Chapter Twenty
I’m a dad . Hands down, Titus didn’t think he had ever been so happy.
There was still a part of his mind that couldn’t get over how much his life had changed in the space of just a week, but Titus felt more energized than he had in years.
He was already committed to Cassius. When he’d been standing in that police station in Detroit, and he’d looked over and seen how Cassius was curled up in Apollo’s arms, Titus’s heart had given an extra beat, accepting this was his life now.
The happy thoughts didn’t stop there. The very first time Titus had heard his son’s voice, his boy had called him “Dad.” No coyness, just simple acceptance from a child who’d had a rough day, if not a rough life. Titus was hooked.
Cassius smelled familiar. Not familial, but definitely familiar.
He was Lorna’s son. And while Titus could clearly tell from the first sniff that Cassius wasn’t his biologically, it really didn’t matter.
Titus’s wolf didn’t mind. The boy was pack.
He was important. He needed care and protection, and for Titus’s wolf, that was enough to make him family.
My pack is definitely growing. Originally it had been just him and Regis, but now Titus had a mate and child, all woven into an unusual pack setup that Titus knew would work.
Unfortunately, because of who he was, Titus also needed answers, especially about why Lorna and Brian died the way they did, and what Brian might have been that resulted in the unusual empathies that Cassius seemed to have.
The police department had clearly done its best. They had no idea why Lorna had been beheaded, although Titus already knew the answer to that question – a vampire could come back from most things, including fire and poison, but there was no coming back from a beheading.
According to the police, there had been a number of complaints from neighbors in the previous six months – noise and DV reports because of the often violent arguments the couple had.
That was one of the reasons Titus hadn’t bond-mated with anyone.
The closest he’d come was to Lorna, and in hindsight, he was glad he’d never taken that step.
Bond-matings could be broken – individuals who were bonded weren’t tied to each other on a soul level.
Titus would’ve likely been unfaithful to Lorna if they were bonded or not.
Whereas for fated mates, that’s just not possible, and I’d never want to stray on Apollo anyway.
It was sad, though. All Titus could think was that Lorna and Brian, despite being together for ten years, had gotten tired of each other.
Lorna could be stubborn, and while Titus didn’t know anything about Brian at all, he couldn’t help wondering what made them grow apart.
The two shared a child. Titus glanced up at the ceiling, and then shook his head.
The Fates got their last laugh after all , he thought with a grin, because now he was responsible for Lorna’s son.
Titus had longed for Cassius to be in his life for ten long years.
And now it had happened. While he’d never wished any harm to Lorna or her partner, he was pleased with the outcome.
Cassius needed some decent meals. Apollo had also made vague references to Cassius seeing things differently than other people might – Titus didn’t have a problem with that either.
He was mated to an ancient god – his life was clearly set up for differences.
There was one nagging problem, though – something Titus hadn’t mentioned to his mate, but it still bothered him.
No matter how much Titus sniffed, as unobtrusively as possible, he couldn’t get a handle on what paranormal type Cassius was.
The boy wasn’t fully human, and that’s the only definite Titus had so far. He needed answers.
The police clearly believed that Lorna and Brian were human, but then they weren’t likely to suspect anything else, so there was no help there.
There was also no apparent indication that the crime was paranormal based, so the deaths weren’t likely to trigger anything in the Paranormal Council Offices.
All indications pointed to Lorna’s and Brian’s deaths being the result of a horribly tragic domestic violence episode.
That was how the police were handling it, and why the detective said the case was closed.
There were no other perpetrators, no other victims apart from Lorna and Brian.
A family member had been found for Cassius.
The police had done all they were expected to.
Unfortunately, there were still far too many other domestic violence situations that required their attention.
Titus understood this, but it didn’t stop him from wanting answers. And, technically, he knew where he could get them. He just wasn’t sure if he should.
He glanced upstairs. He was sprawled across the couch in the living room. Apollo and Cassius were upstairs in Cassius’s new room. Cassius had been fascinated to hear that Apollo was a god and could just wave his hand and change a room around.
Titus had cooked their evening meal and helped Cassius choose between bathing in a huge tub or being pelted by six different showerheads in what was now Cassius’s private bathroom.
Then Apollo had picked up the now clean, fed, and tired Cassius and said, “We’re going to do a spot of decorating, so our son feels comfortable tonight.
It might take a while, but come up and say goodnight when you’re ready. I’m sure you have something to do.”
Decorating wasn’t something Titus was an expert at, so he was happy to let the two go and do what they wanted. Although now he was thinking about it, there was a good chance Apollo knew what he was thinking and was deliberately keeping Cassius entertained and out of the way.
Oh, fuck it! Who am I kidding? Titus reached for Apollo’s phone that had been left on the coffee table. Casually discarded or left out intentionally, Titus didn’t know, although he was sure Apollo had left his phone there deliberately. He would know I want to do this.
Waking up the screen – Apollo clearly didn’t know about lock screen protections – the first thing Titus saw was the glowing Paulie app. Still, he hesitated. Do I really want to know? Can’t I just be happy with the way things are?
Yes.
No.
That wasn’t who Titus was. He tapped the app, and a moment later the screen shimmered.
“Welcome, Titus, mate of Apollo,” the app said. “How might I help you this evening?”
Fuck, is the app using the camera too? How did he know I wasn’t Apollo? Titus had no idea, but Paulie was waiting for him. “As you’re probably aware,” he said firmly, “I recently gained custody of the child that was born to Lorna Bloom - the one I believed was my son, until you said otherwise.”
“That is correct, Titus,” Paulie said. “Our records have been updated to show that the god Apollo has claimed his fated mate Titus Haverland, and they now have a son, Cassius Haverland, aged ten mortal years. Cassius’s mother is still listed as Lorna Bloom, deceased.”
“Okay, good, at least we’ve got that straight.” Titus tried to think about how to ask his next question. “What can you tell me about the deaths of Lorna Bloom and her bond-mate Brian?”
The app was silent for a moment and then Paulie said, “Lorna Bloom and her partner Brian had been arguing for many years. While Brian adored Lorna’s vampire nature and how that translated into their bedroom activities, he became increasingly annoyed with the constant references Lorna made to you being Cassius’s legal father.
“Brian knew that wasn’t the case, and Lorna’s insistence in front of Cassius that you were didn’t help in any way, although he never argued the point in front of the child.
Over time, Brian felt emasculated, believing Lorna didn’t trust him to care for her financially.
Incidentally, Lorna was correct in her lack of trust in his ability.
Brian had never held down any full-time job in the years prior to and during their relationship. ”
Titus wondered if Lorna ever realized how much destruction she had set in place when she made her decision to lie to him ten years before. “So this was simply a case of an ongoing argument that just got out of hand last night?”
“Brian clearly understood that Lorna was a vampire. Indeed, a lot of their closeness stemmed from the kink they had around that particular aspect of their relationship.”
Titus wondered how Paulie could say that without the slightest variation in his tone.
Of course, Lorna would like to feed on Brian.
There was a time when she used to feed on him, too, although that wasn’t something Titus enjoyed.
Glancing upstairs again, Titus thought, I’m not thinking about things like that when my mate and son are upstairs. I’m not thinking about that ever.
“All right, so they enjoyed kinky sex, likely involving blood play, but vampires are always resistant to having any of their own blood spilled.”
“It would appear that Lorna had shared with Brian the one way vampires could be killed at some point earlier in their relationship, and he’d never forgotten it. The machete used to decapitate Lorna was a gift she bought for him for the five-year anniversary of their bonding.”
That was pretty harsh. “What was Brian?” Titus said. “Apollo claims that Cassius has some powers, but surely if Brian were another god, then it would’ve been impossible for him to have died of a knife wound.”
“A self-inflicted knife wound, yes, we are aware,” Paulie said. “Brian was human with no paranormal ties at all, beyond his relationship with Lorna. It has been determined that he did love Lorna deeply, however, in his mind, he was unable to compete with another paranormal he’d never met.”
For another paranormal he’d never met, why not just say “that was you, Titus.”