“Okay, so give me a kiss and hold my hand through this. I just might make it.”
“Whenever you need a friend, I’ll be here,” Grigori told him as he bussed their lips together, then entwined their fingers.
“I hope you want to be more than friends,” Delaney murmured as they walked out into the hall.
“Be sure and start dinner by talking about our sex life,” Grigori suggested. Delaney grinned. If he was not so afraid of his emotions, he would tell Grigori how much he adored him. Despite how well they got along and the fact that they’d spent over a week straight together, it was way too early to discuss what was in their hearts.
Delaney was enamored of Grigori and with each passing hour he grew closer to him, but fear had consumed him since the griffins started converting a room to Grigori’s lab. He worried over Grigori finding D’Vaire not to his tastes or some other nefarious thing getting in the way of their happiness.
When they entered the dining room to find three impossibly beautiful vampires smiling at them, Delaney’s anxiety over his future was replaced by alarm. It was important to him that he get along well with the people Grigori loved; it would tear him up to be a source of strain within his family.
“Delaney, it’s such a pleasure to have you as our guest tonight. Grigori speaks so highly of you and as his mate, we’re delighted to have the opportunity to get to know you better,” Grigori’s mother said.
“Thank you, Vampyress. It was an honor to be invited.”
“Please call me Irina.”
“Of course, Irina. Thanks again.”
“Shall we have a drink?” Grigori’s father asked.
“I’d love one Vamp—”
Grigori’s father lifted a single elegant brow that made the words dry up in Delaney’s throat; then he said a single word to remind him not to worry over titles. “Alexei.”
“Sorry, I’d love one, Alexei.”
“Don’t fluster Delsaurus Rex, he’ll go on a rampage and destroy a city,” Grigori said. When Delaney gave him a what-the-fuck-are-you-talking-about look, Grigori leaned close. “You don’t have to worry, they’re all used to weird crap falling out of my mouth.”
“You’re perfectly delightful, Grigori. I’ve told you that your whole life,” Irina argued.
“See, it’s her fault. She’s encouraged me to be strange,” Grigori teased.
“I’ve encouraged you to be yourself,” Irina corrected.
Delaney was handed a glass of wine. He took a sip and Grigori once again got his attention. “Don’t worry, Del. There are no aphrodisiacs in this wine.”
“Of course not. We never serve them at the first family dinner,” Nikolai quipped.
“Come on gentlemen, let’s have a seat. I’m sure Tigglesworth will be in here any moment with the first course. Delaney, I wanted you to know Tigglesworth and his mate Charlie are Volkovs as far as anyone in this room is concerned. However, Tigglesworth has a very stringent view on how the butler and chauffeur should behave, and the man’s impossible to argue with,” Irina remarked.
As if he heard his name, Tigglesworth appeared with salads for all five of them. “Vampyress, Charles and I are both bonded to Lord Nikolai through blood in the traditional rite of faithful servants. I’ve been at Lord Nikolai’s side for two centuries. I cannot shirk my duties whenever the whim hits.”
“You aren’t a vampire?” Delaney asked. He hadn’t even noticed that they were missing fangs; his magic senses had incorrectly identified them as vampires.
“No, High Arcanist, Charles and I were both humans. Our lives were extended to match the span given to Lord Nikolai at his request.”
“I couldn’t live without either one of them, and I’d hire replacements for them if they’d act like the family members they are, but Tigglesworth is too damn stubborn,” Nikolai said.
“May I get anyone anything before I leave you to enjoy the first course?” Tigglesworth asked.
“A chair for your butt as well as one for Charlie?” Grigori answered.
Tigglesworth pursed his lips. “I will be in the kitchen if my services are needed before the next course, my lord.”
After he retreated, Delaney asked, “I didn’t know vampires could do that for humans. Exchange blood with them to lengthen their lives, I mean.” It did explain why his magical abilities had lumped the pair into the vampire category and missed that they were converted humans. It was Nikolai’s gift to them that confused his normally reliable skill in figuring out races.
“It’s an ancient practice and one we no longer allow. It’s a big commitment for a vampire to offer immortality and make them magickind. It does weaken them in the most minor of ways, but it was a sacrifice I was more than willing to make first for Keyton—that’s Tigglesworth’s first name, though it’s rarely used—then for Charlie when he showed up at my home searching for a job at a very youthful nineteen. I wish I had a video of Tigglesworth losing his mind when he discovered they were mates. It’s really the only time I’ve seen him flustered,” Nikolai confided with a chuckle.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t born yet, because I missed it,” Grigori commented.
“We all missed it. Nikolai insisted on living in England at the time,” Irina remarked with a pointed look at her eldest child, which made guilt swamp Delaney. The Vampyress wanted her sons under her roof and here he was, ready to take Grigori off to D’Vaire.
“Mom, maybe you could rake Nikolai over the coals later? You’re going to make Del worry about me moving to D’Vaire.”
“Del—is it okay if I call you that?” she asked. Delaney managed to nod. “I enjoy my sons. I love them a great deal. Alexei and I have spent their entire lives explaining the importance of having a mate. The only thing I’m willing to give them up for is love. I want Grigori at your side at that beautiful sanctuary of yours. Or at least I hear it’s beautiful. Grigori won’t let me visit.”
“It’s difficult to build a relationship with your mom hanging around.”
“You hear that, Alexei? Your son thinks I just hang around cramping his life.”
“They’re both brats. Del, I hope you don’t mind if Irina and I are frequent visitors. Our sons are annoying shits, but they’re ours.”
“This is why I’ve kept you from D’Vaire. What kind of impression are you giving Delsaurus? In one breath, you’ve called me a brat and an annoying shit,” Grigori complained.
“He’s spent enough time with you by now to have figured it out on his own,” Alexei teased. “All kidding aside, we’re incredibly proud of these two wonderful men we’ve somehow managed to raise into being hard-working and honorable.”
“I think Grigori’s amazing. You guys did a terrific job,” Delaney told them truthfully.
“We’re very pleased with Fate’s choice for Grigori. I want you to know that. I believe you already know I have concerns, but none of it is in your control or your fault,” Irina informed him.
“Grigori told me magic’s unpredictable for vampires.”
“Have you told him about the beginning of the word ‘umpyr’?” Irina asked Grigori.
“No, it’s your story, Mom. I wanted you to be able to tell it.”
“Del, you’re well educated. What do you know of vampires?” Irina inquired.
“Well, you guys are a newer addition to the Council. You weren’t added until about a little under a century ago, so there’s not a lot of information about you within its history. I’ve learned more from Grigori in the few short weeks I’ve known him than I knew before I found out my mate was a vampire.”
“We weren’t added to the Council before that because no one wanted us. We’ve always been outcasts, which is ironic since we have the same foundation as many of the major magical races. Like wizards, we come from warlocks,” Alexei supplied.
“Really? Wow. How does a warlock become a vampire?” Delaney asked.
“They weren’t your average warlocks. It was a small group of casters. Unlike the Grand Warlock and the Grand Summo
ner, they weren’t born with enough power to have immortality. They became obsessed with the idea and tried a great many potions and spells, but nothing worked. In the process, they managed to dwindle their numbers further, so they decided it would be a good idea to begin a concerted effort to have children,” Irina explained.
Delaney thought back to the scroll Idris found which told of a potion used by over a hundred warlocks which, when put into their magical simulator, produced about a seventy percent mortality rate. He wondered if it originated with this group and whether they realized they were using magic improperly by overcasting and altering the results, something his own group avoided when they devised their Immortalis drink.
“As those first children grew up, their experiments didn’t stop. The eldest of the warlocks aged and grew closer to dying. Somehow the idea of drinking the blood of the young became the solution, and the practice of doing so was birthed. Those outside their circle were aghast at the idea—they called them ‘umpyr.’ It’s a unique word meant to describe exactly what they were—blood-drinking warlocks. This group of umpyrs closed themselves off from the world to avoid criticism,” Alexei said.
“That’s when the true horrors began. The elderly grew weaker and they needed so much blood, they drained those children to death. So, more children were needed. Some were birthed, others stolen. At night they hunted for new babies. All the while, more behaviors which are innate to vampires today were being put into practice. They concocted through chemical means a way to alter thought so donors would give up their blood willingly. By the third generation of children, the umpyrs who survived were evolving. They grew fangs, and many of them also became ravenous. They hunted at night since it was easier to catch prey, and soon they were unable to stay out during the day. I don’t know how many sacrificed their lives for those monsters,” Irina explained.
“They reached a state of crisis. The original umpyrs died and they started to question their path, but it was too late. Fate altered them and now they were dependent upon blood. Their bodies craved it and though it might not give them eternal life, still they drank,” Grigori commented.
“They preferred the blood of innocents. One day, a girl was born. She was the first child to have a set of fangs from the start. Her arm was decorated in gilded crimson roses from shoulder to wrist. She was the Fate-born leader of the umpyrs, though she would never call herself by that title,” Alexei said. “The umpyrs were foolish and cruel. They believed her blood to be the strongest and they all wanted a taste. They regularly fed from her until she was nearly dry. It didn’t stop until she was in her young teens and was able to fight them off. All those years she was deprived of blood, but she was terrified to drink. It was incredible that she managed to survive at all. As immensely powerful as she was, death would find her if she refused her body any longer. When she finally did, it caused her to go from states of confusion to screaming for days, and a myriad of other unwelcome responses because the only people who lived close enough to the river they lived near—in what is now Russia—were all warlocks.”
“What happened to her?” Delaney asked.
“She grew stronger as she aged, and those reactions lessened, but she hated to drink the blood she couldn’t live without. Once she was powerful enough to claim the mantle of leader, she changed her people to vampyrs and punished those that caused such pain. After the worst of them were dead, she packed up and moved their village. They found humans and the vampyrs flourished without magic in their veins. Fate began pairing the lucky ones with those same humans, and young vampyrs were born,” Nikolai said.
“After a few millennia, there were thousands of vampyrs, and the human population around them shrank. Those that weren’t lucky enough to find a vampyr of their own began telling tales of soulless monsters who drained people dry. They embellished the stories of umpyrs to cast themselves as the victims and slowly but surely, as more time passed, the vampyrs became mistrusted. All the while, their leader tried her best for her people,” Grigori supplied.
“Eventually the world around them grew more accepting, and she was able to join the Council of Sorcery and Shifters. At her home where she could keep her tears private, she cried for each life lost due to lack of blood until her amazing young son once again altered the course of what the Council calls vampires,” Irina finished with a grin.
“Wait, you were the girl? You were the first vampyr?” Delaney asked.
“I was. I’m a very old woman. Luckily, she gave me my mate after a few thousand years, but because I’d ruled so long on my own and she didn’t decorate Alexei’s skin as elaborately as she did mine, my people refuse to see him as anything more than my consort,” Irina stated.
“It doesn’t bother me, Irina.”
“Well, it bothers me,” she retorted.
“Thank you for sharing that with me. Your history of perseverance is as beautiful as it is tragic. I wish everyone knew the truth about vampyrs,” Delaney said. His first thought was of Trystan D’Vaire, who loved to write history books. He was the one to shed light on the Sentinel Brotherhood for the rest of the Council to understand. “I hope it’s not too forward of me, but the Reverent Knight’s son is a great author who’s dedicated to educating the Council about races. I’d love to talk to him about writing the story of the vampyrs.”
“As the leader of the Vampyr Clutch, I’d love for someone talented to tell our story. And Del, you can call them vampires. Vampyr’s an ancient word, and we consider the more modern word ‘vampire’ interchangeable,” Irina replied with a smile. She turned to Nikolai. “Of course, umpyr is now a word of honor as well. My sons are determined to help me to do the best for our people.”
“I can understand why you’re worried about Grigori drinking my blood.”
“I think I’d feel better if you weren’t alone for the first time or first couple of times,” Irina said.
Grigori shook his head violently. “Absolutely not. No way. We will not have an audience. I’m not going to even get into this conversation with you. You’re all vampires. You know what happens when you feed from someone. You’re the ones who told me. I’m not sharing that intimacy with anyone. Not happening. No.”
“Calm down, Grigori. We’ll think of something. It’s just as much of a concern for Del as it is for you. The pull of magic will be strong, and you might not realize how much you’ve taken or how long you’ve fed,” Alexei stated. “You haven’t even drank from a human before, and now you’re jumping right to one of the most powerful men on the planet.”
“Well, come up with a new fucking plan, because we’re not going to have an audience. I don’t want to be disrespectful, but I’d consider that interfering in my matebond, and I won’t have it.”
“Okay, love. We’ll go back to the drawing board,” Irina responded gently.
Delaney was not sure what to say or do, so he sat there and let the vampires deal with the issue. In his heart he could not believe Fate would have paired two people who could hurt each other unintentionally just by doing what was needed to keep one of them alive. He was not sure if he thought that because he could not stomach the idea of making Grigori lose his mind some way or if it was equally intolerable to think of his parents being in the room when they got freaky.
After a few minutes of awkward silence, Irina said, “You know, Del, I never forgot you. I often wondered what happened to that little boy with the enigmatic black eyes. I’d think to myself that I should’ve adopted you, but it seemed irresponsible to take you from the wizards.”
Grigori grimaced. “First you want to come into our bedroom. Now you tell me you wanted to make Delsaurus my brother. It would’ve been positively disgusting to think of him that way, then find out he’s my mate when I hit puberty.”
“Especially since you’re four years older than he is,” Nikolai responded with a chuckle.
“I’m calling the Reverent Knights after dinner. Clearly Mom’s trying to destroy my matebond.”
“He never had this p
enchant for drama as a child,” Irina told Delaney. “I hope you don’t mind being stuck with him.”
“Not at all, he’s pretty much perfect.”
“Only pretty much?”
“You did forget our first date,” Delaney teased. He wanted to comment that Greggory licked his balls but since Grigori’s parents were in the room, he refrained.
But apparently Grigori had learned to read his mind because he said, “Don’t you dare bring your beastly little familiar into this.”
Delaney laughed, not at all put off by his attitude about his familiar. The vampire moved cautiously around the D’Vaire mansion as if he was still terrified Greggory would somehow fall from his shoulder and hurt himself. Which was hilarious since Greggory could fly if he lost his balance so there was no way he could be harmed, but Grigori was sweet like that. In fact, he was incredible in every way.
Chapter 19
Grigori climbed under the covers and waited for Delaney, who insisted on changing into pajamas he brought with him for some insane reason. They decided to stay at the Volkov condo since Delaney was still worried over stealing him away from the bosom of his family. In his mate’s mind, somehow staying at his parents’ home reassured them Grigori would always be their son. It was as crazy as it was adorable; Grigori would always be a part of their lives. He loved them, and nothing was going to change that, but he liked knowing it was important to Delaney too. It made him cautiously optimistic that the wizard had strong feelings for him.
He certainly hoped so—he did for Delaney, and it would be a crushing disappointment to be the only one who’d given away his heart. When Delaney emerged from the bathroom, he frowned.
“You aren’t going to wear a shirt to bed?”
Grigori patted the blankets. “Get in here. No, and I’m not wearing pants either.”
Delaney’s scowl deepened but he padded across the room and climbed into bed next to Grigori—only he put about a million miles between them. “I hope you don’t get any ideas.”
Becoming D'Vaire (D'Vaire, Book 11) Page 15
