Page 87 of Prince with a Chance of Darkness

"What?" he asked.

"You have paint in your hair.”

“I am aware,” he said with a grunt. “It is my demon’s fault.”

It is an improvement over the man-bun, said the demon.

“And you have it on your cheek." She set down her brush and approached him, reaching up to touch the spot. "Right here."

His demon bounced around him like a puppy at her proximity. Four weeks of having her back in his life had donenothing to diminish the effect she had on him. If anything, the pull was stronger.

Tell her to touch us—all over, said the demon.Or let us touch her. Last night, we only made love to her three times. We can do better.

"Your hair's coming loose," Mina said, reaching up to tuck a strand that had escaped the tie behind his ear.

The things he did for love. Six hundred years of commanding armies, striking fear into the hearts of his enemies, and now he was painting a study.

“Nice hair, Dad!" Temperance's voice carried from the doorway. "Way to go full-on basic dad bun.”

He turned to face her, arching one brow. "I do not know what that means, but I sense mockery."

She grinned, the expression so like her mother's it made his chest ache. "Me? Mock you? Never." She pulled out her phone and snapped a picture before he could stop her. “Sending this to Uncle Jonathan.”

"You will do no such thing," he said, trying to sound stern.

Mina laughed, the sound making his chest ache with love. "Leave your father alone. I happen to like his hair like that.”

"He still stuck on wanting to build a castle here?" Temperance asked, rolling her eyes. “You can take the count out of the Middle Ages, but you can’t take the Middle Ages out of the…”

“Temperance,” scolded Mina, even though she was laughing. “Don’t pick on him. He means well.”

“Mom, I heard him talking to Lucian about having a moat dug,” Temperance said, her eyes wide.

“A moat would help protect the home from a siege,” Vlad muttered, returning to his painting.

"No moat," both women said in unison.

He couldn't help but smile, even as he pretended to focus intently on the wall. Having them both here, safe and whole, made him feel whole. But this house was not secure enough to be long-term. Not with who he was and the enemies he’d made over his long life. He had not told Mina yet that he’d already broken ground on the new home. It would be near Bram and Jonathan. There was safety in numbers.

The Weird Sisters knew. They were overseeing the build and probably snacking on the builders.

Temperance rushed into the room with her bag in hand. “Hannah texted. She and Uncle Jonathan are out front.”

“Have fun at the movies with them,” said Mina as Temperance kissed her cheek.

Temperance came to him next. She went to her tiptoes and kissed his cheek.

He hugged her.

“You sure you don’t want to go? It will get you out of painting,” said Temperance. She grinned. “Plus, Uncle Jonathan is going to die when he sees the man bun in person.”

Mina laughed. “Go on. They’re waiting. Behave and stay close to Jonathan. Elis, Austin, Dwayne, and Dave are going too, right?”

Temperance nodded. “And your ex-boytoy, Professor Jekyll. I cannot believe my mom was doing her college professor when she was only a little older than I am now.”

Vlad squeezed the handle of the roller too tightly, and it bent. He had to put it down quickly to avoid getting paint all over the hardwood floor.

Temperance ran out, laughing as she went.

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