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IT TOOK ME A GOOD HALF an hour to explain what had happened to my parents. Instead of being furious at me for going off on my own to hunt down the master vampire and his nest, they were glad I was okay.
“I’m sorry if we ever made you feel like you were less important than Liam, Nick,” dad said.
I could hear the sorrow in his tone and my guilt increased. “You guys didn’t do anything wrong,” I reassured them. “It’s a twin thing. You wouldn’t really get it unless you were a twin yourself.”
“I’ve never heard of a vampire surviving when their vampirism is removed,” mom mused. “How much is still left now that Freya is alive again?”
“There’s enough for me to still crave blood and to have fangs,” my mate replied.
“Can you still enthrall people?” dad asked.
“I don’t know. I haven’t tried yet.”
“Uncle Mark is sending us to see Charles tomorrow,” I said. “He’ll test us both to see what changes have occurred.”
“Do you think you’ll need to drink blood now?” mom queried.
“I don’t think so. I think I’m more like Liam now. My vampire and wolf are more equally balanced, but I don’t have fangs or crave blood.”
“Fate has to be behind you meeting each other,” dad said. “She must need you both together for a reason.”
Considering the older generation had faced a demon apocalypse, I wasn’t looking forward to finding out what Fate had planned for us.
“How are things over in Europe?” I asked.
“Busy,” mom said wryly. “The ASBF are already trying to gain more followers. We have agents trying to infiltrate their operation, but they aren’t having any luck.”
“There’s been an increase in new monsters appearing all over the world,” dad added. “We barely have time to rest between hunting them down.”
“Are they all dangerous?” Freya asked curiously. “Are none of them peaceful beings?”
“Most of them have been beasts,” mom replied. “We haven’t met any sentient beings lately.”
“Did you watch the video Uncle Mark took of the battle between the alien bull-unicorn thing and the triceratops?” I asked.
“Yeah,” dad said in amusement. “We’re very proud of Alex for raising a dinosaur.”
“I wish I could borrow some of Crowmon’s power,” mom said wistfully. “I can only imagine how many zombies I could raise if he gave me a boost.”
“You’d probably be able to raise every corpse that’s ever died in the entire history of the world,” dad said wryly.
“So? What’s wrong with that?” mom asked teasingly.
“No one should have that sort of power,” Freya said seriously.
“She’s just joking,” I said in my mom’s defense. “We should let you go,” I added, knowing how busy they were.
“We can’t wait to meet you, Freya,” dad said.
“Again,” mom added. “Sorry for using you to defeat the demons without your permission when you were in your werewolf form.” If they’d gotten a close look at her during that battle, they would have known there was something very strange about her. Mom would have sensed that she was a hybrid.
“In hindsight, I’m glad I could do my part,” my mate said with a chuckle. “I look forward to meeting you both.”
We said our goodbyes, then hung up. “Huh, that went better than I’d expected,” I said as I took Freya into my arms.
“What were you expecting?” she asked as she snuggled against me.
“To be sent to my room without supper,” I joked. “Or at least to be grounded for a week.”
“You’re a grown man, Nickolas,” she said. “Although, you’re still a babe compared to an ancient crone like me.”
We kissed and it led to us both getting naked and christening our bed for the first of what would be countless times.
Dinner was being prepared when we eventually wandered downstairs. Alex approached us and took something out of her pocket. “This is for you, Freya,” she said and handed a small black and white mouse to her.
Freya looked down at the zombie in surprise. “You raised it for me?”
“Yep. Everyone on the Shifter Squad gets their own zombie.”
“Unless they’re already a zombie,” Ike joked and snickers broke out.
Freya held her hand out doubtfully and the mouse jumped onto her palm. Its whiskers twitched and my mate smiled. “That tickles,” she said.
“She wants me to pass on a message that she’ll be the best zombie mouse in the squad,” Alex said.
Epsilon squirmed out of Liam’s pocket and dropped to the floor. He raced over to me and I bent to pick him up. He leaped from my hand to Freya’s palm and stared his new rival dead in the eye. “What’s he saying?” I asked in a mixture of worry and amusement.
“He’s saying that he doesn’t need a reward for just doing his job. He also said they’ll be the best zombie mice team on the squad,” Alex dutifully translated. Freya’s mouse’s whiskers twitched. “Iota says she can live with that,” Alex relayed.
“Iota?” Freya asked. “Is that her name?”
“We’ve all given them names from the Greek alphabet,” I explained. “They’re smart, so she figured that’s what you’d end up calling her.”
“Well, if she has no objection, then that can be her name,” my mate figured.
“Are you glad that I made extra houses for our zombies now?” Gedniah asked, pleased with himself for his foresight.
“Iota and Epsilon could always share,” I pointed out. Epsilon leaped onto my hand and shook his head.
“That’s a no,” Yas said with a smirk.
“How did your parents take the news?” Uncle Mark asked as he set the table. There were too many of us to all fit in the kitchen at once now. We would probably have to break into smaller teams and take turns cooking.
“Better than I’d expected,” I replied. “They’re pretty sure Fate is behind us meeting each other, so they didn’t really blame me for going off on my own like a doomed hero.”
“It was still stupid, but if Fate was manipulating you, I guess we can’t blame you, lad,” Crowmon said. He was sitting in his favorite spot on the couch with his feet up on the coffee table. Uno was perched on his knee, enjoying being petted with the god’s fingertip.
Freya’s head snapped around when she picked up that thought. “He’s a trickster god?” she asked, fangs descending in alarm.
“He’s not like Loki,” I reassured her. “He doesn’t have as much power as the Asgardian had.”
“That’s true, lass,” the deity said. “You have nothing to fear from me.”
“Unless you call him a clown,” Alex joked. We all paused, waiting for white makeup, an orange wig and red nose to appear. She let out a small sigh of relief when nothing happened.
Crowmon smirked at us all, knowing his prank had made sure we would be careful not to disrespect him in the future.
“I called Charles and made an appointment to see him in the morning,” Uncle Mark told me.
“Who is this Charles that I keep hearing about?” Freya asked.
“Dr. Charles O’Brien has been working for the PIA for over a decade,” he explained. “He’s performed a lot of research on supernatural beings, including hybrids and crossbreeds.”
“Don’t worry,” Yas said. “Alex and I were tested when we joined the squad. He isn’t going to probe you anywhere you don’t want him to.”
The teens cracked up and received a stern look from Uncle Mark, which they ignored completely. It was good to see my little sister laughing. She was still too pale and drawn from her recent ordeal.
“Will Alex let me see her tattoos when she feels better?” Freya whispered to me.
I didn’t get a chance to warn her that Alex’s hearing was far better than normal. “You can see them now, if you want,” she replied.
“Alex is shy, so she’ll need some privacy,” Yas said, knowing her bestie better than anyone else. “Can you stand in front of her and block everyone’s view?” she said to Gedniah.
“I would be honored,” the gigantic lamia replied.
Alex, Yas, Freya and Gedniah walked over to the gym area. The king stood with his back to the girls as Alex took her shirt off. “They’re all spells?” Freya asked as she examined the markings.
“Yep,” Yas said for Alex. “They burn her whenever someone mentions who she’s related to in her presence.”
“Then I’ll be very careful not to set them off,” my mate said.
“Do you recognize any of the markings?” Uncle Mark asked.
Freya waited for Alex to pull her shirt back on before she replied. “I’ve never seen anything like that before,” she said with a frown. “The men from my village painted their faces, arms and chests before going into battle, but they didn’t use any symbols like that.”
We were all slightly subdued when we sat down to eat. Alex was withdrawn and silent, suffering alone as always. I had the feeling that she still didn’t quite trust us, even though we were her friends and family. I couldn’t really blame her, since she’d been brainwashed to believe she’d been thrown in the trash by her own parents.
