"Owen?" The man looked startled. "Oh, please tell me he isn't going to let Elvi bite
him? What if he turns into one too? I won't lose another soul of one of my
parishioners. There was nothing we could do about Elvi, but Owen's just a boy. He's…"
Victor watched with eyes that were silver ice chips as Brunswick finally urged the man
out of the restaurant. There was nothing he hated more than the clergy. It was the
church that had condoned his wife's being burnt at the stake. If he could have he
would have slaughtered the whole lot of them at the time. But his brother Lucian
wouldn't let him. Three hundred years later, Victor's gut still burned at the sight of
clergy… any clergy. He hated them all.
"Sorry about that," Brunswick murmured, pausing at the table on his way back. "Father
O'Flaherty is excitable, but harmless," he assured them, then nodded and turned away.
"I'll be right back."
He rushed off to the back of the restaurant, disappearing through a beaded arch on
the right side of the back wall. It presumably led to the kitchens. He'd barely gone
when Harper returned and claimed his seat.
"Well," DJ said with feigned good cheer, "maybe now we'll finally get to see this Elvi."
"Thank God," Edward said in bored tones. "Then I can read the woman and leave. I
hate small towns."
"If you're so sure she won't be your lifemate, why not just leave now?" Victor
suggested, and received a scathing look for his trouble.
"I'm not a fool, Argeneau. I'll wait and read her just to be sure rather than waste this
long, dull journey."
Victor shrugged with disinterest. The man annoyed him, but hopefully, he wouldn't
have to put up with him for long if he couldn't read Elvi.
"Speaking of fools," Edward murmured, spearing Victor with a gaze. "You don't expect
us to believe that you are here looking for a lifemate?"
Victor was aware of the way DJ stiffened beside him, as well as the fact that the other
men were now peering at him with new interest. Alessandro's eyebrows were raised in
question. Harper's expression, however, held a tinge of concern. He, as well as the
other men, knew Victor was one of the enforcers for the council and was no doubt
now considering that if he wasn't there to find a lifemate, he must be there on council
business.
"Well, Argeneau?" Edward prompted.
Victor turned an irritated glance toward him, but Brunswick's return prevented his
putting the immortal in his place for daring to question him.
"How are we doing here?" Brunswick asked as he settled at the table, then without
waiting for an answer, said, "The girls are here and Mabel will be out in just a minute."
"Who is Mabel?" Alessandro asked with confusion. "I am here to meet the Elvi, not
Mabel."
"Yes, yes," Brunswick said quickly. "But Mabel is the one in charge of this whole week."
"I thought Elvi was the one in charge." Harper was frowning. "She arranged things with
me; the e‐mails, the invitation, the directions…"
" Si. Me also," Alessandro agreed.
"And I." Edward's eyes narrowed on the police captain. It seemed obvious to Victor he
was reading his mind and—judging by his expression—was vaguely surprised by what
he was learning. Before Victor could slip into the mortal's thoughts, the beads hanging
in the door between the restaurant and kitchen jangled, bringing about another abrupt
pause to the noise in the room.
Brunswick glanced over his shoulder, and said, "Oh. There she is. I'll be right back." The
man was immediately on his feet and rushing away.
"There is who?" Alessandro asked the table at large. "The Mabel or the Elvi?"
"That woman is not an immortal. If she's Elvi, we can get back in the car and head
home now," DJ said, but his eyes slid over the woman with something akin to interest
as Captain Brunswick led her to their table.
She was in her early sixties by Victor's guess. A tall, trim woman with gray‐blond hair
and a face with few lines and attractive features that still carried a great deal of the
beauty she must have been when younger.
"Mabel, this is Edward Kenric, Harpernus Stoyan, Alessandro Cipriano, Victor
Argeneau, and his friend DJ Benoit," Captain Brunswick introduced as he paused at the
table. "Gentlemen, this is Mabel Allen."
Victor eyed the woman curiously. This then was the friend who co‐owned the
restaurant and bed‐and‐breakfast with Elvi. Brunswick had said her opinion was
important to Elvi, but Victor wasn't there to romance a possible lifemate, so merely
nodded in greeting.
The other "suitors" showed more interest by actually voicing their hellos. DJ, however,