“See, all Lee risks when he spends the night with a lady is a venereal disease,” Fen quipped. “Rhys could start our own personal apocalypse.”
“We all know why he’s waiting,” Evan said quietly.
“Yes, it rhymes with the chick I want has my grandad inside her,” Lee snarked.
“I will end you,” Rhys vowed.
Evan sent Rhys a sympathetic look before looking back to Lee. “Stop teasing Rhys. It’s hard on him because he’s right about the dangerous part. If there’s a Fae-sex-magic bomb that goes off, any number of our enemies could come looking for him, including the ones who took Lee’s eye.”
“I want to know who was involved in that,” Dev said, his tone quiet. Dev was often at his deadliest when he went still and quiet. “And son, I can teach you to control your magic. You have to funnel it off. In small bursts or controlled bursts, the wards will hold. Using your agricultural powers can help. When you’re stressed or feel the pressure building, grow a couple of trees or a small crop of vegetables.”
“Ooo, I’ve been craving strawberries,” Evan offered.
A small smile played on Rhys’s lips. “All right then. We can certainly talk about how to take the pressure off me in safe ways. And I’ll have your strawberries when you get back.”
Evan seemed excellent at calming her brothers down. She’d found her role in the family.
“So is this what we’re supposed to talk about? Rhys’s sexual disfunction?” Lee proved he could almost keep up with Fen. He’d downed a couple of Danishes and a whole lot of bacon. “Dad said we had family business.”
“It’s not business.” I knew what he meant, but what Daniel was about to say was so personal to me. This was the rest of our lives, this choice we were about to ask the children to make—specifically one of my sons.
“No, it’s not, but it’s important.” Daniel sat at the head of the table.
Fen’s hand went over Evan’s, as though he was afraid whatever was going to be said next might hurt her. They all suddenly looked like they were waiting for the axe to fall.
“We know Dad is going to take over,” Rhys said. “We’ve always known that. What we will have a problem with is if he chooses to sideline us. We’re not the young kids you left behind. We’re good at this.”
“I know that. But this is not about the war we find ourselves in.” Daniel leaned forward, his hands on the table. “It’s about something that happened a long time ago. It happened before any of you were born. We were warned about it, but we didn’t know what the consequences would be until now. Zoey?”
I sat down next to Lee. We’d decided last night that this was my story to tell. I put a hand over his, and he went tense as he seemed to understand that this was all about him. “When I was pregnant with you and Rhys, we were at war with the old Council. I didn’t take part in the last battle, but I was there at the beginning. Marcus tried to get me out, but we were caught. I was shot and your body was injured in utero. Technically we all died that day, but we were given a second chance.”
“By the angels,” Lee said. He’d heard part of the story before. “It’s how I got Lee Owens’s soul.”
I nodded, tears clouding my eyes. “Yes, but there was something more. The angels told me that one of my babies had been changed, and that we would have to deal with the change down the line. I said I would take you no matter the circumstances.”
“What’s wrong with me, Mom?” Lee’s hand had tightened around mine, and the air around us seemed charged.
“Though it was the angel’s energy that sparked us all back to life, it was Daniel’s blood that healed our bodies. It was vampire blood that restored your developing body. It was the king’s blood that saved you and changed you,” I explained.
Lee’s jaw dropped, and his eye went wide with surprise and no small amount of joy. “Holy shit. I’m a motherfucking vampire.”
I winced, but only a little. I would have to include that in his list of times he could curse around his mom.
Chapter Ten
“Lee, really? Motherfucking in front of our actual mother?” Rhys frowned his way. “That is rude, and none of us wants those two words used together.”
Lee turned to his twin. “Are you serious? You find out I’m a latent and the only thing you comment on is my use of language?” Lee gasped as though a truth had hit him. “Dude, this is why I’m so good at languages. It’s the dark demon inside me.”
“I wouldn’t exactly call it a dark demon,” Daniel said, a frown on his face, too. “The vampire is a part of you. Son, this is serious. You are a latent vampire and you have a decision to make.”