Chapter Fourteen
Xander
Frost had fallen asleep as soon as he tucked her in bed. He had kissed her forehead, loving the smile that touched her lips, and listened for a long while as her breathing became deep and even. While she slept, Xander couldn’t tear his eyes away from his son who slept in his crib about a foot from the bed. His son’s hair was whiter than his own and so soft to the touch. Xander could see his eyes dart back and forth behind his thin eyelids and every so often, he would clench his little hands into a fist and scrunch his face as though he were about to cry, but then settled back into sleep.
Silas was perfect in every way, and yet Xander felt that this tiny being he and Frost were responsible for, who they loved more than life itself, was so small and fragile. So while Frost got much needed sleep, Xander’s emotions had swung between fear and awe as he stared at his sleeping son.
Being an immortal for as long as he had, Xander had forgotten the impressive talents and qualities that each immortal brought to the forefront when they transitioned. He should’ve thought about it when Silas had spoken to everyone through his mind link, and it should have surprised him, but he thought it was a normal part of everyday life. But as he looked at Silas, he realized that he was special. He was more powerful than they could understand, but Xander wanted him to have as normal a life as he possibly could. With family surrounding him and knowing that he was loved.
Being a parent hadn’t terrified him until he spotted Silas for the first time, but he knew he wouldn’t fail with Frost by his side. He loved his family and protectiveness surged through him. He would do everything in his power to protect them.
Sometime during the night, he had fallen asleep and cradled Frost to his chest. In the early morning hours, he had sensed more than he heard her breathing change, and he squeezed her closer.
“This is probably a dumb question, but how are you feeling?”
Frost smiled and kissed him. Xander savored the kiss and her taste. She moved onto her back and stretched her arms and legs before she sat up. “Good. There’s no pain or tenderness anymore. I think I’m well on my way to being completely healed. How’s Silas?”
“He’s good. He settled down to sleep rather quickly. I hear him stirring now.”
With one last kiss, Xander scrambled out of bed and helped Frost up before they glanced down at their son in his crib. Silas was on his back, staring up at the mobile above his bed with a mix of curiosity and confusion. As they moved closer, Silas turned his concentration on both of them.
Mommy! Daddy!
Frost scooped him up and cuddled him close, before placing him down on the changing table. The next few minutes had them learning how to change a diaper and struggling to put him in a onesie that would keep him warm. Xander, only admitting it to himself, thought the outfit looked cute on his son. Silas didn’t seem too affected by any of the changes he had been introduced to.
“You okay, little man?”
I’m fine, Daddy.
He couldn’t help but smile at how mature his newborn son sounded. Xander had him in his arms after they changed him and he glanced at Frost, who beamed at the both of them.
“Ready to head downstairs?”
“Yeah. Let’s go before they combust with excitement to meet our little man.” Frost shook her head at the energy she could feel, even all the way upstairs.
Silas tried to look everywhere, all at once, as they headed down the stairs. Soon, he started fussing and Xander glanced down to see Jade waiting anxiously at the bottom step. Silas could sense her. Or maybe they were already talking to each other.
Xander carefully maneuvered the stairs and when he reached the living room, Jade already moved to sit on the couch, waiting to hold Silas. Xander carefully lowered Silas on to her lap. His head was cradled on her closed knees and she stared at Silas with a look of awe on her face. He knew the feeling. Of course, they had started talking with no one else clued into their conversation.
Frost was pulled into hugs, first by Kai and then the others, all congratulating them on the son each of them had become enamored with as soon as they laid eyes on him.
Soon, the others became impatient, all wanting a turn holding and talking to Silas. And their son charmed the entire group, who had their turn holding him and cooing at him. Quite a sight—an entire group of assassins could become a puddle of goo when it came to his son, but Xander was in the same boat so he didn’t tease them, much.
Hungry.
Both he and Frost looked at each other. They hadn’t thought that far. They looked back at Silas, this time in Liv’s arms, before they looked back at each other. They had no idea what to do. A typical baby would breast feed or take a bottle, but at their son’s request, they were suddenly at a loss.
“Why don’t you just ask Silas what he wants to eat?” Liv provided helpfully.
Frost lifted Silas in her arms and walked toward the kitchen with him close behind. “Would you like breast milk?”
Xander could have sworn that he heard “eww” coming from Silas. Frost laughed and hugged Silas close to her. Xander loved her laugh.
He opened the cabinet they had stocked with baby food and formulas, unsure of what Silas would need, but prepared in case. Most books recommended complementing breast milk with baby food at four to six months old, but again, Silas wasn’t a typical baby. He was an immortal and only he could tell them what he would like and wouldn’t like.
Frost slid Silas to her hip and Xander pulled out the formula first and got another annoyed look for their efforts. He pulled out pureed carrots, peas, apples, until he reached the pears, which Silas nodded at. Xander took Silas and placed him in his high chair as Frost opened the jar and grabbed a baby spoon. She put a tiny amount at the end of the hard plastic spoon and held it close to Silas’s mouth. Without hesitation, their son opened and took the bite, humming at the taste. Frost kept feeding him little bites until the jar was empty and Silas’s eyes drooped.
“Is this normal?” Xander had known Liv hovered close.
Liv shrugged. “What’s normal for an immortal? This is just as much new territory for him as it was for you when you transitioned. He’s the first baby born to immortal parents and because of this, you two are going to have to learn as you go. But we, all of us, are here to help.”
Liv bent down and kissed Silas on the forehead and they all watched as a smile formed on his face.
“He can communicate with us, and that’s more than most parents could hope for. The rest, we’ll figure out, I promise.”
Frost kissed Xander, smoothing away the creases that appeared on his forehead whenever he was concerned. She lifted Silas into her arms, his head settling comfortably against her shoulder, and he fell asleep.
“I don’t think he liked the diapers. He was fine with the onesie, but I have a feeling that he’ll want to potty train as soon as possible.”
Xander smiled at Frost, who beamed back. He moved in for a fast, but intense kiss. When he pulled back, he slid his fingers through her hair, but before Xander could place another kiss on her lips, Ghost’s phone rang. He didn’t pay much attention to the call, but when Ghost threw the phone against the fireplace, he turned in surprise. Ghost never let anything get to him.
Silas, sensing his uncle’s distress, put up his barrier that everyone could feel in the house as soon as it was created. But instead of protecting only those he could see in the kitchen and living room, he had conjured a barrier that covered the entire house. They could see the faint shimmer right outside the window and they all looked at Silas in awe.
“Ghost?” Kai sounded concerned.
Ghost shook his head and glanced at Frost, who held Silas in her arms. Ghost had melted, along with the rest of them, and now he placed his large hand over Silas’s head, gently. “Anzû wants me to deliver Frost to him. He said, that in exchange, he would give us all we wanted to know about the immortals’ origins.”
Frost scoffed. “That stupid fucking idiot doesn’t know when to quit. Like we couldn’t figure that out for ourselves.” She paused and glanced down at Silas. “Please don’t repeat—well, just to be safe—any of the words that Mommy just said.”
Silas giggled, the first time he’d done so, and Xander found himself smiling down at his son, despite the threat that had come through minutes before.
“You know Frost is the key to our origins, right?” Liv said.
Most of the group looked at Liv with a smile. Xander didn’t. He wanted to know why she thought so and was grateful when she continued.
“I had an inkling when I spotted the distinct pattern in Frost’s eyes and seeing Silas only confirmed my theory. I believe that the first immortals, vampire and shifter alike, were born, not created. And they were most likely born from half-human, half-immortal beings like Frost, those who didn’t know they had shifter genes. She’s an immortal, but her body isn’t in the same stasis that mine is, or Ara’s, Aubrey’s, or Jade’s.”
“But aren’t I in the same stasis that the women are?”
“And there’s where I believe Frost is special. There’s no way to test it, like I ever would, but if a half, or shifter mix as Frost likes to call herself, mated with another immortal mix, they could produce an immortal with powers, such as Silas has. That immortal would be able to turn others with a bite, injecting their venom into the system of humans, turning them immortal. Not all the time, though; most humans die with our venom in their system.
“I believe she was able to free you from your stasis, only for a short time, which is why she hasn’t glowed since your first time. I believe that her body knows when a pregnancy is viable, and that’s how she was able to become pregnant. And because Frost was able to conceive after her transition, I believe that if you chose to, Frost could have more children. But she could only have children with her mate. I can test Silas’s blood when he’s older, but his eyes, the combination of Frost’s curious ones and Xander’s, makes him unique.”
They grew quiet as the group studied Silas, who had gone back to sleep during Liv’s explanation.
“We’re going to have to come up with a plan. Anzû’s not going to stop until he gets what he wants, which is Frost and control of Dark Company.”
So, for the next few hours, they settled in the living room, Silas sleeping in the arms of the immortal who wanted to hold him, as they bandied about a plan to lure Anzû to them, using home advantage when confronting him. Between Kai, Reaper, Ara, Jade, Hunter, Gunnar, Ghost, Ax, Kane, Thomas, Isaac, and himself, they had no idea how to do that without dangling Frost as bait, which Xander had vehemently refused.
They decided in the end that investigation and hunkering down was their best and only option. Jade and Gunnar would do recon on Anzû and identify any associate he had. The rest would add more sensors and cameras to their properties and would review footage in case they caught anyone they didn’t recognize on camera. The sooner they ID’d the men associated with Anzû, the more they could learn about the enemy and use that information to destroy them.
Xander knew exactly where Frost and Silas were at every moment, so when they stood from making their plans, he found her laying on the couch, snuggling Silas on her chest, both sound asleep.
Anger rushed through his limbs and up his chest, before the feeling clogged his throat. He had no idea what would happen if Anzû captured Frost, but Xander would kill him before that happened. He was off his fucking rocker and they would find a way to destroy him.
Not one of the assassins had ever fought another immortal to the death. Most immortals wanted to be left alone, to do as they pleased, and learned not to kill humans and bring a spotlight on their existence. Some of them banded together, like Ghost’s company, but more for companionship than survival. Anzû wasn’t only jeopardizing his own family, but to pick on someone as strong as they were, he had to be crazy. And that would lead to him being destroyed.
Xander felt exhaustion over every inch of his body, so he bid everyone goodnight and lifted Frost in his arms. Her hold of Silas was secure, so he made his way up the stairs. When he reached the room, he laid Frost down first. He tucked Silas into his crib and scanned for anything in his crib that might pose a danger to him, before he kissed his son’s head and joined Frost in bed.
“What are you worried about?” Frost’s sleep-laden voice reached him as he lay down.
“I’ve been extremely lucky these past few months. Lucky to have found you and now we have Silas. But now this one shifter has threatened everything that matters to me. That’s the only reason I’m thinking about ways to kill him, once and for all.”
“But you aren’t alone in the fight. Whatever force he has, I know you guys can defeat him. Ara, alone, is more destructive than any other immortal and you are effectively trained fighters, having an advantage even against immortals. Trust yourself and the others, and everything will be fine.”
He pulled her close and kissed her. “How do you feel?”
“Every time I look at Silas, I feel a wonder that I’ve never experienced before. Physically, I’ve healed completely, but I’m still a little tired and feel like I could sleep for a week.”
“I’ll take care of everything until you feel better. I’ve never loved anyone more than I love both you and Silas. Thank you for being in my life.”
“I think we’re lucky to have found each other. We have a beautiful and powerful son, and no matter what happens, I will never regret a moment of it. Love you,” she whispered.
“I love you, too, Frost.”
Xander watched her fall asleep and smiled at the sound of her deep, even breathing. Soon, he followed her into oblivion.