Chapter 2

Georgia Devarsi zippedup her travel case after ensuring she had all her favorite toiletries, when her phone buzzed.

"Hi, Mom," she said after pressing the speaker button.

She'd come to Villanohvah for her mom's seventy-fifth birthday, although she'd been turned as a vampire when she was thirty-five, so it was more an anniversary of her fortieth thirty-fifth birthday.

The last week had been a fun time hanging out with her parents' kiss, which was small and had the benefit of being almost entirely made up of Devarsi family members, from aunts and uncles to cousins and grandparents, they'd all been turned and enjoyed their immortality together, having lavish parties and celebrating anniversaries instead of birthdays.

"Hello, sweetheart, I have a favor to ask."

"What favor would that be?"

"I'd like for you to talk to your cousin Heinrich."

"Why?"

"He's got a friend who would be perfect for you."

"Ugh, Mom," she said. "You spent the entire time I was here trying to fix me up with randos."

"They weren't randos," her mom protested.

She shouldered her bag and picked up her phone. She'd been staying in the guest house at her parents' estate. It had been a nice time away from the underground apartment she had below Heat, the vampire club owned by Caleb and his mate Lia. She hadn't taken a vacation in years, and her mom's birthday celebration had been a good excuse to get away from Belle Terra for a little while.

Even if her parents had spent the whole time trying to find her a man.

"I'm waiting for my truemate, remember?"

"It's been twenty years."

"I'm aware," Georgia said dryly.

"So you won't meet with Heinrich? He'll be disappointed."

"He'll get over it, we're not that close anyway."

"Well, if you insist on staying single."

"Mom, I'm not insisting on being single, I just haven't found my truemate yet. I'm immortal, it's not like my biological clock is ticking or something."

A sad truth about vampires. A male vampire could have children for around ten years after their turning, but a female became sterile immediately. She never really understood why their turnings were so different, but she suspected it had to do with the way a female's body had to change during pregnancy and therefore, once it froze after turning, the body couldn't change again.

She hadn't minded not having kids of her own when she was turned all those years ago, and she truly hoped that her truemate didn't mind that she was unable to provide children. She'd always figured she'd end up with a vampire for a mate, but there was always the possibility that she'd have a shifter or human for a mate who'd she have to turn herself.

She'd never turned anyone, but it wasn't a terribly difficult thing to do.

Then she and her mate could live forever and that was pretty damn cool.

"You'll come to the house to say goodbye?"

"Of course," she said. She glanced at her watch. She was an hour from Belle Terra, and it was about two hours until sunrise. If she didn't get on the way, she'd be stuck at the house until sunset. "See you in a few minutes."

She hustled from the house and put her things in her car, then said goodbye first to her grandparents, who lived in another home on the grounds, then she drove to her parents' home to say goodbye, keeping her eye on the clock.

She was ready to get back to Belle Terra.

In fact, she felt like she needed to get there as soon as possible, and she really couldn't figure out why she felt that way.

* * *

Georgia had left with time to spare, leaving the grand estate at the center of town in her rearview and heading toward Belle Terra. She'd enjoyed the time away with her family, but was looking forward to getting back to her normal routine. She was Lia's assistant and worked in the offices near the club. Lia was a great boss, and she enjoyed working for her and helping to manage her busy life.

Lia was pregnant, and in a few months, she'd be taking a long time off from the office, so they were working toward getting as much done as they could before she had her baby. Caleb was planning to take time off as well, but as the master of the coven, he wasn't as able to take as much time off as Lia was.

Georgia wanted to be as helpful to her boss as possible and ease any burden she might feel about needing to work when she should be resting and spending time with her baby.

Something caught her eye in the darkness to the side of the road and she peered to the right, but didn't see whatever flashing thing she'd seen, so she wondered if she'd imagined it.

Then she heard a soft popping sound and her car veered wildly as the tires went flat, the flapping sound of the rubber on the road second only to the screech of her brakes as she stomped on the pedal. The car swerved hard to the left, then lurched to the right, landing with a thud in a ditch, the front end of the car down at an angle.

"Shit."

She pressed the GPS screen for the phone and called the security team at the kiss's offices.

"Nash."

"It's Georgia."

"Hello, what can I do for you?"

"I'm in trouble. I think my tires blew and I'm still forty minutes from the club and the sun will be up in less than an hour."

"I'll reach out to the hotel and have one of the shifters come get you. Where are you? Are you hurt?"

She used the map to give her coordinates, then assured him she was fine, just worried about the sunlight.

"Do you have a blanket or clothes you can cover yourself with?" he asked.

"Yes," she said, thinking about her bag in the trunk.

"Good, I'll be sure they come with a panel van that won't let light in the back. Call me if anything comes up." He paused, then said, "Did you hit something?"

"I don't know. I heard a popping sound and then my car went nuts. I don't think I hit anything, but I'm not sure."

"As long as you're safe. Stay with your car."

"Will do. Thanks, Nash."

She ended the call, and sent a message to Lia, letting her know what had happened, then she carefully got out of the car, climbed to the back, and opened the trunk. Extracting her bag, she closed the trunk and wished she was one of those people who was ready for anything, like having emergency blankets to cover the windows and synthetic blood to drink, and a couple extra tires would be helpful, although with her car down in the ditch, replacing the tires wasn't the only thing that she needed to do.

She had the strangest feeling she was being watched as she made her way back to the driver's door. Before she got back in, she looked around her, peering into the darkness. The road was lined with a ditch on both sides, then trees beyond. The sky was dark but lit with a bright moon, making everything appear blue-hued.

She didn't see anything, but she felt something. Her skin erupted in goosebumps and the back of her neck tingled.

She didn't have a thing to protect herself with in the car, just her own strength and speed that came naturally from being a vampire. She stared until her eyes ached, and then she shook her head and sat behind the wheel. Locking the doors, she settled in the seat and closed her eyes to wait for help.

She pressed the button once more to make sure the doors were locked, satisfied when she heard the click.

The sun would be up in a little while, and she hoped to hell she was on her way back to Belle Terra. She'd never been stuck outside this close to dawn before, and her nerves were singing like a choir, but she refused to panic. It wouldn't do her any good, anyway. If the sun started to rise, she'd cover herself with the clothes from her bag, and when she got home? She'd get one of those damn emergency kits and put a few blankets and other necessities in the back of her car, and hope to hell she never needed to use them again.

I just want to get home safely.