Progeny
By: Delilah deSora

Chapter 1

The golden haired man growled, pacing before the silent vampire that stood before him. “Still nothing?”

Werner shook his head, the bland mask he wore hiding whatever emotions lurked beneath his steward’s surface. “No, my lord.”

Cain slammed his palms down upon the desk, making the ancient wood creak. “Miron cannot have vanished! Find him!”

Movement in the doorway caught Cain’s attention and he straightened, watching the brown haired vampire approach and give him a halfhearted bow. “What is it Reiner?”

Reiner gave him a snake’s smile. “The wyrlardi is still waiting your decision, my lord.”

Cain snorted. “You will get my answer when I am ready to give it.”

Reiner spread his hands, his long glassy nails glittering in the light. “My lord it has been months since you’ve last returned. Surely you will not make us wait any longer to receive your explanation as to why our plans for the golden dawn have been halted.”

Golden eyes met hazel. “I owe you no explanation, Reiner. It is I who am lord here and I will do as I wish. Besides,” He smiled darkly, “What are months to us? We have spent years debating on trivialities. We have food aplenty and safety. There is no pressing need for me to discuss my choices with you.”

Reiner’s polite mask slipped and for a brief moment Cain saw the irritation and hate hidden underneath before he bowed. When he rose the mask was back in place and dark hazel eyes spoke only of petulant disappointment. “We only seek to understand, my lord. If something has gone wrong we would be honored to give our help . . .”

“The only help I ask of you is to find the traitor Miron. So far you have all failed in this objective. Forgive me for not trusting my problems to you all when you cannot even do what I ask of you.” Cain interrupted, waving the other vampire away. “Get out of my sight.”

With a measuring look Reiner bowed and took his leave.

“He grows bolder with every passing night, my lord. Surely you see the need to stay.” Werner murmured.

Cain shook his head. “I cannot. Besides, Reiner is cautious. He does not trust my absences and does not yet understand my plans. He will do nothing until he is sure he can pick up the reins without betraying weakness to the others.

“And,” he continued with a grim smile, “He will keep his place until he sure that the rumors regarding Alexandru’s continued existence are false or he is sure my sire will not come looking to reclaim his court. He is not a fool, he will not risk being the one in power if it comes to that for it will mean he will be the one to stand against him and after lying to me about seeing my sire’s death he will be especially cautious.”

Werner sighed but kept his peace. “When will you return next?”

Cain shrugged. “When I can.”

Shido woke the same way he’d woken every night for the last five years. He woke to screams.

With a groan of annoyance he peeled open eyes still heavy with the need for sleep and glared at the creature that demanded his attention. Wide green eyes stared down at him, narrowing in a parody of his sire’s when the child realized he had gotten what he’d wanted.

“What do you want now?” Shido growled.

Small hands slapped against his chest and Cayle laughed. “Up!” was the child’s demand.

Shido rolled onto his side, making the young child squeal with delight as he slid down between his parents. “Why don’t you ever wake him up?” He asked.

Cayle cocked his head, glancing at his sire’s back before turning his attention back to him with a small frown of consternation as he tried to make out the meaning of words he hadn’t yet been taught. With a sigh Shido collected his son’s small form, unable to keep the smile from his face as Cayle happily nuzzled his chest, finding his preferred feeding spot and biting down.

“I don’t suppose I could leave you with your grandparents so I could sleep in, could I?” Shido teased.

Cayle blinked, pulling away from the small wound he’d made, his face taking on the look of intent concentration but after a moment his son gave up and shouted out his new favorite word. “No!”

Shido laughed stroking Cayle’s golden hair as he moved through the silent house. The sun was still teetering on the edge of the horizon and it would be some time yet before anyone else was up. He missed the years when Cayle had slept until well past sundown. They were gone now, though physically his son had changed very little. Cain had laughed off his worries about the slowness of Cayle’s development since he’d been born, telling him that their son had many years of development ahead of him. Though they developed quickly in their fathers’ bodies, he explained, velassi sons were slow to grow once born to the world.

Cayle could crawl and sit up. He could speak and even understand very rudimentary commands. He was aware of the world around him and could spend hours staring at something trying to figure out it out. His latest favorite activity was to watch the velassi around him. He would attach himself to someone, following them around the house on hands and knees if need be.

It made keeping an eye on him easier for the entire household.

Shido was just grateful that he’d stopped wandering off on his own. For a child who could not yet walk more than a few tottering steps Cayle could move quickly, disappearing in the time it took for him to turn his back for just a moment. Fortunately Cain had become an adept baby hunter. He always seemed to know the moment his son was about to get himself in trouble.

“Probably from his long years of causing trouble himself.” Shido grumbled, not feeling particularly charitable about his mate who was still sleeping while he had an armful of child who was happily chewing on his hair again.

Shido sighed, staring down at his son. “What are you doing?”

Cayle smiled and held up a small fist, offering him his own hair.

“Thanks.” Shido replied dryly, freeing himself. He was surprised when he reached the main salon that had become something of a community nursery to discover that he wasn’t the only one awake.

Cayle made an annoyed noise, scrunching his face in dislike at the small child who played quietly on the floor. The black haired child stared up at their passing, his pale face showing no emotion even when Cayle growled, showing off tiny fangs. Shido reprimanded his son with a growl of his own, earning a sideways glance from the child in his arms.

He seated himself next to the child’s father, laughing at the wide yawn he received in greeting. “And here I thought I was the only one cursed to be awake at this time.”

Adrian snorted. “Dorian’s much easier to handle than Cain ever was but he still has his moments of childish demands.”

Shido laughed, lowering Cayle to the floor. Cayle twisted in his arms, clawing at him in his attempt to scramble back onto his lap with a sharp “No!”

With a sigh Shido lifted him back up. His son scowled at the child on the floor but remembered his father’s reprimand and contented himself with licking at the scratches he’d raised on Shido’s bare arms.

“I will never understand children.” Shido grumbled, though he couldn’t keep the smile from his face as Cayle tended the small wounds.

Adrian laughed, reaching out. “Oh I don’t know. This one is easy to understand, aren’t you my little hellion?” Cayle abandoned his father’s arms, changing loyalties with childish fickleness. Adrian lifted him up, making faces until Cayle squealed with laughter.

“Yes, so demanding, just like your sire,” Adrian continued, lowering the child onto his lap where Cayle burrowed himself deeper into his embrace, “You don’t like my son do you? Can’t have anyone’s attention diverted from you! Yes, I know, it’s so hard to fight for your right to be the spoiled princeling of the house. It’s all just so unfair!”

Shido laughed at his words for a moment before his smile slipped as he turned his attention to the silent child a few feet away turning blocks this way and that in his hands as he stared intently at it, ignoring the adults that watched him. “All joking aside, though, I do worry about that. I’m afraid Cayle will try to hurt him one day.”

Adrian shrugged, shifting Cayle in his arms. “Of course he will,” He smiled at Shido’s shocked look, “It is the way of the world. The strong take what they want from the weak and, in the case of predators like us, they drive the weak away. In time Cayle will realize it is wrong of him and he’ll accept Dorian’s presence. Until then we’ll all just have to keep an eye on him. He knows we don’t approve of his shows of aggression so I doubt he’ll try anything while we’re watching.”

Shido sighed, sliding to the floor and picking a new block from the basket by the couch. Dorian’s attention was suddenly focused entirely on him as he began arranging the blocks into some semblance of a building. “Still I worry. I would feel awful if my son hurt yours.”

Adrian shrugged again, watching as Cayle unfolded his hands and laid his smaller ones on his, comparing the differences in size. “Dorian doesn’t make much noise but believe me, he’s got quite a pair of lungs on him. The moment Cayle tries something he’ll be screaming like a banshee and then I would feel awful to be in your son’s skin when Cain gets a hold of him.”

Shido nodded, handing the black haired child the block the small hands reached for plaintively but couldn’t quite reach. While not terribly interested in the more mundane aspects of raising their son Shido did have to admit that Cain did keep a close eye on what Cayle was up to and he was always quick with praise and reprimand. Shido had been more than happy to leave most punishment in his mate’s hands for it tore at him to have reprimand their son. Cain, Shido was surprised to learn, was very good at curving their son’s more destructive tendencies.

In cases when Cayle was about to cause trouble, trouble that wouldn’t put him much in harm’s way, Cain would watch, letting Cayle make his own decision as to whether or not to go through with it. If he did Cain was there the moment he’d stepped over the bounds. If he did not Cain would reward him in some small way. If, however, Cayle was about to embark on some trouble that could seriously hurt him Cain didn’t give him the chance to get far along with it. A sharp snap was usually enough to bring their son back in line quickly enough, though on a few occasions Cain had been forced to go after him.

In fact Cayle was still a bit wary of his sire’s temper after being discovered trying to pull down a candle, which he was most certainly not allowed to touch. For all his child-like knowledge Cayle knew how to recognize fire and he knew he wasn’t allowed near it. That he’d even try to drag a candle off the table by pulling on the fabric covering the wooden had shocked all of them.

Whatever had possessed him to want to get to the candle had certainly been scared out of him when Cain had caught him. Cain was never cruel to their son but he certainly knew how to scare him back to obedience.

It was something he shared with both Adrian and Renzo, though why Cayle listened to Renzo so easily Shido did not understand. The elder never raised his voice to him, had, in fact, never given the warning growls or quick flash of fangs that their kind used as warnings for wariness of accidentally triggering Cain or his own natural protective instincts, but still Cayle obeyed him and was the picture of angelic perfection when the older sire was around.

Este and Shido shared Cayle’s love but did not seem to have the caution the other inspired in his son. After a night of keeping Cayle under control both he and Este were equally tired and hoarse. In the years since they’d come to Nocturne Shido had found a close friend in the older father for the two of them had bonded over their frustrations at his son’s antics but unable to keep the smiles the energetic child brought to their faces.

To be honest, Shido mused as Dorian climbed into his lap, they had grown close by the end of his first year here. Adrian’s pregnancy had been very difficult and as the months progressed Este had buried himself in working with Alexandru to keep from becoming overwhelmed by the worry over his son. Shido had helped him with that, choosing to distance himself so that he could care for Cayle while Cain kept to his father’s bedside where Alexandru rightfully should have been.

Over a month before he should have been born Renzo and Cain had made the hard choice of ending the pregnancy. By then Adrian had slipped close enough to death that, even in his waking moments, he recognized no one and heard nothing. It had taken the two sires to save both child and father, Cain concentrating on bringing his brother into the world and Renzo focusing entirely on keeping his own son alive.

By the end of the night no one had expected either to live.

By the end of the month both child and father had shown their determination to remain in this world a bit longer.

Shido could still remember that night. Cayle had been frightened for he had felt the worry and tension in the air. Este had kept his attention focused on his patient, working to suppress Alexandru’s memories of the lab while trying to bring memories of his life before to the fore, but by the end of the night he’d been forced to stop, his own emotions affected too much by worry for his son to allow him to do much with Alexandru, who gave no indication over whether or not he knew what was happening with his mate.

But Adrian had survived, as had his son who, when placed in Alexandru’s arms, did more in one day to bring the sire back to himself than everything Este and Adrian had managed to accomplish in a year. Five years later he was aware of his surroundings and who everyone was. The lucid moments were more common than his relapses but Shido could still see the worry in the pinch of Adrian’s lips when Alexandru sat quietly by himself staring off into nothing, his eyes the only thing moving as he struggled to work through his memories. It reminded him that Alexandru still had some healing to do but, when he saw the ghost of a smile cross the golden haired sire’s face as his adopted son slept in his arms, Shido knew that all would be well. Little by little he was returning to himself and one day he would wake and be his old self.

Adrian had made no attempts to hide Dorian’s true parentage from his mate. Alexandru knew who had sired Dorian, though Dorian carried only one of Miron’s features. His eyes were the pale blue of his sire’s but they did not carry the look of constant planning that Miron’s had. If Alexandru was ever bothered by the fact that his mate had carried another’s son he did not show it. A few years after Dorian’s birth he had gathered them all, making it clear that he considered Dorian his own. They’d all agreed to never speak of Dorian’s true parentage again. He would be raised as a child of two mates who loved one another, he would not know that his conception had been a time of anger and fear.

He would not know that his true sire still lurked somewhere in the outside world, undetected though Renzo had done his best to locate him.

Renzo had gone to their kind’s elders, telling them of Miron’s betrayal though omitting the fact that a child had been sired during his treachery. He’d told them of the lab and of Miron’s hand in turning his own brother over to the humans. Miron had been declared outlawed. Word had been sent to all of their kind to be wary of him and, if found, to bring him before the elders.

To Adrain and Cain’s fury the elders had refused to send word that he was to be killed.

As always, their excuse was that there were too few of them to go to such lengths to punish him.

Shido did not worry about it too much. The elders may not call for Miron’s death but it did not matter. Once word came that he’d been found Shido knew that one of them would see his life ended. As much as Cain would have liked to drive the killing blow home Shido suspected it would actually be Renzo who end the traitors life. As the eldest of them all, indeed perhaps one of the eldest of their kind left if Este’s stories of others of their kind, most now dead, were to be believed, the elders themselves would be hard pressed to punish him.

Dorian pawed at his chest and Shido chuckled as the child peered up at him plaintively.

“I think its time for your son to be fed.” He said, pushing himself to his feet and holding out the child who reached for his father.

Adrian snorted, letting Cayle slid to the floor and head for the blocks before taking his own son in his arms. He cradled the smaller child gently, whispering to him in a language Shido did not know. A finger stroked Dorian’s cheek and the child rooted instinctively, burying small fangs into his father’s chest.

Turning to his own son he clapped encouragingly as Cayle used a nearby chair to pull himself up onto his feet and stumble a few steps before tumbling to the ground. Cayle’s chest puffed with pride and he clapped as well.

Shido yawned and spared his son a sharp look as the child began using the blocks as missiles, throwing them as far as his small arms would allow and cackling as they bounced off the marble floor.

“How much longer until they start feeding from others?” Shido asked, reaching down to help Cayle back to his feet and holding him up as his son practiced walking, his makeshift weapons forgotten.

“Years yet, I’m afraid. Not quite so long for your son as mine, I fear.”

He glanced over his shoulder with a frown. “Why is that?”

Adrian sighed and brushed the black hair from his son’s face. “They drink from their sires once they begin to walk and form sentences. Cayle will probably dive right in, happy to be able to sink fangs into Cain without being hollered at. Dorian on the other hand,” Adrian fell silent, shaking his head.

Shido’s frown deepened. “Will he be able to feed from Alexandru?”

“We don’t know for sure but we hope so. They are brothers and they shared the same parents. We are hoping that, essentially, their blood is the same and Dorian will be able to stomach it. If not I suppose it won’t be too much of a problem, just a few more years of him feeding solely from me before he is old enough to be able to live off of human blood.”

They fell silent, content to keep their son’s occupied for a time before the other residents of the island stirred. Shido smiled gratefully when Cain arrived and swept their son up into his arms, giving him a kiss that was entirely inappropriate for young eyes and ordering him back to bed. It was an order he was more than happy to obey and he managed a few hours of sleep before insistent cries of “Fa! Fa! Fa!” and the vibration of tiny fists beating into the mattress woke him and he found green eyes straining to peer at him over the high edge of the bed.

Cain was hot on his son’s heels but not before Shido had already been woken. Cayle was chased from the room with a playful growl, which he answered with a gurgle of laughter in his wake, and Shido mirrored his son’s laugh when Cain gave him his own warning growl when he tried to rise. He lay back down, trying to stifle laughter as he heard their son deposited into Este’s care right before Cain slammed the door on him and returned.

“What are you doing?” Shido demanded as Cain crawled over him, nipping at his shoulders and neck.

“What does it look like? Surely it hasn’t been so long that you’ve forgotten this?”

Shido chuckled, burying his hands in his mate’s hair. “Hmm I do remember something like this . . .”

Cain laughed, his teeth nipping at his mate’s ear and earning him a gasp. “Let’s make another one.”

Shido snorted. “You’ve got to be kidding. We can barely handle the one we have. Two would bring disaster to this island.”

Cain grinned evilly. “We won’t know until we try.”

Shido opened his mouth to reply but a hand questing for something between his legs silenced him and his words turned into a moan. Cain licked at his neck, making him pant, though he did not need to breath. Reaching around he dug his nails into his mate’s back, earning a growl as he raised bloody welts on the pale skin.

“You still haven’t told me about your trip home.” Shido murmured, lifting his hips as Cain pulled at his pants.

“There is nothing to tell. No Miron, no sign that the humans have copies of their records on you, no word on whether or not the rest of our kind will help us hunt him down. Now stop talking!”

Shido hissed as Cain took him in his mouth, the smooth sides of his fangs brushing against his growing arousal as a tongue pressed firmly against the thick vein. Burying his hands in the thick fall of golden hair he forgot his questions as Cain tortured him, turning him into a writhing mass of want.

His mate chuckled, pushing at his thighs to force his legs apart before mounting him. Their fangs clacked together as their mouths met in a cacophony of snarls, blood spilling between them as torn lips and tongues battled for dominance over the other. Cain was a hard unrelenting presence within him and Shido closed his eyes, moaning helplessly as his mate forced his way into his body time and again. Sharp nails tugged at his nipples and he thrashed, his back arching. Cain’s sex touched something within him and he yelped, eyes opening and narrowing as he purred, rotating his hips to force his mate to strike that spot again.

Cain’s eyes were slits, his tongue lapping at the blood on his lips as he claimed him, wringing growls and cries from his throat. Dangerous nails stroked along his vulnerable arousal and Shido reached up, drawing his mate’s neck within reach and biting down. He drank messily, blood slipping from the corners of his mouth as he tore the artery, glutting himself on his mate’s blood as Cain glutted himself on his body.

In the ecstasy of the feed he was only vaguely aware of his body shuddering, releasing it’s pinkish seed and tightening about his mate until he too reached his climax, spilling himself deep within his body. Cain collapsed atop of him and Shido’s hands tightened, holding him still as he drank his fill before finally pulling back and allowing the older velassi to escape.

He licked the blood from his fingers as Cain lay still beside him, his pale lips parted as his body struggled to heal itself from the blood loss. Turning on his side Shido pressed his face against his mate’s cool skin, sighing pleasantly as his body relaxed, his mate’s blood rejuvenating his cold body while his muscles loosened in the languor that followed sex.

Their quiet moment together did not last long before Cayle’s screams and Este’s voice, ragged from pleading with the howling toddler, broke the spell and sent them both struggling from the bed to dress before Shido took charge of his tear streaked son. Cayle sniffed and clung to him with a child’s determination not to let his parent escape his presence.

Cain plucked the sniffling child from his arms, earning a halfhearted laugh as Cayle was flung over his sire’s shoulder and carried to the foyer like a sack of grain, his distress forgotten in light of this new view of the world. Dorian spared them a pained look as they entered before burying his face in the crook of Alexandru’s arm, small hands tugging at the blanket wrapped about him. Cain set their son down on the ground and, as Cayle began to stalk Adrian who, wise to the child’s game, moved out of reach whenever the child lunged for him, informed Renzo of his courts continued failure at finding the missing velassi.

Adrian sighed, shaking his head as he sat, Cayle using his leg to stand so that he could totter a few steps before falling. “I wish I knew where else he would have gone. I dislike the thought of him still lurking about.”

Renzo, growled, the sound resounding deep in his chest. “Let him try to come here. I will show him the true meaning of a traitor’s death.”

Shido glanced at Alexandru but what the other thought of their words he gave no indication, his attention focused on the sleeping child in his arms.

“Do you think he would truly think to come here?” Este asked, his long fingers stroking his grown son’s hair.

Cain shrugged, glancing at his father. “It is no secret that Nocturne has again been closed. Even though he doesn’t know of Dorian existence he may think to come here looking for you.”

Adrian’s lips thinned but he stayed silent.

Renzo shook his head. “I hinted before the council that the reason for our request for solitude was because of the siring of another child. Not many of our kind follow their decrees but enough still live in the community nearby to spread the rumor. From what you say this Miron has always made it a point to know what is going on. If it works as I plan he will hear of it and think twice about our son’s presence being here. After all,” he finished, smiling into his cup, “who would think that we would throw thousands of years of tradition out the window and invite others to help raise our child?”

Este laughed softly. “There are advantages to being old. No one would dare expect us to deviate from tradition, yes? Perhaps you young ones but never us who still consult an outdating council whom none of our kind take seriously anymore.”

Shido smiled as Cayle crawled to the foot of his chair, reaching up plaintively. Gathering the child in his arms he stood as green eyes closed sleepily. Unaware of the troubles that endangered their lives the child fell asleep, content in the knowledge that he was safe in his father’s arms.