Dragon Blood

Chapter 22

Cameron and Sybil stepped back, giving them space to come back into the house. Rhia retreated behind the island, separating herself from the conflict while staying close enough for her presence to be a comfort.

Nolan turned to face his children. Bastian was as calm as he ever was. He was the oldest. He'd lived through eight-hundred years of war and peace, disasters and golden ages, he'd loved and lost, and most of all, he knew better than anyone that his father was at Constantine's beck and call.

Sybil was furious, her power fluctuating rapidly and her eyes brimming with that all too familiar red glimmer. Of the three, she had been the luckiest. She had grown up in the middle of a lull of Constantine's orders during the peak of the Ottoman Empire. The king hadn't been actively sleeping with and feeding from Luna, so mentally he was more stable, but it wasn't immediately after she left him again, so he wasn't being reckless either. Nolan almost had a normal life with her and her mother. It wasn't until much later that she learned what it meant for him to be Constantine's right hand.

And finally, there was Cameron. His sweet, intelligent Cameron born from the woman Nolan had confessed was his favourite wife. He was looking at him with the same face he wore in court. He'd been so young when he watched Valentina killed in front of him. It had torn him apart... and Nolan wasn't there for him. It had taken them over thirty years to patch together a functioning relationship, strongly aided by the birth of both his grandchildren. He had the most to lose in Cameron by going back to Constantine.

He looked to Valentina, the namesake of her grandmother. She was old enough to understand that working for the vampire king was hardly a glamourous job... He had hoped he would have had a lot more time to watch her grow up.

Nolan sighed heavily. "Constantine has called me back." He said without any emotion. "To deal with Raphaël."

Sybil hissed demonically, her fangs descending fully, and a stream of swears and proclamations spewed out of her mouth. "I have been reporting Raphaël's cronies for months!" she shrieked, her accent becoming even more pronounced in her anger. "He's been holding rallies in front of Lenin's fucking Mausoleum to attract followers. He thinks he's leading the modern-day fucking Bolsheviks!"

"Syb," Bastian said calmly, not looking at any of them. "He doesn't have a choice."

That took Nolan off guard. He knew Bastian wouldn't have taken Sybil or Cameron's side in this, but he also wasn't expecting him as an ally.

"But our fucking king does!" Sybil continued. "He could have dealt with Raphaël years ago, but he just sat around and let chaos rain until he has no choice but to call you back!"

"His tactics are not lost on me, Sybil." Nolan sighed.

"But you let him get away with it." Cameron said just as quietly.

While he had taken a casual stance, leaning against the arm of the couch, his eyes were willed with barely controlled rage. "There is no letting Constantine do anything." Nolan reminded his children.

"Appeal to Luna!" Sybil insisted. "She can make him let you stay!"

"A short-term solution." Nolan snapped, trying to keep a handle on the volume of his voice. He didn't want to scare Rhia again. Once was more than enough. "Until she gets bored and leaves him to his own devices. And what happens in the meantime? Do you really think he's going to deal with Raphaël on his own?"

"So, we lose our father once again to the madman that is our king?" Sybil's voice cracked. "And what happens to her?" she pointed at Rhia. "Will you break her heart and leave her here, or are you going to drag her to the middle of a war zone and get her killed just like Valentina? Does her death mean that little to you?!"