Reggie’s Reasons by Lisa Oliver

Chapter Ten

Reggie was feeling surprisingly better by the time the three of them had gotten back to his apartment. He was a tad embarrassed he’d laid into Balthazar the way he had, especially learning the older demon had been supposedly joking, but he’d never actually punched the crap out of anyone like that before. It’s a great stress reliever, but not something to make a habit of.

Although, he felt like doing it again when he saw Balthazar’s look of shock at his apartment. “Why on earth are you living in this… this… shack? You inherited a shit ton of money…”

“I don’t need a lot,” Reggie said quickly. It was none of the demon’s business how much money he had in the bank or what he spent it on. “I live alone, or have done up until now, and I spent most of my time out with friends or working. It’s not like I needed a mansion. Did either of you want coffee?”

Kicking off his boots, Reggie didn’t wait for a reply. He went through the living area and into his small kitchen, grabbing the jug to fill his machine. By the time the coffee was made, Balthazar had taken over his armchair, and Dirkin was waiting for him on his two-seater. When he caught Reggie’s eye, Dirkin patted the spare space beside him.

Putting the mugs and tray down on the coffee table, Reggie pushed one in Balthazar’s direction, slid one in front of Dirkin on the table, and held onto the third mug for himself as he sat down, tucking a leg under his ass.

Looking across at a smug looking Balthazar, Reggie made sure he kept his face as expressionless as possible. “I’m sorry for knocking you over and punching you in the face – repeatedly. That’s not normally how I behave with people I’ve just met. You have my apologies.”

“You were provoked, little one.” Balthazar waved his apology away. Reggie could easily see why the demon was a prince in the Underworld. He had casual arrogance down to an art form. “I didn’t know who you were when your asshole leader summoned me all those years ago. I was more pissed off I had to send Dirkin to the shadows. My friend plays a mean game of pool, and we made a good team.”

Reggie glanced at his beloved; Dirkin was grinning. “I haven’t lost my skills, old man. But come on. You know damn well you drive me nuts the way you drag things out.”

Balthazar chuckled, but his face, when he focused on Reggie again was all serious. “You’re Reginald Forsyth, aren’t you?”

Reggie nodded.

“Reginald Forsyth, only son of Seraphina and Stephano Forsyth-Willis, am I correct?”

Frowning, Reggie had to think. He’d seen that name before. “I think that’s the name on the papers I signed for my initial inheritance,” he said slowly. “But I was raised as Reggie Forsyth.”

“Seraphina and Stephano Forsyth-Willis?” Dirkin’s eyes were bugging out of his head. “Forsyth-Willis, as in the ruling vampire family from Italy? That Forsyth-Willis?”

Reggie’s frown deepened. “From what I know, my parents were well-off enough to never have to work, but that’s common among older vampires. I don’t know about this ruling anything though. They recognized Bevan as their coven master which is why he has their personal effects.”

“That’s what you got told.” Balthazar still had that smugness about him. Reggie flexed his fingers.

“Hang on, hang on.” Dirkin waved his finger at his demon friend. “The Forsyth-Willis’s died in the US, I’ll give you that. It was twenty-four years ago too, so the timeline fits. But if they were ruling vampires in Italy, how the hell did Reggie end up in Bevan’s coven?”

“My parents weren’t murdered. They died in a really horrific accident.” Reggie knew that much. Bevan had told him all about his parents’ deaths when he was about eight years old. “My mom and dad had gone out for the evening. They were driving home. It was late, and the road was really dark. It’d been raining and the road was slick. A tractor-trailer unit came around a corner too fast, and the trailer slid sideways into my parents’ side of the road. Their car went right under it and the iron bars along the edge of the trailer sliced right through the car and decapitated them both. Bevan took me to the corner of the road where they died. He showed me their graves.”

“Nice touch. That creep showed you two mounds of dirt and said they were your parents’ graves.” Balthazar looked almost sorry for him. “Tell me, young vampire, do you always celebrate your birthday on the eve of it, rather than the day itself?”

“I don’t see what that’s got to do with my parents.” Reggie looked over at Dirkin, but the demon was watching his friend. “But no. If I celebrate my birthday, I do it on the day of my birth. It’s kinda the point of having a birthday.”

“Exactly, but this year your scummy friend Fox convinced you it was a trend to celebrate a birthday eve, rather than the day itself, and then he introduced you to the slutty cat shifter at your party who spent the night trying to get into your pants, right?”

“I don’t remember much of the party,” Reggie mumbled, embarrassed he’d gotten so drunk, but Dirkin was looking excited.

“You’re saying this is all connected.” Dirkin leaned forward on his seat. “Bevan’s calls trying to get hold of him the day before the birthday, Fox’s efforts to shift the party to the day before Reggie turned twenty-five, and even the cat shifter?”

Balthazar wiggled forward in his seat too, totally focused on Dirkin. “You should have heard those scummy vamps. Man, I cloaked myself and was in Bevan’s office while he was trying to call your mate. I knew he was going to pull something because there’s no way he wanted you claiming his ward. Honestly, if he’d gotten through, if Reggie had answered his call, I was going to pull the plug on the phone. He’s still using a rotary, can you believe it? Anyhow, Bevan’s calling and he’s not getting through. And his PA comes in and he’s all like, ‘well, you shouldn’t have left it so long to want to bond with him,’ and Bevan’s scowling all over the place, and going on about the amount of blood the young vamp took during the transition and then, when he couldn’t get hold of Reggie, he’s on the phone to that fucking Fox and…”

“Wait just one minute.” Reggie had been trying to follow Balthazar’s rant, but it’d taken a bit for his brain to catch up. “You were spying on my old coven leader? He was calling me to insist he bonds with me, even though he knows about Dirkin?”

“Yes, yes.” Balthazar went back to talking to Dirkin. “So, he gets Fox on the phone, and I’m thinking ‘yeah, this doesn’t look good for my friend, D,’ but I wanted to know what was going on, so I didn’t interrupt when he’s ranting to Fox.”

“Would you just stop!” Reggie really wished Balthazar would shut up. “Bevan doesn’t know Fox. He’s never been here, never visited. When I’d mentioned Bevan to Fox once, he said he didn’t know the guy and wasn’t interested in meeting a coven leader from some hick coven in the middle of nowhere. Bevan must have been calling someone else.”

“My poor innocent little vampire.” Reggie knew Balthazar was mocking him and he glared.

“Knock it off, B,” Dirkin said quickly. “Reggie’s got a good heart and believes the best of everyone. There’s no need to be mean about any of this, because none of this crapshoot is his doing.”

“Fair enough.” Balthazar raised his hands. “I didn’t mean anything by my tone, but the thing is, Reggie my dear, you have been walking around with your head in Lala land for most of your life. I know you believe the best in people, but from the way Bevan and Fox were talking the day before your birthday, they definitely knew each other and were working with each other. Of course, Bevan doesn’t know that Fox was double crossing him too. Fox apparently knew of Bevan’s plan to have you at the coven the day you turned twenty-five, so Fox brought that cat shifter in to try and stop you bonding with Bevan, the night before. Bevan figured your birthday was soon enough, because…”

“My banishment to the shadows was for ten years and one day. Of course.” Dirkin slapped his knee, making Reggie jump. “That’s why Bevan pushed for that extra day. He intended to bond with my mate the day before I’d be released. There’d be nothing I could do about it. The bastard!”

“They wouldn’t do that.” Reggie jumped to his feet, his whole body filled with a restless energy. “Don’t you get it,” he said as he began to pace, “no one cared about me. I get it, I do. I was a glutton who grew too big during their awakening, and nobody wanted me after that. But you guys are treating me as if I’m as stupid as Bevan and Fox clearly think I am.”

“Babe. Mate.” Dirkin looked shocked. “You know I cared for you from the first day I saw you. I left you notes. It was all I could do, but…”

“Exactly.” Reggie stopped pacing and faced his beloved, ignoring Balthazar completely. “You sent me notes, once a year on my birthday. Every year without fail. I kept every one of those notes. I still have them. Do you remember what you wrote for my twenty-fourth birthday?”

Dirkin scrunched his forehead, trying to remember.

“One more year until I can hold my heart’s desire. That’s what you wrote to me,” Reggie continued, “and maybe to a lot of people that wouldn’t mean a lot. But to me, after what happened with Bevan during my transition, those notes were the one constant I had. The one positive thing I hung onto. My life was a mess. Everyone was always asking, why didn’t I spend my money,” he threw a quick glare at Balthazar when he said that.

“Why didn’t I use my degree, why was I working at a dead-end job, why wasn’t I screwing around like it was a rule or something? I always felt I was waiting for something, and when I got that note for my twenty-fourth birthday, I knew I was waiting for you even if I didn’t know it was you specifically at the time. Don’t you see? I wasn’t going to be taken in by the Donnys of this world, or even Bevan, not when I had already waited for so long. I mean shit, did Bevan think if he called me home after damn near ten years of silence, I’d just bond with him on a moment’s notice?”

Dirkin and Balthazar exchanged a quick look. “Bevan mentioned in his ranting you’d always had a crush on him, even when you were a kid.” Balthazar’s tone held a note of apology.

“I thought of Bevan as a father figure, to make up for the one I didn’t have.” Reggie let out a long breath. “Sheesh, guys, really? Bevan and Fox conspiring behind my back and did either of them think to actually come and talk to me. And for what? A few million bucks in a bank account and a degree in fine arts I never use? Damn it. I need a drink.”

/~/~/~/~/

Dirkin watched as Reggie strode into the kitchen like a man on a mission. As soon as his mate was out of sight, Dirkin leaned forward as far as he could go, whispering to Balthazar. “There’s more to it, isn’t there? Are the Coven Masters in Italy looking for Reggie?”

“There are no Coven Masters in Italy,” Balthazar murmured. “They’re waiting for the return of the one true prince – Seraphina’s son.”

“But…” Dirkin frowned. “Where does Bevan fit into all of this? Who the hell is he and how did he end up with my mate in his care?”

“I’m not sure my friend. I can ask around; you know someone will have the dirt on him somewhere. But I’m more interested in this inheritance Bevan apparently has for your young mate.”

“I think Reggie’s in two minds about going to get it.” Dirkin peered over the couch back, but Reggie was still banging around in the kitchen. “Bevan said if Reggie isn’t there by Friday, without me, then Bevan would report to the Coven Masters that he was refusing his inheritance. Do you think that means his title too?”

“Or Bevan’s lying through his fangs again.” Balthazar tapped his knee with his fingers. “It’s probably a trap.”

“Bevan mentioned a letter from Reggie’s mother.” Dirkin quirked his brow at his friend.

“Pulling at your mate’s heart strings and the idea he could have a message from the grave.” Balthazar shook his head. “It’s a trap all right. I’m thinking if that stuck-up Bevan doesn’t want you at his coven, mayhap I should go in your place?”

“I was hardly going to let a vampire banishment stop me from going,” Dirkin chuckled. “But it would be good if you were on our side this time.”

“Hmm, and in the meantime, why don’t we let your young mate get a couple of drinks under his belt and then the three of us hit the clubs. Find that fucking Fox?” Balthazar grinned.

“Oh, there was one thing about that, which might have escaped your notice. That cat shifter, Donny, mentioned Fox intercepted a letter for Reggie from the Coven Masters here. I thought it was something to do with Reggie becoming the Coven Leader here instead of Fox, but…”

“It’s more likely to be a missive from the Coven Masters to the new ruling Prince of Italy.” Balthazar paused. “Which would suggest either Fox knows who Reggie is, or…”

“Maybe Fox didn’t read the letter, but he’s worried about his own position, which was why he wanted Donny mated to my mate. So he could control him.”

“You could be right, my friend.” Balthazar tapped his index finger on his lips. “But I’m damn certain there’s something else going on with that gothic wannabe. He’s far more interested in Reggie than you’d expect, even from a BFF. I think it’s on us find out what’s going on with him and his interest in your mate.”

“Can you bring in a couple of extra glasses please, my mate?” Dirkin called out to the kitchen. “It’s time to celebrate our new mating.”

“In more ways than one,” Balthazar muttered as both demons laughed.