“The king’s base class was warrior.” Rhys seemed to know a lot. “Yes, our father is a king, but he would most likely produce warriors.”
“Lee wasn’t produced the way a vampire would normally be conceived.” Dev looked to Rhys. “It’s DNA that’s passed on through human conception. Daniel’s blood healed Lee while he was in utero. His organs were still in early developmental phases. That gave the blood a chance to change Lee. Rhys wasn’t damaged so he didn’t change at all. Honestly, we can’t know Lee wasn’t meant to be fully Fae before that moment. So we can’t apply past knowledge to this situation.”
“Maybe I’m a king, too,” Lee said quietly.
“I think that is highly unlikely,” Daniel replied. “Despite the odd nature of how you became a latent, there have only been two vampire kings in recorded history, and their rising came at important times. I believe there can be only one at a time. We have to assume your rising will be a normal one, and that means we have to control it.”
“Or I’ll go insane and eat everyone in sight.” Lee’s goofy grin was back.
“Yes. You need to be very aware of that and be careful,” Daniel warned. “You need to think about how you want to die and who will feed you that night. You’ll need blood and sex, and they should come from someone you trust. I’ll take you through the part of the turn that restores your control, but the woman you choose will take you through your first feed both physically and sexually.”
“Or man.” I wasn’t going to fence Lee in. He really was like Devinshea, and Dev had a sense of shame when it came to his sexual fluidity when he was younger. I wasn’t putting that on my son. I couldn’t help but think of the way Lee had looked at Dean. There had been something between them, and it wasn’t mere curiosity.
Lee got serious again. “It should have been Mia.” He took a long breath and looked back to Danny. “I promise to think about it, Dad. And I’m completely forgetting what we have to do. I can’t plan my turn until Mom and I get the bag of holding. The Council is warded against vampires. It will be far easier to slip through as a human. Besides, I think it’s either my status as a human or some unique trick of my DNA that allowed me to see the grimoire. Mom couldn’t see it.”
“Or it was because you were a child.” I’d thought a bit about it. Myrddin certainly wouldn’t consider a child any kind of threat.
“I’ve never heard of wards being placed based on age,” Dev mused. “I don’t know how magic would know a particular age. Perhaps there’s a way to identify puberty.”
“Or virginity. We know they’ve got lots of spells concerning the state of a being’s purity,” Danny said under his breath.
“Then everything in the world is now warded against Lee.” Evan’s braid shook as she pointed her brother’s way.
“Ha, ha. But also fair. We have to hope it was because I’m human and Myrddin wouldn’t worry about a human touching his precious,” Lee said. “So I keep my human status until we get the job done. I’ll think about it, Mom. I promise. I don’t promise I’ll change my mind, but I will listen to you. We can talk about it while we plan the job. I’m sure Granddad will have lots to say, too. For a dead dude, he does not stint on the advice.”
Evan stood and went to Lee, her hand going to his shoulder. “I’m happy for you, brother. But you should eat all your favorite foods because there’s no more Danishes for you after you go on the all-blood diet. And no more beer.”
That got Lee to frowning. “I hadn’t thought of that. Huh. I should do all the drugs before I die. I’ve got a list. I was waiting to try them when I was super old, but I should start now.”
Rhys’s head fell back. “I knew this would happen. Lee is already a ball of chaos. I don’t see how giving him fangs and claws is going to help things.”
They were off, all three siblings arguing playfully. Fen was the only quiet one, his eyes on Evan.
I knew we’d made the right decision to tell Lee, but I still hated the fact that we were discussing the end of his human life. He would spend an eternity without the sun.
I could fix it. I could find a way to go back and we would have his whole childhood to ease him into this, to make being human and having a family seem more…
I didn’t know what I was thinking. I wasn’t even really thinking of Lee in that moment. I was thinking of what I’d lost. What we’d lost as a family.