A Call of Vampires (A Shade of Vampire #51)(7)

“That’s right, honey,” Grandpa Xavier replied. “It also gives your grandma and me another reason to visit you kids more often.”

Jovi muscled his way through the fray and took Field’s place in hugging me. I could feel his whole body trembling with emotion. “Leave it to Aida to knock the air out of my lungs and make me a freakin’ uncle!” He sighed, his face buried in my hair.

I squeezed his shoulders, then pulled back so I could look at him, and couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of manly tears glazing his eyes. I kissed both his cheeks, and he gave me a sheepish smile.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you cry before,” I said, pressing my lips together to avoid another outburst.

“Well, I don’t want you to see me cry again, so don’t go making too many mini-you’s!”

Field doubled over, and laughter erupted around the room. Then Derek and Sofia took their turns hugging both Field and me.

“Congratulations, kids,” Derek said gently. “This is a challenge to which I’m sure you will both rise with great skill and determination.”

“Wow, Great-Gramps, you make it sound like they’re about to build a rocket ship or something.” Serena chuckled.

“Oh, honey.” Derek shook his head with an amused expression. “I look forward to the day you have your own, then. You’ll find building rocket ships to be much easier.”

He shot glances at Ben and Rose, who smiled guiltily.

“Okay, now you’re scaring me,” I joked, putting on a serious face, while Field put his arm around my shoulders again.

“Don’t be scared,” Hansa interjected from the side with a warm smile. “I’ve had children of my own, and I’ve raised many of my Red Tribe succubi as if I’d brought them into the world myself, and, I must say, there is nothing more rewarding or beautiful than being able to gift amazing new creatures to the world. Nothing more exciting than imparting your knowledge, your wisdom, only to see them grow up and become great people. You’re in for quite a treat, Aida. Sure, there will be sleepless nights, and oh, so much fear about your child’s safety, but, in the end, you will look back and not want to have it any other way.”

Hansa left me speechless. I’d nearly forgotten about her family, the many sisters and daughters she’d lost when the Red Tribe was slaughtered by Sluaghs and Destroyers—mainly because she didn’t like to talk about it. She was fortunate to find Izora, her youngest, alive and well after the war was over. I swallowed back tears as I moved over and hugged her, whispering a “thank you” in her ear. She responded by holding me tight and leaning her head against mine.

I noticed Jax’s jade eyes darken as they settled on Hansa, a mixture of longing and softness in them that I hadn’t seen in him since she’d nearly died on Luceria’s platform, more than three months ago. I wondered if she’d noticed this look on Jax’s face before.

“I know the two of you will be wonderful parents,” Hansa added, taking my face in her hands, her emerald-gold gaze darting between Field and me. “You’ll make a good father, Hawk. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. You had enough guts to take on an army of Destroyers, my friend—a baby won’t bring you down, either!”

More laughter erupted from our group. I wiped my wet eyes and smiled at my husband.

“She’s right, Field,” I said. “I know we talked about this last night, too, but I feel like I need to say it again, babe. You’ve been sort of raising all these supernaturals here in GASP, too. You’re patient and strong and have morals that would put anyone to shame, and I couldn’t have picked a better father for my child…”

His gaze softened, and I lost myself in his turquoise eyes for a moment, before Jax cleared his throat, having resumed his cool, unyielding posture. The warmth I’d just seen in the Eritopian vampire was gone, replaced by features seemingly carved out of stone, his eyes opaque and filled with secrets he didn’t wish to share.

“While I’d like nothing more than to further engage in this beautiful celebratory moment,” he said, “I’d like to go back to training our recruits, and make some assessments as to which of them would be fit for a mission on Tenebris. I think it’s the best way to move forward with this, instead of sitting around a table and thinking of people to nominate.”

Hansa gave him a frown. He completely ignored her, but she didn’t pursue it. It made me curious, since I would’ve expected her to be the first to give him a snappy comeback. I’d never seen her so reserved before; it wasn’t like her.

“Jax is right,” Derek said, patting Field’s shoulder. “Let’s adjourn this meeting for now and reconvene later this week to make our picks. We don’t want to rush into this, and we do need a few days to properly screen all the recruits.”

“And besides, we’ve got a wedding in, what, three days?” I smiled, glancing at Jovi and Anjani. “I mean, we could hold another meeting afterwards and get the wheels in motion, right?”

I was given nods and hums in response, which pretty much settled it.

“Okay then,” Field said. “We might as well start checking our recruits today. Meeting adjourned, and thank you all for coming!”

The council began to scatter, with Vita and Serena moving to talk to Anjani and Jovi, while Draven, Field, and Bijarki followed Derek outside. Jax stayed behind with Lucas, catching up, occasionally glancing around the room. The rest of our family was slowly trickling out of the room, but Mom, Grandma Vivienne, and River were still hovering around me, with eyes wide and full of joy.