“It’s late,” Boarstaff said gently. “You need rest.”
“Can’t he stay?” She looking between them. “Just until I fall asleep?”
Sebastian felt the crowd’s mood shift instantly; tension spiking, weapons grips tightening. The request was impossible. He’d already violated boundaries by entering the settlement. To be invited into a dwelling, to remain with a child… unthinkable.
“I can’t,” he said before Boarstaff could answer. “But I’ll hear you if you call again.”
The promise emerged unbidden, another boundary crossed. But the relief in her eyes made it impossible to regret.
“Promise?” she asked.
“Promise.” The word felt binding.
Reluctantly, she allowed herself to be transferred to the woman’s arms. “Goodnight, Sebastian,” she mumbled, already half-asleep despite her protests.
“Goodnight, Sarah,” he replied.
The woman hurried away, clutching Sarah protectively. Only when they had disappeared into the dwelling did Boarstaff turn to the watching crowd.
“Return to your homes,” he commanded. “Council members will meet shortly.”
Slowly, reluctantly, the villagers dispersed. Warriors remained at a distance, watching Sebastian with wary vigilance. Only when the area had mostly cleared did Boarstaff speak again, his voice low.
“You know this complicates things.”
Sebastian nodded. He’d broken rules, crossed lines. There would be consequences.
“The eastern forest boundary,” Boarstaff said. “Where the old oak stands near the stream. Wait for me there.”
It wasn’t a request. Sebastian understood what wasn’t being said - leave now, voluntarily, before the council demanded his removal by force. Return to the permitted territories near his cave dwelling in the eastern cliffs, but remain close enough for Boarstaff to find him easily.
“I’ll be there,” he agreed, rising to his feet.
As he walked away from the dying fire, the hunger gnawed at him with renewed intensity. Two days since his last feeding. His control was slipping. The brass that once regulated his feeding cycles continued to evolve, but without his father’s mechanical precision, hunger was becoming dangerously unpredictable.
The hunger would have to wait, but not for long. Boarstaff would understand that. He always did.
The brass beneath Sebastian’s skin cooled as he passed the settlement boundary, returning to the wilderness that was now his domain. Behind him, the small dwelling where Sarah slept remained fixed in his awareness, a point of connection he hadn’t sought but couldn’t deny.
Chapter Two
"He can't just enter the village whenever he pleases!" Thornmaker's fist crashed against the council table, sending ripples through cups of steaming tea. "The Heartwood Clan has survived for generations by maintaining clear boundaries. What if it hadn't been the child? What if he'd decided he was hungry?"
Boarstaff's shoulders ached with tension. Emergency council meetings were never pleasant, especially ones called in the middle of the night. Tension thickened the chamber air, making each breath an effort. Thornmaker's face was flushed with anger, the ritual scars along his jaw standing out white against reddened skin, scars he'd earned fighting Sebastian's kind.
The other council members watched with varying expressions… Moonsinger's quiet concern, Rockbreaker's careful neutrality, Ochrehand's thoughtful assessment. Most had been roused from sleep just like Boarstaff, still wearing night clothes beneath hastily donned robes, but none looked as tired as he felt.
Exhaustion pulled at him, but beneath it lurked something more troubling, the memory of Sebastian cradling Sarah, the unexpected gentleness from someone designed to be anything but gentle.
"The child called for him." Boarstaff kept his voice measured. "He responded."
"And we're supposed to trust that's all it was?" Thornmaker demanded. "A vampire running unchecked through our homes in the middle of the night?"
"He wasn't 'running unchecked,'" Boarstaff corrected. "He went directly to Sarah, took her to the fire pit where everyone could see them, and stayed there until I arrived."
"After crossing every boundary we established," Thornmaker leaned forward, with his fists on the council table. "Boundaries he agreed to when we permitted him to stay here with us in Heartwood Clan."
Rockbreaker cleared his throat, drawing attention from the argument. Unlike Thornmaker, his scars were less visible, carried inside from the loss of his family to vampire raids decades ago. Yet lately, Boarstaff had noticed a shift in the older warrior, a cautious reassessment of Sebastian.
