Page 29 of The Child of Rue Royale
It hurt to look at him, yet I found it impossible to look away.
“Sit down, Bastian,” Nicola commanded, and Bastian listened dutifully. Maybe, just maybe he could be the kind of vampire that listened.
Yet, I scowled at her, my temper once again flared from the unannounced invasion.
“It’s time to set things in order, to come out as the new family we are. Bastian has been tucked away for too long. He will be re-introduced as my son to anyone new. Isn’t that right, baby?” she said turning to Bastian. “Your name is now Bastian Delacroix,” she said with a gleam, and produced a new ring for him, sliding it up his finger.
My gaze cast to the nearly identical one on my finger that read “CD,” and it seemed to burn upon my skin.
Bastian and I still refused to acknowledge each other surely because my shame was so evident between us. I finally stood from the piano bench, feeling his stare follow me until I sat before him.
“I’m…” I couldn’t finish, couldn’t seem to find words. The last time I saw him, he thought I was just a regular man, one who only emerged at night because that’s what my job required. Now he knew the truth. He knew what I was because he was one too.
Nicola witnessed my struggle. I was never good at apologies. I was stubborn to my core.
“What’s done is done. Bastian understands what he is, has fed very well for a newborn, is learning to curb his temptations.” It was like we were both in the principal’s office, and I was the aggressor.
I looked back and forth between him and Nicola, hesitant to confirm.
“He is your brother, and you are my son. This is more than words, Bastian. You are now a part of this family I started hundreds of years ago. I only had one son in my human life. I am blessed to have two in my vampire life.”
I stared silently, grappling with my regret. What if he didn’t want to be my brother? What if he hated me?
“Why don’t you look at me?” Bastian asked, and my gaze flew to him, I was surprised to be called out in such a way. “Are you ashamed of what you made? Does this change our friendship?”
“He’s not ashamed, Bastian. No. But remember, I made you. I cared for you, and I taught you our ways and will continue to do so.”
“I can speak for myself,” I interjected, my hands clasped tightly.
“Then speak!” she yelled, the fire that appears every so often burning in her eyes.
“You were going to die. I knew it from the moment I got close enough to smell you. You were killing yourself. And that night, on the floor of King’s, all I saw was your eventual death. And I lost control. I am sorry for that. I—”
“Cassius,” he interrupted. “Nicola explained that I was drinking myself to death. And deep down, I knew that. I knew that something would give eventually. I would rather be this than be dead.”
One would think that’s all I needed to hear to free me from the shackles of my remorse. But the guilt would never go away nor the grief that I created something I couldn’t care for. I was never good at letting things go.
“Well, that is good to hear,” I said, sighing heavily. Nicola blinked, shaking her head. She knew I couldn’t forgive myself because she knew the burden I had just put on our family.
As if she read my mind, she said, “We’ll make it work. That’s what we do. There’s still so much for Bastian to learn, and I cannot do it all. He’s made great progress, but you will have to be with him when I cannot.”
“Of course,” I said, and Bastian laughed.
“I’m not a child.”
“You are in vampire terms. Don’t worry. This will be fun.” She winked, and I couldn’t have disagreed more.
It wasn’t fun. Not in the beginning. It was horrendous and dangerous. Bastian was not a vampire who listened, not even close. He remained reckless and careless, but this time he was a treacherous predator, and his mistakes were aplenty.
“Let’s eat out tonight,” he would suggest from his coffin, his charming face serious with hunger. I was forced to share a room with him on the nights Nicola wasn’t around to keep him and the French Quarter population safe.
“You ate out last night and the night before that. You can’t bite people in public. You are on restriction.”
He smiled. “I’m a twenty-six-year-old man.” Did he ever get angry? It infuriated me how cheerful he could always be.
“A newborn is what you are. A child.”
“You’re a boring teacher, a real square, do you know that? We need to have some fun.”
