[Talia] I decided to walk to Victor’s house instead of calling for a ride. Most of my travels had been done on foot for most of my life. I sometimes missed this part of wandering, though, I was growing closer to my sedentary phase. My urges were cyclical. I would spend about fifty years wandering, feeling the urge to travel and experience the world. Then I would long for home and my Solus Amor. I would go back to her and we would spend the next fifty or so years ruling over her territory together. When the council met, I would go to the meetings, but return home after they were over. Zen understood. She relished her time alone as much as our time together. During our time apart, both of us would take lovers occasionally, but when we were together again, we were entirely faithful… unless we brought someone into our bed with us. A smile crossed my face as I remembered seeing her at Marius’ announcement party. I loved her so much and she looked like a goddess when I saw her. She was the most beautiful woman in creation. I wondered if Dennis felt that way about Sybil. He said it himself, she wasn’t his Solus Amor. I had always heard a vampire would never love again if they lost their Solus Amor. Perhaps that was out of sadness and self-pity. Maybe there was a chance they could love again if they wanted it enough. It was something to consider. I knew several people had been happy in their marriages after losing a Solus Amor. It was something we needed to get out to other vampires. It was possible to love again, they merely had to open their hearts to the possibility. Saving the hearts of my people was almost as important as saving their lives. Letting people know they could love again might help with the desolation many felt. Not all Solus Amors were lost from rejection. Some were lost to accidents and hunters who managed to get it right, unlike the hunters who attacked Victor in the spring. “Hello there,” a man said, stepping into my path. “Excuse me, I’m busy,” I replied. “You’re a vampire, right?” he asked. I stopped moving and looked at him. He was fairly average looking medium build, brown hair and eyes, and little muscle. The man wasn’t trying to be imposing, but he was looking down at me as if I were a child of some sort. “Why is that any of your business?” He put his hands up in surrender. I covertly sniffed. He was a witch. I could smell the magic on him. “You look very young and there are some perverted humans in the area. Can I walk with you for a while so you don’t get accosted?” The vampires in this area had a treaty with the witches. Perhaps he was trying to help out. I was often too suspicious, but that didn’t mean I would simply trust this man. There was something about him that I didn’t like. “You may walk with me, but do not touch me,” I answered. He nodded and started walking beside me as I continued on my path. In the past, people had thought me a child as well, it was understandable. I was an adult back when I was alive, but that was thousands of years ago. Not that I wouldn’t have been considered an adult here. Though I didn’t remember much about my life, I did know sixteen winters had passed in my lifetime. We didn’t celebrate a birthday, because we didn’t track individual days back then. I was considered average height for a woman in my village. As people evolved, they got taller and now I looked like a child instead of a woman. “Do you believe in the goddess?” he asked as we walked. “Believe in her how? Are you asking if I believe she exists or if I believe she has a plan and we should follow it?” “Both, I suppose. I don’t know if vampires believe in the goddess, because you’re all created by dark spirits, not by the goddess herself.” I stopped in my tracks and looked at him. Many people believed that we were inhabited by dark spirits, but none knew we were created by dark spirits. We kept the truth of our creation from everyone, including younger vampires. There were a series of lies that we told to others. I told Bellamy we were created by two vampires. We told our children that two dark beings created the first vampires, which was closer to the truth. We even lied to others about our relationship with each other. Sometimes, I would tell non-vampires that I was broodmates with the whole of the council. We never wanted anyone, outside of other vampires, to know our true relationships. I knew that Phoebe even told Lucien and Dillon that Felix was her broodmate. Misinformation was a strength of vampires. Other species couldn’t tell if we were lying. If you acted serious enough, anyone would believe what you had to say. “Who told you we were created by dark spirits? I’ve never heard that.” “Our leader is a very old fae. He told us vampires are not the goddess’ creatures because they were created by dark spirits. They’re like warlocks, except that they didn’t get a say in becoming what they are and they have to be dead for the dark spirits to give them their powers and life,” he explained with a smile and we started walking again. “A very old fae or an original fae?” I asked. “Very old. He hates the original fae because they think they’re better than everyone else because they were the goddess’ first children. Do you know what original fae call witches?” “No.” “Demi-fae. Like we’re less than them because our ancestors fell in love with humans. Witches have a history of their own. We don’t need their approval to exist.” “It seems like that’s a sore spot for you.” “Original fae call vampires ‘undead’. They believe that your people are the only real monsters in the world. Not that there’s a chance of a good vampire existing. They take the hate and fear that mortal fae have and amp it up to eleven. An original fae would kill a vampire if they had a chance,” he grumbled. “But you wouldn’t?” I asked. He shook his head. “We want more vampires to join our community, in fact. We heard that vampires don’t all believe in the goddess and her plans, so we wanted to find those vampires and give them a home.”“So you don’t believe in the goddess, then?” “The goddess loves all her children, but she loves the fae a little bit more, haven’t you heard? They say it all the time. She has always favored the fae.”It seemed their community didn’t like that very much. He seemed very angry. I’d always found the assertion amusing, but I knew it was because the fae were the first beings she created. Beings made from the magic of the world. In a way, vampires were made from the same magic, only the darker aspects of it. That didn’t mean that the goddess didn’t love us. If she didn’t then she wouldn’t give us our Solus Amors. Zen kept me sane and her love helped me to remember how to love lesser species. Not that I’d ever call them that to their face. “You never told me your name…” I said. “Sorry about that, I’m Meyer Reinhold. And you are?” “I just go by Tali.” I smiled. “Well, Tali, we’re at the edge of town. What do you think? Do you want to join us?” “Sorry, was this a pitch for something?” “Oh, for our community of mixed supernaturals who don’t follow the goddess. We are hoping to get more vampire members, so a lot of us are out looking for them, plus other people. You know, anyone who doesn’t believe in the goddess and her favoritism.” “So you would even take a fae if they didn’t agree with the goddess’ favoritism?” I asked. “Of course! If you know any, we would love to have them. Most of them like it, though. We have had a few join and they were great people. Will you join us, Tali?” This was the strangest thing I had ever seen, and that was saying a lot for a person who had lived as long as I had. I knew Bellamy had created a collective unlike any that had ever existed. Victor was trying something that had never been tried before, either. “I would need to think about it. You’re asking a lot for me to leave my community for yours. The rogue Queen Bellamy offers a second choice if vampires don’t want to swear their allegiance to the Master of the territory. Neither of them requires that we believe in the goddess,” I told him. He sighed. “I understand that you have options. Right now, they might seem like the best choice. But I have heard the Queen of the Eaten Heart says things like ‘the goddess doesn’t make mistakes’. That’s just wrong. That would mean the goddess is perfect and there is no being in existence who is perfect. What about all those people who are mismatched with soulmates that want different things or don’t want them?” “I was always thought that was because she gave people free will. And perfection, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. What is perfect for one person may not be perfect for another. Only humans have ever purported their deity to be perfect. I have never heard anyone say the goddess was,” I reasoned. Meyer frowned at me. This wasn’t the way he saw this conversation going. I could imagine he got flat out negative or positive responses in the past. A challenge wasn’t giving him what he wanted or expected. “I’ll let you think about it. I’ll be around, just find me and I would be more than happy to show you the community. Perhaps after seeing it, you would be willing to consider it more.” “Perhaps. Thank you for the walk and the conversation. Have a good night.” With that, I continued on my way to Victor’s. That was strange. They had a good idea, with a mixed community. It seemed that mixing communities and creating alliances among supernaturals was what the goddess wanted as well. Not that he would have liked hearing that. As I headed to Victor’s home, I pondered the man and his intriguing offer. I wondered how many vampires and other supernaturals had joined their little group. It was something I would take to Victor. He would need to know about something like this growing in his territory. When I reached his house, I jumped over the gate and headed for the front door. None of the guards bothered me because they all knew me. I walked into the house and it was quiet. Not unheard of for their home at this time of night. I went to the library and picked out a book, then went to Victor’s office to read. This was the weekend, and I had learned that I may not see Victor until he woke on weekends. He took that time off to connect with his mate and their third. Even though I had an open relationship with Zen, I didn’t think I could deal with a second mate, especially with her having a second mate who wasn’t mine as well. Perhaps Victor and Gray would get over their prudishness later in life. No one knew exactly how they would change. I never thought I would end up the way I am now. For a couple centuries, I was with my Solus Amor exclusively. I doted on her and she on me. We did everything together and raised countless human children. One day, I went on a mission for the council and didn’t return for a year. We both found that we enjoyed it. There was some trial and error while we figured out how long I would or could be away before I needed her again. Once we found the sweet spot for it, I started having the urges that would draw me back home or make me realize it was time to go. The closer it got to time for me to go home, the more I settled down. I was looking forward to the next three years with Bellamy and Victor. Soon, I would go back home and only rarely leave. It was perfect for my Solus Amor and me. I knew Victor, Gray, and Echo would find their perfection one day. When that happened, I would be there to see how their dynamic changed. It seemed like they were going to turn Gray into Echo’s human servant. That way he would keep his wolf and would get to stay with them forever. He didn’t realize what forever meant, but I hoped Echo’s love and Victor’s support would help him to accept it. Losing everyone you loved to time could hurt a person, especially if they were in a close-knit family like Gray was. He would see the children in his family age and die while he stayed the same. Shaking my head, I focused on my book. It was one I hadn’t read before. Echo had purchased a large selection of vampire fiction. This was more of a romantic comedy sort of book with the female lead being turned near death and having to face life in a small southern town where people judged her for being a vampire. I liked seeing how humans portrayed vampires. It made us more human to the readers. They didn’t see the monsters we could be and the more monstrous vampires in the books were always elders, which wasn’t necessarily incorrect. When one lived as long as I had, it was easy to be a monster. “Talia, what are you doing here?” Victor asked as he came into the room. He was wearing pajama pants, not a suit, and his chest was bare. Even I had to admit that Victor was handsome. I never felt the same way about him as I did about his broodmate, Finn, but that was because I’d seen how terrible his life had been and how I had stolen his death from him. Victor lost his whole family, wife and three children, over the span of several years before he was killed by a rogue werewolf. I found him dying and changed him. It wasn’t until I had his memories in my mind that I understood. He wanted to die. Though I took that release from him, he managed to make something of himself as a vampire. He now had a territory, a Solus Amor, a beautiful home, and the chance to have more children who would be supernaturally healthy. It was more than I could have ever hoped for. “I finished with Dennis and Sybil. They will be soul-bonding before the end of the year. She truly is regaining her memories one night at a time. Neither one of them is permitted to sire a vampire for the next one hundred years. Dennis will report to you every morning on what happened overnight with Sybil,” I told him. “Understood. Thank you for your quick and positive decision. Is there anything else you need?” “A witch tried to get me to join his community. I think they might be propositioning other vampires in your territory. The man said it is a community that doesn’t believe in the goddess. This might be something to keep an eye on. There’s no hard and fast rule that says we need to believe in the goddess, but there was something about him that bothered me.” “I’ll get a message out to all vampires in my territory to be wary of that community. May I use your name?” Victor asked.“Of course. It will make for a more compelling reason to avoid them. I will gather a few books and take room eight while I’m here. Get whatever you were after here and get back to your lovers.” “Lover. I told you, I’m not interested in men,” he grumbled. I laughed as he went and got something out of his desk. He frowned and shook his head at me before leaving, making me laugh even harder. Teasing Victor was one of my few pleasures in life. He was always amusing.