11. Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

Tan

A fter such an… explosive Friday night—or had that been Saturday, technically? I didn't know, but whatever. After such a crazy start to our weekend, I'd been worried the rest of it would be dreadful.

But Garrick's apology had been sincere, and after that super long—and awesomely comforting—hug, the rest of the weekend had been… relaxing. Like super relaxing and kinda fun. We'd basically just hung out, watched movies, talked, played video games—yes, the mother-effing dragon king played video games, how cool was that?—and had a really good time together.

I'd stayed with him all weekend, and now, it was after work on Monday, so I hadn't been home since Friday morning. Which was kind of weird, except that… it didn't feel weird. Like, I'd been so comfortable there that I hadn't even really noticed until now when I was on my way home for the first time in days.

The only snag in the weekend was the blood witch and our argument afterward. I'd tried to do some research on my tablet about blood witches, but I wasn't really coming up with anything.

It was almost like even the internet didn't know blood witches were a thing.

I'd fought one myself, and I still didn't fully believe it.

I still didn't know what the hell a blood witch even was.

I'd never heard of them before Garrick, and now they were turning up every time I turned around.

To my knowledge, there were only four types of witches—death, like me, nature, light, and shadow. I'd never even heard a whisper about blood witches before.

My research only turned up the bare basics—blood witches were a type of witch that used blood as a power source. They were very rare, but they originated from Gauhala.

That was it. That was all I could find.

It didn't even say what territory in Gauhala. Were they from Sedoba? Was that why they kept coming up? Were they from another territory, wanting to take over this one for their king or queen or whoever? Were they from multiple territories in Gauhala? Who knew? Not the internet, apparently.

And why the hell hadn't I heard of them before now?

I was in my forties, for fuck's sake. You'd think I'd know everything there was to know about witches, since I was, in fact, a mother-effing witch myself.

So I decided to call the one person I thought might know a thing or two about them—Ailin Ellwood. AKA, one of Remi's dads.

Orangelica was off running around in the backyard—she wasn't a house cat, she just looked like one, so she was perfectly safe playing back there by herself. Especially because she knew to stay within the wards. She was probably shifting and flying around to get some energy out after being cooped up in Garrick's condo, so I figured now was the perfect time.

The phone only rang twice before he picked up with a, "Hey, kiddo."

It made me smile. I swore, the day Ailin Ellwood called you kiddo was the day he'd accepted you into his family. And he'd been calling me kiddo since I was a kid.

"Hey, Ailin."

He waited a beat before asking, "What's wrong?"

I couldn't help but laugh at that. "Why do you always assume something's wrong when I call you?"

"I assume that no matter which of my kids calls me."

That made my heart warm. "Oh."

"You sound upset. Switch to video chat." He switched his side without waiting for a response, so with a sigh, I switched mine too because I knew he wouldn't stop telling me to until I did it. May as well make it a little easier on myself.

I held the phone up and got a good look at him. His black hair was about shoulder-length and had four or five french braids pulling his hair back and away from his face on his left side. As always, he had some beads and things in the braids. I knew the braids and beads held meaning to him, but I'd never asked him what they meant.

His pale skin was smooth and pretty wrinkle free, which was maybe a little jarring because he was like thirty-some years older than me. But that was normal for witches. We had very, very, very long lifespans.

His green eyes—the same color as his nature magic—were bright and examining me, giving me his sole focus. When I was a kid, that much focus on me would've made me nervous. Now, I knew it was just how Ailin was when he thought something was wrong. Or maybe he just wanted to intimidate me until I gave in and told him. Either way, it was always effective.

"What's wrong?"

I sighed. "Nothing's wrong. It's just been a long few days."

"You're helping out Garrick Von Stein, right? Is he being an asshole to you?" I could practically see his anger building already. If I was in the same room, I'd probably be able to feel him pulling on his magic. Magic tended to be reactive to emotions, and anger seemed to stir it up the most.

"Yes, I'm helping him. No, he's not being an asshole. Well… not really. He's been… nice overall."

He frowned. "Overall? That means he's been an asshole some of the time. Tan, what the hell? Do you need me to come there and put that dickhead in his place?"

"No!" I shouted, almost panicking at the thought of Ailin coming here and storming into the tower. Mother of All, that would be so, so, so bad. "I'm fine, Ailin. Promise."

His eyes narrowed for a moment before relaxing. "Okay, but if he treats you badly, I'll—"

"I know. You'll come blast him to bits." That wasn't even an exaggeration. Ailin could absolutely blast Garrick to bits, dragon or no. Ailin's magic was… powerful as all hell.

"I will." He blew out a breath. "Alright, kiddo. Tell me what's going on."

"Apparently, I'm protecting Garrick from blood witches." I started spilling the beans before I even realized I'd opened my mouth. Gah, how did Ailin have that power? Was it just a dad thing? "But I have no idea what they are, where they come from, how to fight them or counteract their magic, or… anything. I've never even heard of them before coming here."

Ailin grimaced, his expression turning pissed off again. "He has you fighting blood witches? That fucking jackass. I'm gonna—"

"So you've heard of them?" I figured cutting him off before he really got going and ended up showing up on my doorstep would be good.

"Unfortunately. Seb and I ran into one about ten years ago. Never heard of them before that, though."

I sat back in shock, surprised as all hell that he hadn't heard of them before then. Although, that made me feel a little better about not knowing myself. "What happened?"

His nostrils flared. "Honestly, I don't even know how we ended up finally taking that bastard down. He came here, to Brinnswick, and left a trail of bodies. We hunted him down, fought him a few times, and he kept escaping. It was really fucking frustrating. Then we finally caught him again, and we took the prick out."

"How? What spell did you use?"

He grimaced again. "We just shot pure power at him. But, Tan, it took both of us to kill him. Enchanter and witch magic. Blood witches, they're strong, can take a lot of hits, fight dirty, and are hard as hell to kill. Hold on." He moved his phone away for a second, looked past the camera, and yelled, "Seb! Come here!"

Ugh . Now they were both going to try to convince me to stop helping Garrick or convince me to let them come help. As much as I appreciated the fact that they'd drop everything and come all the way to a different country for me, I felt like I needed to be the one to help Gar-Bear.

Moreover, I wanted to help him.

It only took a minute for Remi's other dad, Sebastian, to come over and for Ailin to explain the situation.

Sebastian squished in beside Ailin so I could see them both on my screen. He smiled at me and said, "Hey, Tan. It's good to see you, bud. We missed you at family movie night this past weekend."

I winced. Remi's older brother, Delaro, had created a sort of portal that would allow us to travel from the shed in Remi's backyard to one in Seb and Ailin's front yard. That way, we could all visit each other anytime we wanted, rather than have to take a plane across the ocean to get there. It was really convenient and made it so we could still go to the monthly family movie nights at Seb and Ailin's home—it was more like an all-day cookout that ended with everyone watching a movie on a huge screen in their backyard.

Since they'd installed the portal, I hadn't missed a single one, until this past Saturday.

"I'm really sorry. I couldn't leave Garrick, not until this blood witch thing is taken care of. I'll probably miss next month's too. I'm sorry."

"You don't have to keep apologizing, bud," Seb said. "We understand. We just miss you."

That choked me up for a minute. My parents had never, not even once, said that they'd missed me, not even when I was a kid and would spend weeks at a time at the Ellwoods' house. "I miss you too," I managed to get out after a few seconds.

"Fuck," Seb breathed out. "He needs a hug. We can come through the portal now and talk in person. Come on, A, let's go."

I let out a watery laugh and waved him off. "No. No, I'm fine. You don't have to do that."

They both stared at me for a minute, and finally, Ailin said, "Too bad. We're coming. We'll bring dinner with us. Be there in about ten minutes."

Before I could protest anymore, he hung up.

"Well, shit." I took a breath to push down the emotions and immediately called Remi. As soon as I heard the phone click on, I didn't even give him a chance to say hello. "Seb and Ailin are coming through the portal and bringing me dinner. I'm sorry."

There was a brief pause. "What's wrong?"

I groaned. "Why do you Ellwoods always assume something's wrong? For fuck's sake."

"Because something is almost always wrong. Bel and I will be there in a minute."

"No, you don't—"

I cut myself off when I realized he'd already hung up.

Well .

I had no one to blame but myself.

I glanced around my house to make sure it wasn't too messy, but it honestly looked clean. Probably because I hadn't been home at all lately to mess it up. My bedroom was a mess with dirty clothes and whatever, but the main areas were fine because I hadn't spent any real time in them. I'd straightened up on Thursday night to prepare for my long weekend at Garrick's because I didn't want to come home to a messy house. So that worked out well now.

Ugh. Ellwoods were about to invade.

Remi and Bel let themselves in—they each had a key—only a minute later, and Remi pulled me into a hug as soon as he reached me.

"You okay?" he whispered.

"I'm fine. You guys are all being dramatic."

"I've finally figured out that that's just the Ellwood way," Bel said, offering me a smile when his viramore finally released me. I noticed Orangelica in his arms, so I gave her a few scratches, but the little cuddle hog was in heaven with Bel fawning over her, so I let her be and gave Bel a side-hug.

I snorted. "It really is. All I wanted was some advice about how to handle a blood witch."

"What the fuck's a blood witch?" Remi asked.

I pointed at him. "Thank you." I wrinkled my nose. "And I don't know. That's why I called your dad."

He nodded. "Did he know?"

"Apparently, your dads fought one a decade ago or something. Who knows? They've probably battled it out with every type of known creature in existence."

Remi snorted, grinning at me. "Probably."

Ailin and Sebastian walked into the house a few minutes later—they also had keys—and Sebastian came over to hug me as soon as he walked through the door. Clearly, he was where Remi got it from.

"It's good to see you, bud," he whispered, tightening his hold. "You know we love you, right?"

I nodded and sank into his hug for a moment. "I love you guys too."

He gave me another squeeze before releasing me, and Ailin took his place, pulling me in. Ailin and I were the same height, but his hug still felt just as much like a good ol' dad hug as Seb's had. I sank into that one too.

Okay, so maybe I was glad they'd shown up.

I liked hugs.

Maybe I'd needed them.

Ailin kissed the side of my head before he released me, then held me at arm's length to look me over.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. "I'm fine."

His eyes narrowed, but he eventually gave me a nod.

I glanced over to see that Seb had given both Remi and Bel hugs, and as soon as Ailin released me, he hugged his son and son-in-law as well.

While they were doing that, I greeted Seb and Ailin's Bonded Ones. Seraphina was in her black cat form—she was Ailin's Bonded—and Zammarra was in her small dragon form, about the same size as Sera—she was Seb's.

After they greeted me, Orangelica leapt out of Bel's arms to join the other Bondeds, and the three of them went off running. I was glad they'd come because it would do Orangelica some good to play with them.

Seb and Ailin—and Remi and Bel—sat me down and made me tell them everything about the blood witch. Which I did. But I didn't tell them about Garrick's personal stuff. I didn't say whoever was after him was someone he knew. I didn't tell them that he doesn't let anyone into his condo. I wasn't about to betray Garrick's trust.

I didn't tell them that I was… intrigued by the man, although I was pretty sure they could tell that without me saying it.

All I did was tell them about the fight.

Ailin frowned, but I could tell it was his thinking face. "You want to keep doing this, correct? You want to keep helping Von Stein?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I do."

"Okay. I can work with that."

My eyebrows shot up. I was surprised by that. I'd thought he'd want to take over himself and not let me do anything at all. Although, I knew he was trying really hard not to be too overbearing with his kids and grandkids. I mean, he'd been working on that for like a billion years, supposedly, but maybe it was finally working.

Ailin did not have any chill when it came to protecting his family.

And I was lucky enough to be thrown into that category—not one of his actual kids, but still under his umbrella of protection.

"Are you and this Roman person going to practice fighting together? It sounds like you two had it well in hand. A dragonscale sword seems like it'll work well with your magic."

"We are. We're going to set up regular workout sessions this week. Probably before work. They have a gym or something below Roman's condo that we can use."

He nodded and fell quiet, and I could tell that he and Seb were speaking telepathically—something viramores could do with each other.

Seb said, "Can we stay and help you?"

I opened my mouth to reply with an automatic no , but then I decided to give it some real thought first. I ended up shaking my head. "I'm really okay. The fight was more frustrating than anything else. I didn't feel like we were truly in danger because they couldn't penetrate my shield." And okay, maybe I'd been a bit freaked out that their magic made my magic… hurt or whatever, but it'd been fine. After a slight hesitation, I added, "You guys trained me well."

Seb smiled, and Ailin grinned, saying, "Hell yes, we did. You're great at sparring and in the middle of fights. You don't panic, and you know how to use your power to your best advantage. I don't doubt your abilities, kiddo. Not even a little bit."

That was high praise coming from someone who'd been helping protect Brinnswick his whole life, someone who'd helped change the tide of wars just by being there. "Thank you."

He reached over and ruffled my hair. "I know I don't have to worry about you in that sense, kiddo."

I smacked his hand away with a laugh. "Stop it."

He grinned again, then sobered. "I'd like to stay and help."

I shook my head again. "No. I'm fine, and you have too much going on."

"I never have too much going on for family, Tan."

That made me feel a bit choked up, but I still said, "I'll be fine."

He sighed. "I just want to make sure you don't want the backup. We don't mind staying."

"Thank you." I met each of their gazes. "But I think I'm alright. I appreciate it, though."

"I'm going to get a bunch of Del's shields and things together and bring them to you. I know you don't want us to stay and guard the dragon, but I'm not leaving you without extra protections."

"Del's shields are awesome." I nodded. "That'd be great. I gave Garrick—and Roman—a couple of Del's personal shield devices that they can activate in an emergency, but I'll never say no to any of his magical items."

Ailin nodded. "I'll let you do this without us under one condition."

"What's that?"

"You promise to call me if you think for even one second that you need help. And, okay, two conditions. You have to call me and let me know if Von Stein is attacked again. If you don't call me to help, I need you to tell me about it once you're safe."

"I can do that."

"I just thought of a third condition."

I rolled my eyes, holding back a snort, and waved him on.

"You have to promise to wear your arm bracers at all times and keep yourself armed with at least one dagger but preferably more weapons. At. All. Times."

That was actually a good idea, especially because Ailin had spelled the bracers himself so they were really strong at repelling magic and taking hits from weapons. "I can do that too."

He stared at me for a long moment, then groaned and rubbed his face in clear frustration. "I want to tell you not to help him anymore and let me do it."

"I know you do, but this is my job, and he's my friend. I want to help him."

He huffed, but it turned into a long, drawn-out sigh. "I get it. I just don't like you doing this by yourself."

Remi butted into the conversation for the first time. "We do this for a living, Dad. Tan can handle anything thrown at him, and he knows he can call me if he needs help. In fact, we have emergency buttons in a few places in Garrick's condo."

I nodded. "I installed some in his bedroom, the kitchen, the bathroom, and the living room. If we're stuck anywhere in the condo, we'll be able to call for help. Oh, and I put one in his office and the bathroom down there too, plus the staircase."

When we installed those things, we always made sure to put them in the bathrooms because, for some reason, that seemed like a common place for people to hide from intruders.

The last thing we needed was having a client hunkered down in a room without an emergency button.

Although, truthfully, they shouldn't be put in that situation in the first place. Our wards should keep everyone out.

But we'd never prepared for a blood witch, or a dragon for that matter, so I wanted to be as prepared as possible.

"That's good," Ailin said, nodding his head. "I'd still feel better if I could guard him with you."

I huffed out a laugh. "You can't. This is going to be going on for like a couple more months or possibly longer. You have a million other things to do."

He sighed again. "I can tell Alec that we're staying here for the next few months. He'll get by without us."

"Will he, though?" Remi asked, looking skeptical. "You guys have been called in a lot lately."

"Tell me about it." Ailin frowned. "I don't care. If one of my kids needs me, I'm going to—"

"I'll be fine, Ailin," I said, cutting him off before he got too pissy over it. "I'm pretty sure Roman and Garrick can just shift and eat the blood witch if they attack again."

"True." Ailin stared at me for a long time, and Seb nudged him, so I had a feeling they were speaking telepathically again. "You'll call me." It wasn't a question.

"Yes."

"You'll check in every day."

"Every day?"

His frown deepened. "Fine. For fuck's sake, Sebastian." He nudged his viramore back, but I had no idea what they were arguing about. "Fine, Tan, you call every couple of days, but send me a text every day to check in."

Also not a question, but I still answered, "I can do that."

"Good." He ruffled my hair again. "Call us if you need us."

After I smacked his hand away, I laughed. "Will do."

"Alright, let's eat some food." Seb stood. "We brought some trays that I'll pop into the oven."

"Is it Tio's food?" Remi asked, sounding eager. One of his other brothers, Tiordan, was an amazing chef, so I understood his excitement.

Seb grinned at him. "Yep. He made us a bunch of food last month that we froze. We've been eating our way through it slowly. Come on, help your old man."

"You aren't that old." Remi smirked at his dad, stood up, and pulled Bel up with him, leaving me with his other dad on the couch.

"I'm proud of you, kiddo," Ailin said, then pulled me into another hug, and I held onto him for a long moment, wishing my emotions would chill the fuck out. They'd been so… overwhelmed or something for weeks. For fuck's sake . Ailin hugged me all the time. This was normal. Why was I feeling so… off?

When he released me, I rubbed my aching chest but stopped after only a few seconds so Ailin wouldn't notice. All I needed was for him to realize I was feeling weird. Then there would be no hope of getting him to go home later tonight.

As I followed him into the kitchen, a strange thought kept popping to the forefront of my mind. I was here with family, here with people I cared about who I knew cared about me too, and all I kept picturing was what it would look like if Garrick was here in my house with us.

I wish Garrick was here with me.

And you know what? I really, really did.

How weird was that?