I growled at Jasper as he twisted up my hair up. Echo leaned against the wall with Altan. "Echo?"
"Mistress?"
"Have the arrangements been made?"
"They have. The female shall be gone by tomorrow."
I smiled as Jasper placed the last pin. Altan was Jasper's brother. The first born son of Nefer. All three of them were dressed in suits I had designed. Although I couldn't claim it was a great fit on Echo. Echo had the Death God's build. He was just as tall but he wasn't nearly as broad. Echo was leaner.
I looped my arm with his as we left the room. He willingly led me from the room and to the dining room. Everyone was standing because the twins were standing. The Princes. They looked at us as we entered.
"Mistress Aurora," one started, "I hear congratulations are in order."
I tilted my head at him. "I'm not sure I understand what you mean, Your Grace."
The other chuckled. "Evander," he said. His hand lifted to his chest. "We can feel it. We also know who hangs from your arm. The Gods bless you once again."
I smiled tightly as my family's focus zeroed in on me. "I have always been blessed by the Gods. I imagine that will never change. I am Favored after all. Shall we sit or would you rather we all stand for this dinner."
They smiled at me, "Let us sit. We will be leaving tonight after dinner?"
Felix pulled my chair out for me as we sat. Dad and Papa sat to my right. Kaden and Aia sat beside them followed by Aiden and Maria. To my left sat Jasper, Echo, and Felix. Across from me was Elijah. Him and his brother shared the other end of the table in what should have been a tight space.
They made it work. Dispite the two place settings, two cups, and two chairs, they ate as if they had miles between them. It was impressive.
Like watching two well trained warriors sword dance. They never even bumped each other.
Elijah was dressed in white today while Evander was in a pale grey.
"Is something wrong Aurora?" Papa asked. I glanced at him in confusion. "You keep staring at the Princes."
My gaze moved back to them. They were looking at me now. Everyone was looking at me now. "Would you like the polite answer or..."
They smiled at me. "Never be anything but honest with us, Mistress."
I laughed at that, "Careful. I wasn't raised by women."
"Which is exactly why Aurora is more fond of the female persuasion."
"Yes, yes. I am very well aware of why you don't allow any females in the Manor Jasper. I know full well that Von and Lincoln felt the need to inform you of exactly why I left Alaric."
"Oh so there's a reason my daughter is now living apart from her Beloved," Papa stated. "Well this I have to hear."
"There is nothing to hear, Papa." I snapped. I barely glanced at him as I cut into the meat on my plate. The twins eyes narrowed slightly.
Kaden leaned in closer, "I'm curious as well. Why is it that my sister who was madly in love with her Beloved can no longer stand to hear his name?"
"As I said Kaden there is is nothing to say."
"Can no longer bring herself to speak of him?" he pressed.
"Let it go, Kaden."
"What happened, Aurora?"
My hands slammed on the table which sent ice coating the room. "None of your Gods be damned business, Kaden! Shut up! Let it go!"
Pures rushed into the room. Von was among them. "What did you do?"
Jasper placed his hands on my shoulders and pressed down. I was forced back into my seat which made my growl at him.
"Calm, Mistress."
"Altan."
He looked at me, "Mistress?"
"Are you a donor as well?"
He smiled as he rose to his feet. His body moved with lethal grace as he undid the top three buttons of his suit. His body dropped to the floor beside me as he spun my chair. Jasper moved away from us. Altan reached for me. His willingness to feed me coming through clearly in his actions.
I needed this. I didn't care that my family was here. Didn't care that the Princes were here. I just needed this.
The taste of blood on my tongue.
Someone who was open to me.
Someone didn't hate me for what I was. For what I needed and desired.
I pulled back in shock. "So you are the War son."
"Jasper is the Vampire son. I am the War son. Zafar is the Blood son." Vampire. War. Blood. The three things Nefer was the God of. A son for each area. "How'd you know?"
"The stats."
-Bloodline: Noble Vampire- High Purity
I jolted at the notification. My bloodline... it had finally increased. In my surprise the ice melted.
"Are her mood swings always this fast?" Echo questioned.
"No," Jasper answered. "I fear she is approaching puberty."
"She hasn't already?" The twins asked. My head snapped to look at them.
Jasper seemed to think about it, "I think she went through Human puberty. Since she was born Human that was likely the precursor to her sexual appetite. It was around that time she started becoming quick to anger. Her Vampire puberty hasn't shown any signs of happening though."
"I'm sorry," I snapped, "What the fuck is Vampire Puberty!"
"A stage of rapid growth in Vampires. Both born and changed Vampires go through it," Evander said.
Elijah nodded, "You are a special case. We have no way of knowing how many or when you will go through puberty. But until you go through Vampire Puberty no Vampire can court you."
"Fine by me," I said. "Vampires are nice for food but it doesn't seem like many of the Vampire females are attracted to females."
Papa dropped his fork and stared at me. "What?"
I looked around the room. No one else seemed surprised by my words. I looked at dad with a questioning look. "Your Papa has been in denial."
"Denial about what?" Papa questioned.
I stared at him with a sigh, "I like females. I have never wanted to get naked and sweating with a male."
Papa's face paled, "But you can't have children with another female!"
"No I can't," my eyes looked at Aiden, "but Aiden and you can have children with the same sex."
In theory I could have kids with parallel body. There was another option though. I had gained other bloodlines. In theory I should be able to gain the bloodline of my family. I would just have to fed off them.
Aia looked disgusted, "How can all of you sit here and talk about her puberty like it's acceptable to do so?"
"Well they are royal twins," I said pointing to the Princes, "Pretty sure they need to know if I'm an 'adult' by Vampire Law since we will be spending a lot of time together from now on. Everyone else in this house is either family, soon to be family, of in charge of my care. Jasper here even helps do my hair."
Jasper nodded, "It's the only way she to prevent her from chopping it all off."
"It gets in the way."
"You will learn to fight with it in time."
"Ugh," I groaned.
"I don't know that we ever asked, but how old is the Mistress?" Elijah asked.
"15," All the Pures said.
I cut my food and took another bite with a smile.
"She's small for her age," Evander pointed out.
"I noticed," I said.
Altan and Jasper retook their seats. "So why are you staring at us?" Elijah asked. His mouth curved up slightly when I looked up at him.
"You're pretty to at, for starters. Also... You two haven't annoyed me yet. Which is impressive given my current mood swings."
"We'll take it," Evander smiled.
"So that's it?" Aia questioned. "They all talk about your puberty out in the open and you don't care?"
"Why should I?" I asked. "I had no idea that was even a thing. I thought that I was free and clear of that bullshit once I started drinking blood. Now come to find out I'll have at least one but as things currently stand possibly 4. Maybe even five? Actually that number could increase. Hey Lincoln? When do Elves go through puberty?"
"Depends on the sub race. And sometimes their class."
"Well I'm fucked in one way at least," I sighed.
"5?" Papa asked. "What do you mean 5?"
I started ticking them off my fingers, "Well there's Human, Lycan, Vampire, Elf, and Giant. Giant is unlikely given my size and how rare it is for me to feed from one of them."
Jasper sighed as my family stared at me with wide eyes. "Aura is our Mistress. It stands that she can grow from drinking blood."
"Nefer wants me to stop annoying him. Mor told me I'm favored." Dad and Kaden both stared at me. "What?"
"You spoke to Mor?" Dad asked.
"Spoke to. Saw. Touched. What about it?"
Echo's shoulders started shaking. Jasper shook his head. Altan smiled.
Von ruined it of course. "Now she's messing with you."
"Well mostly messing with you," Lincoln amended. "There is that title of hers to consider."
Aia went to open her mouth and I watched as her body fell sideways. I stood in surprise as I watched it happen.