Page 69 of From the Shadows
“Like what?” Diego challenged. “You don’t know how much eternal life sucks.”
“Oh? Can you play the piano? Have you ever put a roof on a house? What about writing? Ever written a book? Ever do a doctoral thesis? Have you studied the stars? Run with the animals?”
Diego scowled. “What? No.”
“Then you’re missing out. Think about it, okay? You only see problems, and that’s mostly because the guilt has always eaten away at you. I don’t see things the same way. To me, eternal life is about infinite possibilities. Iloveto learn things, but I always had to choose which was most important to me. Now? I’ll be able to do anything, no matter how long it takes. Hell, I might even get through the list of books I want to read. Maybe. Just think, I could turn my favorite authors into vampires, so they’re always around to write me new stuff. K.C. Wells, Mary Calmes, LM Somerton, Eden Winters, and my entire list of autobuy authors have lots of books to write, and I could give them time to do it.”
“This isn’t funny,” Diego admonished, but then he grinned. “And you can’t simply turn people into vampires all willy-nilly. Even if you love their books.”
Shay sobered. “No, you’re right. I can’t. Nor would I, no matter how tempting it would be. The whole point here is, I’m going to need your help to get used to my new life, but I don’t regret for a second what happened. I’m grateful, if nothing else. I know you think of eternal life as a curse, but I’m gonna guess it’s because you’ve never had anyone by your side to walk with you. You’re not alone now, Diego. And you never will be again.”
“That sounds nice,” Diego admitted. “I’ve been so lonely, because I knew that I would outlive all my friends. But now? Maybe it won’t hurt so bad if I’m not alone. I… would like to walk with you.”
“And would you be willing to go out and learn with me? We could take pottery classes, I could teach you how to quilt, we could both learn new languages. We could go deep-sea diving without equipment.”
“Jeremy?”
Shay nodded. “He was stoked about you doing it, so I’m gonna figure he’ll be double pumped for us to go together.” He reached for Diego’s hand. “The world is our oyster, Diego. We can go anywhere, do anything, and we have all the time in the world to get it done. Eternity isn’t going to suck anymore. You have my word.”
And for the first time in what seemed like forever, an ember of hope sparked in Diego’s heart.
Chapter 21
Six monthslater
“Happy birthday, Jerm!”
He stared, his eyes wide, at the amazing thing Shay had made for him. When he’d asked Jeremy what he wanted for his party, Jerm had said he would love a Mario Kart cake. Diego was puzzled when Shay agreed so enthusiastically, but afterward, he understood. After Jerm headed for bed, Shay went online to find bakers, then started calling everywhere, doing his best to find someone to teach him.
And now, six months later, Jerm was turning eight, and Shay was ready to wow him. A three-tier design, outfitted to look like a racetrack, complete with colorful cars and characters. It was truly a work of art. Watching Shay working with the baker, Diego understood—finally—what he’d meant about eternal life not being a weight around his ankles. Several weeks later, once they were home after the final lesson, Diego witnessed the smile on Shay’s face as he made the sky-blue cake, then decorated it with star-shaped sprinkles, and put little guys he said were Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi on top that Shay had helped make out of fondant. He assuredDiego that by next year, he’d have that skill figured out and be able to make it on his own.
And seeing the way Shay’s face lit up? That was all it took for Diego to get bitten by the learning bug. To fill all those wasted hours he’d lived through with creating things of beauty, like the quilt he was currently trying—and not succeeding too well—to make. But, like Shay told him, he had forever, so why get frustrated and rush?
“D!” Luckily, he turned in time to catch a flying Jeremy, who then latched on to Diego’s neck and squeezed him hard.
“Thank you for the PS5!” he squealed. “Can we play later?”
What? He hadn’t….. He looked up at Shay, who stood there smiling at him. Diego stroked a hand over Jeremy’s back. Once again, Shay was taking care of Diego and his—theirkid. “You’re welcome, son.”
That word brought an even bigger smile than the game unit, and he hugged Diego tighter. Good thing he didn’t really need to breathe, or Jeremy would have choked him.
The party was sedate, at least for a kid. There wasn’t anyone Jeremy’s age there, but the team had managed to bring in some family from out of town to share in the festivities. It didn’t seem as though Jerm minded in the least. Shay had told Diego that Jeremy was making amazing strides with his shifting and controlling it. He suggested that, with the coming school year, maybe Jeremy could attend classes and make some friends his own age. While it would be hard to let Jeremy go off, Diego knew he had to allow it.
“What do you think about going to school next year?” he asked Jeremy after the last guest showed up. “Shay tells me you’re testing above your grade, and he says you have your shifts under control, and he—we—think you’re ready for this.”
Jeremy frowned. “But what will you guys do without me?”
Diego chuckled. “I promise you, we’ll slog through our day until you get home.” He put Jeremy on the floor and knelt beside him. “We want you to go out and experience all life has to offer. Make friends. Enjoy all the things kids do, because you won’t be one forever.”
“I have friends,” Jeremy snapped. “Everyone here is my friend.”
“Nah, kid. We’re your family,” Diego corrected gently.
Ranna ran a hand over Jeremy’s head. “He’s right. With friends an entirely different set of rules apply.” She waggled her brows. “With your parents and family, you can’t get away with anything. With people your own age, you’ll be able to run rings around these geezers,” she said snarkily.
Diego wanted to chide Ranna, but she was right. He hadn’t been a kid for far too long, and a lot of what was happening now? It eluded Diego. He couldn’t understand the music, the slang, or pretty much anything else. Yes, physically he would always look twenty-five, but he wasn’t. He was an old geezer who should be standing outside yelling at people to get off his lawn or he’d bite them.
He smirked at the images in his head. Being with Shay had unlocked something within him. He no longer dreaded facing a new day, because he knew that Shay would be there to make things right for their super dysfunctional family.
