“How long will you wait?”
“For what? Antonietta is bound to me. She is in my care. I have made provisions for her safety, and I will find who threatens her. She is mine, in heart and soul. She just needs to come to terms with who she will be when she embraces her choice.”
“Of course you will return with her to our homeland.” Eleanor made it a statement.
Byron smiled at her. “It is good to see you. Where is Vlad? Surely your lifemate did not allow you to travel unprotected?”
“I am not without my own protections,” Eleanor reminded. “Vlad is here, and we have Josef with us. He wanted to visit other countries and see something of the world. We thought it best that we travel with him.”
Byron couldn’t stop the small step away from her as the horror of her words penetrated. “Josef?” The name came out a croak. “You have not brought that horrid child with you. Not here? Near the palazzo?”
“Byron, he is your nephew.” Eleanor sank onto the curved marble bench seat and glared up at her brother. “What a horrible reaction.”
Byron shook his head. “Benj is my nephew. I will be more than happy to claim him, but Josef is an altogether different matter. There is no blood between us.”
“He is my son. I took him when Lucia died in childbirth. I love him no less than Benj. I know he can be difficult—”
“Difficult! The boy is a menace. Lucia had no business having another child. She was so old, an ancient spending most of her days in the ground and hiding from the changes around her. She had no intention of living in a modern world. What was she thinking to try such a thing?”
“She was thinking of the preservation of our people. Byron, you are being overly harsh, and it is so unlike you.”
“I am not being harsh, Eleanor, only truthful. The boy has done nothing but get in trouble almost since his first step.”
“He was orphaned, Byron. He lost his parents the very day he was born.”
“Most of us lost someone, Eleanor, and he didn’t even know Lucia and Rodaniver. You and Vlad have been his parents, and no one could have loved him more. Lucia and Rodaniver lived in the past; they would have made that boy’s life hell had they lived, and you know it. Now he just makes our lives hell.”
“Byron!” Eleanor twisted her fingers together. “He needs love and understanding. You should make an effort with him. Guide him on the right path.”
“Why do I get the feeling there is more to this visit than luck? You did not just happen to come to Italy, did you?” His black eyes began to smolder.
Eleanor looked away from him. “Despite what you say, Josef is your nephew, and I think you should take an interest in him. He wants to paint. Italy is a wonderful country to paint in. Benj was too busy and could not escort Josef. He still needs looking after, and since you’re here…”
“No! Emphatically no! I cannot possibly take care of a child. And I don’t want him anywhere near the palazzo.” Byron shuddered visibly. “He wears his pants ten sizes too big. In fact, when you took him to see Mikhail, he stood right there in front of our prince and his lifemate, wearing baggy pants, a ring in his lip, nose, and eyebrow.” He shook his head. “I do not want to know where else he had one, but every time he opened his mouth, I saw something hideous attached to his tongue. And even worse, he wanted to perform for them, and you let him.”
“He was only a young boy, Byron, and it meant so much to him.”
“I prefer Mozart and Chopin, opera and even the blues, but not rap. What was that horrible song he made up? I still hear it in my nightmares. I believe he spat a lot and made strange sounds before he graced us with the lyrics.” Byron showed his gleaming white teeth, his incisors slightly prominent as if he could take a bite out of his nephew. “It was so shocking, I cannot, nor ever will forget the lyrics. In case you have forgotten, they went like this: ‘I’m the man, / The man you can’t see, An invisible man, you ought to fear me, / Fangs and cat’s eyes, / Your blood on my hands, /I come out at night when the moon rises high, I’m a blood-sucking fiend, a most fearsome sight.’ I particularly enjoyed watching the prince’s face when he sang the blood-sucking fiend part and the refrain of I want to suck your blood, blood, blood.’ “ Byron found he wanted to laugh at the memory, as he couldn’t those many years ago. “The only good thing that came out of that was it made Jacques laugh. I had not seen him laugh in years. It was the only reason I forgave Josef for such an obvious attempt to draw attention to himself.”
“But Byron, he has such talent. Even then, and he was only a child, he was creative.” There was a small silence. Eleanor was exasperated with him. “He was only fifteen, and at that awful age. He is much older now.”
“Do not give me that, sister dear. I heard he had taken to wearing all black, including a swirling black cape, and lying on graves in the cemetery with a group of his human friends. I heard he had so many rings in his bottom lip no one could look at him for fear of laughing.”
“That is so unfair. Oh for heaven’s sake, all the children try things out. He was going through his Goth period, at least that’s what Vlad called it. That was years ago; he was only seventeen. You know by our standards, he is still a mere fledgling. He is your nephew, Byron, and he wants to visit other countries. It would not hurt you to show an interest in him. He needs attention.”
“I do not care if he is a mere fledgling. The prince’s daughter was forced to take her lifemate as a mere fledgling, and she rose to the occasion.”
Eleanor made a rude sound. “And you know exactly what I thought of that. How dare the prince sacrifice his own daughter’s childhood? It was an abomination. They deliberately tried to age her by sending her out on her own with only hidden guards to watch over her. She deserved a childhood. Mikhail has been around humans for so long, and Raven was human, so they they have forgotten our children are young for a much longer time. Fifty years, and they still do not have full power.”
“We would have lost Gregori, our greatest healer, and ultimately, Savannah. You know that, Eleanor. All of you women were up in arms, but in truth, the prince had no choice in the matter.”
“No child can learn what they need in that short of time. She was lucky to be able to shape-shift or even protect herself. I can forgive Raven. She was born human and thinks in terms of human aging. But Mikhail was desperate to save his second-in-command. No female ever had the males brought in while she was a mere child. Mikhail arbitrarily decided to introduce the practice of bringing in the males when they reached the age of eighteen in the hopes of finding lifemates. His daughter just happened to be the first. Two hundred was the coming of age, not a baby of eighteen. It was appalling. It was no wonder Savannah panicked and fled the country. I know her father sent protection, as did Gregori but, in truth, they allowed her to be on her own to help age her. I do not know a single woman who did not protest such an abomination. It is no wonder our race is dying out when our prince does not treasure his own child above his friend.”
Byron sighed. “Mikhail is hardly responsible for the extinction of our race.” It was a long-standing argument he hoped Eleanor had gotten over. “Next you will be accusing him of being responsible for the inability to feed our children naturally.”
Eleanor had the grace to look slightly ashamed. “I have no idea why we can no longer produce the perfect food for our children. All of us have discussed it at great length, and Shea has done much research.” There were tears in her voice. She wept for her people, for the mothers and babies who had lost so much.
Byron put a hand on his sister’s shoulder. “I did not mean to make you feel such sorrow, Eleanor. Our males certainly do not blame our women for such a tragedy.” He kissed the top of her head in silent apology. “What happens to one of us happens to all. Every child saved, however we can manage to save them, every lifemate found, every male saved, even at the expense of a childhood, is a step forward for our people. Savannah was far too young. We all know that, but she rose to the occasion. Perhaps it was her bloodline, perhaps she is simply an extraordinary woman, but Gregori will care for her and protect her and aid her in learning the things she must learn.”