~

 

 

Valerie couldn’t sleep, but that wasn’t unusual. Back home in her own bed she could toss and turn for hours. Usually, she just gave up trying and went to the kitchen to make herself a hot chocolate.

But she wasn’t at home and what had been keeping her awake was very unusual circumstances. The thought of being Quinn’s mate kept circling her mind like the four winds being whipped up into a twister and gathering all other thoughts in its path.

Then there was the sound that reminded her of someone trying to start a lawnmower, over and over again. She didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to realize that sound came from her mate.

Quinn was obviously somewhere outside of the bedroom door. That sound was obviously him snoring.

Not exactly a selling point as a mate. She might just need earplugs.

Valerie tossed the covers back on the bed and rolled over to the edge. She pushed to a sitting position and dangled her feet.

With a tired mutter of annoyance for the man and his snoring ways, she stood up, pushed her feet into her slippers, and started for the door.

She unlocked it the same way that she had locked him outside — with her magic — and she was ready to give him a piece of her mind when she pulled the door open and saw him curled up on the floor, sleeping like a baby.

Valerie wasn’t sure why she didn’t have the heart to zap him, but she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. With a roll of her eyes and a grumble on her lips, she gave a small shake of her head as she tiptoed by him.

She might not have been able to zap him, but that was probably a good thing because he would only have followed her downstairs like a lost puppy, and all she wanted was to make a cup of hot chocolate in peace. She didn’t think Sarah would mind.

“No, no, no. You go right ahead and sleep like a baby, you old fart, while I prowl the halls in search of hot chocolate.” She muttered under her breath, but there was a smile on her lips at the memory of her mate all curled up on the floor.

 

~

~

~

 

Elizabeth couldn’t breathe. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. She could breathe if she could just remember how to do it.

He’d kissed her to oblivion and then snatched those lips away again leaving her high and dry and clinging to him so that she didn’t collapse in a heap at his feet.

“Why’d you stop?” Elizabeth wanted to kick herself for the fact that those were the first words out of her mouth.

“Right now — I’m asking myself the same damn question.” Rick offered a hungry growl.

“Brownie points for the answer.”

“This isn’t my cabin — this isn’t even a bedroom,” Rick said and noted the way that she dragged her eyes away from him to flick around the room.

“Well, would you look at that?” She gave a small chuckle that sounded rather dirty to his ears. He growled again.

“Let me show you my cabin,” Rick said and frowned in the process. “That didn’t sound right.”

“I don’t know — it sounded pretty good to me.” She offered him a grin that was both mischievous and full of glee.

There was another long, deep, very hungry growl that rolled through his chest and caught in his throat, and she liked the sound of that. It was kind of like a promise of things to come.

Rick took the smallest step back, growled, bent at the waist and tossed her right over his left shoulder. She gave a small squeal of surprise — but that was nothing compared to the sound of a haunting screen that went up from somewhere in the inn.

Rick had been about turn towards the back door. He froze in place, listened hard, and was about to start off for the internal door when he remembered that Elizabeth was still hanging over his shoulder.

“Mother!” Elizabeth bit out.

Rick couldn’t lower her to her feet on the floor fast enough as she struggled to get away.

“Elizabeth, stay behind me,” Rick growled as he wrapped his hand around her wrist and tugged her body behind the safety of his back.

 

~

~

~

 

All hell had broken loose at the inn. Elder witches tried their best to scramble out of their beds at the sound of the screen. Rushing to do anything at their age wasn’t an easy task.

Dorothy and Angela bickered with their respective mates about who should take point as they made their way onto the landing, and both women looked relieved to know that the scream hadn’t come from either of them.

“Sarah?” Dorothy hissed.

“Better not be!” Angela bit out as they started towards the staircase with their mates in front of them like human shields.

The chatter from the landing above as the elder witches gathered to see what was happening and talk among themselves sounded like a gaggle of geese. Hank hushed them.

“I can’t hear myself think.” He grumbled.

“Just follow the scent of blood in the air,” Lark mumbled back. He didn’t want their mates, or the elders to hear what he had to say.

 

~

~

~

 

Sarah raced from the kitchen into the back hallway. Her eyes took in the scene of Valerie lying unconscious on the floor. There was blood gushing from a wound to her head, and Robert was backing away from Valerie’s broken body.

“She just wouldn’t stop interfering,” Robert bit out.

The man looked somewhat surprised to see Valerie lying there. Maybe even shocked by what he’d done.

“Chloe! Get in here now!” Sarah didn’t need to think twice about inviting the vampire into the inn. It was the right thing to do. It was the only thing to do.

If it wasn’t already too late, then it would be Valerie’s only chance.

“She — she — shouldn’t have medalled.” Robert bit out. His top lip twitched with the rage that still burned inside of him.

Sarah reached for her magic as Chloe appeared beside her.

“What about him?” Chloe asked, and Sarah knew why. He was human and if they needed to wipe his memory and it didn’t work — there was only one outcome.

“He’s dead either way,” Sarah bit out.

Robert’s cold, hard eyes met hers. His brain took a moment to process what she had said, but when it did, he made his first move towards her.

“Mother!” Elizabeth exclaimed as she raced down the hallway to be by her mother’s side as Chloe bent onto one knee.

“No!” Rick growled as his mate put herself between him and Robert.

Robert turned towards Elizabeth, and in one fast movement, he’d snatched her from her path, against his body, as he wrapped an arm around her neck and breathed hard against her ear.

“Now we can be together,” Robert said.

Rick growled hard at the sight of the man’s hands on his mate. His wolf clawed to be set free — but he wanted the kill for himself. His only problem was how to get Elizabeth to safety first.

Chloe released her fangs and hissed at the man like a coiled snake ready to strike. She snatched Robert’s attention away from everything else as the look of horror, and sheer disbelief was etched onto his face. She lifted her hand and sunk her fangs into her own flesh.

“Not bloody likely, you psycho,” Elizabeth ground out as she unleashed her magic from every inch of her body and the pain screamed through his.