The Vampire’s Servant
Chapter 160

[Echo]

By Monday night, Lila had the oil prepared for us to put on Fenton. After much discussion, we decided to use Gray's goodwill toward Fenton as a cover.

He came into the office with the bottle of oil and said it was supposed to make the cat's coat healthier. He talked Fenton into letting him rub the oil on his fur and brush it through. I was impressed.

We locked the door and Gray used the whole bottle on Fenton. I managed not to smile as he let Gray get the spell on him. Victor watched curiously. We both behaved as if this were a minor thing and held no real importance.

When he was done, Gray put Fenton back into the cage and gave him some cat treats. Fenton ate them mumbling about how this didn't mean he liked Gray. I laughed at him, like I normally did and unlocked the door.

The rest of the week went smoothly. Marius told me that Daniel was feeling the full force of the curse rather quickly. I was assuming that Fenton had doubled down on it because I wasn't seeming affected.

It was good to know everyone was actually safe this time. We needed to break the curse though, because Victor needed to properly hold the territory if anything happened. If someone challenged him, he would be strengthened by the vampires who were sworn to him.

This was important, because anyone the challenger turned to his side would strengthen him. Victor needed to have something backing him to get anyone else to change their mind. No one had challenged yet, but I didn't want to risk it.

Emmalyn moved to Samuel's old room so I could have my room back. Finn started sleeping in Amelia's room. They were growing closer by the day. I was so excited that he found his Solus Amor.

-

On Thursday, we'd been watching a movie together. Me, Amelia, Finn, Victor, Talia, and Emmalyn. They were okay with watching movies I could handle.

We were watching Beauty and the Beast. I loved the music and all the cute characters. I kept seeing Emmalyn looking over at me and smiling a little. I supposed it was a little silly to be a grown up and only able to watch kids movies.

When the movie ended, I grinned at Victor. He was looking at me with a loving gaze. He always did that after we watched movies. He said it was because he loved seeing me enjoy myself.

"You know, judging by the clothes, that was set in the seventeen hundreds. I was actually in France right around then. I was in the court of the king and I told him some shit was brewing ahead of the revolution, but he didn't listen to me. I tried to get him to see that what he was letting happen to the people wouldn't stand." Finn said to Amelia.

Her eyes lit up. "You were really in the king's court? How did you get out safely?"

"I used my charm and quick wits to sneak away before all hell broke loose." He smirked.

"I don't know why you insist on lying, Finnick." Victor scoffed.

Talia chuckled. "That's such bullshit, Finn."

"What do you mean? I'm not lying!" Finn insisted.

"You tried to charm your way into the court and ended up in the dungeon." Victor chided.

"How do you know?!"

"I was there. I was the one who suggested they put you into the deepest, darkest cell they had." Victor grinned.

"And I was the one who had to sneak in while the palace was under attack to get you both out." Talia snorted. "I can't believe you forgot. Rosalyn still remembers the pains we had to go through to save you both from an untimely end."

"I remember. I was very grateful to Rosy and I never forgot how she saved my hide." Victor said.

Amelia started giggling. Emmalyn and I joined her. He was trying so hard to show off. If he could have blushed, I think Finn would have.

"Thanks for ruining it, guys." He pouted.

Amelia wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him. Finn put his arm over her shoulder. I looked away. It seemed like a bit of a private moment.

"Have you decided when you're going to mark Echo?" Finn asked.

I glared at him. That wasn't really anyone's business. Though, I did hope Victor and Gray would mark me soon. I wanted to know they were entirely mine and I was entirely theirs.

"Probably before you mark Amelia." Victor answered with a cold glare.

"Mark me? What? What the hell is he talking about, Finn?" Amelia questioned, pulling away from Finn.

"Finn. You didn't tell her she's your-." I started, but he put his hand over my mouth.

"It wasn't the right time." He whispered.

"Tell me right now." Amelia demanded.

Finn sighed. "I wanted you to get to know me first, sweetheart. I didn't want to just spring it on you. Witches and humans aren't the same as vampires, fae, and shapeshifters. You don't feel it when you meet your soulmate. Not unless you're doing a spell. I feel it, though. I feel the bond I have with you. You're my Solus Amor, Amelia. My only love. I can wait until you're ready for me. I still want to take you to every place you've ever dreamed of going. You don't even have to accept the mark. Let me be with you, that's all I need." "You were just going to let me get attached to you and feel guilty about leaving you one day, then spring this on me?" She asked.

"You're wrong to say we don't feel it. When you're with your soulmate, you feel it deep inside, Finn. My sister may have been in a little bit of denial about it, but she's known in her heart for the last few days that you're 'the one'." Emmalyn said. "Amelia, don't hide from it. You just asked me yesterday to cast runes for you and we saw that he was meant for you. You insisted I must still be sick."

"My soulmate can't be a vampire." Amelia said, standing up. "I'm not a dark witch. I can't be a vampire's soulmate."

I could practically see Finn's heart breaking. I was pretty sure Amelia was feeling the same pain. It was hard to deny a part of you. I felt the falseness of my words back when I first denied Gray. "Amelia. I'm not dark or evil and I'm Victor's Solus Amor. You don't have to be either of those things to be with Finn. I don't think he could be evil if he even tried." I told her.

"I... I just can't do this right now. I need time to think." She muttered and walked out of the room.

"If she rejects me over this, you are no longer my brother, Victor." Finn growled, getting off the couch.

"Wait for me, Finn. I know you're truly my sister's soulmate. Let's talk about this. Maybe I can help." Emmalyn offered, following him.

Talia sighed as they left. Victor looked pretty shocked. He probably hadn't even considered that Finn hadn't said anything to Amelia yet. I knew he wouldn't try to ruin their relationship on purpose.

"I know you didn't mean to. I'll try to deal with this, you focus on other things. We're in a holding pattern for now. It's the best time to work out any issues people are having. Why don't you two have some alone time? You're still catching up on all the time you missed." Talia said and left the room.

I climbed into Victor's lap and hugged him. I knew he felt really bad about that. I was hopeful that Gray was having a good night at work. He'd come home really happy the last couple of days, so there was a decent chance he would tonight.

-

[Gray]

-

My section at work was nearly full. Mostly vampires, but the occasional human table. I'd recently become very popular with the vampires in the territory.

It all started last week when some vampires noted that I smelled a little like vampire. I told them I lived with the Master of the territory and they asked me to pass on their regards to Victor. I said sure, and they left without tipping, like vampires do. When I got home that night, I told Talia about it. I guess she said something to them, because they came back and thanked me for passing their regards to her as well and then each handed me one hundred dollars. I was baffled.

They told me that she had informed them that tipping in restaurants was a thing and they had committed a big faux pas by not doing so. I told them it was really too much and they insisted I keep it as an apology.

Apparently, they had told other vampires and soon they were all coming into the restaurant and requesting to be seated in my section. Pierce told me they would leave if he said I wasn't working, so it worked out that the weekends were still bustling with human customers and the weekdays were full of vampires.

In the past two weeks, the restaurant had seen almost quadruple its normal income. I was benefitting more than anyone. They would always leave large tips on their relatively small bills and always in cash. I was pulling in a couple thousand in tips per night. At this rate, I would be able to afford to rent a beach house for my honeymoon with Echo. I was thrilled and started making plans for a week long adventure with her. It was going to be amazing.

I was at the server station, pulling drinks for one of my tables, when Pierce came up. I nodded to him and put my drinks on a tray. He stopped me and took the tray.

"You have a four top just seated. Another one who requested you specifically. Which table are these going to?" He asked.

"Umm. Seven. Is it more vampires?"

"No. All human this time." Pierce answered.

Quickly, I peeked out into my section. My blood ran cold. It was Melissa and, by the looks of the people with her, her family.

If I told Pierce they were hunters, things could get dicey. I knew most of the people in my section could hear the conversation we were having, because they were vampires. I wondered what they were doing here.

"Cool. I'll grab them some waters and get right out there." I replied with a smile I hoped he couldn't tell was fake.

After pulling the waters, I picked them up and took a deep breath. I needed to not act suspicious. Bellamy would be taking care of them as soon as she could.

I approached the table and started settling drinks in front of people. They had menus already and were looking over them, rather than paying me much attention. I was used to this.

"Thank you for choosing Carroll's. I'm your server, Grayson. Can I get you something other than water to drink tonight?" I asked.

"Gray! I'm so glad you still work here. I was hoping to see you tonight." Melissa grinned.

"Melissa, I didn't recognize you outside of school. Your party last weekend was pretty cool. I went with Echo, but I didn't see you before we had to leave." I smiled.

"Oh, I was buzzing around seeing to all of my guests. A couple people mentioned you were there. I'm glad you made it. I didn't think any of you were going to show up after the misunderstanding with Sean." She replied.

I nodded politely. 'Misunderstanding' my ass. She knew exactly what she was doing when she tried to steal him from Rosario. I wasn't going to let on.

"Everyone else was still pretty upset, but Echo thought we should still make an appearance. You were a big part of our high school experience." I told her.

"I'm Mitchell Hearne, Melissa's father." The older of the two men said, holding out his left hand.

I took it without thinking and tried not to wince as his silver ring made contact with my skin and started burning. I shook his hand as quickly as I could and let go. The sting in my hand was harsh.

"What can I get you to drink tonight, Mr. Hearne?" I asked.

Going around the table, I took their orders. Luckily, my left was my non-dominant hand and I was still able to hold my pad in it. I went back to get their drinks.

While I was behind the server station, I looked at the burn. It wasn't much, but it hurt like a bitch. I got a little bandage to put over it and took the drinks back to the table.

During service, I was polite and businesslike. They seemed like genuinely nice people. I was betting it would be a lot different if they knew I was a werewolf.

Melissa asked a lot of questions about Echo, Harmony, and Val. I answered as if I didn't live with them. It felt like the family was really intent on my answers.

When I was dealing with a nearby table of vampires, I felt a presence behind me and turned. It was Melissa's brother, Alex. He wore a bored sort of expression and asked where the restrooms were. I pointed them out. They were back near the office.

He thanked me and headed in that direction. The vampires seemed disturbed. I quickly took down their names and told them I would pass their regards on to Victor and Talia. This seemed to pull them from their grumpiness.

They left three hundred dollars on the table as a tip and I worked to clear it off in preparation for more diners. I didn't even hear Melissa come up behind me.

"Wow. Maybe I should become a waitress. Did you seriously just make a three-hundred-dollar tip?" She asked.

I spun around and saw a few vampires pulling more bills out. I guess they were wanting to make more of an impression than my last table. Melissa was uncomfortably close.

"Is there something I can get you, Melissa?" I smiled.

"We were thinking of some dessert and were hoping to see the menu again. I was also wondering, well, I went to apologize to Sean and his parents said he was staying with Echo. Which I thought was a little weird, then they revealed that they were cousins. You probably knew that. I was just hoping I could get her address from you." Melissa said in a friendly tone.

Major red flag. I couldn't give my address, or Echo's address, to hunters. That wouldn't be very safe at all.

"Just give me your cell number and I'll have Sean text you. I can send it to him after work tonight. I'm sure it would be awkward for him if you just showed up unannounced." I replied politely.

"Oh, I was hoping to apologize face to face. I couldn't find Rosario's address in the school directory, so I couldn't apologize to her either." She said disheartenedly. "I really don't want their last school memories to be about this disagreement. I wanted to make up with them before I left town."

"You're leaving town?" I asked.

"Yeah. A year abroad. I'm so excited for it, but I wanted to wrap up loose ends before I left. I have a lot of making up to do." Melissa admitted.

"I wish I could help more." I shrugged. "I need to tend to my tables, sorry!"

She turned back to her table and sighed. I felt a little bad for her. She may be a hunter, but she was trying to make up for her mistakes.

The rest of the night went pretty smoothly. Melissa's family finished their desserts and left a decent tip. By the end of the night, I made a good amount of money in tips and decided I would talk to Sean about calling Melissa. I wouldn't pressure him, but an apology might help him heal a little more. It gave me a lot of hope for the future.