Chapter 14
Chapter
Fourteen
“Twins, Orion. We’re having twins.” Orion was helping him strip bark off a tree that had been felled in the Land of Summer for his children’s cradles.
Once they got the bark stripped off, they’d be able to cut the pieces of log and then bring them inside where Hawk would help him haul them out and work on the cradles themselves.
Hawk being a better woodworker than Orion.
“So you said about fifty times,” Orion grinned at him. “Congratulations, man.”
“Thank you. I’m incredibly proud.” Evander stopped for a moment, his hands still on the trunk of the tree. “But I’m worried.”
Orion raised one eyebrow. “About the vampire threat, yes?”
“Yes, exactly. The only word from Alyster is by way of this Forrest fae Mom sent to the Court of Bells. It seems that no one else there is infected. The ranking individuals of that court seem to think that if she was infected, it happened between the time she left their encampment and made her way to our mother-in-law’s court. ”
Orion nodded to Evander’s hands. “More working while you talk, or we’re never going to get this done.”
Evander got his planer moving again, taking off the bark, snorting a little bit. Orion really was a pain in the ass.
Orion pondered what he had said. “Of course, they’re going to say that because they have to cover their own asses.
But what if it’s true? Now, either that means that somebody bit her while she was on the road, which would probably be easier than a vampire waltzing into a full court and spreading their disease.
Or she was given something like vampire blood while she was traveling. ”
Evander blinked because that was something that he hadn’t even considered. “Can you poison someone with vampire blood?”
“I don’t see why not. It’s not like the blood of a living being.
It doesn’t have to have a spark of life in it to carry whatever disease is infecting the end user, right?
Vampires are dead, so one assumes that is their disease.
” Orion’s voice remained steady, and he never once seemed to be talking about anything in more than an academic way.
“Huh.” Evander felt an itchy, scratchy feeling on the back of his neck, and he didn’t like it, because if that was true, getting a vial or a vessel of blood through the wards was probably going to be easier than getting a whole creature.
And if that was true, compounding itself, then it would be relatively easy to mix vampire blood with fae people.
“I mean, we know it wasn’t you, because Corbin, Cullen, and Cosmo stopped you from going back through.
In fact, they’re the ones who brought you to this house.
You probably would’ve died before you made your way back here.
So trying to infect a fae with vampirism and then have them come back across the veil, as the dragons call it.
My fathers would call it the wards. Seems like a tough proposition.
” Orion had a real turn of logic about him.
Evander kind of hated that about the guy.
“But surely those wards would kick out somebody carrying vampire blood too, wouldn’t they? Even if it was in a container.”
“Well, I know the ones that are here at this house. That doesn’t mean there’s not other portals. It depends on the vessel, doesn’t it? How much would it be spelled in order to get through?” Orion just kept scraping in this maddening rhythm, never once letting up.
“I think this is something we need to discuss with the others.” Evander said. “This puts a whole new light on things.”
Orion gave him a dark chuckle. “No, pun intended. Our mates make a pretty amazing vampire lamp.”
“They do. We should finish up.” He went back to work, scraping hard. Just over an hour later, they were ready to cut the pieces of log in half or thirds and take it into the house. But they would leave it for now.
“I don’t know about you,” Orion said, “but I need a shower. Why don’t we both clean up and then we can reconvene at the common area of the house to discuss this?”
“Fair enough.” Goddess, the implications of all of this were just staggering to him. And it also meant that his brother, Alyster, could be in grave danger. He would have to get word to the Court of Bells.
“We’ll figure it out,” Orion said, staring right into Evander’s eyes.
“But you have to remember this isn’t the be-all and end-all of your life.
I hunted some vampires of my own when my triplet was pregnant.
Just remember, you never get to have a first baby ever again.
Enjoy them. We’ll figure this whole thing out. ”
Evander didn’t know. He was the one who’d been infected after all. Him and Tisi. So it felt like he’d been the one who brought this in.
Then his lover, his mate, his Corbin, butted in, strong and sure.
This house had blood spilled on it by vampires way before you ever showed up.
Our house. My house. It saw four dragons beheaded.
Myk and Nevvy and the infants drained and kept downstairs in the basement for days. Not everything is about you.
Well, that was clear as a bell.
Absolutely right. Right now, I think everything is about you. Ev let a hint of laughter and teasing slide through their bond. You’re the one who’s having babies.
I am. You should come and worship me in the manner wherein I deserve to be worshipped.
Evander snorted and started to laugh. Come on, let’s have a swim in the pool. I am covered in wood chips. “Have I mentioned that Orion is a taskmaster?”
The last he said out loud and mentally just so that Orion would flip him off as they waved their goodbyes.
Corbin linked his fingers with Evander’s while they wandered to the pool, and he couldn’t stop grinning. Orion was right, though. Threats would come. This was a guardian house.
But this was his mate. His baby. Babies. He needed to focus.
And he was a hunter. He understood focus.