Prince of Lies [COMPLETED]

Chapter 31

"Well," Frederick started, realizing the error in his words, "you seem to be enjoying your freedom, and you're still in your early hundreds. Don't vampyres usually have to wait longer for this sort of thing?"

Gheorge's bitter gaze swept over the halls. "Most but not all. I did not expect to crave my mate so soon. I would just love to be settled with that certain male or female and end my days of being an empty, shallow-minded whore."

Frederick coughed into his fist. "Yes, well, don't lose hope. I'm sure you're fated one is out there, and I hope they come sooner rather than later."

"If I am lucky."

A scrape sounded nearby, a wall opening at their side.

"And what do we have here?" Gheorge asked, retrieving the items. "Booze and dusty chocolate? I'm sure the chocolate isn't safe to eat but the booze, I'll have. Thank you, Errand, but don't offer the chocolates to Frederick either. One poisoned piece of chocolate could kill a mortal with one bite, you know."

Errand groaned as though embarrassed.

"It's an honest mistake, Errand," Frederick called. "You've lived with beasts for so long that you have no idea what humans actually need except for alcohol. But if you happen to find a bonbon that's from this past century, do send it my way."

Gheorge popped the cork and drank. He offered it to Frederick, but he shook his head. He needed to stay in the right mind for when Arabella awakened. "Suit yourself."

They continued for a while longer, and this time he could feel Errand rolling under their feet as though accompanying them. "So, does Arabella have a mate?" Frederick asked.

Wine spluttered from Gheorge's lips, and he choked as he beat his chest. "Pardon?"

"Has Arabella found her mate? Do you know."

"Well," he started slowly, "I know next to nothing about Arabella and her mate."

"Next to nothing?" Frederick said. "But you know something."

"You hadn't thought to ask your wife, old boy?"

"Not before now, no," Frederick admitted. "But the more and more I talk to you about this mate concept, the more I become curious. How can you tell when a vampyre is mated?"

"How can you tell?" Gheorge said, gripping the bottle. "Well, the vampyre always senses who their mate is when they meet them. But before both mates accept each other they are drawn to one another. They become inseparable long before they become mated. Neither of them can stand to see the other in pain, not even for a second. And these are usually signs of matehood before both beings are vampyres."

"Does that mean one of the mates will be human?"

"More often than not," Gheorge said, nodding. "The human doesn't feel as compelled to their mate as their vampyre half does but the vampyre becomes very territorial. But a pair can't be bonded until they're both vampyre, and once the bond is accepted on both sides, then their hearts begin beating with life again."

A foolish sense of disappointment trudged through Frederick. Arabella's heart did not beat, meaning she had not found her mate and he couldn't be hers. There would also be relief to come with that knowledge, but that part would come later, he hoped. They didn't need to be bonded in some eternal, life-altering way. That would be a disaster for his plans to betray her.

Plans that needed to be reassessed at the earliest opportunity considering all that had happened ...

"But the vampyre always knows who their mate is once they meet them," he reiterated. "They do say there is some spiritual, invisible link between mates. But that hasn't been proven."