by Erin R Flynn
“Strangers make me nervous,” I told them honestly. “I don’t like talking to them. A kid in my class is like that too. His mom died. I can do that.”
They didn’t seem to like that, wanting me to act more like Simon was rescuing me and I was sobbing I had a Daddy. Even I knew that was too much.
The moment we arrived at the super fancy house, much fancier than Simon and Tammy’s, a man showed up and said I was to come with him. Alone.
I darted behind Tammy. No way. He scared the crap out of me.
“Sera, it’s okay. This is your grandfather’s butler,” she explained gently.
“No, no more strangers,” I grumbled, not liking the way the guy looked at me. I’d seen too many annoyed looks pointed in my direction.
“We really should go with her,” Tammy tried.
“She can come with me,” a young woman in a nurse outfit offered gently. “I have to help get him to lunch.” She gave me a kind smile. “You okay with me, kiddo?”
I nodded and hesitantly went to her after Simon and Tammy told me it was okay again, that they knew her. The nurse was kind, worried for me when she took my hand. She led me up a huge flight of stairs and down a long hallway before we entered a big room. Everything on the walls was like out of movies. Family paintings and ugly vases that were probably expensive.
Rich people stuff.
“Is this her?” a deep voice asked.
“This is Sera,” she answered him.
“Can’t the girl talk for herself?”
“You asked if ‘this is her,’ though,” I said, studying the old man. He was big but looked like he wasn’t as big anymore. He was sick, that was clear. “People don’t say that if they’re talking directly to you.”
He chuckled. “Aren’t you a smart one?” He glanced at the nurse. “Why did you bring her?”
“The man looked at me like I was a bug. I didn’t want to go with him,” I answered, thinking he really wanted me to again.
“He agitates easily,” he explained, giving a half shrug. “You can go.”
“Yes, sir.”
He waited until the nurse was gone before patting the bed next to him. “Come, sit. We’re family I hear.”
I approached him hesitantly. He might be sick, but his gaze was sharp. Like a big bird who saw too much. I sat the way Tammy had taught me, careful of the dress. It drew attention to the dress, and he snorted, probably getting why they’d put me in it.
“Are you really Simon’s?” he asked gently. I opened my mouth to answer with the lie, wanting the good school and not to be treated like a rejected kid at the home if I was sent back.
Except I saw the hope in his eyes. This wasn’t a game to him. A deal like Simon and I had made. I reached over and took his hand, much to his surprise. He was acting calm, but I could see more so he wasn’t. I felt like a bad girl when I saw how much he hoped it was true, wanting a grandchild more than words.
More than my parents had ever wanted me.
And I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t lie to this nice man. This good man who didn’t want to give money to his son and instead donate it, do good things with his companies before he died.
“If I wasn’t, what would happen to me?” I asked, thinking about what to say carefully. His eyes flashed shock. Yes, I was too smart at my age, I’d heard that all my life. “Do you know kids who get sent back to group homes from foster families are treated like they’re bad kids? It’s bad for them.”
“Is that a fact?” he murmured, studying me closely. “Young kids are easily lied to and believe in things like Santa. But not you, huh?”
“No.”
“You came here knowing what was wanted of you. Why tell me this?”
“You’re a nice man,” I answered honestly. “Simon’s not. He said he’d send me to better schools, and I want that. But he didn’t mean it the first time, planning to send me to a place for bad kids after he got what he wanted. If I don’t do what he wants, do you think he’ll be nice to me? Tell the group home I was bad? What would you do if you were in my place?” I shut my mouth, fear clawing through me now that I’d decided not to trick the man.
“You are something else, kid,” he chuckled after a moment. “I wish to hell you were my grandkid. Anyone would be proud to call you theirs.”
“Not my parents,” I admitted, looking down at my hand holding his. “They left me because I’m a freak.”
“Too smart for them, huh?”
I nodded, not willing to tell the rest.
“You are in a pickle. What are you asking me for? You still haven’t answered my question officially. A DNA test would out you anyways.”
I slowly looked at him. I knew Simon and Tammy planned to fake a test I didn’t understand to say I was really his daughter. But if I told him that, there was no way to explain how I knew that.
“They’ve got a plan for that,” he murmured, studying me and getting that answer from whatever he saw in my eyes. “I can’t take you in, kid. I’m dying. Less than a month left, they tell me.”
“You could tell the home the truth, that it wasn’t me,” I offered.
His eyes flashed shock again. “That’s it? Not the good school you were talking about?”
It was my turn to be shocked. “For what? Telling the truth?”
“Lying would have gotten you that.”
“They told me it was to make you happy. I could lie to be nice,” I said after a few moments. I shook my head. “You don’t want to be lied to. You want me to be family because you met me, and I’m not. That’s not fair to lie then.”
“You are one heck of a kid. I’ve never heard a six-year-old talk like you or act as you do,” he whispered, his eyes seeming proud. I didn’t correct him that I had a month until I was six. Close enough. “Say the words, Sera, and I promise I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
“I’m not your granddaughter,” I blurted, wanting it over with, whatever happened next. “I’m Seraphine Thomas, my parents ran away from me because they think I’m a freak, and I’ve been in a group home for a few months. Simon and Tammy wanted a blonde girl with blue eyes, and I was a good age to pull at your heart strings. That’s what they said.”
“Okay, thank you for telling me the truth,” he whispered, wiping his eyes with his other hand. It hurt me to hurt him, but I didn’t want to lie, especially if he was dying. “I’ll handle everything from here.”
And he did. He called in the butler guy who was nice to me after his boss told him I’d confessed everything and needed help. They called the group home, and someone came for me, much to Simon and Tammy’s outraged complaints. They didn’t treat me like I was bad at the group home.
That time. The other times I was sent back, well, it became a pattern even I couldn’t deny.
I got the shock of a lifetime when I was thirteen. That man who said he would have liked to be my grandfather put me in his will. By then I’d forgotten about the whole thing, so many other foster homes and crazy in my memory. A lawyer came with a social worker, and they found me at school. The will said my high school was to be paid for, whatever fancy, fancy school I wanted and could get into with where I lived.
I wasn’t shocked when the foster family I had at the time tried to take the money, everything from refusing to sign me up for a better school unless they got something out of it, to then trying to get a refund from the school after the lawyer paid them. I met him again when he showed up at the house I stayed at and said he would have them arrested for fraud if they tried anything again.
“Is there anything you need help with, Seraphine?” the lawyer asked me gently, glancing at the horrible people the system had placed me with this time.
“Yes, I need to be emancipated,” I answered after a moment. “A lady from DCFS said I should as soon as I can. I have high school credits already and talked to my guidance counselor about my situation. With what I have and summer classes, I can graduate in two years. I test out of several prerequisites. I should be more years ahe
ad, but so many moves and too many foster parents not taking me to school when I was young, and I lost time I got ahead.”
“I understand. The money bequeathed you is enough for four years. I will take my fees from that, and what’s left I will give you towards your college if you do graduate early. Deal?”
“Yes, please,” I whispered, taking his hand. I was flooded with images of the nice man who’d wanted to be my grandfather. He’d called his lawyer right before he’d died peacefully in his sleep. “Did Simon ever win?”
“No, Simon passed away,” he admitted, his eyes wide. “The companies were taken public, like my friend wanted, and lots of sizeable donations were made, including to your group home in your name. I’m shocked no one ever told you that.”
“No one says much there unless there’s a problem.” I frowned at the first part. “How did Simon die?”
“He and his wife, Tammy, died in a drunk driving accident. His fault. About six years ago.”
“She was nice. That’s sad,” I admitted after I dropped his hand. “She really wanted a daughter, even if I was adopted. He was mean to her that she couldn’t have kids. I remember that. Not much else.”
“You were very young.” He said his goodbyes, and I watched him walk away, still shocked at the turn of events.
And that was the day I learned it was better to tell the truth, even if it meant blurting it out. Hiding things was hurtful, and lying never led to anything good.
Seraphine After Dark
“We need to talk about how you sovereign me,” Goran greeted, looking like he was bracing for impact.
I sighed, trying not to move as Gayle put on the body paint since I was doing the feeding at the club that night. “Why do I think I’ll be naked then too?” I sighed heavier when he nodded. “Can’t you guys just ever have a fucking brunch? Does it always have to be sex stuff?”
His lips twitched, but then he got serious again. “This one’s actually not our fault. Vampires sovereign by blood. You can’t do it that way. The way you do it is sex so… Yeah, not our fault this time.”
“Fine, start with what you normally do.”
He let out a slow breath, scrubbing the back of his neck. “It differs.” He waved me quiet when I opened my mouth. “What you’re basically doing is taking my coven—what will be my coven once I sovereign them all to me—and putting us under your umbrella. So a lot of it depends on the master or mistress. It’s the whole coven acknowledging they’re now under another layer, showing their respect for that.”
I mulled that over for a moment. “Okay, say I was a vampire. How would this normally go?”
He bounced his head around. “I’ve seen assholes demean people. It’s not just you sovereigning me, but normally they share a few drops of blood with each of the coven to show they will give their protection, their power to keep them safe. I once saw a powerful master in Africa take a smaller coven under his umbrella and he had each of the coven drink from his foot, as that was all they were worthy to touch as they were so weak kind of shit.
“But I’ve seen others take it seriously to the point a mistress had each of them drink from her breast, as she would be mother to them all. The setting is entirely up to the person giving the protection. I saw a master make everyone give him oral sex and they could bite after he—”
“Got it,” I interjected.
“No, you don’t because he finished on their naked bodies as he made them strip and on their knees. And stay there in a line as he recovered over and over again, taking days to get through the whole coven.”
“Again, can’t you guys just have fucking brunch?”
“Right?” Gayle muttered, shaking her head as she squatted down to get my legs. “Good to know wolves aren’t the only screwy ones. Not sure why we get kicked so often as being the biggest jerks, but we’re not.”
“Most are overly territorial and aggressive. Others hide behind niceties and polite whatever. I get you, but it’s the instant aggression and sniffing butts people pick on.” I looked at Goran again when she nodded. “Okay, so it’s a group thing. I siren you and they each take a sip? That sounds dangerous for me and them.”
He shook his head. “Each of them have already tried the blood drinks that have your blood in them, and there were no fucked up reactions. They know it’s just a sip, a few drops. It’s not a feed. It would be a huge issue if someone did no matter how tasty. They’re ancient. They’ll know this. We have to call back the brothers though since it’s everyone.”
I felt a shot of fear. “Not—”
“No, those of your ‘coven’ wouldn’t need to be available, as it’s normally done after travel and a whole coven couldn’t go with. However, it is something other masters you have alliances with would attend. Local in your case as well, as you share the region.”
“You want Vlad and my boss to watch us have sex and then all of our vampires bite me? Did I just hear that right?”
“I don’t want this, but I believe you’ve learned trying to skirt certain set ways can have ripples later you don’t want,” he said firmly, easing back when I flinched. “I’m sorry. I know you tried to do what you though best with Engle, and I wasn’t here, but you not doing what everyone else does gave some asshole an opening. I don’t want that, as it’s not just you involved. I’m sorry. I am and I will do my best to make it as painless as possible.”
“I know,” I sighed. “I’m not trying to be a bitch here, Goran, and I don’t blame you. It’s just… None of this is ever easy. I just want an easy fucking thing now and again. Is that really too much to ask?”
“No, no it is not, and I hate to tell you the last part now, but Apollo also wants to attend given the trickiness of the situation and a wolf sovereigning a whole ancient coven under her umbrella.” He sighed when I shot him a look that clearly said nice try . “Fine, yes, he wants to watch us fuck. He wants to see our first time, and it didn’t happen last time since—never mind, you were there. It’s not a bad idea to get it on the record with the council.”
“I’m done, and you’re about to be up,” Gayle warned me as she stuck on my headdress.
I nodded. “Fine, set up whatever and let me know in advance. Try to minimize the fallout and waves, okay? I can’t take any more hits right now. I just can’t.”
“It will be okay, Sera,” he murmured as I walked away, the sadness in his tone feeling like a punch to the gut. He wanted me to be excited, to honor the tradition and even our first time together sort of thing.
All I could see was the potential for pain and shit to backfire as it always seemed to. Maybe doing it by the rules or traditions could limit the amount of shit that landed on me?
Probably not.
Most definitely not.
Damn, I was getting more and more cynical the longer I was a wolf.
Okay, fine, I was always super cynical. I’d probably popped out that way.
I swallowed that feeling down and went with it. We invited Vlad, Monroe, and Councilman Apollo Papadopoulos. Goran handled the guys, making it very clear none of them were invited, as this was going to be hard enough on me. The next problem was where to have it? Of course it was a nice “party,” but I wasn’t going to close the club for that. My house was out because… It just was.
And I sure as fuck wasn’t having it at Vlad’s. Any of his places.
So after a bit of twisting and turning, we were doing it in the club before it opened and would have a special dinner afterwards to celebrate the specialness of it all. Whatever, it was a plan and my siren was thrilled at the attention and flare. She even agreed it was awesome enough to back off me the next couple of months while I dealt with my other issues.
Well, fuck yeah. Apparently I just needed something super big and wild for her to quit pushing. And probably some consistency. She kept waiting for me to crack and starve her again.
That wasn’t really unfair of her.
Our three guests sat at the one table, me in the middle of the dance floor, Goran
’s new “coven” of twenty-four ancient vampires off to the side, and security on standby as lots of ancient vampires were going to be tasting their first siren and that could end really badly. Alok and Tasar had been awkward around me, knowing how Dain was doing and the situation but probably not wanting to get in the middle of it.
Hey, neither did I, but I trusted them for something like this.
Goran came towards me and knelt, holding something out for me. “Seraphine Thomas, I present to you a small token of my appreciation for accepting my coven as yours. As you will care for us, I hope this will show how much we care for you and will treasure you always.”
Great, we were starting off with something he hadn’t told me about. I blinked at him and took the envelope, opening it while still searching his gorgeous orange eyes, feeling only hope and excitement coming off of him. I looked down at the pages and frowned. “You bought me land?”
“Yes, Mistress. A few dozen acres about twenty minutes from where we live. I also hired Milo and his people to save a fairy family of commoners who desperately need rescuing along with a wolf family in the same circumstances. Not a pack, just a family who have no desire for leadership or takeovers. They have agreed to protect the fairies on their new tree farm, as their talent with vegetation is amazing.
“Part of them will be mulberries to help the growing silkworm farm, but the rest will be pine trees.” He smiled when I gave him an even more confused look. “You shined like I’ve never seen before at the idea of having your first real Christmas tree, but while you knew it came from a tree farm, you felt guilty how long the replacement would take to grow.
“That wouldn’t happen with fairies. You could have an even bigger tree. At home, at the club, wherever. A huge one outside for the boys to decorate. Whatever you wanted or whoever you wanted to share with, allow them to sell and not feel guilty about it. I wish my coven to only bring you these sorts of happiness you would not ask for yourself but should always be given to such a wondrous mistress and woman.”