't going without me, son," Brunswick announced firmly. "I'm the law in this
town and no one's hurting Elvi."
"We'll just follow you over," Mike announced, making it obvious he was backing the
police captain.
Karen glanced toward the crowd still gathered around the booth and said, "I think we
should all go."
A rumble of agreement began among the crowd. Before it could grow too loud, Lucian
snapped, "Enough."
Victor waited tensely as Lucian's gaze slid over the crowd of people who had closed in