The Tracker's Mate: Sunderverse (Mate Tracker Book 1) by Ingrid Seymour (book recommendations website TXT) 📕

cupola. He wore a proud smile on his face. He was about thirty-five, handsome, tall, and clean-shaven with perfectly trimmed hair. And he was wearing a clerical collar.

Ah, so not an emo janitor, but a priest who was very proud of his place of worship.

As the cloud of dust around him dissipated, and the wind blew in my direction from the church, the scent I’d been searching for suddenly hit me.

Shit!

No, it couldn’t be. Why did my luck have to suck balls?! Celina’s mate was a priest. Now what?

Chapter 26

Not good. Not good at all. I picked up the phone and dialed Rosalina.

“He’s a priest,” I said, a bit hysterically. What were the odds?

“Huh? Who’s a priest?”

“Celina’s mate.”

Rosalina gasped. “Shit!”

“Exactly.”

“Um, what do we do?” she asked.

“I don’t know. That’s why I’m calling. I can’t pull a man away from his calling to serve the Lord. I just can’t. It’s all kinds of screwed up.”

“But... they’re mates. Once he meets her, he’ll be too busy slobbering all over his hot lady to remember his calling. Right?”

I stood and started pacing in front of the bench. “Maybe.”

“Okay, so you find another one.”

“I’m not sure there’s another in St. Louis, and I don’t want to ask her for more tears. It was hard the first time around. Plus, it’ll look unprofessional. Gah! I guess I will have to tell her we couldn’t find anyone.”

Rosalina groaned.

“What?”

“I called her this morning and told her that you had.”

I collapsed back on the bench. “Then, I’ll have to tell her I made a mistake or something.”

“That’ll look unprofessional too and won’t be good for the reputation we’re trying to build. She’ll tell everyone in her circles that we’re useless.”

I pulled at my hair, my frustration mounting. We couldn’t let that happen. Moving into a tier of more exclusive customers was crucial to our business plan. I could only serve a few clients a month, and it would be impossible to stay afloat for long any other way. Our little savings wouldn’t last and my new place... I would have to give it up. I stomped my foot and pulled at my hair again.

“It’s your decision, Toni,” Rosalina said. “I’ll be okay with whatever you choose to do.”

I couldn’t fail Rosalina. She’d put all her trust in me. Maybe the guy was miserable being a priest. Celibacy sucked. I could attest to that. Maybe if I—

“Are you all right?” a melodious voice asked from my left.

I glanced up to find Celina’s priest standing next to the bench. He wore a concerned expression and seemed ready to offer help and save me from whatever evils plagued my life, and his face was so kind and wise-looking that I had no doubt he could rescue me from the very claws of deadly sin.

“Toni?” Rosalina said on the other end of the line.

“Let me call you back.” I pressed the “end” button and turned to the priest. “Um, hi.”

He smiled, his hands clasped in front of him. He had gentle brown eyes that immediately inspired trust. “I couldn’t help but notice your... distress, and I thought, perhaps, I could be of assistance. May I?” He inclined his head toward the bench.

I scooted over a bit to give him more room. “Sure.”

He sat and took a big deep breath, looking content. “Gorgeous spring day, isn’t it?”

“Mm-hmm.” I didn’t know what to say. I’d never talked to a priest before. I wasn’t a religious person. Regardless, I sensed this man was made out of something wholesome.

Damn, I’m done for.

I would have to give Celina’s money back. I couldn’t sow doubt in this man’s heart. Because that was exactly what would happen. If he met Celina, he would immediately be torn between his current life of service and the possibility of a different kind of happiness.

He glanced toward me. “I noticed you’ve been sitting here a while. What’s your name?”

“Toni.”

“My name is Vincent. I’m a priest at the Basilica.”

“I figured that much.”

He sheepishly touched his collar and smiled with such gentleness I felt my heart melt into a puddle of toffee, which would take hours to scrape off the bottom of my chest. Sheesh, the man held the power of a thousand cute puppies packed into one set of brown eyes. One look at this man and Celina would turn into a priest-eating, god-defying lunatic. She probably wouldn’t stop until she’d torn the tunics off his back and ravaged him on the spot.

“What brings you here?” he asked. “I haven’t seen you before. Do you live in one of the apartments? A new tenant perhaps?” He glanced toward the tall building across from the Cathedral.

“No, I was here looking for someone, part of my job.”

“I see.”

“It’s not going well though.”

He nodded. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

If he only knew. I pondered whether to tell him, warring with my feelings for selfish self-preservation and the desire to do the right thing for someone else.

“Not really,” I said at last.

He frowned. “I sense you’re not being honest.”

Okay, that had to be like some sort of superpower shit. Maybe he was a Skew of some kind, though I wasn’t getting a special scent from him. He smelled totally human. Maybe he was just wise beyond his years.

“Well, it’s hard,” I said. “See, there is a choice I have to make, and I’m struggling with it because... it could change someone’s life drastically.”

He made a contemplative sound in the back of his throat, then said, “I guess you should ask yourself, would it change their life for the better?”

“There’s really no way of telling. It might. It might not. I think it would make them happy in a way, but it also might leave them with doubts and regrets for the rest of their life.”

He rubbed his chin.  “Interesting dilemma you have.”

“Now you see why I’m so frustrated.”

“I do,” he paused. “Well, as a priest, I sometimes have to face these types of situations. There are things people tell me