It didn’t sound anything like him but he’d recently had his second baby and maybe that made his voice different. Ni was asleep and didn’t answer me. I stood up and came face to face with a spirit. This one was tall and broad and looked a little too much like Venal, the sire of my twin’s cub, for comfort. Had his crazy mama finally offed him?
“Your brother is about to have his baby. If you don’t want the chair watered, it may be time to wake him up,” the man said.
“Who are you?” I cut to the chase because I didn’t have any patience left for his family.
“I’m not Venal,” he laughed as if they had been confused before. “He is the spitting image of me, though, isn’t he?”
“Fine. Yeah. What do you want?”
“Haven’t you heard of ancestors coming to witness the birth of the next generation? Just because Venal isn’t invested doesn’t mean we aren’t.”
“You have two seconds to explain yourself before I banish your ass to the Pit.”
“Oh, do you want me to visit your wolf friend?”
“He’s not in the Pit,” I shook my head. “How do you even know about Dern?”
“My descendent has gone a little… Let’s say, she’s gone a little batshit, huh?” he shrugged. “I pay attention to what she pays attention to. I’d all but gone to rest when she started her bullshit. Though, I won’t be around to watch much longer. Nowthat I’m awake lingering is difficult. It grows more difficult each day.”
“Wait! Are you my brother’s baby?” I asked, stepping towards him.
“I will be,” he nodded.
“Is that why Sharon wants you?” I asked.
“No, she doesn’t know. She wants whatever it takes to keep Venal tied to her. Some parents never accept that their children grow and have lives of their own. Me being his child is merely a byproduct of her craziness waking me up. No, this isn’t some silly movie where I’m going to be reborn to take her out. I’m sure by the time I’m old enough again to consider such magic that you will have taken care of her one way or another.”
“And how do you feel about that?” I asked.
“You will do what you have to to protect your family,” the spirit nodded and wafted to a seated position on the sofa. “I hold no ill will towards you or her. That’s not the energy I want to carry into my next life.”
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“I’m not telling you. I’m rather fond of the name your brother has chosen.”
“He didn’t tell me that he finally picked one out.”
“Andartan. It’s a variation of an old bear goddess’s name. He’s going to call me Andy for short. He’s already commissioned at least a dozen things with my new name on them.”
Preston stirred in his sleep and the chair received the sort of rain it was never meant to.
“Shit,” Preston murmured and dug his nails into the arms of the recliner as the spirit on the sofa disappeared.
“Dern, don’t touch me for the next three days!” I demanded of the sky before I ran to my brother’s side.
We were in for a long night but at the end of it we’d have a healthy happy new little bear cub to welcome into our family.
Chapter Twenty-One
Beal
Pierce’s Family Estate
Whenever Nic worked from home and didn’t need me for a bit, I went out and practiced my driving. It wasn’t until Raiel pointed out that I needed permission to do that, that I bothered to sneak off and take their little test which I passed with flying colors. So, when it came time to load my pregnant mate up and drive him out to see his witchy friend it was mostly legal for me to do so.
Nic dozed off and on all the way out into the countryside. The estate was big and fancy and looked as if it were built because someone wanted to show the world that they had resources to make things beautiful. We hadn’t called ahead because Nic feared that Crilus would tell him not to come out and decided that it was better to beg forgiveness than ask permission.
I left the car running and him asleep as I got out, walked up the flower-lined path, and knocked on the door. A vampire answered. I vaguely remember hearing about Pierce. His eyes weren’t red and he didn’t smell hungry. He held the tiniest little baby girl to his chest as he looked me up and down.
