Page 93 of Transfiguration
Sam gaped at her. “Um… does that mean Kaine planned to make Con and me Pillars?”
Kaine didn’t answer, his face buried deep into the groove of Seiran’s shoulder. Seiran shook his head at Sam. They would get those answers later.
“Was this the book you were searching for?” Page asked as he held it up for Con to see.
“Yes.” Con bit his lip, probably to stop from cursing. “Is it a book on summoning?”
“It is,” Page agreed. “Though I can only read parts of it. It appears to be cobbled together by a half dozen witches at the very least. Maybe you can better translate?”
“I can try,” Con said. “I’ll need access to Hart’s personal library. I’m certain he has stuff in there that answers a lot.”
“Luca will be in charge until Max returns,” Page said.
Luca groaned. “Sometimes being the boss’s kid really sucks.”
Seiran approached them with Kaine in his arms. “Can you guys look after Kaine while I clean up outside? Kelly and Jamie won’t be back for a couple of hours. The kids are up at my mom’s place up north. We took them through the veil but will have to drive them back.” He looked up at the tatters of the house. “And find a place to live while rebuilding.”
Bella opened her arms to receive Kaine, wrapping him in a hug, and Con held them both. “We have multiple properties,” Luca said. “Nothing as big as this. But we can find space for everyone.” He frowned and stared at Con. “I’m worried about this hunger thing. Damn, you smell good.” He held up a hand in front of his face. “Other than seeing rainbows and smelling everyone’s blood, I don’t feel much different.”
“Welcome to being a vampire 101,” Sam said. “Step one, blood is a thing. And gross, but still a thing.”
“As long as everything south of the border still works, I’m good,” Luca said.
“How did I know that was what you were going to say?” Seiran asked. Sam held the kids and hugged them tight. Gabe offered to give Luca a few vampire basics, and Bella curled up with Sam and Kaine. She rubbed his back and stayed close. Sam tried not to think too hard about the life she had that helped her find calm in the middle of all the madness that had just taken place. Were they out of danger? Probably not. Both Kaine and Bella had power that others could use. Sam’s guys didn’t call him Superman for no reason. He planned to do whatever he had to and protect the kids. If that meant tracking down every single member of the Kresnik and wiping them off the planet, so be it.
FORTY-TWO
Con watched the earth swallow the bodies at Seiran’s command. More than that, the earth decomposed them fast, breaking it all down to little more than fragments of bone. “Impressive,” Con said.
Seiran’s gaze on him was tired. “Not always the good guy,” he said.
“But you’re a wonderful dad, and that’s okay.”
Seiran flinched.
“He’ll be okay.”
“Kaine or Bryar?”
“Kaine. I’ll look for Bryar. Might have to ask your kid a few things about the veil, but I have a running theory about traveling it.”
“He may not survive,” Seiran said.
“Fae are immortal. One of the very hard to kill types of true immortals,” Con said. “Kaine would have been more vulnerable since he’s half of you. But I understand. We will need to work harder to protect Kaine. I think we all overlook too often how young he really is.”
“Ancient in fae terms,” Seiran said.
“But still a baby in mortal ones.”
“Yes,” Seiran agreed.
“He is a seer but can’t be the only one the Kresnik used since he’s not old enough to have been around when Matthew first stepped into your life,” Con pointed out. “Unless fae can travel time?”
“No. But I’m still uncertain that’s all related.”
“I am,” Con disagreed. “It’s too neat and planned not to be.” They went through the IDs. What they found was alarming. “Some of these are government, some work for the Fellowship, and obviously, since there are stickers on people’s cars out front, some are part of Humans First.”
“Hate spreads easier than love,” Seiran agreed, unsurprised. “The world has hated me for a long time for being a male witch and daring to be the Pillar. It’s why they keep trying to kill me.”