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“Warned you of what?” Simone asked. “Please tell us everything.”

Derek let out a long breath. He cast a look in my direction and I gave him an encouraging nod. He could do this. I knew he could.

He nodded back at me.

And then he told them everything he’d told me in the hotel room. Every last detail.

“Oh. Well,” Thierry said, his head tilted to the side as he regarded Derek. “You’re very stupid. Just so someone is saying it.”

“Huh?” Derek blinked back at him, his lips parting in surprise. “That’s all you have to say to me?”

Thierry eyed him. “No, there’s more. There’s always more. But let’s stay friends.”

“It does not matter what your name was,” Sadie said harshly. “We would have dealt with this swiftly, had we known. Thierry is correct, you were very foolish not to tell us. We would have fixed this for you. You should not have spent even a single day living in fear.”

“You’re not… mad?” Derek looked between Thierry, Simone, and Sadie. Bryan and Tobias hung back, watching this all unfold in silence.

Brent’s brows were furrowed, as though confused by what was happening. I imagined he was probably wondering how, exactly, these three strangers might fix the situation.

“Of course we’re not mad,” Thierry replied waspishly. “We’re not your bloody parents. You made a bad call by not trusting us with the truth, but I can understand why you didn’t. And for the record, we are going to help you fix it. Of course we will.”

“Oh.” Derek’s wooden expression broke and he blinked rapidly. “Thank you.”

“Don’t be mawkish,” Sadie said. “If you cry, I’m leaving the room until it’s over.”

“I’m not going to cry,” Derek replied thickly. “And you wouldn’t actually leave even if I did, would you?”

Sadie sniffed at that but didn’t reply.

Thierry beamed at her. “You’re just as sappy as the rest of us, aren’t you? You adore Derek, don’t you? You loooove him.”

“I’m armed,” she replied coldly. Then, to Derek, she said, “Do you wish to be addressed as Derek or Allen?”

“I’m not Allen anymore,” Derek replied. “I’ve spent a long time being Derek. And I think I’m used to him. Besides, I was never acting like I was someone else or anything. I was just using a different name. And, um, lying about my past, I guess.”

Sadie rolled her eyes. “Derek it is.”

“You’re not fooling anyone,” Thierry said in a singsong voice, causing Sadie to glare daggers at him.

Simone grinned at Thierry, but her eyes were wetter than they ought to have been when she turned back to Derek. “Thank you for telling us the truth. I imagine this must have been a difficult conversation. I’m glad you trusted us.”

Derek went red, but shrugged. “It feels good to say it.”

“Yes, yes, we’ll do a group hug later,” Sadie cut in. “Once this situation is resolved. And we make these cretins pay for every year of life they’ve stolen from Derek.”

“You looove him,” Thierry crooned. “How does it go again? Ah, yes. Sadie and Derek, sitting in a tree—”

Before Sadie could murder the golden-haired vampire, which she looked halfway ready to do, Derek said, “Brent, what are you doing here?”

Brent froze. He’d clearly been trying to make himself as small and unnoticeable as possible. I wasn’t sure I blamed him.

“I’m here because I’ve been trying to save your life again!” His gaze darted around the room and he took a step back, toward the door.

Simone cut him off with a subtle shake of her head, her lips pursed.

“Who are these people?” Then Brent’s gaze landed on Sadie. “How the hell are you so strong?” He turned back to Derek. “What’s going on?”

“What’s going on is that your family is trying to kill Derek—or Allen—” Thierry paused long enough to give Derek some side-eye. “Good call on Derek, by the way. Allen makes you sound like a very sad middle-aged Midwestern tire salesman. Though, are you open to workshopping? Because Derek is a bit too—”