Page 181 of Vampire's Choice

His gaze shifted from the blond vampire to the tight-lipped Carola and hard-faced Stewart. “You will vote your preference, but we have aligned on many things in the past, and you know my head on these things. I suggest we give it a chance. This Council is an intelligent body, and it feels like time to trust this direction. I vote Yea.”

For a full second, not just the Council members, but their servants, were gripped in an obvious shock. Ruth caught a look between Gideon and Jacob that was the equivalent of holy fuck. Followed by a mental fist pump.

Garron’s hand was on Kaela’s shoulder, and her hand flew up to it, their fingers lacing together.

The servant policy passed, 7-2.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Merc watched Adan crest the hill. He’d come through the mountain preserve portal a few moments before. An hour ago, he’d spoken in Ruth’s head, letting her know he was back from wherever he and Derek had been. Catriona had told him what had happened. His voice had been rough, as he told his sister he was on his way.

I’ll walk from the portal. I’ll meet you at the house.

Ruth had respected and understood, though as she stood next to Merc on the porch, emotions battered her like an ocean against a lighthouse. These past several days, she’d proven her resilience, again and again. She’d set the house to rights with the staff, ordered replacement glass, even flown her plane for a supply run to the mainland and met with William and Matthew, giving her oath formally to Lord Marshall. As an adult vampire, she’d given it to him some time ago, but due to the circumstances, she’d wanted to reinforce it.

Lord Marshall had told her whatever she needed, she need only ask. William and Matthew had offered to come help with the house and sanctuary. So had Nerida and Miah, whom she’d spoken to on the phone. For now, Ruth had said she and the staff had it covered, but she’d keep them informed about the memorial service that would happen, once Adan returned.

The chores associated with loss were never ending. There were loose ends to tie up, things that had to keep being done. Arrangements for whatever death rituals would be observed. Merc knew it helped Ruth keep the worst of the feelings at bay. If she was moving, staying just ahead of them, she felt she could let them inside her in manageable portions. She’d grabbed that to-do list with both hands. She alternated between stoic numbness and manic activity.

He'd let her follow that strategy, watchful for the moments when it escaped her grasp.

As they crested the hill, Catriona was at Adan’s side. Adan stopped, giving his Fae a brief but intense embrace, and left the road to detour toward the field of purple wildflowers. After looking after him for a long moment, Catriona continued toward the house.

Ruth’s waves of emotion tripled. Merc had his hand on her shoulder. The staff were drawing comfort from one another, but his vampire had learned to handle so many emotions without sharing them, that wasn’t comfortable for her. So those few times she’d lost her hold, she’d gone off on her own to deal with them.

He'd told her he wouldn’t respect her wishes on that, and he stuck to that promise. He’d follow, and hold her as she wept and shook in his arms, so hard he was afraid her bones would shatter inside her frame, her muscles tear. It made him wonder how Marcellus had been able to bear it, when those seizures had gripped Clara. It was the worst thing Merc had ever experienced, even worse than his childhood.

He did what he knew Ruth needed. He wrapped her up in arms and wings, his support and yes…love, which he was learning was a painful, wrenching and wondrous thing, but the pain of it didn’t matter. What mattered was her. He kept her together as she absorbed the shocking loss in the increments she could manage.

Adan’s expression was a wall. The siblings weren’t that different. He was doing what Ruth had done, when they’d dealt with the kidnapping and then the Council meeting. He’d contain it until there was no one else that needed his care. He’d contain it until he was sure Ruth was okay.

Ruth left the porch and headed for the field.

Catriona had flown toward the house, her brown, green and golden wings catching the illumination from the pole lights around the outside of the house. Her wings weren’t designed for altitude as much as to speed her way, so her toes just cleared the road. As she passed Ruth, she circled her, touched her hair and shoulder. Not impeding her forward progress, but offering the brief comfort before she continued. She landed on the steps, the butterfly-like texture of her wings brushing against Merc’s arm. He tightened his wings behind him to give her room to stand at his side.

They said nothing as they watched, but Merc felt Catriona’s love and pain for her Master. When Ruth reached the field and they were fifty feet apart, Adan’s stride faltered, and he stumbled.

The dam had broken.

In a flash, Ruth had closed the distance and had her arms around him, the two of them kneeling in the field together. As Adan buried terrible moans of grief against her breast, she held him with arms so much stronger than they looked.

“He could not bear Derek or anyone to speak of it.” Catriona’s voice trembled. “He could not bear a comforting touch.”

“He had to come here first. To be with his twin. To accept it is real.”

They would help each other, and that too, would help them withstand the onslaught of heartache.

“Yes.” Catriona laid a hand on Merc’s arm. Simple solidarity. Merc looked down into her gray-green eyes. “We will be everything they need us to be,” she said.

A comfort, reassurance and mandate, for them both. He saw the steel in her, this seemingly delicate Fae with her pointed ears and a willow leaf tattoo inked along her temples. He thought of Mason’s description of Elisa, and his knowledge of Ruth herself. Warrior-like, even when the body was far more fragile than the will.

During the battle with the Trad and Fae, Merc would not forget how savagely the combatants on their side had fought, not just for vampires…but for family.

Pallas’s followers were answering to Rhoswen and Tabor for their presumption. But those were matters for others. Ruth was his priority.

Merc put his hand over Catriona’s and saw her surprise at the strength and reassurance he put in the gesture, dialing back the disturbing incubus energy so it couldn’t interfere with his message. “Yes. We will.”

As Ruth held Adan, he held her, too. Her brother, comforting her as she comforted him. They rocked together on the ground, the purple flowers nodding around them in the quiet wind, the night full of stars. There was a crescent moon. When he wound down, he didn’t act embarrassed as he might have in front of someone else. They were twins. They were inside one another. He did sit up, and they kept holding one another, her head on his shoulder, his against her temple.