"What is Meryn like?"
Gavriel shook his head. "Meryn cannot be described, only experienced."
"Now I'm really curious."
"She's one of kind," Aiden said proudly.
"She sure is. I can't wait for the two of you to meet," Gavriel said.
Aiden laughed.
Elizabeth smiled but felt a sense of foreboding, she couldn't be that bad. Could she?
*****
"Meryn, this is my mate, Elizabeth Monroe. Elizabeth, this is Meryn, Aiden's mate."
"Is she the unbalanced one?" a voice asked.
Elizabeth watched as spiky brown hair slowly began to pop up from behind the back of the chair, inch by inch until a pair of bright green eyes watched them unblinkingly.
"What does she mean 'the unbalanced one' and is she alright?" Elizabeth asked, edging behind her mate. Gavriel raised an eyebrow at Meryn. She popped back down disappearing behind the back of the chair, only to reemerge standing at its side. She stared down at the floor.
A handsome man in Japanese style dress stepped forward. "Perhaps some tea?"
Meryn nodded. "Thank you Ryuu, that'd be great." Ryuu bowed and left towards what Elizabeth assumed was their kitchen.
"I hate to leave the two of you and the guaranteed entertainment that is sure to take place as you get to know one another, but Aiden and I need to discuss some things. I'd also like to give you some space to take everything in. Things have been moving quickly." Gavriel's eyes were filled with concern when he leaned forward and whispered in her ear. "I'll be down the hall in Aiden's office, okay?"
Elizabeth nodded, he was already being considerate of her. As much as she hated to admit it, he was right. Everything felt surreal right now. Maybe some girl talk was exactly what she needed.
"Okay."
"Meryn, be good," Aiden said walking away with Gavriel.
Meryn rolled her eyes. "I'm always good." She turned to Elizabeth "So. Do you know anything about dead bodies?"
So much for girl talk.
Elizabeth blinked and glared at Gavriel's back as he walked away with a chuckling Aiden. Darn that man, he knew this woman was crazy when he left her here. She turned back to the tiny human.
"No, not really. Why?"
"I'm trying to compare the damage done to the women killed by that psycho stalker to famous human serial killers to see if I can determine why they were killed, you know, establish a pattern."
"Ahh." Elizabeth couldn't make sense of this human at all.
"So. What kind of paranormal are you?" Meryn sat down on the couch cross-legged pulling a laptop in front of her.
Elizabeth walked over and sat down in one of the room's chairs.
"I'm a lepus curpaeums."
Meryn nodded. "So you're a bunny."
"I'm a lepus curpaeums..."
"A bunny. That's cool." Meryn turned back to her laptop.
"What did you mean when you said 'unbalanced one'?" Elizabeth asked, giving up on the bunny comment. She had a feeling it wouldn't do any good to argue with this woman.
Meryn looked up and winced. "Gavriel dreamt about you before you got here. He said you were either mentally retarded or had a severe inner ear imbalance. He broke two of the stress balls I gave him worrying about you."
"I see."
Mental note; Kick mate's ass later.
"He's really nice, so don't hold it against him. He's had a rough couple weeks. He's been trapped inside with me for a month and not once did he make me feel awkward or like I was a nuisance. He was patient and has been explaining paranormal society to me and telling me stories." Meryn rambled.
Elizabeth smiled. If her mate had been trapped inside during his transition with this woman for a month and hadn't lost his temper, he might be a saint.
"How long has he been in transition?" Elizabeth asked.
Meryn eyed her carefully. "He doesn't want people knowing."
"Meryn, I figured it out on my own, I was raised around vampires. Besides, I'm his mate, normal rules don't apply to me."
Meryn sighed. "I think he's going on two months."
Elizabeth gasped.
Meryn's eyes widened. "What?"
"What do you know about vampiric transitions?" Elizabeth asked as her stomach churned.
"Not much, just that he needs more blood than normal and that at the end he 'levels up' like in a video game."
Elizabeth nodded. "Vampires don't age, but that doesn't mean that they don't change. Everything in this world changes. Vampires go through two different types of transition. One based on their age, usually at the five hundred year mark and then every thousand years or so. Within the age transitions the one thousand and five thousand year changes are the hardest."
"The second type of transition is one based on need. Those are the most brutal, since it's dire circumstances dictating the changes and not the natural course of events. My Uncle Magnus went through a need-based transition before I was born. They still talk about it in Noctem Falls, he became unstable as his body gained the strength and power he would need to become an Elder."
"Both of these transitions are influenced by age; the older the vampire, the longer the transition, the longer the transition, the stronger they become. Unfortunately, the longer the transition, the more dangerous they become, not only for the vampire, but also for those around him."