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“And if that wasn’t certain?”
Kane frowned. “If what wasn’t certain?”
For a moment, Kaien stewed on his thoughts, unsure of whether to continue with this line of questioning. If he offered it to Kane, and the vampire didn’t appreciate it, he might irrevocably change their relationship.
“Kaien,” he repeated, “if what wasn’t certain?”
Finding the vampire’s gaze, Kaien offered what was his to give freely. “My third ability only recently manifested, Kane. I’m able to reverse fertility challenges. Make the infertile fertile.”
Explosive realization startled through Kane’s features, his mouth dropping open as his eyes searched Kaien’s for purchase. When the vampire spoke, his words were a jumble of emotion, cluttered and dripping with question and fragility.
“You—you are offering—you’re saying—”
Kaien’s gaze dropped to the ground, unable to see the turbulent emotions that were painted across the vampire’s face. “My abilities could allow you and Nova to bear children.”
“You—you would give me that gift?” Kane’s voice broke, and suddenly he was kneeling before the Raeth, clutching at Kaien’s shoulders.
Before he knew what the other man was doing, Kane had coiled his arms around him with bone breaking tightness. Stunned, he could only remain immobile when Kane gasped and clung to him. Seconds later, the vampire reared back, his eyes glassy.
Nodding once, Kaien’s focus shifted to the ground, unable to contend with the strong emotions that laced the air. “When you and Nova are ready for younglings, you need only ask.”
A stifled sob escaped Kane’s throat, his eyes filling with bittersweet emotion. “Kaien, my very good friend, you honor me.”
“We’ve been confidants and companions through the ages, Kane,” Kaien inclined his chin, smiling genuinely. “And you’ve been a true friend for all of them. You are deserving of honor.”
Swallowing harshly, Kane nodded, unshed tears clouding his eyes. He settled back into his chair; his mouth parted as he drew shaky breaths. No more than a minute later, there was a knock on the door. Too overcome with emotion, Kane didn’t respond.
“Enter,” Kaien replied, standing to receive the party on the other side.
Drake entered first. Standing inside the door, he took one look at Kane and blanched with concern for the councilor. “What is the matter, Kane?”
The other vampire glanced up, blinking quickly to dispel the emotion that watered his eyes and sputtered atypically.
“Kaien—he—” A pregnant pause as if he was trying to gather his thoughts. Clearing his throat, Kane shook his head and slashed a hand down. “I need time.”
And with that, Kane fled the room, leaving Drake, Lucius, and Blair at the doorway in shock. Drake turned a suspicious eye on Kaien, Lucius following suit.
“What have you done?”
Kaien took no offense. “One of my gifts is to foster fertility. I told Kane that when he and Nova were ready, he need only ask for my assistance.”
Drake and Lucius’ eyes snapped to his, and Kaien understood the fervent question that lingered in their eyes. The ask that remained unspoken. And though they’d yet to formulate the words, he would never hold it against them.
He supplied the answer to the question that remained unexpressed. “I’ll extend the same courtesy to you and your mates.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
BloodlingeredonBlair’slip from where she’d been chewing on it, her sharpened incisors accidentally scoring the delicate flesh. In front of her, her fingers clenched together while she continued contemplating the significance of Kaien’s offer.
For a vampire, procreation through pregnancy had proven impossible. Vampires were bitten, not born. And in all the ages since Blair’s siring, no vampiric child had ever graced the earth.
It’d taken less than forty minutes for her to retell the events that landed her and Kaien in the cabin—and less than twenty after that for all three vampire councilors to leave the premises. Lucius, eager to discuss Kaien’s offer with his mate, had telepathed Isaiah for a remote teleport back to his House in Los Angeles with Circe.
Beside her, Kaien was silent.
Now, she’d taken a seat in the cool sitting room that lingered just outside the council chambers. Alone with Kaien, she absently started braiding her hair—a gesture that never ceased to reveal her fragile state of mind.
Blair’s mind raced, reeling with the repercussions of Kaien’s claim. To be offered the chance at biological children? Inside her chest, her heart thumped painfully at the prospect.
