But after the sun had set and the flames died, they all wandered to the bonfire and sat around it. Gregor’s minions had brought bottles of whiskey, chilled vodka, premium tequila, bags of marshmallows, bars of chocolate, and boxes of graham crackers, and some good-looking human guy came to sit with Lucien’s friend, Stephanie.
Poncho, Moose, Hook, and Jabber told stories of Snake. Conversation flowed, shifted, turned, and did it naturally. The melancholy stole out and goodness drifted in on a wave of memories, booze, sweets, and good people sharing time.
They drank. They made s’mores. They smiled. They even laughed.
And Stephanie turned out to be one seriously hilarious bitch.
She also was the first who started making out with her guy.
This prompted Moose to grumble, “We shoulda ordered bitches,” which made Delilah, Leah, and Sonia giggle and the men exchange smiles.
Things got heavy with Stephanie and her human around the time Sonia and Callum started going at it. Stephanie left with her man. Wei and Xun took Chen back up, Jian-Li following them. Sonia and Callum left not long after. Gregor and Yuri drifted away. So did Ryon, Caleb, and Calder. Leah and Lucien started whispering and kissing, then they took off. And finally, with Moose carrying his friend, Jabber bitching about it, Hook lugging up the wheelchair, and Poncho handing Jabber shit, they went up.
Leaving Abel and Delilah on the beach with a roaring bonfire and blankets.
So he’d made love to her there with Snake’s ashes floating up the pebbles at the edge of the sea.
He’d never forget it, not a second of it, not in his life. Even the part with Snake being there when he sank his cock in Delilah for the first time after she’d shared her love.
Snake belonged there. He’d died so they could have that and Abel thought it was fitting.
So he was good the next morning when he pulled Delilah in the bright breakfast room, which was one of several conservatories at the compound, this one jutting from the end of the south wing.
And he was good with who was there: Gregor, Leah, Lucien, Sonia, and Callum.
That was it.
The Three.
And, of course, Gregor.
“Sit. Let’s get you some coffee,” Gregor greeted expansively as they hit the room, throwing out an arm to two empty chairs to his left.
More greetings were exchanged and Abel sat only after he’d shoved Delilah’s chair with her in it under the table.
Delilah looked at Gregor. “Last night was exactly what we needed, Gregor, so I need to thank you again.”
“No thanks necessary, Delilah,” Gregor replied.
“Lilah,” she corrected.
He smiled.
Abel looked to Lucien and Callum, who were both grinning at him.
“Right.” Delilah shook off the mood and reached for the coffeepot. “Saving the world.”
“We’ll get to that, Delilah—” Callum started.
“Lilah to you too,” she cut him off to say.
Callum’s glance darted to Abel, his lips twitched, then he said, “Lilah. But first we need to understand something.”
“That is…?” Abel asked.
“Your scar,” Lucien stated.
He felt Delilah tense at his side, but he looked to Lucien. “What about it?”
“We don’t scar,” Lucien informed him. “We’re wondering if you do because you’re the only known hybrid in the world. So we’d—”
He stopped speaking when he sensed Abel’s and Delilah’s moods swing, that being to complete fucking shock.
“Uh…what?” Abel forced out.
“Fuck. He didn’t know,” Callum muttered.
“Of course he didn’t know,” Sonia whispered with more than mild irritation.
“Know…what, exactly? The only known hybrid? What the fuck does that mean?” Abel demanded.
“Werewolves and vampires can’t procreate, Abel,” Gregor shared, and Abel swung his gaze to the vampire. “Not until…well, you.”
“Oh my God,” Delilah breathed.
“Are you kidding me?” Abel asked.
“I’m afraid not,” Gregor said carefully. “You had no idea?”
“No fuckin’ clue,” Abel grunted.
“Your parents didn’t share that with you?” Gregor went on.
“My parents didn’t share dick,” Abel told him.
“Do you know where they are?” Gregor asked.
“I know they left me in an alley two hundred years ago. Other than that, like I said, I don’t know dick. Don’t remember dick about them either,” Abel answered.
“Interesting,” Gregor murmured.
“Not interesting. Abusive,” Delilah suddenly snapped, her back shooting straight. “He was left in an alley as a pup. It’s a miracle Hui found him, took him in, and kept him, even after he transformed. Others might have done him harm, or worse.”
“I meant no offense, Lilah,” Gregor said pacifyingly. “It is, of course, unspeakable for a parent to leave their child in an alley.”
“It absolutely is,” Delilah agreed sharply, and Abel reached out a hand to cover hers on the table.
When he did, her head jerked around and she caught his gaze.
He shook his head.
She narrowed her eyes.
He shook his head again.
She sighed a sigh that sounded like a grumble, pulled her hand from under his, and reached for the jug of cream.
“Was this in China or here, in America?” Callum asked.
“China,” Abel muttered distractedly, watching Delilah finish with the cream, put it down, and again commandeer the coffeepot.
She lifted it his way and tipped her head to the side.
He nodded.
She poured him coffee.
“Do you have registers of wolves in China two hundred years ago, Callum?” Gregor asked, and Abel sliced his eyes from his cup to the vampire.
“Wolves check in with governors if they move to a territory, and governors pay attention to wolf activity, but only if there’s a need, such as insurrection or activities that might lead to humans discovering the existence of werewolves. Outside that, we let wolves roam without keeping records, so no,” Callum returned, then asked, “What about vampires?”
“We tend to keep tabs,” Gregor murmured. “I’ll ask The Dominion. But it’s not very helpful if we have no wolf.”
“Are you talkin’ about finding my folks?” Abel asked.
Gregor shook his head like he was clearing it. “Sorry, yes. Sorry,” he repeated. “Very rude. Much is on my mind. ” He took in a deep breath and focused closely on Abel. “But I’ll repeat my apology for not being sensitive, something we’ll be in future. But I’ll do that now by warning you I’m about to speak bluntly. I’m concerned that perhaps you were not left in an alley. Perhaps you were saved in one, purposefully, for your parents might have been hunted due to The Prophesies. The Prophesies were not widely known. However, we’ve recently learned that a once-trusted member of The Council, Marcello, was an insurrectionist. He shared them. And it’s our understanding he shared them some time ago.”
“Great,” Abel muttered.
“He’s since been dispatched,” Gregor told him. “But if your parents were under threat, or felt that you were, there’s a possibility they would find the kind of human who would do no harm to an immortal once they discovered that. A human who would keep you hidden in the mortal world due to your abilities. A human they could leave you with to do just that.” His voice lowered as he finished, “It might have been their only choice to keep you safe.”
“Jesus Christ,” he snarled and felt Delilah’s hand curl around his thigh.
“Yes, terrible, if it happened that way. Tragic,” Gregor said. “But if we can trace this, we may be able to trace whoever found you and Delilah in Serpentine Bay.”
“And who scarred me,” Abel added.
“Sorry?” Gregor asked.
“Who scarred me, seein’ as I don’t scar eit
her. But some bitch in a roadhouse in Texas slipped me a mickey, somethin’ else that doesn’t work on me, ’cept hers did. Then she used some weird-ass knife to carve into my face. She was goin’ for my heart, but I passed out. She didn’t finish me off, and considering what that knife did to my face, that would have finished me off.”
Gregor looked to Lucien, so Abel looked to Lucien and saw his jaw get hard.
“Did she…” Leah began, then paused before asking, “get cold feet or something?”
“No, he was saved by somebody,” Delilah answered.
“What’s got you tweaked?” Abel cut in, asking this to Lucien.
Lucien looked his way, then replied, “Witches.”
“Oh shit,” Delilah muttered. “More supernaturals. Fabulous.”
“There are witches?” Sonia asked, surprising Abel. Then again, she was new to this supernatural business too.
“Yes, baby doll, and some have power, but not much,” Callum answered. “I never mentioned them, because, by not much power, I mean they’re no longer of consequence.”
“Those who held long lines of power, and thus were very strong, were annihilated centuries ago,” Gregor explained.
“By who?” Leah asked.
Gregor shifted in his seat, suddenly looking uncomfortable, his eyes going to Lucien.
So everyone’s eyes went to Lucien.
“Unfortunately,” he began, “I’ve learned only recently, as I’ve also learned only recently that true magic exists on this earth, it was vampires.”
“Perhaps not one of our more shining moments,” Gregor murmured.
“You think?” Delilah asked sarcastically. “Now they’ve gotta be pissed too, pissed enough to roofie a vampire werewolf and carve into his face when they meet one at the local roadhouse!”
Her voice was rising so Abel pulled her hand from his thigh, curved his around it, and dropped it back, holding it there.
She took in a calming breath.
“Or, perhaps she was sent on a mission to take care of one of The Three,” Gregor said in a carefully even voice.
Watching Gregor, Abel knew he, too, was tweaked.
Abel broke it down. “So what you’re sayin’ is, vampires knocked off all these witches, the witches who remained are probably seriously shitty about that, so they’re probably workin’ for the dark side.”
“This could be,” Gregor allowed.
“Great,” Delilah muttered.
“And they came after me, which means they know of The Prophesies,” Abel kept at him.
“Oh, they know about The Prophesies. The witches have seers among them, even now. We may have kept The Prophesies secret, but as witches have that power, they’ve known about them for centuries,” Gregor confirmed. “But we have yet to discover if they knew who you were.”
“Why did vampires kill off all the witches?” Leah asked, and Gregor looked to her.
“There was a bit of a power struggle.”
“I’ll say,” she muttered.
“It was a different time,” Gregor murmured his lame explanation.
“It was fucked up,” Lucien put in.
“You will remember when I shared with you our history with witches that I did not support The Dominion’s decision,” Gregor reminded him.
“You didn’t,” Lucien returned. “But you enforced it.”
“It was my duty,” Gregor shot back, beginning to sound impatient. “And I’m sure I don’t need to remind you that when Callum’s father…and I, I’ll add…finally talked members of The Dominion into seeing sense, those vampires who’d championed that unfortunate situation were dealt with harshly.”
“After hundreds of years of persecution and thousands of witches extinguished, executions that were quick and for the most part painless was hardly a proper punishment, as the lasting chasm between vampires and witches will attest,” Lucien retorted.
Whoa, the supernaturals certainly had a dark and checkered past.
I gave big eyes to Leah, who gave them back to me.
“Enough,” Callum cut in. “It’s been done for hundreds of years. There’s no undoing it.” He looked to Abel and changed the subject. “Who saved you? Any clue?”
“I was passed out, man, so I have no idea.”
The door opened while he was answering and Yuri walked in, eyes to his father, his face strange.
“A word,” he called.
“Yuri,” Gregor began, “we finally have The Three assembled and—”
“A word, Father.” His eyes shifted to Abel, something Abel didn’t like much, then they went back to his father. “It’s urgent.”
Gregor sighed, threw his napkin on the table, and pushed away, murmuring, “One moment.”
He took off.
Abel let Delilah’s hand go and reached to a platter of bacon, hoping like fuck that wasn’t about Chen or Jabber taking a turn for the worse.
As if reading his mind, Leah asked, “How are Chen and Jabber this morning?”
“We don’t know,” Delilah answered. “We came up late last night and got the knock on the door this morning. I hardly had enough time to hop in the shower and not to scare you by coming down here without doing my hair.” Leah grinned and Delilah continued, “We’ll go see after we’re done here.”
She took the platter of bacon from Abel and was picking her strips when the door opened and Gregor called, “Lucien, a word.”
“Fucking hell,” Lucien groused, shifting his seat back and stalking to the door.
“Never boring when you’re saving the world,” Leah noted, her eyes to where her husband disappeared.
Delilah laughed softly, as did Sonia.
Abel shared a look with Callum, who looked about as happy as he was with their interruption, then Abel reached to the eggs.
He’d handed them off to Delilah when the door opened again.
“Abel, will you join us out here, please?” Gregor called.
Abel looked from his plate to the door. “Is this a big deal?”
“We believe it is,” Gregor answered.
“A big deal in a way that everyone in this room can’t know what the fuck you’re all talkin’ about in the hall?” Abel asked.
“This was my question,” Callum put in.
“It’s private,” Gregor explained.
“To who?” Abel asked.
“To you,” Gregor answered.
Abel’s chin jerked back. “What?”
“Please join us in the hall,” Gregor said as Yuri moved into the room from behind Gregor, who was standing in the door, Lucien following him.
“We need to have a chat elsewhere,” Lucien said carefully.
What the fuck?
“A chat?” Abel asked.
“What’s going on, Lucien?” Callum demanded to know.
“Yuri, Gregor, and I need to speak with Abel. It may take some time. Eat your breakfast. We’ll return as quickly as we can,” Lucien replied.
“Not hip on secrets,” Abel declared.
“You may be…hip on this,” Gregor replied.
He felt and smelled Delilah’s anxiety and his patience slipped. “What the fuck is goin’ on?”
“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Yuri clipped. “You’re drinking bagged blood.”
Abel’s brows snapped together. “Yeah, so?”
“The kitchen told us you requested they place a large supply you brought with you from Serpentine Bay in their refrigerators,” Yuri told him something else he knew.
“Yeah…” Abel said slowly. “So?”
“And you requested they heat it…in a microwave,” he said with disgust, “for your meals.”
“Man, you’re tellin’ me shit I know. What’s the big fuckin’ deal?”
“Why aren’t you feeding from your mate?” Gregor asked cautiously.
“Not that it’s any of your business,” Abel bit out, “but I am. Though, seein’ as she was destined for me, I waited a couple of centuries for her, and I kinda like having her around, dr
aining her, or drawing her down so she’s got no energy, isn’t somethin’ I’m big on doing.”
The mood in the room changed completely in a way that Abel had to concentrate on his fangs not snapping out. Delilah felt it too; he sensed it and knew it when her fingers curled around his forearm.
But the expressions on their faces didn’t match the mood.
Yuri looked incredulous. Gregor and Lucien looked remorseful.
“What?” Abel clipped.
“He doesn’t know,” Leah breathed, and Abel glanced at her to see she’d grown pale.
“What?” he snarled.
Gregor, Yuri, and Lucien advanced into the room, closing the door behind them.
It was Lucien who spoke.
“Do you know you can numb skin?” he asked.
“Figured that out,” Abel answered.
There was some relief in his expression before he went on, “Abel, vampire saliva is healing.”
“Figured that out too,” Abel told him. “Numb, bite, draw, heal.”
“No.” Lucien shook his head before lifting a hand and dropping it. “Of course, you’re partially correct. Numb, bite, draw, heal, but when I say vampire saliva is healing, I mean miraculously so. I feed from Leah three times a day, sometimes more.”
Delilah’s fingers curled tight on his arm as Abel grunted with revulsion, “What the fuck?”
“My saliva in her bloodstream means her blood regenerates faster. It takes time to build it up, but only weeks until she can withstand feeding regularly,” Lucien shared.
“Oh my God. Awesome,” Delilah whispered.
“It’s more,” Lucien went on. “The longer you feed, the more healing properties she gets. You immunize her from disease, and by that, I mean any disease, like we vampires cannot suffer. Including diabetes, cancer, neurological disorders, all of them.”
“Christ,” Abel whispered.
“And more,” Lucien continued. “She’ll begin to heal more rapidly. Cuts, scrapes, bruises will disappear within hours, then within minutes. And the longer you feed from her, things such as broken bones will heal in days.”
“Oh…my…God! Awesome!” Delilah exclaimed on a muted cry.
It was then Lucien gave it to them.
Everything.
In a variety of really fucking good ways.
“And feeding regularly will halt aging. Meaning as long as you continue to do so, she will never die,” Lucien finished.