The next kid to leave was Landon. His other grandfathers, Jeremy and Anthony, invited him to New York and Landon jumped at the chance.

“Why?” Jay asked.

“I just want a new experience and to spend time with my other grandparents.”

“I don’t know, Landon.” Jay was hesitant.

“Look, you can come see me whenever you want.”

“Oh, that’s a given.” Greg mussed his hair.

“It’s just for the year.”

“I hate this already,” Jay said as he agreed.

Landon went to see Joshua and explain; he didn’t want to do it over the phone. They had been tight from the beginning and he knew Joshua was going to be pissed.

“Why?” Joshua didn’t understand.

“I can’t be around her anymore watching her date other guys. It’s killing me.”

“What about me? Did you even think about that?” Joshua put his face in his hands. “I’m losing everyone.”

“Don’t do that! We’ll still talk.” Landon hugged Joshua. “Please, try to understand.”

“I feel like you’re punishing me because of Katiana! It’s not fair!” Josh got up and went to the door. “I hope you’re happy in New York.”

The door slammed and Landon sighed. “Great.”

Joshua went straight to the cemetery; over the years his grandfathers had a lot of landscaping around his uncle’s gravestone. His grave was by an open field of flowers and they had a lake put in right behind it. Large willow trees now shaded the area and — as always — there were white roses everywhere.

He came to talk to his uncle when things got bad. He swore sometimes he heard him — a soft breeze would graze his face or a butterfly would flit around him. This was the one place he knew he could come when he needed someone. His uncle would always be here.

“I feel, I don’t know. Lonely, I guess?” Joshua lay down in front of the stone. “Everything’s going wrong, Uncle Tanner. I feel like I’m losing everyone.”

The trees behind him waved softly in the breeze and Joshua felt his skin prickle. He smiled and looked up at the sky. “You hear me, don’t you? I wish you were still here.” Joshua closed his eyes.

Lorenzo’s mouth hung open as he looked at his daughter. Reece reached over and pushed it up.

“Explain.”

“I want to spend some time in Europe. Everything is a mess right now and I need some perspective,” Juliet told her dads.

“You can gain perspective here,” Lorenzo said with finality.

“Daddy, please?” Juliet begged.

“I do not like this, Juliet.”

“Can we just try it out?” Juliet turned pleading eyes to Reece.

“Six months.” Reece gave in. “And if we still aren’t happy, that’s it.”

“I’ll take it.”

Jensen and Hunter’s talks with their dads had been much of the same, except they were going to different schools. Jensen accepted that he was gay. He felt bad that he had hurt Viktoriya but he realized he cared about his best friend.

“You’ll call, right?” Hunter took Jensen’s hand.

“As often as I can.”

Hunter hugged him tight. “I’m going to miss you so much.”

“Me too.” Jensen felt his throat closing up and he backed away. “Call me.”

“You bet your ass, fuckface.”

“Fuck off, assface.”

Hunter watched Jensen get on the plane and his heart ached; he needed to get away and think things through. He was pretty damn sure he was in love with his best friend.

Conner sat in his seat on the jet deep in thought; he was right in the middle at ground zero and he had to get out. He knew Colin could handle Phoebe. Juliet had left and Conner needed to get out of the town that reminded him of her. He watched the ground get further and further away, closed his eyes and sighed.

“Goodbye, Fort Worth.”

Stefan was on the deck watching Sergio with Tanner through a window. They were playing a board game and Sergio smiled every time Tanner had to go back a space. Antonio joined him, watching his son play. They had just come back from the therapist and, as always, Sergio sat quietly, only saying what was necessary. He had been through a lot. Antonio knew he remembered more than he admitted. When he and Marco had finally breached the compound where they had found Sergio, he was in a room on a bed with other things he didn’t want to think about.

“Is he doing better now?” Jordan asked very quietly out on the deck.

“He is talking more.” Marco sighed. “I wish there was more we could do.”

“He has told us he remembers us killing the men in the room; he remembers his parents being killed.” Antonio sighed.

“Oh, God,” Stefan whispered. Sergio had the most beautiful hazel eyes Stefan had ever seen — even with them partially covered by his black hair. His skin was beautifully Mediterranean dark.

“He hugged me the other night, told me he was happy I had killed the bad men,” Antonio whispered.

“He has a unique gift.” Marco looked at his son. “He can hear everything we say, even if we are upstairs.”

“Yes, Marco.” Antonio arched a brow. “You should be quiet during…well…” Antonio chuckled.

“Me?” Marco looked incredulous. “I am not the one.”

“Yeah, so anyway.” Jordan changed the subject. “How is Anna?”

“She escaped the worst of it. She is in therapy as well. Although she did not witness the death of her parents, she does remember the men trying to touch her.”

Sergio looked up just then and Antonio smiled at him.

He came outside and stood in front of Marco. “She does remember more. She doesn’t want you to hurt for her.”

Marco cast a raised eyebrow at Jordan as if to say “See? We told you. Bat ears.” He placed a hand on his son’s shoulder. “How can we help?”

“You already have, Dad.” Sergio hugged him.

“Do you have any girlfriends in school, Sergio?” Stefan teased.

“No. I —” Sergio looked sad. “I’m —”

Antonio took his face. “You are not dirty. We have discussed this.” Antonio took him in his arms and held him. Marco could see the anger in Antonio’s eyes. “I wish —”

“I know my love.” Marco took his hand. “I know.”

Andrei was working at his desk when his phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID before answering.

“Nikolai! How are you?”

“It is not Nikolai. He is alive for now, however.”

“Who is this?” Andrei hit ‘speaker’ and Vince was up in an instant.

“I’m an old friend. I believe you took my father apart. I will do the same to your son if you don’t give me what I want.”

“Yuri Borkosky?” Vince sputtered in rage.

“Ah, Mr. Markov. Your son would like to say hello.”

“If you hurt him…” Vince began.

There was a loud noise and then Nikolai was on the phone.

“Dad?”

“Nikolai! Are you okay?”

“He hits like a girl.” Nikolai chuckled.

There was another loud noise and they heard Nikolai shouting. Vince gripped the desk as his rage took over his body.

“You bastard!”

“I can keep breaking bones on him; it’s up to you. Do not contact anyone else. I know who your friends are and I will see you coming. I will call with further instructions.”

“Dad!”

The line went dead and Vince picked up the desk and threw it across the room. Andrei grabbed him.

“We will get him back!”

“I’m going to rip his fucking heart out!”

Viktoriya had heard the whole conversation and she hurried down the hall to her room. She called the first person she could think of.

“Uncle Tyler, Nikolai’s been kidnapped.”