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I was down in the bar, drinking my woes away when Kristin reached into my head. “Can you please gather everyone?”
“Everyone?”
“Yes, everyone. I have an announcement that I need to make.”
“Is he—”
“Yes.”
Before I could reply, she cut the link and locked down her mind. I twirled my glass for a moment, this was a good thing. A very good thing. If it were so great, why did it bother me then?
“Jett,” I called his name and he lifted his head from where he’d been whispering with Novah. I waved him over as I finished what was in my glass.
“Yeah?” He asked as he stopped in front of me.
“Can you get all the high sentinels together? Kristin wants to have a meeting. I’m going to go find the elders, Rex and Garrett.”
“A meeting?” He asked, his brow rising slightly.
“Yes. She said she has an announcement.”
He grinned, “On it.”
I watched him walk away and then sighed as I got up to go corral the elders and her sons. This was going to be interesting.
Thirty minutes later, everyone, and I mean just about everyone who had any business in the main office, was hanging out in one of the smaller ballrooms on the ground floor.
Lorna, Paxton and Ryker were all talking quietly in the corner, while Josh stood moodily off to the side. He was going to have to get over himself. Maybe now that Kristin wasn’t using him all the time for blood, I could use him for myself. It would be nice to have just one male to feed from, although where was the fun in that?
The doors opened and Kristin walked in holding Hugh’s hand. Murmurs drifted around the room, mostly from the elders. Rex grunted next to me, “What the hell is he doing here?”
“Oh, dear boy, just wait and listen.” I chided him. “Your mommy is about to change history.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” He snapped back. He really was like his father, well the bad parts of his father. Trent had been rather calm when people weren’t pissing him off. I rolled my eyes at Rex as I walked away, and then took a seat off to the side to watch the show. I wish I had popcorn; it would have been nice to have a treat while shit hit the fan.
“Thanks for coming down here this late. I appreciate it.” Kristin said to the room.
“Mom, why is he with you?” Rex asked as he jockeyed to the front of the group.
“Because this is about him.” She stated. I felt someone step up behind me, and I glanced back to see Cameron. He put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed in the way of a hello.
“What the hell does any of our business have to do with a human?” Beckett growled loudly.
Kristin gave him a hard look and began to speak to everyone, “Hugh might seem to be human, but he’s not. He’s a reborn.”
There were a few gasps in the crowd, and Rex looked instantly constipated. “No, he’s not.”
“Yes, he is Rex, and if you’d keep your mouth shut for a few minutes, I’ll explain.” She glared at him for a moment longer and he shifted uneasily on his feet. Hugh looked rather uncomfortable standing beside her, and I sure hoped that changed once he had transition. We couldn’t have a timid vampire standing beside my sister.
“Last week, I feed from Hugh, and realized instantly that his blood was very similar to mine. With the help of Angelina and Cameron, we were able to figure out that Hugh is a third generation reborn. His great-grandfather, Galen McMurphy was one of our breed. Hugh’s grandfather and father never know what they were and were raised by humans, as Hugh was.”
“Are you serious, Kristin?” Clayton asked as he stared Hugh up and down. “I knew Galen.”
“I did too,” Scarlett added.
“I think all of the elders knew him.” Henry commented.
“And you probably know how he died. Hugh told me earlier tonight that he has had the reoccurring dream of being mortally injured on a boat and being thrown overboard by a wave. He died at sea, and his heart was never staked.”
“You’re saying that his soul was reborn three times?” Hazel queried, her voice suggesting that she didn’t believe it.
“Yes, I am. You’re welcome to have a taste to see for yourself.”
“Is his blood toxic?” Scarlett asked quickly.
Kristin shook her head, “No, not right now. Neither mine nor my sisters was toxic for years.”
Scarlett stepped forward, “I knew Galen, rather well. I would like proof.”
Kristin turned to Hugh, “Do you mind?”
He shook his head and held his wrist out to her. Scarlett hesitated only a moment before she put his wrist to her mouth and took a sip of his blood. Her eyes widened, and a smile came to her lips.
“I remember that blood.” She said softly as she took Hugh in, “And you do look like him, sort of.”
Hugh smiled at her and she turned and melded back into the group.
“So what does this mean?” Beckett asked.
“It means, that Hugh is prepared to go through his transition. He only has a couple weeks before his human life will end, so he will do it soon.”
“And after he turns?” Garrett spoke up.
“Then Hugh and I will mate.” Kristin stated.
Murmurs spread like wildfire in the room, and Kristin looked at me as Henry put his hands up to quiet everyone.
“Is that smart? I mean for you to mate a newly turned vampire that doesn’t know our ways?”
“Angelina, can you come over here, please?”
I stood up, knowing that the show was about to start. I joined them up front, and I took hold of Hugh’s hand before placing my hand on Kristin’s shoulder.
There were gasps around the room and people shuffled about. I heard Paxton speak near the back, “That is so damn cool.”
Kristin’s hand once again glowed as did her eyes, and even Rex looked rather awed. Kristin dropped her hand and winked at me. I let go of Hugh and went back to stand beside Cameron.
“As you can see, Hugh’s strength is deep, and he’s not even turned yet. I cannot imagine what his power will be like once he does.” She let her eyes scan the room. “I know that a lot of you wanted to know how we would win the war; I believe that this might be the answer.”
“When will he transition?” Lorna questioned.
“Soon. He has some things to deal with in his human life before he joins us. I want to put two sentinels on him during the nighttime hours. Of course, none of us can watch him during the day, but neither can our enemies. Until he changes, Conner and Ryker will stick to his side.”
Conner and Ryker exchanged a glance and nod, not to mention a smirk on Ryker’s part.
“I’d like you two to make sure that he gets home tonight and stay there until you need to return for the day.”
“Yes, Mistress.” Conner replied.
“The rest of you I will speak with later.” Kristin replied and turned, taking Hugh’s hand and walking out of the room. Conner and Ryker hurried out the door behind her.
The minute they were all gone, the room erupted in excited chatter. Some talking about how incredible it was that another reborn existed. Others discussing what it could possibly mean, and a few questioning the future mating. Josh and Rex were in on that one and I frowned at them both as I joined their little circle.
“I suggest you two both get onboard with this. You know you will not change her mind, and going against her right now, will only piss her off. This is going to be good for our breed, and it’s going to be good for her. That is all that matters.”
I turned and walked out with my head held high. She was all that mattered, but I sure as hell wish she weren’t.
Kristin was in the front lobby saying goodbye to Hugh. She stepped forward and kissed him tenderly and I fought not to frown. He glanced my way and winked before he walked out the front door with Conner and Ryker.
I approached my sister, “Did you compel him to do it?”
“No, he made that decision all on his own.” The two of us began to walk back to the elevator. “We talked for a long time and he admitted that he didn’t want to die. He wants to be a liaison between our two societies.”
“I might have been the one to give him that suggestion.” I said.
“And it’s a good one, once I know I can trust him. He needs to understand that not all of our abilities should be common knowledge, especially mine.”
“What do you think he’ll be able to do?” We stepped into the elevator. “I mean, do you think he’ll have any special abilities?”
“I don’t know, and right now, I don’t really care. He lends me enough power that it makes me quite formidable.”
“That it does.” I replied. “When is he going to do it?”
“Next weekend. He wants to wrap somethings up at work. He told me he was going to put himself on a leave of absence while this all happens. Once it’s done, he’ll see how things are, and decide what to do with his job.”
“I guess that’s a good idea,” the elevator arrived at our floor, and we stepped out to find Rex glaring at Kristin outside her door.
“Well, I think I will let you handle that.” I said and she put her hand on my arm.
“I think you should stay with us,” She spoke aloud and then continued into my mind, “So I don’t throttle my first born.”
“What has gotten into you?” Rex snapped at her.
“Me? What the hell has gotten into you?” She retorted toward him.
“I’m trying to protect our way of life, and you’re going to let some guy from the government right into our world. Are you crazy?”
Kristin brushed past him and into her apartment. “I am far from crazy, Rex. Yes, he might work for the government right now, but he will be working for me, for us very soon.”
“I don’t trust the guy, Mom.”
“You don’t know the guy, Rex.”
“You are being so damn irresponsible. Dad used to call you flighty, I can see why now.”
She was in his face a second later, “You were only thirteen when your father was killed, Rex. What memories you have of that time do not mean anything.”
“Bullshit! Dad always said that Alex should have never tried to put you in charge. He knew that you would fuck everything up.”
Kristin picked her son up by the throat and put him against the wall so fast that I barely saw it. Oh, shit, she just might throttle him. “Your father had issues, Rex. He was not stable, and I will not have you bringing him into conversation. You know nothing about what happened back then.”
“I know you’re the reason he’s dead!” He shouted.
Kristin released the grip on his throat and lowered him to the floor as she did, “Rex, I was not the reason he died.” She sighed heavily and stepped away from him, hanging her head for a moment. “Rex, your father wasn’t right.”
“You’re the one that is not right.”
Kristin turned slowly toward him, “Rex, I never told you this, but your father actually killed himself.”
His face paled for a moment, and then became a mask of anger. “You lie!”
“No, I don’t, Rex.”
I was afraid to move, afraid to even breath for a moment. When the room remained quiet, but full of crackling tension, I finally stepped forward, “Rex, what she says is true. I saw him. I saw him fall upon his own stake as the sun rose.”
Rex stared at me in disbelief. “She’s making you say that.”
I shook my head, “No, Rex, she isn’t. Your father wasn’t well. We don’t know exactly what was wrong with him, but he took his own life. He did it in the sunlight so incase he missed the stake to his heart, he would burn. I watched him, tried to get to him in time, but I wasn’t able to. I was ten feet from him when he pierced his heart and turned to ash before my eyes. No one made him do it, he did it himself.”
Rex looked shredded as I spoke, but then he turned vengeful eyes on Kristin, “You compelled him to do that, didn’t you? You made him kill himself.”
“What? No, I most certainly did not. I wasn’t even around. I was traveling, had been traveling for over a week. I had nothing to do with his death, Rex. I was gutted when I felt the bond snap, and his life force leave him—utterly gutted. I loved your father very much.”
“You’re a fucking liar. I will never believe that he took his own life, never!” Without another word he raced from the room and Kristin dropped her chin to her chest.
“Well, that was fun.”
“Jesus, Lena. I never wanted him to know about that, but I don’t think I had a choice but to tell him.”
“I think you’re right. He needed to know. Look, I’ll talk to him later and calm him down. I’ll let him see the memory, then maybe he will believe me.”
She gave me a small smile, “Thanks. Look, I think I am going to go crawl in bed. It’s been a long day and I have a feeling the weeks is going to be another week of hell.”
“Yeah, I think you might be right. Go get some rest.”
She disappeared into her room, and I let myself out. I was tempted to go find Rex now, but I think he needed some time to digest the information before I gave him the visual to go with it.
With my own heavy sigh, I let myself into my apartment wondering what the next weekend was going to bring.