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He tried again to explain. “It is not…permanent. From what I know of her disease, that damage to her brain is not reversible. It is not a thing I or my demon can stop. But whatever parts of her memories are still there, that are buried, my demon can help her access them a little better. There is clearly a part of her that still remembers you, even if she cannot access it most of the time.”

Roman waited with bated breath as Danny studied him for a long moment without speaking. Then his mate’s hands gentled their grip on Roman’s shoulders. Danny still looked stunned, but the anger had gone.

“I told myself it was okay if she never recognized me again. But if—if she did, I would savor every moment, knowing this time could be the last time. And now I can. Thank you.” His mate’s breath hitched, and he leaned his head against Roman’s chest, letting his weight fall into him, as they waited for his mother to get ready for the day.

“Thank you,” Danny whispered again.

Roman pressed a kiss to the top of his mate’s head. “Anything for you.”

Once Gladys emerged from her room, freshly showered and clothed for the day, the attendant led them to the back of the facility and onto the grounds, which were large and grassy, with a walking path that wound around the edges.

She left them to take a walk together. It was clear as they walked that, while Gladys could now remember who her son was, she was not aware of what time they were in.

She seemed to think Danny was still in high school, asking frequent questions about his classes and people Roman assumed were Danny’s friends from that time.

Roman worried for a moment that she would question his own presence there, given that anyone would be hard-pressed to believe him a teenager, but from her offhand comments, she seemed to assume he was a coworker of Danny’s from the movie theater where he worked in his teenage years.

His mate didn’t seem to mind the altered timeline though. Roman was walking a few steps to the side of Danny and his mother, who had their arms linked together, but he watched his mate closely, soaking in the joy in his face at having this woman be his mother again.

And Roman could see the love that had been there, before the dementia had clouded things. Gladys clearly loved her son just as fiercely as he loved her.

As she should. Her son was perfect.

Perfect mate , his demon agreed. It was feeling very smug about its role in bringing Danny such happiness.

Had there been love like that in Roman’s family?

He knew there must have been, based on the pain he still felt at losing his family, but he could barely picture any specific memories now.

It was all fogged by time and overshadowed by what had become of him.

Of them. There were only hints. His mother’s smile. His sister’s laugh.

It was unfair how the happy memories faded, when he could picture the loss of them so perfectly.

Roman had returned just once, after he had been turned. Luc had warned him not to, but he had at the very least wanted to say goodbye to those he loved. He had thought he was dying out on that battlefield, and all he had wanted was one last chance to say goodbye to his mother, to his sisters.

But Roman had been a newly turned vampire, unable to easily control his new instincts. Unable to keep his eyes from going black or his fangs from coming out.

“Demon,” his mother had called him, eyes filled with fear and hatred. “You are not my son. A demon has taken his place.”

They had chased him out. And he had let them. In the end, he had wanted to go. Had not been able to bear to see his family so frightened of him. Of his demon.

He did not think Danny’s mother—at least, as she had been before her illness—would have chased Danny away in the same situation. There was something to be said for modernity, after all. Less superstition and fear, in some ways.

Or maybe Roman’s family simply hadn’t loved him enough to combat their own fear.

He pulled himself out of his bitter recollections and focused again on the pair next to him.

“And where is Gabe today?” he heard Gladys ask.

He watched a shadow pass over Danny’s eyes for the first time since they had stepped outside. “He’s out with friends, Mama.”

“That boy. So popular.” She gave a fond sigh at the thought. “Do you really think he wants to be a doctor? Maybe he should run for office instead.”

Danny gave a little laughing cough. “I think the doctor thing might stick.”

“And do you still want to be a nurse, Danny Boy?”

“Yes, Mama.”

“Good. I think you’ll be so good at it. My tenderhearted boy.” She smiled at her son.

Roman watched as Danny suddenly stopped his mother in her tracks and pulled her into a tight hug. He could see the tears welling in his mate’s eyes, but Danny blinked them away quickly.

“Oh, that’s nice,” Danny’s mother said, leaning into the hug. “I hope you never grow up too much to give me hugs like this.”

“Never, Mama,” Danny replied thickly.

They finished their walk leisurely and then brought Gladys back to her room, where Danny pulled in an extra chair so the three of them could watch TV together.

Eventually Gladys became fatigued enough that even Roman’s compulsion couldn’t keep her present with them, and he and Danny decided wordlessly to leave while things were still good, to not end the day with bad memories.

As they left, the young attendant back at Gladys’s side, Mary called out to them, “I heard she had quite a turnaround.” She smiled brightly at Roman. “You must be a good-luck charm.”

They made it all the way into the car before Danny burst into tears.

Roman pushed his own seat back and pulled the boy out of the passenger seat, over the console, and into his arms. Once he had Danny settled firmly in his lap, he simply let the boy cry, rubbing his back.

His demon grew restless at their mate’s distress, but Roman reassured it, Humans just need to cry sometimes .

When the tears had finally subsided, Roman had to ask, “Was I wrong to do that? I thought it would be a-a kind of gift. But I fear I hurt you.”

“No!” Danny cried, pulling back to look at Roman.

His mate’s eyes were red and swollen, his face puffy from crying, but he was still the loveliest creature Roman had ever seen.

“You didn’t hurt me. It’s just the whole…

situation hurts. Always. It’s been so long since I had my mom really…

there with me. I didn’t think it would ever happen again.

” He gave a sniff. “I can’t believe you did that for me. For us.”

He started pressing fervent kisses to Roman’s face. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”

For the first time, Roman had used his abilities for something…pure. To make someone else happy. He was alarmed by how good it made him feel. Less like the monster stealing the handsome prince away and more like a man with something to actually offer.

After pressing a final kiss to Roman’s nose, Danny tucked his head into Roman’s shoulder, rubbing his face lightly against his shirt.

“There was a time, after my dad died, when Gabe and I were really close.” Danny’s voice was slightly muffled, but Roman could still make out the words.

“I have memories of following him everywhere and him letting me. But by the time he was in high school, he had pushed me away again, and it was just me and my mom. We’d make each other laugh all the time.

She was silly and loving and so smart. She was my best friend, really. ”

Roman could see it clearly after the visit today. The love and closeness between the two. He hugged Danny even closer as his mate continued.

“I went to nursing school here in town so I could stay close. I worried about leaving her all alone—Gabe rarely even came home from school to visit. I figured after I graduated, I’d get to spread my wings, maybe try travel nursing.

She could visit me on my assignments. Then, when I was in nursing school, she started getting forgetful.

Little things at first but then enough that I started getting worried.

And for the first time, we were fighting—she’d get so frustrated and embarrassed when I pointed out her memory issues, and I didn’t know how to get her to take it all seriously.

It took me so long to convince her to go to a doctor, and even after we got the diagnosis, she was in denial.

She made me wait to tell Gabe. And even when we finally did…

” Danny sighed, his hot breath gusting over Roman’s chest. “I guess with residency and everything, he had enough going on. It was like it never really registered for him? He did tell me I should let him know if it got worse. But the thing is it was always getting worse. Slowly but surely. I couldn’t pinpoint what to tell him, so I just… dealt with it.”

Roman’s poor mate. Suffering alone for so long. His brother had a lot to answer for, as far as Roman was concerned.

“And then eventually she got bad enough,” Danny continued.

“She started going out and getting lost, refusing to do basic things like shower. I was working by then, and the doctor told me she needed routine and supervision. More than I could provide. So we decided on Brookstone. I felt so guilty, and then it was so expensive I had to work more to cover the cost, and it felt like all of a sudden she didn’t even remember me anymore when I visited. ”

Danny pulled back to look at Roman, and his heart broke at the despair in his mate’s eyes. “If she had stayed with me. If-if I had quit work and taken care of her instead, would she have remembered me longer?”

Roman reached out and cupped Danny’s face.

“Sweet, lovely boy. You know it does not work in that way. You did what had to be done for her to receive proper care. And you found her a good place. A caring place. I can see that. Her memories of you were bound to be lost no matter how close you stayed. It is the sad truth of her condition. You could not change that.”

Danny’s eyes glistened, but no more tears fell. Perhaps there were none left.

“When Gabe told me he was moving back to do his fellowship here, I thought we’d be brothers again, but he doesn’t even want to see Mom. I don’t think he even really wants to see me . I’ve just been so tired. And so-so alone.”

“You are not alone anymore, my little king.” Roman stroked his mate’s back. “I am here. I will be here. You do not have to do it all alone anymore. I promise.”

Danny collapsed with his head against Roman’s shoulder again, and maybe there were some tears left after all, because Roman could feel his shirt dampening where his mate was pressed against it.

“You’re real, right?” Danny asked. “Tell me this is real. Tell me you’re not going to just disappear into the dark a week from now. Tell me you’re really mine.” His hands were gripping Roman’s shirt so tightly they were edged with white.

“I am yours,” Roman vowed. “Always yours.”

And it was true.

Nothing in this world was going to take his mate from him.