Upon arriving in the library, they’d placed him on a sofa and immediately piled as close as they possibly could without being in his lap. The physical contact was the only thing calming them both down, not that he could blame them. It was clear that Wyatt, River, and Rafe all thought he’d died. That feeling was all too fresh in Bel’s mind when it came to River.
While Rafe gave all signs of having recovered, his twin still stared at him every once in a while, as if he were half expecting to see Bel disappear before his eyes.
But Bel’s gaze couldn’t help being drawn to Winter. His quiet, reclusive brother had a very big secret. Something Bel was only now beginning to grasp. Winter had always been a little more distant than the rest of them. He had always been quieter, keeping to himself. Bel had thought that it had started while he was still human, but had it really started after he’d become a vampire? Was it because of his powers?
Bel couldn’t allow his brother to isolate himself any longer. He needed to reach out more. To understand better what he was going through. What his power did to him.
Winter told him to let it go, but he couldn’t, wouldn’t. He wasn’t sure how to help Winter just yet. He needed to think.
It was nearly sunrise when he got Wyatt and River settled in their temporary bedroom. Rafe and Philippe had left for their home a few hours earlier, and Winter had left to check on Wyatt’s sister on his way home. Tomorrow night would be more planning and hopefully some action.
But there was someone Bel needed to talk to first.
Aiden was standing on a balcony at the rear of the house, seeming to stare at the sky as it turned from deep purples to lighter grays with hints of orange while a slight breeze ruffled his blond hair, pushing it back from his face. The vampire had been a part of his life for almost as long as he could remember. The one constant outside of his brothers and mother. He was safety and love. He was the voice of reason and calm in the middle of a storm. This morning, he seemed older and possibly even tired to Bel. As if all those years were catching up with him a bit.
Bel felt like he knew Aiden, but he had been keeping some damn big secrets. Did he truly know Aiden? Had he just wanted to feel like he knew Aiden, made the man into a rock that he could lean on when he wasn’t?
“How old are you, really?” The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them.
A ghost of a smile passed across Aiden’s lips, and he partially turned to look at Bel as he came to stand next to him at the stone railing lining the balcony. “Old. Older than even I can remember any longer. Or maybe I just don’t want to remember. None of it seems as important as you and your brothers. This family.” Aiden paused and his smile was back, stronger and brighter. “I like to think that maybe all those years were just preparing me to meet Julianna and her sons.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
Aiden shrugged. “It didn’t seem important. All those years seemed as important to me as picking out a bow tie each evening would be for you.”
Bel lifted his chin a little and couldn’t help touching the plain blue bow tie currently around his neck. It was the only one he’d left at Marcus’s, and he was sorely missing his extensive collection. “I think you underestimate how important my bow ties are to me.”
Aiden laughed, and Bel enjoyed the light sound. Aiden really did laugh much easier now, and so much more frequently than since they’d all been made into vampires.
“That is probably true.”
“Is your age the reason other clans have given us a wide berth over the years?”
His smile slipped a little. “Yes, very likely. I think some are aware that I’m older than the bloody sun, but most don’t. There are silly old whispers about me. Tales that are more fairy tale than fact at this point. I never cared, if it meant you and your brothers were protected.”
Bel narrowed his eyes on Aiden, and his surrogate father lifted one eyebrow in question. “You do remind me a bit of a cursed prince. A little dark and brooding, charged to forever guard a bunch of miscreants.”
Aiden’s bark of laughter echoed across the open field to hammer against the woods and bounce back at them. He threw one arm around Bel’s shoulders and pulled him in tight. “Cursed prince, my ass,” he muttered under his breath. “I am blessed. Even with Rafe’s antics and Marcus’s bellowing and your endless experiments, I am blessed.”