Page 186 of Vampires of Eden

“????,Alex????,???speaker.” I let my purebred mother know that she’s on speaker and that Alexander is with me so there’s no surprises. “How are you both?”

“???,????????????”

We’re fine—but instead of being rude, why don’t you properly introduce me?

I wince. “Ah, sorry.” I lift my gaze and Alexander stares at me with an odd expression on his face. “Alexander, this is my mother, Ming Tao. Mom, this is Alexander. I’ve told you about him before. We bonded recently. We’re mated now.”

Alexanderopens his mouth, closes it, then takes a breath. “Hello, ??,??Alex.”

My jaw drops as I ogle my mate, who can apparently speak Cantonese fluently and with perfect intonation.

What the fuck?

“Your Cantonese is nice, Alexander. ??????????.”If we have a chance, let’s meet for a cup of tea someday.

“??,” he says, slightly flustered.Okay.

Wow. I stare at him, bewildered. I did not know he could do that. “Where is Ma? She isn’t with you?”

“She’s teaching at the mountain retreat this weekend, remember?”

“Right, right, I forgot.”

“Why are you whispering?” she demands. “What’s wrong with your voice?”

“I got sick, like usual. I’m alright, though. Don’t worry.” I don’t want to get into the fire and attempted homicide right now. It’s too much to unpack. “I just wanted to tell you that we’re mated.”

“Congratulations to you both,” she says. “Is everything fine? Are all the grumpy Eden purebreds mad about this pairing?”

Alexander huffs and I shake my head. “Yes, mostly.”

“I’ve told you this a thousand times, but if you want to leave, you know that you can come here. That goes for both of you.”

“I know, I know. We’re talking and figuring that out.”

“If you need help at all, let me know. ???.”

I end the call, lower my hand and fix my gaze on my remarkable partner. “You never told me that you can speak Cantonese.”

Alexander raises a dark blonde eyebrow. “You never asked. I speak a lot of languages.”

“Why Cantonese, though?”

“Because I wanted to learn it. Is it a crime to learn a language? I think they’re free and available to anyone who’s willing to study.”

Narrowing my eyes, I put my suspicions plainly. “???????????????????????”Why did you learnCantonese? Because you liked me?

Alexander glances away, smiling and guilty as sin. “Someone is full of himself. Who learns a whole ass language because of a silly crush.”

“You studied and learned how to play the piano, and specifically, Beethoven’sSonata Pathétique—a very challenging piece, mind you—because of a ‘silly’ crush.”

He reaches up and scratches the back of his head. “Will you leave me alone? Don’t we have other, much more important things that we’re supposed to be focused on right now?”

I place my device on the bedside table, then turn and wrap my arms around his shoulders so that I’m close to his ear. “???.”

“I love you, too.”

I smile. “You don’t want to speak it with me anymore? Did I embarrass you?”