Chapter Fifteen
Anton
K eryth had a lot of plants.
Honestly, I was surprised he’d been able to fit them all inside that tiny apartment of his. When Remi and Bel had brought them over, they’d had to drive two cars, and both of them were filled to the brim.
Which brought us to my current predicament.
While none of us could be hurt from the sun, no vampire actually enjoyed being in the sunlight. At least not for long periods of time. And Trayben would likely be unable to go near a window during the day because his instincts wouldn’t let him.
At the moment, all of Keryth’s plants were in his bedroom, which now looked like a jungle and wasn’t really fair to my viramore. He was a nature fae. He needed to be surrounded by his plants throughout the day, throughout his home. Not only when he slept.
So Phaeron and Beshiro helped me clear out a room on the first floor that had some large windows and a few shelves, so I figured Keryth could put some plants there. And I installed two shelves in front of the largest kitchen window since I figured Trayben wouldn’t spend much time there, seeing as he didn’t need to eat and couldn’t drink from blood bags yet. With Ailin’s charms, the sun wouldn’t hurt him, but his instincts would tell him it was dangerous, so it would take time before we could open more curtains up throughout our home so my viramore could put plants all over.
Hopefully the plant room and the kitchen shelves would suffice for now.
I’d already put in a call to a contractor about building a couple of greenhouses somewhere on the grounds. Since Sedoba was naturally a cold place and spent more months with snow and ice on the ground than not, I figured the greenhouses would need to be heated, plus they’d likely need lights, and obviously water run to them. So… I was leaving it up to the contractors to figure out the best placement for them.
Although, perhaps I should consult Keryth about placement as well since he’d know what was best for his plants.
But that was a worry for another day. We had enough going on in my very busy household as it was.
This house had never been so full of life before, and I quite liked it.
It took longer than I thought it would to get everyone’s belongings here. There’d been a lot of paperwork to transfer guardianship from Trayben’s parents to Keryth and me, especially because it was unheard of to have two sires, let alone for one of them to be fae.
But being friends with the king of Sedoba helped smooth things over.
Trayben hadn’t even wanted to go to his parents’ house to collect his belongings, and when Phaeron, Beshiro, and I arrived, I realized why. His parents had thrown his clothes into a trash can outside even though they’d known I was coming. I insisted on seeing my fledgling’s bedroom, and when I finally forced myself inside, there was hardly anything left.
Still, the three of us collected what we could, then stopped at a clothing store on the way home to buy the teen a ton of new clothes. Once he was feeling up to it, I’d take him shopping myself and make him pick out anything and everything he needed.
Then there was school. He was in his last year of high school and had already missed a lot in a row, so I had to get special permission for him to make up the work at home. The school hadn’t been very cooperative at first, which was utterly ridiculous considering the poor child had been kidnapped, tortured, and then turned into a vampire. You’d think they’d have a little more compassion and understanding.
I’d almost pulled the king of Sedoba card on them, but then I’d been transferred to someone who’d actually been understanding and clearly wanted Trayben to succeed. He was a good student, so you would’ve thought everyone would give him the benefit of the doubt, but at least he had one person on his side.
I was going to have to keep an eye on that, just in case the rudeness had been a speciest thing—many people didn’t like fae in Sedoba. I would not tolerate one of my children being bullied, degraded, or treated unfairly in any way.
Trayben was in his bedroom, so I knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
I opened it and leaned against the doorframe, not wanting to crowd him. “Hey, dove. How are you holding up?”
“I’m okay.” He sent me a shaky smile from where he sat on the edge of the bed.
“I spoke to your school.”
He scowled, and a wave of fondness hit me at the pure teenager reaction. This kid was melting my heart every time I was near him.
“I set it up so you can do your makeup work from home. I heard you talking about dropping out, but I don’t think that’s a good idea. Keryth and I would like you to graduate, alright?”
He sighed, long and loud. “Fine.”
My lips twitched. “I also told them you were going to stay home for another two or three weeks before going back. I think by then, you’ll be okay to be away from your sires for a few hours a day.”
He stared at his fingers for a few seconds. “You really think I can go back?”
Pushing off the doorframe, I walked inside and sat beside him, placing my hand on top of his. “With the ring and necklace from Ailin, I think you can. But if you’re not comfortable with it, I can set it up to have you finish your work from home. That might be harder, though, because you’ll have to teach yourself. I’ll help you, of course, and so will your older siblings, but we’re so old that I’m not sure we’d be any help.”
His lips quirked up in the corners. “You mean because things are done differently now?”
I let out a loud laugh. “If you could see how differently, you’d be shocked. When I was a child, the town I lived in didn’t even have a school at all. I learned from my parents, and no one taught me how to read until I was in my twenties and already turned into a vampire.”
He turned his head to me, eyes wide. “Really?”
“Yes. My maker taught me. She was horrified that I didn’t know how.” A small smile played on my lips at the memory of her face when she realized I was illiterate. “I’m still grateful to her for teaching me. I love to read.”
“But you own a bookstore now!”
“I do.”
“Wow.”
I chuckled and nudged him with my shoulder. “Think about school, alright? You don’t have to give me an answer right now, but I’m warning you that I already overheard Alsira threatening Keryth if he didn’t force you to go. She wants you in school with her.”
He sighed again and ran a hand through his hair. “I want to go back, but I… I don’t want to have to explain anything to anyone. People are going to ask me where I’ve been, and I… I don’t know how to answer that. I don’t want to lie, but I don’t want everyone knowing… well, knowing what happened, I guess.”
I thought about that for a few seconds. “Tell them you were adopted by a rich vampire and needed time to settle into your new mansion.”
He snorted. “They’ll think I’m lying.”
I shrugged. “It’s technically true, and if they think you’re just going to make things up, they’ll probably leave you alone.”
“Yeah, maybe.”
I nudged him again. “Or you can say you were really sick and leave it at that. Not exactly true, but close enough. And if you don’t want people knowing your business, just remember that you don’t owe it to them, okay? They can ask all they want, but you don’t have to tell them.”
“True.”
I sat there for a minute with Trayben leaning slightly against my shoulder. It made me smile, but I didn’t point it out because he’d probably be embarrassed. When he finally sat up, I stood, gave him a shoulder squeeze, and headed out.
“Let me know what you think, alright?”
“I will. Thanks, Anton.”
“Anytime, dove.” I shut the door behind me, then walked to the next door down and knocked.
It only took about five seconds for the door to fly open, leaving my viramore staring at me with big eyes and a small smile. “Hey.”
“Hi, my darling. May I come in?”
“Y-yeah. ‘Course.”
I walked in and shut the door behind myself, then leaned against it since I didn’t know where I should sit. The chair in the corner was covered in plants, so that option was out. I wanted to sit on the bed beside him, but… I wasn’t sure what he was thinking, and I didn’t want to push.
Keryth stared at me for a moment then went and sat on his bed and patted the spot beside him. Sighing in relief, I pushed off the door and joined him on the bed, giving him a small smile.
But then we sat there in silence for too long, so I said, “This is the first time we’ve been by ourselves since…” Since I’d rescued him.
He nodded. “Yeah…”
I took a breath. “I know you read my letter and we texted, but we haven’t had a chance to speak about it in person. I thought… I thought that before we continue this new venture together with our new fledgling and our hundreds of children that we should probably talk.”
He snorted. “We do have a lot of kids. Okay. I think that’s probably a good idea.”
I gave him a nod. “Okay. Then let me first say that I’m so sorry for making you feel the way I did. That was never my intention at all. The last thing I wanted to do was make you feel used. I genuinely wanted to help you, but I see how terrible of an idea it was to hand you money after… after what we did.”
He stared at me for a few long seconds. “Anton?”
“Yes?”
“You have nothing to apologize for. I’m the one who should be apologizing. I never should’ve yelled at you or assumed anything. I shouldn’t have run away. I should’ve spoken to you like an adult. And when… when we saw each other again, I shouldn’t have shut you out. I’m so very sorry, Anton. You have no idea.”
I picked up one of his hands, lifted it, and pressed a few tiny kisses to his knuckles. “Please don’t feel bad. I believe that we’ve appeared in each other’s lives when we were meant to. It may’ve been a strange journey, but we’re together now. And now that you’re here, I’m never letting you go again.”
He arched an eyebrow. “Is that right?”
I didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”
He stared for a beat, then let out a loud snort of amusement. “Good to know, vampire.”
“You’re okay with that?”
He sucked in some air and sighed. “Yeah… I think I am.”
We shared a smile, and a burst of relief made my chest feel ten times lighter.
“Were you able to set everything up at the bookstore?”
I waved that away. “Honestly, the store practically runs itself. My employees are perfectly capable of running it without me hovering over them.”
“You trust them.”
It was more a statement than a question, but I dipped my head. “I do. My managers have been with me for years. They know the ins and outs, and they’re good people. I’m not worried. I asked them to check in every few days, and I’m still managing my emails and things like that from home, so it’ll be easy for me to stick around here for a while.”
He sent me a soft smile. “I’m glad. Remi and Tan told me to take as much time as I need, so there’s really no rush for me to go back either. Although, I’d like to check on the plants soon. Remi’s taking care of them while I’m gone, but… this sounds silly, but I sort of miss them.”
That didn’t surprise me in the least. “That’s not silly. You have a connection to them. Of course you miss them. I’m sure we can figure something out so you can visit.”
He nodded and stared at me for a few seconds before clearing his throat. I wished I knew what he was thinking in that beautiful head of his.
After a few seconds, I asked, “Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“Why did you tell me your name is Rydel?”
“That’s my middle name. I, um, used to use it when I would… pick up tricks—which I don’t do anymore, by the way. I haven’t since Remi hired me two years ago. I don’t… I wouldn’t… I…”
I squeezed his forearm. “It’s okay, my darling. You don’t need to explain or feel upset or embarrassed or anything like that. I understand, and I don’t judge anyone for doing that. Please don’t worry.”
“I only ever did that when I really needed the money. I worked two to three jobs back then just to make ends meet, and sometimes, it still wasn’t enough, especially if the girls got sick or needed something special for their sports, or music, or whatever. I didn’t do that very often.” He swallowed thickly and looked away as he rubbed his eyes.
“Hey.” I waited for him to meet my gaze again. “You have nothing to be ashamed of. You did what you had to do, and I admire you for it. Your children are very well taken care of, and it’s clear how much they’re loved, and how much they love you. You’re an amazing person, Keryth. You should be proud of everything you’ve accomplished.”
He took a breath and glanced at me before facing forward and blowing it out slowly. “I… um… thank you. I appreciate that.”
“Of course.”
He was quiet for a few seconds before he cleared his throat. “I, um… I was going to tell you my real name. When we exchanged numbers, I was going to tell you, but then I… I… freaked out on you, and I’m just… I’m really sorry.”
I placed one hand over the top of both of his on his lap. With the other, I took a finger and gently turned his chin until he was staring into my eyes. “We both made mistakes that night, and I think it’s time for us both to forgive not only each other, but ourselves as well. We need to forgive and move on so we can heal and get to know each other.”
He sucked in a breath but didn’t look away as he nodded. “Okay. I… I can do that.”
I offered a small smile. “Good.” And then because I couldn’t resist, I leaned in to place a soft kiss against his brow before sitting up straight and meeting his eyes again. “We’ve been thrown into a difficult situation, even without our past haunting us. If you’re amenable, I’d like to agree to move on and move forward with our children and with each other.”
“Yeah… yeah, that sounds good.” He licked his lips, and it killed me that I couldn’t dip my head down and lick them for him.
Moving my eyes back up to his, I said, “I’d like to court you, Keryth Rydel Bixidor. If you’ll have me?”
His gaze softened as his lips tilted up in the corners. “Yes. So much yes.”
I grinned back and leaned in to kiss his cheek even though I really wanted to go for his mouth. When I pulled back, he was still smiling.
“Does that mean you’re taking me on a date?”
“Definitely. Although, we’ll have to do some at-home dates for a while because Trayben needs at least one of us here.”
He tilted his head in acknowledgment. “Makes sense. We can still do dinner or something, right? Maybe just in one of our rooms? Or a movie night?”
“I have some things I need to take care of over the next few days. So how about dinner and a movie next Saturday night?” It was a week away, but we had so much going on that I didn’t think we could do it sooner, unfortunately.
“Sounds perfect.”
“Wonderful.” I stood up and headed for the door but turned back when I remembered something. “Oh, Phae, Shiro, and I cleared out a room downstairs for your plants. One of us can show you when you come down. There are already some shelves in there, but I assume we’ll need to move things around or build new ones. You’ll have to tell us what you need. There’s a couch and a big armchair, and I think we have a TV somewhere that we can move in. I also installed a few shelves in front of one of the kitchen windows so you can move some of this jungle”—I waved my hand around, indicating the million plants in his room—“out of here. You’ll hopefully have room for more plants as well.”
His eyes looked wide, and if I was reading his emotions correctly, he was overwhelmed. Probably not the best time to tell him about the greenhouses, then. Maybe in a few days when he felt more settled.
“You didn’t have to do that, Anton.”
I sent him a smile. “Of course I did. You’re a nature fae, and you’re my viramore. You need to have nature around you, and I want to give you everything you need.”
“Anton,” he breathed out.
With a smile, I stepped back over to him and kissed his brow. “Let me know if you need help moving your plants. Some of them are a lot heavier than I expected.”
He chuckled. “I can handle them.”
“I have no doubt. But if you’d like an extra hand, I’d love to help you, if only to spend more time with you.”
That got me a small smile. “I’ll let you know after I check out the room and shelves. Thank you, Anton. For everything.”
“It’s my pleasure, darling.”
With that, I walked out, ready to tackle the next item on my long list of things I needed to get done before I could go back to Brinnswick to help Julius and Ailin with this hunter case.
I sighed. That wasn’t something I was looking forward to doing.
All I really wanted to do was spend time with my family and make sure everyone was settling in alright. These were big changes for everyone involved, and I was sure there would be some growing pains as we all figured out how to live together.
I’d also really love some alone time with Keryth.
A smile tugged at my lips at just the thought of my precious viramore.
I was ready to woo him so hard he wouldn’t know what hit him.