Divine Blood (Vampire Love Story #6) (8 page)

The older they got, the more they were
becoming like their dad, especially Joshua. It seemed that he had
inherited his dad’s kick-ass gene. He was ready to go at a moment’s
notice, just like his dad, no matter how stupid the odds were. I
first discovered this a few years back.

I remember they were
eight. They were at a birthday party in Pasadena, California,
thrown by one of Tommy’s second cousins. Tommy always invited the
boys out to any function that dealt with kids their own age, or in
this case, close to it. Apparently, Tommy’s cousin was turning
twelve. My boys were big, but they sure didn’t look
twelve.

All the kids were in the
back yard, playing party games. My boys were young but had little
trouble blending in, mostly because Joshua was such a people
person. He’s a funny kid. His sense of humor was crass and
borderline inappropriate, even for an eight year old. So, of
course, he was Tommy’s favorite.

Tommy and I were inside,
sitting in the living room having a beer. I wasn’t a big beer
person, but what’s a dad to do, waiting for his kids at a birthday
party?

Tommy stared at me and
gave me one of his classic smart aleck looks. “You still want to
live out in the middle of the boondocks?” Tommy teased me. Tommy
hated that I lived on my island.

“
It’s the way it worked
out,” I said. “Not all of us were given a nice house in the OC by
Hector.”

“
No, you just got yourself
a damn island and castle to go with it.”

“
Trump! I always lose this
argument.”

“
Can we both admit that we
have both been blessed?” Tommy asked.

“
Cheers, my brother.”
Tommy and I bumped beer cans like a couple of dorks.

“
How’s Lena?”

“
You know us. One week,
everything is perfect. The other, we are at each other’s
throats.”

“
She’s a tough
cookie.”

“
Tell me about
it.”

“
How’s
Yomaida?”

“
Trust me when I tell you
it’s complicated.”

“
When is it not?” I
replied.

“
Women, God’s forbidden
fruit.”

Suddenly, we heard a lot
of commotion in the back yard. I looked out and to my surprise,
Joshua was taking a swing at a bigger twelve-year-old kid. Not only
did he take a swing, he laid the kid out.

I ran to the back yard and
screamed, “Joshua, what are you doing?”

Joshua ran over to me and
said, “He was picking on Jason. I told him to stop. He didn’t.
Instead, he flicked Jason in the ear.”

I looked at Jason and he
had concern for his brother and that was about it. He didn’t seem
to worry about anything else.

Tommy took control of the
situation. By this point, all adults and kids were in the back yard
and my two sons, Tommy and me were at the middle of all the
commotion.

The little boy who Joshua
laid out got up, wobbly, and walked over to his mom. My sons were a
head shorter than the rest of the boys at the party, so the mom
didn’t know how to take the fact that her kid was just pancaked by
an eight year old.

“
So, what happened,
exactly?” Tommy asked the boys. All the kids were around Joshua,
Jason and the boy who Jason had punched.

“
They were making fun of
Jason. All of them were,” Joshua said.

“
What were they saying?”
Tommy asked.

“
They were calling him
mute and saying he didn’t have a tongue. I told them he had a
tongue, he just didn’t talk a lot.” Joshua was being very
passionate and it touched me how much he was willing to defend his
brother. I loved that kind of loyalty.

Joshua continued, “Then
they were making fun of him, saying that he didn’t know how to talk
or that he stuttered. I kept telling the boys that my brother was
just quiet. Then the brown-haired kid with the ripped jeans began
flicking Jason’s ear without him seeing. I caught him doing it and
warned him that he better not do it again. So, he flicked my ear.
That’s when I punched him.” Joshua paused, took a look around the
party, and then said, “And that was the end of that.”

“
I couldn’t have said it
better myself.” I patted my son on his head.

“
Son, what’s your name?”
Tommy said to the twelve year old boy who Joshua had laid
out.

“
Lawrence,” the boy
said.

“
Lawrence, have you ever
heard of a natural consequence?”

“
No.”

“
That means when you act a
fool, then expect a consequence. Usually it’s by natural means, but
what’s more natural than a twin brother sticking up for his
brother? But remember...fighting never solves anything,” Tommy
said.

I looked at Tommy and
tried not to laugh. “Yes, boys,” I said. “It’s always good to solve
problems through words.” With that hypocrisy, Tommy and I decided
to take the boys inside, where we spent the rest of the party by
their side, to make sure nothing else went down.

The boys were on one couch
talking and Tommy and I were on another couch talking.

“
Good job, Tommy,” I said
sarcastically.

“
Hey, I’m not the one who
raised a miniature Muhammad Ali.” Tommy said, pointing out the
obvious.

“
No, but you’re the one
who encourages them him to be just like his uncle.”

“
Which is what?” Tommy
asked.

“
Reckless.”

“
Good, I thought you were
going to offend me. I take reckless.”

“
I knew you
would.”

“
And you’re a bad ass,
too.”

“
I’ll accept that,
too.”

Chapter
Eleven

I grinned, looking down at my third
glass of chocolate milk. Damn this stuff was good! I had to admit,
I was pretty damn proud of Joshua that day, sticking up for his
brother and doing what was right. It was always hard for me to
separate the right thing to do, according to the Tandra, and what
was right in the eyes of the Mani. We took an eye for an eye to a
whole ‘nother level.

I finished up my chocolate milk and
decided to go into the den. I enjoyed the den at this time of the
day. It always reminded me of my dad. I thought about my dad more
than I ever thought I would, since we had the boys.

I sat in my brown recliner and put up
the footrest and continued to think about my family. I remembered
through the years, I came and went periodically, doing my business,
but I always made sure I had time for my boys. Where I was lacking
was spending quality time with Lena.

I remembered that once
Lena had confirmed my suspicions about wanting to have one of our
special talks. Special talks were talks that we had when Lena
seemed to be fed up with something that I was doing. In the past,
it consisted of playing too many video games, and being addicted to
Captain Crunch cereal. I had a feeling this talk was going to take
on more of a serious nature.

“
Josiah, can I ask you a
question?” Lena asked.

Oh boy, here it comes.
What did I do now? Did I forget to refill the ice? Is the
toothpaste top off? Then Lena shocked me with what she asked
me.

She asked, “Do you still
love me?”

“
Why would you ask that?”
I was stunned by her question.

Lena paused and then
reflected, “Before, it was okay that you didn’t always tell me that
you loved me, but I knew you loved me because you proved it to me
in all that you did for me. I was always certain that you loved me.
You would go above and beyond what any man is asked to do. Now, I
am not sure you would and you haven’t for a long time.”

“
I would lay down my life
for you and the children.”

“
It’s always me and the
children. It’s never just me.”

“
Wow. I’m not sure how to
respond to that.”

“
Why don’t you just say
the first thing that comes into your head and not be so perfect? I
don’t want the Chosen, I don’t want vampire superhero. I don’t even
want Josiah the Mani. I want to talk to you, the boy who saved me
from those frat boys, a long time ago, because you’ve seemed to
have forgotten who he is.”

“
I’ve never changed.
Everything around us has changed. I’m just going with the flow. My
love for you has never changed.”

“
I wish I could believe
that,” said Lena, “but you forget I’m with you every day. Now,
you’re just words, no actions.”

“
Somewhere along the line,
this has become about everybody else and no longer about
us.”

“
And you’re okay with
that?” Lena asked.

“
Actually, I’m
not.”

“
Seems like you
are.”

“
In the end, we were given
a calling. Hell, even our boys have callings. If somehow, I forgot
to be romantic in all that, I’m sorry, but one thing has never
stopped is how much I love you.”

Lena paused and by her
body language, I could tell she finally gave in. “Sometimes, I just
need to hear it.”

I walked over and gave
Lena a giant hug. I kissed her on the lips and said, “I think it is
time for the entire family to see the Deity.”

“
Are you
kidding?”

“
No, I’m dead serious.
It’s time this family had answers, that...you and I need some
answers.”

“
You want to have family
and marriage counseling with a two thousand year old
demi-goddess?”

“
I just think it’s time
for all of us to get on the same page. And who better to get us on
that page than her?”

I wasn’t sure that Lena
wanted to go, but she was a trooper. Our whole family went anyway,
boys and all.

Chapter
Twelve

I continued to lean back in my
recliner in the den and continued to think about my family. Lena
did not like the fact that when the boys turned twelve, I thought
it was time for them to meet the Deity. Our two boys were
exceptionally smart. They were catching onto everything. I wasn’t
sure how much I was allowed to tell them, but it was my belief that
they should understand why they lived in a castle on an island that
was separated from the Tandra world.

While the rest of the world went on
around them, they were sheltered and safe. They weren’t idiots.
They were really confused that they were cooped up and far away on
this island. They were having incident after incident that made it
impossible for me not to take both of them to see someone of the
Deity’s caliber. They needed answers, and hell, I needed
answers.

I remember the visit,
although still in the city of Pahrump, Nevada, and taken down in a
basement, far underground.

This time, I brought the
whole crew, including Lena. She was trying to be a good sport, and
I knew once she was in the Deity’s presence, she’d remember what an
honor it was to see her.

I knew my sons were young,
but they were coming up on puberty and that was as scary a thought
as any. The divine brothers thrived, and now were fueled by
increasing testosterone. Watch out, world, here they come. The
Divine Blood brothers. Boy, did I need the Deity’s
wisdom.

When we came into the
bunker in Pahrump, Nevada, there was at least a hose to wash our
faces and hands before entering the nasty bunker. Although it was
night, the bunker was probably still quite muggy.

My sons, by then both
twelve years old, looked as if they could play linebacker positions
in high school football. They were still only twelve. We needed to
remember that, although Joshua sometimes talked to me as if he was
running his own morning TV show and was feeding me useless
information about animals, pop culture and whatever he read on the
internet that day in world news. While Joshua was an endless stream
of talk, Jason kept to himself and read every book he could get his
hands on. They both had curious hearts and asked a lot of
questions. What did we expect when their mother and I home schooled
them? Eventually, their questions were bound to have more substance
than whether George Washington really chopped down that cherry
tree.

Getting the family to any
parts of the States wasn’t the easiest of tasks. We did have a
private jet—compliments of Hector—that flew us to anywhere we
needed to be. The jet didn’t stay on the island but we usually
needed a week to get our itinerary straight with people who ran the
private jet company. All I knew was, Hector picked up the bill and
had never complained about it. But we had to be really specific and
have all our ducks in a row because it was really expensive for the
fuel, pilots and maintenance, and I didn’t like wasting anybody’s
money.

The jet flew us in to
McCarran Airport in Las Vegas and we rented a car and drove the
rest of the way to Pahrump, Nevada, on our way to the Deity. It was
about 45 minutes from Vegas, out a ways.

Our kids understood by now
that their parents couldn’t be in the sunlight. I had never had a
conversation about it with Joshua, and Jason only told me about the
one time when he was really young.