I put my hand comfortingly on Benji’s shoulder. “Do you think you’ll be okay with that?”
Benji shrugged, but leaned further into me. “I don’t know. I mean, I guess Ihaveto be, for my baby’s sake.” His eyes flashed with determination. “I’m not about to let my child go hungry just because of my ideals.”
I smiled patiently. “You’re a good parent, Benji.”
“Thanks.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Er, and that’s not all.”
“Tell me, my love.”
His blush deepened, and he looked so adorable that if Theo wasn’t there, I would have scooped him up and whisked him away to our bedroom.
“I talked to Caleb and he really wants to visit,” Benji admitted, looking sheepish. “I know you said we can’t because of… Well, you know.”
The look of pre-disappointment on Benji’s face was almost too much for me to handle. I despised seeing him upset in any way, and I knew this was an important issue for him. The thought of never being able to see Adriel or Theo again was hurtful to me, so I could barely imagine the pain Benji must be in to be separated from his only living blood family.
“Hm,” I began, lifting my hand to my chin in thought. “Perhaps we can make it happen.”
“Really?” Theo and Benji asked at the same time.
I nodded. “It would be unfair of us to assume that all humans are the same in their reactions to thesupernatural,for lack of a better term. After all, Benji took to the situation quite well, don’t you think?”
“I guess I did,” Benji admitted. “Especially since I was the one making fun of my brother for reading vampire romance novels.”
Theo laughed at him. “And now it’s like youarein a vampire romance novel.”
Benji rolled his eyes, but they glittered with excitement. “So you’re saying Caleb can visit?”
“We can arrange something, yes,” I told him. His face lit up and he threw himself at me in a bear hug. “Careful, there.”
He pulled away. “You’re the best, Pierce. I - “
Our brief moment of joy was cut short as a resoundingslapstunned us into silence. Theo and I whipped in the direction of the sound, which originated down the hall. A tense moment later, Adriel stepped out of the shadows, head hung uncharacteristically low.
“Adriel?” Theo cried. He ran up to his brother and gasped. “What happened?”
A dark grey palm-shaped mark throbbed on the side of Adriel’s face. Horror seeped through me.
“Adriel,” I cried. “Did Margaret strike you?”
Theo watched his brother with wide eyes, hoping it wasn’t true.
“Yes,” Adriel said. He lifted his hand and placed it over the mark to hide it from view. “I suppose there’s no denying it, now that everyone has seen and heard.”
“Why?” Theo asked, unable to contain how upset he was.
“She didn’t want my help. She wanted to be alone,” Adriel said. “Apparently, words were not enough to express her distaste for my presence there.”
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“You don’t deserve that!” Benji cried.
Adriel glanced at him, surprised at his outburst.
“Sorry,” Benji said. He lowered his voice. “I know it’s probably not my place, since I don’t know her like you all do, but… If she’s gonna keep acting this way, I don’t know if I would trust her around the baby.”
As much as I hated to admit it, Benji brought up something that had been worrying me for a while. We all knew she was coming unhinged, but hitting her own son? It was inexcusable.
“Excuse me,” Adriel murmured. “I’d like to be alone now.”
