Page 26 of Tainted Blood

“Are you brothers?” I asked without thinking.

“As humans and vampires,” Lucas confirmed, smiling a bit as he studied me. “Aelia met us while we fought for Rome.”

“I’m the elder,” Maxwell added, his chest puffing out. “As a human and vampire.”

“By two years as a human and three months as a vampire. He’ll never let me forget it.”

“Siblings are like that,” I said, thinking of my own brother. He and I used to have those discussions. I was always the more responsible one, and he was the eldest, something he would always use.

“You have one?”

I wanted to curse as I realized I had walked into that. I didn’t want them to know personal information about me. None of them could be trusted.

“A brother,” I answered, knowing it would be rude to ignore the question after they’d answered mine.

“Everly’s family worked for Jacob and his nest for several generations,” Alexius added. “Since the permanent closure of that nest, the humans who once worked there have been given employment away from our kind for their troubles. They aren’t to be bothered.”

“Understood,” Maxwell said, bowing his head in respect. “I would never dare to harass mortals under your protection, Alexius.”

“Agreed,” Lucas confirmed, also bowing his head.

“I raised two very good men,” Aelia added as she walked closer. “Why don’t we sit down and let Miss Everly relax instead of keeping her on her feet?”

“I’m fine now, ma’am,” I said quickly, sheepish from the attention, hoping I didn’t blush from people turning to see what was happening at the door. It was half a lie. My throat still burned, but being able to focus on conversation made it easier to ignore my thirst and the smell of blood saturating the room.

“I should mingle,” Isaiah said with a smile, stepping away from the group.

“We’ll sit down. Thank you for the offer,” Alexius agreed, tapping my elbow where no one could see, and went toward one of the last empty booths. I followed, keeping close to him as people watched, even as they continued their own conversations. Alexius positioned me to sit in the booth first, putting himself on the outside. Aelia and her sons sat opposite of us, Aelia in the middle, her hands resting on the table.

“I never thought I would see you raising a vampire,” she said casually, pointing at me. As she spoke, a human brought over five glasses, all empty, placing them in front of each of us. Aelia shook her head, and so did her sons. Alexius did the same, and the human looked at me last.

“No thank you,” I said, swallowing as the young man’s loud heartbeat echoed in my head. The human seemed surprised by whatever I did but left us there.

“So polite to the staff,” Aelia murmured, her eyes on me.

“She used to be the staff,” Lucas pointed out to his sire. “For Jacob.”

“That’s right…” Aelia nodded, turning her inscrutable gaze back to Alexius. “So, why have you decided to raise a new vampire?”

“I’m not….raisingher,” Alexius answered, as if the word left a bad taste in his mouth.

“What do you mean by that? You have a young vampire in your care, and you are doing everything you’re supposed to be doing.”

“We have an agreement,” I said, wondering if I could help explain. “He’s training me, teaching me about being a vampire—”

“Raising you,” Aelia repeated.

“And I work for him,” I finished. “He’s my boss. He offered me gainful employment when I finished Turning. I help him with his work in exchange for that education. He’s not my sire, and I don’t want him acting as if he is.”

“If she wants to leave my employment and my household, I am willing to find her a safe nest to continue to adjust to this life and never bother her again if she wishes it,” Alexius continued. “Effectively, we have more of a relationship akin to… a Master and a new vampire, who happens to be in the nest and doesn’t have another proper teacher.”

“I see…” Aelia leaned back, putting her hands in her lap, studying us. “For some reason, I expected more of a sire and offspring relationship here, but… Well, if you had wanted a new child, you would have just Turned her, and that’s not what you did.”

“Correct.”

“That means she’s free to be poached,” Aelia pointed out. “The offers of employment you might receive… They could be grand. With such attention from Alexius and Isaiah, not to mention your history with vampires as a human in Jacob’s now defunct nest… What did you do for him? What do you do for Alexius? I can’t imagine there are many jobs that you can do safely with someone such as him.”

I looked at Alexius, wondering if he was okay with me mentioning any of that. He nodded, his eyes pinned on Aelia.

---