Page 66 of Dante's Circle Reborn

“And my mate,” Misha growled.

Broderick’s eyes rose at his cousin before looking back at her. “I figured the last part, but it’s good to meet you, Caly. So, you’re going to fight for our people?”

“I’m here to listen. I don’t know what use I’ll be. Because, after all, the Conclave asked me to come and find Misha, discover who he was and what he wanted. So, here I am. Doing that, and hopefully, trying to help you, as well.”

Before she could say anything else, a small child with a mop of dirty blond hair ran towards Broderick and smiled wide, fangs on display. “Daddy!”

Broderick glared at Caly before turning to kneel and lifting the boy up high.

“Duncan, my son. Would you like to meet your Uncle Misha’s mate?”

Misha slid his hand around her hip, and she froze, trying not to look as if she were uncomfortable. Things were moving far too fast for anyone in this situation.

“Hi,” Duncan said and hid his face behind his father’s shoulder.

“Hello, Duncan. I’m Caly.”

“Hi,” he whispered again and then giggled.

He was adorable, and when he looked back over and smiled, his fangs were evident, the rim of his irises a deep red.

“It’s nice to meet you,” she said.

“Why don’t you go to your mother?” Broderick said and set his son on the ground. Duncan waved and ran towards a tent where a woman with long, silver hair stood.

The woman glared at her but looked scared. Of course, Caly would be scared too if a stranger came up so close toherchild. The camp was just that, a camp. Tents with soldiers surrounding them. It looked as if they were in the Dean Forest on the human realm, though she had only seen it in pictures. What would it be like to never have a home, to be constantly on the run, using magic to shield yourself from humans and other paranormals?

It didn’t seem fair, and even if the vampires had done something truly horrible long ago, these children didn’t deserve to have that stigma associated with them. They didn’t deserve to pay this price.

“We’ve been on the run for my entire life,” Broderick said.

“Mine, as well,” Misha said. “The time when the vampires were part of the Conclave was long before we were born. Our families raised us on the run, deep within the wards of magic. No one knows we exist. Many of our kind live amongst the humans, wear business suits, and own companies, changing their identities over time. This small band has too many children for that.”

“What do you mean?”

A dark look crossed Misha’s face. “The dark one has hunted us to the point where we can’t even immerse ourselves in the human realm anymore. That’s why we’re here the way we are. It’s why we’re camping as if we’re living in the 1800s and not in our current century.”

“Did you know him, the dark one?” she asked.

“Yes, he was my brother,” the woman with the silver hair said as she walked up to Broderick, Duncan in her arms. Broderick glared at his mate and then wrapped his arm around her waist.

“My brother-in-law did things he shouldn’t,” he growled.

“But we will be safe,” the woman said, kissing her son’s cheek. “Won’t we?”

“I love you, Mommy,” Duncan said, and sadness filled the woman’s eyes.

Caly wanted to reach out and tell her that it’d be okay. To hold her close. But she didn’t know this woman. Didn’t know what type of pain they had been through recently. All she knew was that she had to find the power to help them. If not, who else? Maybe Dante. Perhaps going to him would have been helpful. But Dante wasn’t here. She was. And she had a job to do.

“I’ll help, anyway I can.”

She felt warmth through the bond and looked over at Misha as he stared at her, his eyes narrowed. He reached out and ran his thumb over her jaw.

“Thank you, pet.”

She wasn’t quite sure she liked that term of endearment, but before she could say anything, a shadow crept through the camp, and Broderick shouted.

“Get the children!”

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