The Voice of the Dead

The lovers

*Lea POV*

H picked up quickly.

-"Hello firefly, is everything okay?" He asked, with a hint of worry.

-"I'm fine uncle, thank you. I have a favor to ask, though." I smiled sheepishly and heard him and Darius laugh. "Oh! I'm sorry, have I interrupted you two?"

-"Nothing important. What is it, Lea?" Horatio chuckled.

-"Do you have a coven in Montreal?" I asked bluntly.

Verne's eyes got huge as he clearly didn't understand who I was talking to.

-"I do, I haven't visited in a while, but the leader, Malcolm, is a very good man. I trust him. Why? Do you need shelter?"

-"No, no. It's not about me. I met a friend here, a Vampyr that lost his loved one many years ago. He stupidly joined a not so good coven a while ago. The leader murdered his mate and Verne, my friend, left. But he can't find a new coven now. I can vouch for him. Will there be a place for him in your coven?" I asked with a little sob. Doing my best to project my puppy eyes at Horatio.

I heard a sigh on the other end of the line and Darius's voice saying "of course".

-"What is your friend's name?" Horatio asked and I almost squealed, knowing that he already agreed.

"What's your last name?" I asked dumbfounded Verne.

"Renaud." He stuttered.

-"Verne Renaud." I told Horatio cheerfully.

-"I'll give Malcolm a call, he will accept your friend to the coven. I'll text you his number, and give it to your friend."

-"Thank you, so much uncle H! I promise, he is a good man."

I heard both him and Darius chuckle.

-"If you think so, then I'm sure he is. Take care of yourself, Lea, and keep us updated about your journey."

-"I will, thank you uncles!" I said cheerfully and ended the call.

Right after that, I got a text with a number and a name: Malcolm Sutton.

"Here you go." I smiled and showed Verne my phone screen.

His eyes went wide and his mouth opened.

"Malcolm Sutton? Do you have any idea who he is?" Vampyr asked, pretty stunned.

“From what my uncle told me, he is a leader of a local coven.” I shrugged.

“Yeah! Like the biggest, oldest coven in Canada? He is something like 2 thousand years old. The coven I was trying to get into was under him as well. He only answers to the Primal One.”

“Give him a call now.” I just smiled.

Verne looked at me with disbelief but he took out his phone.

“This is ridiculous, no one can tell him to… Halo? Yes, hi. My name is Verne Renaud, and… yes, sure, uhm… thank you very much, but can my mate…? Of course, I'll see you tomorrow, leader Sutton. Thank you.” Verne ended the call in even bigger shock than he was before.

“And?” I asked, excitedly.

“He invited me for tomorrow, to join officially.” Verne said, looking at me wide-eyed.

“See? Told you.” I chuckled.

We stood in silence near the hotel for a few minutes before Verne regained his speech.

“Who is your uncle, exactly?” Vampyr asked and I looked at him with one of my eyebrows raised.

“Verne, you said it yourself. Malcolm only answers to the Primal One.” I shrugged.

“How is this even possible?” He sighed.

“I'm adopted.” I chuckled and Verne did as well. “You freaking out now, good thing you don't know who my grandmother is.”

“What? A Moon Goddess or something?” Verne teased but his face fell when he saw my smirk. “You are joking. right?”

“Don't you worry about it.” I giggled, winking at him.

“You are… what are you actually?” Vampyr blinked rapidly before closing his eyes and leaning over the wall.

“I'm just a sorceress and a soul-speaker. I just got very lucky in terms of my adoptive parents. They took me in when my family banished me, they adopted me and helped me understand my gift. Overall, I'm just… me.” I smiled.

“You saved me, completely. You not only helped my mate finally get a rest, you helped me understand the value of a second chance, you also gave me a chance to finally be a part of a coven. How can I ever repay you?” Verne looked me in the eyes, his own getting teary.

“You don't have to. This is my destiny, I want to help others, give back the good that I received. I'm happy that I could help you, Verne. That's why I stayed in Montreal a night longer, my gift was telling me to stay so I could meet you.”

Vampyr looked at me and with a sigh, he grabbed me into his arms, giving me a bone-crushing hug.

“Thank you, for everything. If you were ever in trouble, if you need anything. You can count on me.” Verne said, his voice a little shaken.

“Thank you, Verne.” I hugged him back, patting his back.

“Verne?” A man’s voice startled us and we both looked in his direction, still hugged.

Verne’s eyes got huge and he quickly let go of me. I could almost hear his rapid heartbeat.

That is, if he actually had one.

“Arthur? What are you doing here?” The vampyr stepped in the man's direction.

So this is his mate? And he just came on us hugging.

Shit.

“I was meeting some friends in the bar nearby, I didn't think I would stumble upon you near a hotel, and with a woman…” Arthur took a step back from Verne, making my new friend almost whimper.

“Arthur, it's not like that…” Verne tried to come closer but the younger Vampyr stepped back again, putting his palm in front of him.

“No, Verne. I’m done. I tried to win your heart for so long, I fell hard for you but even then, you never let me touch you, you never let me show you how much I care. And now I stumble upon you hugging some random woman? Going into a hotel with her? I can't take it anymore, I can't take more pain and rejection.” Arthur said, his voice laced with pain.

Verne moved in a blink, grabbing his mate in a hug, his hand on the back of Arthur's head.

“I love you.” Verne whispered.

I could see Arthur's eyes getting bigger, bloody tears falling down his face.

“What…?” He stuttered but Verne silenced him with a kiss.

I stood in my place, smiling awkwardly, trying not to stare as they kissed. Inside, I was fangirling over them, they definitely look adorable together.

Finally, Verne moved his head and cupped Arthur's face in his hands.

“I love you, I have been for a while now. I was an i***t for not understanding how privileged I am to have a second chance mate. I was scared that I may lose you too, and if we are bonded, it will hurt again. I tried to push you away even though I wanted to accept the bond from the beginning. I felt like this would mean I betrayed Lucas, my first mate. I know I was an i***t and I could never stop worshiping you for staying with me, trying to make me accept the bond. I'm so happy you are my mate, Arthur. I want you, I always wanted to accept you.” Verne confessed, never breaking eye contact with his mate.

Arthur was visibly speechless, shaken and taken aback by his mate's declaration of love.

Hells, I was speechless too. That was beautiful.

“What happened? And who is she…?” Arthurs stuttered out and I chuckled.

“Hi, I'm Lea. I'm a sorceress and a soul-speaker. Verne told me a lot about you, Arthur.” I came a little closer, smiling at both of them.

“A soul-speaker?” The younger vampyr blinked, staring at me.

“Oh yeah, you are a younger one, so you may have never heard of us. A soul-speaker is a person who can feel, hear and sometimes see the spirits of the ones who passed. Our job as Persephone's chosen is to help the spirits leave the earth realm. They are often bound to a living, a loved one, because of unfinished matters or because they didn't have a chance to say goodby before they died.” I explained, as simply as possible.

“She saw Lucas next to me as we were drinking in the bar. She helped him give me his last message and move on. Thanks to her, I could finally let go of the guilt I felt. She helped me understand how lucky I am to have you, a second chance mate.” Verne smiled, caressing Arthur's face with his thumbs. “The question is, do you still want me? After I tried to reject you before, do you still want to be my mate?”

Arthur was silent for a couple of seconds, his brain processing everything that happened, I assume. Then, he smiled, threw his hands around Verne’s neck and kissed his mate.

I chuckled and walked away a little, giving them some time alone.

I looked up at the sky, a warm feeling spreading across me, filling my whole body. I felt happy, satisfied with what I was able to achieve today.