“I miss him too,” she confessed, but a beautiful smile illuminated her face. “Yet, when I do, I just feel happy because that was exactly what he wanted. For us to remember all the amazing moments with him and keep him always in our hearts.”
“That’s true.”
“I love it when little bearblinkslike that,” I almost cried it was so freaking cute. “It reminds me so much of Bjørn. He would be so proud if he saw him.”
Baby Bjørn could only blink into the energy veil right now, but he did it often because the Ether was part of him too. It called him just like it had his father.
“You know…” A tender look captured Isis’s expression. “The babyblinkedthe other day for almost an hour. And when he came back, I asked him why he’d been away for so long. He told me he was playing with Daddy.”
My eyes widened. “He did?”
She nodded, eyes shining. “I think they can see each other in the Ether.”
Since Bjørn left us, I’d learned that Ethereal Faeries didn’t really die. If their essence remained pure during their life, then their energy just returned to the Ether, as Bjørn’s had done.
In a way, he still lived within its power.
“Move it. We have to go!” Alyce yelled at us from inside, already bathed and changed.
“Dear Goddess,” Isis huffed playfully, and we both rushed into back the apartment.
“When I entered my bedroom, I found André talking to Eugen, his assistant. He helped him run the new South American Clan, but I wasn’t sure about his title yet.
Once André accepted the honor from Dariah, we all decided to move to Brazil. I really wanted to see the place where he was born and raised. Also, living right across from the ocean I’d always wanted to see sounded like a dream come true.
Surprisingly, the locals were far more open to the idea of supernaturals than we anticipated. That changed André’s strategy completely, and it allowed us to assimilate easily into their society.
In the year and a half that we had been here, everyone in Rio already knew who we truly were. We also had two blood donation centers open and running for humans to get Vampiri blood to heal, and to donate to us.
Many local supernaturals had come out of hiding too, creating a beautifully mixed city.
As it turns out, there were a lot of Wolf Shifters here, so Hannes got right to work. He welcomed them into the ReinheitWölfe pack, trained them, and endowed them with knighthood—all of them taking their Vows of Knighthood with pride and hope.
Now, Hannes was about to officially found his Knight Force in Rio to protect the humans.
And Dante… Well, Dante was just being his unapologetically cocky self. More now that he was technically a God.
Oh, Shit. Vanessa!
Using my Vampiress speed, I flashed to the bathroom to shower, before Alyce turned into her Beast, and dragged me out of here by the hair with my bathing suit, sand, and all.
A multitude of drums beat loudly and joyously all around us, igniting the air with festive energy as they announced the arrival of Carnaval!
Exciting applause, loud singing, and laughter mixed with it as the crowds danced and cheered from all sides of theSambadrome. The multicolored madness of the lights, rhinestones, feathers, and exceptionally created floats filled my soul with the type of euphoria that couldn’t be bought.
Laughter left Alyce and me as we looked at our feet, shaking our hips like crazy, and trying our best to keep up with the drums. Dancing Samba wasn’t for the faint of heart, and though we’d spent the last few months learning with Vanessa, it was still so hard.
When we first started, I thought my Vampiress speed and Wolf Shifter agility would help me learn this in no time… I was wrong.
It made me have a true appreciation for thePassistas, the Samba dancing queens, and understand why they were so revered in their culture.
Almost tripping over each other, Alyce and I stopped, holding on to the pub-style table in the Camarote from where we were watching the parade. It was essentially a VIP strip of private balconies along the middle of theSambadrome,nestled between the lower and top seating areas. Since our family was so large, it was the best option for us.
Also, Dante didn’t like being in the crowd. Party pooper.
He narrowed his eyes at me from the sofa, where he was enjoying his bourbon as he watched me.
“Can you keep a secret?” Alyce asked in my ear, after pulling me away from her brother and André who were talking near the table.
