Chapter 4
HE ENTERS THE SHOP DOOR, a place I never imagined seeing his stiff frame. Clearing his throat with deliberate steps toward me, his graceful hands clasped before him. And maybe he’s caught me at just the right moment because I can’t help but smile at him, the brother Bastian adored.
“It was here that Bastian first asked me to make the potion. Did he ever tell you that?”
Cassius licks his bottom lip, shaking his head. “No, he was very protective of your time together. He had a right to be. I did not approve.”
“I said no. He always told me I said no too quickly.” I bite my lip at the memory, of how I once told Bastian he took up all the space in the room, and nothing was ever more true.
If Bastian was in a room, you knew because there was a lightness there, a sun shining even if it was the darkest of night.
“Are you working on that? Saying no too quickly?”
“I am.”
“Good.” His voice goes up an octave as I take in his black slacks and white button up, and that’s casual for Cassius. He approaches the display case I stand behind, my feet aching after a long day standing.
“I knew you were with child that night in your courtyard. I didn’t come to kill you.
I came to understand. I’ve never been a great communicator.
But I can’t tell you what that meant, hearing those two heartbeats.
Knowing that he was gone, yet he lived on inside of you. It was so overwhelming, so…heavy.”
I lean on the counter, enthralled. Because when Cassius speaks, the room listens.
“There was an immediate sense of protection, but I didn’t know how to act upon it.
How to put it in motion. Witches have been our enemy since I became a vampire.
Bastian forced me to look at that differently, in a way I had no desire to.
Then suddenly there was a version of him living on inside someone I didn’t trust. And it built inside me, the knowledge of that.
I told myself it wasn’t my business. There was no need for me to even care because Bastian was gone, Franklin had taken over, and my life would be different.
It wasn’t until I saw you on the floor of Nightwalkers with blood spilling from your mouth that it hit me.
I cared. I cared for the child inside of you, but also… ” He swallows. “I cared for you.”
He clears his throat as the baby kicks. A dizziness washes over me, and I lean on the display case for balance.
“The relief I felt when I heard both heartbeats is a moment I won’t forget.
So I watched you from afar. Spent nights outside your cousin’s to make sure no enemies came near.
Not yet ready to come to terms with what our very different future would become.
Your pain was so big, so all-encompassing, it was hard for me to be near you.
In the meantime, I met Marlowe. And the love we share is something sacred and warm, and she showed me I could open up to more.
And then I almost lost her, and you came running.
I’m sure you hesitated, but you came. And you saved her.
So instead of stewing in my grief and loss, I decided I was going to do the right thing for once in this godforsaken life. ”
His dark eyes fuse to mine, the silence on his lips waiting for a response.
“Why did it take so long? I saved Marlowe months ago, and you never reached out, never spoke to me again.”
Cassius’s face is so beautiful that you could stare at it for hours on a good day. The sharp jaw, the high cheekbones, that vampiric beauty we’ve all read about. But when he’s being vulnerable, when he’s baring open his soul, he’s a different kind of beauty—he’s transcendent.
“I should have shown up the day after you saved her. But I admit, you telling her to run deeply wounded me. But I understand it, I do. And it took me time to make peace with that. Marlowe says I’m a slow learner.
And it’s true, it’s true. I’m the slow learner, and Bastian was the fast burner.
” He laughs. “But here I am, before you, begging you. Take the homes. Raise my niece in them. Allow me a part of her life. I promise to only add to her happiness, never take from it.”
He folds his hands, telling me he rests his case. My cheeks are wet, my nose sniffling, and I realize I’ve cried from his words. Cassius, an ally. I never thought I’d see the day.
Patting my face, I take a deep breath. “Why didn’t you tell me this the other night?”
He chuckles, a tight grin stretched upon his lovely face. “I find it hard to be vulnerable around your mother.”
I can’t help but laugh at that, so I nod in understanding. “And Nicola?”
“You don’t need to worry about Nicola. She killed The Vampire King for you. For Bastian. She knows of your condition. She will not interfere.”
Cassius watches me move Bastian’s pinky ring back and forth on the chain around my neck, the ring I hold in my sleep, the ring I held in my hand when he became nothing but ashes.
“I didn’t think I could get pregnant. I didn’t even want to get pregnant.
Probably because it’s been expected of me since the day I took my first breath.
Continue the family legacy. Keep the bloodline running.
Don’t let the coven down. But now…it’s the only thing in the world I want.
The only thing I have to look forward to. Your brother was my soulmate.”
Cassius slowly closes his eyes and places a hand over his heart. “As he was mine.”
I believe him. There is no one that Cassius loved more, maybe not even this Marlowe girl that he seems infatuated with. If he loves my child half as much as he loved Bastian, my daughter will be adored and protected. That is, until I bring Bastian back.
“I’ll take the houses. And whatever protection you can offer.”
A slow smile dresses his face, and he nods. “That is the right decision.”
“I know it is. But I won’t be moving in. At least not for now.”
“Might as well, you’re already there every day.”
A sound escapes my mouth, surprised by his words, and his lips curl up. “It seems you’ve been lurking around my house as well,” I counter, but I’m not freaked out by it. I…I like that he was nearby, watching over us. I like that he cares.
“I’ll get the paperwork drawn up, Sister.”
I audibly gasp, because if Bastian hadn’t already died, he would have dropped dead from the word.
“Okay, Brother,” I tease through a tight smile. He’s gone before I can say anything else, gone before I can take in the reality that we said those two words to each other.
Because it’s night, the windows have been thrown open, and the glow of the lights cast upon the lawn.
A silhouette appears in the upstairs window, and my eyes focus upon Cassius looking down at me.
Am I ready to be in this house again? To take it as my own?
I only said yes to the house a day ago, and here we are.
“Don’t overthink it, just go inside and get the damn keys,” Chantal chides in my ear, and I sneer. Of course, she knows what I’m thinking.
“I want to be here. I want to…it’s just going to be a little hard,” I whisper, my stomach clenching.
“Nothing of any value comes easy,” Mother says from behind me, and I stare back at her.
“Okay, Yoda,” I quip, and she scoffs.
“Yeah, you’re really shoving in the motherly wisdom,” Chantal jokes as Mother walks in front of us.
“You girls…” she pauses, turning to look us up and down. “Are assholes.” She stomps ahead as we smirk at each other.
“That’s more like it,” Chantal cheers as I look at the porch and my heart stops.
There’s the swing I sat upon the night Nicola and Franklin came barreling up the driveway to see if the rumor was true. Was Bastian sleeping with a witch? Inside are the stairs I ran up to tell Cassius they were coming, and he warned me to hide. Everything inside me quakes, and I lose my breath.
Can I do this? Can I live in this house where so much happened in such a short spell of time?
The world sways, and I have to close my eyes for a moment.
But then I see his face, his aventurines smiling, telling me that this is what he would want, will want once he’s back.
For us to be settled here, his daughter to know this home as her own. Everything inside me ignites.
“You coming, or what?” Mother yells from the porch, and I raise my head and take another step toward my future.
The door opens, and Cassius is in the frame, reality seeming to pummel me over and over again.
“Welcome to your home,” he says, his hand motioning for us to step inside.
Our home, Bastian.
I swallow back the lump in my throat, trying to get a hold of the tears. They are really out of control, and maybe it’s the pregnancy or maybe it’s the trauma, but I hate how they are always on the verge of falling these days.
The three of us walk inside, and Cassius forces a smile.
“So lovely to see you all,” he lies, and I laugh.
“We are kind of a package deal now,” I say, and he nods as he and Mother try to wipe the mutual disgust from their faces. I know this isn’t easy for him. Being in the company of those he hates, and I appreciate the effort.
“Three for the price of one. Our fourth couldn’t come. She has little ones.” Mother’s phony smile is meant to annoy Cassius, and it seems to have worked.
“Lucky me,” Cassius quips with an emotionless sneer.
Chantal and Mother look up and around, this house new to them. But for me, the familiar scents hit my nose, and it’s almost like he’s here. Like he could turn the corner and walk down the hallway, barefoot and smiling.
“Baby,” he would whisper and pull me in his arms, his white teeth sparkling.
I wobble, and Chantal grabs my hand, putting her arm around my shoulder.
“You’re okay,” she whispers, knowing I’m not. I’m not okay at all.
My pain makes Cassius uncomfortable, so he clears his throat, walks to the entryway table, and grabs a bin.