Trembling With the Strings

Dante told his brother the name, and Darius had only grunted and told me that we should get going. I had asked him why we were leaving so fast and where we were going, but he had told me that it didn’t matter. In other words, he just wanted to get out of his house.

But why? Why did he want away from his house—or maybe it was his family—so fast? Surely he didn’t want to spend time with my delightful mother.

But I just nodded, not exactly wanting to stay either. I didn’t want to have to look at Cameron and Dante, picturing them holding my baby boy as if they were the ones that had loved him from the start. It was just too much to bear.

“Gracie, you hate me,” Darius told me, no doubt in his voice as he slammed his foot down onto the gas pedal.

“Why would you say that? I don’t.” I stared out the window, watching the world fly by. It just made me realize that time really didn’t stop for anyone.

“Because I’m a terrible bastard,” he mumbled, pushing his bangs out of his face. “You want to keep the damn kid so bad, but I won’t let you. I won’t even give it a chance.”

“You still could,” I murmured, turning to look at him. He was shaking his head slowly.

“No, I can’t,” he hissed under his breath, his eyes smoldering over as he kept his eyes locked on the road. “I would love to make you that happy, but then I’d make you miserable when the kid did something stupid. Every time he’d make a little mistake I would break your heart in half, again and again until you’re as miserable as I am. What would be better?—having one big bomb dropped on you and you cry for a few years, or have that same bomb dropped on you little by little for the rest of your life.”

I sighed, not wanting to talk about that anymore. We pulled into a driveway, but it certainly wasn’t my house or anywhere I’d ever been before.

“Where are we?” I asked him as he took my hand and helped me out of the car. He caught my waist.

“Well, my father and I were talking about more than just shit. He said I should show you the house and see what you think, so… What do you think?” He gestured to the two-story house before us.

It was constructed of elegant stone with a dramatic arch that sheltered the front door. One of the walls held a giant glass window revealing a large living room. There was a wooden swing in the front yard as well as quite a few flower patches that had been perfectly blended with lilacs and roses and others of the sort. Darius led me to the door, pulling out a key and quickly unlocking it before ushering me in.

The floor was dark wood and a staircase was directly to the left of the entrance. To the right was the elegant den, which had a large bookcase that already held hundreds of unopened books. Johnny would absolutely love it.

I walked farther into the house to see an absolutely enormous kitchen. Everything was just so shiny yet cold. I didn’t know if I liked it, but Darius smiled. At least he realized that my human brothers would still need food.

“How many bedrooms are there?” I asked him, taking his hand as we walked up the open stairs.

“I think there’s…” He started counting on his fingers, taking his hand out of mine. “One, two, three… I’m pretty sure there are five and two bathrooms. I figured you and I will share, Marcus will have a room, Johnny will have his, Demetrius will have his, and we’ll have a spare.” He placed his hand back in mine as I opened the door.

“We have our own bathroom?” I asked, stepping into the master bedroom. Did vampires need bathrooms?

“We can still take hot baths,” he reminded me, his voice but a purr in my ear.

We checked out the next three of the bedrooms, and I was impressed. Darius had obviously already moved in everything so it’d be ready for when we lived there. I didn’t really see the point of looking at the spare bedroom, but Dray had insisted. I opened the door, my breath catching in my throat.

“Dray… I don’t understand,” I mumbled, stepping closer to the crib in the room. It looked like a baby’s nursery. Darius wrapped his arms around me from behind and pulling my back to his chest.

“Dante told me that it’d be best to keep the baby until he didn’t need his mother anymore, so we’ll keep him for a few months at least… And we’ll try this whole baby thing. But I’m not making promises, Gracie. I want what’s best for him, and if that means giving him up then I’m going to do it. Understand?”

I nodded, turning around in his arms and holding him as close as I could. He mumbled something to me, but I wasn’t listening. I felt a tear slide down my cheek, but it wasn’t because I was sad.

I know it’s cruel to get your hopes up, but mine were already flying in the sky.