Chapter Twenty-Six

Cyrus knew the moment Blade walked into the house. His son had a similar vibrational frequency to his own, and while there was a part of him that wanted to rush with Sofia still in his arms out to the kitchen to hear what was being said, Ness exuded calm through their bond and was apparently happy. So Cyrus inhaled sharply, let that breath out slowly and quietly crooned to his daughter as he cleaned her little butt, changed her into a comfortable onesie, and then picked her up again, sitting in the large rocker they’d put in the nursery with his daughter in his arms.

“Your brother will always protect you,” he whispered in a low tone. “As soon as he sees you, your brother will want to protect you. Blade learned my skills and went out into the world and forged a life of his own, surpassing the master, you might say.” He chuckled softly. Sofia’s eyes, which were as dark as his own, slowly started to close. “That’s right, you sleep my precious girl. Know that you will always be safe, always cherished, always loved.”

The door opened five minutes later, and Cyrus met his son’s gaze with a half-smile. “Have you come to meet your sister, Blade? As you can see, she’s a real beauty.”

Blade closed the door behind him, softly Cyrus noted. “I never, in my whole life, I never expected to see you like this.”

“Messy?” Cyrus chuckled and plucked at his jeans. “It might have appeared I lived my life in suits, but our young lady here has no respect for fine material.”

“Well, yes, that, but I never thought I’d see the day when I saw you cuddling someone.” Blade came closer. “You never did that with me.”

“Much to my regret.” Cyrus could see Blade’s flash of shock before Blade tried to hide it. “You would scent it if I was lying and that’s not something I’ve ever done with you. From the moment I saw you, I loved you and that has never changed.”

“Okay. I never expected to hear that, either.” Blade scratched the back of his neck and then, looking around, he sat cross legged on the floor, which was the best choice. Sofia’s crib likely wouldn’t take his weight. “Why? How can you do this with her, when with me…?”

“Hmm, that’s the hundred thousand dollar question, isn’t it.” Cyrus pondered his answer. “I know when we talked last time I mentioned how times were different when you were born. It’s not like your mother and I loved each other, although I like to think we’ve stayed friends over the years. It might be harsh for you to hear, but you weren’t born in love. I wanted a son to avenge what I thought was my inevitable death at the time.”

He registered how wide Blade’s eyes were. “Yes, I know. I was an arrogant bastard at the time, and some would say I haven’t changed, but that’s the truth of it. That’s why you were conceived in the first place.”

“So that’s why you taught me to kill from when I was a kid?”

“Yes and no. I meant what I said last time we talked. I needed you to survive. I told you, not then but now, that I loved you from the first moment I saw you, and that’s the god’s honest truth. I would’ve raised hell on earth if something had happened to you. Remember, most kids in our area died before they were six.”

Looking down at Sofia, Cyrus chuckled. “I had no idea how to be a parent back then. I still don’t. But somehow I raised an adult who was strong, confident, could look the world in the eye and take no prisoners. A son who could find a loving mate, and create the loving family he wished he had growing up. I’m not going to apologize for that. Even if my methods were questionable, the results speak for themselves.”

“I apologized to Ness.” Blade looked down and then back up again. “He didn’t deserve to be drawn into the issues I had from my past, especially when I’d never met him before that.”

“I appreciate that, and I know Ness would’ve done, too. But you know, I thought about it afterward, after my Ness dragged me away like a junkyard dog so I wouldn’t keep fighting…”

Blade’s chuckle matched his own.

“I realized you were already protecting your stepfather, even though you didn’t know him. Admittedly, you thought you were protecting him from me at the time, but I couldn’t fault your instincts. I hope in time, you’ll extend those protective instincts to your sister as well.”

“I won’t let you teach her to kill a man by the time she’s ten,” Blade warned.

“Ness has got this idea that reading and writing are more important than knife skills. Can’t think why, but sometimes we just have to go with the flow.”

“Uncle Stefan messaged me recently, letting me know you had basically retired from the family activities back in Sicily.”

“Eased back, stepped back.” Cyrus waved his hand back and forth. “Ness has got this business where he extends loans to people for little to no interest, so they can bring their inventions to life or get their product to market. Money grabbers, I call them, plain money grabbers. So I have a lot going on, doing what I can to protect Ness’s interests because he’s just so trusting.”

“I hear your casinos are working on profit sharing?”

“Ness told me you’d done that with your casino in Jackson.” Cyrus beamed at his son. “What a really great idea. I wish I’d thought of it. My profit went up another twenty percent just in the past year and I do a lot less work. Admittedly, I share a fair amount of that money with my staff, but life is so much easier this way.”

“Yes it is.” Both men stopped talking when Sofia snuffled, rubbing her face with her little hand before settling again. “I wish my life had been different growing up. I wish I’d known I had a parent who loved me.”

“I think your mother did in her way, but she was likely protecting herself because she always knew she would leave. I’m the same though. I still hate the way my late father raised me and the way he treated me,” Cyrus admitted. “Don’t get me wrong. What my dad did to me doesn’t justify what I did to you. Not in any way shape, or form. But somehow, here we are. Mated. Happy. Loving and not afraid to show it. Both of us are new fathers now, with a chance to make a difference for our children.”

Blade nodded, and then glancing over his shoulder to check the door, he look back and whispered, “Thank goodness we have such amazing mates.”

“I know. We are so lucky.” Cyrus stood up, carefully maneuvering Sofia to her crib, making sure to stroke down her back until he was sure she would stay sleeping. “Now, if the house schedule according to your delightful sister holds true, we have about twenty minutes before she wakes up. Do you fancy a quick shift in my new pool? There’s room for both of us.” He reached out his hand, and Blade took it, using it to stand.

“We’ve never shifted together before,” Blade said, but he wasn’t saying no.

“I know. But there’s a first time for everything.” Cyrus gave his son a quick hug – nothing mushy, but hopefully enough for Blade to know he cared. “I’ll race you.”

“I’ll always be faster than you, old man,” Blade said, reaching for the door handle.

/~/~/~/~/

“It’s been a long day. Are you doing okay, my darlin’?” Cyrus crawled onto the mattress where Ness was already half asleep.

“Hmm, a fun day. Sofia worked her charm on Blade and Hal.” Ness rolled over, opening his arms and Cyrus snuggled into his embrace. “How was it, swimming with another shark? Blade’s not quite as big in his shifted form as you are.”

“I’ve got over five hundred years on him.” Cyrus inhaled deeply, taking in Ness’s scent. “It was…unusual...having another creature swimming so close to me, sharing my space. I’m glad I did it. I think it did a lot for Blade, too. But I much prefer shifting when it’s just you and me.”

“Me, too.” Ness yawned. “Oh, I emailed those robot inventors you mentioned this morning. They’ll bring their prototype to Vegas in two weeks to demonstrate it.”

Cyrus snickered. “That is going to be so much fun. The only thing is, if it does identify we’re paranormal, do we just flat out deny it and tell them their robot doesn’t work? Or do we let the realization of who they are asking for money from sink in for them first?”

“Let’s see what type of people they are first,” Ness suggested. “They could be perfectly lovely and just a little misguided.”

“You keep thinking that darlin’.” Stretching, Cyrus hooked his leg over Ness’s. “Did you notice Blade and Hal have a mind link?”

“I guessed it, yes.”

“You know, it’s said that shifters get a mind link with their mates when they’re double claimed.”

“Uh huh. I did know that.” Ness chuckled. “Doc told me all about that.”

“Do you think we could…you know…one day…”

“One day I think it will be a wonderful experience.” Ness’s arms tightened around him. “But you know why we have to wait.”

“We could do it now,” Cyrus suggested. “It might not make me pregnant and even if it did, it would be another year before baby number two came along. I feel bad about making you wait for something our sons already share.”

“Cy, mate.” Ness’s hand was warm on Cyrus’s cheek. “I waited three thousand years for you. I can wait a few more years for that . I don’t need a mind link to feel special. I can feel your love deep in my soul every day.”

“I do love you, darlin’. You know that I do.” Cyrus tilted his face up. “How long until Sofia wakes up, do you think?”

“About half an hour until her next feed.” Ness wiggled against him. “Why? Did you have something you wanted to show me?”

“It’s not only your soul that can feel my love for you, darlin’,” Cyrus said as he leaned in for the kiss Ness was happy to share.