A bark of laughter escaped before I could choke it down. The sound seemed to calm Ko enough to finally sheath his blade.
“No takers, Z.”
31. Force of Nature
King Lucian
The leather seat creaked beneath me as I adjusted my silver cufflinks for the third time in ten minutes. Through heavily tinted and bulletproof glass, I watched the world roll by, noting the beauty April had brought to western New York.
“You’re doing it again,” Sebastian murmured.
I turned my eyes to the security monitors embedded in the SUV’s dash, watching our entourage glide like black beetles ahead and behind us.
“Doing what?”
“That thing where you pretend not to care while mentally drafting contingency plans for twelve different social catastrophes.” His chuckle was velvet-lined, an heir’s confidence worn as easily as his tailored shirts. “Stop fretting, Dad. She’s just a woman.”
“Justa woman,” I repeated, thumb grazing the silver signet ring stamped with our house’s coiled serpent crest. “She’s the woman who has thoroughly captivated your brothers’ hearts. It’s a rare thing to find a beloved. Rarer still for three dhampirs, even half-brothers, to share one.”
“You say that like it’s sorcery rather than biology,” he scoffed. “A wolf-shifter mate bond layered with the beloved bond? That’s not bewitchment. That’s moon-damned atomic fusion.”
“The feelings may come swiftly, but they are genuine. Not forced or fabricated. And the way your brothers spoke of her? Even Koa, who would sooner tear out his own fangs than exchange pleasantries with me, waxed poetic about her kindness, her gentle strength.”
When had my sons last trusted me to guard anything precious to them? The memory of their taut voices—“Keep her safe. Just until we deal with Claudio”—needled beneath my ribs.
“Third time you’ve checked your watch since we crossed the county line,” Sebastian remarked. “She won’t evaporate if we’re twelve minutes late.”
“Unseemly to keep her waiting.”
“My mistake,” he snorted as we turned onto Evermere’s serpentine driveway, his tattooed knuckles flexing on the steering wheel. “I predict she’ll hide in her room the entire time.”
My dhampir sons’ disdain for me had no doubt colored their beloved’s perception. I could hardly blame her if Serafina greeted us with icy reservation.
The manor emerged through ancient oaks, and my knee betrayed me with a minute bounce.
“Relax. After Ko’s brooding, Casi’s micromanagement, and Zane’s pyromania, our visit will be a pleasant diversion. And remember, she prefers to be called Seri.”
“Seri,” I repeated, testing the nickname on my tongue.
And a new dilemma presented itself, one that had my mind spinning with protocol and etiquette. Should I address her as Serafina upon our first meeting and wait to be invited to use the more casual moniker? Or simply greet her as Seri from the start?
Noctem maledicta!Ridiculous, to be so thrown by something so trivial! I, who had navigated the treacherous waters of vampire politics for decades, was overthinking how to address my sons’ beloved!
Sebastian, damn him, laughed outright at my consternation.
“You’re enjoying this far too much.” I shot him a withering look.
“Sorry, it’s just so rare that I get to see you so flustered.” Sebastian parked and killed the engine. “Dad. However this goes, you showed up. That’s the part that matters.”
In the twilight, guards materialized from our flanking vehicles, their tactical boots silent against cobblestones. I stepped into air scented with apple blossoms and gun oil and took note of every surveillance camera my sons had installed.
A woman in a tidy black uniform greeted us at the door, wringing her hands.
“Your Majesty. Your Highness. Mrs. Cimmerian’s resting before dinner. Prince Koa left instructions regarding disturbances.”
Sebastian muffled a laugh against his fist.
“Let me guess. Something involving entrails and the rose garden?” I murmured dryly.
