Chapter Twenty-Three
Anton
A fter the movie, I hesitated. I could tell that Keryth was getting tired. Honestly, after the week we’d had, I was tired as well. But I wasn’t ready to let him go yet. I rested my head on his shoulder, staring at the credits as they scrolled on by.
“So…” Keryth started, then paused and licked his lips. “Um, I have a question for you.”
“Alright. Go ahead.”
“Why haven’t you come back to my bed?”
I blinked, then my eyes widened. “I… didn’t want to presume.”
He sighed. “Well, just so you know, I want you there. In my bed. Or me in your bed. Or wherever. I… would love to sleep with you. I mean, sleep in the same bed as you. Oh, my Mother, you know what I’m tryin’ to say.”
I couldn’t help it. I laughed. Loudly. Luckily, Ker joined in, laughing with me.
Finally, I calmed and said, “I’d love that. Do you want to come to my room?”
He smiled. “Sure.” Then he yawned widely. “Oh boy, I’m really tired.”
“Me too.” I climbed off the couch, then reached down to pull him up as well.
As soon as he was in my arms, I gave him a kiss, because how could I not?
He sighed into my mouth, and I wrapped him in my arms again. Gods above and below, I loved having him here. I loved feeling him against me, scenting him. I loved that he smelled like us both now. And sleeping in the same bed would only make our combined scents linger longer.
Anyone who came by and smelled him would know he belonged to me.
Because he did. He was mine. Forever.
I pulled back, then tugged him out of the room, up the stairs, and straight to my room, holding his hand tight. He didn’t hesitate to follow.
I closed the door behind me and started for the bed, but then he suddenly stopped.
I faced him. “What’s wrong?”
“What if Zell wakes up and doesn’t know where I am?”
Oh. Oh no. “We can go to your room if you want?”
He shook his head. “No. I… I want to stay here, if that’s okay?”
“More than.”
“Alright. Then… maybe I can write a note and tape it to my door, right over the doorknob so she doesn’t miss it.”
“That’s a good plan. Let me find you some parchment.”
As I walked over to my desk, he snickered. “Parchment. I love it.”
I snorted at that and found an old notebook and a pen, then passed it over. “Let me find some tape. I know I have some in here somewhere.” As he wrote his note, I dug through drawers until I found a roll of tape. “Ah-ha! Got it.”
Ker and I walked to his room, taped the note on the door, and came right back.
We were already in our pajamas, thanks to our earlier antics, so I had him sit on my bed while I went to brush my teeth. Ker took his turn next, and when he came out, I was in the bed, sitting up with the covers over my legs.
“Come on in,” I said, patting the seat beside me.
Ker climbed in and snuggled right up to me without a second of hesitation, so I tilted his chin up and claimed his mouth.
I wanted him. More than I’d ever wanted anyone.
And earlier, I didn’t think either of us could’ve stopped ourselves.
But I was afraid to take it any further than we already had. After what happened that first night, I never, ever, ever wanted to make Keryth think I was using him. I hated that I’d done that to him. But I couldn’t take that back. All I could do was move forward.
So as much as I wanted to strip him naked and take him for my own, I held myself back. Taking this a little slower and making sure Keryth knew exactly how much he meant to me, just how precious he was, was more important than anything else.
I slowed our kiss, then pressed my lips to his forehead, lingering there for a long moment, before I scooted us to lie down. I pulled the blankets over us and held my sweet viramore in my arms.
Having him in my space, in my bed, for the first time felt… monumental, and I cherished every second of it as I drifted off to sleep.
When I woke, I wasn’t surprised to find the bed empty. I’d heard Zellya and Saranor whispering at the door an hour ago, daring each other to come in and wake up Keryth. Saranor ended up cracking the door open and whispering for my viramore. The memory made me smile.
My sweet viramore had groaned, rolled over, and stuffed his head under the pillow, moaning, “Noooooo.”
I’d tried to get up instead, but that made my fae jump up, insist I go back to sleep, and rush out of the room. He’d moved so quickly, he could’ve been mistaken for a vampire.
After climbing out of bed, showering, and getting ready for the day, I made a quick call to Garrick.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Garrick. You told me to check in today about the kidnappers.”
Every time I thought about the man who’d harmed Keryth and taken him to that basement for Ralodove, it made me seethe. It made me want to rage and tear someone apart.
It made me want to hunt.
But I knew my time was better spent here with my children and all our new family members. I didn’t want to scare them away by letting my vampire side take over like it wanted. Taking care of my family was the only reason I’d agreed with Garrick when he’d told me he’d handle it.
But honestly? If Garrick didn’t find results soon, I was going to have to let my vampire side out and take care of this myself.
It had been far too long since I’d hunted.
“Hey, Anton.” He sighed loudly, which didn’t bode well for me. “I’m sorry to say that they’re still eluding us.”
“Garrick,” I hissed. “These people kidnapped my viramore. They need to be dealt with. You promised me you’d find them.”
“I know, and I will. It’s just taking a lot longer than expected. We did find a warehouse where they were hiding.”
“And?”
“And they got away before we got there, but we found some… interesting things they’d left behind.” He cleared his throat. “It looks like they were dealing in black market antiques.”
That piqued my interest and wasn’t what I’d been expecting. “That… surprises me.”
“Us as well. There were also more cages in the warehouse, all big enough to hold a person.”
“They’re trafficking people?”
“That’s what we think. I’m not sure exactly what Ralodove’s involvement was with all of this, but I think at least some of those fae would’ve been sold off somewhere. This is much bigger than any of us expected. We’re trying to hunt down their antiques suppliers, their buyers, everything. We need to shut this operation down and hopefully find some of the people who’ve been sold into slavery.”
I winced at that and rubbed my hand over my face. “Gods above and below, Garrick. This is… this is bad. I haven’t even heard a peep about this going on in our city. How did we not know?”
“They were smart… until they weren’t. I know you want justice for the men who hurt your Keryth, and I want that too, but we’re going to have to follow this through and take down the entire operation. You might have to wait to seek out your revenge, Anton. I’m not going to stop you. I already told you I’d turn a blind eye, and I meant it; these people don’t deserve to live. But I am asking you to at least let me interrogate them first when I find them.”
My jaw clenched, but I couldn’t deny his sound reasoning, and I certainly didn’t want anyone else to suffer at the hands of these traffickers. I didn’t like it, but I also knew that Keryth would rather save people than have vengeance. So with a hiss and a grunt, I ground out, “Fine.”
“Thank you, Anton. And… I’m sorry. I know that’s a lot to ask of you.”
It was, but he understood because he had his own viramore to protect.
Protecting our mates was the most natural thing in the world. It wasn’t only a want, it was a need, and it was something I felt down to my soul.
“It is, but it’s the right thing to do.”
He grunted. “I’ll keep you updated. We’re close, Anton. I can feel it.”
“Thank you, Garrick.”
We said our goodbyes, and I stood still in my room for a few minutes so I could calm myself down. I didn’t want any of this anger to scare away the little ones in the house.
Once I felt calm, I ventured downstairs to the family room where I could hear little voices chatting nonstop with Keryth. I smiled and let their tranquility wash over me, taking all the anger and frustration away with it. I wouldn’t let these horrible things happening in the world affect our family, at least not while they were under my roof. I couldn’t control anything happening outside our home, but I could certainly strive to make the younglings’ days brighter.
It had been a very, very long time since I’d lived with younglings, and Keryth’s girls were adorable and sweet, which wasn’t surprising since they were being raised so well.
“Good morning,” I said as I walked into the room.
The girls quieted, Zellya turning shy, but Keryth grinned at me, saying, “Good morning. We’re doin’ makeovers. Want to join?”
I glanced at the makeup, hair products, and nail polish spread out on the coffee table and floor and gave a nod. “Sure.” I turned to the girls. “Would one of you paint my nails?”
Saranor smiled. “What color do you want?”
“You pick.”
She gave me a nod, then stuck her tongue out in concentration as she rifled through all the little bottles.
I settled on the floor beside Keryth, and he shot me a grin, pressed into my side, and quietly asked, “You okay? You felt really angry.”
Of course he’d felt that. “I spoke to Garrick. Everything’s alright, but I’ll tell you about it later.”
He examined my face for a long moment, and I let him take his fill. I had nothing to hide, not from him.
“You sure?” he asked. “We can go somewhere else to talk about it.”
I shoulder-bumped him. “It’ll hold.” I lifted my hand and wiggled my fingers. “I want to get my nails done.”
He laughed and bumped me back. “Alright. Later.”
“Later.” I smiled back, and since my fingernails weren’t wet yet, I cupped his head and pulled him to me a little so I could press my lips to his temple. He leaned into me for a few seconds before Saranor decided on a bright purple color.
I held out my hand to her, and she got started, keeping that tongue-out-in-concentration expression on her face the entire time. It was adorable.
And the best part was that the longer I sat with them, the more at ease Zellya became. By the end of our little makeover session, she was brushing my hair and putting barrettes in it, talking a million miles a minute.
It was perfect.
Jedediah came into the room, saw what we were doing, ran over, dropped to his knees, and asked the girls, “Can you give me a makeover too?”
They grinned and readily agreed. It was clear the girls were comfortable with my son, and I wasn’t surprised. Jed had a way with people, and sometimes, he acted like a big kid himself. Plus, before the kids had been confined to the house, he’d been going with Keryth a lot to pick the girls up from school, so he’d been making sure to spend time with them.
I scooted back to lean against the couch on the far side of the trio, and it wasn’t long before Keryth came over and curled up against me. I wrapped my arm around him, kissed the top of his head, and rested my cheek there.
“You look a lot better,” he said, keeping his voice low so the others didn’t hear—although Jed could if he was paying attention.
“What do you mean?”
He leaned up to meet my gaze. “Your coloring looks better already, and you barely drank anything from me last night.”
I blinked at that and took stock of myself. Huh. I suppose I did feel more… energetic than I had in a long time. “Oh.”
“You have to keep drinking from me, Anton. You obviously need it, and I don’t want you getting sick or anything. You have to, okay? Please? I—”
I cut him off with a kiss, then rested my forehead against his. “Okay.”
He sucked in a breath, looking like he was about to argue before my word penetrated, and he blinked. “Okay?”
“Yes. But I’ll continue drinking from the blood bags as well because I don’t want to overwhelm you until Tray doesn’t need your blood.”
“That’s fair.”
I kissed his forehead, then turned to watch Jed and the girls for a little while.
While Jed’s nails were drying, Saranor asked him, “Are you really our brother now?”
He gasped as if offended. “How dare you, Sara. Of course I am.”
She and Zellya laughed, but the little girl persisted. “So if someone at school asks who you are, I can say you’re my brother?”
Jed smiled softly. “I’d really like it if you did. I’ve been telling everyone about my new little sisters and brother.”
“You have?”
“Yep. Didn’t you see my shirt?”
She rolled her eyes. “The big brother one?”
“Yes, that one. I’ve been wearing it everywhere.”
She giggled, and Zellya said, “I saw Shiro wear his the other night.”
Jed gasped again. “No way! He wore it? He swore he never would, even though I made it for him. Ugh. I need to get a picture of it.” He looked absolutely gleeful, and Keryth chuckled, clearly listening to them as well.
There was a small pause before Saranor said, “I told my friends at school that you’re my brother when they saw you in the car, and Dorothy said I was lying.”
“Well, what in the world does this Dorothy know? She’s not a part of our family.”
Saranor stared at him for a long moment, looking fond. “Yeah… I guess you’re right.”
“Of course I’m right. I’m your big brother.”
She rolled her eyes.
Jed suddenly reached over and snatched the princess tiara off Saranor’s head and jumped to his feet, saying, “Would anyone but a brother do this?”
She screeched and jumped up, lunging for the tiara, but he hopped back, laughing and holding it out, taunting her.
Saranor laughed, and when Jed ran—at a human-ish pace—toward the hallway, she yelled, “Give it back!”
“Make me.” Jed dangled it in her direction, a huge shit-eating grin on his face.
Saranor looked at Zellya, who nodded. “Let’s get him!”
Then the two girls let out war cries and ran for him. The laughter of all three of them faded as they ran farther into the house.
Keryth chuckled. “He’s such a shit-stirrer.”
“He’s always been that way.” I couldn’t help but laugh when one of the girls screeched in triumph.
Keryth, still laughing softly, kissed my cheek before standing. “I should probably get some lunch together. I haven’t even seen Gemma and Alsira yet today. They were still asleep when I came down here.”
“They’re awake.” I could hear them. “Gemma’s playing a video game, and Alsira’s tuning her guitar. I’m surprised they haven’t come down for food yet.”
“I’m sure they’ll come down soon. If not, I’ll yell for them or text them to come eat their lunch.” He shrugged and walked into the kitchen. “It’s amazing you can hear them so easily, but is it hard to concentrate with so many sounds filtering through?”
“I’ve been this way for a very long time, so this is normal to me. I have ways of tuning things out when I don’t want to hear the next-door neighbor’s heartbeat or other tiny things.”
His eyebrows raised. “You can hear that far?”
I shrugged. “That was just an example. A bad one because our neighbors are too far away, but when I’m in the bookstore, certainly.”
He whistled. “That sounds… horrible.”
“Like I said, I can tune things out.”
“That’s definitely a good thing.”
I hummed in agreement.
As I followed him into the kitchen, my phone rang. Ailin’s name appeared, and my stomach sank. I had a feeling this was going to be bad news.