Chapter 8
Kathryn
I’d known Darla for less than a day and I already knew that uncertain expression on her face wasn’t typical for her. We’d done a ten hour shift at the hospital together and nothing had thrown her. This seemed… big.
“What does Martha want you to tell me?” I finally asked as the silence stretched on.
“I wish I could talk to my sister first,” she mumbled.
“Your sister?”
“Bella. You met her today in the conference room.”
Now that I thought about it, I could see the resemblance between them. Then something struck me.
“Your sister’s name is Bella? And your name is Darla?” I giggled.
Darla frowned. “Yeah, why?”
“You both have vampire names, and you’re vampires. That’s funny. Did your parents do that on purpose?”
“Vampire names?” she asked in confusion.
“Yeah, Bella was a character in the Twilight movies, she was turned into a vampire.”
“That’s not really allowed,” Darla said in a serious voice. “Despite what you saw in that lab, there are strict rules about that kind of thing.”
“She was dying, she was turned in order to save her life,” I explained.
Darla looked unconvinced so I let it go.
“And Darla was a vampire in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.”
“Those are TV shows, right?” she asked.
I shook my head. “Wow, for a vampire you’ve led a sheltered life.”
“I was in the military for the last twenty years,” she explained. “I didn’t get to watch a lot of TV. Or movies.”
“Okay, I don’t know what’s going on, but you seem kind of uncomfortable. Unless this is something life and death, we can just talk about it after you talk to Bella if you’d prefer.”
“No, it’s out there now, we might as well address it,” she said glumly.
When she fell silent again I prompted, “Well?”
She took a deep breath. “Earlier, we were talking about mates.”
When she paused I gave her an encouraging nod.
“Well the thing is, with supes – supernatural creatures like shifters and vampires – we have this thing, this belief I guess, that every creature has a fated mate. Someone you’re meant to be with.
Someone who fate has deemed to be your perfect match.
Not everyone finds their mate, but if you’re very lucky, you meet them and when you do, it’s like love at first sight, but much stronger. ”
“Okaaayy…”
“You’re mine.” She spoke so quietly I almost didn’t hear her.
“I’m your what?” I asked in confusion.
“You’re my fated mate. My perfect match. My soulmate.”
I felt all the breath whoosh out of my lungs.
“Isn’t this kind of fast?” I asked carefully. “We just met this morning.”
“I knew it the instant I laid eyes on you,” she said seriously. “So did everyone in that conference room.”
“They did?” I remembered the way one person moved away so that I could sit next to Darla, and the way that Lois kept looking between us like we’d personally offended her.
“Yeah. They could tell by my reaction, especially since most of them have been through it.”
“What does it mean exactly? Being your mate?”
“It means that I’ll never love anyone else. Even if we never get together, my inner vamp will never let me so much as look at another person now.” She gave me a searching look. “You’re the one person I’m meant to spend the rest of my life with.”
“Huh.”
I didn’t know what else to say. This whole fated mate thing was crazy but clearly Darla believed it, so I didn’t want to hurt her feelings.
We were both quiet for several long minutes.
I wondered if that was why I felt so drawn to Darla, because some part of me was feeling this fated mate thing.
But then again, it was ridiculous. We were attracted to each other, I could definitely feel that, but Darla didn’t even know me.
How could she possibly want to spend the rest of her life with me?
“No offense,” I finally said. “But I don’t really believe in fate.
I believe in science. And while I know there are things science can’t quite explain – like shifters – I don’t see how you can know we’re supposed to be together when we don’t even know each other.
I just… I’m sorry, I don’t want to be insensitive to your culture, but I don’t know what I’m even supposed to say about this. ”
Darla flinched so quickly I almost thought I imagined it.
“You don’t have to say anything,” she said quietly.
“I just wanted you to know, since everyone on the team does. I didn’t want you to be caught by surprise if one of them said something.
It’s fine if you don’t believe in fated mates, or if it feels too fast. All I ask is that you keep your mind open to the possibility that it might be true that we belong together. ”
We hadn’t had a personal conversation yet or even touched each other, but something in her words rang true nonetheless. But maybe this was some forced proximity thing? Her friends had found their mates protecting someone, maybe she’d convinced herself I was the one for her based on that?
Suddenly I wanted nothing more than to go to bed. The last twenty-four hours had been a lot.
“I can keep an open mind I guess, but what are we supposed to do now?”
“I need to concentrate on keeping you safe so I can’t act on my feelings until this is all over,” she said. “So nothing changes between us now, but when you’re no longer in danger, maybe we can go on a date or something?”
I nodded, unsure what else to do. I mean, I was attracted to Darla. More attracted to her than I’d been to anyone else in my life. But fated mates? I was analytical. I needed data. I needed to research this.
Unfortunately all I really wanted to do was pull her against me and kiss her, but that was obviously a really bad idea, so I just asked, “Is that it?”
For some reason I had the impression that I’d hurt her feelings.
“Yeah.”
“Okay, I’m going to go do the dishes so I can get to bed.”
“I’ll take care of the dishes,” Darla said.
I didn’t even argue. I needed to be alone.
I had a lot to process what with uncovering a nefarious plot, finding my friend wolfed out and dead, and learning that a vampire thought fate had brought us together.
As a physician, I believed in science, but I wasn’t arrogant enough to dismiss that there were many things in this world we couldn’t explain yet, such as shifters.
But I’d feel better once I’d done one of my favorite things – research.
I settled into bed with my iPad then spent way too long googling, searching for information on fated mates, how people became shifters, and the details vampire physiology. By the time I fell asleep, I was more confused than when I started.
I snapped awake when someone knocked on my door. It was still dark outside, but the first hints of light were peeking through the ever present winter clouds.
“Yes?”
“We need to leave in thirty minutes,” Darla called through the door. “Do you want coffee?”
“God yes.”
I tossed on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt – I’d change into scrubs at the hospital – and headed to the kitchen.
Martha and Darla were sitting at the table, a carafe of coffee, a plate of toast, and a jar of red liquid sitting between them.
Martha poured some into a juice glass. I had a feeling it was not tomato juice.
“Is that… blood?”
Darla downed it like she was doing a shot of tequila. It was too early in the morning for me to see people drinking blood.
“Yeah,” Martha replied. “It keeps us healthy.”
I knew that vampires needed to have a minimum amount of blood, ideally every day, to keep their strength up. Not wanting to embarrass them, I grabbed a cup and joined them at the table, pouring myself some coffee. It was hot and strong enough to melt steel, just the way I liked it.
“Mmm.”
“Have some toast,” Darla ordered, giving me a strange look as she slid the plate towards me.
“I don’t eat breakfast, but thanks.”
“Why don’t you eat breakfast?” she asked.
I shrugged. “I don’t really get hungry until late morning.”
Both of the women stared at me, like the idea of someone skipping a meal was foreign to them. I remembered learning in medical school that supernatural populations had much faster metabolisms than humans did. That would make them have larger appetites.
“You can’t work on an empty stomach.” Darla sounded stubborn.
“Sure I can,” I shrugged. “I do it every day. I usually have a protein bar around ten-thirty.”
She mumbled something that sounded like, “and she’s supposed to be a doctor” but didn’t say anything else. She just grabbed a piece of toast, spread a thin layer of peanut butter on it, then slid it in my direction. I was eating it before I realized what was happening.
Once I’d finished my slice of toast we headed into Seattle. We were nearly to the hospital when Darla’s phone rang. She was driving this morning, so she pressed the button to make it play through the radio.
“Hey boss, I’m in the car with Martha and my m--, uh, with Kathryn.”
“I’ve got bad news,” Lois’s voice boomed through the speakers. “Whoever’s behind this definitely thinks that Kathryn knows something about what’s going on in that lab.”
Darla shot me a quick look over her shoulder before returning her attention to the road.
“What happened?” she asked.
“There was an incident at Kathryn’s condo.”
“What kind of an incident?” I called from the back seat, suddenly wide awake.
There was a long pause before Lois answered. “Someone blew it up.”