GETHIN
“Letme repeat this back to you to make absolutely sure I’m not going crazy. You, my wolf shifter dad, alpha of our pack, are going to let some bloodsucker drain you dry, then shove his or her vein in your mouth and turn you into one of them? I know the Council is all about promoting better relationships between species, but isn’t this going a step too far? Several steps.” Meredith sounded as if she believed she was the victim of a prank call.
“I’m, uh, trying not to use nicknames for vampires any more, sweetheart. It feels more like a slur than I’m comfortable with.”That’s exactly how you referred to Sorley before you decided you couldn’t live without him.
Meredith’s snort wasn’t a surprise. “Right, so, that’s all very well but—” She broke off with a loud sigh. “Yeah, okay, that’s fair enough actually. Can I use nightwalker?”
“Nightwalker’s okay. And I know it must be a shock but—”
“A shock? Yeah, I’d say. The last I knew, you were on protection duty for some lee—Some vampire who’d got into trouble, and now you’re joining them?” Sounding suddenly very young and unsure, Meredith said, “Are you in trouble, Dad? Is someone higher up forcing this on you?” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Are your calls being monitored. Cough once for—”
“Nobody is making me do this. I promise you. There are…a number of factors at play here, which might have speeded up my decision, but you have my word, this is one hundred per cent my choice. Iwantthis.”
There was silence for a beat, then the unmistakable sound of sniffing. Ahh no. “Sweetheart, don’t cry. I’m still your dad. I’m not going anywhere.”
Meredith sobbed openly. “Will we ever be able to see you again? I don’t want you to lose control and bite me, Daddy.”
“Enough now.” He put on his stern father voice, laced with affection so she’d know he wasn’t cross. “You know better than this. Come on, we’ve been debunking stereotypes since you still had bows on your ankle socks. I’m not going to be racing down the motorway to Wales tomorrow, because I have work to do, but I have vampires here who will make sure I feed regularly and learn how to act human in public. I’m not going to turn into some apocalyptic demon of death and destruction.”I hope.
She sniffed again. “I s’ppose not. It just seems so drastic though. Sofinal.I don’t understand.”
“I don’t expect you to. It’s a lot. I’m still processing it myself and I’m the one doing it. I think perhaps you have to be a vamp to truly get it, you know?”
“Maybe.” A longer pause this time, accompanied by some less than subtle nose-blowing. “You will come and see me soon though?”
“I will, I promise.”
Still sounding small and unsure, he finally got an “Okay,” then a fervent request for him to message her at the first opportunity after his reawakening. “I want you to be happy, Daddy. If you need to do this, then I don’t get it, but I’ll try to be supportive.”
“I know you will,” he assured her. “You’ve got a good heart, and a wise head on your shoulders. Now, one more thing, because time is of the essence. I’ve spoken to your granddad, and mine, but would you mind telling your brothers for me? I really don’t want to leave this kind of news as a voicemail message. And it’s not that I don’t want to speak to them, but we’ve got bad guys to catch and I’m delaying matters by doing this. Although,” he added, “it could work to our advantage that I get turned now.”
She promised she would let her siblings know. Gethin took a deep breath. “I need to get going, Merry. You know I love you, right? You and the boys. With every cell in my body.” He felt squirrelly saying it out loud, but he forced himself, just in case.
* * *
Takingrefuge in the garden after such emotional phone calls, Gethin sucked in a few much-needed gulps of fresh air that tasted like relief. He felt a sliver of guilt he’d not given Meredith or his grandfather the full reasoning behind his decision. It felt cowardly, but he wasn’t ready to have a discussion about Sorley in a phone call; there was too high a probability of it going badly. Instead, he would wait until he could introduce the vampire as his partner in person.
A low whistle caught his attention, followed moments later by a low electronic whirring. As a dark-coloured heavy canvas awning extended out from the space above the French doors, Edwin stepped through the gap, his approach wary as he kept to the shadows.
Gethin strolled over. “You all right?”
“I was coming to ask you the same thing. I wondered if you had any questions about what you’re about to do. Stuff you didn’t want to ask Sorley.”
Gethin shot him a wry grin. “Only one. How much does it hurt?”
Edwin echoed his grin with one of his own. “Seeing as you’re choosing this in a non-crisis situation, it shouldn’t really hurt at all. It will feel weird, don’t get me wrong, but as long as you don’t panic about the being drained part, you should be fine. It’s like sliding towards death. You’ll get sleepy but then Dalziel will insist you drink his blood. My advice is, don’t overthink it, any of it. Try to go with the flow and it’ll be as easy as we can make it for you.” He tilted his head, his expression curious. “You’re not bothered about feeding, about learning to control your new body, or remembering to breathe and move in ways that keep humans from suspecting you’re not one of them?”
“Not overmuch. I’ll have Sorley to keep me right. Why, are you saying I should be?”
“Nooo, but you seem pretty chill. Unlike Sorley, I wasn’t in imminent physical danger of bleeding out before I could be turned, so it was straightforward for me, apart from arguing with Dalziel about the drinking blood part.” His eyes crinkled, presumably with amusement over the memory. “I got over that quickly. His biggest headache then was stopping me from draining my meals to a husk.” He shrugged. “Oops.”
Gethin felt himself tense. “Did you do that a lot?” Sorley made control look easy. Maybe it was something that had to be learned. Gethinreallydidn’t want to kill anyone.
Edwin shrugged again. “Enough he got a bit testy with me.” His grin this time was wide and toothy. “I’m a good boy now, Mr Hughes. I take my meals with minimal fuss, and return the donors to an upright position afterwards.”
Gethin snorted. “That’s quite a visual.” He glanced at his phone. “Guess I’d better change into something with easier access for blood-letting. A suit isn’t me at the best of times.”
He made to step past but Edwin caught his sleeve. “If you want to tidy up your beard, take a tip from me.” He smirked at Gethin’s puzzled expression. “Yes, I know I’m clean-shaven, but I’ve seen how fashion changes over the years. I recommend either taking it all off or leaving a proper beard. Designer scruff is in right now, but it won’t be in a decade or so, and it will be harder to blend in.” His gaze flicked over Gethin from top to bottom. “Your hair’s pretty neutral. A little longer than some, but better that than a buzz cut.”
