Broken Heart 03 Because Your Vampire Said So by Michele Bardsley Page A

for two hundred years. I wondered how Arin and Terran got hooked up with him. Not to mention Zerina. How did you bring an irritable fairy into a lycanthrope family?
    I thought I’d gotten a raw deal getting Turned into a vampire, but Gabriel had been born one. It was one thing to have your life irrevocably changed and quite another to have a life you couldn’t change.
    “And this prophecy everyone keeps going on about?”
    Gabriel opened his mouth to answer, but the words that echoed into the cave were not his.
    “What the bloody hell have you done?” The shouted accusation arrived about five seconds before the man did. He appeared in a poof of white smoke. He was tall and thin, wearing a black robe with gold edging. The hood was thrown back. His hair was gray and shaggy, his face pockmarked and wrinkled. I couldn’t begin to guess his age, but he was old. His dark brown eyes took in the surroundings, landing on me last.
    “Patricia! We thought you were…”
    “Dead?” supplied Zerina in a tone suggesting she wished that were the case.
    The man stalked toward Gabriel, waving his toothpick arms. “What were you thinking, boy? I told you not to go back.”
    His gold eyes flashed with anger. “You know I cannot leave my mate in danger, Arin.” He brushed a loose curl away from my cheek. “I returned to you, Patricia. I recall you were rather happy to see me.”
    That little reminder made me shut up.
    Arin turned to Gabriel. “We must stay the course. No more going off on your own.”
    “I’ll go wherever I like,” said Gabriel. “Especially if Patricia needs me.”
    The man sighed as he walked between the couches and looked at Wilson. “Who is this?”
    “The queen’s son,” answered Zerina. “Guess that makes him the prince.”
    Wilson’s eyes widened as he chewed on that thought.
    I stepped between the men, my gaze on the new guy. “Don’t fill his head up with ideas,” I said. “What’s going on? Who are you?”
    “My name is Arin,” he said. “Terran is my daughter. And I’ve known this arrogant whelp all his life.”
    Gabriel growled. I blinked up at him. He looked as fierce as he did in his wolf form. “We do not have time for games. Our plan did not take into account the Ancients’ war.”
    Arin sighed. “You can’t simply walk up to an unsuspecting Turn-blood, announce that she is savior of two peoples, and expect her to rejoice. “
    “Thank you,” I said. Then I frowned. “What?”
    Gabriel’s agitation was palpable. “They hid Lorcan’s condition from everyone. I have been shunned since birth, but the Consortium mutants enjoy freedom and respect!”
    “Patience is a quality you have to yet cultivate, boy. The prophecy is on the cusp of coming true. But you cannot force it. Given your impudence, you might well have delayed it.”
    What was this crapola? Mostly the Consortium did whatever it wanted and I didn’t give a rat’s ass as long as I got to keep my way of life. But what little had been left of my life was gone. The sudden realization that I would never walk back into my beauty shop buckled my knees.
    Gabriel wrapped his arm around me and drew me into his embrace. I let him do it. I hadn’t wanted to think about why I felt so connected to him.
    “Hua Mu Lan has turned against the Ancients,” said Terran. “She’s joined with Koschei.”
    Arin swung away from us and paced in front of the fountain. “Lia is impetuous and enjoys her power. It is not surprising she would align with Koschei.”
    “Wait a minute. That snotty bitch with the stupid name blew up my house?” I couldn’t wrap my brain around this idea. What about that horrid little apparition hanging around her and that god awful stench? “She stinks.”
    “That’s a mild way of putting it,” said Terran.
    “No, I mean it literally. My friend Jessica said that François smelled like garbage.” I received blank looks. “He’s the vampire who tried to kill Jess a few months back. Anyway, she was