Chapter Thirteen
Anton
A fter a long nap, Keryth and I fed Trayben again, and the youngling did a great job controlling himself and his bite. He even made the pain disappear immediately, so he was a quick learner. I was grateful because I didn’t want Keryth in pain.
But now that he was fed, it was time to see how he reacted around others, and perhaps we could leave this room soon.
“I’m going to turn on the light, alright?”
Trayben nodded, and Keryth said, “Go for it.”
Reaching over, I flipped on the bedside lamp, then turned to my new fledgling to make sure he was okay with it. He should be fine with artificial light by now, but I needed to make sure.
“How do you feel?”
He nodded. “I’m fine.”
“Good. If you’re alright with it, I’d like to ask my other children to come down here and meet you, Trayben. What do you think?”
Keryth nodded in agreement, and Trayben shrugged. “Um… okay.”
Closing my eyes, I tugged on my fledglings’ bonds, calling them down here. Hopefully one of them would bring more food and blood bags for us.
In less than a minute, I could hear all four of them standing at the door.
“Let’s get up to greet them.”
The three of us climbed out of bed, and I noticed Trayben sticking close to Keryth. He’d certainly formed a strong bond with him already. It was sweet.
“Ready?” Keryth and Trayben nodded, so I called out, “Come in.”
The door was pushed open, and my four children walked inside. Phaeron and Beshiro were both big and broad and likely intimidating if you didn’t know them already. Kat was tall and slender with toned muscles. She also looked capable of taking anyone down. The three of them together were likely threatening to the poor teenager. The frowns on Phae and Shiro’s faces weren’t helping. At least Kat was attempting a smile, even if that smile made her look a little… manic-esque.
But then there was Jedediah. He was shorter than his brothers, smaller in frame, and despite his lithe muscles, looked about as scary as a mouse. He was also grinning hugely and practically bursting with excitement. He was like a little puppy, eager for attention.
Jed pushed through his siblings to stand in front of them, and the other three rolled their eyes at him as if on cue, and the movement broke the strange tension they’d come inside with. It also made them seem less like the stereotypical moody vampire and more like the loveable people I knew they were.
“Hey, Trayben, I’m Jed, your new big vampy brother.” He grinned and turned to Keryth. “It’s nice to see you again, Keryth.”
“You too, Uncle Jed,” Keryth said without missing a beat.
That made Jed crack up, and I raised a brow at Keryth. Uncle Jed? What was that about?
Trayben quietly said, “Nice to meet you.” He grabbed onto Keryth’s arm, and my viramore patted his hand.
I cleared my throat. “Right. So this is Jedediah, Phaeron, Beshiro, and Katja. They’re my fledglings, which makes them your older siblings, in the vampire hierarchy. Phaeron is the oldest, then Beshiro, Katja, then Jed.”
Trayben gave me a small nod, looking unsure, so I sent him a small smile.
“Don’t worry. It doesn’t truly mean anything in our family, but I thought you might want to know. We’re all equals here.”
“Well,” Jed said. “Daddio is technically in charge, but it’s not like he orders us around or anything.” He shot me a cheeky smile.
I shrugged. “True enough.” I glanced at my new fledgling. “How are you feeling?”
He looked at me for a second. “Are you wondering if I want to jump on them and drink their blood or something?”
I winced. “Well, I wouldn’t have put it quite like that, but essentially, yes. Do you feel in control?”
He shrugged. “They just look like people… not like food or anything.”
That made Jedediah chuckle, and I rubbed the youngling’s back. “That’s great, dove. That’s really great.”
He sent me a shaky smile, but he didn’t move away from Keryth.
Jedediah turned a grin to Trayben, saying, “I’m so excited. I’m not the baby of the family anymore!” He clapped. “I get to be a big brother.” His eyes widened. “I should get a shirt.”
Beshiro snorted. “You want a big brother shirt? Seriously?”
He shrugged. “Well, think about it. Not only do we have our baby vamp here, we have four little sisters we need to take care of.”
“You know those shirts are for little kids when a baby’s born, right?”
Jed gestured to Trayben. “A new baby was born. Look at our sweet little baby vamp!” He looked like he was going to pinch Trayben’s cheeks.
I was about to step in, but Trayben shuffled a little behind Keryth. Jed didn’t hesitate to back off, and when he pasted on a smile, it was sad. My poor, sweet child. What was I going to do with him?
Beshiro, who could clearly see how uncomfortable Trayben was and wanted to help get the attention off of him, closed his eyes as if asking for patience and said to Jed, “I doubt they make those shirts in your size.”
Jed shrugged. “Then I’ll make one myself.” He nudged Beshiro’s ribs, completely ignoring his brother’s eye roll. “I can make you one too. I’ll make everyone one. Even Dads. Then we can take a big family photo all together. It’ll be the cheesiest thing in the entire world, and I already love it.” He grinned at Keryth and me. It took me a moment to realize he’d added an S onto Dad , implying he was going to start calling Keryth, a fae who was thousands of years younger than him, Dad as well.
Heaven help us.
Beshiro shook his head, and the two of us shared a look of understanding, one filled with fond exasperation.
Before either of us could try to convince Jed to let go of the shirt idea, he turned to Keryth. He changed the subject, likely on purpose so I wouldn’t be able to ban him from making us utterly ridiculous shirts. “I can’t wait to see your kids again and get to know them better. Do you think you’ll send for them today?”
Keryth looked—and felt—overwhelmed, so I stepped in, saying, “We haven’t figured that part out yet, but I’ll let you guys know as soon as we do.”
Jed nodded, looking serious. “No problem. We already started setting up rooms for the girls. There’re plenty here, so they each get their own.” He smiled at Trayben. “And you get your own too, right next to mine.”
Trayben opened his mouth, hesitated, then finally asked, “I… get a room here? Like a guest room?”
All four of my kids frowned at him, and Katja said, “No, Trayben, you get your own room… to live here.”
His eyes widened, and I could tell he was becoming just as overwhelmed as Keryth, so I waved my four children—well, my four eldest, I supposed I should say—away. “Thank you for checking on us, but I think we need a few minutes before we announce any more life-changing things to them, alright, my fledglings?” I gave them the look .
All four of them nodded, and Jed sighed but walked over to the kid, asking, “Can I give you a hug?”
I wasn’t sure how Trayben would take that, but he surprised me by nodding. Jed gave the kid a quick hug and a kiss on the top of his head and whispered, “Don’t worry. You’re in good hands. Anton’s the best sire in the world. You couldn’t have asked for anyone better, promise.” Then he helped usher the others out of the room before I could respond to that lovely compliment.
As soon as the door was shut, Trayben faced me and asked, “I’m moving in here?”
“Yes.” Unfortunately, he didn’t really have a choice. Not so soon after turning. Plus, even in fae years, he was still an adolescent. He was my charge now, and I’d see to it that he was well taken care of.
“Wh-what about my parents?”
“I’m planning on talking to them later today. They were notified by King Consort Tanyl Helegolor Von Stein himself when you were rescued. Legally, you’re in my and Keryth’s care now, and I plan to tell your parents that when we talk. But I want them to know you’re safe and in good hands. And of course they can visit you anytime they want.” I stared at his expression, unsure of what his grimace meant. “If you don’t want to be away from them, we could perhaps let them stay here for a few weeks until you—”
“No.” Trayben’s eyes widened. “No. Please. I… I don’t want them here.”
Keryth rubbed the teen’s back but said to me, “Tray spends a lot of time with us because his parents aren’t…” He trailed off with a wince and looked at the teen.
Keryth hadn’t said as much before, but I’d known they’d shared a bond before all of this. This obviously proved the point. I simply hadn’t realized just how well they knew each other. No wonder the teen was so comfortable with him.
That actually made me happy. Normally, when someone was turned, they knew the vampire sire well, so there was already a trust there. I didn’t have that luxury with Trayben, so I was glad he had that with Keryth.
Trayben mumbled, “My parents don’t care about me or what I do. Most of the time, they don’t even care if I eat. Mr—um, Keryth feeds me most days.”
I blinked at that and swallowed down the bile threatening to surface. How could anyone treat their child with such neglect? It was disgusting and disconcerting.
The fact that Keryth took care of this teenager didn’t surprise me in the least. He was a caretaker after all, and he loved children. Of course he’d help someone in need.
I stepped closer and gripped Trayben’s hands. “My fledgling, not only is it safer for you to be near us—your new family—since you’ll need to feed from only Keryth and me for the first few months, but we want you here. We have a lot to teach you, sure, but we want you here. With us. We want to get to know you because you truly are a part of our family now.”
For some reason, I had the feeling he was about to cry, so I opened my arms in invitation, and the kid didn’t hesitate to flop into them and bury his face in my chest. The scent of sire would be a comfort to him, and receiving affection from me would be as well. I rubbed his back and kissed the top of his head, then looked over the top of him to find my viramore staring at me.
Keryth sent me a hesitant smile, and I lifted one of my arms in silent invitation. He scooted closer to sandwich Trayben between us. Keryth moved to the side of the kid a bit and managed to rest his forehead on my shoulder, and the three of us simply stood there, breathing each other in for a long time.
When Keryth pulled away, the kid stayed in my arms, and I wasn’t surprised to see my viramore rubbing his back before he met my gaze. “Sooo… your, um, fledglings seem to think I’m staying here too…?”
I could hear the question in the statement. “Yes. Because we all want you and your girls here with us as well. Like I said, we’re family now, and we need to stick together. Not only for Trayben’s sake, but for all of ours.”
He inhaled deeply, then blew out the breath slowly. “Just to be clear, are you asking me to move in with you? Or is this more of a temporary thing while we get Tray settled?”
Reaching over, I took his hand in mine, then lifted it, keeping eye contact as I pressed a kiss to his palm. “I want you, your girls, and Trayben to move in with me. Permanently. Forever.”
He sucked in air again. “Really?”
“Yes. I would love nothing more than to have all of us under one roof.” I kissed his palm again. “I want you close, my darling.”
“And my kids, they’ll be okay here? Safe? Welcome?”
“My children and I will protect them with our lives if it comes down to it. Just as we will for you and Trayben.” His eyes widened, and I heard his heart beat a little faster. “We all want you here.”
“Are you sure? You haven’t spoken to your children about it yet. I know Jed seemed excited, but what about the others? I don’t think Phaeron wants us here.”
I sent him a soft smile. “My darling, did you hear what Jed said? They’re so excited that they’ve already started decorating bedrooms—all of them. Not just Jed, but all four of them.” He hadn’t said as much, but my ears were far-reaching, and I’d heard them working together throughout the house. “I have no doubt that they went out and bought toys and gadgets and who knows what else for them. They want you and your girls here as much as I do. I want us all to be together and become the family I know we can be.”
He stared at me for a long, long moment before finally giving me a single nod. “Okay.”
My heart rejoiced, making a smile form on my face. I’d thought he’d put up more of a fight about it. I was happy to be wrong.
“I… I need to talk to the girls about it first, but I… I want that too.” He waited a few minutes, then sighed. “I don’t suppose I could take a shower?”
Gods above and below, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t offered that yet. Of course Keryth and Trayben would want showers after everything they’d been through.
“Of course. Let me get my kids to put some clothes in the bathroom down here, and you two can take turns. I’ll change the sheets and shower after you.” I started to call on my fledglings again before I added, “Oh, I’ll ask them to bring down your phone as well. Apparently, it’s been going off pretty consistently.”
He grimaced. “I probably have a million texts.”
I had no doubt he had texts from his kids, Bel, Remi, Oakley, Tan, and likely some of the Ellwoods as well. “I’m sure you do. Tray seems settled enough for you to start replying if you’d like.”
He smiled at me. “I would. Thank you, Anton.”
“Anytime, darling.”