Chapter Twelve
Anton
T he jolt of awareness hit me like a freight train, and I gasped, jerking back. But I didn’t let go of either of them—my new fledgling or my sweet viramore, who was finally allowing me to hold him.
Waking up with Keryth in my arms was something I wasn’t sure would ever happen, and I was eternally grateful for it. I could only hope there would be many more mornings like this one.
I glanced at the teenager beside me, an array of emotions making my chest tighten as the bond further solidified between us.
I’d already felt the bond to my new fledgling, but it was as if that bond shimmered inside of me for a few precious seconds, like it was reminding me it was there. As if I could forget.
A thousand years ago, I’d sworn I’d never make another fledgling, and yet here we were. All it’d taken was one simple please from my viramore, and I’d caved without thinking of the consequences. The consequence of holding another’s life in my hands, of protecting them, caring for them, making them a permanent fixture in my life.
Getting my heart broken when something inevitably happened to them.
After what I’d seen in the past, when I knew how hard it could be, I was scared of bringing a new child into my family. But we were here now, and I was going to do everything in my power to keep this youngling safe and make sure he knew his new family cared about him. I had no doubt that we’d all grow to love the youngling in no time.
And I knew my other children would love having a new little brother.
Well, at least three of them would.
Phaeron would be wary of him, scared of getting close, and I couldn’t blame him for that since I felt the same. But the others would be excited and welcoming, I was sure. My serious but kind-hearted Phaeron would come around in time.
After we got through the next few days, I’d have to check in with each of them to make sure they were alright. We hadn’t changed the dynamic of our family in a thousand years, so I expected some… growing pains.
“I can feel it,” Keryth whispered, awe clear in his voice, pulling my attention back to the matter at hand. “He’s… he’s my fledgling.” He wiggled around a little in my arms, seemingly out of excitement, anxiety, or a combination of both, but he didn’t try to pull away. “Fuuuuck, I can feel it in my chest.”
“I can feel it too.” I gave Keryth a small squeeze, and he calmed, settling back in my arms.
“The bond, it’s… it’s right… next to… to ours.”
I swallowed thickly. Keryth hadn’t said the word viramore out loud yet, but hearing him admit we had a bond was… reassuring. It made my aching heart truly hope for the first time since the young fae had run away from me the night we met.
I sent him a small smile, then buried my nose in his hair and took a deep breath. He still smelled like blood and sweat and leftover fear, but underneath all of that was the comforting scent of jasmine, earth, and cedarwood. It seemed to reach out to a part of my soul and calm my own anxieties about this situation.
I may’ve been experienced in making fledglings, but it’d been so long, and I’d never made one with another person, let alone a fae. I didn’t even think it was a possibility until I saw it happening with my very own eyes.
Both Keryth and Trayben had been covered in blood, so I’d done my best to clean them up respectfully. I’d changed their clothes at the very least, which meant I’d seen the large scar on Keryth’s chest that was clearly years old and all of the wounds all over Trayben.
Those were things I’d have to address in time, but not now. Our emotions were going to be high already without bringing bad memories into the mix.
Beside me, Trayben jolted, and both Keryth and I jumped in shock. And then the poor boy let out a pained whine. The sound was low and long and hurt my heart.
Even though mere minutes ago, Keryth had no energy to move, the man suddenly shot up, climbed over me, rolled Trayben closer to me, climbed over the teen, and settled on his other side. He did it so fast, so naturally, that all I could do was blink at him before I fully registered that he’d moved.
And they said vampires had speed. They should try that theory against a parent trying to reach their hurt child.
The teen whimpered, and my heart leapt into my throat. I hated that he was in pain.
“Shhh. It’s okay, Trayben,” Keryth said, leaning up on one elbow and brushing the hair out of the teen’s closed eyes. “You’re gonna be okay, Tray. I’m right by your side, and I’m not going anywhere.” My viramore looked at me and mouthed, “What’s wrong with him?”
Reaching over, I placed my palm on Trayben’s chest, doing my best to soothe and comfort him with my sire presence and scent. “The transformation is painful, but it’ll pass quickly. He just has to get through the next few minutes.”
Keryth looked pained himself at that, and he focused solely on the teenager, saying, “Shh. It’s okay. It’ll be over soon.” He glanced at me with tears in his eyes. “He’s been through so much pain already. I just… I want to take it all away.”
Oh, my sweet fae. “So do I, my darling, but I promise it’ll be over soon.”
He gave me a nod, then went back to the boy, brushing a hand over his hair, over and over, while he whispered reassurances.
Trayben cried out and whimpered as he blinked his eyes open. That made me sag in relief. He was still in pain, but if he was opening his eyes, it was truly almost over.
“I’ve got you, Tray,” Keryth said, making the fledgling turn his gaze to him. “It’s alright. It’ll be over soon, sweetheart. Try to breathe through it, okay?”
The teen blinked a few times before his brow furrowed. “M-Mr… Ker?”
Keryth smiled at him. “Yep. I’m right here, and you’re safe now. You’re safe.” He pressed a small kiss to his temple. “I’ve told you a million times not to call me Mister.”
The teen let out a small huff of amusement that turned into a cry, but I couldn’t tell if it was from pain, grief, or a combination of both. Then he rolled toward Keryth, who pulled him into a hug, tucking the child under his chin.
“Shh. I’ve got you, sweetheart. I’m right here,” Keryth whispered, holding him tight.
I scooted closer and began rubbing Trayben’s back, offering what comfort I could, although I knew he’d be more comfortable with Keryth after what they went through together. Not to mention that Keryth wasn’t a stranger to the youngling the way I was. That would change in time.
I heard the child crying, and my heart wrenched. I hated seeing one of my children in pain. It was true I didn’t know him, but I could feel him in my soul. We were connected, and I felt compelled to care for him.
“Wh-what’s going on, Mr. Ker?”
Keryth kissed the top of the child’s head. “Please stop with the Mister, Tray. We’re family, you and I. We were before this happened, and we’re even more so now.”
“Wh-what does that mean?” He sniffled.
Keryth stared at me over the top of the teen’s head as he spoke to our fledgling. “You were very badly hurt when our rescuers made it to us. They… I…” He cleared his throat. “You were almost… gone. There was no way you were going to make it, so I… I asked my… friend, Anton, to help you.”
I flinched at the word friend , and Keryth saw it, grimaced, and reached out to squeeze my arm in obvious apology. Since that wasn’t something that warranted focus right now, I gave him a nod so we could both focus on our fledgling.
“Help me how?” I didn’t know the teen well yet, but if I wasn’t mistaken, he’d already figured it out and simply needed confirmation.
“Anton had to… turn you into a vampire.”
Keryth and I both held our breaths as we waited for Trayben’s response.
The child was quiet for a few tense seconds before he blew out a breath and nodded against Keryth’s chest. “So I’m a vampire?”
“Yes.”
“And… you’re my sire, Mr—uh, Ker. And so is whoever’s behind me, right? I can… feel him there. Like not just physically… right?”
Keryth opened his mouth, but I beat him to it, saying, “Yes. I’m one of your sires. My name is Anton Orsova, and I’m very honored to meet you officially, Trayben.”
He was quiet for another few seconds, but I didn’t mind because Keryth was staring at me with a softness on his face, and if I wasn’t mistaken, a grateful smile.
Finally, Trayben said, “It’s nice to meet you too. Th-thank you for saving me.”
Peeling my eyes away from my viramore, I scooted closer to the child, hugging him between us and hopefully providing the comfort he needed. “No need to thank me, my child. It was my pleasure. I’m only happy that with Keryth’s magic, we were able to make it work.”
The child relaxed into my hold. “Oh. Right. You’re supposed to ingest vampire blood for weeks prior to being turned. How am I a vampire right now? I’ve never had vampire blood… I… I don’t think I even know a single vampire.”
“Keryth is much stronger than anyone gives him credit for. His strength and determination worked with my own vampire magic and my blood. I am… very old, so my blood is more potent than your average vampire. If you hadn’t been so far gone when we started, my blood alone may have been enough, but as it was, Keryth saved the day.”
Keryth rolled his eyes, but there was a small smile playing across his lips.
Trayben whispered, almost to himself, “How old do you have to be for that to work?”
“Ah… several thousand years, I imagine.”
Keryth’s eyes widened, and I felt the fledgling tense in shock before the teen said, “How many thousands?”
I stared into Keryth’s eyes, knowing I had to give a straight answer for once and praying this wasn’t going to be… too much for him. After clearing my throat, I said, “Somewhere around four.” I grimaced as I thought about it and amended, “Ah, actually, it’s closer to five now.”
“You’re five thousand years old?” Keryth’s eyes were wide with shock.
“Nearly.”
“Holy fuckin’ shit.”
Trayben cleared his throat, still speaking into Keryth’s chest. “What, are you like the oldest vampire in the world or something? Because I thought most vamps were, like, lucky to live to be two hundred.”
“Well… aside from my maker, who’s no longer living, I’ve never met anyone older than me, so perhaps.”
That made the teen pull away from Keryth to twist around and stare at me with huge, very wide eyes. “Fuck, man, you’re ancient.”
That made Keryth huff in amusement, and when he met my eyes, he laughed a little harder. Then Trayben laughed, and I was helpless but to join in.
The three of us laughed for a long time, probably longer than we should’ve, but it felt good. It felt needed.
This poor child’s entire world had been turned upside-down. First with everything that’d happened in that basement—something that made me wish I could go back in time and make Ralodove suffer before I ripped his throat out again—and then with being turned. And being turned was no easy adjustment by itself. He was going to need a lot of time to heal.
Before we could discuss anything else, Trayben suddenly groaned and hunched in on himself. Keryth looked panicked, but I’d been expecting this, so I offered him a small, reassuring smile before I said to Trayben, “You need to feed. You’ll only be able to drink from your maker—or makers, in this case—for the next month or so.”
Trayben gave me a small nod, so I bit into my wrist and held the open wound in front of him. He wrinkled his nose in disgust for only a few seconds before he lurched up, grabbed my arm in both hands, and bit down. I winced but didn’t try to pull away. The poor child was starving, so he didn’t have full control of himself yet. He’d learn in time, and I’d much rather have him feeding off me in this way than Keryth. Once his initial hunger was sated, we’d discuss feeding from my viramore.
As if thinking along the same line as me, Keryth asked, “He needs to feed from me too, right?”
I gave him a small nod. “Yes, I would think so.”
He took a deep breath. “Okay. I can do that.” He tried to hide a small grimace but didn’t do a great job of it.
Luckily, the teen was preoccupied with his feeding, so he didn’t see it.
To Keryth, I quietly said, “It’ll be okay. Once he knows what he’s doing, it won’t hurt. But… it might be a little rough the first time.”
“I know. It’ll be fine. I, um, didn’t mind being fed from before.” His entire face flamed, and it only took me a moment to realize he meant the night we met.
My mouth felt parched. “I’m glad to hear it.”
He wouldn’t look at me, seeming embarrassed as he fussed over the teen, who was still feeding from me. But he shouldn’t be embarrassed. I’d enjoyed feeding from him too. More than any other feeding in my long life.
Trayben made a loud gulping noise, and I winced as his fangs scraped the open wound. I was going to have to pull him off my wrist in a moment. I didn’t have much to spare with how little I’d been eating lately and after feeding him during the turning. I’d have to choke down a few blood bags soon.
My stomach churned at the thought, but I wasn’t about to ask Keryth to supply me with sustenance when we had Trayben to worry about. There was no way I’d allow my viramore to be drained so fully. I could take a few more days, weeks, or months of eating ash.
Gently, I held Trayben’s chin and forced him to release my arm. He tried to reach for it with his mouth, but after a small tsk from me, he stopped and licked his lips.
I ran my tongue over the wound on my wrist, letting my saliva heal it, then I glanced between Trayben and Keryth. “You need to feed from Keryth as well, youngling, but you need to be careful and gentle. Look at me.” The teen turned his pink eyes to me. “You need to be gentle, yes?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
I stared at him for a long moment, making sure he understood. “You’re going to bite into his wrist, then pull your teeth out a little so the blood can easily come out around your fangs. Then you’re going to drink.”
“I… I can do that.”
“I know you can.” I sent him a small smile. “But this is important too. You need to project happiness into your feeding. You don’t want to hurt Keryth, so you need to make your vampire magic help with that.”
He grimaced. “I… don’t know how to do that.”
“Close your eyes.” He did. “Reach inside yourself and find your new vampire magic. It should feel like a small warm spot inside your chest.” I gave him a moment.
Finally, he nodded. “Got it.”
“Give it a tug. Play with it. Learn it.” Since he was fae, I wasn’t concerned about teaching him how to wield magic. He’d been doing it his entire life. Now, he just needed to figure out how to manipulate the new magic in his body. And… eventually, we’d see if any of his fae magic stuck around, but that wasn’t something we needed to do today. That was a worry for another day. We had far too many of them already without adding to it.
I gave him a few minutes, then said, “Vampire magic is more about instinct and intent, rather than wielding magic the way you’re used to doing. All you really need to do is intend for your feeding to be enjoyable, and it will be.”
He was quiet for a few minutes, but I could tell he was simply feeling his new magic, learning it, so I didn’t disturb him. We could give him some time.
I did, however, reach over the top of him to brush Keryth’s green hair off his forehead and tuck it behind his ear. He sent me a soft smile, so I cupped his cheek, and he leaned into the touch for a moment. It made my heart flutter with new hope.
Before all of this, he’d reached out to me, so I knew he wanted to at least talk. But all of this was so much more than what either of us had bargained for. Before he’d woken, I’d been afraid he’d want to run again when he realized we had a fledgling together. But I never should’ve doubted him. He was a good man, and if nothing else, I knew how much he cared for his children. Of course he’d care for this one just as fiercely.
But there was still a niggle of worry in my heart that he’d shy away from me. From us. From our bond.
Seeing him smile at me, feeling the press of his cheek against my palm, made me feel like perhaps… perhaps we had a real chance. Perhaps he’d give us one.
The second Trayben spoke, both of our attentions dropped to him. “I think I understand.” He looked at Keryth. “I’m going to try, but it might not work the first time. I’m sorry.”
“It’s no problem, Tray.” He smiled at the teen and held his wrist out. “You ready?”
Trayben nodded, then gently took Keryth’s arm in his hands. He took a deep breath, blew it out slowly, then delicately bit into my viramore’s wrist. A hiss wanted to escape me, a part of me wanted to rip him off of my viramore and toss him across the room for daring to hurt him. But knowing this was our fledgling helped calm the beast growing inside my chest, and I was old enough to control myself, even in the most difficult of situations.
Keryth was doing his best to hide the pain, but I could see it on his pretty face. After a few seconds, though, he relaxed, so I wasn’t surprised when he said, “That’s good, Tray. It doesn’t hurt anymore.”
The teen grunted in acknowledgment but didn’t release Keryth’s arm.
I let him feed for a few more seconds before I gently tugged on his chin again. “That’s enough, youngling.”
He released Keryth’s arm, and I wanted nothing more than to lick the wounds clean to get a taste of my viramore’s skin and blood. But I was supposed to be teaching my fledgling how to be a vampire, and a part of that was cleaning up his own mess, so to speak.
“Your saliva has healing properties. Lick over the wounds to close it for your sire.”
Trayben sent Keryth a funny look, likely feeling odd about licking him, but he quickly did as I asked. Keryth’s skin knitted back together quickly.
“Wow. That’s so cool.” Trayben smiled at Keryth, then turned that grin on me. “Thank you for helping me.”
Oh, this sweet boy. I’d barely known him a day, and I already cared for him. He was melting my heart quicker than I’d anticipated.
“Of course, my fledgling. That’s what I’m here for.”
His smile lit up for a few seconds before he yawned loudly.
I chuckled and ran my hand over his hair. “Sleep, youngling. You’re safe, and both of us will be here when you wake again.”
His eyes were already closed. “You promise?”
“Of course.”
Keryth added, “Yes, Tray. We’ll protect you.”
The teen murmured something unintelligible as he drifted off.
To Keryth, I said, “He’ll likely sleep for a few hours, then wake up hungry again. You and I are going to need to replenish ourselves. And now that you’re supplying blood for someone, you’re going to need to drink a tonic that helps keep you healthy and keeps extra blood in your system.”
“There’s a tonic for that?”
“Yes. It has extra vitamins you need, lots of iron and things like that. Plus it’s spelled to keep your blood supply up. Anyone who provides regular sustenance for a vampire is recommended to take it.” I hadn’t purchased any in a long time since I hadn’t had a long-term donor, but I knew where to get some. And if I knew my children like I thought I did, they likely already had a generous supply in our kitchen.
“Okay. Where do I get that?”
“I’m sure my other children already bought some, and I’ll be sure we have it on hand from now on.”
His brow furrowed. “Oookay… but you’ll tell me where to buy it?”
“Of course.”
He gave me a nod.
“Are you okay with me calling my children to bring you some food, water, and the tonic? And a few blood bags for myself?”
“Are they allowed in here?”
I glanced at Trayben. “I’ll ask them to leave things at the door for now. In a few hours, we can see how the youngling does around his new siblings, if that’s alright with you?”
“Sure. I’m… starving.”
I frowned. “I apologize. I should’ve had them bring you food sooner.”
He waved me off. “I couldn’t have even fed myself earlier, so don’t worry about it.” He yawned. “Sorry.”
“Nothing to apologize for. Let me call them. Then we can eat and take a nap.”
He nodded, then lay his head down on the pillow. If I didn’t get some food in here soon, he’d likely fall asleep with an empty stomach.
Closing my eyes, I tugged on all four of my other fledglings’ bonds, grabbing their attention. Being their sire, I could call on them if I needed them, and they could do the same, although we rarely used the ability unless it was an emergency. Or in cases like this where I didn’t have my cell phone on hand and needed their help.
A fledgling could be compelled to follow an order given by their sire, which could be uncomfortable, especially if it was something the fledgling didn’t want to do. That was typically what this kind of contact was meant for. But I didn’t do that to my children. I never had, and I never would. I certainly wasn’t going to start demanding things now.
All four of them immediately responded with a tug of their own, so in my head, I said through our bonds, “Can one of you bring some food, drink, and a blood tonic for Keryth? As well as some blood bags for me? Please leave them by the door. I’m not sure Trayben is ready for guests yet.”
Jed said, “On it, Daddio!”
At the same time, Beshiro said, “Of course, sire.”
The other two gave me affirmations without words, so I released our bonds and trusted my children to help us.
It wasn’t long before I heard them outside the door, but I waited until they left before I slipped out of bed to grab the tray. My body felt weak after giving so much blood, but I ignored it. The blood bags would help.
When I came back with the tray, Keryth sat up and offered me a smile.
“Thank you, Anton.”
“Anytime, my darling.” I took the blood bags, then passed the tray over to him, and he settled it on his lap.
As he dug into his food and drink, I did my best to ignore the ash taste of the blood, concentrating instead on how peaceful the moment was.
I was here with my viramore. My sweet, kind, adorable viramore.
And our adorable new fledgling was asleep between us.
This wasn’t the reunion I’d wanted between Keryth and myself, but I was beyond relieved to have him in my home, in my space, in my life.
I didn’t plan to waste a moment of this second chance.