by S. E. Babin
I wanted to set it on fire.
Instead, I stepped back into my house, set my purse down on the entry table and opened it.
There is one more date available for you. With the most current and cutting-edge technology available, the Deadication Dating Agency has secured a final match.
A sheet of paper fluttered to the ground. When I picked it up, there was only a date, a time, and an address listed. My heart began to pound. Was it possible to find another soulmate? Could someone have more than one? Sterling’s face flashed in my mind again like it had so many times over the last month or so. I was having a lot of trouble putting him out of my head, but I was trying my best. I had to let him go.
He’d already let me go. I just needed to do the same and move on to someone else. I had no desire to go out on another date, but it must be important if Portia had taken the time to secure all the details.
I looked at the date and frowned. It was tonight. Crap. I fumbled through my purse for my cell and called Nat. When she answered, I told her something had come up and that I would reschedule with her as soon as I could.
She barked out a monotone response and hung up.
I locked the door and headed back into the kitchen to make myself some lunch, bothered by this most recent turn of events.
I wore black tonight. A simple black fit and flare dress with a pair of bright blue flats. I’d left my hair loose and didn’t even bother to curl it. I was over this whole soulmate thing. If it truly was someone I was meant to be with, they’d overlook the half effort I’d taken. I did put on some makeup, though that was minimal as well.
Driving to the address, I flipped on the radio and stopped at a song about a broken heart.
“Perfect,” I muttered and turned it up.
The weather was crap, the traffic was bad, and the music was mournful. What a freaking day.
Fifteen minutes later, I pulled into a small place lit up with tiny fairy lights. There was only one other car there. I didn’t recognize it. A weird feeling trickled up my spine and I sat in the car for a few minutes wondering what was going on.
“You’re a vamp,” I whispered. “You can kick anyone’s ass.” After that pep talk, I got out of my car and slowly walked to the front of the building, using all of my senses to try to figure out who was there.
There was magic around this building. It blocked everything out except the scent of… something. Soup maybe? I could smell garlic, onions, and maybe butter. Shaking my head at the weirdness, I turned the knob of the door and went in. Soft music played over the speakers. The entire place was lit up with the same lights used on the outside. One table sat in the middle already set for two. Frowning, I set my purse down on the floor and ventured in.
Someone was cooking. I could hear sizzling and the sound of pans being moved around. Curious, I headed toward the kitchen.
“Uh uh,” a voice said. I spun around only to see Portia there.
“Come sit.” She held out a chair for me.
“What in the world is going on?” I asked.
“Something that should have happened awhile ago. The world is tilting on its axis. I’m protecting my one hundred percent success rate.”
My heart began to pound and I looked at her hopefully. “Is it?”
She put a finger to her lips in a shhh motion and disappeared.
Five excruciating minutes later, a man walked out of the kitchen carrying two bowls of steaming soup.
“Sterling,” I whispered, wondering if I was seeing things.
He gave me a lopsided smile and set a bowl in front of me. “Don’t speak. I have a lot of things to say to you.” He put his bowl down and sat across from me.
At first, all he did was look at me. I looked back, drinking in his dark hair and handsome face.
“I’ve missed you,” he said.
I stayed silent.
“You don’t have to hear me out. If I were you, I probably wouldn’t. Not after everything I’ve done. I just wanted you to know that I was an idiot. A complete idiot. I didn’t like being pushed into a relationship and so I was resistant to it. Right away. Even when I knew we were mates, I didn’t want anything to do with matrimony. When I thought my parents were pushing me into it, I resisted as hard as I could, even going so far as to pick someone all wrong for me just because I wanted to keep my autonomy. But I was miserable. And trapped. I felt torn between what I wanted and what my heart wanted. Make no mistake, Maron. My heart always wanted you. It was my big, dumb head that kept getting in the way.”
My hands began to shake.
“I hated the way you challenged me, insulted me, made me see the bigger picture. I didn’t want to see any of that. I wanted to see what I wanted. I was shortsighted, hot-headed, insulting, and mean, Maron.” He let out a short laugh. “But I’m asking you to forgive me.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “I know how egotistical this sounds. I know you probably want to punch me in the nuts. But I can’t help it. I want you.”
“What about children?”
“We have hundreds of years before we have to think about it.” There was a hopeful look in his eyes. “You haven’t punched me yet.”
“I’m still debating on the area,” I said. “We’d have to be extremely careful.”
He reached over and took my hands. “Maron. I don’t care. I just want to be with you. I destroyed an entire forest and when the lightning was raining down around us and I thought I was going to die, all I could think about was not being able to see you one more time.”
“But you were going to marry her.”
He hung his head. “I was.”
“Even after I threw myself at you.”
“Yes.”
“Twice.”
His nostrils flared. “I know.”
I pushed the soup aside, stood, grabbed my purse and left.
Twenty-Two
Sterling
I sat at the table long after the soup had grown cold and the candles had dimmed. I’d screwed it up. It was too late. I’d pushed her away too many times.
“Fuck,” I whispered, feeling my heart break into a million pieces.
This wasn’t the way it was supposed to go. She was supposed to accept my apology and welcome me into her arms. We were supposed to be together.
My ego. That’s what this was. I’d just expected her to do what I wanted. Soup wasn’t going to get her back. With a roar, I swept my arm out, sending our dinner smashing against the wall.
I stood, grabbed my coat, and went after her.
I was standing on Maron’s porch banging on the door and she was doing a fine job ignoring me. It had been ten minutes. I finally resorted to what I knew best.
Being an asshole.
“If you don’t open this door, I’m going to huff and I’m going to puff, and I’m going to blow -”
The door abruptly opened and Maron punched me in the face as hard as she could.
“You broke my nose!” I wailed as she hauled me inside and slammed the door shut.
“You pissed me off,” she said, by way of apology.
“That’s not saying you’re sorry,” I muttered against my hand. I’d never been punched by a vamp. I didn’t recommend it.
“Because I’m not sorry, you pain in the ass.” She tossed me onto the couch and went into the kitchen. I heard her rummaging around before she brought back a towel and an ice pack. “You’ll heal in a little while,” she said before she tossed both at me. “In the meantime, use this. If you get blood on my couch, I’m going to be pissed.”
I put the towel up to my face to staunch the blood flow. “I’m sorry, Maron.”
“As you’ve said a few times now.” Her mouth was pinched in annoyance and the expression on her face was thunderous.
I opened my mouth to speak, wincing at the pain in my nose, but she interrupted me. “I tried and tried to get you to see reason, and now you’re here on your terms? That’s the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever done. All I wanted was to be with you and y
ou kept choosing some frigid ice queen over me.”
“I’m sorry,” I mumbled through the towel.
“Stop saying that!”
“But it’s true.”
Maron let out a growl and stood up from the couch.
“I like your place,” I said. “It’s cute.”
“Shut up,” she snapped right before she slammed a door behind her.
I collapsed back onto the couch with a groan. My nose was killing me. Maron threw a hell of a right hook.
Two hours later, I managed to clean the blood off and make myself look somewhat presentable. Maron had still not come out of her room. I wasn’t giving up so easily.
I’d called in reinforcements.
A soft knock on the door came less than ten minutes later and I opened the door. Three women poured in, all of them cussing about the rain.
Helen, Grace, and Katie stood there glaring at me once I’d closed the door behind them.
Grace was studying my still swollen nose. “She punched you?”
I nodded.
“You deserved it,” Helen said.
“She’s in there,” I said and pointed to her bedroom.
Katie stepped up first and tapped on her door. “Maron?”
“Go away,” Maron said.
“Helen and Grace are here, too.”
“I’m not opening the door until Sterling goes away.”
Helen frowned and turned to me. “Break it down,” she whispered.
My eyebrows hit my hairline. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me.”
I raised one foot and kicked her door in. Maron’s outraged squawks reached me before the door had even finished landing. All I saw was her enraged face running toward me. I held up my hands.
“Stop!” Grace yelled.
Maron stopped and blinked in surprise.
“Enough nonsense, you two,” she barked. “Soulmates are a once in in a lifetime thing. Sterling, you’re a idiot. Maron, he’s here now. That means something. How much more are you going to torture the poor bastard? We all know you want him. We can all see he wants you. You’ve broken his nose. That should make it equal. Now get out here and kiss and makeup before I kick everyone’s ass!”
“Hormones,” Helen whispered. “It’s twice as bad with supes.”
“You too, Helen,” Grace snarled.
Helen pretended to zip her lips up.
I stared hopefully at Maron. Her hair was a mess and her eyes were swollen from crying.
Grace motioned her out. “We’re leaving. If we hear one more thing smash, so help the gods, I’ll come back in here and whip both your asses.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Maron and I muttered dutifully.
Grace ushered all of her friends out the door leaving me and Maron staring at each other.
“If you say you’re sorry one more time, I’m going to risk Grace’s wrath,” Maron whispered.
“Be with me,” was all I said.
She took a few hesitant steps forward and paused at a particularly large portion of her broken door. “Only if you fix this.”
“Deal,” I said and held my arms out to her.
She let out a sob and stepped into them. I tightened my arms around her and breathed in her strawberry scent.
Home. Maron was my home.
And I would do anything to keep her from leaving me.
Afterword
Thanks so much for reading The Vegan Vamp! I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please consider leaving a review for me at one of your favorite retailers. I would so appreciate it! Look out for the next installment of The Dedicated Matchmaker coming very soon!
