Page 1 of Act of Command

Chapter One

Mae Bertelot glanced at her best friend Alice and then turned, facing the mirror once more. She smoothed the front of the floor-length, pale yellow dress that had been a birthday present from Alice. She’d worried it might be too much to wear on a dinner date, but Alice had promised it would be perfect. Mae had to admit she loved the dress. It made her feel like a whimsical princess.

Her friend had great taste in clothing. Mae really didn’t. She liked to shop the bargain bins at thrift stores. The older and more vintage an article appeared to be, the more she wanted to wear it. She loved dresses and skirts, and her favorite article of clothing—an item Alice would never be caught dead in—was an old sweater she’d found for a few dollars at one of the thrift stores.

Everything Alice wore came with a designer label and price tag. Mae didn’t even want to think on what the dress must have cost. For as much as Alice liked the finer things in life, she appreciated gifts from the heart as well. For Alice’s birthday, Mae had made her a necklace, each bead hand-sculpted by Mae and painstakingly painted. Alice cherished the gift.

Like Mae, Alice preferred to live on campus. They shared a dorm that had a common living area in the center and then a separate bedroom for each of them. Though of opposite minds when it came to men and clothing, the two meshed well and were best friends, and had been ever since they met their freshman year in a required English course. Mae’s love of reading was well known and Alice’s hate of it was equally as famous. They’d started as study buddies and by the end of their freshman year they’d agreed to be roommates for the rest of their college life. They were both fifth-year seniors now, so the choice had been a wise one.

Sure, they had their differences, but that only made the friendship stronger. Alice was a much freer spirit when it came to sex and dating than Mae. Dating just wasn’t her thing. It was certainly Alice’s, as Alice often went on a new date several times a week. She’d been known to take off with a new boyfriend and spend a week skiing or on a beach without letting anyone know what she was doing. Alice’s family was used to the behavior and always managed to smooth things over with the university if Alice missed too many days.

Mae’s parents didn’t share that outlook and would have been greatly disappointed if she pulled anything close to that. Not that she ever would. Her parents were heading out for a three-week vacation to Europe to visit with their overseas friends and spend some romantic time together. Mae knew she’d have limited access to them while they were gone because of some of the locations they’d be staying in and the time zone differences. She didn’t mind. It warmed her heart knowing they were still every bit in love as when they’d met long ago. Her parents, like Alice’s, were much older than they appeared. Immortal was how it had been explained to her. However, she knew they could and would eventually die. Immortal was just a nice way to say they would live much longer than a human.

Originally from Germany, her parents had fled to the United States before the Second World War and had been living there, hiding among humans ever since. While they did well for themselves, they weren’t frivolous with their money, nor had they raised Mae to feel she was entitled to anything. They were sweet and loving parents, and Mae couldn’t imagine taking off for a week and not telling them first. Although, she had considered vanishing for a while when her mother had called informing her that Mae would be going on a blind date with a friend of the family.

No friend she’d ever met.

Corbin Jones.

She’d never heard of him, but that didn’t mean much. Ellen, her mother, kept her finger on the pulse of society and was a walking book of who’s who among the elite. Mae could intermingle with them, but didn’t necessarily enjoy spending large amounts of time around them. She understood she was blessed with loving parents, a happy home, and privileges that most weren’t afforded, so she didn’t look the gift horse in the mouth.

She volunteered monthly, helping to deliver meals to elderly who were homebound, and she took a full course load. For now, that would have to do. Alice came from money as well, and while she had no problems spending it, she and Mae had become so close over their years at university that neither wanted to separate or move off campus. More than that, the women shared something else in common—they weren’t human, and both were adopted when they were infants. They had sensed the fact they were more than human within seconds of meeting one another, and from that point forward, they’d been like two peas in a pod.

“Turn around, let me see,” directed Alice from her spot on her bed.

Mae still wasn’t certain about Alice’s choice of clothing for her blind date tonight. “Are you sure I look all right? I should go with the blue skirt and white tank top.”

“You should sing to him and it won’t matter if you’re wearing a paper bag or your pajamas.” Alice lay back on her bed and smiled wide, her long red hair falling partially over her shoulder. Tiny freckles dotted her nose and upper cheeks. Mae had always been jealous of them to some degree.

Mae laughed nervously. “I’ve solemnly sworn off singing.”

“Girl, you understand that even when you just hum, you can bend men to your will?” asked Alice. “I want that superpower from the supernatural power lotto.”

Mae cringed. Alice was being generous. Mae could hardly bend men to her will. She mostly just broke them. It wasn’t a gift she relished. In fact, she hated it. She had nearly no control over it, which meant she had to always remember to avoid singing in any form or fashion. There was no telling what the results would be.

“Remember that time you were singing in the shower here and the sound carried?” asked Alice before grinning wide. “That one guy heard it and I thought he was going to sleep outside our door forever. He just hung out there, like a lost puppy or something. Pathetic.”

“He stayed out there a good four days before campus police removed him,” said Mae with a sigh. “I didn’t mean to do that to him.”

“You never do.” Alice shrugged. “Sing for Corbin. He’ll propose.”

Mae laughed. “Or go crazy. That would be my luck, wouldn’t it? Most seem to go nuts.”

“Good point.” Alice stretched her arms above her head. “I need to feed.”

Mae glanced at her friend. Alice had a bit of succubus in her and required sexual energy every week. As far as Mae could gather, Alice didn’t need actual sex, but that certainly did the trick. They’d learned that Mae’s humming could sometimes calm Alice’s urges. It was strange the way the supernatural world worked. Neither girl questioned it. They just went with it.

“What are your plans for the night?” Mae asked.

Alice grinned. “Heading over to that frat party. I figure there will be people all over each other. I can get drunk from the energy there. Should fill me up.”

Mae surveyed herself in the mirror. “Do I look like a cake topper?”

“You look smoking hot,” said Alice, motioning with her hand for Mae to turn in a full circle. Mae did, and Alice clapped. “Stick with the yellow one. You can pull that color off. A lot of women can’t. Your date is going to love it. I hope he’s hot. Oh, and hung. You need a hot, hung guy to rock your world.”

Smoking hot wasn’t exactly Mae’s goal. Neither was hot and hung. She’d promised her mother to give this guy a chance and to take the date seriously. Her mother had given her limited details on Corbin, only saying that she could feel free to be herself around him, and there would be no need to hide who and what she was.

A supernatural.

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