Page 92 of Claim of Blood
“Unfortunately,” Elisabeth said with a sigh, “there’s no precedent for someone of Adam’s age and power. Everything you’re experiencing is uncharted territory.” Her hand drifted again to her belly, and this time Lander’s gaze snapped to it. That gesture. That faint glow to her skin. He’d seen it before—centuries ago.
The pieces slid into place with nauseating clarity.
Leo’s sudden laugh shattered the thick silence. “My cousin would love this.”
Johan raised an eyebrow. “Your cousin?”
“Another hunter?” Elisabeth asked, though her tone suggested she already suspected more.
Leo groaned as Adam adjusted beneath him, the shift drawing another needy sound from his throat. Lander couldn’t stop the flash of memory—Leo’s body around him, clenching tight, desperate. He shoved it aside.
“Felix,” Leo managed, breathless. “Obsessed with vampires. Keeps notebooks—actual, physical ones. Won’t let anyone else see them. Hides them from the family.” His voice hitched again as Adam’s hands flexed against his hips.
“Interesting,” Elisabeth murmured. “Have you tried retrieving this cousin?”
Adam’s grunt was tight, clipped. “We can’t locate Leo’s family.”
“Unfortunate,” she said, sharing another quiet glance with Johan. That same look. Knowing. Content. Smug, almost. “Still, how much could a hunter possibly know?”
Johan stood, pouring bloodwine for the group. His movements were graceful, fluid, but Lander noticed the shift—how carefully he watched Elisabeth, how often his hand brushed hers. The softness between them tonight felt... heightened.
When Johan handed her the glass, his fingers lingered.
“Well,” Elisabeth said brightly, “speaking of vampire fertility—”
“Were we, though?” Lander muttered, dread curling in his gut.
Elisabeth swatted him playfully. “Hush. Johan, how did we raise such a prude? We’ll do better with the next one.”
Lander’s glass froze midair. “Next one?”
Johan beamed. “Your mother’s pregnant. You’re getting a sister.”
The words slammed into Lander like an angry bull. Sister? Pregnant?
Adam and Leo murmured their congratulations, but Lander barely registered them. Elisabeth positively glowed. “We didn’t realize at first. No periods, obviously, and I just assumed the bloat was from traveling. But then I remembered this sensation from before, that little shift of magic inside me. My body knew. It’s a girl.”
Two hundred and fifty years.
Lander’s mind reeled. “You’re seriously having a baby. Now.”
“We’ll throw a feast after the winter solstice,” Adam said, his voice smooth but authoritative, fingers still pressed possessively into Leo’s hips. “New life among our kind is rare. Worth celebrating.”
“This explains why Erik mentioned you’d be staying for an extended period,” Lander said numbly.
“Oh, yes,” Elisabeth chirped. “A few decades, at least. Until she’s grown and ready to travel. Then we’ll return to Norway.” She beamed at him. “And she’ll be raised with her big brother right here! Isn’t that wonderful?”
Lander downed his bourbon in one burning swallow. “Decades,” he echoed.
He poured again. Drank again.
Adam’s brow lifted. “Will that be a problem?”
Lander didn’t answer—only emptied his third glass and let it clink against the table.
The blood-bourbon was fully in effect now, softening the world’s edges. But even dulled, reality wouldn’t stop pressing in. His parents. A sister. The fact that Adam was literally still inside Leo, in the middle of the room, while all of this was happening.
He reached for the decanter again—only to pause at a sudden, sharp gasp.
