The Vampire’s Servant
Chapter 77

I got into fifth period right before the bell. I managed to finish the rest of school without a problem. Harmony and Val asked after Echo and I told them I had made sure she was tucked in before I left her. They seemed grateful that I told them. Harmony didn't say anything else about me being Echo's only mate. She got Echo's message. There would be no sympathy from me on this either. I was doing what was needed to keep Echo happy. She may say she loved us the same, but even I could see that she loved Victor more. I'd get there one day... I hoped.

While I was heading out of the building at the end of the day to go to my truck. I was stopped by Sean. He looked nervous and was having trouble saying what he wanted to. I really needed to get moving. "What do you need, Sean?" I asked.

"I... umm.... Well, I just wanted to see if Echo was okay. Was she still sick?" He asked, scratching the back of his head.

"She had a migraine and needed to go home. Harmony or Val could've told you that." I said.

"Oh, I didn't really think of that. You just spend so much time with her, I thought you would know. Are... um... are you two dating now, or something?"

I could feel my eyebrow raise like Victor's did. What the hell was he asking about this for? Was he in love with Echo?

"Yeah, she's my girlfriend." I told him.

"Oh." He sounded disappointed. "That's good, I guess. I better go, or I'll miss the bus. See you tomorrow."

"See ya." I said and went to get in my truck.

I hated that I was annoyed by him. Maybe he was just disappointed because he wanted another friend who was single. I couldn't get over the feeling that it was because he wanted Echo for himself.

The drive to the pack lands was filled with thoughts of what I would do to Sean if he tried anything with my mate. When I crossed our border, I relaxed. It felt like home. Not as much as being with Echo, but home in a different way.

On the way to the area where my great-grandparents lived, I saw some people I knew and waved. When stopped at a light, the person in the car next to me asked how I was doing. I loved the small town feel of our pack. Everyone knew everyone and we were all as close as family.

When I pulled up to the little cottage my great-grandparents lived in, I saw my great-grandmother pottering around in the flower beds in front of the house. She turned and waved with a smile as I was walking up the drive.

Ever since I was little, my Gammy had been my favorite of all of my great-grandparents. She was always baking something. Her hair was white as snow and she had glittering, pale blue eyes. Even though I was taller than her, and had been since I was twelve, she still called me her 'little Gray'.

"Oh! My little Gray! How did you know that I made your favorite pie? I swear, you have some sort of pie tracker installed in your stomach." She chuckled.

"Hey, Gammy. I'm actually here to see Grampy, but I'll take some of that pie off your hands." I winked.

She laughed and hugged me. I hugged her back. Werewolves are very family oriented. My great-grandparents had been part of my life as much as my grandparents had. They were older, but nothing seemed to slow them down for long.

We went into the house. Gammy led me to Grampy's study. He was reading a book and writing something in a notebook next to him. When I came in, he looked up and grinned.

His hair had been salt and pepper colored since my earliest memories. His eyes were dark brown, like mine. He stood and put his hand out. I hurried forward to take it and give him a firm handshake. Grampy believed that a good handshake was the sign of a good

man.

"What are you doing here, Gray?" He grinned.

"I... well... I'm actually here on business, Grampy." I admitted as I sat in the chair across from him.

Gammy came in with a tray that had two large pieces of pie and two glasses of milk on it. She put them on the desk in front of each of us and smiled. I looked down at the pie. It looked just as fantastic as it always did.

"Your parents said you missed the last two family dinners because of your mate. Is she afraid of meeting your family?" Gammy chuckled.

"She actually got kidnapped. We just got her back on Friday. I was searching for her, then I was taking care of her while she healed." I told her.

She raised her hand to cover her heart. "Oh, goddess, the poor dear. Is she okay? I don't remember hearing about any girls in the pack being kidnapped."

"She's doing better, but it will take a while before she's okay. And she's not in the pack, Gammy. She's not a werewolf." I said.

"You smell like vampires, Grayson. Is your mate a vampire?" Grampy asked sternly.

"Kind of." I replied. "She's a dhampyr. Part vampire and part human."

Grampy stood up and went to his bookshelf. He pulled out a thick, old looking book. He returned to his seat and I saw the title. 'Shades of Vampirism'. He started looking through and found what he was looking for. I could see that it was a chapter on dhampyrs. I ate my pie and drank my milk while he read about my mate. I knew he wouldn't want to be interrupted. Everyone knew, you didn't disturb an Alpha, retired or not.

When he was done, he pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. He closed the book and slid it aside. He pulled his pie close and scooped some onto his fork.

"So, are you here about how to save her from her sire, or how to hide her from other vampires?" He asked.

"Neither. She's the servant of the Master vampire of the territory and her sire is the vampire known as Death. She's safe from vampires. I'm here for another reason." I told him.

He raised an eyebrow. "Is that why you smell like you've been rolling around on a pile of vampires?"

"Echo smells like a vampire. It makes sense that I would smell like them, I've been sleeping next to her since we saved her. Are you going to let prejudice color your opinion of her?" I asked.

"I never had problems with vampires. That was your grandfather. I know my father nearly had an alliance with the first Master. You and Trent told us about the new alliance. It's what my father wanted. Peace between the species. If he can ally with the witches, he'll finish what was started almost one hundred years ago." Grampy said with a smile.

"I need to know more about the leader of the coven and the first Master, Grampy. I'm trying to help break the curse. The one that makes us unable to find our mates until we're eighteen and weakens us if we try to leave the state." I told him.

"Why would you want to break the curse? It doesn't really affect you, unless your mate is wanting to travel the world. But, I imagine she's as trapped as we are." He chuckled.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"If she's supernatural, she's affected. If she's part vampire, then it will affect her like it does them. Simply, she can never leave, or she'll die." Grampy clarified.

While I stared at him and thought about what that meant for Echo, he finished his pie and milk. I needed to know more about what this did to vampires who weren't the Master of the territory. I had to make sure that Echo was safe.

"Grampy, please, tell me what you know about it." I pled. "I need to keep Echo safe. If someone takes her again and leaves the region, she could die. I'm bringing her to the family dinner on Sunday. You'll see, she's the purest, sweetest, most innocent, angel on earth. She's nothing like a vampire."

"I was only a kid, Gray. I wasn't even training to be Alpha yet. My father told me that the Master killing himself helped to change the curse. He said that we were cursed for siding with the vampires, but didn't tell me what the conflict was about. I'll try to get to the basement and dig out his journals for you. He did tell me that he suspected the reason we couldn't leave the region was to keep the pack from hunting down the coven leader and getting him to reverse the spell. No one could figure out where he disappeared to." Grampy sighed.

"Do you know anything else? Did he say anything about what the curse was at all?" I pressed.

"Only that the moon goddess came to him in a dream and told him that she protected the wolves as much as she could. It was a nasty spell and used a sacrifice not many are willing to give to complete. My father always figured that the coven leader used his three children as the sacrifice. I don't know how someone could do that to their children. Dark witches are beyond evil." He shuddered.

"That's terrible." Gammy whispered.

"I'll get you what I can, but part of the curse was that those afflicted couldn't speak of it. They couldn't even write it down. He might have written down what led up to it, though. It's the best I can do, Gray. Now, tell me why you're so hot to break it. Your mate is protected; I doubt any vampires would be willing to cross Death." Grampy said.

"I'm not her only mate, Grampy. She has a whole second life after this one, as a vampire. With that comes a vampire mate. A Solus Amor. He's the new Master of the territory. This curse can kill him. I want to save him." I admitted.

I couldn't lie. Aside from him being a werewolf and an Alpha, he was my great-grandfather. He would know I was lying, and he would be really disappointed that I didn't trust him.

"You never shared anything in your life. I can't imagine you being willing to share your mate. Especially not with a vampire." He chuckled. "You aren't just doing this to avoid an easy win, are you?"

"Are you sure he's her mate, too?" Gammy asked.

"I'm sure. And I'm not competing with him. We both love her and we'll both take care of her. She loves us, too. I can't imagine making her choose now that I know how much she loves us. Trust me, Gammy. When you meet her, you'll see that Echo is more than capable of loving two people and making them each feel like they're the most important person in the world." I answered.

"You sound like you're already whipped. If you think it's for the best, we won't question it. I'm a damned sight more open-minded than my son. You better make sure he behaves himself, or he could hurt your girl's feelings." Grampy warned.

"I will. I should probably head home. Victor is awake now and he'll want to know what I learned. Let me know when you need help going through things in the basement. I'll make time to help you out." I offered.

"You never do work unless you absolutely have to. This girl really has changed you." Grampy observed.

"Haha. You're real funny, Grampy. I helped out with things when I was a kid." I insisted.

"Actually, only if we bribed you. You only wanted to do fun things when you came to see us, so any work needed to be pulled from you." Gammy said.

I blushed and ducked my head. I hadn't realized that. As I thought about it, they were right. I couldn't believe how selfish I'd been.

"I'm sorry. I'm learning I have major flaws in my personality. I hope you'll be patient while I fix them." I told them.

"We love you no matter what, my little Gray. Never ever doubt how much we love you. Would you like to take a pie home for your mate? I made extra." Gammy offered.

"Yes, please. Echo will love it. Thank you!" I grinned.

"Just remember to bring her for dinner on Sunday. I want to meet the girl who taught my little Gray how to share." She chuckled and pinched my cheek before she left the room.

"You really sure you want to try and break this curse? It could end up costing someone's life." Grampy said quietly.

"I hope it won't come to that, but we'll address it when we get there." I replied.

"A very mature answer. Go on. Help your Gammy. She's not as spry as she once was." He winked.

I got up and went to the kitchen. Gammy packed up a cooler full of food, even though I told her just the pie was fine. She included some left overs of foods I liked, pies, cookies, a cake, and some homemade jerky. I laughed at the amount of food. "She's not a werewolf, Gammy." I snorted.

"She went through a trying time. She deserves to have something tasty. Now, you don't get any of this until she has what she wants from it, understand, pup?"

"Yes, Gammy. I promise, I'll wait until Echo's eaten." I smiled.

"Go on, then. Tell her I can't wait to meet her." She said.

I kissed her on top of the head and hefted the cooler up so I could carry it out. After I got it settled in the back of the truck, I waved to my great-grandparents, and headed out. I was eager to get home. I missed my mate.