platter."
Elvi winced at the imagery. Despite having met one of the men and finding him really
quite nice and handsome, her mind presented her with an image of her following
Mabel to a table full of Dracula types, all eyeing her speculatively, deciding if she was
good enough for them. Shuddering, she shook her head and stood. "I'm not ready for
this."
"No," Mabel agreed, slipping an arm around her shoulders and urging her toward the
door. "I should have given you a little more warning or something."
"Hmm," Elvi murmured, but didn't think more time would have helped with this. To
her it rather felt as if the whole matter was simply emphasizing how different she now
was from everyone she'd always known and grown up with. Her difference was
something she did her best to avoid acknowledging. A difficult matter considering she
slept in a coffin, couldn't look in a mirror, and no longer got to eat food, but Elvi still
somehow mostly managed it. She suspected she'd become the Queen of Denial these
last five years.
"Go home, change into whatever you want, build a fire and pour yourself a glass of
w—blood."
Elvi knew Mabel had started out saying wine, but had corrected herself. She wished
with all her heart that she could go for the wine. A glass of wine and a fire sounded so
relaxing and normal. A glass of blood and a fire just didn't have the same connotation.
"Do you want me to drive you?" Mabel asked as she opened the office door.
Elvi shook her head. "Don't be silly. It's only three blocks."
"All right. Well, you'll have the house to yourself. I'll keep the men here until the
restaurant closes."
Victor tapped his fingers impatiently on the table top, his gaze fixed on the arch at the
back of the restaurant. Eventually, Elvi had to come out of there, surely? The woman
had left them waiting all night while the restaurant slowly emptied and they were
grilled by Mabel and Brunswick. An experience to be sure. Used to keeping information
about themselves to a minimum with mortals, the five men had sat, shifting
uncomfortably and answering as evasively as possible. However, Mabel was a
determined sort, asking direct questions such as what they did for a living? Were they
married? What were their interests? Victor had been hard‐pressed not to slip into her
mind and make her stop and knew from the glances the men had sent his way, that
the others had hoped he would, but hadn't dared themselves with him there. As the
oldest, a hunter for the council, and a member of one of the oldest families among
their kind, they naturally deferred to him.
Victor hadn't made the woman stop for two simple reasons. One, he felt that if one of
the men did turn out to be a lifemate to Elvi Black, then she should have the
information Mabel was trying to get for her. The second reason was that he was
curious as to how far the woman would go for her friend. It was becoming clear that
while their methods were causing Elvi problems with the council, they were done with
love and loyalty. These two senior citizens were truly trying to help their Elvi. Being
able to present his memories to the council might help the woman when she was
finally dragged before them.
Victor's tapping stopped expectantly when the last customer left and Mabel appeared
from the kitchen to lock the front door and then moved to their table.
"Right," she said, her gaze moving critically from one to the other.
When the silence began to wear on his nerves, Victor asked, "Are we finally going to
get to spend time with Elvi?"
Brunswick glanced at him with surprise. "Elvi went home hours ago. Didn't we mention
that?"
"No, you certainly did not," Victor said shortly. "If that is the case, why have we been
sitting here for hours watching mortals eat? I thought the whole point of this exercise
was to get to know Elvi."
"It is, and you will," Mabel snapped back just as shortly, then added, "She was tired. I
sent her home to relax and get used to the idea of what we've arranged this week."
Understanding immediately flickered through Victor. "You mean she was upset by
what you did behind her back."
Mabel scowled, then ignored him and announced, "We're going to the house now.
Teddy will take four of you in his car and I'll take the remaining one in mine."
"I'll ride with you," DJ announced getting to his feet.
Victor noted the way Mabel's mouth tightened with displeasure. He too found it
difficult to believe DJ would actually volunteer to ride with the old harridan. She'd
done nothing but criticize and harass him and DJ all night. The woman most definitely
wouldn't have anything good to say about them to Elvi. Not that he cared, but he