Zack started to draw in a breath to speak.
And Takashi saw the potential that he would spoil what was otherwise a wonderful moment. Strange, perhaps, but astonishing in the way it swelled in his heart. He stepped forward, drawing Katie’s attention, and continued on to stand by Zack, speaking as he went. “As far as blood is concerned, he is a cousin in that respect. My sire and his sire were created from the same demon long ago. The mansion actually belongs to Seamus, who is the beloved of your foster father, Anton. But even if we weren’t bound by blood, we could find our way to family with our hearts.”
“There’s also trauma-sharing,” Zack drawled. “After all, you were kidnapped and then murdered while I was murdered, then kidnapped.”
The hollowness in his words lacked the anger Takashi had expected, but their impact drained the joy from Katie’s face. Anton stilled, and his eyes hardened.
“Look, a car ride isn’t long enough to forget that, yeah,he—” Katie pointed at Anton. “—messed with my friends and I. But he also wasn’t wrong. I mean, IthoughtI was meeting my vampire boyfriend who wanted to turn my friends and I into his immortal brides, so I was prepared to become a vampire. My fathers still have a lot to make up for, but I’ve decided to give them a chance. Plus? I can do this.”
A twinge of electric shock went through Takashi for a fraction of an instant before a wind knocked Zack off his feet. The arcane blow was quick, but Zack caught himself before he fell on his face and stood.
“You’re still a caster,” Zack said as he regained his composure.
“I am,” Katie replied.
“Awesome.” Zack sounded completely unimpressed.
“Zackery,” Anton said with a snarl.
Zack flicked a flat glare in Anton’s direction and then stalked toward Katie. Anton stepped between them, putting his arm to block Zack from simply walking around him to get to her. The heat in Anton’s red-eyed glare would have melted a glacier in a tundra.
Just when Takashi thought Anton might set Zack on fire, Zack smiled broadly and laughed under his breath. “Okay. You pass.”
Anton blinked. “Excuse you?”
Zack’s smile turned smug, and he stepped back to Takashi’s side, putting an arm around his waist. “Everything’s a test, Anton. Katie is bound in blood and power to one of my beloveds, so yeah, I wanted to see if you actually give a shit about her.” Zack leaned so he was looking around Anton to more directly speak to Katie. “Your adopted father’s been in love with my sire for hundreds of years, and he was about to fry my ass if I did anything to you. Congratulations, your new vamp dad and adopted vamp dad really do care about you.”
This time when Katie’s eyes went wide, Takashi sensed her longing to belong settle deeper into her psyche. She took hold of Anton’s hand. “You’re really serious about calling me your daughter?”
“Of course,” Anton said as he turned to face her. He cupped her cheek gently. “I am sorry that I led you on otherwise. Teenage mortal girls seem more caught up in boys than anything else.”
“Boys are all right,” Katie said. She started to reach up to brush a tear from her eye, but Anton wiped it away for her. “I’m not sure how into them I really am.”
“They are good for eating, if nothing else, but you have eternity to become whoever you are truly meant to be, darling.” Anton pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Now, you must be getting hungry. You have a whole suite with some fresh clothes waiting for you. Zack, are you and Takashi joining us?”
Zack hugged Takashi, holding him close. “Seamus left some dinner behind.”
“Dinner! That gives me a brilliant idea.” Anton grinned. “We’ll see you two later. Come along, Katie. Wouldn’t want you to get lost in the house.”
After Katie and Anton were gone long enough that even their footfalls were bare whispers in the distance to Takashi’s hearing, he murmured in Zack’s ear, “What the hell was that?”
“That is what we call a double win,” Zack whispered. He nudged Takashi and then started walking down the first floor’s hallway.
“What were you double winning?” Takashi asked as he followed.
“Mm, Anton really does consider Katie his, which means he’s going to be extremely protective of her. Since she’s got a magical umbilical cord attached to you, I wanted to make sure of that,” Zack replied. “And added surprise upside, we will have the house to ourselves soon.”
“You are in a remarkably good mood.”
“Is that a bad thing?” Zack asked.
“No. Merely surprising, given how you were acting with Katie.”
Zack shrugged one shoulder. “I was practicing being an immortal badass. Now, as for why I’m in a good mood, Grimsby showed me this.”
With a dramatic flair, Zack pushed open a set of double doors and revealed a gleaming library. The east, west, and south walls were bookcases from end to end, while the bookcases on the northern wall were broken up by either a large window or a massive painting. The room didn’t smell floral or musty, but rather the heavy odor of countless paper pages and rich leather. In addition to the bookshelves along the walls, there were rows of them as well. Sporadically throughout the library were rolling ladders so that one could reach the upper shelves nearer to the room’s high ceiling.
“People in my family would sell their souls to have a night in this place,” Zack said. He carried on through the room. “I haven’t figured out the system, but what I have stumbled across are books on fey and shifters. This has to be one of the greatest collections of supernatural lore on the planet.”
