Page 99 of Taming His Vampire Mate

Beside her, Simone relaxed fractionally. I understood completely—if Poppy could still be arch and cutting, nothing about this could be that terrible.

And then the words sank in.

“Wait,” I said, holding up a hand. “Hisfatedmate? As in—”

Poppy snorted. “They’re already blood-bonded and everything. Apparently, there was no polite waiting period. And now the murderous newborn vampire is eating out of the palm of his human mate’s hand. He’s annoyingly protective, in fact.”

“That sounds right,” Quinn said, giving Derek another nauseatingly simpering look. “When you know, you know.”

Everyone ignored him.

“Wait,” Jeremy said, giving me a strange, searching look. “But that’s pretty unusual, isn’t it? Meeting one’s true mate—it’s rare.”

I thought of Ethan and Nathaniel. James and Pierce. Michael and Danny. Bryan and Tobias.

“I used to think so,” I said slowly. “But it seems like it happens once a week around here.”

“No, I don’t think this is a coincidence at all,” Poppy said, giving me an oddly pointed look. Her vivid green eyes glittered with speculation. Then she stepped closer, narrowing her gaze. “This won’t hurt, but I need to see something for myself.”

Before I could ask what wouldn’t hurt, she stopped three feet away and swept a hand over me, from the crown of my head to my feet. My aura exploded into vivid light.

Every witch and warlock in the coven had a unique talent, almost like a magical fingerprint. Poppy’s was making magic visible.

She stared at me for a long moment, her gaze lingering. I followed it and saw what held her attention: a chain of oddly shaped symbols etched into my aura, hovering four inches above my heart. Then she looked at Quinn and pointed. “You. Come here.”

Simone stiffened. “Darling, is that wise?”

“I—no. That’s way too close,” Quinn said, eyes flicking to the pulse in Poppy’s neck. “I don’t want to, but I don’t know if I could stop myself.”

Interesting.

“I’ll be right next to you,” Derek assured, giving his vampire’s hand a squeeze. He met Quinn’s gaze without a shred of fear. “You won’t hurt anyone. Not on my watch. I promise.”

Quinn hesitated, then nodded and let Derek lead him to stand beside me. Tension coiled through my muscles as Poppy stepped closer, ready to act if the newborn lunged. Simone seemed to have the same thought—she shadowed Poppy, clearly prepared to whisk her away at the first wrong move.

Instead, Quinn screwed his eyes shut and went still. Not looking at her, not breathing in her scent. He stayed motionless while Derek held his hand and Poppy illuminated the magic on him.

A strange feeling crept over me—Quinn had chosen not to harm her. Most newborns, even with their humanity intact, would have struggled. Instinct should have overpowered him.

I had seen this once before. When Danny was first turned, as long as his mate Michael was beside him, he was safe around others. Apparently, the same was true for Quinn.

Derek, on the opposite side, seemed to realize it too. His eyes shone, lips curved in a proud little smile already tender with affection—which was patently ridiculous after all of five minutes of knowing each other.

But when his gaze caught mine, he beamed. And I found myself smiling back, my heart oddly full.

“There,” Poppy said quietly, stepping back. She pointed at the symbols hovering over my heart, then at the ones over Quinn’s. “It’s the same.”

“They both had the same spell cast on them, though,” Jeremy said from directly behind me, his hand settling on my shoulder in a warm, grounding squeeze. “Shouldn’t they both have the same markings? I’m not sure what this proves.”

“It should be the same sigil, sure,” Poppy said slowly, letting Simone guide her farther from Quinn. “But there are two of the same sigils on both of them.”

“And that’s… a good thing?” Jeremy asked.

“Each spell leaves a unique marking—like a fingerprint.” Poppy wore an odd expression I didn’t like. “If there aretwoof the same markings, it means the spell was cast on both of them.Twice.”

“But you’ve only cast the spell twice,” I said. “Once on me and once on him.”

Poppy met my gaze. “Exactly.”