Over the past couple days, Elias has held me close, whispered the sweetest things to me, but I haven't been able to let myself go like I did that first time. I was lost in the moment, so gone for him that I couldn't have stopped even if I wanted to.

I still feel so fucking guilty. I wish he would let me confess things, but he doesn't want to hear it, and I truly can't say I blame him.

I'm laying in his arms in the floor on a fluffy blanket in front of his fireplace when he kisses the spot under my ear and says, "Cordelia?"

"Yes, Elias?"

"I think it's time I take you to the other side of the palace and introduce you to Andres."

"A-Andres? As in, your sire? Oh, shit, that's like, meeting the parents on steroids!"

"You had no problems with me meeting your parents."

"You didn't really give me a choice, did you?"

He lifts an eyebrow that proves I made my point. In all actuality, it doesn't bother me that he met my parents without me. I'm grateful that he kept them informed while I was away. He created a friendship with them, and I really couldn't ask for a better outcome. But meeting Andres is different. This is the being who made Elias a vampire. And I know it is just silly stereotypes, but I can't help but think he might not be the most pleasant person to encounter. Despite Elias's stories about him being a good sire.

Elias turns on his side and brushes my hair back from my face. "You don't have to meet him if you don't want to, but I'd like for him to see that I've found a good mate. It would help reassure him that things will work out in our favor."

I grin and poke him in the ribs. "You want him to see that you 'found' a good mate? As if you had a choice in the matter. You couldn't say no to this if you wanted to," I tease, laying flat on my back and stretching my arms over my head in a faux sexy pose.

"True. But I could have ended up being bonded to a dimwitted gold digger. Instead, I was blessed with an intelligent, funny, and stunning woman."

I roll over to face him and place my palms on his cheeks. "Gah, I can't even mess with you without you being all sweet and shit." Giving him a kiss, I add, "Wouldn't change it though. You're utter perfection. I already knew it, but after everything I've been through, I definitely know it now."

"So is that a yes?"

I nod and he sits up, leaving me feeling cold without him next to me. He stares off into space and something sentimental washes over his chiseled features. "You don't know how much this means to me. This is one of the moments in my life that I thought would never come, but that I wanted so badly."

I sit up and climb onto his lap, pushing his hair out of his eyes. "Sorry I was late. Downside of being a human," I say with a quirk of my lips.

"Half gorgeous human and half fascinating Dreamwalker. The wait was worth it. "

*****

I've never felt so nervous in my life. I must change my outfit twenty times before settling on a classic black dress. Knowing how much this means to Elias, I want everything to be perfect.

We walk down the hallway and past the imperial staircase to the other wing of the palace. Everything looks the same with the dark décor, but something in the air feels different...ancient. It's like the being that resides in this corridor has seen the beginning and the end of countless people and places.

Elias stops at a massive set of dark wood doors and knocks. The response from the other side is gravelly and quiet. Taking my hand, Elias enters first, keeping me somewhat behind him. I can tell he would rather have me at his side, and it is only for my benefit that he shelters me.

The room is dark with the only light coming from the fireplace to the left. An enormous bed with a red and gold comforter sits neatly made on the opposite side. In a winged-back chair with his legs covered in a knitted blanket is the oldest being I've ever encountered.

Andres glances up at us with watery gray eyes. His hair is sparse and what there is of it is wiry and white. He points a gnarled finger in my direction and says, "This is her."

"It is," Elias says with a smile. "Cordelia, I'd like you to meet my sire, Andres. Sire, this is my soul bonded, Cordelia."

Andres looks me over for a moment before pointing to the two empty chairs across from him. "Sit. We have much to discuss."

Well, that was...uneventful.

I sit in the chair to the right of Elias and keep hold of his hand. My heart is pounding so hard in my chest, and I'm starting to lose my breath. I don't know why I'm so nervous. Elias would never let anything happen to me, and this being looks like he couldn't hurt a gnat even if he wanted to. And I don't have any idea why he'd want to hurt me.

I wish I had brought my inhaler but damn this pocketless dress.

Swallowing, I look to Elias, my chest rising and falling too fast to be normal, and I hope he can see the silent question in my eyes before I have to speak it.

Of course he does, and his amber eyes light in recognition right away. His hand slides into his pocket and he draws out the blessed, life-giving plastic, placing it in my hand. I uncap it and draw in one puff, hold it, release, then repeat for good measure. I avoid Andres' curious stare as I hand the inhaler back to Elias.

He plants a kiss on my temple and whispers, "Are you okay, my love?"

I nod. "Yes, thank you. I feel better now."

Andres chuckles. It's a raspy sound, like he has spent his entire existence chain smoking. "Of course, the fates would match you with someone so...human. Yet there is something powerful about you as well. You might be one of the strangest creatures I've ever met, girl."

I clench my jaw and hold my tongue. The only reason I don't turn around and give this old man the business is out of respect for Elias. I don't know how he'd take me putting his sire in his place, so I just give him a tight-lipped smile and say, "I was born with asthma. It seems that also being born half Dreamwalker didn't stop that from being a thing. It doesn't hold me back too much though. As long as I always have my inhaler and pay attention to my body, I'm good to go." I let go of Elias's hand and squeeze his knee. "Luckily your protégé here is good about carrying an extra wherever we go for times like this when wardrobe doesn't allow for me to be as prepared as I should."

Andres gives Elias a weak smile that screams how proud he is of him. "Elias has always shown much compassion for others. The way he views this and the human realm is vital to continued peace. There can be no us and them—we simply must be."

I have to tuck my lips between my teeth to keep from laughing. This is not a speech I thought I would ever get from an old-as-dirt vampire. I was expecting something more along the lines of Cane's train of thought—world dominance and humans are only good when eaten.

I gain my self-composure and say, "I understand the power I have can manipulate lives. It is my hope to never use it like that unless I must. It's important to me that the two realms remain living in harmony."

Andres turns to Elias and says, "She would make a terrible mate for your brother. I'm surprised he even tried."

Elias laughs at that. "Agreed."

"Just goes to show you that just because you are someone's mate doesn't mean the match will work out," I say, shrugging my shoulders. "Elias was always going to be it for me, from day one. Although I will admit, Cane did try to help me by giving me the book with all the ways to kill a vampire. Even though he did it just to trick me into trusting him...I left with it, so I won in the end."

"What book?" the vampires say at the same time.

I shrug and suddenly feel a little self-conscious. "I don't think it had a name but it's old. He said that he was giving me all the ways to kill him, so I didn't have to feel scared or trapped. But now that I say it out loud and understand what his real intentions were with me, I think he did it so I would know how to kill Elias."

Andres mindlessly plays with a loose string on his blanket. "I would reckon that you are correct. Cane is the most calculated being I've ever met. Every move he makes has a reason."

"I'd like to see this book, belle rêveur."

I nod, a little shocked that a tiny, old book would be such a big deal, especially to vampires. Don't they already know all the ways someone can kill them? It seems strange that they would need to turn to a book.

"Do you want me to go get it now?"

"No, you can show me later." Elias looks at Andres and something passes between them that I don't understand.

But one thing I do know is that this book is really important, and I'm glad as hell that I shoved it in that backpack that day before I decided to leave and then never took it out again.

I wonder if Cane even realizes I took it. Does he realize that Elias and Andres don't know that it exists?

I have so many questions that I know I have to wait to ask Elias, and I can't help but wonder...if Elias couldn't go through with killing Cane the first time...why would it be any different now?