The following evening, when the sun was safely below the horizon, and the temperature was dropping from the twenties into the teens, Rhage found himself once again exercising great self-control.
He was down in the mansion’s foyer, standing in front of the double doors of the vestibule. No, that wasn’t quite right. He was actually off to one side of them, staring out of the bubbly, antique glass framers that faced the courtyard beyond. Which meant he couldn’t see much.
Kind of apt, really, considering he had no idea how this was going to go.
He sensed, rather than heard or scented, his females upon the great staircase, and he turned around and watched them descend. Bitty was in a red velvet dress he and Mary had bought her in preparation for the human holiday, and the girl had white tights underneath, patent leather black shoes, and a black felt coat that had been made in the Victorian period and passed down through Bella’s family.
She and Rehv had wanted Bitty to have it, and with its gorgeous satin lining and black velvet collar and cuffs, the thing was certainly made better than anything available at any store today.
Indeed, Bitty’s outfit was so proper and festive … but in spite of her pretty clothes, she looked like she was going to the gallows.
And Mary didn’t appear any better.
As for him? Personally, he felt like someone had cut off both of his legs and left him to bleed out on the floor.
But hey, who was comparing?
As his females hit the mosaic floor and crossed over its depiction of an apple tree in full bloom, he took a deep breath. “You ready, Bitty?”
Dumb fucking question, he thought as she stopped before him.
“Please,” she said in a shaky voice. “Come with me? Don’t make me go alone?”
His hand was trembling as he brushed her cheek. “You won’t be alone. Fritz is going to drive you in, and Vishous and Zsadist are going to be there waiting for you.”
Actually, V and Z and were going to track the Mercedes all the way into town, the pair of them dematerializing at regular intervals along the route until she arrived safely at the Audience House. And they would have ridden with her, but the concern was that the girl might feel as if her uncle were dangerous if she made the trip in with two heavily armed Brothers sitting on either side of her.
“I can’t do this.” Bitty looked frantically at Mary. “Please, don’t make me go. What if he takes me?”
“He won’t.” Mary stepped in and smoothed the little girl’s hair. “And we’ll be right here, waiting for you—in fact, as soon as it’s done, Rhage will dematerialize right there and he’ll ride home with you, okay?”
“You will?” Bitty asked him. “You promise.”
“I absolutely promise—”
“How about I go with you and stay with you the entire time.”
All three of them wheeled around at the disembodied, synthesized voice. But no one was there, even though it sounded like—
“Lassiter?” Rhage said, as he glanced at all the thin air in the foyer. “Where the hell are you?”
“Bitty,” came that voice. “Put your hand out.”
The little girl did as she was told—and from out of nowhere, a tiny pool of golden light formed in her palm.
“It’s warm,” she said with wonder.
The light spot traveled up her arm to her shoulder and stayed there, as a bird might have. And then the odd, phantom voice said, “I’ll be with you the whole time. No one else needs to know, okay? Only you’ll know, and your parents will know—”
Rhage and Mary both winced at that word.
“—and most importantly, you won’t be alone. ’Kay?”
Bitty took a long, slow inhale. “Okay. That’s good. Thank you.”
A set of headlights flared in those old, narrow-paned windows by the exit … and sure as shit, Rhage wanted to bust out of the house and scream at Fritz to go away.
“All right,” Mary said in a strained voice. “Big hugs.”
As the two embraced, Rhage stared at that little sun spot on Bitty’s shoulder. It had gotten even smaller, so that it was nearly invisible, the sort of thing that was easily missed.
He was going to owe the angel big-time for this one.
“You’re so brave,” Mary said over Bitty’s head. “I’m so proud of you.”
“I’m not brave, I’m scared.”
“And you’re doing this anyway—which is the very definition of brave.”
Mary stepped free and brushed her own hair back. She was glancing away a lot, her eyes shimmering with tears that she was clearly determined not to shed.
Bitty came over to stand in front of Rhage. Looking up, up, way up at him, she said, “You promise you’ll come.”
He sank down on his haunches, both knees cracking like tree branches from a trunk. “I promise. V will let me know and I have my phone right here.”
As he showed her his cell, Bitty threw her arms around his neck and he pulled her in close, shutting his eyes and sending a prayer up that this would all somehow magically be okay.
And then he and Mary walked the girl out through the vestibule, across the stone pavers of the mansion’s entrance, down the steps, and to the black Mercedes. Fritz helped the little girl by opening the door for her, and then the butler shut things up and bowed deeply to Rhage and Mary.
Those taillights going down the hill were the most tragic thing Rhage had ever seen.
He and Mary stayed where they were, standing side by side in the cold, well after the pair of red eyes were long gone.
“Let’s go inside,” his shellan said dully.
“Okay.”
“There’s nothing we can really do but wait.”
“Yeah.”
She turned away and started back for the vestibule. But for some reason, he couldn’t move. Rhage just stood there, immobile, staring out at the moon, which was full or pretty damn close to it.
His heart was in that fucking Mercedes. His heart was heading away from him, leaving his body and traveling in that car to someone else, to some other construct of family, to a future that didn’t include him or Mary—
“Rhage?”
Pivoting on his shitkicker, he looked toward the mansion. Mary was standing just inside the vestibule and holding the door wide for him.
He wanted to go over to her, but his body seemed to be ignoring the signals from his brain. And then he decided he should say something … but speech didn’t seem to be coming.
“I’m sorry,” he mumbled.
There was a pause. And then Mary exploded forward, racing across the distance, throwing herself in his arms. As he caught her against him, he really couldn’t believe it was all happening.
“You always tell me,” she groaned, “that I know what to say. But I don’t know what to say, I don’t know what to do, I can’t help you, I can’t help her, I can’t change anything.…”
Rhage smoothed his palm up and down her back, and felt so powerless.
“I’ve got to stop this,” she babbled. “I’ve got to stop … this from happening.… oh, God, she’s leaving.… Rhage, my baby is leaving me, my child.…”
He ended up scooping her into his arms and holding her off the ground, cradling her as she wept.
Eventually, the emotional burn-off eased up, and she took some shuddering inhales. “Oh, God, I’m so sorry—”
“Why?” He shifted his hold and brushed her hair back. “Why would you ever apologize?”
“Because I need to be there for you. I need to support you.”
For a long moment, he stared down into her face, tracing the features he knew so well with his eyes. And then he smiled a little. “My Mary Madonna, by letting me take care of you? You make me strong. You give me strength by relying on me to take care of you.”
“That’s not fair, though. What about you—”
Rhage shook his head. “Do I have to explain male bonded vampires to you again? You are … my reason for being. And I’ve never loved you more than I do right now.”
“Even if Bitty leaves.”
His eyes went to the moon overhead. The bright shining moon. “If she leaves, nothing will be the same again for me. Nothing will be quite as bright or funny or free. I was forever changed the minute she came into our lives—and I guess I didn’t really understand how fully until now. It happened in an instant … and it will take a lifetime to get over.” He refocused on his shellan. “There is only one thing that will remain unchanged. And that is my feelings for you. In fact, my love for you is the one thing that will keep me standing at the end of this.”
Mary teared up all over again, especially as he kissed her.
“Our strength must be tested,” he whispered, “for us to know it’s still there. And I will always be your warrior, Mary mine. Always and forever.”
Mary reached up to his face and stroked his cheek.
“I love you,” she breathed.
He nodded. “We’re going to get through this, Mary. Even if we’re limping and bloodied at the end. We will go on because … maybe she’ll come and see us someday, after she’s grown. Maybe she’ll remember us. Who knows. But even if she doesn’t, we have to still be a family together, you and I. Otherwise … God, the alternative doesn’t bear thinking about.”