Page 3 of Help Wanted, Vampires Inquire Within (Ours Evermore #6)

Mason

Landing on the roof of his duplex wasn’t an option. The last time Mason had done that, he’d caved in a section, and it took months before the landlord got around to fixing it.

Calling that guy a landlord was generous. Slumlord was more accurate, but then again, he continued to rent from the greedy bastard, even though the place was falling apart.

It wasn’t a money issue. Mason had a healthy savings account and investments that sometimes did better than keeping up with inflation.

He could easily find somewhere else to rent or maybe even buy a place.

But he stayed even though the neighborhood was loud, the couple renting on the other side of the duplex were drug dealers, and there was always something breaking.

The issue was that Mason hated change.

This place was the first one he’d rented when he moved out of his mom’s house. That was almost twelve years ago, and the thought of having to move again gave him anxiety.

Which was why he had to fold his wings and drop ten feet to land in the tiny five-foot square area the landlord called a backyard.

He landed with a thud that shook the duplex’s foundation.

He heard a startled cry from one of his neighbors, but they’d think it was one of the small earthquakes that were so common in Southern California.

Shifting back to his human form, he slammed into the house and went straight for his kitchen.

“Please let there be coffee,” he chanted. “Please let there be coffee. Please let there be—yes!”

There was just enough in the tin to make a full pot! He poured in the coffee, then filled the reservoir with water and jabbed the on button. He stood there staring at the brewing coffee until his back started ringing.

“Damn it!” he cursed. There was a small flap of skin under a gargoyle’s wing that they could use to carry small items. In this case, he’d tucked his cell phone there before flying off to look for Skyler.

He’d forgotten about it and shifted. When his wings pulled into his back, they took the phone with them.

It was sitting under the skin over his scapula.

He was too tired and annoyed to notice the discomfort.

Crouching down, he shifted and carefully extended his wing out a little bit until he could retrieve the phone. Once he had it, he took his human form and straightened.

Of course, it was his mother calling. He answered the phone because if he didn’t, she would just keep calling.

“Hi, Mom,” he said, putting the phone on speaker and setting it on the counter.

“Mason, I had a dream.”

He almost dropped the coffee mug he’d pulled off the drying rack. “Dream?”

All gargoyles were born male but could mate and have children with almost every other species out there. Mason’s father had a fling with his mother, Elena de la Cruz. The next morning, his father left without waking his mother. She never saw him again.

As a powerful bruja, she didn’t care. She had the resources to raise Mason by herself. She’d been longing for a child, so she was overjoyed when she realized she was pregnant. He’d been raised among a large, loving family with a long history of influential and capable women.

The one thing Mason learned young was not to mess with a bruja as strong as his mother. He’d also learned to take her dreams seriously. They were usually predictive.

“Oh, mi hijo ,” she said softly. “First, I need to ask, have you found your mate?”

Pain lanced through Mason’s heart. “I did, but we can’t be together.”

Elena sucked in a breath. “You tell me why right now! I’ll fix it for you. Do I need to talk to this person? Are they human? I can make them understand!”

“Madre,” Mason said, biting back his laughter. “She’s a nymph, and she doesn’t know. I can’t tell her.”

“Is her land rejecting you?” Elena asked. “There are spells I can do that will help the land accept you. That’s not an issue.”

“She’s landless,” Mason explained. “And turning thirty soon.”

Elena didn’t hesitate to start suggesting more solutions.

“That’s bad, but there are still options.

Has she looked at the land in east county?

I know desert land is less likely to pick a nymph, but there’s plenty of open land out there.

I think Gabby has a map of unclaimed land.

It’s a few years old, but it’s a place to start. ”

“She’s already tried,” Mason said, feeling pain and fear for Skyler rise in him.

Mostly, he kept it locked down because Skyler didn’t need his emotions on top of hers.

Talking with his mother made it harder to keep them locked down.

“She’s been looking for land to claim her for almost ten years.

She’s travelled all over the place. San Diego was her last chance. ”

A sad, sympathetic sound came from Elena. “No, that can't be true. She’ll die without a land bond!”

“I know, Mom,” Mason said, feeling tears gathering in his eyes. Rubbing roughly over his face, he forced out the next words. “Her only hope is to soul bond with a vampire.”

“Landless nymphs can bond with any vampire, but if you’re not bonded with the same vampire, you lose her forever,” Elena stated slowly, as if working out the implications.

“Exactly,” Mason said, blinking rapidly to clear his eyes. The coffee pot was half full, so Mason pulled out the carafe and filled his cup. He ignored how hot the liquid was and drank most of it. It burned his mouth and throat and tasted bitter as hell.

Good, it matched his mood.

Elena was undaunted by all the bad news. She wasn’t one to give up easily, even when it was so obvious that they were beaten.

“I’ll consult a few people,” Elena said. “I’ll call you back when—”

Something occurred to him, pushing him to interrupt Elena before she could hang up. “Madre, what did you dream about?” Elena’s silence was telling. “Please tell me.”

“I saw you and a young woman with long brown hair. She’d collapsed, and you looked scared. I sensed violence and danger all around you. Blood, bones, and rats.” She paused, then finally said in a faint voice, “There was death, but I can’t be sure who.”

Neither of them spoke. There was never a silence so loud. He didn’t ask her if there was more. Her dreams weren’t road maps to the future; they were jumbled glimpses of a possible outcome. She would’ve told him everything she could remember.

“ Lo siento, mi hijo ” Elena murmured. He could hear the profound sadness in her voice.

“I’m sorry too, mi madre,” he said.

Her sympathy didn’t last long. Elena was a bruja of action, not a woman who dwelled. “Ignore my dream. It could mean nothing. As for your nymph, I’ll fix this. There’s always more than one solution!”

Before he could argue, she hung up.

“Good luck, mi madre,” he said to the phone before refilling his mug and heading to the bathroom to take a long, hot shower.

Or at least as long and as hot as the duplex’s shitty water heater would allow.

Working cyber security sounded much more impressive than it actually was.

Mostly, Mason installed patches, sent out emails to employees about the latest phishing scams, and reminded companies to back everything up to servers that no one from the outside could access. Ninety percent of his job was remote.

Thankfully, he didn’t have to talk to any management. Those days were the worst. Still, he almost yelled at an in-house IT for not noticing some malware. They were supposed to be the first line of defense! With a sigh, he told the guy to be more careful, and he signed off for the day.

Sitting back, he let his head fall back and let out a long sigh. He stared up at the water stain on the ceiling, letting his tired mind wander.

Most non-humans didn’t need much sleep, but gargoyles were the exception.

They liked to get a full eight hours. If possible, Mason loved a short nap in the late afternoon also.

Between working during the day and staying up until late at night with Skyler, Mason was barely getting five or six hours a night.

He wasn’t upset at the lack of sleep, but it was getting hard to concentrate. Even after three full pots of coffee.

Maybe it was time to switch to energy drinks. Did they sell them by the gallon?

His phone rang, making him sit up. He hoped it was Skyler, even though he wasn’t sure what to say to her.

He was still angry at the unnecessary risk she took that morning, but he also felt guilty.

He’d been too harsh with her. The hurt expression on her face would haunt him for the rest of his life.

The name on the phone wasn’t Skyler, it was Rissa.

The human flock member to Anatoly the vampire, and mate to Zan the mountain lion shifter.

The three of them lived in the spacious third-floor apartment.

It was the three of them that allowed Skyler to stay in the second-floor studio, safe from kidnapping by the expensive wards surrounding the building.

If there was anyone he needed to keep happy, it was Rissa.

“ Hola ,” he said, getting up from his chair and stretching.

“Hey, Mason,” Risa said, her usually cheerful voice a little tense.

“Are you coming over soon? The vampire Skyler is interviewing tonight is here, but she’s not answering her phone or the door.

I don’t want to be pushy and use my spare key, but I’m a little worried. Are you up there? Is everything okay?”

Mason saw how dark it was outside at the same time Risa was talking. It was later than he realized. Damn it!

“I lost track of time,” he admitted, rushing to his bedroom. “I’m on my way.”

“Are you hungry?” she asked. “The Pack House is closed, but I could get some pizza from the place down the street. I don’t think Skyler ate anything today. Unless there’s food in her fridge.”

Mason grimaced. He’d eaten the last of the food in the little studio kitchenette. When he wasn’t getting enough sleep, his normally voracious appetite got even worse!

“Yeah, order the pizza,” he agreed. “Get me an entire one with extra jalapenos. She needs some groceries, so I’m going to have some stuff delivered to the bar.”

“Delivery drivers can’t find us,” Rissa reminded him. “Not unless you get lucky and they’re not human.”

“Damn it!” He’d forgotten that one of the wards on the building kept humans from noticing Joy.

“Don’t worry about it. I over purchased yesterday; you guys can have half the contents of our fridge. That way, Zan can stop teasing me every time he opens it!”

“Thanks, Rissa, I’ll pay you whatever the groceries are worth,” he said.

“My car is still down there, so I’m going to fly back.

” His ancient Bronco was in the private parking garage down the street from Joy.

Anatoly rented several spots there, giving Mason a place to park safely from over-exuberant towing companies.

Skyler found it amusing that Mason’s tri-colored vehicle with the wonky door looked out of place next to the vampire's sleek sports cars.

Even more hilarious was that it annoyed the fastidious Anatoly so much that Zan had offered to buy the Bronco several times. Those two had a special relationship!

“How long until you get here?” Rissa asked as Mason grabbed a backpack and started shoving clothes into it.

“About twenty minutes.”

“Should I have Anatoly tell the vampire that the interview needs to be rescheduled?” Rissa asked.

“He can stay if he wants or reschedule,” Mason agreed. “Do me a favor, watch how he reacts. If he gets really pissy, then he probably won’t be a good match for Skyler. She needs someone patient.”

“I’ve got you,” Rissa said with determination. “I’ll give you a full report when you get here.”

“Thanks,” he said with a forced chuckle. Rissa ended the call, and Mason tucked the phone in the backpack.

He knew what needed to happen, but it didn’t make this process any easier.

After he’d packed a fresh set of clothes and shoes, Mason stripped and put the backpack on backwards over his chest. He stepped out onto the patio and activated the spell his mother had put there.

There wasn’t enough room for him to flap his wings to take off, but Elena’s spell shot him up into the sky.

The strong spell was a rush. He was wide awake now!

When he hit the apogee of the spell-fueled push, he spread his wings and turned in the direction of Joy.

Soon he was landing on the open-top floor of a short parking structure where his Bronco was housed. There were only a few cars parked there and no one around. He shifted and dressed quickly. Jogging down the few flights of stairs, he ducked into a nearby convenience store, then rushed to Joy.

He walked in to find the place almost full of pixies. What the hell? Looking around, he saw the colorful playing pieces on several tables. It was game night. Rissa had warned him that game night had exploded and might take up most of the bar.

There was one table where a man sat alone with a wine glass in front of him. He was observing everyone around him with a bored expression.

This had to be their interviewee. Mason already didn’t like him.

Ignoring the disinterested vampire, Mason carefully moved through the room. Pixies might be tougher than their small, delicate bodies looked, but he didn’t need extra guilt from accidentally stepping on someone’s foot, even if he was unlikely to hurt them.

“Pizza will be here in about ten minutes,” Rissa called. He flashed her a smile, then ducked into the narrow stairwell at the back of the bar. Soon he was facing a closed door. Should he knock or simply walk in? It wasn’t his home; it was Skyler’s. But he’d been living here with her since day one.

Except he’d been mean to her.

Guilt ate at him and made him wish he’d bought more things from the convenience store.

Before he could decide what to do, the door swung inward to reveal Skyler.

She gave him a hesitant smile and stepped back to let him in. “I wasn’t sure what was going on, but decided I should open the door in case your hands were full, and you couldn’t get to the doorknob."

“I wasn’t sure about coming in,” he admitted, walking past her and to the small table near the kitchenette. “I wasn’t nice to you earlier. I’m sorry about that.”

Skyler shook her head. “No, I’m sorry! I was scared you’d decided I was too much trouble and didn’t want to come back. I was dumb this morning.”

“I’d never leave and not come back.” He dropped his backpack on the table and opened his arms.

She stepped into his embrace, hugging him tightly. He folded his arms around her, careful not to squeeze too tightly. She felt so delicate. Nymphs were like pixies, deceptively tough. Even knowing that, Mason’s instinct to protect roared to life.

“I’m here for you until we find a safe vampire for you to bond with,” he promised, even though the words sent a shaft of pain through his chest.

Even if it means I lose you, he added silently.