“Rhys,” I began.
He shook his head. “No, Mom. He’s my brother, and I have to put up with him in a way you do not. I get to throw all the shade I want his way.”
“Fine. Though you should know there’s a sensitive boy under all his bravado.”
Rhys snorted and looked down to the ground. “There are some unforeseen consequences. The stone melted the snow, and now we have mud.”
I glanced down, and he was right. The ground beneath us was getting messy, and we would likely sink into it when we rose. “You can fix it if you want.”
He hesitated. “I shouldn’t.”
“How long has it been since you used your powers?”
“I can’t not use them. It goes badly if I don’t. I do grow things, but I tend to do it in a passive way. I take off my shoes and walk around Frelsi at least once a week.”
And that was why the grass was so green. I wasn’t going to argue with him about this. It was Dev’s place to show Rhys how to control his powers. “I suspect you help in Lily’s garden, too. Her herbs are beautiful. Well, I don’t mind the mud. Do you want a sandwich?”
“I would love one. It’s nice because if I was out with Lee, I would have to fight him for it. I don’t know how he stays so fit because he eats like a wolf. And with Fen, well, he eats a lot. And so fast. A picnic like this would require Eddie to transport half a kitchen’s worth of food.”
I opened my bag and pulled out the sandwiches Albert had packed for us. They were ham with brown bread and butter. I’d been told they were Rhys’s favorite. I started to pass him one and stopped when I saw him leaning over, his fingertips hovering above the ground. There was a look of deep concentration on his face as the ground around us gently began to change. The grass grew, pushing through the earth and blossoming to form a silky emerald carpet under our feet. It formed a circle around us, a patch of spring in the winter gloom.
He sat back up, and I didn’t miss the satisfied expression that crossed his face. “It’s easier with you around. I can feel the energy from the Goddess Chain.”
“I didn’t know it had energy,” I admitted and passed him the sandwich and took out my own.
“Oh, yes. It soaks up the sexual energy from you and Papa’s encounters.” He frowned suddenly. “And now that I am saying those words, I wish I hadn’t because it’s pretty strong today. I wish I didn’t know that.”
I wished he didn’t know it either, but this was one of those “normals” I needed to throw away. “Sex is healthy. It’s a good thing to share when you truly care about someone.”
Rhys’s brows rose. “Has anyone told my brother that? He shares it all the time.”
“Or when you and your partner simply want to have some fun and everyone consents.”
He shuddered. “I don’t need a sex talk, Mom. I get it. Sex is good for the sex god. The truth is being around Papa has already helped a lot. I had a long teaching session with him that was deeply disconcerting and oddly comforting, and then Bris gave me advice as well. I was afraid to have sex because of what could happen. I have a weird relationship with sex.”
“Because it’s who you are and it’s why you’ve had trouble,” I said. “I can understand that. I always found it odd that my life often revolves around something I can never see.”
“Your glow?”
I nodded. “It’s affected me all of my life, and I can’t see it. I might have gone my entire life without knowing it existed. Some companions do since there are so few vampires.”
“Do you wonder what that life might have been like? If your father had been someone with no ties to the supernatural world? What would your life have been like if Granddad had been a farmer somewhere isolated? You might never have met a vampire and had a… I was about to use that word again.”
“Normal, yes. It’s hard not to. I don’t think about it anymore. If he had, then I would never have met your dad and never have fallen in love with your papa. No. I love the life I have.” I even loved sitting here and talking to my son, despite the fact that there was awkwardness between us. “There is always a balance. That’s what I’ve learned. It’s kind of been beaten into me. I had hard things to get through, but I was also given extraordinary love.”
“Were you given it? Or did you fight for it, too?” Rhys asked as though he’d thought about this a lot.