Chapter 10

DEMETRIUS

Summer and winter had always seemed the same to me, except for the long nights in winter, but Eleanor always seemed to prefer summer.

She walked around the house in short sleeves and a long skirt I remembered Phoenix wearing centuries before. Rose had pulled her dark brown curls into a braid that looked ready to burst.

It was raining lightly outside the window, just enough that if you went out, you’d be humid and uncomfortable, but not enough to drench you.

The twins were out. They’d gone to a disco party planning on stirring up some trouble. Aric was above, playing the organ threateningly.

Sipping my glass of B negative, I read through the newspaper. I paused, scowling at the headline, then dumped it on the table, annoyed.

Eleanor was sitting on her knees, leaning over a piece of paper on the table. She was writing slowly, copying the letters Rose had given her. Rose stood over her, watching as she traced her letters.

“I finished!” Eleanor announced. Her head popped up and she started waving the paper in Rose’s face. Rose smiled and leaned down to examine the paper.

“Perfect! Very nice!” Rose gushed, kissing the top of Eleanor’s head.

“I copied pretty good, huh?” Eleanor agreed, grinning. She glanced at me, and her peculiar blue-green eyes bore into mine. She stopped grinning and stared.

I stared back into those youthful eyes. She tilted her head to one side and blinked. I blinked back at her.

“Stop it!” Rose grouched, shaking Eleanor’s shoulder and throwing me a filthy look. I arched my brows at her and stood up, finishing my glass.

Eleanor was watching me, not staring but watching, her eyes wide with curiosity.

“Can I go out and play now?” she asked. I couldn’t tell who she wanted permission from. Rose’s sapphire-blue gaze met mine for a split second until she turned back to her daughter.

“Yes. You can go out. Don’t forget your coat, though! It’s hanging up in your wardrobe!” Rose replied rapidly, calling out just before Eleanor disappeared downstairs.

“She’s growing up fast,” I said softly. I smiled as I leaned against the table. Rose crossed her arms over her chest and shrugged.

“Yes,” she paused, running her fingers through her silky blonde locks. “She’s growing fast. She can read and write, and she’s not even six.”

“So, you think she’s smart.”

Rose looked amused. “I know she is.” She picked up the piece of paper and held it out to me. The letters were finely printed in great detail. They looked identical to Rose’s examples.

“So she can copy.” I shrugged. Rose’s smile widened, and she shook her head playfully.

“She has an artist’s eye,” Rose replied quickly.

I cocked my head to one side, pressing my lips together tightly. “She’s five. How could you possibly know?”

Rose grinned. “She’s my daughter. I know everything there is to know about her,” she answered just as Eleanor appeared, slipping her light red jacket on.

She was already wearing her black moccasins that Venus had traded with the Blackfoot over three hundred years before. She presented herself proudly in front of us, grinning.

“Perfect! Don’t stray too far,” Rose cautioned, pushing the big doors open with one finger. Eleanor skipped out, flipping her hood up over her hair. Rose turned back to me.

“I’m not so sure how to proceed with her homeschooling. Do you think it’s a good idea to put her in school?” Rose breathed.

I frowned. “School finishes at three in the afternoon. Her days would be completely turned around, as would yours. You couldn’t even pick her up.” I paused, watching her chew on her bottom lip.

“You have to homeschool her if you want her to get anywhere when she’s an adult.” ~If she ever is an adult~, I added to myself.

Eleanor was under so many death threats. I was surprised she wasn’t dead already.

The twins, Aric, and I had abstained from killing her because we knew Rose wouldn’t forgive us, and wouldn’t forget for centuries to come.

It would be faster and less painful if we just lived with the human for a few years. We sucked it up.

“I’ll have to buy books and stuff like that. The twins and Aric never needed homeschooling,” Rose continued.

“Yes, because they went to school,” I reminded her of the elite pureblood primary schools that usually only contained two or three students.

“You could send her to boarding school,” I suggested.

Rose scowled at me, shaking her head. “She would be killed!”

“I meant a human school,” I clarified. Rose’s scowl didn’t fade.

“I know, but your mother wants Eleanor’s blood. No matter if I send her away, Eleanor is safer by my side than anywhere else.”

“If worst comes to worst, we could hire a bodyguard in her boarding school,” I replied.

“A turned vampire won’t understand and will kill her. She can’t go to boarding school. And anyway, what’s the use of raising her if I can’t see her every night?” I shrugged one shoulder.

“I guess you have a point. I was just trying to help.”

“Well, you did a very good job of trying to get rid of her.” Rose smiled and moved toward me.

I chuckled, wrapping my arms around her slight waist and pressing her body against mine.

“I just want you to be happy,” I whispered, nuzzling her neck with my nose. Rose ran her fingers through my thick hair and moved her face up so my eyes could meet hers. She smiled at me.

“Right now, right here, I am happy. You make me happy, Aric and the twins make me happy, and so does Eleanor.”

“But you won’t always be happy. What happens, Rose, when she dies of old age in seventy years?”

Rose bowed her head. I cupped her face and lifted it to mine, pressing my lips softly against hers.

“My heart will break,” she replied. I could tell she was fighting back tears. “But I would rather be her mother and love her, and give her a full long life, and have my heart broken, than give her up.”

I nodded slowly. “I understand that,” I replied softly. I held her tighter, letting her rest her head against my shoulder. “You are a wonderful mother, Rose, to all of your children.”

“Thank you,” she whispered, hugging me back tightly.

I could hear Eleanor climbing a pine tree outside. It was still small and weak. She was humming cheerfully to herself, pulling her small body up.

The tree creaked, and Eleanor seemed convinced it was talking to her. She chatted back to it happily.

I drew back from Rose and served her a glass of B negative from a half-full blood bag. She looked like she needed it. Unfortunately, the blood was almost cold, and Rose made a face.

“I hate that stuff,” she told me. Taking a step back, I looked at her patiently.

“Fine, so do I, but look at this.” I put the glass down and tossed her the newspaper I had been reading. She stared at it, reading through.

Three seconds later, she dropped it on the table, scowling. “Are you telling me I’ve been hunting too often?” she asked, her eyes narrowing.

“No, that paper is, though. Ten disappearances and one death in a month. You haven’t been counting.

“I’m afraid you’re going to have to start drinking this stuff, at least for a few years, until they calm down,” I warned her gently. She glanced at the glass on the table, scowling.

“Being around Eleanor makes me thirsty. I have to feed so I don’t end up killing her,” she explained.

“I know, Rose, it makes us all thirstier. We’ve all been hunting too much. I’m putting this family on a diet,” I grinned. Rose glanced at me then smiled too.

“Fine.” She shrugged and emptied the glass in less than a second. “I guess I have some weight to lose.” We chuckled together.

I heard someone clear their throat behind me. Aric was sitting on the railing of the second floor, scowling at us.

“We have to drink that stuff now?” he growled.

“Just for a few years,” Rose assured him. He snarled, then jumped down, landing near the fire.

“I’m not drinking that stuff. I’m going hunting, a moose maybe,” he told us, pushing a window open and slipping out.

I heard Eleanor call his name. Happily, Aric acknowledged her nicely, then he disappeared.

“I’m afraid the twins won’t take the news quite so well.” Rose chewed on her bottom lip, staring out at Eleanor, who was still up in her tree.

“I doubt it.” I stared at Eleanor as well. She was collecting the pine needles around her and braiding them together.

I turned away from the window and served myself another glass of B negative, emptying the bag.

“We’ll probably get used to the taste,” I murmured, sipping my drink. Rose nodded, still staring out at her daughter.

I moved next to the fire to add another log, though it was summer, and Eleanor didn’t need the heat. Rose always loved a big fire burning.

When I turned back to the window, a gust of damp air rushed in, and with it a familiar scent. Rose’s head whipped toward mine, her eyes wide with alarm.

“Angus,” she whispered.

I nodded once. My brother and his family’s scent was in the air. I could hear their voices on the other side of the valley. They were running, rushing toward the cathedral.