Page 25 of Becoming D'Vaire
The windows in his lab were all blacked out, so Grigori truly had no way of knowing what time of day it was, but he couldn’t believe he’d wiled away that many hours. “It can’t be eleven, Tigglesworth. My date was for six thirty.”
“Lord Grigori, where’s your phone so you can check the time for yourself?”
Grigori turned on his sneakered heel and ran into his lab to hunt down his phone. He wouldn’t have tuned out the alarms he set to meet with Delaney.This simply cannot be happening, he thought with increasing fear. He tore through the sheets of notes scattered around his large workspace. The device was nowhere to be found. Grigori’s palms grew slick as panic became full-fledged. “I can’t find it, Tigglesworth. It was supposed to be here. Fate help me, I can’t have done this to him. It’s our first date.” He whipped around to face Tigglesworth. “Tell me this is a joke. It’s like five, right? I still have plenty of time to meet him.”
Tigglesworth reached out and grasped his shoulders. He gave him the smallest of shakes. “Calm down my lord. Everything’s going to be fine. You’ll simply call your High Arcanist and explain to him what’s happened. He’ll understand and realize you didn’t miss your engagement on purpose.”
Grigori put his swampy hands over his face and used his fingertips to press hard on his eyeballs. “Why did I get a mate? It’s obvious I’m completely incapable of knowing how to treat anyone. We’ve barely met, and he already hates me.”
Tigglesworth yanked his arms down to his sides. “Nonsense, my lord. Mistakes are made all the time. I assure you, High Arcanist Delaney has made them himself. Now, take a deep breath, and I’ll help you locate your cell phone. You’ll dial him right away and by the end of the call, you’ll both be laughing over your absentmindedness.”
“You think so?”
“Lord Grigori, I know so. Come along, let’s find that phone.”
Grigori trailed after Tigglesworth with his stomach clenched in knots. “I’ll call him. I’ll just tell him what I did, and he’ll understand,” he muttered to calm himself.
“Exactly, my lord.”
Tigglesworth opened the door to his bedroom, and the first thing Grigori saw was his phone sitting on the table he’d probably tossed it on while he dressed. The light was flashing, and Delaney had likely texted or called wondering where the hell he was. “There it is,” he said as he snatched it and clutched it tight in his damp palm.
“Call him, my lord.”
“Absolutely. I will. I hope he—”
“Just call, my lord.”
“Okay. Calling,” he replied as he swiped the screen. There were a half a dozen texts and three voicemails waiting. Knowing they’d do nothing to calm him, he tapped until Delaney’s contact information came up. Tigglesworth headed for the door and Grigori said, “Thank you, Tigglesworth. Sorry I kept you and Charlie up late.”
“Charles and I will manage, my lord. Good night.”
“Night,” Grigori responded, then hit the screen one last time to connect to an angry dark wizard that he’d stood up on their first date.This matebond couldn’t have started out worse, he thought with terror swimming through his brain. He hoped to hell he hadn’t screwed up things permanently.
* * *
Delaney hit play on the remote as he curled up under the blanket with his familiar. Greggory was more than happy to cuddle, and for that Delaney was grateful. His evening was the single most humiliating night of his life.That’s what happens when I let go and try to be happy, he thought with derision. Bad shit followed, and that was exactly the category being stood up by the man picked out for you by Fate fell in.
For three hours, he’d sat at a table set for a romantic evening for two. Delaney wasn’t even sure why he stayed so long except that he’d understood his entire family would know the minute he returned to D’Vaire. Instead of filling their heads with all the new information he gleaned, Delaney was forced to explain that he’d texted and called but received zero contact from one Vampyr Lord Grigori Volkov.
He wasn’t gorgeous and being a dark wizard scared the crap out of people, but he hadn’t expected to be left sitting alone in a restaurant like an idiot. Delaney didn’t eat anything, he kept telling himself Grigori would show up, and he’d be the one who looked like a jerk for starting without him. Finally, when he couldn’t take another minute, he sheepishly wandered over to Gavrael and Gedeon to explain that it was time to go home.
Neither Skeleton Lord asked for confirmation, and they’d all teleported back to the D’Vaire mansion. Delaney didn’t field many questions and retreated to his room as soon as he could. He took his third shower of the day to get all the product out he’d so dutifully dumped into his hair so Grigori wouldn’t be embarrassed to be in his company. Then he’d tugged on one of his many pairs of pajamas—the pants were decorated with coffins with angry faces which suited his mood.
“Good thing I didn’t really believe I’d be in a happy matebond,” Delaney whispered to Greggory as one of his favorite horror movies played. He pretended not to notice the tear that slipped down his cheek.
For his part, Greggory burrowed under his chin and made a few throaty sounds that were comforting in their familiarity. They were about twenty minutes in when Delaney’s phone rang, and both wizard and dragon jumped at the sound. Grabbing it from the nightstand, Delaney saw Grigori’s number flash onto the screen. For five seconds he considered not answering it, but he decided that just because Grigori was an asshat didn’t mean Delaney was going to ignore Fate. Besides, he wanted a clear conscience when he told the vampire to fuck off.
“Yeah,” he said into it once he accepted the call and lifted the device to his ear. He paused his movie and hugged Greggory close with his free arm.
“I amsosorry about tonight. I didn’t mean to miss our date. I hope you’ll let me explain why I didn’t show up and allow me to profusely apologize. I’d also really like the opportunity to make it up to you. I was looking forward to getting to know you.”
Yeah right, Delaney thought with a roll of his eyes. “I’d appreciate an explanation as to why you thought it was okay to ask me out and not bother to show up. I have much better things to do with my time than sit in a restaurant all night without eating.”
“Oh, you didn’t eat? That’s terrible, you should’ve at least gotten something. I’ve been there before, they’ve got a great menu.”
“I’m still waiting for your explanation, Vampyr Lord.”
“Call me Grigori, okay? Please. See, here’s what happened. I’m…well, I guess you could nicely call it absentminded. I tend to lose track of time. So, I decided to put three alarms on my phone for tonight. Only when I went into my lab, I didn’t remember to bring the damn phone with me. When Tigglesworth—that’s our butler—knocked on the door and told me it was eleven, I didn’t believe him. I was sure it was around five, and I still had plenty of time to get showered and changed so I could meet you. I simply can’t tell you how sorry I am. I feel like I’ve already failed as a mate, and we haven’t even really started yet. I don’t want you to think I’m not interested in pursuing our relationship, because nothing could be further from the truth. I hope you’ll accept my sincerest apology. I’mreallysorry.”
