5. James

JAMES

The ancient stone structure, normally hidden from human eyes by some ancient wards, loomed overhead, towering over us like the imposing guardian of secrets that it was. When I’d kissed her neck, I’d placed the charm on Rose’s skin that allowed her to see through the wards.

I hadn’t meant to let myself breathe her in. She smelled so damn delicious, and I’d been a half second away from sinking my fangs into that thick artery which was pumping her blood so close to the surface I could practically already taste it.

I was simply supposed to use the excuse of brushing her hair out of her way to deposit the charm on her. But that deep, rich, chocolatey scent of her blood called to me like a siren of need. I’d been smelling her arousal filling the confined space of the plane for hours and even the fresh air at dusk hadn’t cleared either scent from my senses.

I couldn’t let that happen again. I absolutely would maintain a professional distance from her for the rest of her stay. If I had to shove cotton wool up my nose, I would. The castle kitchen had better be stocked with plenty of O neg, because I was going to down every bottle they had and then some just to keep myself satiated around her.

We parked on the side, and I grabbed Rose’s luggage and let her get out of the car herself, like an asshole. She stared at the grand entrance with the heavy wooden doors, and shivered, I imagined with excitement. I wanted her to shake and quiver because of my touch. Bollocks.

Like a fool, I placed my hand at the small of her back and escorted her through the doors, letting them creak shut behind us.

“Holy crap. It’s a whole ass gothic castle.” She gawked with awe and wonder, and I reveled in the adorableness of her introduction to my average, everyday world.

“Welcome to Caisteal Dubh Mhaothlinne,” Gabriel said, appearing out of the shadows to greet us. He gave Rose his usual easygoing smile, but there was something off, it was evident in his tense stance. He wasn’t even supposed to be here, and I’d expected a brigade of Mary’s ladies in waiting to meet us and take Rose to her rooms.

I shot him a what-the-fuck-is-going-on glare and he almost imperceptibly shook his head and nodded toward Rose.

One of Mary’s staff, one of the few humans who’d chosen the gift of long life and protection by the Immortal Royals in exchange for their service, finally came down the stairs to greet Rose and take her to her rooms. “Ms. Abernathy? We’re so pleased to have you. Follow me, and I’ll show you to your quarters. I’ll be available for anything you need during your stay, at your security detail’s discretion of course.”

“Ohh, my quarters.” Rose glanced at me with an impressed moue. “Exciting. Lead the way.”

She went to grab her bag, but the staff woman stopped her with a shake of her head and a hand held out. “No, no. We’ll have your bags brought up, miss. Please save your energy for attending Princess Mary.”

“Princess?”

Ah, shite. None of us were used to having a human around who wasn’t initiated and planning to stay. We’d need to have a chat with the staff and the guests to review the rules while Rose was here. This was the last fucking time we should allow one of Mary’s whims to have a human around.

Gabriel jumped in to save the day. “Just something those of us working for her call her. You’ll understand when you meet her, but keep that to yourself, duck.”

“Gotcha.” She made little finger guns at Gabriel, and I had to clench my fists not to move and stand between the two of them, so those fingers were aimed at me instead. My reward for that was her attention back on me, where I got a dazzling smile that would put all the modern toothpaste commercials to shame. “James, I’ll see you later?”

“You will.” I gave her a curt nod, trying my damndest to look like a fucking professional and not someone who wanted to follow her straight up to her rooms, shut the door, ravage her in the manner in which she deserved, and not come out for a week straight.

Once she was safely away, I faced Gabriel, whose friendly expression was?replaced by a grim one. “Bad news, chap.”

I knew it. “What?”

If there was a threat against Rose’s safety, I was taking her out of here immediately if not sooner. And fuck me. That was unlikely. The threat would be against either us or the Immortal Royals. The hunters didn’t care about anything but eliminating us from the face of the Earth. If anything, they’d try to recruit Rose to their cause.

She’d probably be better off with them than me.

“We intercepted some chatter. The hunters have caught wind of Mary’s party and are planning to crash it. And, of course, there is no talking her out of holding it.” Gabriel’s words sent an unprecedented anger through me. As if I didn’t have enough problems having Rose being surrounded by supernatural beings, now there was a threat from those absolute arseholes?

I was fighting to keep my emotions in check, which was far from my normal MO. “We need to ensure Rose’s safety.”

“Rose’s? Not Mary’s?”

Shit. “Both, of course, both.”

Gabe shifted his full attention to me and that was rarely a good thing. “Something you want to tell me about?”

It took all I had in me not to visibly sigh.?”Get Fleming here, now. I need him to work on a serum for me.”

That got his attention. “What kind of serum? Were you attacked? That should have been your lead. Those fucking hunters and their damned misguided mission.”

I was going to have to tell him everything, wasn’t I? “No. We didn’t see hide nor hair of hunters. It’s... Rose.”

Gabriel frowned and crossed his arms. “The serum is for Rose? Why? What’s wrong with her. You know it’s against protocol to interfere with human lives. Unless you’re planning on asking one of the Immortal Royals to invite her to join their staff. I gotta tell you, she doesn’t seem the type.”

Fuck. I did not want to have this conversation. But if I had to, Gabriel was the only one I’d consider confiding in.

“She’s... my—” I couldn’t say it out loud. Even thinking it felt dangerous.

Gabriel took one look at me, and he knew. Of course he did. “She’s your fated mate. Bloody hell, man. We haven’t had anyone on the teams find their Serenity in ages. I’d almost started to wonder if anyone else even would.”

At least I didn’t have to say it. “So, you’ll call Fleming? Get him on this right away?”

“Sure, yes. Of course.” Gabriel paced back and forth, using the motion to think. “I brought him with me. He’s already here working to beef up the wards. What’s wrong with her? Surely not something she’ll die of in the next few days before you two bond.”

Bond.

I thought Gabriel understood. He didn’t, and I was fucked.

“There’s nothing the matter with Rose. She’s fucking perfect.” Perfect mind, perfect smile, perfect ass. “But I can’t bond with her. I cannot ask her to share her soul with me.”

Gabriel looked at me like I’d grown a second and third head.?”Make her your Serenity, and fuck everything else.”

How did he not get it? Besides having to leave VIA? “Because it makes me vulnerable, and her a target.”

I was not budging on this decision. It was the right thing to do. He frowned at me for a full minute. “Fine, but I think it’s a mistake. Go ask him yourself. He’s set up a makeshift lab in dungeon one.”

Unable to shake the feeling of dread that settled in my chest, I double-timed it down the steps to the underground dungeons of the castle to seek out Fleming within the labyrinthine halls. I found him hunched over a table covered in vials and strange devices, his eyes hidden behind thick magnifying glasses.

“Ah, Vond,”Fleming greeted me warmly, his nerdy enthusiasm palpable for whatever our missions needed—tech, serums, magic, or just about anything else. “What can I do for you? You didn’t go through all that serum of sun I gave you already, did you?”

I’d worked with Fleming for my entire career. If I didn’t trust him implicitly, I wouldn’t be able to even mention Rose to him, much less explain this predicament we were in.

“I’ve got a delicate and special project I need your particular help on, and I’d like you to keep it as confidential as possible.” I certainly didn’t need all of VIA’s special ops team knowing I was a liability. Especially not with the increased threat.

“I do, of course, have to report to Gabriel, and I believe he passes everything up the chain of command to V, but aside from that, mum’s the word as far as I’m concerned.” Fleming’s consistency in being a stickler for the rules was why he wasn’t a field agent. But it also made him a damn good quartermaster.

But shit. I’d forgotten about V. Nobody ever saw the vampire who headed up all of VIA, except his assistant Eve. But if ever I was going to get dragged into his office, it would be for this.

“Look. Is there any way you can create a serum to stop a vampire’s mating heat? “ The vaguer I could be, the less would go in Fleming’s report. The thought of putting Rose in even more danger by V finding out about us was unbearable. He was not known for having a fondness for VIA agents who fell in love.

Which I absolutely was not doing. I wanted to fuck Rose’s brains out and let her do the same to me while I sipped on the sweet dessert of her blood. But I was not falling for the deliciously curvy, smart as a whip, funny, sassy, commanding woman. Nope. Never going to happen.

Fleming looked thoughtful for a moment, tapping his chin with his index finger. “It’s a rather complicated request. I would need samples of blood from both the vampire and the person they were experiencing this heat with.” His eyes flit about as if he was accessing the information in his brain file by file. “It would help if we had any previously mated agents and their Serenities to examine, but you know how V is. If you can get me those samples, I’ll see what I can do though.”

It wasn’t policy for an agent to be fired once he mated, but I didn’t see any vampires and their Serenities hanging about HQ.

“Thanks, F, you’re the best.” If he could eliminate the intense attraction between Rose and I, maybe I could focus on keeping her safe from the looming threat of dumbass hunters.

“Of course,”Fleming replied with a reassuring smile. “Anything for the upstanding field agents.”

What about the not so upstanding ones?

Now, to get him that sample of Rose’s blood.

Oh, fuck me twice. The very idea of Rose’s blood just about laid me out flat. What the hell had I been thinking? I couldn’t exactly ask Fleming to get it for me. I didn’t want any other man or vampire near here for even a moment.

But I also did not trust myself to get it either. Perhaps I could just wait until she was asleep and sneak into her room... like a fucking serial murderer. If I was going to do this, I had better suck down every bottle of blood I could get my hands on.

I headed to the kitchen, stomped past the staff preparing real food for the Immortal Royals and their staff, and yanked the special cooler that held our sustenance open.

Gah. It reeked like someone had left a dead animal covered in shit that had been rotting in the sun for a week in there. I quickly grabbed the nearest bottle and slammed the door shut. The normally enticing red color looked off to me. Tentatively, I popped the lid and took a whiff.

Vampires didn’t vomit, but if I could, now would be the time. The scent emanating from that bottle was pure poison. We’d been infiltrated and I had to be very careful with my next actions. The culprit was likely watching.

Gabriel walked in right at the moment I was about to dispose of the poison down the sink while feigning I’d already drunk it and was simply washing out the bottle for reuse. I waved him over and kept my voice low. “Those hunters are closer than we know. Smell this. I was about to be poisoned. We all were.”

While any mortal poison wouldn’t kill me, certain compounds could slow a vampire down and even incapacitate us, especially when we were also denied sustenance.

Gabe took a whiff, and then stuck his finger into the top of the rim, coating his finger with the tainted blood, before sticking it into his mouth. “Unless you’re suddenly allergic to good old O-neg, I think you’re smelling your upper lip. There’s nothing wrong with this blood.”

He took the bottle from me and downed it in a few gulps while I stood there gaping at him.

“What? I brought this in myself straight from the donor truck in Edinburgh this afternoon. And now I’m even more convinced you need to get your ass upstairs and find a way to explain to that lovely lady that she’s in for the ride of her life.”

“What the hell are you on about?” I wasn’t going to like his answer, I just knew it.

“None but your mate’s blood will you take, forever and always.”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

He’d just recited one of the lines from the Soul’s Serenity ritual that bonded a vampire to his one true mate.

“Nobody ever said it was because all other’s blood smelled like the wrong end of a sheep’s intestine.?Are you seriously suggesting...?” I trailed off, unable to put words to the thought that had crossed my mind countless times since meeting Rose. The idea of mating with her and marking her mine was both enticing and terrifying.

“The bond between mates is powerful,” Gabriel persisted. “It will not only provide her with protection but also give her the knowledge and strength to face any challenges that come her way.”

What if V decided she poses a threat? What if he chose to eliminate her before she has a chance to learn the truth? “There’s a reason interaction with humans is taboo. This is a shit show and you’re no help.”

I left the kitchen with Gabriel shaking his head at me. As far as friends went, he could suck a dog’s bollocks.

Fine, I was going to have to get Rose’s blood to Fleming sooner rather than later. I could go without blood for about as long as a human could go without water, a few days at most. But I would get lethargic, and downright stupid in the meantime.

I made my way through the castle, my footsteps echoing in the dimly lit hallways. The soft glow of candlelight flickered against the stone walls as I approached Rose’s guest suite. I hesitated at the door, the scent of her already filling my nose and making my fangs ache for a taste of her. Swallowing hard, I raised my hand and knocked softly.

“Come in,”Rose’s voice called from within, sending a shiver down, down, down, to pool right below the belt.

I enteredand found her sitting on an ornate chaise lounge, her dark curls spilling around her shoulders as she looked up from the sketchbook in her lap. Her eyes widened when she saw me, and a hint of a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.

A smile I was about to destroy.