With a frown, he returned his focus to Eduard. “Ahh, the Seer. That actually makes sense. An open line of communication to the goddesses. There’s a reason the seers have been so hunted down over the years.”
“No, Father, it’s not the Seer.”
Augustus scoffed. “Tell me it’s not the vampire. Those idiots have nothing on their minds but their blades and blood, and not necessarily in that order.”
Eduard shook his head. “Wrong again.”
His father scowled at him once more then he drew a deep gasping breath. Eduard waited for the explosion, but it didn’t come.
“You, my son?” Augustus asked, his voice barely more than a gasp.
“No, Father. It is Sawyer. He is human.”
Augustus huffed out a nervous laugh. “Impossible.”
“He has been visited by the mother goddess herself. He is the chosen one.”
“Eduard, son, that is not possible. The chosen one cannot be human.”
Eduard had been expecting the denial. He’d wanted to deny it himself. “He is. We read the prophecy wrong. When it saidnothing would stand in their way, it referred to someone who was magically null. Sawyer is that person.”
His father shook his head again.
“I know it is difficult to accept and that is why I chose to speak to you privately before revealing Sawyer to the others. We need your support if we hope to sway them.”
Augustus leaned back in his chair.
Eduard took another deep breath. “There’s more. I have found my mates.”
Augustus frowned and his face began to turn red. Eduard continued before his father had a chance to erupt. “Sawyer is one of them. As are the other guardians. We believe the others will join us in our relationship when they arrive.”
“That’s enough, Eduard! I don’t know what has happened to you since you’ve been gone, but clearly, this boy has put you under some sort of spell. This is nonsense and you know it. The chosen one is not a human and you will not mate with him, nor any of the other riff raff you’ve chosen to bring to my home. I will not stand for this.”
“You don’t have a choice, Father.” Eduard rose and leaned over the desk to meet his father’s angry gaze. “Sawyer is human and the chosen one. He is also my mate. You don’t get to decide if that is acceptable. It is done. We will all be at the welcome home celebration in two days. I expect you to show my mates the courtesy that their status brings them.”
Eduard left the room, refusing to lower himself to slamming the door behind him. He’d known his father would react this way and needed to let him stew in his anger and disbelief for a while. He would come around. He had to. He walked back to the cottage the long way, through the gardens and used the time to center himself. He was on his third circle around the garden, unable to erase the feelings of fear and unease from his mind, when he felt more than saw movement beside him.
“That bad?” Andvari asked quietly as he stepped from behind a tree and joined Eduard on the path.
“No worse than I expected. We both knew it would be a challenge.”
Andvari wrapped his arm over Eduard’s shoulder as they continued walking. “We did know. This may be part of the process, though. It can’t be easy.”
“No, it can’t. I wish I could see the big picture. I am used to gathering the pieces, doing my research, and basing my conclusions on facts. There’s so much we don’t know. I never realized how much of this we all accepted on blind faith.”
“None of us actually thought it would happen in our lifetime. It was a fairytale.”
“And we don’t know exactly what we’re supposed to do,” Eduard said. “How can we plan if we don’t know what we’re planning for or who we’re fighting against?”
Andvari tugged him in close and Eduard wrapped his arm around Andvari’s waist as they walked. “I don’t think you’re going to like this.”
Eduard sighed. “I don’t like any of it.”
“What if we’re not supposed to know what to do? What if we have to wait for Sawyer to figure it out?”
Eduard stumbled to a halt and turned to face his vampire. “Explain.”
Andvari leaned their foreheads together. “We are both planners, love. We try to see around the corner and find out what happens next. You predict changes in the market based on the most subtle of changes and the most delicate information. Sawyer doesn’t think the way we do. He is feeling his way, looking at our world with fresh eyes. What if we’re supposed to allow him to do that, to figure this out by his side?”
