Page 12 of Transfiguration

He tucked his phone back in his pocket. “Okay. How about a break? Con is on his way back. I’ll take my annoying self and Luca home for a bit and we can reconvene tomorrow? You’re tired. Con is going to be tired. But it’s his brain that works best on all of this.”

Sam could be reasonable, but would Seiran listen at all?

“What aren’t you telling me?” Seiran asked.

“Not fair, Ronnie.” And why was everyone asking that? “I don’t think it’s just you not in the loop. We, meaning Luca and me, had a meeting with Hart earlier. He’s worried. Lots of vampire causalities, riots for Human First activists, and all that bullshit. The other Pillars seem to be MIA.”

Seiran blanched.

“Yeah, like that. Those months right after the vampire war, where everything was in lockdown? Going out after dark could get you shot? Tresler’s unbound vamps destroying everything? That chaos is rising, only it’s not vampires this time.”

“How is that possible?” Seiran asked. “The vampires turned revenant because the remaining master vampires couldn’t rebind them all. Humans aren’t bound that way, neither are witches. Why now?”

“I must have missed all that?” Gabe asked.

“The first part of it, you were Tresler’s puppet,” Seiran said. “Then you were in the ground. It took over six months to bind or destroy the vampires who remained from Tresler’s corrupted blood in the QuickLife. Some were so far gone with madness there was no way to save them.”

“Hated unaliving my own,” Sam said. “But it’s not a rare occurrence. Becoming a vampire doesn’t make anyone less of an asshole. I am living proof of that.”

Seiran turned back to the board. “Are the recent cases tied to this? The stuff Hart showed you?”

“No idea. Again, muscle.” He would not back down, would he? Was that what Gabe had been trying to tell Sam? That Seiran was unraveling, too? That was the worst news he could imagine.

The click of a door made them all go silent, and there were footsteps on the stairs. Gabe put his back to the door, keeping it from opening inward.

“What do you need, baby?” Seiran called.

“Daddy, can you make some cake?” Kaine called from the other side of the door. “Uncle Luca wants some and was describing it and now I want some, and maybe a hug?” the last part whispered, but Seiran reacted instantly, stalking past Gabe and out the door to gather Kaine up in his arms.

Gabe said nothing, acting as a barrier between Kaine and the room, but Sam followed Seiran out. If any of them could get Seiran to take a break, it was his kids. Kaine was a slip of a thing, as long as he was in his kid form. He wasn’t a kid at all, as he was a creature of magic, and mostly fae, but in this world he reflected the expectation of youth, which meant big dark eyes, a wash of bright cinnamon-colored hair, and a presence that made Sam’s jaw ache. Did Seiran feel it and ignore it? Or had he tuned it out after all these years? Maybe it was unique to annoying vampires? Sam glanced at Gabe, who turned off the light and shut the door to the strange murder wall room.

Seiran lifted Kaine as if he were little more than a toddler and headed up the stairs with him, holding him tight, and asking about cake flavors.

“Kid is a master manipulator,” Gabe said. “And he’s only ten.”

“In human years,” Sam pointed out and headed for the stairs, intent on retrieving his man and heading home to wait for their third. “Maybe you can distract the witch?”

“I’ve tried.”

“Your sex appeal waning, old man?” Sam asked with a smile. “Could have Luca give you some tips? But don’t touch. Luca is mine.”

“His overthinking is an obsession. Distraction only lasts so long. Even the kids.”

“Sounds like you should work on that,” Sam said as he got to the top of the stairs and found everyone in the kitchen. His gaze met Luca’s and there was something on his face and the tightness of his smile that showed he had likely sent Kaine down. Smart man. Not just pretty. Sam approved. He headed to Luca, reaching for his hand. Luca gave the kids a little wave.

“Call me when the cake is done. I’ll come back and get some.”

“Will do,” Jamie said from his place at the counter where he was gathering baking supplies. The entire family seemed intent on distracting Seiran. Good plan. Could they get him to sleep more than a handful of hours?

Sam raised a brow at Kelly, who just lifted his phone in reply. The text pinged through a second later.We’re working on it.

Good. They could calm the witch. Sam had a lover to question. And he needed Con home, too. Once in the car, Sam behind the wheel, even if he hated driving, said, “Spill.”

Luca groaned. “If only it was the other sort of spill you meant.”

“Later, porn star. What’s up?”

“Con found a kid? Sounds like she’s got power? Hart’s having him picked up from the airport and going straight to his office.”