“Nope, not at all,” Utah said with a grin. “I came in here to grab a box of condoms to put in my car now before I forget. Besides, what do you care? I’ve seen you naked plenty of times before. Hell, I used to change your damn diapers, and no matter how old you get, I’ll always be older than you are and I’ll always think of you as the little baby vamp who tried to bite my neck when he was only six months old and I was trying to burp him.” Utah burst into laughter and Dakota joined him. He shook his head as he snatched his towel from off the floor. He lifted the fabric to his nose and gave it a sniff. It didn’t smell too dirty and shrugging, he turned toward the bathroom.
“Oh, gross, man!” Utah said and made gagging noises.
Dakota turned back and looked at him, rolling his eyes. “What?”
“That is so, beyond gross. You know that right?”
“What? It’s still clean. Besides, I’m the only one who uses it,” Dakota pointed out.
Utah shook his head. “It doesn’t matter.” He gestured at Dakota. “You need a fucking keeper. Or a maid.”
Or a mate. Visions of Nimo flashed across Dakota’s mind and pain lanced across his chest like a fiery brand so hard that he gasped and grabbed at his chest. He fell forward, his hand reaching out, grabbing at the doorway. He heard Utah yell his name even as he heard the wood of the doorway splinter in his grasp.
Nimo’s image wavered in his mind before it dissipated and went away completely, only then could Dakota breathe easily again. His vision cleared and he inhaled deeply.
“Holy shit,” he gasped. Looking up, he realized that he was on his knees, the doorway leading to his bathroom now lying in rubble before him. Utah stood next to him, his eyes wide as he stared at him, his phone in his hand and his mouth gaping. Dakota swallowed, his throat suddenly extremely dry, a thirst unlike anything he’d ever experienced before in his life overtaking him and he rubbed at his throat. “What happened?” he asked his brother.
“He’s talking, Dad,” Utah said into the phone. He paused. “Yeah, I think you should still come over.”
“You called Dad?” Dakota gasped.
“Of course I did, you nimrod!” Utah yelled. “You just tore down your fucking wall as if I weren’t even here! You shifted, but your eyes weren’t red, they were black and your claws were red. I’ve never seen anything like it before in my life. It freaked me the fuck out. You bet your sweet ass I called Dad!”
Dakota groaned. He lifted his hands to run his fingers through his hair and stopped when he noticed his nails were jagged and raw. He stared at them and noticed they were taking longer to return to their normal form. His hands started to shake so he dropped them to his knees and looked up at Utah.
“Bro? What the fuck is going on?” Utah asked.
“I met my mate over twenty four hours ago and when I revealed that I was a vampire, he rejected me,” Dakota said softly. “He called me a monster and told me to stay away from him and his son.”
Utah gasped and then relayed the information to their father. Dakota was barely aware of the words that Utah said into the phone after that, too busy figuring out how much time he had left and if it was enough time to get his affairs in order. He felt Utah’s fingers in his hair, tilting his head back moments later and he blinked up at his brother.
“Hey, baby bro? Dad said to get you into the shower and he’d be here in a few minutes to help us sort this whole mess out, okay?” Utah said with a watery smile. Dakota nodded and rose on shaky legs.
“Utah?” he said moments later as they waited for the water to heat up in the shower.
“Yeah, Dak?” Utah responded.
“Isaiah, my mate’s son is a forziq, did I tell you that?” Dakota said.
“What?” Utah asked. He sounded even more horrified and afraid than he had moments before.
“Yeah, but I’m going to tell you the same thing I told Arizona. He is your nephew so you have to protect him with your life. He’s my son, so you can’t kill him,” Dakota said solemnly.
“No, no, of course I wouldn’t kill him, Dak. He’s just a kid,” Utah protested. “And you know that no matter what Arizona said he wouldn’t either. He’d talk about it and plot it for years until Isaiah was an adult and then he would do it.”
Dakota chuckled. “Yeah, but it wouldn’t change the fact that Isaiah would still be my kid. Even when he is an adult. No. Hands off. Always.”
Utah nodded. “Got it. Protect the forziq.”
Dakota smiled. “Good job.” Steam started to rise from the shower and Dakota sighed. “I wish I could call Nishon so I could see him just one more time.”
“Nishon?” Utah asked.
Dakota nodded. “My mate.” He sighed happily. “The most beautiful man in the world. Nishon Moore. A professor over at the university. He teaches mythology there. I Googled him. He’s fucking amazing. I couldn’t find out where he lives or what his number is though. But I wish I could have. I just want to see him or hear his voice one more time because this whole dying of thirst thing is happening a lot quicker than two weeks. I think we were lied to, Utah,” he said, feeling a little loopy. He wondered if this was how it felt to die of thirst, you got loopy first and then you died in your sleep.
“No, we weren’t. You feel this way because you slept for so long, and then you ripped into a wall, and hit your head while you were doing it. Plus, you haven’t been able to drink blood from anyone since meeting your mate. We’re working on that though. Don’t worry, Dak.”
Dakota nodded and opened the door to his shower and stepped inside. He loved his shower. He’d had it custom made for his large frame. It was big enough to fit three adult-sized males inside of it. There were four showerheads inside. One in front, one on either side and one in the ceiling. Taking a shower was an experience and more than once he’d escaped and just stood within it just to get his head together.
Which is what he did in that minute.
As the hot water sluiced over his body, he thought of his situation with Nishon and Dakota knew that while his mate had told him to stay away, it was Nishon’s fear that had issued the demand and he hadn’t actually meant it. It was up to Dakota to show the human that they were meant for each other. Dakota didn’t have much time; he had to go through with his plan to seduce the sweet human.
He was yanked out of his musings by the sound of his father’s loud voice coming from the bathroom doorway.
“Your mate’s son is a forziq? My grandson is a forziq? Well, no wonder. The blood-bond always occurs faster for vampires that are blood-bonded in some way with forziqs. And as for the human, we will deal with that matter as soon as you get out of the shower.”
Dakota stood in the shower listening to his father, covering his genitals and feeling like a young vamp all over again.
“Well Dakotavitch, do not dawdle,” his father said and Dakota winced at his father’s use of his full Romanian name. “Come on out of there.”
“Tată, I cannot come out while you’re still in my bathroom,” Dakota pointed out.
Decebal scoffed. “I am your father. There is no part of your body that I have not seen naked and yet you do not want me to see you step out of the shower? What sense does this make?”
Dakota groaned. “Tată, it is completely different now. I am a man,” he protested. He knew he was pouting but didn’t care. He was a big boy now! He heard his father’s deep chuckle seconds before his footsteps moved away from the doorway. Breathing a sigh of relief, Dakota turned off the water in the shower, opened the shower door and stepped out. Grabbing a towel, he briskly dried off and wrapped the terrycloth fabric around his waist before walking into his bedroom.
He heard the sound of his father’s voice in his living room and relaxed for only a moment before the cacophony of all of his brothers’ voices in response greeted him. Even Arizona’s voice was heard and Dakota froze in the middle of getting dressed.
“Fuck,” he breathed.
“Yeah, we’re all here, Dak,” Kansas, another of
his older brothers called out from the living room. “So there’s no sense in you even considering trying to hide out or running because we’ll just chase you down and catch you. Finish getting dressed and meet us out here.”
Dakota groaned and finished dressing. Running his fingers through his wet hair, he glanced at his face in the mirror over his dresser and gasped at the face that stared back at him. His face appeared worn and weary. He looked as if he’d been without blood for weeks instead of a day. He shook his head and turned to walk out of his bedroom.
He walked into his living room and grimaced when he saw all of his brothers sitting around the room with his father, all in different states of dress. Arizona, the oldest and Chief of Medicine at the hospital, was dressed in a pair of grey slacks with a dark blue button down shirt and his white lab coat which meant he was either on his way to the hospital or had been at the hospital and left it for this family meeting. His short black hair in a military buzz cut emphasized his square jaw that always seemed to be clenched, and his classic Sevion hazel eyes always seemed to be cold and angry. Dakota wasn’t exactly sure what had happened to his oldest brother to make him so hard but he’d always been that way.
Michigan reclined in one of the chairs, his black hair streaked with gray, was dressed in a leather jacket and a pair of low slung jeans, his boots on his feet. His hands were folded and rested on his chiseled abs as he smirked at Dakota. Michigan was a Diagnostician at the hospital and loved to tell people that the show House was based on him. Michigan often seemed to be laid back, without a care in the world and more than once he and Arizona had engaged in heated debates about Michigan’s future, but Dakota knew that Michigan had life insurance, his home was completely paid for, he had a savings account, he already had a college fund for whatever children he planned to adopt and he had a 401(k). Michigan was a lot more responsible than the image he projected to everyone.
Washington leaned against the wall, dressed in a pair of khakis and a blue polo shirt, a far cry from his usual three piece business suits, his black hair cut and styled professionally and tapered off at the nape of his neck. He had his trusty legal pad out and seemed to be making a list on it. No doubt he was weighing pros and cons on it, figuring out a way to best approach Nimo and help Dakota bond with the man. Washington was the hospital’s lawyer and he was a damn good one, but Dakota often worried about his brother’s need to always make sure everyone was happy and at peace. While vampires weren’t susceptible to human diseases he wasn’t so sure Washington wouldn’t end up getting an ulcer with all the worrying that he did.
Carolina bumped fists with Dakota when Dakota sat down next to him, and Dakota relaxed somewhat. Even though Carolina worked in Obstetrics at the hospital he didn’t use that as an excuse to act like a baby. Though he did gush over them. More than once he’d come to Dakota’s home to talk about ultrasounds and sonograms that he’d performed that day. Once he’d shown up over the moon that one of his patients had found out she was pregnant with sextuplets. Weeks later, Dakota had held Carolina when he’d bawled his eyes out after the woman had lost a couple of the babies. Carolina may have been built like a linebacker but he was easily one of the most sensitive Sevion men.
Utah came and sat down on the couch next to Dakota and Dakota grunted when his older brother instantly pulled him into a headlock. Utah was a big kid and Dakota always appreciated the time he spent with the older man, but he knew the rest of the family sometimes worried about him. Utah seemed to never want to grow up. His wavy black hair that fell to the middle of his cheeks seemed to always be mussed and even though he was a Neurologist at the hospital, he wore T-shirts and shorts whenever he got a chance. Like right now. He was in a pair of basketball shorts and a T-shirt that said “I don’t need you to pull my finger to let one rip.” Dakota was probably the only one who knew that Utah spent his free time working with different environmentalist and philanthropist groups and the nice, shiny, convertible he drove around was actually a hybrid.
Michigan’s twin, Jersey, sat next to their father on one of the overstuffed leather couches in Dakota’s large living room, looking like a stocky blocker for the New England Patriots, dressed in his signature pair of designer jeans and button up shirt. His black hair was short on top and shaved on both sides and his shrewd hazel eyes missed nothing that was going on in the room. Dakota figured it was because Jersey was a Cardiologist. Jersey was used to having to watch every little detail that was going on to make sure nothing affected his work with the heart, and it often rolled over into his personal life. Jersey didn’t talk much. He sat back at most family meetings and listened which is what he did at that moment when their father started speaking.
“As you all know, I called you all over here because Dakotavitch has found his sufletul pereche. From the information I have received from him, Arizona, Utah, Carolina, Michigan and Washington, his name is Nishon Moore, whose nickname is Nimo, he is a single father, with a three-year old son named, Isaiah, whose nickname is Zay. Isaiah is a forziq.”
Dakota watched as his other brothers gasped and began talking frantically amongst themselves. He stood to his feet quickly and glared at them all. “I just want you all to know, that no one is going to harm one hair on my son’s head,” he told them.
“But your sufletul pereche rejected you,” Arizona pointed out and though he didn’t sound as if he were teasing or mocking Dakota about that, the words were like acid across his wounded heart and Dakota hissed, grabbing his chest. His legs shook and the room began to spin.
“Grab him!” Decebal’s words snapped out quickly and Dakota felt someone’s hands on him, lowering him back down onto the couch.
“What’s wrong with him?” Colorado asked. Colorado was one of Dakota’s biggest brothers. He was a General Practice doctor. Lived his life wearing nothing but jerseys and jeans, with long, curly black hair to the middle of his back. Colorado was always traveling or going to the theater whenever he had some free time and trying to drag one of them along with him when he went. None of them liked to go with him though. Not because they were not as cultured but because inevitably when they went with him Colorado would meet up with some guy or girl, twins, triplets, quads, whomever, and would abandon his sibling or siblings to go off to have sex. Repeatedly. Though Colorado identified as gay and mostly slept with men, when the urge struck him, he would sleep with whatever warm body he could find and abandon whomever was with him in order to do it.
Once, when Dakota was fourteen, just a baby vampire, Colorado, one hundred years old, which was about twenty-four in the vampire world, convinced their parents to let him take Dakota to Miami for a week. They’d been there for two days, having fun at the beach and shopping when Colorado met up with this fraternity. He’d ordered pizza, wings, soda, bought movies and toys for Dakota and told him to stay in the hotel room then left with the frat boys for another two days. When he came back he’d regaled Dakota with tales about how he’d fucked his way across, around, up, down, in and out of the fraternity. Dakota told him about how he’d cried himself to sleep the first night and then how he’d called their parents that morning. Decebal and Adelina had arrived hours later and left Colorado in Miami, but had taken Dakota home. Dakota hadn’t talked to Colorado for weeks after and while their relationship was fine now, it was still a bit strained.
“The mate bond between Dakota and Nishon began to form and strengthen a lot quicker than it would have for any of you because of Isaiah. It is to help make sure that the forziq has protection. Since Dakota was denied, the thirst is overtaking him much sooner. No doubt his sufletul pereche is suffering similar withdrawals,” Decebal told them.
“So we need to get them together and quickly,” Michigan reasoned.
Arizona interjected, “Or we need to kill the forziq.”
Everyone stared at Arizona in shock and horror. Decebal walked over to Arizona and slapped him hard across the face. “Your mamă and I raised you better than that. We do not slaughter the innocent. We especially
do not kill children and family is off-limits unless they have gone rogue.”
“But Tată he is a forziq!” Arizona protested.
“I don’t care if he is the diavol himself!” Decebal said, referring to the Romanian belief of the devil, the ultimate being of evil incarnate. “He is a child. He is your nephew. You will protect him with your life.” Decebal sighed and grabbed Arizona’s face in his hands. “Arizona, he is not Mihai. You must stop comparing all forziqs to the one who so viciously hurt you.”
Arizona glared at their father before looking at them all and jerking his face out of Decebal’s hands, he spun on his heel and turned to leave the room. Dakota winced as his front door slammed behind Arizona. He looked over at his father, surprised at the tears that filled his father’s eyes.
“Tată?” he asked cautiously.
Decebal shook his head. “Your brother is hurting, Dakotavitch. He fell in love when he served in the Marines, the man was a forziq and he badly hurt Arizona. I am afraid the saying that hurt people, hurt people, is very true. As much as I would like to believe that my son would not hurt my grandson, I am not so sure.” He sighed and Dakota could see just how old his father truly was. At over a thousand years old, his father was very old, and for the first time, he looked it.
Dakota Page 4
