“Of course I have a point. This birthing will soon become common knowledge. In the off chance one of our kin decides to kill my young before it can grow to potentially decimate you all, I am choosingyouto protect and guide him.” Orion cleared his throat. “I’d like you to be his bloode-guide.”
Kraft didn’t know what to say. Such an honor was usually bestowed on an elder in the clan, someone with power, history, and known loyalty to the siring vampire. Emotion filled him, an odd sense of joy that he usually only experienced when victorious in battle. But this happiness was not the result of another’s discomfort.
He tried to understand the strange sensation.
“Well?” Orion growled.
“Well what?”
“Do you accept or not, fuckhead?”
“Such flattery.” Kraft dodged a blow to the head. “You’d better stop hitting me, or your child will have a daft vampire for a guide.” He held out an arm. “It’s an honor, even if you are a vryko.”
“Even if you are a wolf at heart,” Orion said back, obviously elated. “Oh, and so you know. I don’t care if my child is male or female. I’m not sending her away with her mother. Ever. So if my child is female, you’ll be guiding a young girl.”
“Seriously?” Kraft goggled at the large male. “I don’t understand our clan. Our patriarch is keeping his elf. The revenant has no plans to let his human go. And you’re stuck on a water nymph—witch.” He studied his friend. “It’s not just great sex, is it?”
“No, it’s so much more.” Orion put a hand on his shoulder. “It doesn’t make much sense. It’s something I’ve never felt before. My mate brings me such peace. She makes it easy to want to keep her forever. I love her.”
“Love?” Not Orion too. “Hell, I thought you would be better than the others.”
Orion sighed. “I know. I sound weak. But you’ll see. Love makes you capable of anything. I killed a demon god for love. Remember that.”
“True.” Kraft had to hand him that one. “Speaking of demons and all things annoying, we’re going to have a visitor soon.”
“Oh?”
They walked back to their vehicles, parked some distance away. “Mormo has me looking for this artifact that will supposedly lead to a Bloode Stone.”
“You found the lycan then.” Orion nodded. “I knew you’d get him before Khent and Rolf did.”
“Well, I found him, yes, but he doesn’t have the artifact. However, one of his people is going to help me track it down.” Kraft thought of the berserker and smiled. “I get the sense she doesn’t like me much.”
“Oh, this should be fun.”
“I know, right?” Kraft paused when he got to his car. “She’s a berserker.”
“I’ve fought a few of them over the years. How powerful is she?”
“I don’t know. Pretty strong.” She’d nearly escaped him a time or two when he’d been restraining her. “I don’t get the sense she’s that old. I could be wrong. But in any case, she’s ragey.”
“Just your type, eh?” Orion snorted. “How’d she taste?”
“I don’t know.” Kraft added a grin. “Yet.”
“Just make sure we get the artifact before you drain her, or Mormo will throw a fit.”
“Ja.He’s no fun.” Excited now to get home and prepare for their visitor, Kraft opened the car door. “Race you back.”
“You’re on.”
Kraft arrived home first,and after parking in their massive garage, he headed inside the magical house in Mercer Island, walking through a hallway lined with artwork inspired by the gods. Paintings of long forgotten battles, majestic figures atop winged beasts, and deadly landscapes captivating for their foreign beauty—all likely windows into worlds he never stared too hard into. Everything had been supplied by the goddess who owned the house...and him.
He still had no idea what his patriarch had done to owe a goddess a bloode-debt, but Hecate had had no problem calling in her marker. Kraft belonged to her, and by extension, to Mormo, her servant.
The white-haired bastard waited for him in the dining area, staring out through the glass French doors at the back lawn and Lake Washington just beyond. The moonlight sputtered as clouds contained it, leaving the water as black as night, the slap of waves a testament to the rough winter winds.
Orion stormed in behind him. “You cheated!”
