Reggie’s Reasons by Lisa Oliver
Chapter Sixteen
It was Thursday evening and Dirkin and Reggie were still in the Underworld. They’d been having a fun time, at least in Dirkin’s opinion. Being topped by his mate was a first for Dirkin, but he didn’t mention the whole “I’d never done that before,” unsure how his sweet mate would feel about it. When it came down to it, he was happy. Reggie was happy. Sleeping in late, making love at all hours. Reggie had taken to the Underworld surprisingly well despite the lack of sunshine and he had a ready smile for everyone Dirkin introduced him too.
But Dirkin had noticed Reggie’s mood was off, and he’d caught him more than a few times just staring off into space when he thought no one was watching. Dirkin was patient. He’d already arranged with Balthazar to come with them when they went to see Reggie’s ex-coven leader. He was just waiting for Reggie to mention he needed to go. There was no point in having that discussion about how Bevan’s refusal to let ‘the demon’ on coven grounds was a useless threat, until Reggie had got his mind wrapped about going at all.
Reggie finally mentioned it after dinner, in a roundabout fashion Dirkin knew was typical of his mate who didn’t like thinking he could be a bother to anyone. They were in the sitting room, curled up together watching the flames from the open fire.
“So,” Reggie started slowly, “you know when Balthazar sent Fox back to the club from here, did he have to like actually transport him, take him physically there, or could he just wave his hands and poof?”
“Poof?” Dirkin chuckled. “If you’re asking if it’s possible for demons to send someone back to the earth realm, without going themselves, then yes, provided we know where that person has to be. Of course, there’s always a danger translocating people between realms without going with them…” He trailed off deliberately, knowing Reggie would take the bait.
“Dangerous? Why?”
Dirkin rested his arm across the back of the couch. “What if the person you’re sending ends up landing on someone else when he gets to where he’s going? That club for example – full of people moving around. That can be nasty. I’ve heard of some people relocating inside of walls, which can be tricky to get out of, oh, and this one case. My friend Sy, you met him yesterday remember? He relocated a shifter this one time and the guy ended up in the ocean. Fortunately, he didn’t land too far from the beach, and the shifter could swim, but that could’ve been really bad.”
“I’m glad he was all right.” Reggie looked down at where his hand was resting on Dirkin’s thigh.
“Was there a reason you asked?” Dirkin knew he was being a bit of a shit, but Reggie would eventually come to realize there was nothing he could ask for that Dirkin wouldn’t give him – except dumping him off to see an ex-coven master who might have had something to do with the death of Reggie’s parents.
“It was nothing really. I was thinking about Bevan’s deadline – it’s tomorrow.”
“Uh huh. And what were you thinking exactly? I thought you’d decided not to go.”
“I wasn’t comfortable going without you beside me,” Reggie admitted. “And, I mean, it’s not like I haven’t already had an inheritance from my parents already.”
“But? I know there’s a but in there somewhere.”
“But what if there is something about my parents… and what if I totally stuff things up by not going? What if Bevan ends up ruling Italy if I don’t turn up… or what if the Coven Masters order a hunt for me? Maybe there was a deadline on this inheritance stuff. I don’t know.”
“I’ve got to admit, I’m definitely curious about how a ruling family from Italy can be killed in the US, and how their only son ended up being raised in the US by someone who appears to have no natural ties to the Italian coven. I’m also curious as to why Bevan didn’t tell you who you were on any of the many occasions he could have done before you became an adult.”
“But that’s just it. Maybe I’m not this prince after all,” Reggie said looking at him eagerly. “Maybe Bevan didn’t tell me anything because there was nothing to tell, and maybe what he said on the phone the last time I spoke to him was the truth. Maybe he does just have a letter for me from my mom, and some papers to sign for… whatever.”
Dirkin doubted that very much. Bevan’s plans to take control of his mate had ended the night Reggie became a fully-fledged vampire. There was a good chance the only reason Bevan had tried to restrict his blood intake that night was because he fully planned to take Reggie to his bed, corrupt the love Reggie had for him at the time, and spend the next ten years subjugating and demeaning Reggie to the point when Reggie did become the ruler of Italian vampires, he was nothing more than Bevan’s puppet. Dirkin showing up had ruined those plans. Those Fates are so damn clever.
But Dirkin said nothing about his thoughts. Time would tell if he was right. Instead, he said, “We’re not going to know until we talk to him. So, seeing as we’ve got nothing else to do this evening, why don’t you, me, and Balthazar go and pay Bevan a quick visit, and then we can start talking about those practical things like where would you like to travel, and how many houses will we need on Earth.”
Reggie frowned. “Bevan said you weren’t allowed on his territory. I don’t want you getting hurt.”
“And your concern for me is beautiful, my sweetheart.” Dirkin kissed the grooves on Reggie’s forehead. “But you’re just picking up a letter, remember? And any paranormal has the right to enter another paranormal’s territory to ask for permission to pass through, no matter who they are. It’s protocol.”
“But we’re not passing through.”
“That’s just a technicality. There’s no reason why we can’t,” Dirkin countered. “It’s not like we’re going to be there long anyway.”
Reggie was quiet for a moment, and then he said, “Does Balthazar already know about this?”
“He’s keen on a road trip,” Dirkin nodded.
“It’s hardly going to be a road trip if we’re zapping everywhere,” Reggie grumbled.
Dirkin counted that as a yes and pulled out his phone to text his friend.
/~/.~/~/~/
Reggie didn’t know why he was worried about Bevan making a fool of him in front of his beloved and Dirkin’s best friend. The two demons had already seen him the night he transitioned. No one could go through the worst time in a vampire’s life and come out smelling of roses with their hair in place and Dirkin and Balthazar had both been there for that. But there was a part of him, the part that remembered what’d happened the last time Dirkin and Bevan had met, that wondered if Bevan’s insistence on seeing him had just been a huge trap of some kind. Is my mom’s letter that important? Am I doing the right thing? Unfortunately, Reggie knew what he was like. If he didn’t face Bevan one last time, he’d always wonder about what might have been.
Apparently, demons didn’t knock on front doors. When Reggie felt his body settle after translocation, he opened his eyes to a room with floor to ceiling bookcases, dim lighting provided by a large carved floor lamp, and a wide desk made of the same oak wood as the bookcases. Bevan’s office in the main house. Reggie couldn’t help turning around to see if the small desk he used to sit at was still there, but in its place was an ornate coffee table holding a large vase filled with orchids. Reggie hoped his pain at seeing a part of his childhood banished to a basement didn’t show on his face.
“I told you he wasn’t allowed in my territory!” It was too much to hope Bevan would be pleased to see him. Turning away from the corner of the room, Reggie faced the man he hadn’t seen in years. Bevan didn’t look any older, but his face was a hard mask – a harsh contrast to the man who’d raised him.
“We’re just passing through,” Reggie said as calmly as he could. “We’ve no intention of staying. You insisted I be here, before Friday, to receive the rest of my inheritance. I’m here. The sooner you give it to me, the sooner we can be gone.”
“The demons have to leave.” Bevan’s jaw was tight. Reggie noticed he hadn’t called the guards in, but then against two demons, vampire guards would be useless. “What I have to tell you, the things we need to discuss, are going to take a lot longer than five minutes. There’re things you don’t know about your parents – things I couldn’t tell you until you became an adult. I was under oath, damn it, but they can’t be here for any of this.”
“Then we’re at an impasse.” Reggie very deliberately sat down in one of the more comfortable chairs Bevan had in his office – close to the door and as far away from the desk as possible. “Dirkin is my beloved. Something you knew about well before I did. There are no secrets between him and I and anything that impacts my life will impact him too. Balthazar offered to come along as moral support. An insurance policy against you illegally summoning him a second time to attack my one and only.”
“This is not the time to keep dredging up the past.” Bevan sat himself back behind his desk and fiddled with some of his papers. “I did what I felt was right during your awakening, and I’ll stand by those decisions in any paranormal court.”
“I agree, there’s no point in arguing about it.” Reggie reached up, touching the hand on his shoulder. Dirkin and Balthazar hadn’t sat down, but they were close enough to the back of his chair, Reggie could feel their heat. “Dirkin found me. We’ve claimed each other. Now, if you’ll just give me the papers I need to sign, and I believe you mentioned a letter from my dead mother…?”
Bevan’s fingers tapped out a rhythm on a folder on his desk. “There’s a lot more to this. Things you have no idea about. Position. Ranking. Training. All this will take time and I won’t have these demons here while you go through all this.”
“You’re refusing to give my Reggie his inheritance?” Dirkin sounded like he didn’t care either way.
“I live by my honor,” Bevan said, lifting his chin. “I was bound by an oath not to reveal to Reggie the nature of his inheritance until his twenty-fifth birthday. That same oath compels me inform him of it when it was time.”
“That time was five days ago.” Reggie met Bevan’s eyes squarely for the first time in his life. “You told me if I didn’t come here, you would advise the Coven Masters I’d refused my inheritance. How could you do that if you’re under oath?”
“You’re here. That’s irrelevant. If you’d been here for your birthday…”
“Which you paid Fox to ensure. Newsflash. He double-crossed you. Tried to get me to bond with a cat shifter, can you imagine that? But then, he told me you were planning to bond with me on my birthday too.”
Bevan’s eyes darkened and a muscle on the side of his jaw twitched. “Always knew that goth wannabe was an asshole,” he muttered. Reggie wanted to laugh. If Fox was the epitome of a goth vamp, then Bevan was what the general public thought of when the word vampire was mentioned. Sharp black suit worth more than Reggie made in a year, his pristine white shirt buttoned high up his neck, his thin face so pale it was difficult to see where his short cut white hair started. “You hooked up with your demon anyway, so any plans made previously are moot. However, this training…”
“Let’s cut the shit, shall we, Bevan,” Dirkin interrupted smoothly. “All we need for you to do is confirm that my Reggie is the only son of the late Seraphina and Stephano Forsyth-Willis and because of that, as from the day he turned twenty-five, he is currently the ruling vampire prince in Italy. Am I right?”
