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“We don’t have to have all these conversations now. I am not going anywhere, are you?”
I smiled and shook my head. “No.”
“Good,” he replied, rising off the ground. “Let me go get your gift.”
I glanced at my watch. It was a minute to midnight. I sat up eagerly, watching where Theseus went, and because he seemed to love teasing me, he walked at a human pace—no, slower than a human.
“Theseus!” I grumbled
I heard his laugh but didn’t see him when he finally moved faster, grabbing something from a closet before coming back in front of me. It took my eyes a second to adjust, but when he returned, he was holding a wrapped forty-by-thirty canvas. My heart started to beat faster. I gripped it like it was gold because it very well could be gold.
“Who?” was all I could ask him eagerly, a large smile on my face. “Rembrandt? Michelangelo? Da Vinci?”
He said nothing.
“Give me a hint, or else I will see it and faint!”
“It’s no one famous.”
My shoulders fell a bit, but I didn’t lose hope. Who knew who he’d come across that had been lost to history.
“What century is it? What style?” I wanted a hint to gauge my expectations.
“Open it, Druella.”
“Fine, don’t say I didn’t warn you,” I all but sang as I tore open the brown wrapping and saw the blue at the top corner. “Okay, from the paint, we can already tell we are in the Impressionist period…”
The words just fell to shambles out of my mouth as I saw the rest of the painting. My heart tightened, and almost instantly, my eyes began to water as I looked at the painting of my mother and me, both of us sitting on a picnic blanket in the middle of the park, the grass the most beautiful shade of green. I had to be five or six by my curly pigtails.
“Your father and your uncle were twins. So, you were always able to see your father in the pictures you took with your uncle. Your mother, however,” Theseus said gently beside me as I stared at the painting in my hands. “A few years ago, I saw that you attempted to paint one yourself but stopped.”
“I…” My throat was so heavy. “I gave up because I didn’t think I could get her face right. She was always looking away in pictures. And they were blurry. I tried magic, but it didn’t work.”
“Do you like it?”
I didn’t know what to say. There was so much to say. I’d seen so many paintings in my life. I’d even seen his paintings before, some that he had even painted while I slept to pass the time, he said. But this was much more…
“Beyond like,” I answered, finally finding my voice. “I love it. Thank you so much, Theseus.”
He brushed my frizzy hair from my face and cupped my face. “Happy birthday, my love.”
I didn’t mean to cry, but the tears finally slipped out. A normal person would wipe them if they didn’t want someone to see them. I, on the other hand, kissed him. Gripping the painting with one hand and his neck with the other, I kissed him. Instantly, he was drawing me closer to him, and it was only when his hands touched my skin that I realized my blanket was on the floor, leaving me in nothing but my underwear. When our lips finally broke apart, the look in his eyes told me that I’d have to buy new underwear—again.
“Are you bringing the painting with us?” he teased since I was still gripping on tightly to the art in my hand.
I opened my mouth to speak but immediately stopped, turning to the door as I felt the presence of another vampire just appear.
“Someone is out there,” I said to him quickly, feeling the magic beginning to spark in my hand. How did a vampire get so close? Or here at all? I’d protected the whole cabin under magic each time I came.
“Do not be frightened,” Theseus said even though he looked more annoyed. He bent down and picked up the blanket to give to me.
“Who is here?” I asked.
“My name is Jabari Dubaku Thorbørn, Theseus’s brother,” a deep voice said from behind the door. I stared at the wood for a moment before my gaze shifted back to Theseus only to find his jaw set tight. “May I come in?”
“No,” Theseus sneered at the door.
I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I didn’t want the first meeting with a family member to be done while all I had on was my underwear. Putting the painting down carefully, I used the magic already at the tip of my fingers to change into ripped jeans and a T-shirt, fixing my hair as well before taking a step to the door. However, Theseus, who had not moved, gripped my wrist.
