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gentle but insistent. “I know it’s been awhile since we’ve talked, and I don’t want to pry where it’s not my business, but…” He leaned close to her ear. “I can feel something bad. I’ve never been that good with female emotions, I have to be honest with you, but I can sense in my blood you’re upset. We’re still friends, right? What’s wrong?”
    Theresa shivered. She had given him blood as a favor when he’d looked after her and Eamon, and that hadn’t been for several months. “You can still feel—”
    “We’re on you right now. And Eamon.” He smiled quickly down at the baby and cuddled him. God, he was good with babies. “What’s wrong with him?”
    Her knees just didn’t want to hold anymore, and finally she could sit, so she did. “I don’t know. I’m still hoping for nothing. He’s not gaining weight to the doctor’s satisfaction. His baby fangs came in early so I started transitioning him to blood but he’s not growing well. They think maybe he might have globusemia.”
    Xander’s green eyes got wide. “Blood allergy?”
    “I know,” she said. She’d sobbed for so long alone in her home after getting the call about the diagnosis. Saying the word again now brought fresh tears and a lump to her throat. “It’s so rare. I’m praying they’re wrong.”
    Usually a young vampire started out getting blood from a guardian until they reached the age of consent and were allowed to feed from another of their own kind. Occasionally, a parent’s own blood could be incompatible. The doctors had told her a true inability to digest all blood was rare, but vampire babies with an allergy to the one thing they needed to survive died quickly. The not knowing these past weeks had left Theresa raw and wrung out. “They want to double-check.”
    “Okay.” Xander nodded, sitting with Eamon on the seat beside Theresa. “So this may all be fine.”
    She nodded. “I’m trying not to worry, but there’s been little else to do all day.” She gestured to a corner table scattered with magazines. “I even read Field and Stream .” She tried to laugh at her poor joke but choked on the words.
    Eamon cried out and chewed his tiny fist again. She tugged his arm, afraid he’d bite himself with his new fangs, but the gnawing seemed to calm him, so when he insisted, she let him continue.
    Xander frowned. “He seems hungry.”
    Her chest tightened. “They won’t let me feed him. The test has to be done while fasting for the results to be accurate. We’ve waited so long that he’s starving. Usually he eats every four hours. I’m about to give up and take him home.”
    “No.” He hooked an arm around her shoulder, bringing them both to standing. “No, you need answers. And this is ridiculous. He’s only a baby. They can’t leave a widow of the king’s military just waiting around. Did you tell them you’re a fighter’s widow?”
    Horrifying. “What? No. I would never use Eamon’s death as some sort of bargaining chip.” She hadn’t even thought to. That just seemed wrong.
    “Fine. I will.”
    “Xander—”
    “Theresa, this is to help your son.” He strode across the room to a blond vampire at a coffee machine. “Flay. Can you handle meeting with Thad and Lee?”
    Oh God, they were going to see the king? “Xander, I’m so sorry. You’ve got more important things to take care of. We’ll be fine.”
    “They’ve kept a hungry child waiting. It’s not fine.” His arm was heavy and warm around her shoulders. “Flay, this is Eamon’s widow, Theresa. They’ve left her waiting to get her son’s blood tested all day, and the kid’s starving because he can’t eat before the test. I’m going to see if I can’t help get this handled.”
    Lord. Her throat clogged with gratitude. She didn’t like to think herself helpless, but Xander was large and loud and unfettered by a squalling baby. Maybe there was something more he could accomplish.
    Flay bowed slightly. “Of course.