“She’ll learn, Jason. Give her time. Sasha’s not had her long. Though”—he winked at Tatiana—“you could help with that. You know, show her how to get along and be ‘normal.’ You and Sasha hung out for years doing all kinds of human stuff and all, so I’m sure you’d be a great big-brother type for her to learn from.”
Jason frowned as he looked up from his Coke. “Um, she has a big b-brother already. Sasha. R-Remember?”
Cocking his head to side, Trace blinked at Jason. “She can’t have more than one? Once upon a time, I had three brothers and two sisters, so I know families can have more than two children.”
“Well, of course they can. Not everyone is an only child like I am, but—” He leaned in and lowered his voice. “—a vampire princess does not need a human acting like a big brother for her. She has a proper adoptive brother already. Someone that would be up to her—” He rolled one hand as he frowned. “—standards.”
A fry thumped Jason dead center in his forehead, startling him and drawing Trace’s attention. “What the hell?”
Tatiana sat smirking at Jason, brushing salt off her fingers, somehow still appearing completely prim and proper even in her surroundings. “Thank you for your attention, boys.”
“Wha— Why did you do th-that?” Jason snapped.
Trace sat back, trying not to laugh at how indignant his friend looked.
“Shouldn’t I get a say in if I think you’re up to my—how did you put it? Oh yes, standards.”
“Well, yes, but I don’t get what his point is.”
“No, you don’t want to get it. Are you really that hung up on Sasha being a prince? I thought, from what he’s told me about you, that you got over that and you two were as close as brothers, and that he was uncle and godfather to your son. Surely that means what Trace said made sense.”
“Jason?” When Jason turned and met Trace’s gaze, he continued. “If Sean calls Sasha uncle, then wouldn’t Tatiana be Sean’s aunt? Think about it carefully.”
“Well… um….” He took a deep breath and pulled out his cell. After typing on it a few moments and getting a reply, he frowned. “It would seem the answer is yes, she is.”
Trace couldn’t help but laugh at the disgruntled look on Jason’s face and the bright smile on Tatiana’s. “So says your husband? Yes?”
“Yes. He said, and I quote, ‘Of course she is. Your brother adopted her. Duh.’” He flopped back in his seat. “What the hell? How did I get a brother and a sister, and when? Why didn’t anyone tell me this?”
“You’re a wonderful friend and human, but you’re also a bit of a ditz, Jason. You’ve called Sasha that for years. You told me he was family when we first met. How is it you didn’t know he was family, then?”
“Well, yeah, family, but like family and really family isn’t the same thing.”
Tatiana looked over to Trace and asked, “Is it a human thing to not accept being part of a built family?”
He didn’t know, as he had never fully accepted Duncan basically adopting him after his family had turned on him with the whole Ford issue. “No, I think it has to do with not seeing yourself as worthy of being included. Dammit, I need to talk to Duncan now.”
They both stared at him. “Huh?”
“What?”
“Nothing. Look, the point, Jason, is that yes, you’re family. You are my brother-in-law, whatever terminology vampires have that matches up. She’s my sister-in-law. Same deal. As much as I fought being Sasha’s mate, I have not only a mate but a family now, and that includes you, Sean, Alpha Keith… which is weird to think about—”
Just then Jason and Trace’s cells rang.
Trace pulled his out and slid the little green phone icon to the right. “Hello.”
“This is Taylor.” Why on earth is Keith’s sister calling me? “The doctors just called a meeting, so we’re calling everyone in now. Get here as soon as you can. They have news about Sean.”
Trace’s heart raced, and the reinforced case to his phone groaned as he clutched it tight. “Is he okay?”
“As far as I know, yes. Just get here soon, ’kay? I don’t know what they want to say, but even Sasha, Dimka, and Summer are specifically being called. Hurry.”
She clicked off, leaving Trace to stare down at the now-dark cell. What the hell?
“Um…? Jason?” Trace looked over, and Jason looked twice as worried as Trace thought he probably did, though that only seemed right, as Sean was his son. “Come on. I’ll drive.”
They all grabbed their personal items, stood, and headed for the door, their guards quickly joining them, Summer in the lead, Sloane bringing up the rear. As they headed across the crosswalk, a car ran the red light and sideswiped a huge truck, throwing it into their path. Trace didn’t have time to do more than shove Tatiana forward before the truck collided. Pain radiated out from his right side as he went airborne until he impacted something and the world went dark.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
SASHA PACED the currently cramped living room of Jason and Keith’s usually spacious home, unsure what to do or where to turn. They had stabilized Trace on the drive to Jason’s—thank the Goddess—and he was already healing, though slowly. He was curled up in lynx form on a small bed they’d brought in, with tubes pumping him full of things to help.
However, Jason wasn’t waking up. Even when they gave him transfusions of Keith’s blood, they couldn’t get Jason’s injuries under control. Taylor, a nurse in the human world, was helping the two doctors as they tried to heal Jason, but when Sasha looked over at Keith again, he feared he would lose his friend and brother. Keith was unraveling, not that Sasha felt much better.
“Someone do something!” he bellowed when Jason cried out again.
“We’re trying, sir,” Dr. Niko replied as he and Dr. Lili kept working. “His internal organs are trying to shut down due to the extreme amount of damage.”
“You should have taken him to the human hospital. He’s human.”
“Respectfully, shut up. The only reason he’s made it this long is the alpha’s blood. The human hospital couldn’t have given him that. Now leave us be unless you plan to bring him over.” Niko didn’t pause, just kept working, checking and doing who knew what.
Keith continued to make little wounded-animal sounds anytime Jason came to enough to make any kind of noise. Otherwise he paced and looked ill—pretty much matching what Sasha was doing. His only deviation was to check on Trace, who thankfully rested peacefully.
Hours later, though he had no clue how many—time had lost meaning by that point—Dr. Niko came over and asked to speak to Keith and Sasha.
“What’s going on? How’s he doing?” Keith asked, his skin pale, his face wet, and his eyes bloodshot.
“We’ve done everything we can, even with the extra healing Keith’s blood can provide. It’s simply not enough. Jason has slipped into a coma, and his body is slowly continuing to lose ground. I’m sorry. If I had access to organs to transplant and we could be certain they would even be compatible…. But it would require multiple, plus there’s damage to the heart and the spinal cord.”
Sasha barely managed to catch Keith as he crumbled at the doctor’s words. Of course a part of him wanted to join Keith on the floor, but someone had to take care of Jason’s husband.
“There has to be something,” Sasha pleaded, not caring how he sounded. “He can’t die. He’s too young!”
“My liege, at this point, there is only one way to save your human, but as he’s bound to a shifter….”
Keith snapped his head up at the same time a chorus of “what?” rang through the room.
“That’s not my choice to make.” Oh Goddess, I think I’m going to be sick! He’d never made a vampire, though he knew how and had the right, as the prince. But the only human he’d ever offered to bring over turned him down—Jason’s grandfather.
“It’s also against the treaty pact you made with the tribe,” Taylor snapped even as Sasha’s head spun. Li
ke he cared about the damn pact! Jason and Trace were all he cared about, and Trace was healing just fine, no thanks to the truck that had hit both males. But Jason… no, no, no!
Somehow, though he couldn’t have said how, Sasha wound up sitting on the floor beside Keith, his head in his hands, his wet hands. At some point a fuzzy face pushed into his lap, letting out a soft mew. He pulled his hands away and looked down to see Trace. Trace had hobbled over and was wiggling into his lap.
“Sweetheart, you shouldn’t be moving around so much. You need to heal.”
“Mew, huff.”
“Yeah, I still don’t speak kitty, hon.”
A moment later a very naked and battered Trace was sprawled across Sasha’s lap. Trace curled against Sasha, nuzzling his face against the crook of Sasha’s neck.
Tatiana had stayed out of the way the entire time but now came over with a blanket and tucked it around Trace. “Um, I don’t mean to be rude, but as I’m new here, I don’t know what pact you spoke of earlier. Why can’t Sasha save his brother and your alpha mate? The last Chosen had a vampire for a mate, so it’s not against your laws, surely. Nadia was bonded to Orin, after all.”
“He promised not to,” Taylor said. “Though….” She swallowed hard as she stared down at her brother, who looked more like a broken toy than the powerful Chosen of Baast alpha he was. “That was meant in the seduce-unwitting-humans-into-becoming-vampires way, not the save-one-of-our-own kind of way.”
Sasha shook his head slowly. “He can’t make that choice in his condition, and I don’t have that right. He doesn’t even truly see me as family.”
“But Keith could,” she countered.
Blinking slowly, Sasha turned to face Keith. Could he ask Keith to make that choice for Jason, and did they still have enough time? Jason was still alive—barely. He could still bring him over…. But would Jason forgive him? Would Keith be able to accept Jason changed like that? “Keith?”
“Daddy?” a sleepy voice said from the other side of the room.
Oh Gods! Sean had slipped out of his room and gotten past the guards.
Keith beat them all to Sean, scooping up his son and crushing him to his chest. His bloodshot eyes met Sasha’s as he pressed Sean’s head against his chest. “Save my mate. Please.” He then buried his face in Sean’s hair.
“Keith?” Taylor asked.
“Where’s Papa?” Sean mumbled.
Taylor slumped her shoulders, but she turned to Sasha and nodded. He didn’t immediately go to Jason, though, turning to Trace instead. He was the other concern. Sasha had promised not to do anything without Jason’s permission, and this would be with Keith’s, not Jason’s. “Trace?”
“It’s not my call to make.”
“I made you a promise, love, so yes, it is.”
“No, it’s not. It’s my alpha’s. Jason is his mate. If he is willing to accept you turning his mate, then that is the only voice that matters. Go save our alpha mate.”
Sasha swallowed hard, terrified of the possible outcome. He would get to keep Jason—something that thrilled him more than anyone but possibly Keith would understand—but he wasn’t sure how Trace would see him after. His fated heart still had issues with some of Sasha’s more vampiric nature at times, though things were much better.
He held the words of faith and love Trace had said not so long ago to his heart, then crossed his emotional fingers and called for everyone to leave except Keith. Trace refused to leave as well… of course. At least he stayed on the other side of the room.
Sasha lifted the battered and broken man he had come to love as one of his own into his arms. He took in his features and how his heart struggled to keep beating. “I’m so sorry, my friend, my brother. I hope you will forgive me my weakness, but I can’t let you go. We can’t let you go.”
He then bent and sank his fangs into Jason’s throat, draining him until he was at the very cusp before laying him back down.
“Keith, come here and assist. I want you to use your claw to make the cuts used to allow my blood to return Jason’s life and health to him.”
Sasha guided Keith in making the cuts over Jason’s heart, deep enough to let Sasha’s blood enter his heart. Once they were made, Sasha cut his wrist and let the blood soak the wound and enter Jason’s chest cavity. The blood moved sluggishly at first, but as it continued to pour into him, the flow strengthened, and eventually the cuts closed on their own. When that happened, Sasha brought his wrist to his mouth to close the slit he’d had to reopen more than once.
Suddenly Jason seized and then stopped moving, even his heart. Keith, being a shifter with advanced hearing, noticed and panicked. It took Sasha time to calm him, but eventually he got physical control of him, and after repeating, “This is just part of the process, he’ll be fine,” Keith calmed enough to release him.
“He’s dead,” Keith whispered.
“No, not really. Think of it more as, um… a reset.”
“How long?” Trace asked as he finally approached. “How long will Jason be ‘not dead’ like this?”
“I need to take him to the covenstead. He will awaken at sunset, starving. But he will still be Jason, just like I’m Sasha. He’ll need a little extra care to adjust, but he will be okay and be able to return to his life here. We will both have to claim him, Keith. I can’t have a rogue vampire, especially one I brought over, running around in my territory and not have him officially be a part of my coven.”
“Mine,” Keith growled as he glared at Sasha.
“Ours, actually. But he’s always been that, just in different ways. The only thing that changes is he will need blood once in a while, and he has official membership in both our clubs now.”
“And his life span.”
“True,” Sasha said and shrugged. “But then, as you’re bonded to him, it does the same to yours. As Tatiana said: it’s like when my sister bonded to Orin. But this time no one will hunt my family and take them from me.” He wouldn’t let that happen again. This time the lynx would have their immortal Chosen and vampire alpha mate, and he would have his family intact!
“You can’t take him,” Keith countered as if the last part hadn’t been said.
“I have to, Keith. Your tribe isn’t set up to handle a fledgling awakening. It’s like when a teen vampire first comes into their fangs and abilities… other vampires are needed, or someone could be killed. You can come to the mansion, but we need to leave.” He wasn’t going to get into how young he’d been when his powers first appeared or that Jason was likely to be a little “more” because of being sired by him. Not right then at least.
“But Sean….”
“Can come. He’ll just have to stay away from Jason until we make sure he’s stable. It usually doesn’t take long for the hunger to settle. The fact he’s a brought over instead of one that’s matured might change things a little. We’ll see.”
“I…. Trace?” Keith looked from Jason’s body to Trace with wide, pleading eyes.
“I’ll go with you and make sure Sean is cared for, Alpha. But you made this choice for Jason. You have to see it through now.”
Keith nodded and gently wrapped Jason up as if he were sleeping and lifted him into his arms. He then walked out to his car, ignoring everyone.
Sasha turned to Trace. “Please get Sean and whatever you think they will need from here. It might be a couple of days. And… thank you.” With that he followed Keith outside. He waited at his car, unable to process what had just happened. Jason, Trace, the turning, the pain, and dammit, he still didn’t know what the doctors had wanted in the first place.
JASON SAT in one chair, and Keith stood beside him holding Sean as Trace watched the room fill with the others Sasha had invited to the meeting. It took a week, but Jason was stable, and Keith and Sasha had decided it was time to bring everyone together with the doctors again. This time they were meeting in Sasha and Trace’s sitting room at the covenstead. Sasha sat in his overstuffed leather chair with Trace at his fe
et—by his choice. Sasha was a little surprised at the choice, considering some of the additional visitors that day, but he would never deny Trace anything. Both doctors, the guards, Taylor, Tatiana, Duncan, and of course Vance, Chance, and Kelley were there. The room had never had so many people in it, not that Trace had seen, and it wasn’t really the right size, as it was a bit cramped. But it was private and secure.
“Thank you for all coming, and I do apologize for the unusual setting,” Sasha said, nodding to the lynx. Trace smiled and curled a hand around Sasha’s ankle. “Since Jason has been staying here, I thought it easier to meet here, and I know everyone is eager to hear what the doctors have to say. Niko. Petronia.”
Dr. Niko gave a short bow and stepped forward. “Thank you. We have more we’d like to work on, but we believe we’ve found the key to why your son can shift, Alpha Keith. You fed Jason your blood and were….” He flicked his gaze to Sean for a moment. “Intimate with him just before he sired Sean, yes?”
Keith nodded. “Yes, you know that already.”
“And that wasn’t the only time you gave him blood. We believe that the theory Trace put forward is correct. The trials we’ve run back that what’s in your blood should have just enough effect on your mate to temporarily count. It’s difficult to explain without a blend of magical and medical terminology.”
Dr. Lili added, “What it means is that for a short time, Jason had enough of what makes us shifters running in his system to let Sean be a shifter. Well, to be enough shifter to shift. He’s not pure shifter, but he can shift, and being the bit he got through Jason carried the tag of a Chosen, he will still be powerful when he matures, we believe. Possibly be an alpha, in truth.”
“That part we won’t know until he’s older, though,” Niko said, his brows drawn together. “We also can’t guarantee if it will help non-Chosen who mate with humans have shifter children instead of human ones.”
“Though it might.” Lili seemed just as frustrated as Niko. Huh, guess neither liked not knowing things.
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