Chapter One
I’ll never be able to look at moussaka again.
It had been a long day, and it was about to get even longer. The wards surrounding my property clanged in my head, warning me of newcomers. Probably some new folks settling into my bed and breakfast for the night. There were a million things I would rather be doing than contemplating my outfit and sorting through neutral topics of conversation for a pack of violent shifters who saw me as an evil interloper intent on ensnaring their illustrious leader. Perhaps they wanted to discuss the weather? It was a few degrees warmer than average for the festive season. White Castle, a small town located in the Pelican State of Louisiana, was home to just under two thousand folks, many of whom belonged to one of the three supernatural factions: vampires, shapeshifters, and elementals. The latter being me, an elemental with the power to control water. I was also half angel, thanks to my dear old dad who was the angel of death, making me the daughter of death. Lucky me.
Harry shot into my room and hovered three inches off the floor. In life, Harry had been an upstanding vampire, helping run a church support group which enabled vampires to live less murderous lives. In death, he’d refused the call of the light and instead, pledged his afterlife loyalty to me. There was a lot to unpack in that statement. Contrary to popular belief, vampires weren’t an abomination. They didn’t explode on hallowed ground, they could walk in the daylight, and even occasionally enjoyed a good Italian meal laced with garlic. Sure, they drank human blood, but that never resulted in a turning. The only way to actually become a vampire was to be born one.
Harry’s brow crinkled. “I believe you have a last minute appointment in your office.”
Below the three-story plantation house was my office and examination room. I was a fully qualified medical doctor who offered my services to the factions because the local emergency room was ill-equipped to deal with ailments that affected the supernatural community. Certain human powers knew of our existence, but for the majority of humanity, we were fantasy fiction. While the world was changing, becoming more accepting of differences and uniqueness, it was not a stretch of the imagination to think that a war would break out should our existence be revealed. The problem was, the head of The Order, who governed the elementals, was threatening our way of life. She was maneuvering the political landscape to drive us head first into a war. Eloise was her name, but I knew her better as grandmother.
I sighed. Whoever it was that darkened my doorstep would have to wait. I had a date with The Principal and his strongest alphas, which spanned the differing species.
I flung open my door and came face-to-face with Rebecca, my longest resident and vampire princess in hiding. She was the epitome of ethereal royalty, all long slender limbs, golden hair, and stunning blue eyes.
“There’s a pair of vampires waiting for you in your office,” she declared.
“So I heard.”
Her eyes flicked over my shoulder. She couldn’t see the dead—few could—but she knew of Harry’s existence. “He is always beating me to the news.”
I shut the door behind me. “It’s not a competition.”
Harry floated through the wall and appeared in front of us. “And if it were, I would win,” he declared.
I rolled my eyes and began my descent down the stairs. I bypassed The Principal’s room. Hudson Abbott had moved himself into my home, declaring that as his mate, we should be living under the same roof. That was a month ago and he was negotiating his time between running the pack and driving me nuts. It wasn’t that I didn’t want him or love him even, but he had hurt me, and my heart needed time to repair the damage he’d caused. So I kept him at arm’s length where I could, but the meal with the pack’s alphas was long overdue. I was owed a chewing out for my part in the showdown that happened on my grounds where no fewer than fifty-six shifters had met an ugly and pointless end. Also, I wasn’t a pretty little docile shifter who would be popping out furry babies for them to dote on. I had no idea what kind of babies we would make. A Nephilim and a prehistoric shifter would be an interesting genetic mix. Ugh, I needed to not be thinking of babies with Hudson. In order for babies we needed to be having sex, and that would involve me taking him firmly out of the dog house, which I wasn’t ready to do.
Hopefully, I could wrap this appointment up quickly. If not, then I would reschedule it for the morning, ensuring I could meet Hudson in the parlor in exactly—I glanced at the grandfather clock—ten minutes. That was ample time for most medical issues facing vampires.
Maggie waved at me from her perch on the reception desk. I pointed at the chair. “We aren’t running a bar, sit in the seat I provided.”
She huffed in true teenager fashion, but slid off the desk and into the chair with all the feline grace her animal afforded her, her brunette hair bouncing like her mood. Maggie was incapable of remaining mad at anyone—she was like a ray of sunshine everywhere she walked.
I left my supernatural friends on the main floor and descended to the basement. The office door was wedged open and soft mumblings of male voices floated out to greet me. I stepped through and paused to take in my clients. Both were clad in fashionable skinny jeans and cashmere sweaters. I hadn’t met them before, which wasn’t unusual in itself as there wasn’t a great call for a doctor among vampire kind. They didn’t suffer from viral infections or common ailments. Broken bones did occur, but given they were as strong as steel, it was rare, and more often than not, they healed at a rapid rate—sometimes so much so, the bone needed to be rebroken and set correctly.
The rounder of the two males stood with his arms folded but was hunched over slightly, like he was in pain. His white blond hair fell over his gray eyes and his lips were pressed into a tight line, making them almost as pale as his skin. The other, a red haired slim male with hazel eyes, swiveled on my client chair to face me.
“We have been kept waiting long enough, when will The Undertaker be here?” he snapped.
Ugh, that nickname was the bane of my life. I was five foot two in heels, with flaming copper hair and pouty pink lips. No one believed I was The Undertaker, the famed supernatural doctor of death. I rounded the desk and sat in the executive chair.
“My office hours are eight till four. My receptionist can make you an appointment for tomorrow as you leave.”
“Young lady, this is no time for dress up,” the vampire across from me said.
My gaze snapped to his and I leveled him with the Roberts’ stare I’d learned from my grandmother. The vampire shrunk away from me. Smart man. His monster sensed mine and recognized it was severely outmatched.
The blond-haired vampire let out a small groan and clutched his stomach. “I cannot bear this pain for another night.”
I frowned. What on earth was wrong with him? Vampires didn’t get stomach aches. “What happened?” I asked.
The vampire in the chair grimaced. “There was an accident.”
“We were cooking moussaka,” the pained one added in a rush.
Last I checked, Greek food was not poisonous to vampires. “Ewan slipped,” the one across from me stated.
“On what?”
