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Darien had expected. Instead of being happy to hear his sister was all right, Rupert had been very abrupt. Darien could tell that his friend was pissed about something, but the alpha wolf didn’t stay on the line long enough to tell Darien anything other than he was on his way. Darien closed his eyes and let his mind drift over the day.
    Something still bothered him about the bouquet of roses that Vicky had received. It wasn’t Elliot’s style to send that type of present, but the younger vampire was really the only person who knew about the wedding arrangements other than Vicky’s friends. If the flowers had come from either of them, they would have signed the card.
    Pushing that from his mind, Darien next contemplated how his suggestion to Ethan had failed. Sure, he was bad with memory manipulation, but he had always been able to bend people to his will. What was happening to him?
    Darien let out a long breath, relaxing a bit more. He was bone-tired and somewhat achy. The feeling of his menagerie pressing on the edges of his mind gave him a moment of thought. Maybe they were straining him more then he realized. He had almost dropped Sue when he lifted her into the car. Could the additional load on his powers be stressing him that much? It had been a long time since he had last supported a group as large as this, but he didn’t remember his fledglings ever being this hard on him before.
    Lillian had never shown any signs of fatigue. Darien had always considered himself powerful, but he really wasn’t feeling it at the moment. Could Lillian have been that much more powerful than he was? Darien’s mind brushed over each one of the vampires linked to him as he checked to make sure they were okay. They all seemed to be fine, but Darien was still worried. Maybe he should get Elliot to join his menagerie and help support the load. The last thing Darien wanted was to fail those depending on him for their continued existence.
    The sound of Vicky’s voice pulled Darien from his thoughts. He blinked a few times, trying to make sense of what she’d said, but his brain wouldn’t process it. His eyes followed her around the room as she moved about, talking to him. Shaking his head, he realized that he had nearly fallen asleep on the couch.
    “What?” Darien’s voice cracked a little as he spoke.
    Vicky smiled at him and laid his coat over the end of the couch near his feet. “I said I’ve gotten Sue cleaned up, but she won’t shift back.”
    Darien processed this for a moment before nodding. “Rupert is on his way to take care of her.”
    “That’s fine, but don’t forget—Vanessa and Elliot should be here shortly to talk about the wedding arrangements.” Vicky turned back to the bed were she had dropped her bag. Darien let out a loud groan that made her turn towards him with an amused grin on her face. “You forgot, didn’t you?”
    Darien drew in a deep breath and pulled himself to sit up on the couch. “Yes,” he admitted as he kicked out of his work shoes. “I should probably get changed, then.”
    Vicky laughed at his reluctance. “It really isn’t going to be that bad.” Coming over, she slipped into his lap.
    Darien wrapped his arms around her and shifted his head into her warmth. Pulling her with him, he leaned back into the couch. He liked the way she felt against him.
    After a moment, Vicky tilted his head back so she could kiss him softly. She could feel how tired he was. “Do you want me to call and see if we can reschedule?”
    Darien considered this for a moment. “No. It’ll be fine.” He really needed to talk to Elliot about joining the menagerie. The sooner he could get someone to share the load, the sooner he would be back to his old self again.
    Vicky kissed him softly again and unfurled herself from his lap. “Then get up and get changed.” She pulled on his hands until he stood up. “They’ll be here soon.”
    Darien nodded and released Vicky’s hands so she could go get things