Chapter Forty-Eight #2
I laughed, despite myself, picturing the two of them together.
Raphael had once told me, ages ago, he’d wanted to ride dragons as a boy.
That he’d been optimistic. I could imagine it, and as much as I was drawn to his ruthless side, I wished I could’ve known him then too.
Wish I could show him a version of me that hadn’t been tainted by years in Greymere.
But perhaps we were always meant to be the way we were now.
“Foolish, too, maybe.” Julian was on a roll now. “One time, a fox got into our chicken coop, so he made me go with him to the woods, following a trail of feathers, to find the fox that had gotten them. Anyone else would’ve used a bow and arrow, but no, not our Raphael—”
“I recollect it was your bow we brought, and the string snapped when I tried it,” Raphael corrected.
Julian rolled his eyes. “Perhaps that recollection has some merit. But rather than turn around when we reached the wretched thing—without a working bow and arrow—Raphael just confronted it. Bare hands and all against all those teeth and claws. By rights, he should’ve lost an eye, or at least gotten some scratches—though that would’ve made it harder to trade places then—but no, the bastard actually wrestled the animal into submission. He turned its pelt into earmuffs.”
“What did you do with them?” I asked Raphael.
“He gave them to—”
“It doesn’t matter now,” Raphael cut in. “I think I should take my turn before my dear brother decides to recount the time I convinced him he had the gift of levitation and needed to test it.”
“Now that you mention it…” Julian arched a brow.
Raphael turned to me.
“You can ask her questions anytime,” Julian complained. “What’s the point in this game if you just ask your fledgling everything?”
“I think your goal was to get drunk,” I remarked.
Julian lifted his glass in salute and took a long swig.
Raphael rolled his eyes, but there was a boyish twinkle in them.
Despite the fact he’d been at his brother’s throat twice in the past twenty-four hours, he did clearly hold affection for him.
I still didn’t understand why he hadn’t told me they were brothers, but perhaps I wasn’t in any place to throw stones.
“Given the choice, would you have used the chimney and then reunited our neighbor with her lost item to earn a slice of pie? Or would you have just taken the pie while inside?”
“I would’ve just done the blasted chores,” I said primly.
Both of them laughed at that. “Me now,” Julian said, lips curving to a smirk. “Tell me, Samara, which do you prefer—dusty old Damerel, or my fair city here?”
Company notwithstanding, the answer seemed obvious. One city was underground, and I’d been surrounded by enemies, attacked twice, died, and kept in a cell for several weeks. Here, at least I saw the moons each night. I’d gotten to see another side of Raphael, and to taste freedom.
I took a sip from my cup. Sludge was preferable to answering the question.
“Traitor,” Raphael grumbled without any heat.
“I like being by the sky. And the ocean.” I cast a secret smile at Raphael, letting him know exactly what I was thinking about.
“What really made you push for Raphael to come back this year?” The letter was still in the back of my mind.
I had no doubt that Julian had written it, but that still left me with questions.
The brothers exchanged a look. “Someone’s been poking in places he doesn’t belong, looking for relics he can’t use.
I was curious if it was just me, or if the western kingdom had faced similar…
intrusions. And I did want to meet you, darling Samara.
My brother’s new fledgling. To think, he always said he’d never turn another. ” Julian shook his head, tsking.
“Things change,” Raphael said.
I imagined my nearly bleeding to death had been that catalyst, but I wondered what had been behind that decision.
Raphael had never acted like being a vampire was anything but a boon.
He’d acknowledged it was hard for me, particularly, but why wouldn’t he want to create more?
Was it the fledgling bond, or something else?
“But not everything,” he continued nonchalantly. “Do you remember the last time you won a match against me?”
Julian narrowed gaze. “I do.”
“When was that?” He managed to sound utterly innocent, but his red eyes sparkled with mirth. I could feel it inside our bond as well, the way he was having fun pushing his brother’s buttons.
“One question per round,” Julian grumbled.
“Must’ve been a long time ago,” he mused.
“I’d have a better shot if you were good for more than one round.” Julian’s gaze flicked to me. “It must be so hard, having a sire who can only last for one round.”
“Your ego probably couldn’t handle losing twice in a row,” I snarked.
He winked at me. “It is rather large, sweet.”
I giggled, despite myself. But Raphael could feel through the bond he had nothing to be jealous of.
From there, the game unraveled into something that was almost fun.
Julian laughed through the night, to cajole and flirt, but when he finally sank his head onto his hands, I wondered if there wasn’t a look of longing in his eyes as he stared at his brother.
The night ended when Julian had finished more than a dozen goblets of blood mead and slumped against the table.
“Should we get him a blanket?” I whispered to Raphael.
“He won’t catch a chill. Cosette will collect him, I’m sure.”
Still, it didn’t seem right to leave him there. I slipped my shawl off and wrapped it around the unconscious vampire’s shoulders.
I wondered if Raphael would protest, but instead I caught him looking at the scene with a faint smile on his face, and warmth curled in my chest.
He might have tried to kill his brother less than a day ago, but I sensed it—there was true care there. He would have done anything to protect me from Julian, but Julian was still his family.
“We survived.” I wasn’t sure if I meant the dinner or the greater issue of Julian discovering my necromancy. In either case, I could scarcely believe it.
“And we always will.”