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He’d soon figured out this wasn’t just Dev’s job, though. It was his life. He’d seen how Dev was with Clive the giant honey badger and Gus the Tasmanian devil. He cared about them as people. He didn’t see them as mere slaves. Sure, they were his charges and he was responsible for them, but it was more than that.

“She was supposed to be yours,” he told Dev. “I know what you told us, but I think it’s turned into more than that.”

“I don’t know what it is yet, and neither do you. She may not belong to any of us. She certainly hasn’t agreed to it. We’re all courting her, trying to get her to be ours.” Dev sighed. “And yes, I understand that if she agrees to it, she’ll be ours and not merely mine. You’re good for her. You helped her in a way I couldn’t.”

Dev had already told him how proud he was of Elijah for walking away and not having sex with her, even though Genie had clearly been headed that direction. It made Elijah feel good, to be praised by the snake. It’d made him feel good to be praised by Brooke, too.

He’d made it a policy of not caring about anyone but his brother for so long, and now he cared for three other people — Dev, Brooke, and Genie. He wasn’t certain what to do with it. It scared him, and yet, it made this place feel a little safer. And more dangerous. What if he actually started to like it here and then was sent away?

Genie entered the room and none of that mattered. She seemed so small and anxious, he only wanted to make sure she was okay. He went to her and held her, and then ushered her to the table. They still had the domes on all the food, and Dev and Ezra moved them to the side while Elijah walked her across the room.

It felt important they talk about something other than Genie, and he looked around to figure out a safe topic. Dev’s room caught his attention, not for the first time, and he told them,“One of the Concilio strongholds, they called it a castle, but it was really an old monastery in the mountains of northern Italy.” That was a tangent. He started again.

“It had these, not wings, because there were six of them, so legs, like an asterisk. Each one was decorated in a different style. One of them looked like it was straight out of India, with the rugs, and the golds, reds, and blacks. It’s kind of Asian, but not Chinese. It’s hard to put a finger on some of it, why it’s Indian and not something else, but your room has that feel to it, without really being Indian. I mean, except for that mirror, I guess.” The mirror’s frame was beautifully carved, and most of it was gilded in what appeared to be fourteen carat gold.

“What were the other styles?” Dev asked.

“One was Egyptian, one was Chinese, and I think maybe one was South American? Also, French with one of the King Louis kinds of furniture. Another had Queen Anne furniture and paintings of the British countryside.”

“And the other was Italian, as was the center,” Ezra said. “I think it was supposed to make vampires from around the world have a place that felt like home, but in reality, it just assembled people together that might have been better off if they’d all been scattered at random.”

“The hospital arranges patients by what’s wrong with them, which seems logical, but it doesn’t always work. The cancer wing, for instance, is a long way from everything else, off near the admin section, to keep those patients, who usually have no immune system due to chemo, away from the other sick people. Their rooms have refrigerators and microwaves, because they will often only eat familiar foods, so we make it as easy on their families to feed them as possible, if they won’t eat the hospital food. But it’s possible one of them comes in with a heart issue, and they end up there instead of the heart floor. So, the cancer wing has to know a bit of everything.” She shook her head. “Andthat seems random, but I’m not sure there’s ever going to be a foolproof way of divvying people up into groups.”

“Brooke has the vampires all underground, but otherwise, they aren’t all together. The flock is aboveground because humans and shifters need sunshine, and they are mostly all together. Some, like Clive and Gus, have to be housed elsewhere for safety reasons,” Dev mused. “I’m in a different location so I can train new and dangerous shifters. Clive only lived here a few weeks though, and we purchased a location just for him. He was too dangerous for even this location at first, and the walls wouldn’t keep him in.”

“The walls won’t keep us in,” Elijah said, fear clawing at his guts. “Does that mean we won’t be able to stay? Or that we’ll have to leave once we’re…”

“Brooke and I have been discussing how to give the two of you more sunshine while making sure we adhere to the terms of the contract she signed, which means we can’t let you out aboveground without being certain you’re contained, at this point. We’re both hopeful you’ll be safe to let out aboveground without further security measures in a matter of weeks, or possibly a month or two. If that isn’t the case, we might need to reconsider, but as of now, there are no plans to move you to another of Brooke’s homes.”

Dev stood, came around the table, and pulled Elijah up into a hug. “This is your home now. I’m glad you’re here. I wish I could tell you it’s unconditionally your home, but I can’t, because if you prove you don’t want to be here and aren’t going to fit in, we’ll have to find a better place for you — somewhere you’llwantto fit in. But as long as you want to be here, I think I can assure you, to the best of my authority to do so, that this is your home now, Elijah.”

Elijah heard all of the phrases that kept it from being an absolute promise, but he also heard the underlying emotion, and the fact Devwantedthis to be their home.

He gave Dev the best answer he could, as well. “I want to trust you and Brooke. I want to want to be here. I’m working on it.”

Dev smiled and kissed his forehead. “Wanting to want to be here is an excellent first step. It doesn’t all have to happen at once.” Dev let go of him and motioned for him to sit, and Elijah did.

“As for the question you didn’t ask but hinted at,” Dev took his seat and lifted his fork. “Yes, I’m originally from India. I’ve lived all over the world, and it’s surprisingly easy for me to pretend to be from Egypt and most of the Middle East, from South America, and from the western parts of China.”

“Is it rude to ask how old you are?” Ezra asked.

“I’m around four hundred years old, and I’ve been with Brooke for most of my life. She is much older.”

“Some of the vampires at the Concilio were around for the iron age, the bronze age,” Ezra said. “It isn’t just that they’re more-than-human, it’s that they’ve long since forgotten what it means to be human. They’ve watched civilization change for thousands and thousands of years. Some of them are quite good at adapting to change, while others are stuck in the past and uninterested in how the world around them is changing.”

“I feel like the elephant no one’s talking about,” Genie said. “I want to say I’m okay, but I don’t know if I am or not.”

“Food and then sex,” Dev said. “In that order. Maybe a bath in between, but that isn’t necessary. Later today, you’llchangefor about an hour, come back to human and eat, and then you and Brooke are going to go shopping while the rest of us stay here. She can balance you out in public if you get into trouble, but we’re hoping you’ll be okay away from us by tonight.”

“And if I’m not, I’ll need to take a few days off work.”

“We have a doctor on the payroll who’ll give you a note. Tell him what you want it to say and he can usually make it happen. He’s careful about having documentation, so sometimes he might recommend something else, but I figure you know what it’s safe to have and not have, and what won’t create more questions.”

“Food poisoning, stomach bug. Something along those lines if I know it’s just a day or two. If it’s going to take longer, then…” she shrugged. “I could lose my spot, even if it’s a medical thing.”

* * * *

Dev chose to sit back and watch as the twins seduced and then played Genie like the finest musical instrument. They’d had the best sex slave training on the planet, and in some ways, it was a shame they weren’t in the mansion of some rich asshole who could make good use of their skills. Dev had noted how well-trained they were when it came to submitting to him, but now he got to watch them when they took control of a woman, and it was magic.