Chapter 42

Trepidation and eagerness whirled consecutively within Oriel’s veins. He hadn’t seen his father in a very long time. What would his father think? How would he react? Better yet, how would he and Laurel react? Nicolae had mentioned Siemon was a broken man compared to his former self. How broken, exactly?

Still, the five of them stood on the hillside that overlooked the fishing village down below, none of them daring to speak. The scent of salt wafting from the harbor burned his nose. Dark rain clouds circled overhead, yet no rain drizzled down from the heavens. Fishermen littered the wharf despite the impending rain, and he couldn’t help but wonder if any of those men were his father. But… His father was a vampire. How could he withstand the salty ocean water?

“Can I play in the water?” Leif asked, breaking the silent tension with his innocent voice.

“No,” Cosette answered. “The ocean contains salt. Vampires are susceptible to salt.”

“What does susceptible mean?”

She glanced to him for help, and despite his trepidation, he chuckled. “Susceptible means you can get hurt. Don’t touch the water. Otherwise, it will burn you.”

“That means it’s the opposite of impertus.”

“Impervious,” he corrected, surprised Leif remembered. He must be more intelligent than he’d originally thought. “And yes, that’s correct.”

Releasing a deep breath, he turned to Zachariah and Laurel, though he addressed his sister. “Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked, shuffling his feet nervously on the hillside. “You can still go back.”

Laurel nodded. “I’m sure. It’s been gnawing at me not knowing what happened to him. I’m ready for the gnawing to disappear.”

He looked toward the wharf again, watching as boats made their way back to shore. Most of the men wore hats and adorned themselves in protective clothing to create a barrier between them and the frigid water. They all looked remarkably similar, and he couldn’t make out which one might be Siemon. If he was here at all.

Leading the way down the hillside and toward the fishing village, he took care to avoid the puddles of water cluttering the road in case one of them contained salt. He craned his neck to search for a male with blond hair and a small nose, with blue eyes that had rivaled his mother’s. However, those large fishing hats hid each face, making it impossible to find Siemon in the crowd.

“Didn’t Nicolae tell you which house he lived in?” Laurel asked.

He shook his head. “No, and I didn’t ask. It was nearly too much for me to take in as it was.”

Another group of fishermen passed, and he studied each face, receiving a few curious stares along the way. None of them were Siemon.

“I can’t find him,” Laurel said, her tone upset. “What if I forgot what he looks like? What if the salty sea claimed him and he’s dead?”

“He’s not dead,” he reassured. Still, as he stared at the salty ocean water, whose aroma continued to sting his nose, he couldn’t help his rising worry. This was a dangerous place for a vampire. If Siemon happened to be on a boat that tipped over completely, the ocean would claim him, and he would die. Why would he choose to live here of all places?

“It’s starting to rain,” she whispered, her concern seeming to shift from their father to her hair as she pulled the hood of her cloak over her head.

Oriel hardly noticed the rain as a drop hit his forehead and then his nose. He continued to search. Nicolae said Siemon had been here six months ago. What if they were too late and he moved on to another town?

Laurel tugged on his hand. “He’s not here. At least we can say we tried.”

“We haven’t looked hard enough. I will ask around. Stay under this awning, and I will be back.”

He glanced at Cosette and Leif, offering a reassuring smile before he made his way closer to the wharf. The rain didn’t fall hard enough to soak him, but given a few more minutes, it just might.

A couple more fishermen walked past, and when one of their coats brushed his hand, he hissed as the lingering ocean water stung his skin. From then on, he tucked his hands under his arms to protect him from the salt that seemed to litter every surface of the village.

With nervousness pushing his heart faster, he stepped onto the dock, gritting his teeth in concentration as he focused on anything but the dangerous water on either side of him. One misstep could be his downfall.

He found a lone fisherman tying his boat at the end of the dock, and he approached carefully. “Excuse me.” The fisherman lifted his head, his brows furrowed in confusion. He looked like any other fisherman with a large hat and protective coat, but his eyes were brown and not blue. It wasn’t his father. “I am looking for someone named Siemon. I was told he lived in these parts. Have you heard of him?”

Before the fisherman could reply, a loud crash sounded behind him. Oriel spun around in fear that Leif might have followed him and fallen into the water. But it wasn’t Leif he found. A male standing in the very center of the dock had dropped a bucket of water, and now he stood still, staring wide-eyed at him. He wore a hat and a coat, with boots that reached his knees. But what drew his attention was the male’s piercing blue eyes, his small nose, and the blond hair peeking out from beneath his hat.

Oriel swallowed the lump in his throat when he noticed Siemon’s scarred red hands from getting burned by salt water too many times.

“Father,” Oriel whispered huskily, not daring to move.

“Oriel,” he replied, standing stock still. “You…are you really here?”

Siemon reached out tentatively but withdrew his hand just as quickly. Right then, Oriel didn’t feel anger. He didn’t feel hatred. He felt sadness. It had been a long time since he had seen his father. He missed him so much.

“Yes, I’m here.” His voice hardly came out more than a whisper, but Siemon’s vampire ears seemed to hear it just fine. He took one step toward him and then another, and Oriel allowed his father to pull him into an embrace. They said nothing as they embraced, and although he had missed him dearly, he couldn’t push away the bitterness he felt inside. It was Siemon’s fault their mother was dead.

But he wouldn’t point accusatory fingers just yet. He only just arrived.

“How have you fared?” Siemon asked as he broke the embrace. “How has Laurel fared? I haven’t seen you two in ages.”

It was difficult to do, but he pushed his bitterness aside and motioned for his father to follow him. “Find out for yourself. I brought her, along with Zachariah, her mate.”

“Her mate?” he asked, a note of pain in his voice. “I missed that?”

“You missed a lot.” He hadn’t realized he had snapped until he noticed the look of pain on his father’s face. He took another calming breath and tried to reorganize his emotions. “I have found a mate as well. Cosette. I want you to meet her.”

Siemon’s footsteps slowed as they rounded the bend where the others waited underneath the awning. He stared back at Laurel, and unsurprisingly, Laurel turned her head away, refusing to look at him. Their father’s absence had hurt her a great deal. She would likely have a more difficult time forgiving Siemon than he would.

“Please,” Siemon said as thunder rolled across the sky, bringing with it the downpour of rain. “Seek shelter in my home, and then we can talk.”

No one made a move to follow him, so Oriel followed first, and everyone trailed behind him. They wound through sloshy streets until they approached a sullen wooden door halfway off its hinges. The cottage appeared small on the outside, with cracked windows in desperate need of repair. Siemon opened the door, the hinges creaking loudly as they entered.

If Oriel thought the outside looked to be in disrepair, it said nothing of the inside. Fishing nets and other supplies littered the table, the floors looked like they hadn’t been cleaned in years, and the mud on the walls looked patchy, flaking off in far too many places.

“Forgive me,” Siemon said, hastily clearing off the table so everyone could take a seat on the benches—everyone except Laurel who stood by the doorway as if she might flee at any moment. “I was not expecting visitors.”

Oriel exchanged a sad look with Cosette. Even the lethargic way Siemon moved indicated a heavy weight of despair on his shoulders.

Siemon took his fishing hat off, revealing the blond waves underneath. With tired, sunken eyes, Siemon took in everyone in the room, his gaze lingering a little longer on Laurel who stared out the cracked window as if pretending he didn’t exist.

“And who is this?” Siemon asked, his gaze turning to Leif, who bounced up and down in his seat. “Your son?”

Digging deep within himself, he produced a smile. He hoped it could brighten the mood in the room. “Siemon, I would like to introduce you to Zachariah, my brother-in-law, Cosette, my mate, and this is my son, Leif.” He didn’t bother mentioning Leif was adopted.

Despite appearing to be a broken man, Siemon seemed to have at least remembered his manners as he took Zachariah’s wrist in greeting and then Cosette’s, and he finally grasped Leif’s wrist, the boy staring up at him with wide, curious eyes.

“This is Bumpa too?” Leif asked him, but he shook his head.

“No, Bumpa is Nicolae. This is Siemon, your grandpappy.”

Leif gasped, an excited smile rising to his lips. “Grandpappy!” he cried moments before he jumped onto the table. “I can turn into a bird. Just like Papa. I have blue feathers.”

Siemon’s throat bobbed up and down as he swallowed hard. His shoulders started to shake, and as if to hide his tears from everyone else, he covered his face with his hands. Oriel watched with a heavy heart. His father truly was a broken man. It was no wonder Nicolae had no desire to share his whereabouts. But broken or not, Siemon needed to be a part of their lives again, if even just a small part.

“I’m sorry.” Siemon wept into his hands. “I’ve missed so much. What I wouldn’t have given to have attended both of your union ceremonies. To have been there at Leif’s naming ceremony. To have been the father I should have been. I just miss your mother so much. I cannot function without her.”

Oriel stood, pacing to the other side of the room, and glancing out the window Laurel wasn’t currently using. The rain fell faster and harder now, to the point where he couldn’t see farther than a few feet.

“Why did you leave?” he asked, his words catching in his throat. “We needed you. Mother needed you.”

“I realize that now,” Siemon choked. “At the time, Madeleine and I had wanted different things. I wanted adventure. I wanted to leave Ichor Knell. But she wanted to stay. We fought, and I remember being so angry that I left. Her and my two dear children. I thought I could find what I was looking for without my family.”

By the window, Laurel started to cry. It broke his heart to see his sister like this. He crossed the room before Zachariah had a chance to console her and placed an arm around her shoulders.

Anger rose inside him, and this time he couldn’t push it down. “Did you find what you were looking for?” he asked, motioning to the rundown cottage before him. “Are you happy now?”

“No,” Siemon whispered. “When I heard of your mother’s death, I was grief-stricken. Nicolae would not allow me to repent for my mistakes, and he wouldn’t allow me to be with my children again. I deserved it. Madeleine’s death was my fault. And now I live as a fisherman, constantly making myself pay for my mistakes.”

He held out his arms, the glaring red scars crawling from his fingers to his elbows. He must have been exposed to the salt water so often that his vampire body stopped healing the way it should.

“You hardly tried to put the family back together,” Laurel spat. “Nicolae tells you to leave, and you stay away for good? Did we mean nothing to you? How could you not keep trying? How could you leave us behind?”

“Laurel,” Zachariah said quietly, wrapping an arm around her waist, and she turned into his shoulder, weeping some more. Oriel returned to where Leif sat on Cosette’s lap, watching the display with wide eyes as if he might start crying at any moment too. Oriel didn’t want him to see this, but it was too late.

“I should have tried harder.” Siemon sighed. “I keep making mistake after mistake. Please forgive me. Please. I will do anything to make this right again. Anything.”

Laurel didn’t answer but continued to sniff into Zachariah’s shoulder. Oriel still felt the bitter sting of betrayal, and he knew he couldn’t forgive his father yet. But it didn’t mean he couldn’t try. It might take a long time, but the least he could do was try.

“We’ll start by repairing your home,” Oriel said as he inspected the gouges in the wooden table. “If we are to visit, you must have an acceptable place for grandchildren to play.” He didn’t mention he wished his father lived somewhere less dangerous than near the wharf. But one step at a time.

“Done,” Siemon said eagerly. “I don’t have much in the way of coin, but I’ll give everything I have to make this right.”

Oriel returned to the window, running his finger across a single crack that ran from the top to the bottom of the pane. “My next stipulation is we’ll do it together. Beginning with these windows. I can blow the glass, and you can help me shape them.”

His father sighed, a look of gratitude in his eyes. “Of course. Thank you.”

Leif slid down from Cosette’s lap and timidly approached Siemon, tugging on his tunic. “I can come play tomorrow?”

“I…” He looked uncertainly toward Oriel, as if unsure of what to say.

“Let’s do something better than play,” Oriel said as he lifted his son into his arms. “You can help us make windows. How does that sound?”

“I want to make windows! And play with Grandpappy!”

He chuckled and shared an amused look with Cosette. “Only if you promise to stay away from the water. Promise?”

Leif nodded eagerly before sliding to the ground and jumping onto Siemon’s lap. Siemon’s eyes watered with emotion as he wrapped his arms around his grandson. Despite the bitterness Oriel felt, he smiled at the display. Perhaps their relationship could be salvaged after all.

“I will come again tomorrow,” he said, gently pulling Cosette to her feet. Simply touching her brought him immense comfort. She hadn’t spoken a word yet, but he hoped it would come with time. “I expect you to be ready to start.”

“I will be.” Siemon nodded. “Thank you, Oriel. Thank you.”

He knew his father was thanking him for more than just helping him repair his home, but for giving him a second chance.

He grasped his father’s wrist in farewell before joining his free hand with Leif’s, and then Laurel and Zachariah connected their hands with Cosette’s. In a blur of movement, he materialized them out of the small fishing town and dropped Zachariah and Laurel off at the front steps of the Ichor Knell castle. After, he whisked his own family to his estate and under the willow tree in the garden to protect them from the rain. The rainy season in Ichor Knell had begun only recently, bringing much-needed moisture to an otherwise dry and sunless city.

Leif immediately ran off to play in the rain, leaving Oriel and Cosette by themselves beneath the willow.

“That was kind of you,” Cosette said, giving his hand a squeeze.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Repairing your father’s home. It’s a kind gesture.”

Trying to shrug off the compliment, he parted the willow branches to watch Leif spin and laugh as he splashed through puddles.

“He’s my father,” he replied, turning to face her and immediately getting lost in her amethyst eyes. His expression softened as he brushed his thumb along her cheek. “I won’t allow him to live in a crude shanty. Besides, I hope by repairing his home, it can help repair my relationship with him. I just hope it’s not too late.”

She shook her head. “It’s never too late, Oriel. Our own relationship is a testament to that.” She smiled, and he couldn’t help but return it with one of his own. But then a look of seriousness entered her eyes. Determination.

“What’s wrong?” He took her by the shoulders.

“Nothing. I am only afraid you will forbid it. I will not take no for an answer. I want to help those like me, Leif, and Sarene, rescue those targeted by vampire slavers.”

His eyes widened, and for a moment, he felt as if someone punched the breath from his lungs. “I cannot…I cannot allow you to return to the danger, Cosette. I almost lost you once.” He tightened his grip on her shoulders like she might disappear at any moment.

Still, determination flashed across her eyes. “I have drawn up a plan. I have spoken to a few who already want to get involved. I only need some funds to do it.”

“Cosette.” He sighed, trying to make her see reason. “It’s dangerous. Besides, these people you want to rescue? They will be hollow shells of themselves.”

“And you think they do not deserve happiness because of it?”

He blinked a couple of times at the passion stirring within her eyes. She was already settled on the matter. And what did he know of those affected by the vampire slavers? They could still live happy, fulfilling lives. And for each slaver they stopped, they would rescue a great many more.

“I need this, Oriel,” she whispered as she touched his face with gentle fingers.

He squeezed her hands and sighed. “I would like to see this plan of yours. I will provide funds if you can find others to ensure your safety.”

“Thank you.” She launched her arms around his neck and holding tight. “I’m so lucky to have you as my mate.”

“I’m the lucky one,” he said, kissing her forehead and then each cheek and finally a drawn-out kiss on her lips. He lowered his voice to a whisper. “Please say you’ll be mine.”

“I’m already yours.” She laughed, giving him a playful look.

“I know, but I wanted the chance to say it at least once. I love you, Cosette.”

She kissed his palm, sighing happily. “I love you, Oriel.”