Page 53 of Fangs, Frost, and Folios
“Can we not?” He felt like a sulking child, but he had so many questions, and both Giovanni and Beatrice seemed to enjoy dropping hints without telling him the whole story. “René isn’t supposed to be in England. He’s banned.”
“Hard to ban a vampire completely,” Tenzin said. “Technically, I’m not allowed in Thailand, but that hardly stops me from visiting, does it?”
Ben frowned. “Why would you be banned from— Never mind.” He nodded at the tree. “Sadia seems happier.”
“Of course she is.” Tenzin curled into Ben’s side. “She is loved and seen by the people most important to her. And when children are that age, absencedoesmake the heart grow fonder. Of parents anyway.”
He leaned over and kissed his mate’s temple. “Why don’t we stay through the holidays? We can head back east after the New Year.”
“You want to spend more time with your sister.”
“She’s growing so fast.” He frowned. “In a blink, she won’t be a kid anymore.”
Tenzin let out a contented sigh. “She has a good childhood. Much better than either of us.”
Yes. Until Giovanni had found Ben, his childhood had been very different from Sadia’s. “I want her to be strong, but I don’t want her tohaveto be strong. Does that make sense?”
“Perfectly.” She wove her fingers through his, lifted his knuckles to her lips, and kissed them. “We are what our pasts make us, but it’s not wrong to want a softer life for those we love.”
Ben wrapped his arms around her. “You’re wonderful. You know that.”
“I do know that. The fertility rite was an excellent idea.”
“Please don’t call it a fertility rite in front of Giovanni.”
“Fine, but I’m not going to lie about the tattoo.”
Damn it, he’d almost forgotten about the tattoo. “It’s tiny, right?”
“Definetiny.”
Maybe heading back to New York was a good idea after all.
Giovanni walked into the living room from the library. He looked like he was moments from catching fire with excitement. “Zain just finished scanning all the manuscript pages with the camera, so we’ll be able to read it as soon as he creates a file.”
“So exciting.” Ben put on a big smile. “When is the authenticator coming?”
“Not until after the holidays. He’s in Oxford until then.” Giovanni walked over to Beatrice and took the ornament she handed him. “The tree looks wonderful.”
“And the tamales are steaming right now.” She lifted on her toes and gave him a kiss. “Can you go in the backyard and get more wood for the fireplace?”
“You realize that the air conditioner is on right now, correct?”
“I wanted a fire.” She smiled. “Please?”
“Tesoro, all you need to do if you want a fire is—”
“Ew.” Sadia covered her ears. “Ew, ew, ew. Don’t be gross. Oh my God, you two are worse than Ben and Tenzin. Ew.”
Giovanni laughed, then kissed his wife and leaned down to kiss his daughter on the top of her head. “Fine, I’ll go get more wood for the completely unnecessary fire.”
He walked out the french doors, and Sadia danced over to her phone and changed the music coming out of the speakers.
Moments later, Ben heard Giovanni yell from outside.
“Tenzin! Why is there a cow in my garden?”
Epilogue
