Each member of the pack nodded in agreement.
Vasile took Zina's hand in his. "I now take you as my mate, and pledge to you my loyalty and my protection. How say you?"
"I now take you as my mate," she repeated. "I pledge to you my loyalty and my devotion."
With a curt nod, Vasile said, "It is done." Blowing out a deep breath, he kissed his bride while the pack howled their approval.
Swinging Zina into his arms, Vasile carried her into the woods. She wasn't Marishka and would never be Marishka, but she would serve him well.
Chapter 24
Regan leaned back in her chair and rubbed her eyes. She had spent the entire morning surfing the Net in search of a job. To her dismay, opportunities for former vampire hunters were few and far between. The skills that she possessed were not in great demand in the business world. For a time, she had thought she might go back to her old job with the department, but the killings in the park had ceased. At any rate, the killer in the park hadn't been a vampire, but a werewolf. And Santiago had destroyed the vampire responsible for killing the Undead.
Two weeks had passed since she and Santiago had returned from the Black Hills. During that time, the city had been quiet. No murders had been reported. The mayor had opened the park to human traffic again, and life in the city had returned to normal.
She wondered if her life would ever be normal again. She was still trying to figure out how to find Vasile. She hadn't heard from Michael since their last disastrous meeting, but it was just as well. She had been thinking of ending their relationship, such as it was. He deserved a woman who would love him wholly and completely, and Regan couldn't do that She hadn't heard from Santiago lately, either. In spite of his words to the contrary, she hadn't seen him since the night Michael came to call. She wondered if it was his guilt in taking her blood that was keeping him away, or if he had decided he had more of a future with the red-haired vampire.
Regan shook her head. She had spent far too much time and lost far too much sleep wondering about the female vampire and her relationship to Santiago. Was the woman a relative? A friend? A lover? What was she doing here in the city? Why wasn't she confined to the park? And why, Regan wondered irritably, hadn't she asked Santiago these questions when she had the chance?
With a sigh, Regan turned off her computer. She knew why she hadn't asked about the redhead. She had been too caught up in Santiago's kisses to think of anything else or to care about anything else. Where was he? Why hadn't he come to see her?
On more occasions that she liked to admit, she had started to go to him, only to turn around at the last minute and return home. As much as she wanted to see him again, what was the point? She wanted a home and a family and as normal a life as possible, though where she would find anyone who would marry her now was a mystery. No man in his right mind, including Michael, was going to want a werewolf for a wife or for the mother of his children. But she had to cling to the hope that she was wrong, that somewhere out there, there was a man she could love, one who would love her unconditionally in return. A little voice in the back of her mind told her that Santiago was that man, that even though he couldn't give her children, he 'would love her and cherish her all the days of her life. And you could always adopt a child, that same little voice whispered. She could hear her child now, introducing herself to the teacher on the first day of school.
"Hi. My name is Annica. My mom is an out-of-work vampire hunter and a werewolf and my dad is the master of the city."
With a wordless sound of despair, Regan went into the kitchen for a glass of water. Two weeks until the next full moon and she could already feel the tension growing within her.
Putting the glass in the sink, Regan picked up her handbag, checked to make sure her gun was inside, and left the house. For a time, she drove aimlessly through the city, her mind blessedly blank until she pulled up in front of You Bet Your Life Park.
Sitting there, she stared up at Santiago's apartment. Was he in there? Or was he at his lair in the Byways? And what was she doing here?
Exiting the car, she made her way to the office of the Vampire Arms, then shook her head. Idiot, she thought. There was no one on duty during daylight hours.
Leaving the office, she went into the lobby. An unnatural silence hung over the building. Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the elevator and said, "fifth floor."
"Fifth floor," the computer repeated.
The door closed with a swoosh and opened moments later in front of Santiago's apartment.
Squaring her shoulders, Regan knocked on the door. She waited a minute, then knocked again. No answer.
With a sigh, she left the building. It was probably just as well that he wasn't at home, she thought as she pulled away from the curb. In her current state of mind, there was no telling what she might have done, or what she might have let him do.
She turned on the radio and then drove to the mall where she spent the next three hours wandering aimlessly from store to store. She treated herself to a manicure and a pedicure and a full body massage, bought some new underwear and a pair of new sweats, and indulged her passion for chocolate by ordering a double-thick chocolate malt. She downloaded some new tunes for her Mbox, picked up some takeout Chinese food for dinner, and headed for home.
It was nearing sunset when she pulled up in front of her apartment. She gathered her purchases, her handbag, and her dinner and took the elevator up to her condo. Stepping out of the elevator, she wondered what Santiago was doing that night.
She found the answer waiting for her at her door.
Excitement fluttered in the pit of her stomach when she saw him standing there, tall, dark, and delicious. Looking at him, she lost her appetite for Chinese food. If only he was on the menu, instead!
"Hi," she said, unlocking the door. "What are you doing here?"
"You were at my place earlier, were you not?"
"Yes. Why didn't you answer the door?"
"I wasn't there."
"Then how'd you know I was there?"
He shrugged. "I caught your scent when I arrived."
"Oh, well, come on in," she said as she stepped inside and switched on the light.
He followed her inside and closed the door.
Regan tossed her shopping bags and her purse on a chair, then carried the takeout bag into the kitchen and put it in the refrigerator for later. When she turned around, Santiago was standing in the doorway, watching her.
"So," he said, "what did you want?"
You, she thought, I want you. Aloud, she stammered, "I… nothing really… I just… I mean…" She took a deep breath and started over. "I just wanted to see you."