Immortality Stolen (The Mortal One Series Book 2) (22 page)

Turn the page to read a teaser to
The Immortal Compromise
,

Book 3 in The Mortal One series.

Look for it in Spring 2015!

Chapter 1

The Immortal Compromise

Boxes were surrounding me. Just as I had made a life for myself in Florence with friends, a job, and a vampire for a husband, it was being ripped out from under me. Costin had ordered Nico to go to Paris to be the sovereign. Ordered may be a strong word because, technically, Nico was given the choice. But really, when you’re a vampire and there’s the whole immortality thing up for grabs, it’s not like opportunities like this appear all the time.

Nico was a lover, not a fighter, which meant he would never kill Costin to get the sovereignty over Tuscany.

I liked Paris, don’t get me wrong, but moving there was a whole new set of problems. There were vampires there who didn’t know me. I had one hell of a language barrier, and then there was Olivier. Foe at first, then friend. He did things to me, the truly feminine parts of me, that I didn’t like. Okay, I liked them – and liked them a lot of if I was really being honest – but I was married and that made it not okay.

“Get your ass out here,” Antonio yelled from the living room.

I had gotten lost in thought in my room.

“Nice way to talk to me,” I laughed.

He added a box to the pile. “A going away present.”

I looked up at him and then reached for the flap on the box. It was a case of Chianti.

“You won’t find this stuff in Paris.”

“They are known for wine,” I said.

“Not Italian wine. It’s that damn French stuff and you’re not going to like it as much.”

“You know you can visit.”

“And drink French wine? Never,” he joked.

We hugged and I thanked him for the case of wine. It would last me for a little while.

“Okay, I’m going to get out of here. Goodbyes suck.” Antonio held me tight and then headed towards the door.

“I expect a visit within the month,” I said and watched the door close.

It was still daylight. I had no idea what the hell I was supposed to do with myself. The moving truck would be here in a few hours and it was all my responsibility since someone was still sleeping.

I had never even had a chance to move into his place. He was there now and would meet me at the apartment as soon as he woke for the day. Until then, I had a few hours to say goodbye to the city I had fallen in love with.

While I didn’t want to go to Yankee Bar because it would make me sad, I knew I had to say my goodbyes one last time. I headed down there knowing that Matt would be doing inventory and Giancarlo would be preparing for the busy Friday night. When I had given notice last week, they were less than thrilled but understood. Giancarlo was pissed more than anything and hadn’t understood why I was moving. It wasn’t like I could tell him that my vampire husband was going to be the boss of a city, so I left it at wanting to explore more of Europe. He bought it, but he didn’t understand it.

When I got there, Giancarlo was dancing behind the bar.

“Hey,” I said, walking over to where he was, in his own little world.

“Hello,” he said.

“You’re in a good mood.”

“I have a date tomorrow night,” he said and turned the music down.

“You do?”

“Yes, and you know her.”

This had my attention. “What do you mean I know her?”

Giancarlo smiled. “She’s come into the bar a few times to see you. The one with the gorgeous long hair. Violante.”

My jaw dropped and my heart sped up. “What? What do you mean you have a date with her?”

Giancarlo frowned. “You know I can date without your permission. I thought you’d be happy with me since she’s so hot.”

I shook my head. “I also told you she’s trouble.” I couldn’t figure out why she would want anything to do with Giancarlo unless it was purely meant to fuck with me. The vampire bitch couldn’t have Nico and so she would go after one of my closest friends.

“I can handle it,” Giancarlo said defiantly.

Oh if only you knew.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Shannon Bell grew up in Florida and has always dreamed about vampires – and still secretly hopes they exist. She is married to someone who tolerates her crazy story-telling about creatures that go bump in the night. She also has a daughter she hopes will have the same enthusiasm for vampires when she grows up, like her mommy does.

Shannon has a Bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing from the University of Central Florida and is a full-time writer. She’s currently hard at work on her next novel.

Connect online at www.shannonwritesandblogs.com

Twitter: @Sbell_writer

Facebook:
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