Page 35 of Victory for Vampires

“There’s so much to do,” Alé says as we come close to the portal. “Now that we’re allowed back in, we need to figure out how to bring everything through, and?—”

I grab his hand and thread my fingers through it. “And it’ll be easy, because we can step right through the portal and go back and forth.”

Alé’s expression goes thoughtful as he stares at the green portal next to our new location. A beautifully hand-painted sign above the portal door reads “Ever.” Looking up, I smile, because I hadn’t noticed until now that security is placed all around the cavernous station.

A dark purple gargoyle crouches quietly on a small platform far above the door, near the ceiling. He barely moves. When I listen, there’s no heartbeat.

So he’s unmated.

Tipping my head to him, I follow Diavolo and Alé through the portal.

It’s different from Ever’s portal, which is a long green tube. This is more of a short hallway. We emerge on the opposite side, stepping into Shifter Hollow’s portal station, which bustles with monsters I don’t recognize.

That means tourists.

And tourists mean money.

All the sleepless nights, all the tears, it all feels worth it, knowing our beautiful mate will come home to us tonight. Andtomorrow? Well, tomorrow she’ll come right back here to work with a far shorter commute.

I push love through our bond, smiling when she shoves it right back like a hug for my soul.

Ahead, Diavolo and Alé rib each other as they walk toward the portal station’s exit. And I smile watching them. We are so, so, so lucky.

20

VALENTINA

The fake sky above us shimmers every shade of pink and purple as it emulates a sunset. I sit on a bench in a gorgeous, modern seating area in the middle of the portal station, watching as monsters come and go. They seem to marvel at how easy it is. Two minotaur males holding hands emerge from the portal to Rainbow, in America’s New York state. The smaller male cries quietly. Once they’re out of the portal, the bigger one pulls him into his arms.

I don’t mean to eavesdrop, but vampiric hearing is so good that I pick up their conversation. They haven’t visited home in years because there used to be over forty portal stops between Hearth HQ and Rainbow. Now it’s one portal. They just saw a friend for the first time in decades.

Smiling, I move my gaze around the room. How many families will be reunited because of this station? How many love stories—like mine—will have happier endings because of it? Tears fill my eyes until I hear the familiar clack of Evenia’s signature heels. Brushing the tears away, I stand and smooth my jacket and skirt.

My boss stops next to me, hands clasped at her waist. She eyes me up and down, her gaze cool and assessing. Like always, I lift my chin and return her vicious smile.

To my surprise, her smile grows wider, seeming almost genuine. She looks around the portal station and sighs.

I don’t dare say a word.

Eventually, she looks at me. “You did a good job, Valentina. You convinced me to do something that many monsters have tried to convince me of over the years. But I always found fault with their plan. Well done.”

I’m almost too flabbergasted to respond, but I manage to thank her as gracefully as I can.

Her smile goes thoughtful. “You almost remind me of me, a little bit, when I was younger.” She casts her eyes down my figure and back up. “I was more cutthroat. You’re softer around the edges, but moldable, I think.”

Gods, I hope she doesn’t think that was a compliment?

She stares at the portal directly in front of us. It leads to Azuro, my home haven. “We’re overwhelmed with applications for the first wave of monsters to move from Azuro to Tesoro. That’s because of you, too. You’ve shown enormous creativity in the design of that haven. I can’t wait to see what you come up with for the next one. Rainbow grows large; we should tackle another New York location next.”

“Of course,” I say as smoothly as I can. That she wants to start another project so soon speaks volumes about her confidence in Tesoro’s success. We’re not even done building it yet!

Evenia turns on her heel, glancing at me over her shoulder. “Don’t let my praise go to your head, little dove. I’ll be expecting more from you now that you’re Chief Haven Designer. You’ll be working many nights and weekends. Who knows if you’ll even have time for those two pretty mates of yours.”

That said, she stalks off toward the exit, leaving me in a cloud of ecstasy despite her parting commentary.

The work ahead of us will be time-consuming, but doing it has always been my dream. Grinning, I grab my bag and head for the portal to Ever.

Time to go home.

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