Carve My Pumpkin (The Night Realm: Halloween Marked #3)

Chapter 1

ONE

COLETTE

“Is it Friday yet?”

I looked over just as Tracy let out a dramatic sigh that made me chuckle. “I feel that sigh in my soul.”

She closed her eyes and shook her head wildly, causing her dark-blonde curls to bounce. “It needs to be Friday right now.”

“It’s Friday for us.” Olivia grinned and shimmied her shoulders without pausing the braid she was weaving with her dark-orange hair.

Natalie threw her head back, letting the sun shine down on her face and peach-colored hair. The streams of sunlight made her brown skin almost shimmer with golden speckles. Not for the first time, I envied her gorgeous complexion. She grinned and her green eyes sparkled. “Thank the Angel’s holy tacos.”

Melissa smacked her palm on the table so loud the people at tables around us all flinched. “We’re stopping at Araqiel’s favorite taco truck tonight.”

“Tonight? In Manhattan ?” I scowled. “What’s tonight and how is it Friday for you on a Thursday? What did I miss?”

"We ready to pay and head back to work, ladies?” Our young waiter who couldn’t have been older than seventeen walked back up to us with a wide, warm smile. When we all nodded, he pulled out a tablet. “Prescott Pay?”

I pulled out my phone, then did the double tap on the side button to activate Prescott Pay , which was just Apple Pay that we had to use via our Prescott Tech phones. It was rather a nuisance that none of the human technology worked on Megelle Island. Our magic literally prevented it. Every single device from a television to a smart refrigerator had to be re-made by Prescott Tech just so we could use them. If not for this company, I would’ve abandoned our small town of supernaturals for the big human cities the second I turned eighteen.

Jennifer grimaced and held out cash. “Sorry, I don’t have Prescott Pay set up yet.”

“No worries, love. You need change?”

Jennifer smiled up at him with big, warm brown eyes. “No thanks. It’s all yours.”

He winked and then turned and left our table, so I stood up to leave.

“Where are you going?” Patricia eyed her watch with sharp gray eyes. “We still have twenty minutes before lunch break is over?—”

“Yeah, and some of us don’t have vampire speed to get back in a half minute.” I rolled my eyes but then immediately regretted my words when the three fae girls at the table all scowled at me. They always forgot I couldn’t fly. To save myself from their pity, I shrugged a shoulder and tossed my long blonde hair over my shoulder like it didn’t kill me inside a little every time I remembered. “We’re all well aware I can’t fly worth a shit, either.”

Jennifer shoved her wallet back into her purse while shaking her head. “Well, these wingless, shiftless, fifty-year-old mage- legs can’t do anything fancy. Or anything fast. So, c’mon, Colette, let’s walk back at a leisurely pace that won’t require we sweat.”

Saved by the mage. I grinned up at her. It was always that same, sinking horrible shame whenever people remembered I was a fae who couldn’t fly. Sure, I had wings. And sure, I could technically get off the ground a few inches, but I just could not fly. While it was much harder to cope as a child who just didn’t understand why I couldn’t fly like the other fae, it wasn’t much easier to handle as an adult. I kept waiting for that day, the day when I’d actually be unbothered by it. As I dodged sad glances from the three fae at the table, I knew today was not that day.

“Tracy, not you too?” Patricia whined. She hadn’t moved except to swirl her blood-wine around in her glass. “You’re a fast wolf. I’ve seen it.”

Tracy let out another soul-deep sigh, but this one held a tint of frustration. “Trisha, we’ve been over this. If I shift and run right after a big meal, I make myself sick. This day is gonna be long enough without vomiting.”

“Boo.” Patricia, who loathed being called Trisha, poured more wine into her glass. “What about my winged fiends? You leaving me too?”

Olivia, Natalie, and Melissa all scoffed as they poured themselves more sangria.

“Good.” A breeze swept through the outdoor patio section where our table was, so Patricia quickly smoothed her short, brown bob haircut back into place. She was always the picture of perfection. “At least I have some fellow heathen friends.”

I rolled my eyes and stepped away from the table. “You’ll probably catch up with us anyway.”

“We’ll race you!” Olivia giggled.

Tracy, Jennifer, and I started toward Main Street as the others laughed and made bets about racing us back to the office. It didn’t bother me. Hell, If I had the ability to fly, I would’ve taken the extra twenty minutes as well. But the last thing I wanted was to show up late from lunch covered in sweat and feeling like my lunch was about to make a repeat appearance. At least I had Tracy and Jennifer.

When Tracy sighed for a third time, I couldn’t resist the temptation any longer. I smiled and nudged her arm with my elbow. “So, I’m gonna guess you have big plans for Friday night, and that’s why you’re so full of longing sighs?”

Tracy grinned and her green eyes lit up beneath the glare on her glasses. “Mike and I are going to upstate Vermont for the weekend. We’re gonna hike all the mountains?—”

“And by hike you mean go full wolf for three days?”

“Yes, Jennifer, that is exactly what I mean.” Tracy giggled as she dug into her satchel for her sunglass case. “Have you been up that way?”

I shook my head. I hadn’t been much of anywhere. Yet. Big yet. Or I prayed it was a yet .

“I spent a few weeks in Burlington, Vermont like two years ago.”

As Jennifer launched into a detailed list of all the best apple orchards in Vermont, I let myself zone out. I was window shopping as we strolled back down Main Street toward the Prescott Tech building on the Island. My gaze moved from shiny objects at the glass to all the Halloween decorations the shops had put up overnight to kick off spooky season today. They really did a great job, whoever they were. I didn’t know if the event planners went around the Island decorating or if each shop owner set it up themselves, but it was quite the sight. Every lamppost down Main Street had skeletons climbing up them. Across the street were floating ghosts, though I had no idea what they made them out of to look like that. All of the shop windows and doorways had dramatic fake cobwebs and giant fuzzy spiders attached to the walls. At each shop doorway, there were witch brooms staged to look like they’d been parked there by their owners. It was daylight, but I knew once the sun set there’d be flickering candlelight in every direction. I couldn’t wait to see it all at night with purple and orange lights glowing all over. Pumpkins were carved and sitting on stoops, spelled to not rot before Halloween night.

It was good to have something to look at so people didn’t ask me why I was sad or quiet—or invite me to one of their functions. I wasn’t sad per se. I just had a hard time feeling part of the world here, which was why I didn’t want to seem too eager or interested in their plans and wind up getting myself invited, because then if I didn’t have an appropriate reason to not go, I’d have to so I wouldn’t seem rude. But I just rarely enjoyed the things my peers did, and I was no closer to understanding the why of that either.

“So, Colette, what about you?”

“Uh . . . sorry, I think I spaced out for a second.” I grimaced and pulled my hair into a low ponytail to control the long strands in the heavy breeze rolling down Main Street. “What did you say?”

Jennifer chuckled softly. “I said I was going to Bowlicious tonight. Caleb and Connor are putting on a cooking with magic class every Thursday this month. Then I asked if you wanted to join.”

“OH. Wow, I didn’t know they were doing that.”

“Yeah, it’s brand-new this year. I’m going with my sisters for girls’ night away from the husbands.”

“I am sure you will love that. Me, on the other hand, I’m not what you’d call fully domesticated.” I grinned and gave her a wink as Tracy giggled. “No, but really, thank you for inviting me. However, Thursday night is book club with my golden girls.”

“I cannot believe your go-to outing is a book club with old ladies.” Olivia cackled from right behind me.

I glanced over my shoulder to find I had been right: the three fae and one vampire caught up with us. And a lot faster than I expected they would.

Natalie landed beside me, then dramatically fanned her face with her hands. “Her mom is still a hottie though. How old is she now?”

I smirked. “Nine hundred . . . if you can believe it.”

Fauna Rothchild was a fae unlike any other I’d met, which I supposed made me the perfect daughter for her since I was also unlike my fae peers. It would’ve been more endearing had I been genetically related to her. It would’ve been our little quirk, or at least we might’ve had the same quirks. As it was, we were more like two oddballs who were put together by fate.

Melissa swooned and did a pirouette in the air with her wings fluttering. “I hope I’m still as flawless as Fauna in eight and a half centuries.”

“With the way you party?” Patricia scoffed as we stopped at an intersection to let a car go by. She reapplied her red lipstick in the window reflection of the shoe store. “You might need to see what skin care routines the humans can teach you.”

Melissa narrowed her eyes. “What are your skin care plans, Trisha?”

I turned to hide my smirk. It was super petty, but I loved how my coworkers called her Trisha when they wanted to annoy her. We all had been lectured enough times that her name was Patricia not Trisha , so it was defiantly petty of them, and I loved it.

Patricia turned and arched one dark eyebrow. “I’m a vampire, Lissy. I drink blood. I don’t need a skin care routine. You’re welcome to drink blood anytime?—”

Melissa gagged, which made Patricia cackle like a cartoon villain.

“So, Colette . . .” Natalie skipped over to me and hooked her arm around mine as we crossed through the intersection. “You should join us tonight, then it’s also your Friday.”

I scowled. “Again, how is it Friday for you?”

“Because it’s October first, silly girl. Duh.” Natalie shook her head. “Really, how are you the only fae who forgets this?”

I grimaced. Every October first the Prescott Tech Manhattan branch rented out a fancy nightclub and invited every supernatural in existence to come party and kick off the holiday season. Something about not being human made all of us love Halloween more than normal human adults. We felt the need to celebrate every day of October. We just all had different opinions on what that celebration looked like. For me , it meant book club this week was a cozy paranormal mystery set in a small town not unlike our own—granted, the book was fiction and our world was not. But for my fae counterparts especially, tonight was a wild night full of dancing and drinking. Or as the hosts called it: A Night of Ecstasy.

I let out a sigh similar to Tracy’s. “That’s not really my scene. You know that. Plus, I have plans tonight.”

“Cancel your plans and come with us!” Olivia pouted. “We’ll make sure you have fun! I promise.”

Somehow, I knew she meant that. It didn’t mean I would actually have fun, but I knew she’d try. Luckily, I had actual concrete plans this evening, so I had an excuse. I smiled. “Some other time. I can’t cancel. Mom’s been cooking all day.”

Melissa gasped. “We’ll do golden girl shots tonight for them!”

Jennifer scowled as Olivia and Natalie giggled and cheered. “I don’t know how you go to that all night and then make it into work the next day?—”

“We don’t, Jenny.” Melissa pointed to the pointed tips of her own ears. “Gotta think like a fae, darling.”

“What does that mean?”

Olivia spun around to fly backwards so she could face us as we walked. “It means we always schedule a team brainstorming meeting for just the three of us for the entire morning of October second so no one notices that we’re not in the office. That way, we get to sleep until lunch.”

Melissa stretched her arms out. “And then we conveniently have a meeting in Manhattan all afternoon.”

Tracy’s jaw dropped. “And Ernald doesn’t catch on to this? The Vaunteros aren’t dumb?—”

“Ernald has two young children. He’s distracted.”

“Pippin knows what they’re doing, but he thinks it’s funny.” Patricia rolled her gray eyes. “He keeps Ernald busy.”

Melissa gestured to her ears again. “Us fae like to stick together when we can.”

Pippin was Ernald’s fae husband who also worked in Prescott Tech. Olivia, Natalie, and Melissa all worked for the elder Vauntero prince, Ernald. Patricia was the executive assistant to his husband Pippin in the art department. Ernald and the girls worked the technology department. They always had the best gadgets and ideas, and that I was stupid jealous about.

“Plus, the Vauntero family is always so busy at the start of October and December. The Queen gives them schedules and duties and all that shit.” Olivia grinned wickedly. “Works to our advantage.”

I whistled and shook my head. “Must be nice to get away with that kind of stuff.”

Patricia smirked and squeezed my shoulder. “I tried to warn you away from the small business department when you interviewed.”

“It’s the best department for growth?—”

“It’s Lexington Prescott’s department. No career growth is worth his work ethic and wrath.” Patricia shivered. “Dude is no fun. I’ve never met a vampire as cold and boring as him.”

“That’s true. Ernald, Pippin, and Fina Vauntero are all older than Mr. Prescott and yet they like to be called by their first names.” Tracy pulled her sunglasses off to clean them, then put them back on. “Fina will give me any day off I ask for, so long as it’s not last minute and she can prepare our schedules properly. I told her we were going hiking in Vermont, and she gave me a half day tomorrow.”

Jennifer leaned in closer to me. “I don’t know about you, but I’ve never had the balls to ask for time off from Mr. Prescott.”

My face flushed. “I haven’t either.”

But not because I was afraid to. He wasn’t the tyrant a lot of people thought he was. I just wanted to work so that I could make a good impression. Prescott Tech was the best company a supernatural could ask to work for. They did amazing things. If I did a good job in my current job, then maybe I’d eventually get moved to the department I wanted: the ambassadors. There were a few members of the Vauntero family that served as ambassadors for Megelle Island who would travel around First Realm to help the supernaturals living among the humans. The department was founded by Mateo a few decades ago, and that was the job I wanted.

That job would provide me with a reason to travel, or an excuse to travel. Because going out into the human world solo terrified me but if I had a reason to, with tasks, then it wouldn’t feel so scary.

“So, what plans do you have, Patricia?” Jennifer asked as we turned the corner off Main Street toward the entrance to work. “I’m sure you have something lavish.”

“Oh, you know me. We’ve got the Victorian dinner, the Renaissance dinner, and my personal favorite, the twenties dinner. I cannot wait.” She closed her eyes and smiled, then reopened them and looked to me. “Would you like to join us, Colette? I know you’re not the rambunctious kind of fae. You like the quiet. We’d love to have you?—”

“Oh, thank you. That’s so sweet of you. I’ve got plans this weekend with?—”

“Wrinkled old ladies.” Olivia scrunched her face up. “I adore your quirkiness, Colette. I just don’t know how you’re not bored out of your mind with the golden girls.”

Melissa threw her head back and laughed. “She didn’t have electricity until she moved out of Fauna’s and went to college, remember? Those old ladies are a show for her.”

I stopped and pulled the glass door open, holding it for the others. My chest tightened. My friends were special, and I didn’t like them being made fun of. “They are a lot of fun, actually.”

“I’m not trying to yuck your yum, Colette.” Olivia paused in the doorway right in front of me and smiled. “But you’re always invited to join us. Anytime, ‘kay?”

I smiled and relaxed a little. “Thanks, Olivia.”

Melissa slid in behind her. “I think that phrase isn’t intended for contexts like this, but we’ll let her have this one.” She winked, then pushed Olivia inside the building.

Natalie cocked her head to the side. “Unless it is that context?”

I frowned. “What does that mean?”

“Nothing, she means nothing.” Patricia shooed her inside, then stopped in front of me. “Let me know when you’re ready for me to set you up on a blind date. I’ve been making a list of options for you.”

I gasped. “ What ? —”

“Too-da-loo.” She sashayed inside, leaving me standing there gawking at nothing.

“Did she just say she’s making me a list of date options?”

“Ya know, she does have exquisite taste. Might not be the worst idea.” Tracy chuckled as she switched back into her regular glasses. “If I don’t see you before I leave tomorrow, have a great weekend!”

“Have fun, Tracy!” I looked to Jennifer who was still standing outside. “Does something about me scream help me find a date to everyone?”

“You’re a beautiful young lady, Colette.” Jennifer playfully tugged on my hair the way I always saw her do to her grandkids. “It makes people want to pair you with someone. Can’t say I haven’t considered setting you up myself, but I stop myself because I don’t know any immortal guys good enough for you.”

“I’m not sure how to respond to that.” I grimaced, then gestured for her to walk in ahead of me. “It’s not that I can’t find myself a date, I just . . . I don’t know. It’s not the priority right now. Immortality is kind of long, so there’s no rush?”

She stepped inside the office, then stopped and waited for me. “I don’t know anything about that.” Her voice was soft and quiet.

Me either. I was only thirty years old. I hadn’t come to terms with the idea that I’d live forever. With the strict no-violence laws set down by the angels, there were few ways for an immortal to even die. I wasn’t sure how I felt about immortality. It tended to give me anxiety when I thought about it. My mother kept assuring me I’d get used to it, and that I just had to be patient.

Jennifer was telling me all about her son’s best friend who was my age and sounded like a perfectly nice guy . . . for a mortal. I smiled and nodded because I was only half listening. Romance was just not on my agenda. I had plans I wanted to see through first. Besides, Constantine Vauntero was like two thousand years old and still single. I had plenty of time for romance with eternity on the horizon.

A couple of the other office workers looked up and smiled from desks that were lined up along the all-glass walls. Most of them were mages, so it was important to them to stay connected to nature even while inside. I waved back but kept walking. I had less than two minutes to get to my desk before I was late. I’d never been late to work in any capacity, a feat I was proud of.

As I walked through the doorway into the small business department’s wing, I realized Jennifer was still with me—and still talking. I cursed silently. It wasn’t like me to zone out on someone, especially Jennifer. Something was just . . . off . . . in the office this afternoon. The energy was different. It was tense and tingly, almost like electricity pulsed through the air. Yet it also felt like the office had a heartbeat. I didn’t know how to reconcile both of those feelings at once without something tangible to explain it. Or maybe that was just my own pulse beating in my ears. My stomach tightened into knots. Why am I suddenly nervous? What’s going on in here? I glanced around but nothing was amiss out in the main hall.

I shut the door to the wing where the dozen of us in the small business department worked, but that feeling didn’t go away. With a scowl, I turned to ask Diego, but he hadn’t returned from lunch yet. Actually, a quick glance up the stairs showed no one else had come back from lunch yet. I checked my watch. One minute after one. Apparently I was the only person in the department that worried so much about this.

“Would it bother you if I wait for Diego?”

“Of course not. Have a seat. I’m sure he’ll be here any second.” I pulled my chair out and sat down, sitting my purse on top of my desk before tapping on my keyboard to bring it back to life. “I love my job, but it’s always hard during the fun seasons.”

“You mean when there’s a literal festival right out your windows luring you away from work?” She chuckled from Diego’s seat as she peered out the floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the courtyard, where the biggest section of the Halloween festival was set up. “I’m glad this isn’t my view.”

I sighed and stared down at the booths being set up. My mouth watered just thinking about all the yummy snack vendors that’d be down there all month. “I like it, even when it’s torture sometimes.”

“Isn’t it distracting?”

“Well, I’m not editing, that requires a lot more single-minded focus. But also, in general, no.” I shrugged and started to twirl strands of my blonde hair around my finger. “I like to sit here and watch people go about their lives. It makes me feel . . . connected. Plus, I can see the train station, and I like to try and guess where people are traveling to and from.”

“Have you really never left the Island? I thought that was just a rumor.” She gestured to the bookshelf behind me that was full of books on travel, cool destinations, and lots of maps. “All this made me think you were a world traveler.”

“God, I wish.”

Jennifer’s warm brown eyes watched me too carefully. “Why only a wish?”

I shrugged as my cheeks burned. “Mom refuses to leave the Island. I guess she did when she was young, and it traumatized her. My friends can’t really go far at their age . . . and . . . I don’t know . . . Traveling solo just feels sad.”

She leaned in and whispered, “ Then maybe letting Patricia set you up with a boy isn’t such an awful idea after all ?”

My stomach turned. It sounded awful. All of her friends liked to do her kind of stuff and that bored the hell out of me. And it was so fancy I was always afraid to move.

“Good afternoon, Colette—OH. Hey, Jennifer!” Diego strolled over to his desk and greeted her with a hug. “Did that file not go through?”

I checked out of their conversation and focused on getting back to work. But when I opened up my calendar on my computer, I found my entire schedule had been cleared. My eyes widened. I gasped. I had all kinds of things scheduled for the afternoon. I’d checked before I left for lunch and yet they were all gone. I opened my email, but everything looked right there, and there wasn’t a single email about cancellations.

“What’s wrong?” Diego slid his chair closer to mine.

I pointed to my screen. “What happened to my schedule? It’s all cleared out. I had meetings?—”

“Where’d they go?”

We looked together, yet it was definitely cleared out. But his still existed, including three meetings I recognized from my own schedule.

Diego scratched his head. “Why am I in the meetings but you’re not?”

“I mean, you don’t need me in them. You’ve got this. I’ve trained you, but like . . . what happened?—”

In the middle of me speaking, my entire afternoon schedule was blocked off with a red box. My eyes widened and my jaw dropped. Someone had just put me into a single meeting for the rest of the day. I frowned as my pulse quickened. This was not normal.

“Who scheduled that ?” Diego pointed to the screen.

“I have no idea.” I clicked on the meeting to get the details and gasped. My heart stopped. “This has to be an error, right?”

“ He’s not on the Island on Thursdays . . . ” Diego whispered.

“But my meeting is in his office—oh shit. Right now. I’m late.”

“ Go, go, go ?—”

I leapt out of my seat and sprinted for the door with my heart in my throat. In the back of my mind, I registered Jennifer still in our office, but I was a little too panicked to say bye to her. This was so out of character and unusual. My heart was pounding, my pulse thundering through my veins. I knew running through the office was not appropriate, and I felt everyone’s stares on my back as I sped by them, but I just didn’t care. I sped up the center staircase to the second floor, down the hall to the left to where a secretary sat at a large desk in front of a pair of double wooden doors.

I slid to a stop and pressed my hands to my stomach to try and steady my breath and my voice. “Hi, sorry, I think I have an appointment with?—”

“Yes, he’s expecting you.” His assistant, Laura, looked up from her computer. Strands of her blonde hair fell over her face from the tight bun on her head. She smiled and clicked a button. “Go ahead in—and nice reaction time. He just changed that.”

I froze. He changed my schedule. That somehow made it worse. My pulse fluttered like a hummingbird’s wings. I stepped around Laura’s desk and reached for the door handle with hands that trembled more than I wanted to admit. I’d never been called into his office, let alone like this. As I pushed the door open and stepped inside, I silently prayed to whatever angels might’ve been listening to not let me vomit my entire lunch in front of him .

As I slowly crept into his office like a thief about to steal something, I realized I’d always lied to myself. I was afraid of him. At least a little. At least in certain contexts. The panic was really setting in. My legs felt like jelly. I was grateful I hadn’t worn my heels into work today. I glanced around in a desperate search for something visual to distract myself with while I waited, but his office was rather bare. The wall to my right and the one straight ahead were floor-to-ceiling glass like most of the rest of the building, except his office overlooked The Pemberley Hotel and part of the Vauntero estate. It was one hell of a view and one that only twisted my nerves into tighter knots.

Something moved in my peripheral vision, so I jumped and spun toward it only to find it was my own reflection in a mirror on the wall to my left. I swallowed the new rush of adrenaline and checked my outfit to make sure I looked professional. I’d chosen my pale-blue power suit today with a sleek blazer and trousers tailored slim to my legs. The white button-down shirt I wore beneath was a little wrinkled from lunch, but I hoped it didn’t look too messy.

Focus, Colette. He will smell your fear. I looked toward the large desk in front of me that held two different computers, one on each end and both of those had two monitors each. There were so many tech gadgets on his desk I wanted to investigate, but with my luck he’d walk in right as I picked something up.

And then that big black office chair spun around, and a pair of sapphire eyes landed right on me. I swallowed the gasp in my throat as I jumped back a step. Then I cleared my throat. “Good afternoon, Mr. Prescott.”

He arched one black eyebrow. “Ms. Rothchild, have a seat, please.”

I sat, practically throwing myself into the chair opposite him. When the president of the company told you to sit, you sat. I didn’t speak. I wasn’t even sure I was breathing. I just stared at his profile as he typed, his fingers moving with blinding vampire speed.

“You look terrified, Ms. Rothchild,” he practically growled without looking up at me.

“ You look terrifying, Mr. Prescott ,” I said before I could stop myself.

His fingers froze over the keyboard. He glanced over at me with sharp sapphire eyes and then he smirked. “You’re not in trouble, Ms. Rothchild. You can breathe.”

I exhaled and stretched my fingers out on my lap. “Sorry, it’s just . . . you’re not on the Island on Thursdays. And I had a bunch of meetings this afternoon, but they were just gone?—”

“Yes, you are no longer needed in those meetings.” He typed a few things, then turned to fully face me. His entire demeanor softened ever so slightly. “And my soulmate drags me onto the Island with her every chance she gets, and she’ll be here all month for the festivities. Expect to see me around the office here even more so than I have been since Christmas.”

I nodded. “So then I will be here still?”

He frowned and cocked his head to the side. “I have previously stated that you are not in trouble.”

“Yes, but your face doesn’t match those words.” My face flushed. “There’s a . . . strange energy in here right now, and I’m trying not to dissect it.”

He narrowed his eyes on me as he leaned back in his chair. “You’re not in trouble in any way, Ms. Rothchild. This happens to just be my face.”

“Oh . . .”

He nodded. “You’ve been working here since you graduated college.”

“Yes, sir. I started as an intern.”

“You’ve worked your way up the food chain impressively.” He clicked the top of his pen a few times, like he was struggling to sit still and talk to me. “I’ve been reviewing your resume here at Prescott Tech, and you’ve now worked in almost every single department here. You’ve been quite the chameleon for this company, and it has not gone unnoticed. Your work ethic and dedication to what we do and why have impressed all of us, particularly me. Of all my employees both on the Island and in Manhattan, your understanding of what Prescott Tech stands for is rather unparalleled. You have continued to go above and beyond, especially in your work in the small business department. Your previous supervisors have praised your work over the years, which is why I put you in one of my own departments so that I could see it firsthand. I like to reward those who put in the good work, and you have done so.”

My face was on fire, and I knew I had to be as red as an apple. My heart was pounding. Lexington Prescott was the only person who could make compliments sound like a threat. I licked my lips and nodded. “Thank you, Mr. Prescott. It’s been an honor working here, and I’ve taken pride in working in your department.”

“Unfortunately, you will no longer be working in one of the departments I oversee.” His lips pulled up slightly at the corners like he was trying not to smile. “We’re moving you to a different position.”

My eyes widened. “Oh. Oh , I see. That’s why my schedule was cleared.”

He nodded. “You’ve trained Mr. Maccio quite well. I’m impressed. Mr. Maccio was hired to replace you in that role, and you’ve not hesitated to set him up for success. And that job well done has earned you a promotion.”

To my horror, I gasped.

He chuckled softly.

“A highly coveted position in this company has come open as its previous handler retired. I’ve spent the last two weeks carefully reviewing every employee in this company to find the proper fit. That is when I landed on you.” He tapped on his keyboard, then pointed to his screen. “I have many written recommendations from many in the company noting how perfect you’d be for this role and how it would be—and I quote—a dream come true for you.”

I opened my mouth, but no words came out. I was terrified to jinx it. My hands were shaking.

“So, Ms. Rothchild . . . ” he leaned forward and gave me a small, rare smile, “should you want the promotion, effective immediately you would be the new executive assistant to Mateo Vauntero.”

A strangled squeal slipped through my clenched teeth. I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t breathe. All I could do was nod.

He held his hand up. “Now, I must remind you that each job comes with a two-week trial period. Your work for the next two weeks will prove if you’re the right candidate for the job. If Mateo feels as though you are not, for whatever reason he discerns, you will be sent back to me for a different placement, which may or may not be the position we just pulled you from. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir,” I whispered.

He nodded again. “Do you accept this new position as executive assistant to Mateo Vauntero in the ambassador department, including the two-week trial period?”

I swallowed through the lump of emotion in my throat. This was my dream job. The job I applied to this company for when I graduated college. I was going to cry myself into a puddle like a melted snowman in front of Mr. Prescott if I didn’t get out of his office soon. “Yes, sir, I accept the position and trial period.”

“Excellent. This change is effective immediately, but until you survive the trial period, you will continue to use your desk in the small business department.” He stood from his desk, then walked around and headed for the door. “Come with me, Ms. Rothchild.”

I cursed and scrambled to my feet so I could race to catch up with him. He definitely hadn’t waited for me. Lexington Prescott expected to be obeyed and followed. I glanced to his assistant Laura as we emerged from his office. She gave me a big smile and two thumbs-up as I passed. I smiled at her, but then refocused my attention on Mr. Prescott’s back. I had to keep my emotions in check. They took the trial period very seriously. Sometimes personalities between employees clashed, and Mr. Prescott saw that as a valid reason to reposition someone. Sometimes the job description wasn’t what you thought it was and you found yourself performing a role not suited for you. It worked both ways, for employee and supervisor. I’d moved around within the company enough times to know how it went. If I succeeded the next two weeks, I would be moved to the desk in front of Mateo Vauntero’s office at the opposite end of the hall as Mr. Prescott.

The desk sat empty. It sent a thrill of excitement through me to think in two weeks this grand, fancy desk could be mine. I glanced over my shoulder and spotted Laura watching me from her desk with a big, encouraging smile. It would probably be annoying to have to run back and forth between my desk in small business to Mateo’s office, but I understood the awkwardness of getting set up in a new desk only to have to move again. It was about mental health.

Mr. Prescott stopped outside the closed double doors and knocked once. Loudly.

“Come in,” a deep male voice thundered from the other side of the doors.

My pulse skipped beats. I knew of Mateo Vauntero, of course. Everyone did. He was a prince. A royal. He was also a bit of a legend for his work as ambassador . . . but he was also known to be quite the rake. The playboy who never dated. The truth was, I hadn’t actually paid much attention to him personally. Sure, the entire Vauntero family was beyond beautiful, and his twin brother Nash was a friend of mine. Then again, everyone was friends with Doc Nash. He was possibly the nicest guy on the Island. His identical twin on the other hand . . . was a little more mysterious.

As I followed Mr. Prescott into his office, my heart pounded with excitement. I couldn’t believe it was happening. Eight years of dreaming and working my ass off was actually paying off. The job I wanted was in my hands. I just had to not screw up the first two weeks. In all my experience with different supervisors at Prescott Tech, I’d always found my way to get along with them, even if it was a struggle at first. I could do that with Mateo.

I glanced around Mateo’s office and some of my nerves settled. His office was triple the size of mine and Diego’s, but the vibe was similar. It wasn’t far off from my own library at home. The entire left side of his office was dedicated to books on a fancy bookshelf, and like my own, it held more than just books. I saw framed photos, rolled maps, interesting sculptures, and other little objects that he had to have collected on his travels. I smiled when I saw the pale-colored suede sofa on the right side, pushed right up to the glass wall so he could sit and look down at his family’s estate. Another incredible view. I couldn’t see him or his computer around Mr. Prescott, but I saw a long wooden desk littered with all kinds of objects. I was most curious about the map with little pins stuck into it.

A deep male voice chuckled from the other side of the office. “Lex, you work fast, my friend.”

Mr. Prescott gave a small chuckle back. “I work effectively , Mateo.”

“Ancient has a perk, right? Maybe I’ll be as cool as you when I grow up.”

Mr. Prescott sighed. “I am not ancient. Your parents and Constantine?—”

“Please, you act as old as Connie does and you’re half his age.” Mateo laughed and I discovered he had a bit of an infectious laugh. There was a lightness to the sound that made my mouth curve into a smile. “My parents act like they’re twenty.”

“ Because Constantine took over all the heavy lifting,” Mr. Prescott grumbled.

“It was a win-win for the whole family. Connie needed a little . . . activity. But Drusilla is his silent counterpart. It’s all balanced.”

Mr. Prescott shook his head and rocked back on his heels. “Right. Well, I have your new executive assistant here for you.”

“Oh, shit. Already?” I heard leather screeching as if he was standing up from his chair. “Right, you said after lunch, and it is after lunch. Sorry, Lex, got lost in my map again.”

“If you’re not prepared?—”

“I am. Promise. Where is she?”

This is it. Make a good first impression. You’ve met so many Vaunteros. You’re not intimidated by them. They’re perfectly lovely, nice people. Mateo will be no different.

Mr. Prescott stepped to the side and half-turned, then gestured to me. “This is Ms. Colette Rothchild, the one I told you about last night.”

Mateo stepped around Mr. Prescott and my breath caught in my throat. Those sapphire-blue eyes of his widened ever so slightly, and that wide smile on his face vanished. My pulse skipped beats.

I wiped my suddenly sweaty palm on my pant leg as subtly as possible before I stepped forward and held my hand out to him. I ignored the slight tremble in my fingers and prayed he did too. I licked my lips, and his eyes tracked the movement.

“Ms. Rothchild,” he all but growled my name. He put his hand in mine and shook. “Nice to meet you.”

Heat rushed through my body. My heart pounded like a stampede of elephants, and I wanted to crawl under a rock and die because there was no way these two vampires couldn’t hear it. His skin was so much softer than I expected.

“Thank you for this opportunity, Mr. Vauntero,” I said with a shaky breath that betrayed me.

He dropped my hand like I’d burned him and gave me a quick, short nod. “Lexington selected you.”

“And I can’t thank Mr. Prescott enough.” I peeked up at him and smiled.

“I’ll leave you two to get started.” Mr. Prescott nodded. “Mateo. Ms. Rothchild.”

Mateo peeled his sharp gaze off of me and focused on Mr. Prescott. He spoke to him in English, but the heavy pounding of my pulse in my ears drowned out the words. I took deep breaths to try and calm myself while he was distracted. My body had gone haywire. I wasn’t prepared . . . for him.

I’d seen him around the Island before. Hell, we were the same age so we grew up in the same schools. I’d also been friends with his identical twin, Nash, for a while now. I hadn’t been prepared for all the little ways Mateo differed from his identical twin. Nash had a small scar through his eyebrow from an accident they’d been in as children, but Mateo’s vision had been injured so he wore glasses. He wore contacts rather often though, so I’d forgotten just how dashing he looked in his glasses. Today, he wore those black, thick-rimmed Wayfarer frames, and it made him look like a model on the cover of a magazine, especially with his wavy black hair tucked behind his ears and the five-o’clock shadow dusting his jawline.

He was really quite gorgeous.

Oh, no.

Oh, no, no, no.

I peeled my gaze off of his beautiful face as panic burned inside of me. He was too beautiful. This was my dream job, and my body was going to ruin everything by being attracted to him. I balled my hands into fists at my side and tried to focus on breathing, to get ahold of myself. But I’d never seen a man pull off suspenders the way he did. He wore a white button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows in just the right way to drive a girl crazy. His plaid pants were definitely designer and made of some luxurious fabric that looked stupid soft to the touch. Look AWAY, Colette. Good God, get ahold of yourself, woman! I looked down to the ground and started counting out of order to try and calm myself. How are his sneakers THAT white? Does he have a spell on them or something?

“Have a seat, Ms. Rothchild,” Mateo snapped.

I sat so fast he did a double take. Pain tingled the backs of my legs, but I clenched my teeth to not make a sound. I was doing a good enough job embarrassing myself as it was. I cleared my throat and said softly, “Thank you for this opportunity. I can’t tell you just how much I’ve wanted this exact job.”

In my peripheral vision, I saw him sit in his chair across from me. He crossed one ankle over his knee and steepled his hands in front of his face. “So I’ve been told.”

I looked up at him and my pulse fluttered. But I needed to focus. I needed to get to a professional level with him quickly before my body got other crazy ideas. Having a crush on my boss was not something I’d ever experienced and had no intention of trying now. Professional, Colette. You can do this. “I’ve worked for a few of your siblings here over the years, all of whom asked to be called by their first names. However, Mr. Prescott prefers the more professional?—”

“You may call me Mr. Vauntero,” he answered curtly, cutting me off with that gravelly voice of his.

“Mr. Vauntero. Excellent.” I nodded and held his stare. Great. The dream job comes with the one Vauntero who is strict. Go figure. I licked my lips again. “You may call me Colette, if you’d like?—”

“Ms. Rothchild will suffice for me.” He leaned back in his chair, those sapphire eyes never leaving my face. “It is imperative that we have a clear, professional relationship if we’re to travel together to do our job.”

“I understand.” I’d call him whatever he wanted if it meant I could travel.

He watched me for a long, tense moment, then nodded. “I understand you wanted this job so you could travel, and while that is a major part of this position, it is not currently on the schedule, and I cannot give you an exact date for when it will be. Understand?”

“Yes, Mr. Vauntero.”

He held his left arm out and pointed to the black and red image of a moth on the inside of his forearm. “Are you aware of what this means?”

I’d heard about his struggle. While it wasn’t widespread knowledge around the Island, those close to him knew Mateo had a soulmate but didn’t know who she was. I wasn’t close to him, but word got around Prescott Tech.

“Yes, Mr. Vauntero.” I eyed the design. “It indicates you have a soulmate.”

“That is correct, Ms. Rothchild.” He clasped his hands. “Have you been made aware of the situation?”

I nodded. “Yes, Mr. Vauntero. I’m sure you will find her soon.”

He stood and gestured for the door behind me. When I got to my feet, he nodded once and led the way back to the door. Then he stopped to face me. “That is where you come in, Ms. Rothchild.”

I frowned. “I am not sure I understand, Mr. Vauntero.”

“I can’t leave this Island until I find my soulmate, so your only job is to find her.”

I gasped. “I’m sorry . . . I don’t think I heard that right. My only task?—”

“Find my soulmate, Ms. Rothchild, or you’ll find a new position.”