"What do you think?"

Erion led the Beasts and the Romans into the first floor of the empty building. It was a massive space, perfect for their new home and their new family dynamic. "A mutore compound," he said.

"Right next door?" Lucian said with a sharply raised eyebrow that contrasted with the softness of the balas who was strapped to his chest by some strange contraption.

"It was available," Erion said simply. "And it's big enough for the four of us, plus guests, a training room-"

"We'll need to put in a pool," Helo said, looking around the warehouse-like space with its brick walls and thick pillars. "I've got to have my water."

"And some type of aviary," Phane put in. "Doesn't have to be big, just somewhere for the hawk to stretch its wings."

Over near the window, Lycos snorted. "I suppose I'll have to go up north to hunt."

Phane chuckled. "Unless you want to find prey on the New York City streets."

"Don't tempt him," Helo said tightly.

"And we'll need to break down this wall."

All four mutore turned to look at Alexander, who stood in the doorway and took in the great space before him.

Erion raised one black eyebrow in his direction. "You want to have us all together? Think hard on that, Brother."

But Alexander didn't have to. Or maybe he already had, because he seemed so confident. "It is how family should be."

"Would be more convenient," Nicholas agreed with a grin. "As we keep expanding this Roman clan."

As Lucian held an example of this growth close to his chest, all eyes shifted to him. He hadn't noticed and was doing a sort of jig with his body and a shushing sound with his mouth. It was the last thing in the world a near animal like a Breeding Male would be doing, and laughter broke out among all the brothers, sending Lucian's head up and his fangs down.

He sneered at the lot of them and flipped them off.

"You look like a tegga," Erion remarked, using the ancient vampire word for "nanny," as he continued to chuckle.

"Well, you look like a demon-faced bitch," Lucian returned, though his hands cradled his child's head with nothing but extreme care.

The juxtaposition of harsh paven and soft, doting father had Erion sobering for a moment. "This balas," he said, nodding at Lucy. "You are pleased with it?"

Lucian looked at the Beast as though he were crazy, and Erion rephrased his question. "Being its father. You enjoy that role?"

"It's pretty fucking great, yeah," Lucian said, then gave the male a hard stare. "And call her an 'it' again and I'll be forced to demonstrate how parental I and my five friends here are." He made a fist.

Behind Erion, the Romans and the Beasts laughed heartily.

"I meant no disrespect," he told Lucian. "It is how we were always referred to."

A shot of reality, or maybe it was a reminder of the past and all they'd seen and been exposed to, but it commanded the room and caused both the Romans' and the Beasts' laughter to cease. Lucian walked over to Erion and regarded the demon-eyed male. "What's got your mutore panties in a bunch, E? For a paven who is pretty terrifying to look at when you got the Beast mask on, you look terrified."

It wasn't something he was used to or comfortable with-allowing his insecurity to be seen. Especially not by one as unsympathetic as Lucian Roman, and yet Erion knew the paven would be honest with him. His voice dropped to a harsh whisper, "I have my concerns with this role."

"Are we talking about the role of Daddy Demon?" Lucian asked, his eyes glittering with amusement.

Erion growled low in his throat, but the defensive reaction died off quickly and he asked, "What if you drop her? Hurt her?" His voice grew tense with worry. "And doesn't it worry you that she might see you as..."

"An asshole?" Lucian interrupted with a grin.

Erion shrugged. "Asshole. Monster. Take your pick."

"Her mother has seen me as an asshole and as a monster," Lucian said, "and she still loves me. I'm hoping for the best from my little bloodsucker here."

"But a balas that has already grown," Erion said tightly. "He already has beliefs and opinions."

"And? You think that Ladd won't accept you if you decide to kill this fear thing you're holding on to and tell him the truth?"

"Something like that," Erion admitted, a strange sensation coursing through him. It felt oddly like fear, but no fear he'd ever felt before.

Lucian dropped his chin. "Talk to him."

"What?"

"Just start something. Let him get to know you-you get to know him. Find out what he likes, what he doesn't."

"What if the thing he doesn't like is me?"

Lucian grinned, then dropped a kiss on the top of Lucy's head. "The chance we all take, Brother."

Erion's gaze moved over Lucy's sleeping face, and for one brief moment he wondered what Ladd had looked like at that age. "She's very small. But strong and beautiful. You are fortunate."

"I tell myself that every fucking day," Lucian said.

As if he'd been waiting outside until they'd finished their conversation, Ladd burst through the front door, Kate behind him. His grin wide, his eyes bright with excitement, he held something high in the air. A piece of paper. He waved it around, showing it off to all the brothers.

"I have it," he announced, nearly singing the words. "My letter to Santa."

Frowning, Erion stared at the paper. He wasn't familiar with this person, Santa, but perhaps this was a place to begin with the young paven.

"Is this a friend of yours?" he asked the boy. "Another vampire balas?"

The three Roman brothers burst out laughing, and Ladd gave Erion a huge, sweet smile. "Oh, Uncle Erion. Santa's not a friend. He's a toy maker. He rides on his sleigh with reindeer and drops down people's chimneys and puts presents under their trees."

It was like a new language. Erion glanced at his Roman brothers. "Is this true? Is it some sort of magic?"

But before Alex, Nicholas, or Lucian could answer, Ladd nodded. "The best magic ever. I'll show you my letter, if you want?"

Erion nodded, and Ladd started toward him, happy and brimming with excitement. But just a few feet from Erion, he stopped. His face bunched up and he glanced down at his middle. "Something's wrong," he said, his voice frightened.

"Ladd," said Erion as the fear in the boy's voice clawed at his chest.

The boy whimpered. "I feel..." His gaze flipped up to Erion's and held. "Help me."

It was all he said, for he was gone in an instant.

His letter drifted to the floor.

The floor that was being carved into with an unseen hand.

When I have my children back, you will have yours.

Erion shifted into his Beast and roared as around him the room erupted into chaos.