Page 29 of Victory for Vampires

“I know.” His tone is soft, thoughtful. “It’ll crush me if she’s not successful. I’m on board with moving here if Evenia doesn’t approve the plan. I know it’s not what we want, but perhaps it could be short-term. Or we could split our time somehow.”

We’ve considered all of these options over the years.

“I don’t know if she’d let us,” I say with a huffy laugh. “She’s always been so adamant about us not giving up a single dream for her. Since we were young, we’ve always said that.”

“We wouldn’t do it without further conversation, obviously,” he says. “But I don’t think I can do this anymore. And now that I feel her in my chest, it’ll kill me when we leave…”

Focusing inwardly, I look for her like I’ve done for centuries. But this time, she’s there. Peaceful and safe and dreaming of something sweet. When we part from her, it’ll crush me, and I’ll feel her and Alé’s pain as well.

“You’re right,” I concede. “I’m going to assume she’ll be successful, because I believe, if anyone can be, it’s Val. But…” I trail off as I stare at my handsome mate. “If she’s not, we should tell her we’d like to come here, for real. We mentioned it earlier, but we should revisit it.”

Alé says nothing, eyes glittering in the darkness. But I sense his agreement and resignation in our bond. He doesn’t love that plan, and he doesn’t think she’ll love it either, but he believes it’s the right thing to do.

And when it comes to Valentina’s happiness, we will always choose that.

17

VALENTINA

Nerves bash around my insides as I pace across the dark stone lobby of Hearth HQ. The friendly minotaur security guard smiles at me and nods, big, powerful horns dipping respectfully.

He doesn’t know I have my huge presentation today, but it feels like he’s giving me a little boost when he smiles and examines my briefcase and storage tube. I almost hiss at him to be careful when he pokes around at my mockups. I hold my tongue, though.

The bond in my chest warms and glows with confidence. Alé and Pietro fill me with love from the inside out, and that love pushes some of the nerves away. I wish they could be with me for the presentation, but I’d already asked Evenia to do this privately. If I know anything about my prickly boss, it’s that surprising her with Grand Portal Station in a room full of our coworkers wouldnotgo well.

Once the security guard’s done with his investigation of my things, I cross to the elevators and step through a sparkly blue surface to detect any spells or potions. It’s something Evenia’s always insisted on. She allows no magic inside Hearth HQ aside from the building being alive like they all are.

That done, I rush to the elevator and ride it to the top floor where her office is, examining myself in the shiny interior paneling. Kohl lines my eyes, darkening them and lending me a somewhat vicious air. I’ve pulled my long waves high onto my head in a tight, efficient bun. I dressed in a fitted gray skirt and vest with a matching collared shirt that dips low, showing my family tattoos.

Evenia loves a strong look, and I’m counting on that to get me off to a good start.

When the elevator doors open into a shiny black waiting room, I wear a confident smile. Heels clacking on the stone floor, I cross a sumptuously decorated midnight lobby to a desk where Evenia’s executive assistant sits.

“Hello, Aberen,” I croon to the handsome vampire seated there. “I’m here for my ten a.m. presentation.”

The elegant, ancient vampire, who’s also one of Evenia’s two mates, dips his head at me. “I’ll let her know you’re here. Have a seat, please; we’re running a few minutes behind.”

No the fuck she’s not,I want to scream. It’s a power play. She always lets me stew for a solid ten minutes before she allows me into her office. I’ve been her direct report for almost two hundred years. I’m well aware of her tactics.

Instead, I smile and nod, then turn and cross the lobby. I drop into one of the tufted black velvet chairs and set my bag and tube next to me.

Half a fucking hour later, Evenia’s office doors swing open, and she steps gracefully out, giving me a hard once-over. Her other mate, Betmal, steps out with a sour look on his face and a stack of paperwork tucked under one arm.

He doesn’t say a word to her or Aberen as he lifts his chin and heads for the door. I know better than to even look his direction or act like something’s wrong. But the air smells irritated and sour as she waves for me to enter her office.

When I do, she slams the door behind us. Ominous worry fills me. If she was arguing with her mate prior to this meeting, we might not get off to a good start.

“Evenia,” I begin, “we can do this another time if?—”

“Did I say it was a bad time?” she snaps, waving at the empty office. Like outside, everything is dark and elegant. Plush black rug, black velvet drapes, even her desk is glossy black wood, inlaid with her family crest.

There’s no good answer to her question, so I don’t answer it, assuming it’s more rhetorical than anything. I set my bag down on an inky velvet chair in front of her desk, withdrawing my proposal book, my art stand, and a pen and blank notebook for any feedback.

She rounds the desk and sits, crossing one leg slowly over the other with her eyes narrowed. I won’t let her ruffle me and fuck this up, so I quickly set up the stand and attach my illustrated mockups to the top. They’re in order. I’m ready for anything she throws at me.

I send love to my mates, and then I shut down any focus on the bond while I do this. I need this to work—for them, for me, for all the monsters this is a pain point for now.

Leaning forward, I slide my proposal notebook across the shiny desk to Evenia. Nodding at it, I meet her gaze. “Within my proposal, you’ll find all the information you asked for, including a layout of the suggested area for the new haven, as well as all the schematics of the main living area. I’ve aggregated feedback from our top six performing havens in terms of growth and happiness. It’s all there. For today, I thought it might be easier to walk through mockups of Tesoro, a name voted on systemwide by our constituents. But if you’d prefer to walk through the proposal itself, we can do that too.”

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