“I know, but let’s wait for a little while. We’re all still getting accustomed to this new life. We must figure out this feeding thing. And the sunlight.”
A hint of a smile teased the corner of Aiden’s mouth, but it didn’t clear away the concern. “You don’t have to figure out the sun. You just stay out of it. Very simple.”
Winter gave a little roll of his eyes. “Yes, but we’re quite accustomed to conducting our daily lives in the sun. We’ll need to figure out how to do all our normal things after the sun has set. And then there are other things we need to work on, I’m sure. Like other vampires.”
“Stay away from other vampires,” Aiden said sharply.
Winter’s smile grew. “See? We have plenty of things we need to worry about.”
“You mean other than the fact that you can see the dead.”
Winter gave a dismissive wave of his hand, shoving away his own rising worries. “Just a trifle.”
He refused to let Aiden see his fears, not that he wanted to start keeping secrets from him. But if his father was convinced that he was sliding down the slope to madness, he’d spill everything to his brothers.
No, Winter could handle this, alone if necessary. Vampirism meant having the strength and powers needed to protect his family. A new worry might have started to dog him, but he was also incredibly stubborn when he needed to be. This development was not going to stop him. He might never close the distance between him and his brothers, but he could at least protect them.
Aiden groaned, but he wrapped his arm around Winter’s shoulders, pulling him against his taller frame. “You and your brothers are going to be the death of me.”
“Pfft…you told me vampires were made of much sterner stuff than humans.”
“Yes, and it shows just how troublesome the Varik brothers are. I don’t know how your mother managed to raise you on her own.”
It was on the tip of his tongue to remind Aiden that their mother was quite mad, but it didn’t seem like a good time or a tasteful joke, considering his father was now concerned with the same madness running through Winter.
“We had a steady stream of tutors passing through our home to help keep us in line,” Winter said instead.
“If only there were tutors in vampirism,” Aiden bemoaned, but there was a lightness in his eyes that was now chasing away the sad.
Winter bumped him with his shoulder. “You wouldn’t miss training your new fledglings,” he teased.
Aiden’s smile grew. “Not for anything in this world or the next.” He gave Winter’s shoulder a squeeze before releasing him. “We should return to Marcus’s house. I’m sure your brothers are anxious to see you and share in your first night as a vampire.”
“Yes, but I want to check something quickly.”
Winter jogged down the sidewalk, the hard soles of his shoes slapping along the paving stones until he was ahead of the woman ghost. He crossed the street and stood in front of a closed business. He took a second to straighten his jacket and touch his hair, making sure it was still tied back. It seemed a little ridiculous to worry about his appearance with a ghost, but they were well beyond the normal and mundane at this point.
When she reached where he was standing, he bowed his head to her and said, “Good afternoon.” It was a small, simple gesture. The same thing he’d do if he’d passed someone he had a passing acquaintance with in the park. He held his breath, half convinced she would not even notice him.
But to his shock, her phantom lips quirked in a small smile and she bowed her head to him. There was a slight movement of her lips, and a heartbeat later he heard, whispered in his head, “Good afternoon.”
She saw him. She knew he was there, and she spoke to him.
And her voice, the way it drifted so lightly through his brain, it was just like the voices he’d grown up hearing. He’d never been sure where the voices were coming from, but now it was quite clear he’d been hearing the whispers of the dead. The only difference now was that as a vampire, he could see them as well.
The ghost continued on her leisurely stroll as if it wasn’t the most life-shattering moment in the world. Hell, maybe the ghost spoke to the living all the time.
Interesting. He wasn’t quite sure what he could do with this just yet. It meant the voices weren’t necessarily gone. Just now clearly linked to something. Plus, he could speak to them. He’d tried a couple of times when he’d been a child to talk to the voices when he’d been alone, but they’d never answered his questions. Maybe something had changed now that he’d died and been reborn. Did this mean he could possibly use the ghosts in some way?