“You have plenty of time to tell me about where you really came from, Martin, if you choose to do so. And I’ve been a fool for not seeing how much you really cared. You’re not your father and it doesn’t matter to me what has happened in your past, because I love you, too, and I always have,” I replied, as the tears began running down my cheeks again.

“You are so beautiful. I do not deserve such a wonderful creature in my arms.”

“You just have to get better, so you can hold me for the rest of our lives,” I tried to smile but the quiver on my lips prevented it. “I thought you were going to die when I saw you hanging there. I thought my world had ended and it was all my fault.”

“I was not going to die until I took revenge for them killing you,” he tried to laugh through his own tears and pain.

“We are a pair, aren’t we?” I smiled, feeling his breath as he slid his forehead from mine and kissed me on the tip of my nose, causing himself to hiss from the gash on his bottom lip.

“We are indeed, my love.”

“You need to feed,” I said, lightly touching the marks on his cheek. “Then maybe drink a bit more wine to ease your pain.” Then I started to get up.

“You’re all the pain relief I need,” he replied, taking my hand and bringing it to his lips. “Hurry back. I think I will wait here for your return.”

“Are you sure? I bet you could beat me to the kitchen.” I laughed softly, leaning forward and kissed his forehead and got up as gently as I could.

“I do not know how your people were able to free me from Angelica, but I see now that you are truly the one to bring this way of life to an end for all bloodbreeders. You have amazed me by what you have done.”

“We’ll tell ya all about it. When I come back with your meal, I’m bringing the whole crew with me,” I said, walking over to the folded bed covers on the dresser. I covered his mid-section enough for privacy and looked back to see that he was resting as I left the room.

Jacob was leaning on the wall a few feet down from my door, pushing off when I stepped out. I walked straight up to him and wrapped my arms around his neck, hugging him, then kissed him on the cheek before I took his hand and started down the hall. “What was that for?”

I just looked over at him and smiled. “Because I love ya, Jacob, and I couldn’t have gotten him back without you.”

Cates opened the door to his room as we passed by, and he and Tammy joined us. I couldn’t help myself. I turned around and gave Tammy a hug and kissed her right on the mouth, then grabbed the big man around the waist. There was no way I could reach his cheek to give him a kiss, so I picked up his hand and kissed it.

“I would have thought Master Martin would have been too weak to make you this happy,” he smiled, picking me up around the waist, causing me to yelp like a little girl. “Now what will you do?”

I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. “Kiss ya, now put me down, you silly ass ox.”

Tammy was the first to start laughing at the ‘ox’ phrase, then Jacob and I joined in. Garvin was coming out of the family room, but Tanda and Derek were still in their room. Fala got to his feet from the pallet that he had slept on in the foyer, pulled his long black hair back into a ponytail, and stretched his arms over his head. He and Garvin, whose hair was sticking up in every direction that the strands of his blond locks could find, went out the front to go fetch the last pig from the stalls at the far right of the estate. By the time they had made it back in, Tanda and Derek entered the kitchen hand in hand.

“Sleeping in?” Cates smiled, bringing a blush to Tanda’s cheeks and a broader smile from Derek.

“Just catching up,” Derek winked.

“A gentleman is silent,” Tanda said, bumping Derek with her hip.

“Sleep, I was catching up on my sleep, sweetie, that’s all I meant.”

“I caught up on my sleep right before the dawn took my woman too, Derek,” Cates burst out, getting an elbow in the ribs from his woman.

“You’ll be catching up on your sleep alone if you don’t watch that mouth of yours,” she said, winking over at me as Fala and Garvin came behind me with the pig.

“I want us all to have our meal in the room with Martin. He needs to know what’s going on and what we plan on doing at the gala,” I explained as Fala held the pig and Garvin sliced its throat.

“Do you think it wise in his condition?” Garvin asked, from behind the table, while holding the bowl that was catching the blood.

“He has to know. I don’t want any more secrets between us.”

“The note will have to be discussed and the costumes for the gala will have to be found. We have three nights to be prepared,” Jacob explained, taking glasses down from the cabinet.

“I’m telling ya right now, I ain’t wearing no make-up,” Derek boldly said, shaking his head side to side.

“Don’t be silly Derek, they have masks for the men. Only the male eunuchs place make-up on their faces and of course those who like the company of men,” Tanda giggled, causing Derek to slant his eyes at Cates, who was now rolling with laughter.

“Well, I damn sure don’t like men, and as far as I know I ain’t one of them eunuch things,” Derek replied, bringing the whole room into a rolling thunder of laughter. “What? I’m not!”

I leaned over the table and whispered what I had learned about the word eunuch, and watched the horror fill his eyes. At first I didn’t know if he was going to storm out of the room in a fit of anger, but, as the boy was growing up right before my eyes, his lip raised on one side and he himself broke out in laughter. He looked down at Tanda, who shook her head, saying, “Nope, you are, without a doubt, not a eunuch.” Then she wrapped her arm around his waist trying to hide the blush that she had just brought to her own cheeks. We carried everything into my and Martin’s room and gathered around his bed, with me sliding back up as close to him as I could get. I lifted his shoulders while Tammy stacked the pillows up behind him, then I gently laid him back. The pain showed in his eyes but he tried to hide it with the smile that showed through the still swollen flesh on his face.

“You look much better tonight, Martin,” Tanda said, leaning over and kissing him on the forehead.

“I feel much better, little buttercup,” he smiled, taking her hand.

“I told you Renee would come back for us and she came back for you, too.”

“I know,” he said, turning his head to look at me. “I know.”

“You need to feed if you wish to heal this body,” Tammy semi-interrupted, handing me a glass half full to hold for Martin, then handed me a full one for myself, which I drank quickly so I could help him.

“I remember your manners being something quite different,” Martin said, taking a drink from his glass.

“Yeah, well, I guess I’m not much of a lady anymore,” I laughed, handing his glass back to Tammy for a refill. “We’ve learned to eat fast.”

“I saw that in the kitchen the other night,” he laughed, wrinkling his face in pain.

“Don’t do that,” I said, taking his glass, and gently smoothing his hair from his face. “You can laugh at me all you want when you’re healed.”

“But, you make it so hard, Renee,” Cates laughed from one of the high-back chairs.

“And you shut up, no one needs your input,” Tammy snapped, checking the cut on Martin’s face that was seeping fresh blood.

“There will be a gala at Angelica’s castle in three nights,” Jacob said, holding the note we had received the night before. “We intend to be there.”

“You can’t,” Martin said, trying to sit up.

“You want to rip open the stitches in your back, not to mention other areas?” Tammy scolded, putting her hand on his chest.

“There will be hundreds of breeders there. You cannot go in with a handful and think to kill them all, it is insane.”