“I’m well, Ms. Salt. How are you?”
There was a short pause. “I’m fine. Thank you for asking.” She cleared her throat. “I was calling because I have several matches for you. Would you like me to go over them with you on the phone or maybe come in for a meeting?”
Rune blinked. He hadn’t even considered that the service might contact him with matches.
He didn’t want other matches. Not now.
“Uh…” What should he say? “I’m, um, not sure.”
“I’m sorry?” the woman responded.
“I’m not sure I want any more matches,” he repeated.
“May I ask why?”
“Well, you see, I’ve been out with Astra three times now and things are going extremely well. We haven’t discussed exclusivity, but I’m not really interested in dating any other females right now.”
There was another pause, a longer one.
“I see,” she said finally. “Well, is there anything else you’d like to talk about?”
He opened his mouth to say no but stopped before the word could form. “Actually, yes.”
“Oh?”
The woman sounded surprised. Shocked even.
“Astra didn’t realize that I was a vampire during our first date, and it was definitely a…surprise to her.”
“Is that creating issues?”
Rune sighed. “She said it’s not a problem for her, but she mentioned that her parents wouldn’t like it.”
“I see,” Veronica repeated.
Rune was glad that she did because he wasn’t sure what to do. He had dealt with many fae and other supernatural creatures who thought that vampires were distasteful. He usually avoided them because nothing he said or did would convince them to go against decades, if not centuries, of beliefs about his kind. The older the fae in question, the more deeply ingrained their distaste for vampires, shifters, and witches.
He couldn’t be sure, but he’d always assumed it was because all three of the species in question were derived from humans gaining magic. To the fae, humans were beneath them, even if they’d been improved or remade by magic.
“You said Astra considers this a non-issue?”
“Yes,” he answered.
“Then perhaps you shouldn’t worry about it until it becomes a problem,” Veronica suggested. Her voice was gentle. “It sounds as though you like each other, but sometimes things can fizzle out. There’s no way of knowing which direction your relationship might take.”
Basically, she was saying exactly what his mother would have said. Don’t borrow trouble.
“You’re right,” he answered, biting back a sigh.
“Is there anything else you’d like to talk about?” she asked.
“No. No, thank you.”
“All right. Please don’t hesitate to call if you would like to talk to us or resume accepting matches.”
“I will,” he replied. “Thank you, Ms. Salt.”
“Have a good day, Mr. Ferguson.”
