Henry
It hadn’t taken long after Cecil’s suggestion of a swim for them to change and dive into the pool behind Eduard’s cottage.
Draco, having eaten three burgers and about a pound of potato salad to protest the finger food Bebe had given them for lunch, was passed out on one of the lounge chairs. His snores were truly epic.
Sawyer laid his head on his arms and smiled. “Just feeling a little nervous.”
“About?”
“Meeting the griffins.”
“Yeah, I get that. I’m kinda worried about meeting them, too.”
“Yeah?” Sawyer asked.
“Yep. I mean, the other guys have kind of made a big deal about it. We should have just taken you to meet my pack first.”
Sawyer grinned. “That would’ve been good. But I wouldn’t want to put your family at risk. Eduard said they had security here, you know?”
Henry shrugged. “We could have made it work. Still can. Want to run away? You drive the bus. I’ll be the lookout?”
Sawyer laughed and pulled himself up higher on the float. He reached across and kissed Henry before settling back down. “No way am I driving that monster. But if we need a plan B, I’ll keep it in mind.”
At least he’d managed to get a smile out of him. Henry counted it as a win. “So what’s plan A?”
“Well, I guess I need to win over the griffins. But what I really want is to figure out what I’m supposed to be doing and why someone keeps trying to kill me.”
“Research montage?” Henry quipped, drawing another laugh from Sawyer.
“Exactly how many books did you manage to bring?”
Henry gasped and tried to put his hand over his heart dramatically.
Of course, it made him lose his balance again and he ended up flipping off the float and splashing into the water.
When he made it back to the surface, Sawyer had fallen off his own float from laughing and he was hanging off the edge of the pool.
“All the books,” Henry sputtered as he spit out a mouthful of pool water. “All of them.”
“Excuse me,” a quiet feminine voice said from nearby.
Henry wiped pool water from his eyes and looked up.
Two beautiful women were standing at the edge of the path coming from the garden with vampire guards on either side of them.
One of them looked absolutely disgusted, her nose wrinkled up and turned away from Henry and Sawyer. The other was smiling sweetly at them.
“Hello,” Sawyer said. “Can I help you?”
“Oh, I was looking for my cousin, Eduard?”
“He’s not here right now,” Sawyer said. “I can tell him you came by? Or you can hang out with us until he gets back?”
She glanced at the other woman, whose scowl had deepened. “That would be lovely.”
Henry followed Sawyer to the pool steps and climbed out of the water behind him. Cecil had given them big fluffy towels to dry off with so they both used them then pulled on T-shirts. Cecil had left a tray of drinks on the table, so Henry poured them each a glass of lemonade.
“You said you were Eduard’s cousin?” Henry asked.
“Yes, I’m Magdalen,” the sweet one said. She glanced warily at the other woman then back to them with a soft smile. “This is Helena.”
“It’s lovely to meet you both,” Henry said.
Draco ambled over, giving both women the stink eye before burying his face in Sawyer’s neck. Sawyer snorted out a laugh and shoved him away. “Go back to sleep. We’re fine.”
Both ladies eyed Sawyer and Draco curiously and raised brows when Draco released Sawyer and pulled Henry against him instead. Henry kept one eye on them even as Draco nuzzled into his neck.
“You want me to have Vivian make you a coffee?” Henry asked.
Draco nodded pitifully. He’d not been sleeping enough with all the training they’d been doing prior to leaving the house and from the way he’d tossed and turned in the bed at the back of the bus the night before, that hadn’t changed.
But Henry knew better than to suggest that he go back to sleep.
No way would he leave Sawyer without claws and fangs at his side while strangers were around.
“Take my chair. I’ll be right back. And be nice, this is Eduard’s family.”
Draco sucked in a breath and straightened. He pecked a kiss on Henry’s lips before donning one of his pretty smiles for the ladies.
Henry escaped into the house as Draco began introducing himself, pouring on the charm he was capable of when he made an effort.
Luckily, Vivian was in the kitchen and he didn’t have to hunt for long.
He was really curious about Eduard’s cousins and didn’t want to miss the conversation.
“Hey, Viv. Can you make Draco one of your super powered coffees please? We have company and he’s a cranky kitten. ”
She snickered but nodded. “Company? Do you need anything else?”
“Uh… I don’t think so? We had lemonade out there from earlier.”
She rolled her eyes and shooed him out the door. “I’ll send Cecil out with Draco’s coffee and to see if anyone needs anything else.”
“Yes ma’am.”
She mock-growled at him. “You’re lucky you’re cute. Get out of my kitchen.”
Henry snickered and hurried back outside.
Helena was still glaring off to the side, but Magdalen and Sawyer were chatting about the trip.
Even Henry could see the awkwardness of the conversation, but he had no clue how to fix it.
Luckily, he didn’t have to worry long. Eduard and Andvari appeared at the edge of the path.
Eduard didn’t look overly thrilled to see their company, but he masked his displeasure quickly.
“Helena, Magdalen. I’m surprised to see you.”
Finally, Helena’s ice began to thaw. She rose and almost smiled at Eduard. “Cousin. It’s good to have you home.”
Eduard kissed both of her cheeks before turning to Magdalen. “Mags, how are you doing?”
“I’m well,” Magdalen said with a smile. “I’m glad you’re home. It’ll be nice having you back.”
Eduard smiled again, kissing both of her cheeks before looking at the three of them. Draco seemed as puzzled as Henry was at Eduard’s actions. He was usually proper, but there was a coldness to him that didn’t quite fit. Sawyer stood and reached for Eduard’s hand and he took it with a smile.
“Hello, love. Did you have a good swim?”
“We did. I can’t wait for the pool at home to be finished now. Although you should know that Henry on a float is extremely dangerous. We may have to hire a lifeguard to protect us from him.”
Eduard laughed and pulled Sawyer closer. He kissed him sweetly then turned to Henry with a smile. “Causing trouble again, I see.”
“Hey, there’s gotta be one in every group, right? And it was Sawyer’s fault.”
Eduard grinned as Cecil came out of the house carrying one of his polished silver trays. He sat a latte in front of Draco before giving Eduard a quick bow.
“Is there anything you need, Master Eduard?”
“No, thank you, Cecil. We have a few things to attend to, so we’ll be heading inside after a short visit with my cousins.”
Draco gestured Eduard toward his chair before taking his coffee and escaping to the other side of the pool. One of the vampire guards had stopped there to talk to Andvari so Draco joined them, escaping the chatty conversations he didn’t enjoy.
It constantly surprised Henry how different they all were the moment someone outside their immediate circle came around.
Whether it be one of the vampire guards or simply someone stopping to talk to Draco the rare times they’d left the house in the past few weeks, the man clammed up like it was an affront to his very being that someone dared speak to him.
It hadn’t taken Henry long to realize that Draco actually got really anxious around people.
It was funny that he was forced into a situation where there would be at least nine of them once the rest of the guardians arrived.
Then again, it didn’t bother Draco to be with them, and Cecil and Vivian didn’t bother him either.
Sawyer, on the other hand, seemed to flourish around new people, so it had been hard to see him so tied up in knots after the mailman incident.
His trust had been broken, and Henry couldn’t imagine what that must feel like.
Although he’d been welcoming to Helena and Magdalen, the line of tension along Sawyer’s back hadn’t eased until Eduard returned.
After another half hour that was mostly spent discussing the weather, Eduard ushered his two cousins back to the path and gave the vampire guards a significant look. Sawyer and Henry stayed seated at the table, and Henry couldn’t help but wonder what had Eduard so tense.
Once they were gone, Eduard let out a sigh of relief and sat back in his chair. Andvari sat as well, while Draco hovered behind Sawyer.
“Sorry about that,” Eduard said.
“It was fine,” Sawyer replied. “They were nice. Well, Magdalen was nice. I think Helena wasn’t happy to be here.”
“No, she wouldn’t have been,” Eduard said. “I should have told the guards to not allow any family members entrance, but I worried about father’s reaction if he found out I’d barred their entry. It’s fine now.”
“You spoke to your father?”
“I did.” The tension in Eduard came back and Henry could see that it hadn’t gone well.
“That bad, huh?” Sawyer asked.
Eduard shrugged before reaching for Sawyer’s hand and threading their fingers together. “No one said this was going to be easy. We’re going to do what we have to do.”
They sat quietly for a few minutes, each lost to their thoughts, when Eduard’s cell phone rang and broke the mood.
He took the call as he walked into the house.
He ran his hand over both Sawyer and Henry’s shoulders as he left.
Andvari took the opportunity to work out while Draco kept eying the lounge chair longingly.
“Go sleep,” Sawyer said. “Henry and I are going to be upstairs in Eduard’s rooms.”