Sherry pinched the bridge of her nose between thumb and forefinger and murmured, “Right, of course they are. What are life mates?”
“Among our kind—”
“‘Our’ kind?” Sherry interrupted sharply.
“Vampires,” Stephanie said pointedly.
“Oh, right.” Sherry forced a smile. For a moment there she’d forgotten the kid thought she was a bloodsucking fiend. Hell, she might even really be one for all she knew. When had her life turned into a takeoff of Fright Night? Shaking that thought away, she said, “Your parents aren’t vampires, so you weren’t born one.”
“No,” Stephanie admitted quietly, and then sighed and said, “When Leo kidnapped us, he also turned us both. Dani and I are vampires too.”
Sherry’s eyebrows rose at this admission, but that was all. She’d guessed that by the way the girl spoke. The truth was, she’d protested at the term “our kind” not because Stephanie was claiming to be one, but because the term made it sound like there were a lot of “her kind,” which was disturbing. Sherry didn’t get the chance to say as much, though, because Stephanie was now hurrying to explain.
“Anyway, so with immortals, or vampires, there are certain people who are life mates for us. They’re the perfect mate for the immortal. They bring back his or her passions, make food taste good again, make sex mind-blowing, and can live contentedly together for eons.”
“Make food taste good again?” Sherry murmured, and then glanced at what was left of the large slice of pizza the girl had nearly demolished. “Food doesn’t taste good to you?”
“Oh, I like food still,” Stephanie assured her. “But I’m young. I guess after you’ve been around for a couple of centuries, food sort of gets old and sex gets boring.”
“I see,” Sherry said slowly, and she kind of did see. Or at least she could see how that would be the case. She was only thirty-two, but many was the night when she considered what to have for supper and nothing sounded appealing. At least, not appealing enough to go to the trouble of making it for just herself.
“Anyway,” Stephanie continued, “a life mate changes all that. They’re also a very rare find. Many immortals have lived centuries or even millennia waiting to find theirs. Some never do. Others go rogue from the lack of one. So you see, it is a very serious business.”
“Hmm,” Sherry said, and then asked dubiously, “And you think I am a life mate for this guy named after a spice?”
“Basil.” Stephanie nodded.
“Why?” Sherry asked.
“Because I’ve noticed that life mates always give off the same . . .” She paused briefly, and then said, “Well, I guess the best way to describe it is energy signal or frequency. And you have the same type of energy signal or frequency as Basil.”
She reached across the table suddenly and clasped Sherry’s hand to get her attention. Once she was looking her in the eyes, she added, “This is big, Sherry. This is a once in a lifetime thing. I mean, I know you’re upset about the whole Leo thing, and I am too. But rogues like him pop up all the time. That’s why we need hunters. A life mate, though? That’s like . . . epic.”
“Epic, huh?” she asked with amusement.
Stephanie nodded, her expression serious. “Yes, epic. Elvi says the happiness and contentment she’s found since hooking up with Victor is like nothing she’s ever experienced in her life. She says it’s worth waiting for.”
Releasing her hand, the girl sat back and tilted her head before saying, “Mind you, Elvi said that after giving me the sex lecture, and I think she’s trying to convince me not to sleep around and be a ho ’cause it could never compare anyway, but she doesn’t lie to me either, so it’s probably true. Besides, I’ve seen life mates together and been inside their thoughts and—” She grimaced and shook her head. “It’s kind of sick how drenched they are in each other. Gross, really. It’s like they’re in heat or something.”
Sherry had to bite her lip to keep from laughing.
“Anyway,” she added, shaking off her disgust, “this isn’t me playing cupid, or setting you up on a date. This is . . . bigger than winning the biggest lottery. A life mate is precious and . . . and there’s a bunch of other stuff too,” she finished with a shrug.
“Other stuff?” Sherry asked curiously.
“Yeah, like I guess life mates never cheat on each other, ’cause . . . well, no one else can compare. And the guy would cherish you to the point he’d give his life for you if he had to.”
“Just the guy?” Sherry asked with amusement. “The female life mate wouldn’t give her life for him?”
“Yeah, she would.” The girl shrugged as if that wasn’t important. “But the big deal is that the two become one. They work together like . . .” She frowned, obviously searching for a way to explain it, and then she glanced to the crusts on the paper plate and said triumphantly, “Like pizza.”
Sherry peered at the remains and asked uncertainly, “Like pizza?”
“Yeah. Cheese is nice on its own, and so is pepperoni, but put them together on dough, and it’s perfect pizza. Like it was created to be that way.”
“Hmmm.” Sherry peered down at her own slice and wondered wryly if she was the cheese or pepperoni—soft, white, and boring, or more colorful and a little spicy? She was probably the cheese, she acknowledged. She was definitely soft in places she’d rather be firm, and she’d been working long hours and barely seen the sun last summer and so was as white as could be. Yeah, she was the cheese . . . which meant this Basil guy was the spicy pepperoni. She supposed that was only fair since he’d been named after a spice.
Sherry shook her head at her own thoughts. In the midst of the chaos that had exploded into her life in the form of one Stephanie the vampire, not only was she making jokes—if only in her head—but was actually now considering this life mate business. She hated being set up on dates, and this was the ultimate setup. This guy named after a spice was apparently being brought to size her up as a prospective life mate. The thought made her squirm and sweat, but it also made her wonder. What would it be like to be a life mate? To have someone meant for you? Someone who fit you like pepperoni and cheese mixed on pizza? To enjoy a happiness and contentment never before experienced?