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Jack was, in many ways, our first child Matthew and I had taken hiive him a life that was not filled with terror, hoer When we left in 1591, I had put him in the care of Andrew Hubbard, who ruled over London’s vaain, but he had chosen to becoue

“Soistered unease as he picked up on unspoken signals of distress co from Jack

“I’m in trouble,” Jack confessed

The last time Jack had been “in trouble,” he ended up in the newspapers as the mysterious “vampiretheir corpses

“Nobody’s dead,” Jack said hastily, guessing the direction of er I took too much blood too quickly and she ended up in hospital Father Hubbard told ht here”

Suki was the young woman the family employed to watch over Jack in London and provide hier ed human blood Vampires needed to hunt, and there were huerous business, and one that I thought the Congregation should be regulating My proposals on the subject had been met with resistance, however

“Where is Suki now?” Matthew’s rim

“Home Her sister is with her Father Hubbard said he’ll check on her twice a day” Jack looked and sounded miserable

“Oh, Jack” I wanted to give hi and comfort him, but the tension in the air between Matthew and our sonI didn’t fully understand

“Suki is your responsibility,” Matthew said “You shouldn’t have left her in that state”

“Father Hubbard said—”

“I’m not really interested in what Andrew said,” Matthew interrupted “You know the rules If you can’t put Suki’s well-being before your own, your relationship will have to end”

“I know, Dad But I wasn’t—I’m still not—I don’t even knohat happened One minute I was fine, and then” Jack trailed off “When I left her with Father Hubbard, I thought I was looking after her”

“There are no second chances, Jack Not with blood rage” Matthew looked regretful “I’ll settle things with Suki You won’t have to see her again”

“Suki didn’t do anything wrong and neither did I!” Jack’s eyes got darker and his tone more defensive in response to Matthew’s disapproval “This isn’t fair”

“Life isn’t fair,” Matthew said quietly “But it is our obligation as vampires to do e can to take care of creatures who are weaker than we are”

“What will happen to her now?” Jack asked, miserable

“Suki will never want for anything Marcus and the Knights of Lazarus will see to that,” Matthew assured him

This was the first time I’d heard that some of the brotherhood’s accounts covered payments to humans for services rendered It was undeniably creepy, but it certainly explained why there weren’t evenoff warmbloods

“Let’s get you so his hand on Jack’s shoulder “And you’ll want to meet the newest addition to the family”

“You got Mued Komondor co as too s

“No The goddess gave Philip a griffin,” Matthew said “It seems he’s a weaver like his mother”

Jack didn’t bat an eye at this announceamely followed Matthew into the kitchen After he’d had so neent in search of Agatha, Sarah, and the twins They had been playing outside in a brightly colored tent that Agathaold sheets over so with every knight, horse, and stuffed animal that could be found

Apollo was also there, keeping a beady eye on the rest of theone of its inary infraction with a sharp peck

Once everybody was free of the tent (which collapsed in the exciteed, and the children were cuddled and kissed to their satisfaction, Jack crouched down by the griffin

“Hello, Apollo” Jack stuck out his hand in greeting Apollo immediately placed his talon on top of it

Apollo’s long tongue came out, and he touched it to Jack’s hair, his ear, his nose, and his cheek as if he was getting to know the newesthis head up and down in approval

“Jack!” Becca held up her stuffed parrot “See Bird Mine”

“Nice, Becca I’ll co a griffin tongue up one nostril “Can he fly?”

“Oh, yes,” Sarah said “Ysabeau carried Apollo around like a hawk and trained him to catch mice in midair”

Jack laughed

Becca, who felt Apollo was getting her fair share of attention, flung her parrot at Jack It hit him in the shoulder and he reared back in surprise She snarled, her lip curling

“Rebecca Arielle,” Matthew said, voice firm He swooped down and picked her up “We’ve talked about this No throwing”

Becca opened her tiny ht she was about to yell Instead, she lowered it toward her father’s hand with the quickness of a striking snake She bit down Hard

The silence that folloas absolute as we all stared at father and daughter in astonishment

Matthehite as paper and his eyes were black

The bite had set Matthew’s blood rage alight

“And definitely no biting” Matthew stared down at his daughter with an intensity that caused Becca to raise her blue eyes to his As soon as she saw the expression on her father’s face, she opened her jaws and released him “Diana, please take Philip and Apollo back to the house”

“But—” I began One wild, desperate look fro Philip into lance

After a moment, Matthew sent the rest of the family away

“What’s Matthew going to do?” Sarah asked, joining me and Philip in the kitchen

“Dad’s shunning her,” Jack said, sounding unhappy

“Do I s the kitchen with Marthe

“Becca bit Matthew,” I replied

Through the thick, wavy glass, I saw Matthew say so to Becca He then deliberately turned his back on his daughter

“Wow,” Jack said “That’s harsh”

“When an older, more powerful vampire turns his back on you, it’s both an insult and a rejection—a sign that you’ve done so,” Marcus explained “We don’t like to be at odds with the leader of the pack”

“That’s an awfully subtle rasp,” Sarah said

The expression on Becca’s face suggested that she understood it perfectly, however She looked devastated

“Milady Rebecca ive her and all will be well again” She gavepat

“Becca isn’t good with apologies,” I fretted “This could take awhile”

“Sorry,” Philip said, his eyes filling with tears Our son, on the other hand, apologized all the tis he hadn’t done

“Thank God,” Marcus reported, sounding relieved “She apologized”

Matthew picked Becca up and kissed her on the top of her head Then he carried her into the kitchen

Becca’s expression orried as she faced her fa terribly wrong, and wasn’t sure of her reception was, in many ways, our first child Matthew and I had taken hiive him a life that was not filled with terror, hoer When we left in 1591, I had put him in the care of Andrew Hubbard, who ruled over London’s vaain, but he had chosen to becoue