Chapter Three
Keryth
I had absolutely no right to feel the way I did right now. No right at all. Anton wasn’t anything to me. He wasn’t mine. We weren’t dating.
In fact, we never had.
So then why did my chest feel like I’d been betrayed on a soul-deep level?
Why did my heart want to combust in my chest?
Why did my soul ache to be the one under Anton’s arm?
And why in all the hells were my eyes tearing up?
Fuck!
I wiped at my eyes when I felt a tear run down my cheek. Then I cringed when I realized I was probably messing up my makeup. Shit.
Since I knew this place well from all the parties and dinners I’d attended here, I quickly raced across the roof and set Zellya down beside Bel, who was sitting in the beautiful cabana area on the roof.
“Can you keep an eye on the girls?” I asked him. “I need to fix my face.”
Bel frowned at me. “Of course, but are you okay?”
I waved him off, then turned to see all four girls and Trayben staring at me like I had three heads. I sighed. “What?”
“What the hell was that, Ker?” Alsira asked.
“Language.”
She waved me away. “Answer me.”
“Nothing. Don’t worry about it. Just… stay up here, okay? I’ll be back in one minute.”
She didn’t look happy with that answer, none of them did, but she nodded slowly.
So I went down the other set of steps to avoid running into Anton, walked into Tan and Garrick’s condo, and straight into the bathroom, ignoring everyone else along the way. No one needed to see me like this.
I didn’t want them to worry. I didn’t want them to question why the hell I was so upset when I didn’t even understand it myself.
When I reached the mirror, I closed my eyes and took a few seconds to gather myself together.
There was absolutely no reason to be upset that Anton was dating someone. Someone he was serious enough with to bring here when he’d never brought a single person, not even a friend, in the two years I’d known him.
Fuck.
I rubbed my hands over my face, trying to shake away the heartache in my chest.
It’s gonna be okay. It’s gonna be okay. It’s gonna be okay.
Why the hell was I reacting this way? I didn’t even want Anton.
Right?
Another ache pulsed inside of me, and I grimaced.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want him, I knew that deep down.
It was that… he’d been such a total bastard the first time we’d met. He’d… he’d gotten my hopes up. He’d been sweet and kind, and I’d felt something with him.
And then he turned out to be just like every other man I’d ever met.
A total dick.
A total ass who’d only wanted me for sex.
I… I’d felt like he’d crushed my heart and soul with one move.
And I couldn’t go through that. Not again.
I couldn’t deal with him and everything that came with him. I just… I couldn’t.
After I caught my breath and had my tears under control, I cleaned up my face as much as possible, then used my fae magic to glamor myself since I didn’t have any makeup with me. No one else would be able to tell the difference.
Well, my sisters, cousin, and Tray would be able to sense the glamor since they were all fae—or half-fae, in my sisters’ case—but even they couldn’t see through it.
Turning my head from side to side, I examined my glamor, making sure everything looked perfect and that no one could tell I’d been crying. Then I took a deep breath, nodded at myself, and walked back out the bathroom door.
As I rushed down the hallway, I almost crashed into someone but managed to stop myself just in time. My head lifted to see who the hell was in my way, and I grimaced when I found Anton staring at me with concern in his gaze.
My Mother of All, he was beautiful. His dark hair really made his hazel eyes pop. His strong jawline and amazing eyebrows—who knew eyebrows could be so gorgeous?—made him look like someone had sculpted him.
But he was even paler than usual—maybe he needed to feed—and if I wasn’t mistaken, he’d lost some weight. Which I didn’t even think was possible for a vampire. Was he sick? Or was it my imagination?
And why did I even care? I shouldn’t care. He was a jerk.
But fuck me, I did.
“Are you alright?” he asked me.
“I’m fine.” I tried to push past him, but he gently grabbed my elbow, sending tingles across my skin and making my heart race.
“Keryth…”
The sound of my name on his lips made me shiver, but I didn’t reply. I couldn’t.
“Keryth, please talk to me. Let me explain—”
“No.”
“Keryth, I’m so sorry about what happened. To be honest, I’m still not quite sure what happened—”
I glared and cut him off. “Really? You don’t understand what you did? H-how hurtful you were?”
He winced. “I… I didn’t mean to…”
I really couldn’t deal with this right now. Fuck. Was he trying to make me cry again? “Please let go of me.” My voice came out quiet, and even I could hear the hurt in it.
He dropped my elbow immediately and stepped back with his hands raised. “My apologies. I didn’t intend to make you uncomfortable.”
The problem was that he made me feel the opposite. He made me want to lean into him and ask him to hold me. I wanted his arms around me almost as badly as I needed air. He made me feel so many damn things.
And I couldn’t. I couldn’t allow him to pull me in again, only to break my heart later. I couldn’t take that kind of rejection twice in my life. I’d break. I was already so close to breaking that all it would take was one little tap, and I’d come shattering down.
Not to mention he had a boyfriend, or whatever that guy was to him. I wasn’t about to get in the middle of that. I would never do that to anyone.
When I took too long to reply, he asked again, “Can we please talk?”
“There’s nothin’ to talk about.” I pushed past him, ignoring the way my body felt when it brushed against his, and I made my way back up to the roof where I could use all the people there as a shield.
And if I had to double down on my glamor to hide a few more stray tears, well, no one needed to know.
For the next few hours, Anton kept his distance, sticking close to his boyfriend and the other vampires he’d brought with him. Since I’d missed the initial introductions while I was fixing my face, I didn’t know who they were or any of their names. And I hadn’t asked anyone because I didn’t want them to think I was interested in anything that had to do with Anton.
I wasn’t.
Not even a little bit.
My gaze moved over to the young man sitting close to the old vampire for the millionth time tonight, and I felt my lips lift in the beginning of a sneer. As soon as I realized, I tamped it down and looked away.
Mother of All, what was wrong with me?
I didn’t care what Anton did.
I didn’t.
I couldn’t .
Maybe if I said it enough, I’d start to believe it.
For fuck’s sake.
When my gaze moved over to him again, I noticed the young man missing. Where the hell did he go so quickly? That made me sit up straight and move my gaze across the rooftop, but I didn’t see him anywhere.
“Is this seat taken?” a deep voice that sounded sort of playful asked from behind me.
I glanced over my shoulder to find the young man standing there. And since I had no idea how to get out of it without sounding like an asshole, I shook my head and scooted over on the couch so he could sit.
The man was graceful. Like… super graceful.
Like… vampire graceful.
I examined him as he sat, and something in the way he sat up straight still pegged him as a vampire. So… he wasn’t the young human or witch I’d thought he was. He looked hella young, but that didn’t mean anything when it came to vamps. He’d been young when he was turned, but he could be a year old—in vampire years—or five hundred for all I knew.
The only way to find out was to ask. And I sure as shit wasn’t about to.
He was quiet for a minute or two before he fully turned to me and asked in a casual voice, “Sooo… what exactly do you have against my dad?”
I blinked at him, his words not making sense. “What? Who?”
He huffed. “My dad, my father, my pops, my whatever-you-want-to-call-it. What do you have against him?”
“I don’t have anything against your father… I don’t even know who your father is.” I felt like I was missing some vital information. But then I blinked and turned my gaze to Anton. Surely, he didn’t mean him, right?
When I turned back, the man nodded. “Yeah, him. Anton.”
“Anton is your father?” I was so confused.
He gave me a look that clearly stated you’re a fuckin’ moron . “Yes. He’s my sire, my fang-daddy.”
Fang-daddy? What the… Holy shit, he wasn’t his boyfriend. He was his child? His fledgling, I supposed.
“What do you have against him, and why does he keep looking at you with these super sad puppy dog eyes? Like, I thought we were coming here to meet all his friends and his new family, but then he’s acting all sad and lonely, and you’re being super fucking fidgety right now.”
I stopped fidgeting and stuffed my hands between my knees, squeezing them tight so I wouldn’t start fretting again. “You should probably ask him.” I reached for my cup to give my hands something to do.
“I did. He won’t tell me anything, but clearly, there’s something… did you guys fuck?”
I choked on my drink, coughing. “Excuse me?”
“Did you date? Is that it?”
I shook my head. “No.”
His eyes narrowed. “No, but I was close, wasn’t I? Did you go on one date?”
I felt my body twitch at that.
“Ah-ha!” He pointed at me. “I knew it. You’re pining after each other. Aw, how cute. You should just go ask him out.”
I snorted. “Never gonna happen.”
“Why?”
“Because.”
“That’s not a real answer. Why? What happened on your date?”
I blew out a frustrated breath, wishing this complete stranger whose name I didn’t even know would go away and leave me alone. “You’d have to ask him… I’m not even sure it was a date, so…” I trailed off with a shrug.
His eyes narrowed again, then he huffed in annoyance. “You’re both being so cagey about it. Come on, youngling, you can tell your good ol’ Uncle Jed.”
I lifted a brow at him, slowly so he could see the dramatics. “Who the hell are you calling youngling?”
He grinned. “You, obviously, sweetheart.”
“I’ve been raising four kids for the last seven years. I’m far from a youngling.”
“Fair enough.”
I… didn’t know what to say to that. I’d expected him to argue the point. Huh.
“Come on, tell your Uncle Jed all about it.”
“If you’re trying to use allure magic on me, it’s not gonna work. I have a rune for that.”
He laughed loudly. “I don’t compel family members, and my Pa over there says everyone here, including you, is family. So I suppose that makes us family now. Which means you can tell me anything, and I’ll take it to the grave.”
“No, thank you.”
He sighed. “How disappointing. I guess I’ll just have to aggravate Daddio until he caves.” He leaned in and winked at me conspiratorially. “I’m quite good at bugging him till he gives me what I want. It’s my special power.”
I couldn’t help but snort at that, and the man gave me a genuine smile in return.
“Ah, so you can laugh. You have a beautiful smile. I can see why he’s been staring at you all night.”
“He has not.”
He snorted this time. “Whenever you’re not staring at him, he’s staring at you, and vice versa. You two are ridiculous. I can practically feel the pining. I’m telling you, if you ask him out, he’ll say yes.”
“Not gonna happen. Sorry to disappoint you, Uncle Jed.”
He laughed loudly at that and patted my thigh. “You’re funny. I like you.”
“Uh, thanks. I guess.”
Before he could respond, I saw Zellya walking over to me. She looked really tired—it was way past her bedtime—so I opened my arms, and she fell into my hug. She was still small enough for me to pull her into my lap, so I did, asking, “You okay, peanut?”
She nodded. “Just tired.”
I kissed her hair. “Alright. We’ll get ready to go in a few minutes, okay?”
She nodded against me again and burrowed further down, which meant she’d be asleep in no time, and I’d be carrying her all the way to the car.
Jed patted my shoulder as he stood. “Thanks for the chat, Keryth. It was nice meeting you.”
“You too, Uncle Jed.” I’d be calling him that forever now, just because it was funny.
He laughed as he waved and walked away.
That had been one of the strangest conversations I’d ever had.
As soon as he was gone, Oakley, my friend and the dragon king’s only child, dropped into the seat beside me, saying, “That guy’s so hot.” Oakley and I lived very different lives, but we’d hit it off as soon as we’d met. It was nice having at least one friend around my age.
I snorted as I rocked Zellya, who was half-asleep already. My gaze automatically went over to Jed, and yeah, objectively, he was hot. But no one was as hot as Anton. My eyes darted over to the old vampire, and I swallowed thickly.
Yeah. He was sexy as sin.
Oakley laughed beside me and swatted my leg. “Well, I see where your loyalties lie.”
I rolled my eyes. “Shut up.”
“Nope.” They popped the P and chuckled.
It made me smile, but I sighed. “I should probably get her home.” Normally, I might’ve laid her down in one of Tan’s guest rooms so I could stay longer, but I was emotionally drained and just wanted to go home.
Oakley seemed to understand this because they reached for Zellya. “Let me take her so you can round up the rest of the girls and Tray. I’ll carry her out when you’re ready. I’d offer to get the girls, but you know Tan’s gonna make you take home a bunch of food, so you need to oversee that before you wind up with ten thousand containers.”
That was true—Tan always made a shit-ton of food for get-togethers, and he loved being able to send food home with us and tended to overdo it—so I passed Zell over.
She wasn’t fully asleep yet, but she didn’t hesitate to cuddle right into Oakley’s chest—being a dragon shifter, they were probably really warm. They were around us enough that my kids were comfortable with them. Plus, they were becoming family. I didn’t trust many people with my kids, but Oakley was one of the good ones.
“Hey, Zell. Did I tell you how much I love your earrings yet?” they asked her, hugging her tight.
“No.” She yawned and burrowed into them the way she’d done to me. “Got ‘em yesterday.”
She’d still wanted to get them pierced after a week’s consideration, so I’d taken her last night. It had gone better than expected, and she was very proud of her earrings. Hopefully that would help with the whole I have knife ears debacle. She hadn’t brought it up again, and she’d gone to school without issue all week, so I was pretty sure we were past it already. Fingers crossed.
I said, “Thanks, Oak.”
“Anytime. You know I like a good cuddle.”
That made me smile, although it was a little sad because I thought the main reason they liked cuddling so much was because they’d been starved for attention growing up—thanks to their mother taking them away from Garrick as a baby. But I couldn’t begrudge them a good Zellya cuddle. She was good at it, and there was nothing else like hugging a little kiddo.
I gave them a pat on the shoulder, then went to find the rest of my kids, trying my best to pretend I didn’t notice Anton’s eyes on me as I walked around.