Free Vampire Food 08: He Smelled Like Peach Pie by Kat Barrett Page A

if she had elevated mental abilities. There were seers in his village, and it was possible that they still existed.
    “I don’t know.”
    That was not an answer that a seer would give. She closed her eyes, and then shook her head in a slow, remorseful fashion. “I can’t touch Rory’s mind. I’m afraid, Russell. What if they’re dead?”
    That was an interesting fact. She could speak to her mate with only her mind. Maybe she was a seer, just not the kind he had known in his past life.
    “You would know, Em,” replied Russell.
    “I’m not sure of that. My blood is too diluted.”
    “You knew when Joel died.”
    “I knew because his severed head was held before me. I didn’t feel him die.”
    She had four mates and one of them was killed? What a busy woman this Queen Emerald was. Of course, that indicated that she would have no trouble filling in the gap in her life.
    Russell grimaced and Em stroked his cheek. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that the way it came out. Joel needed to die. I just don’t know about Rory or Salt.”
    Russell had killed her fourth mate? That didn’t sound right. Maybe his assumption had been wrong.
    Her face crumbled into tears, and Russell reached out to soothe her. The shifter obviously loved her. In his youth, he would have passed unfavorable judgment on the alpha shifter for such an unspeakable act. Of course, that view had been changed when he fell in love with a vampire himself.
    Emerald accepted Russell’s embrace and then leaned back with a sniffle. “What do I do if they are dead? Everything is gone, Russell.”
    “I’m still here.”
    “I know. You saved my life.”
    He swiped her face with his palms. “I’m not that noble. I couldn’t bear to have you die. I love you too much.”
    Russell was trying to calm her with words, but Emerald’s placating smile failed miserably. “Please go see if you can find them. But be safe. I couldn’t bear to lose all three of you.”
    What a proud, devoted woman she was. She was everything he had imagined her to be as he had listened for the sound of her voice. Hers was the first notably lovely voice that he had heard in his hundreds of years of seclusion. Her speech had given him insight into the current mode of conversation, and he had listened intently trying to decipher and then remember the new dialect. Now he was speaking it quite well, and knew that he had made a good impression on the woman who had been but imagination until this day. He had even had dragonflies in his stomach at the thought of someday meeting her.
    How wonderful it was to be free, and she certainly wasn’t a disappointment.
    As Russell headed away from her, he glanced over his shoulder. It was a look that told Shanagar that Russell knew exactly what he was thinking. Shanagar was craving a mate and the queen was also craving him. She was trying to mask her interest, but Russell had seen through it just as clearly as Shanagar had.

Chapter 10
     
    So many of the vampires that had been awake in the common area were burned. Some had found shelter under tables or furniture, but none had been spared completely. Em didn’t have enough blood in her body to heal them all and she was encouraging any human she came across to donate what they could. She was mainly looking for Mia, although her heart ached with each each body she passed.
    Shanagar walked beside her. He had stated that he couldn’t help anyone because of his altered blood, and she had no reason not to believe him. As they neared the outer wall, Em had wonder if maybe Mia was in her chamber, safe and sleeping as she should be. “Can you stay here and wait for Russell? I need to go check on Mia.”
    “That is who you are searching for?”
    “Yes. It’s kind of a long story, but she’s like my daughter.”
    “I will stay. Please be careful. You don’t know if any who set the explosion are still around.”
    He had a good point. She had seen no weres and very few shifters among the injured. “I