Lady and the Vamp (Mystical Matchmakers Book 2) Read online

  Lady and the Vamp

  C.C. WOOD

  Copyright © 2022 by Crystal W. Wilson

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Epilogue

  Sneak Peek of Suddenly My Selkie

  About the Author

  Also by C.C. Wood

  Prologue

  Rune Ferguson was getting lucky tonight.

  He hoped, anyway.

  After three weeks, he’d finally invited Audrey over for dinner. He’d planned a simple meal of coq au vin, roasted potatoes, and a fresh green salad. Since his baking skills were horrible, he’d ordered an apple tart from a local bakery that he enjoyed.

  The chicken was simmering on the stovetop and smelled delicious. The wine was chilling in the fridge.

  He’d bought some short white candles and a bouquet of flowers in a squat vase, and then he’d arranged them in the center of his kitchen table. He’d forgotten the tablecloth, but the table still looked nice.

  As far as setting the mood went, he thought he’d done a good job.

  It had been a long while since he’d found a woman, he liked enough that he wanted a second date. It had been even longer since he’d found a woman he wanted in his home.

  Audrey was intelligent and attractive. And a vampire.

  He enjoyed her company and she understood him because they were the same.

  Vampires always had trouble finding mates in the human realm unless they wanted to turn a human. That was something Rune had absolutely no interest in.

  The last time he’d taken a chance and revealed himself to a human woman had been right after those books had come out. She seemed excited about the idea that he was a vampire but was quickly disappointed when she learned that he wasn’t much different than a typical guy.

  Erasing her memories of him had been tricky but necessary. Especially after he caught her trying to take a picture of him for her blog.

  After that, he’d decided no more humans unless they already knew about vampires.

  Yes, Audrey was exactly what he needed. Hopefully, tonight, they would take the next step in their relationship.

  He ran upstairs to his bedroom, checked his hair, and brushed his teeth.

  He was just finishing up when the doorbell rang. Audrey was right on time.

  Rune ran back down the stairs and opened the door, a smile on his face.

  Audrey stood on his porch, her short brown hair in a sleek, chin-length style, and her slender body draped in a pink cotton dress and white cardigan.

  “Hi, Audrey,” he greeted. “You look lovely.”

  A small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “Thank you.” She inhaled. “Something smells delicious.”

  “Dinner should be ready soon.” He stepped back. “Please come in.”

  Audrey stepped over the threshold and paused just inside the door. “Oh, my. Um, your house is…interesting.”

  Rune shrugged before he shut the door. “It’s a little sparse right now. I haven’t had a chance to finish decorating.”

  “Finish? So, you’re doing your own decorating?”

  “Yeah,” he said with a smile. “Would you like a glass of wine?”

  Audrey stopped looking around with wide eyes. “That sounds great.”

  “Let’s go into the kitchen and you can watch me finish dinner,” he said with a wink.

  “You made it yourself?” she asked, sounding surprised.

  “Sure. Cooking, decorating, my skills are phenomenal in both areas.”

  Audrey didn’t say anything, she just followed him into the kitchen. She took one of the stools at the bar and stared at the shelves against the opposite wall.

  “What are those?” she asked when he brought a glass of wine to her.

  “Those are my Raiders helmets,” he said. “They actually belong in my game room but it’s not ready yet, so I display them up here.”

  “I see,” she said before she took a huge sip of her wine.

  Rune frowned. “Why? Is there something wrong with them?”

  “Just not what I expected,” she said, drinking more wine.

  He wanted to ask her what she meant, but the timer he’d set started to chime.

  “Hold that thought,” he said, going over to the stove.

  He turned off the timer, grabbed a hot pad, and pulled the potatoes out of the oven. He put the sheet pan on a couple of trivets on the counter. Rune turned the heat off under the chicken and lifted the lid.

  A fragrant cloud of steam billowed from the pan, and he smiled. He looked over at Audrey and found her with her phone to her ear.

  “Is something wrong?” he asked.

  “I don’t know,” she said, her tone apologetic. “My friend just texted me a 9-1-1. I’m calling her to see what’s wrong.”

  He could hear the line ringing on the other end and a female voice answer, “Audrey, is that you?”

  “Yes, it’s me. What’s wrong?”

  “I need you to come pick me up. My car broke down and the tow truck can’t get here for at least an hour, and I have a really important dinner meeting to get to. I know you have a date tonight, but there’s no one else I can call.”

  “Of course,” Audrey said. “I’ll be right there.” She got to her feet and picked up her bag. She hung up and tucked her phone back into her purse.

  “I’m very sorry, Rune. I’ve got to go help my friend.”

  “Of course,” he said, hiding his disappointment. “Do you want me to come with you?”

  “No, no, that’s not necessary,” she said.

  He followed her to the front door and walked her to her car. “I’ll call you tomorrow,” he said.

  “Okay,” she said. Then, without even a good-bye kiss, she climbed into her car, backed out of the driveway, and drove off.

  Rune frowned. He was both frustrated and confused.

  She’d seemed genuinely happy to see him when she came in, but then she couldn’t seem to wait to leave. Something didn’t sit right with him, but he couldn’t figure out what it was. She’d even seemed really interested in his decorating scheme, which he hadn’t expected. The few women he’d invited over hadn’t seemed to care.

  Rune stood in the driveway for a few moments before he went back inside and picked up her wineglass. It was empty. He set it in the sink and grabbed his own glass and the wine bottle, carrying them both out on his front porch.

  His neighbor, Clay, was walking out to his mailbox and saw him, lifting a hand in a wave.

  “Hey, Clay,” he said, waving back.

  The troll crossed his driveway and came up on his porch. “Evenin’, Rune,” he rumbled in a deep voice. “Was that Audrey I saw tearing out of here in her car?”

  “Yeah,” Rune answered with a sigh before he drained his wineglass. “There go my hopes for a speci
al night.”

  Clay grunted and sat down in one of the rocking chairs on Rune’s porch. Rocking chairs that he’d made.

  “Emergency?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” Rune said. “Her friend’s car broke down.” He shook his head. “But I’m pretty sure that wasn’t it.”

  “Why?”

  “Because she’s the third woman I’ve dated who’s run away the first time I invite them over for a dinner.”

  “Hmm. Any ideas why?”

  Rune shrugged and poured more wine in his glass. “Nope.”

  “Have you thought about using a dating service?” Clay asked.

  Rune’s eyebrows lifted and he swiveled his head to stare at his neighbor in disbelief.

  “What?” the troll asked, his tone defensive.

  “It’s just that was the last thing I expected you to say,” Rune said. “You used a dating service?”

  “My mother signed me up without my permission but I’m not mad about it anymore because that’s how I found Dylan.”

  Dylan was Clay’s fiancée and she’d just moved in with him a couple of months ago. She seemed really sweet, and the state of Clay’s front and back yards had improved enormously since she moved in. Wood nymphs nurtured plants just by their presence.

  “Really?” Rune asked, drinking more wine. It was a shame that he couldn’t get drunk because he really felt like finding oblivion somewhere.

  “Yeah. Mystical Matchmakers. You should give them a call. Even if you decide not to use their service, the owner, Dominique, is one hell of a looker.”

  “I heard that,” a low feminine voice called.

  “I know,” Clay called back.

  A woman’s laugh floated across the dark lawn and Dylan emerged from the shadows of the bushes that surrounded my porch, coming up the steps to sit on Clay’s lap.

  Dominique may have been a looker, but Clay looked at Dylan like she was the only woman on the planet. Even though they hadn’t been together for long; they were definitely a unit. Despite the difference in their sizes and species, they fit together. There was no other way to explain it.

  “He’s right, though,” Dylan said. Her eyes nearly glowed in the darkness. “You should sign up for the service. They do an excellent job.”

  Rune lifted the wineglass to his lips and drained it. “I guess it’s time to give it a shot. I’m tired of being the three-date wonder.”

  “Let me know how it goes,” Dylan said, a half-smile on her face. “Maybe you’ll have a date for our wedding after all.”

  Maybe, but he wasn’t going to get his hopes up.

  Chapter One

  Astra regretted ever signing up for Mystical Matchmakers.

  In the last month, she’d gone on seven dates, each more disastrous than the last. The males that Veronica and Dominique hand-picked for her seemed to expect one of two things: that she would be one of the guys or that she could and would kick their ass if they stepped a toe out of line.

  While the second part was true, Astra rarely felt the need to physically assault a man who got handsy or said something out of line. Usually, a hard stare was all it took for them to back off and quickly. Being a Valkyrie had its uses, after all.

  This was the same problem she’d run into with the men her mother and sisters kept trying to throw in her path. They were perfectly nice, but none of them ever seemed to treat her like a woman. Only like a warrior.

  She didn’t want to be one of the guys. She liked being female. Sure, she loved a good bout in the sparring ring or target practice at the gun range, but she also liked romance. She wanted someone to take her on picnics or to the art museum. Maybe even the symphony. She wanted to wear a dress and make-up and have a man look at her with both affection and desire.

  Beer and wings at the local sports bar could be fun, but she didn’t enjoy being ignored by her date for the game on the huge TV’s all around the room.

  Mystical Matchmakers was a mistake.

  One she intended to rectify immediately.

  With her shoulders back and her head held high, Astra marched down the sidewalk to the office that housed the service. Though she was frustrated enough to have sparks flitting about her fingertips, Astra was determined to remain calm.

  Typically, she would have handled something like this by phone, but she’d been too worked up to use hers. Zapping her phone every time she got pissed off was an expensive habit, one she had broken a few years ago.

  Astra stopped outside the office and forced herself to take a deep breath.

  Inhale calm, exhale anger.

  She repeated the mantra to herself as she took three more breaths. Then, two more.

  Finally, after the sixth breath, electrical energy stopped bursting out of her fingers.

  Confident she wouldn’t accidentally shock someone, Astra pushed open the door and walked toward the front desk where Veronica Salt sat.

  Though she wasn’t sure exactly what Veronica was, there was something about the woman’s eyes that made Astra feel as though her every thought and feeling was laid bare. It was unsettling.

  “Ms. Falk,” Veronica said, a soft smile on her face. “How are you today?”

  “I’ve been better,” Astra answered.

  A frown replaced the smile and dimmed the light in her dark brown eyes. “I’m sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can help you with?”

  Astra halted in front of the desk. “Yes. I’d like to cancel my membership.”

  The other woman didn’t even blink. “I’m so sorry to hear that. Do you mind if I ask why?”

  Astra barely refrained from baring her teeth in a snarl. Instead, she ground her back teeth together before she finally answered, “You know why. We’ve spoken after every single one of my dates and you know that I have been less than impressed with my matches.”

  Veronica nodded. “I understand that it’s frustrating, but please remember that finding a match takes time. With each date you go on, we get a better understanding of what you’re looking for in a potential companion.”

  Astra shook her head. “They’re not getting better, they’re getting worse. The last guy expected me to open doors for him and then tried to hide behind me when he got into an argument at the sports bar over the baseball game on TV. He actually told the other guy that he was going to have me kick his ass!”

  Veronica’s eyes widened. “Oh, my. That is terrible. Perhaps if we performed the intake interview again, we could see where we went wrong on finding your potential matches.”

  “Why should I have to do it again?” Astra asked. “Can’t you people get it right the first time?”

  She watched as Veronica’s eyes flashed from dark brown to black before the woman closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Whoa. That was disconcerting to see. Once again, Astra wondered what the other woman was exactly. Veronica’s brown eyes seemed human enough, but the deep eggplant color of her hair was definitely real and probably of fae origin.

  When Veronica opened her eyes and looked up at Astra, she seemed calm, but there was something stirring in the depths of her gaze. “Ms. Falk, I’m going to say something to you that you aren’t going to like, and you won’t want to hear, but I want you to understand that I want to help you and sometimes that help comes in the form of honest words.”

  Astra raised an eyebrow, surprised at the other woman’s temerity. “Go ahead.”

  “You lied in your intake interview,” Veronica said. “When you aren’t honest with us, and with yourself, we won’t be able to find the type of match you’re looking for.”

  For the first time in years, Astra was speechless. Her first instinct was to break the desk between them in half with her bare hands. The second was to tell the woman that she had no idea what she was talking about. But the last thought was the voice of reason. The one that always told her the truth. And that voice said Veronica was right.

  Astra opened her mouth to say something, but the door behind Veronica opened to reveal Dominique Proxa, the owner of Mys
tical Matchmakers.

  To her surprise, Astra liked Dominique. She might look like a fae ice princess, but the woman was warm and welcoming. And Astra’s sister, Sylvie, had said that Dominique fought like a Valkyrie when she came to Sylvie’s gym. Considering that Sylvie had an elitist attitude toward their species, this was a high compliment.

  “Astra!” Dominique said, a smile spreading across her face to bring light and warmth to her eyes. “How are you?”

  “I have no idea,” she answered with a shrug. “I’m still processing a difficult truth.”

  Dominique canted her head to the side. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

  “Maybe—”

  Astra was distracted by movement behind Dominique. A lean man exited her office and stepped to the side. To Astra’s surprise, he was taller than both she and Dominique by several inches. He moved with a liquid grace that the martial artist in her appreciated.

  He murmured something to Dominique that seemed to take the woman by surprise. Her glacial blue eyes widened, and she stammered, “Of course.”

  Within a blink, a smile was once again affixed to Dominique’s face, and she stepped forward. “Astra Falk, I’d like you to meet Rune Ferguson. He’s just signed up with the service and I think the two of you might get along.”

  Rune stepped forward and held out a hand, a breach of etiquette among the Valkyrie as the woman was always supposed to initiate a handshake when in mixed company, but Astra ignored it because he was close enough now for her to see the color of his eyes.

  They were a pure grey, light and clear around his pupil, but with a darker grey ring on the outside of his iris. And they seemed to glow.

  When Astra took his hand, her fingers tingled, but instead of the electricity jumping through her to him, it traveled back up her arm and spread throughout her entire body. It was a strange, exhilarating sensation.