Page 17 of My Big Fat Vampire Wedding

“O K. What else?” Lucy asked in Pandora’s ear as she rushed around her room, trying to get together for her shift.

“It was mostly tame after that. I mean, as tame as my family can be anyway. They wouldn’t let me walk Victor to the Tube, though, which was ridiculous.”

“As if any mere human could overpower you, even running on pig’s blood and anxiety.”

“Right?” Pandora asked, pulling her hair back into a clip, shrugging on her coat, then making her way to the door.

Where she almost plowed right into Elias, who was standing there with his arm raised, poised to knock.

“Pandora,” he said, glancing at her work place logo, then back up at her face.

“Is that him? The vampire?” Lucy asked.

“It is,” Elias replied.

“What are you doing here?” Pandora asked, glancing past him into the hall, but not seeing anyone else lingering around.

“Your mother asked me to escort you to work this even-ing,” he told her.

“Ooh. This is getting juicy,” Lucy said in Pandora’s ear.

She could barely think with her own thoughts in her head, let alone Lucy’s.

“I’ll see you in a bit, Luce,” she said, hanging up and dropping her mobile into her pocket.

“I don’t need an escort. But thanks anyway,” Pandora said, pushing past him to make her way down the steps before Elias could say anything further.

She felt him following her, but he said nothing until they were on the first floor.

“I’m afraid I must insist.”

“Why are you doing this?” Pandora asked, whirling on him.

“Taking you to work?”

“No. Yes.”

“Which one is it?”

“Both,” she said, throwing up a hand. “Why are you here? Why are you playing this game?”

“I can assure you it isn’t a game,” he told her.

“It has to be a game. You don’t even know me.”

“Which is the purpose of escorting you to work.”

“I’m engaged ,” she said, turning and walking toward the door, ignoring Bellatrix and her mother in the sitting room as she went. She was too angry to speak to her mother right then. She would end up saying something she’d regret.

“I noticed.” Elias followed her down the cobblestone path, then along the road, staying half a step behind her, despite being longer-legged with a bigger stride.

“And yet you are following me to work.”

“Are you concerned you might cheat on your fiancé with me?” Elias asked, making Pandora turn and gape at him.

“Of course not.”

“Then why does it matter if I tag along?”

Oh, only because she was lying to her whole family and also lying to her fake fiancé, and she really needed to be able to talk about it openly to the only person who knew the whole story. And his presence was only going to make that harder.

“Suit yourself,” she said, turning away. “But you have to buy something to sit there all night.”

“That will not be a problem.”

“And you can’t eat any of the customers.”

“Not even a little sip?” he asked, making her grumble until she realized he was teasing.

They made their way down to the Tube and Pandora couldn’t help but marvel at how he seemed incredibly out of place, but also perfectly blended in.

A group of women seated across from them on the train kept checking him out, whispering and giggling to one another, and one even got ballsy enough to snap a picture of him.

“What?” Elias asked when he caught her staring at his profile.

“That entire group of girls is mooning over you.”

“They’re not exactly subtle about it.”

“They’re all very pretty,” she said.

“I suppose.” He shrugged, not casting them another glance to check.

“Prettier than I am,” she added.

“You sell yourself short,” Elias said, shaking his head.

“Fine. Then they’re at least on the same level.”

“Is there a point to this line of conversation?”

“Why are you so intent on spending time with me when there are plenty of other pretty and, the most important part, willing , interested women around?”

“If you’re so happy with your fiancé, why does it bother you so much?”

“Is it because of my inheritance?” she asked.

“You insult me,” he said.

“That’s not a no.”

“It’s certainly not a yes. I have my own fortune. I don’t need your inheritance. Your mortal, however …”

“Don’t insult him,” Pandora said crossly, though she was well aware of the irony.

“You don’t find it the least bit suspicious that he proposed shortly after you learned the terms of your inheritance?” Elias asked.

“How do you even know that? What else has my mother told you about me and my life?”

“Only what she believed was pertinent, I imagine.”

“Like what?”

Elias watched her for a second before deciding to answer her. “She mentioned that you have an unnatural affection for humans.”

“It’s not unnatural to like humans.”

“They’re your food source.”

“So what?” she asked. “By that logic, it is unnatural for a human to like cows or pigs or chickens?”

He didn’t want to get into a debate with her on the topic, though. “She also said she felt you were making a foolish choice based on a deadline and limited options.”

“Wow,” Pandora said with a huff. “That’s … really insulting.”

“To be clear, there is no earthly reason you should be short on suitors,” Elias said, watching her face for a moment. “Save for your aversion to dating your own kind.”

“Have you met most male vampires ?” she asked, dipping her voice low. “Having centuries to let their egos inflate? Not my type.” She made her way out of the train and up the stairs.

The rain was starting to pelt down on them as they made their way toward Luna Bean.

She was glad to get inside, to walk into the break room to get away from Elias for a few moments as she hung up her jacket and fixed her wet hair.

Lucy came shuffling in through the side door a few minutes later.

“Girl, you can’t just leave me hanging. What did the hot vampire have to say?”

“Ask him yourself,” Pandora said, waving toward the near-empty café, save for Elias, who was standing at the counter perusing the options.

“Oh my God.” Lucy gasped, her mouth falling open. “You really didn’t do the guy any justice. Holy crap. He’s downright lickable.”

“I have no interest in licking him.”

“Not even a little bit?” Lucy asked, dubious.

“Not even.”

“Can I lick him, then?” Lucy asked.

“Knock yourself out,” Pandora said as they both moved behind the counter.

Pandora was about to ask Elias what he wanted, when she noticed him sniff the air then turn his keen grey eyes on Lucy.

“Smells a bit like wet dog in here, don’t you think?” he asked, making Pandora gasp as Lucy stiffened.

“Excuse me?” her friend said.

“No need to snarl,” Elias replied, only managing to both tick off and frazzle Lucy further.

“What is the matter with you?” Pandora asked, glaring at the vampire who had been an annoyance, but not overly offensive, just moments before.

“Nothing,” Elias said, tone still light. While Lucy was practically vibrating with rage beside Pandora. “Just -surprised that this is a pet-friendly establishment, is all.” Pandora’s brows pinched at the light dancing in his eyes. Was he just teasing Lucy?

Lucy missed it, though, and Pandora watched her friend’s eyes flash yellow, knowing she was close to losing control.

As a whole, werewolves were able to control their impulses. Especially if they allowed themselves to run wild during the full moons, giving in to the beast inside completely for a few days.

But high emotions could trigger the transition if they weren’t careful.

“Easy there,” Elias said, lips twitching up as he looked at Lucy. “Your inner puppy is showing. Do you need a chew toy to calm down? Perhaps a game of fetch?”

Lucy wrestled with her wolf for another second before finally winning the battle, taking a deep breath and reaching out to grab the container of stir sticks.

“Wow, look, so many pointy wooden objects,” she said.

“OK. OK,” Pandora said, holding up a hand. “Can we get past all this vampire/werewolf nonsense? Aren’t we all more evolved than this?”

“Hey, it’s not my fault,” Lucy said, head tipped to the side, deceptively calm, “that he lives forever and this is the best personality he could muster. Talk about wasted potential.”

Elias clapped back, “At least my kind has evolved past marking their territory.”

“This is who your mother thinks is a better choice than Victor?” Lucy asked, looking at Pandora. “I’ve met corpses with more charm.”

“Is she always this grumpy or is she just hungry?” Elias asked. “I think I saw a fox across the street.” He waved out the window. “Go, fetch.”

Pandora spotted another twitch to his lips, convincing her that what she worried could be speciesist dislike was something a lot less antagonistic.

“Aw.” Lucy gave him a saccharine smile. “Such big talk for a glorified mosquito.”

“What is happening here?” Pandora asked, looking between the two of them, sensing an undercurrent of heat.

And, of course, it was right at that moment that Victor decided to come walking into the shop, shaking rain off of his jacket before freezing mid-stride when he saw Elias standing there.

“Hey!” Pandora immediately reached for a cup and pumped in some caramel syrup. “Just give me one second.” She rushed through the process of making his macchiato as Lucy and Elias mostly glared at each other.

“Can you get me my drink?” Elias asked her. “Or do you need to go wash your paws first?”

“We don’t have your preferred drink here,” Lucy said, as Victor watched the two of them with scrunched brows as he sat down at his usual table.

“A black coffee will suffice,” Elias said as Pandora hurried over to Victor just to get away from the two of them for a minute.

“What’s going on there?” Victor asked as she sat across from him.

“I have no idea,” she replied, giving Victor wide eyes. “I can’t tell if they’re going to fight … or kiss,” she added, making Victor smile. “All they’re doing is trading jabs. But they literally just met.”

She couldn’t tell him, of course, that some vampires and werewolves took that age-old rivalry seriously. Even if no one really even knew why the two didn’t get along in the first place.

Apparently, Elias was one of those vampires.