Page 15 of New Nebraska Heat

But the Fates had smiled. I’d taken the New Nebraska Breaking News position mostly to help out Mom at the shelter. The career boost to statewide reporting was just a bonus. But this? Meeting my destined soul mate? Beyond my wildest expectations.

I contained my raging emotions behind a calm and broad smile, not wanting to freak her out if the bond wasn’t yet forming for her, too.

Then her hazel eyes properly locked to mine, and all my enthusiasm gushed out through loose lips. “Hey,greatto meet you, Serenity!”

God, why did I say “great” like that. Ugh.

I was fan-boying so hard my fangs had lengthened, peeking just below my lip. Short as they were, she noticed, eyes dipping to my mouth. She creaked a quivering smile, returning my greeting with a short, “Hi.”

Taking two subtle steps backward, toward the exit to the kitchen, she cast a nervous glance to a mountainous shifter—he had to be a grizzly at that size—who was leaning against the wall in the far corner, staring at his phone.

Damn, was he her boyfriend?

No. The second he looked our way, my vamp-powered perceptions reassured me—not a hint of jealousy crossed his face. Though he did seem to note my fangs, like Serenity had, and began staring at me with a scrutinizing eye. Prejudiced a-hole.

I extended my hand to Serenity. “Mom’s been singing your praises. I feel like I’m meeting a celebrity.”

Avoiding my offer of a handshake, folding her arms instead. Her jaw tightened and the skin around her eyes pinched, as if restraining a scowl. Her tone was cold, business-like, as she replied, “Your mom’s too kind. I just try my best.”

I bit my cheek, wondering what I’d done or what vibe I was giving off, when a few words floated into my mind, making me gasp.

Yuck. And why…

She’d said them, but her lips hadn’t moved at all…

I’d just read her thoughts! Snippets anyway.

I’d heard some mates had special mental connections. I never thought I ‘d get to experience one. I concentrated on the pull between us, and more fragmented words slipped into my mind.

Maybe… cancel the class… back to… Hunter’s place.

The words scraped like barbs over my brain—pissed or upset. Did she have a thing against vamps, too? The stigma was more common with humans, but… did that mean she wasn’t feeling anything I was? Who was Hunter? My heart ached in my chest, and I struggled to maintain my slipping smile. Mom rubbed my arm, giddy as ever at the prospect of me making a new friend. Maybe I was imagining Serenity’s standoffish posture.

Then I caught sight of the mark on her neck. Though layered thick in makeup, blotches of scarring peeked through. Some piece of shit had attacked her. Only the deepest and most vicious plunge of vampire fangs could’ve done that. Only a monster would feed in such a way. No wonder she wasn’t eager to meet another vamp.

I made my smile close-lipped, hoping to make her more comfortable, but a sudden hunger pang—short but vicious—almost made me grunt. I needed to stop by the blood bank on my way home. This was the exact wrong time to have my vamp half complaining.

Face strained, scolding myself for only eating a human breakfastof eggs and toast, I took a deep breath and said, “The more humans these kids meet, the better. You teach art, right?”

Still hugging herself with her head turned decidedly away from me, she jumped her brows. “Yeah.”

“She’s the best art teacher we’ve ever had,” Mom chirped. She’d always been a bit oblivious to the fact my half-vamp heritage made some people uncomfortable. With my stunted fangs and rosy cheeks, she’d always viewed me as human, my need to drink blood an occasional after thought.

More of Serenity’s thoughts barraged my mind, striking me like lashes of a whip.

Why did Beatrice… vamp friend? A rabid Pitbull… better… they don’t sleaze over you.

My mate, the one the Fates had chosen for me,despised me.

I kept my composure—barely. “So, mom says you’re going to work at Midas? That’s awesome. I’m—”

“Maybe,” she snipped, a tight smile crimping the skin around suspicious eyes. “It’s far from certain.”

The front door jangled, and the kids started flooding in. Their enthusiasm curbed my despair and provided a necessary distraction to regroup.

They were such a lively, wonderful bunch, most of them half-breeds or even less “pure” than that, from the city’s poorer areas. All of them looked overjoyed to see Serenity and my mom.

“Hi, Ms. Dawson! Will you teach us to paint flowers today?” asked one slender girl of about twelve who looked like a half-breed elemental. The way she’d wisped in through the doors, her feet dancing almost entirely off the floor, told me she had to be of the wind type.