“If Mia’s alive, I’ll spend her last days taking care of her. But at least we would have had those days,” Lee said with determination.
“Believe me, I understand where you’re coming from, son. I just don’t see this ending happily for you, and I can’t tell you how that makes me ache.” Danny knew how Lee would feel if he lost Mia, how Lee already felt. Danny was worried we were giving Lee false hope.
“We’ll see.” Lee sat back, a stubborn look on his face.
My son was still processing everything he’d lost in the last few days. His grandfather. His faith in me. I had to find a way to get that back. He was saying all the right things, smiling when he needed to, but I could tell he was pulling away from all of us. He was going someplace deep inside where nothing could touch him.
“I thought Dean was having dreams about you.” I wanted to reach him so badly.
“He is. He’s had them for a long time. Or so he says. You know I won’t touch him, right? I’ll flirt all day long, but I’m not starting some kind of relationship with him.” Lee took a drag off the beer he’d found in the kitchen.
I liked Dean. I thought he could potentially be a good influence on Lee. “I don’t see why not. You know we would never judge you for who you choose to love.”
A chuckle came from his mouth, though there wasn’t humor in it. “I choose to love no one. I don’t want that. If I can’t have her, I’ll be alone.”
Danny and Dev exchanged a look that made me think they’d game-planned this particular conversation. Danny turned back to Lee. “You’re going to have to be with someone when you transition, and you’ll absolutely need someone afterward. I understand the impulse. I didn’t want to have anything to do with another woman after I turned, and I couldn’t be with your mother. But we’re in the middle of a war, and you’re going to need a companion. I’ve already got Henri and Hugo working on it. There are a few out there who are living in a protected state but are willing to meet with a vampire to see if it could work. Until we pair you up, you’ll have to feed from the women or men in Frelsi. It will be infinitely easier once we find you a companion.”
“Until you pair me up?” A brow had risen on Lee’s face. “You’re going to put together an arranged marriage for me, Dad?”
“No, he’s not.” I had heard nothing of this and would have put the kibosh on it if I had. Which was very likely why they hadn’t mentioned it to me.
“He did for Evan,” Lee pointed out.
“I never arranged anything for Evan.” Danny sat up straighter. “There was a prophecy concerning Marcus, and Evan fit. I merely wasn’t going to stand in the way if it happened.”
“Well, the good news is there’s not a prophecy about my sex life, so you can stay out of it,” Lee shot back.
Danny’s jaw went tight. “I’m trying to make this easy on you. Your transition will take a while, and a new vampire is weak for years. Decades, sometimes. According to Sasha the vampire world has taken a step back when it comes to how it treats younger vampires. They’re constantly challenged, and as my son, you have to know they’ll come for you. You’ll likely have to fight from time to time, and in a young, weaker state, that could go poorly,” Danny explained. “You can fix that by taking a companion. You have to know how vulnerable you’re going to be. You’ll have to sleep during the day, and older vampires will be far more powerful than you are. Myrddin has a few on his side. A companion will help level the playing field.”
“Lee, Dad is only trying to look out for you.” Dev weighed in, and I wondered how long they’d been thinking about this dumbass plan. “You need to be strong for the fight. And we don’t have clubs anymore. At least not where we are. If you start frequenting the clubs that are left, that could be dangerous, too.”
Vampire clubs were located in most major cities. They were a place where a vampire could find sanctuary and a meal for the night. A bloody B&B, so to speak. I wasn’t aware how they worked since Myrddin had taken over. “Is Myrddin in control of the network?”
“He’s in control of pretty much everything in the supernatural world,” Danny confirmed. “He doesn’t personally control the vampire clubs that are left, but he almost certainly has spies. I would prefer we keep Lee’s transition a secret for as long as possible.”
“Lee’s not getting married so he can have the wife equivalent of a power bar.” I wasn’t about to let them bully our son so they would be more comfortable. I wouldn’t let them do it to Lee any more than I would allow them to force Evan and Fen apart for the sake of politics. Rhys would select his own goddess, and the Seelie Fae could go to hell.