Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 69330 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69330 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
“What is this place?” she asked.
“It used to be an abandoned monastery. Lann bought and restored it to make it his home.”
There were several doors on that floor, which she presumed to have been the old monastery bedrooms. They went around a corner and entered onto the first level of a second square similar to the one they’d exited, but this one had a swimming pool on the ground level that was covered with a retractable sunroof and walled in by glass. From the steam rising up from the water, she gathered the pool was heated.
Niels was splashing in the water, laughing and kicking with his legs as Joss lifted him into the air. The scene brought tears to her eyes. Niels had never been in a pool. Joss was good with him, not playing too rough.
On the steps in the shallow end, Clelia kept watch over a dark-haired boy about one year younger than Niels who played with a boat. The resemblance between him and Joss was striking. A blond boy who looked close to Niels’s age threw a ball at Clelia.
Joss looked up when Sky and Bono came down the stairs. He lifted Niels from the water onto the side, and said, “Mommy is awake. Go say hi. Don’t slip.”
Her heart clenched when Niels didn’t move. He only stared at his feet with downcast eyes.
Sky glanced at Bono, uncertainty eating a hole into her heart, but he urged her on with an encouraging nod. She may be a mother, but she had no experience in mothering. Niels might miss Doumar. He might blame her for what had happened to his dad. She had no idea what kind of feelings he’d harbored for his father.
She entered through the door and crouched in front of him. “Hey, baby. How are you doing?”
“I’m not a baby.”
“You’re right. It’s just my way of saying I love you, but I won’t call you that if you don’t like it.”
He wiggled his big toe on the paving.
“Are you enjoying the water?”
He nodded without looking up. The need to hug him was fierce, but she sensed that he wasn’t ready yet.
She couldn’t resist drawing her hand over his hair. “I’ll let you get back to it then.”
“Why don’t you join him?” Bono asked next to her.
Not having heard him enter, she jumped. She looked at him quickly. Could she?
“There’s a swimsuit for you upstairs.”
She nodded gratefully and returned to the room to change. Bono had also provided a big, fluffy gown. She pulled it on over the bikini and went back to the pool. Niels and the blond boy were playing in the shallow end with a ball. Joss was toweling himself dry on the side.
“Come join us,” Clelia said with a warm smile. “This is Laudren.” She pointed at the blond boy. “And that’s Thomas.”
“Let me guess, Laudren is yours.”
Clelia laughed. “Everyone says he looks like Josselin.”
“What about Thomas?”
“He’s Lann and Katherine’s son.”
“Where are the others?”
“Working in the library. Why don’t you spend some time with Niels, and then I’ll take you to see them. Cain is eager to speak with you.”
Sky looked up to see Bono watching them through the glass. He smiled at her before walking off with his hands shoved into his pockets. She knew he was giving her time with Niels, and she appreciated it.
After swimming a few laps to get Niels accustomed to her presence, she played a game of volleyball with the boys. Clelia joined in while Joss took care of Laudren, who Clelia explained couldn’t swim yet.
“He’s not as fond of water as Thomas,” Clelia said with a proud light in her eyes. “I guess his element is fire.”
Sky bounced the ball at Niels and left the boys to it. Turning to Clelia, she said, “He’ll inherit your art.”
“Oh, he has. He’s already combusted his first fire. We’re teaching him to control it and not to fear his ability. Up until that moment, I wasn’t sure if he’d take after me or display his father’s talent.”
“Which is?”
“Joss is a bloodsucker.”
“Ah.”
The scene in the club when he’d pricked her finger and tasted her blood suddenly made sense.
“I’m hungry, Mommy,” Niels said.
Sky’s chest expanded with a feeling of joy so intense that tears pricked at the back of her eyes. She’d never had the privilege of preparing a meal for him, of taking care of his most basic needs.
Seeming to understand her sentiment, Clelia covered her hand. “I’ll show you where the kitchen is.”
After drying off and changing in the pool changing room, Clelia insisted to the loud protest of the boys that she and Sky dried their hair before they were allowed outside in the cold. They took turns with the hairdryer until everyone was warm and dry, and then made their way to a big kitchen on the ground floor.