“It’s dinner time!” Alivia says, raising her voice. With a smile, she holds her hand out toward the formal dining room.
Side by side, we walk in. She sits at the head of the table. Ian sits beside her, and I take the seat on her other side.
Ian keeps watching me. His eyes bore into me, as if he can read what kind of a person I am off my skin.
I only offer him a polite look every now and then.
Christian immediately follows us, Stephanie and Nikki aren’t far behind, with more whispers and amazed looks in my direction. Nial sits at the other end of the table, shooting the women annoyed glares that yell get a grip.
Three more women wander in, all of them fierce looking. Rath joins a moment later. And that sets everyone into words of surprise and welcome home.
And then Elle comes around the corner, and walking next to her, is a young girl.
My heart flutters.
She’s young. So, so young.
Ten years old.
But here she is, human as her mother at the moment. She walks with confidence, and it’s obvious she knows what all of us are. But she’s not afraid. She looks absolutely comfortable and at ease.
Her hair is blonde, but as the light hits it, I swear I see the faintest trace of strawberry in it. Her nose is tilted up just a tad, her cheeks are just beginning to lose the roundness of baby padding.
She looks a lot like her mother.
She’s precious.
I scoot my chair out and turn to her, rising to my feet.
“Aster, this is Logan,” Elle says. “She’s aunt Liv’s daughter.”
Aster gives me a shy smile, looking me up and down. “You look just like aunt Livy.”
I smile. “That’s what everyone says.”
“My friend Annika was adopted,” she says. “But she got to see her first mom lots. It would have been nice if you could have done that, too. I always wanted cousins.”
Both Elle and Alivia make noises, to stop her, or just noises of surprise.
“You know, that would have been nice,” I say with a smile. I reach out and she takes my hand. “I had cousins on my adopted dad’s side, but they lived really far away in Virginia so we only got to see each other every other year or so. But I think it would have been nice to spend time with you, too.”
Aster smiles. And my heart cracks.
She’s so sweet. Just like her mom.
“I heard my other cousin is sleeping,” she says. “When will he wake up so I can meet him, too?”
A little chuckle bubbles up from my chest, and I smile, my entire soul warming. “I’ve never done something like this before, but I’ve been told he’ll be awake in about twelve hours. I’m sure he’ll be excited to meet you.”
Aster Dawes smiles, big. Showing off two missing teeth.
I smile and look up at Elle.
And just then, I think my heart grows three sizes.
Elle guides her to a seat, and everyone sits as the cook and another woman bring dishes to the table. The room fills with the scent of food, and my mouth waters.
“I’ll admit,” I say as I begin dishing up food, after Christian starts us off. “I’ve heard talk about the House of Conrath from Cyrus, Rath, the House of Valdez. It’s smaller than I expected.”
“This is only a third of us,” Alivia says. “Eight are in Florida at the moment, dealing with a few small issues. And the others are in the region, keeping things in check. In all, there are twenty-six in the House of Conrath.”
I look around the table. Christian, Nial, Smith, Stephanie, and Nikki.
“Oh,” Alivia says. “Right, you haven’t met quite everyone. Logan, this is Pearl,” she says pointing to a woman with dyed silver hair. She gives me this little two-fingered salute. “And Leigh. She’s our acting attorney.”
Leigh is curvy and dark and beautiful. She offers a little smile.
“And Anna,” Alivia says, nodding toward the woman sitting beside Nial. Dark brown hair and pouty lips make her beautiful. “She’s my head of security.”
Anna doesn’t give me more notice than one little look in my direction.
“And everyone, you already know, but this is Logan,” Alivia says awkwardly.
“Also known as Queen of all vampires,” Leigh says. But her tone is impressed, in a go girl kind of way. She winks at me.
I sigh. I really don’t know how to deal with all this attention.
“Pretty impressive,” Anna says as she dishes her food. “The fact that Alivia hid that you exist from all of us for sixteen years.”
“They didn’t…” I trail off, looking toward Alivia.
She shakes her head. “No one knew,” she says. “Except for Rath and Ian.”
I nod. I’m not sure how to process that.
“Food,” a voice suddenly says from outside the dining room. It echoes around the foyer, throughout the house, and I actually jump. “I smell food.”
A boy wanders into the dining room. He looks young, slightly younger than myself. Sandy blond hair. His eyes are slightly bloodshot.
He walks in wearing nothing at all except a pair of boxers.
“Cameron!” Alivia says in part horror, part humor. “I think you’re forgetting something.”
He looks around, as if confused. And then with an expression of cleverness, like he’s just figured it out, he grabs the last plate from the table. He nods his head in her direction and winks.
He’s high. No doubt about it, he’s high.
I can smell the pot on him.
I take every bit of this in in just a second.
But none of it matters. Because my eyes lock on his bare chest.
The word TRAITOR was carved into his skin at some point. It’s now healed into red and white scars, but there the words are, big and bold and roughly hewn into his very skin.
Just below that, there’s the Conrath crest, burned into his skin. Just like Alivia’s.
This Cameron was tortured.
“Tell me where he is,” Cyrus seethed. He held the glowing metal blade just to the side of the man’s face. I could smell his skin begin to smolder, the hairs on his face burning. He hissed in pain, his face contorting with it.
“I told you, as far as I know he was killed twenty years ago,” the man pleaded. He struggled against the guard, fighting to get away from the branding that was coming that would permanently mark his face.
“Oh, but he apparently was not,” Cyrus hissed next to his ear. “For three of my men were found down by the lake, decapitated, their scalps removed. No other kills one of us in that manner. So tell me, where is he?”
“I told you, he’s dead!” the man screamed.
Cyrus gave a bellow and pressed the glowing blade to the side of his face. I winced as I looked away.
I hated this. Every second of it. The levels Cyrus would resort to…
But I could not stop it.
Not when it was over something this important.
But the man’s screams…
“Just because he is dead does not mean it wasn’t one of the others!” the man sobbed. “There were three of them that you did not kill. I told you, this one is dead, but there are still two others it could be.”
“No,” Cyrus growled. “There aren’t. For the other two reside in the depths of these walls.”
The man’s eyes slowly rose up. “Are you sure about that?”
The uncertainty crept into Cyrus’ eyes.
Before they filled with anger and disgust.
He sliced up the man’s middle, and all of his internal organs spilled onto the stone floor.
Chapter 14
As dinner winds down and House members drift off, Alivia touches my shoulder and inclines her head toward the door. My heart rate immediately skyrockets into my throat, my palms sweat, and I start an internal lecture about not making an ass out of myself again.
I follow Alivia out the door and slowly we start walking over the grounds.
“I hope they all weren’t too overbearing,” Alivia says with a little smile.
I smile too, shaking my head. “They were just fine. I really like Elle, and Leigh. Even Christian, I think.”
She laughs at that.
“But, I don’t know that Ian is ever going to like me much,” I add, sobering my tone.