Free Good, the Bad, and the Vampire by Sara Humphreys Page A

is.”
    â€œWhat makes you think there’s a gargoyle in Manhattan?”
    â€œIt’s not in the city, at least not yet.” Dakota chose his words carefully. “I got a whiff of it the other night when I followed Trixie upstate. It’s been a while since I got a head full of gargoyle stink, but let me tell you, that is one stench you don’t forget.”
    â€œI’ll take your word for it,” Xavier said with a small smile. “But why were you following Trixie?”
    â€œI was doin’ Olivia a favor.” Dakota tried to be casual and act like it was no big deal. “She and the others were worried about where Trixie had been gettin’ off to lately.”
    â€œI see.” Xavier peered at him over the rim of his glasses. “Is that the only reason?”
    The jig was up. Somehow Xavier saw right through him. How long before the rest of the coven figured it out? He wanted to court Trixie, sure, but not with a damn audience.
    â€œAh, hell, Xavier. I don’t know what it is about that woman, but I can’t get her out of my head. She’s the most infuriating lady I’ve ever known.” He shook his head and pressed his fingers to his eyes. “I even dreamed about her. Can you believe that? What fifty-plus-year-old vampire dreams ? I must be losing my damn mind.” He dropped his hands and started pacing around the lab, frustration lacing every word. “Can vampires go crazy?”
    A heavy silence filled the enormous space, and Dakota could feel Xavier’s stare drilling a hole in his back. A flicker of foreboding skittered up his spine. When he turned around and noticed the stunned look on Xavier’s face, he suspected that he had more than a gargoyle to worry about.
    â€œWhat is it?” Dakota kept his voice even and fought the building sense of uneasiness. “Am I really going crazy or something?”
    Xavier glanced at Bella and then flew to Dakota, hovering in midair so that the two of them were eye to eye. He placed his pudgy hands on Dakota’s shoulders, a mischievous grin lighting up his face.
    â€œYou’re not going crazy, my friend.” He let out a short laugh and shook his head. “But it will probably feel like you are, at least for a while. That’s what I’ve been told anyway.”
    â€œWhat are you talkin’ about, man? I wish someone around here would give me a straight answer.”
    â€œYou had a dream last night…about Trixie?” He flicked a knowing glance to Bella and the ghost fluttered louder. “Or more to the point, you were dreaming with her.”
    â€œWell, yeah. I guess.” Dakota shifted his weight, suddenly feeling self-conscious. If his heart still beat, he’d probably be blushing like a kid caught with his father’s dirty magazines. “But it wasn’t anythin’…you know… Anyway, yeah, she was in it. So what?”
    â€œThat’s what I suspected.” Xavier patted Dakota’s cheek in an almost fatherly gesture. “My dear boy, Trixie is your bloodmate.”
    â€œBloodmate?” Dakota took a step back and held up both hands. “You mean like Olivia and Doug, or Shane and Maya? Eternal bonds, daywalking, and all that jazz?”
    â€œYes.” Xavier chuckled and flew to the back of the lab. He pressed a button on the remote and a moment later the stainless steel wall slid open, revealing the substantial armory of the Presidium’s New York office. “All that jazz.”
    Dakota stood there with a million thoughts swimming through his head. He barely noticed when Xavier emerged, holding a gray stone dagger with a gilded handle.
    â€œHere you go.” He hovered in midair and held the unique weapon out for Dakota. When he didn’t take it, Xavier gently placed the dagger in his palm and closed Dakota’s fingers over it. “One stone dagger.”
    Bloodmate. Trixie was his bloodmate.
    As the