The Gambler

Truce

GRAYSONS POV

I rubbed my eyes and sighed, staring at the desk before me.

There was a knock at the door, it was Chase.

"Come in" my voice came out hoarser than I expected. I guess the past two weeks has taken its toll on me more than I thought. He walked in quietly shutting the door behind him, taking a seat in front of me.

"Any luck on that lead?" I asked slowly, hopeful. So hopeful.

We had been finding other people with magic like Elizabeth had. Most were in hiding. It was all the same scenario, they were born human. One parent or both were supernatural beings, they transitioned for whatever reason and their blood awakened. It was strange how they were so randomly scattered around the world..

"Are you really that surprised that nobody wants to come get involved in vampire business?" He wrinkled his nose in disgust and I glared.

"Don't you think it's time we set aside the age old feud and act like adults, Chase? You could've been born a vampire. I could've been born a werewolf. We didn't pick this." I snapped at him and he seemed shocked.

"Yeah..yeah you're right. There are bigger things going on. I'm amazed that your bite hasn't healed.." he trailed off, eyes flicking to my neck. I couldn't help but laugh a little.

"What's so funny? She could've killed you!" He threw his hands up in frustration and I raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, you care. How sweet." I laughed to myself and he rolled his eyes.

"Something like that would've devastated Elizabeth." He sighed, I guess he cared in his own way about my well being.

"Anyways... yes. Yes a woman agreed to come here." He smiled at me widely and I stood up.

"Really!? There's someone here? Someone like her?" I rushed out my words not bothering to hold back my excitement. He nodded happily, standing up as well. He nodded towards the door and I followed him out.

"Yeah she's out in one of the sitting rooms. Have you seen Elizabeth lately?" He glances back at me and I nodded.

"Yeah, I can see her when she's sleeping. At first she would wake up immediately. She could sense me even in her sleep. It's changed though." I thought hard about this, and how humorous the Gods must've found it to make their special little creations want to kill their own mate. As annoying as he was, I was glad we had Chase helping. He said that he felt any tie to her severed when she transitioned, but he still wanted to help.

"Progress. That's good. Any other advances?" He looked hopeful and I sighed.

"We know her power is connected to her emotions, like the rest of us in a way. It all seems to simply be a defense mechanism. They said she is getting better at controlling the intensity." Talking about her was beginning to make me sad. It was like she was just a spectacle at this point. I wanted to be near her. I hadn't so much as even touched her face in a week now. It was killing me.

"That's great news. Hopefully this woman can really help her." He sounded hesitant, I knew we didn't want to get our hopes up.

"It'll be fine. You'll be fine too" He continued talking as we made our way through the castle. The anticipation was killing me.

I'd spent the last week searching for the others and trying to help Xavier with his work. He had ordered one of the human caretakers names Jessica in the castle to help me as well. She was a quiet timid little thing, and I knew she was scared of vampires. She did well though and helped me a lot, I had spent the majority of the last two weeks with her.

I really just wanted to be with Elizabeth. I needed to know that she was coping with the vampire change as well as the magic.

We entered the foyer and there was an a woman sitting on the couch, Jessica stood with her. She smiled at chase and I warmly, the woman stood up as we entered the room. Just being in the room I could sense her power. It was almost unnerving.

She tucked her graying black hair behind her ear and folded her hands in front of her.

"Gloria this is Grayson, Elizabeth's mate." Chase stepped aside and I shook her hand firmly. She had warm eyes and a smile to match it.

"Grayson nice to meet you. I'm Gloria. May we talk in private?" I nodded along, just then jewel barged into the room.

"What have you two been doing!? Lazily searching? I miss my best friend!" She scolded us and we both stepped aside, a confused look crossed her face when she saw Gloria.

Jessica fidgeted awkwardly at jewel's comfortability with us. She was used to humans being below vampires, not joking around together and being civil.

"This is Gloria. She's here to help Elizabeth." Chase spoke mockingly and Jewel immediately looked embarrassed, greeting Gloria politely.

I led Gloria back through the hallways, I was ready to dive in to whatever we needed to do.

We reached the office quickly and I pulled out a chair for her.

She quickly went into detail about her story. Her parents told her up front about what would happen if she transitioned and who she was. They warned her against it, saying people would want to take advantage of her for the wars that were going on in that time period.

"I waited until the wars were over to transition, that way I knew I was safe. So yes, I am stuck being 45 years old" she laughs lightly and I smiled at her, nodding.

"At least you are here. Elizabeth is 19" her eyes widened at my words. Was that bad???

"I didn't mean to alarm you with that look. She's young, it's good really. She'll have more strength to control herself. Have you seen her since?" She tilted her head at me and I nodded.

"That explains your neck then" she muttered to herself and I sighed.

"Yes she did attack me." I muttered and she frowned, nodding solemnly.

"I have never understood why we are drawn to our mates blood. Maybe it's the purest blood.."
She trailed off and look like she was reminiscing.

"Yours is more than welcome to come stay here as well." I figured that would be a good offer, she smiled sadly.

"I killed my first mate." Her voice went cold and my breath caught in my throat.

"There is something I've learned, speaking with the others. We almost always kill our mate. They are the most desired ones, yet you are also her strength. Her power cannot hurt you. You can also calm her. I'm assuming you got her to stop, when she attacked?" The serious tone in her voice made me slightly nervous. I nodded slowly and she seemed to perk up.

"That's good. She has more control than I thought if she listened to you so quickly."
That seemed like a double edged sword to me..

"You said.. your first mate?" I tilted my head at her and she nodded.

"As I said you'll be her strength. We need a mate. We need the bond to keep us under control. Someone to keep us grounded. If you were to die, she would be immediately regifted. That way she doesn't feel the loss. Such a devastating emotional event would be catastrophic. The gods don't control our every action, they're simply prepared to step in when they need to." I nodded, trying to take this in.

"I would like to meet her now and see how she reacts to you." She said this with a sense of finality and stood up. Guess she was one to take charge.

I alerted Xavier of what we were doing and he met us outside of the infirmary.

"You're sure?" He looked at me wearily and I nodded. I trusted Gloria.

Now it was time to see if I could trust Elizabeth.