Vampires Need Not…Apply? (Accidentally Yours #4)(67)
Author: Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

Yes. The wealth and opulence of the deities put even his family to shame, although his father had been more into the sort of luxury that attracted females: a yacht in the French Riviera, the penthouse suite in Monte Carlo, private planes. If his father weren’t a life-sucking, coldhearted demon, he might actually consider the guy fun—during his earlier days, anyway. His prior lifestyle of drowning his sorrows and bedding women no longer interested him.

Now there was only one woman he wanted to bed. And the irony was he couldn’t have her.

Not yet, anyway.

Maybe never, she might not forgive you even if you do free her.

“It must be hard adjusting to the changes,” he said.

She sat across from him, a demure look on her face. She was actually quite lovely now that he looked. Pale skin, freckles on her nose, wide brown eyes. It was difficult to believe she was over one hundred years old.

“Being back isn’t as bad as you think,” she explained. “I didn’t have any family apart from my father, so in a way, I’m returning to what I left behind: nothing. I suppose it was a blessing not having to worry about anyone while I was trapped. Except for Chaam, anyway.”

“How is he?”

Sadness filled her eyes. “I don’t know. I can’t see him now that I’m free. I only hope we’ll reach him in time—and that Ixtab can cure him.”

“About that,” he said. “I need to tell you there’s a problem.”

“Horsefeathers. They’re letting Cimil out, aren’t they?”

Antonio shook his head no. “She refused to help me. If we open that portal, my father will be released. His body is about to give out, which means he will require a new one, and he intends to take my brother’s. Obviously, I can’t let that happen. I won’t give up his life for Ixtab’s.” Dammit. This situation was impossible.

“No. You’re wrong, Antonio,” she said. “I heard him speaking to Cimil—I kept a very close eye on her—he intends to take your body.”

His body? A vampire? “I didn’t think that was possible. Are you sure?” he asked.

“I heard the conversation a day before you showed up to your father’s house. He believes that Ixtab belonged to him. He wanted your body so he could finally be with her. That’s why the Maaskab were there, to help with the transfer—in exchange for getting the tablet back, of course. Could you imagine? Maaskab with the ability to time travel? They’d be able to do anything they liked.”

Antonio was no longer listening to Margaret. Because now the cold truth of the situation had just turned into an inhabitable tundra of despair. He could save Ixtab in exchange for his own life. He would be the next host, not his brother, if the demon got out.

“Are you all right?” Margaret asked. “Antonio?”

He nodded slowly. “I didn’t know.” He looked up at her. “I didn’t know he wanted me.” So that’s what Cimil meant when she said I’d have to choose.

“I’m sorry.”

“At least I no longer have to choose between her and my brother. If the choice is giving up my life to save her, then I choose her. I will always choose her.”

Margaret’s eyes teared up. “You’re a good man, Antonio.”

Not anymore… Now, he’d be a dead man—or cease to exist, anyway—and leave behind the only person he’d ever truly loved without having the chance to tell her.

“Margaret?”

“Yes?”

“How do I open the portal?”

She stared for a moment, clearly thinking over her response. “I think we should wait until we’re in Mexico. When Chaam is released, we open the portal for Ixtab. Otherwise, I have no guarantee they’ll free him.”

Antonio stood up. “Ixtab will make sure that Chaam is freed, Margaret. She would not double-cross you because she’s good. I’ve never met anyone like the woman—so willing to sacrifice herself for the happiness of others.”

Funny. Now that he thought about it, why was she the Goddess of Suicide? Ixtab wasn’t depressing or morbid. She was sexy, quirky, and strong. She was happy and wanted nothing more than the same for others. And wasn’t happiness one of her gifts? So why wasn’t she the Goddess of Happiness? Caray, if they got through this, he’d lobby the gods for a name change. She didn’t deserve such a horrible title.

Margaret’s eyes reflected her concern. “I don’t know.”

“Please, Margaret. Please tell me how. I know you want Chaam back, but you have to remeber this mess is Cimil’s doing, not anyone else’s. Now she’s behind bars, and the truth has been exposed. It is over. You’ve played your hand and done your part. Now the rest of us need to do ours.”

“I can’t risk it,” she said.

“Do you want me to beg? Because I will. Whatever it takes.” He lowered himself and kneeled on the floor in front of her.

Margaret hissed. “Stop. Don’t do that. You’re breaking my heart. I’ll tell you…”

Antonio sprang from his seat, grabbed her shoulders, and picked her up to embrace her.

“Whoa, there, vampire.” She wiggled in his arms. “I think”—she grunted her words—“you’re forgetting how strong you are.”

“My apologies.” Antonio set her down.

She secured her robe and smiled. “To open the tablet, you must make a sacrifice.”

“Sacrifice?” Diablos. He’d have to kill someone?

“And it must be in the name of true love,” she added.

Qué? “You know that sounds like a fairy-tale cliché, don’t you?” His mind started formulating how a sacrifice made specifically in the name of love would have any scientific bearing. Simply put, the tablet’s atoms reacted to external stimuli and energy patterns, so could this mean that love, an emotion, had its own frequency?

“Yes. But it’s true,” she said. “It’s how I ended up trapped. My father had been trying to open the portal, hoping to bring my mother back from the dead. He was about to tear out Itzel’s heart—he must’ve translated the word sacrifice on the tablet and thought killing someone was the key to its power—when Chaam found him. I know my father was mad, his soul past the point of redemption, which meant Chaam was obligated to kill him on the spot for the good of humanity. That’s their law. Then I showed up, and Chaam had to choose between killing my father right in front of me or serving his duty. Somehow, and I don’t know how, but Chaam resisted his hardwiring to put his duty first. He broke his bond with the Universe to save me from the pain of watching my father’s death.”