Page 13 of Becoming D'Vaire
“I’m a freak too,” Delaney confessed. “I’ve always felt that way.”
“Then it’s a good thing you became a D’Vaire.”
A rush of emotions flowed through Delaney, a mix of joy and anticipation. He just might fit into D’Vaire. They were not going to overlook his differences and decide he was cool despite them. Everyone in this giant house was like him, and they celebrated it. For the first time in sixteen years, he found a glimmer of hope that he could have a family. Something he’d secretly desired but thought too far out of his reach. “Vadimas told me I should fill out your application. I’m so glad I did.”
“We are too, Delaney,” Aleksander said with a wink. “Welcome to the family.” Greggory gave out a little growl which made Aleksander chuckle. “Same goes to you, little dragon.”
Chapter 5
Present Day
Vampyr Lord Grigori Volkov poured a small amount of crimson liquid into a test tube as he grabbed an eye dropper with one gloved hand. He popped the rubber lid off a beaker sitting next to him and drew two precious drops out. Satisfied he had enough, he carefully placed the top back on and mixed the chemicals together. Through his safety goggles, he waited anxiously to see if the solution separated. He’d been working for years on perfecting his synthetic blood to remove any dependency on the real deal and was getting tantalizingly closer with each new formula, but his progress had stonewalled.
A clear layer nearly invisible to the naked eye formed at the top of the mixture and Grigori swore. It was back to the drawing board. With a sigh, he dumped the contents of his blend out. He was yanking off his gloves when there was a knock on the door. At twenty-six, he was still very much at home in the lab his father created for him when he was a kid. It was the middle of the day; the only people that were home were the butler, perhaps his mate who doubled as his brother’s driver, and whatever security guard was scheduled to be on guard in the home of the Vampyress.They can certainly manage whatever crisis might be happening, Grigori thought as he ignored the rap.
He didn’t take failure well, and Grigori was sure he’d come up with an equation that would finally make vampires independent of humans. It pissed him off, and he was in no mood to deal with anyone. Grigori forgot all about the interruption as he turned on the water and soaped up his instruments. Black brows drawn together in a scowl, he let the numbers dance through his head and wondered where the hell he’d gone wrong this time. It was at that moment that a loud sound thundered through the room.
Whipping his head around, he realized it had come once again from the door. Snapping the water off, he marched across the room, ready to lay into whoever was irritating him in the middle of his damn workday. He might set his own hours and be self-employed, but that didn’t mean his time wasn’t valuable. Another booming knock rumbled through the space, so Grigori yelled. “What?”
“Open this door, Grigori,” his mother shouted back.
An adult he may be, but she was still his mom, and he wasn’t about to disrespect her. She might be interrupting him, but he adored her. Stifling his temper, he pulled the offending door open. Vampyress Irina Volkov was standing there in all her glory.
Her raven hair was piled high, and she wore a stunning gold circlet with a teardrop ruby so large, it covered half her forehead. Her dress was the same slick red as the jewel and flowed down to the floor. To her side was his father, dressed in a silk suit with a collarless shirt open at the neck to reveal the gold collar that told the world he was mated. “You guys are very dressed up for the middle of the afternoon,” Grigori said. “You look really nice, though. What’s up?”
Irina turned to Alexei. “Your son wants to know what’s up.”
“What time do you think it is?” Alexei asked.
“Uh…I haven’t checked my phone in a little bit.” Grigori shrugged. “Maybe two?”
“I’ll eat my shoe if you even have your phone with you,” Irina stated as she tapped one foot.
“I probably have it,” he replied, shoving his hands into the pockets of his lab coat. The phone was not anywhere to be found. A notebook, a couple of pencils that needed to be sharpened, and a stick of gum falling out of its wrapper was tucked away in one. The other was empty. Swinging his head over to the long table he did most of his work on, he didn’t see the device there either. He gave his attention back to his parents. “I guess I left it in my room.”
“Now there’s a surprise,” his mother answered dryly.
“At least you don’t have to eat your shoe,” his father teased. “Grigori, you agreed to go to the fundraiser the Emperor’s hosting tonight. It’s very important that we do everything we can to persuade people to donate money to the Order of the Fallen Knights and the Sentinel Brotherhood.”
“I know, they keep us safe. I get it. That’s next week. I put it on the calendar in my phone.”
“Grigori, itisnext week,” Irina countered.
“Are you sure?”
She pursed her lips. “What do you think? This isn’t my sitting-in-front-of-the-fire-and-drinking-hot-cocoa outfit.”
“A cup of hot cocoa sounds really good right now, actually.”
“It’s a hundred degrees outside,” Alexei retorted.
“Winter went by so fast.”
“That’s because you never leave this room,” Irina argued.
“Not true,” Grigori replied as he shoved the safety goggles he’d forgotten were still on his head out of the way. “I went to a cocktail party like a month ago.”
“It was two months ago,” Irina corrected. “I don’t have time to argue with you. Please go get dressed. Your brother’s going to meet us there.”
