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overalls to bare his chest, he
strode out of the shop to take in the not-so-cool August breeze
that wafted off the stream.
    Rissa's image filled his thoughts. Need
you. Miss you . Why hadn't he thought to get her phone
number?
    Beneath the shade of an oak tree, and before
the stream, stood a cool, tall vampire who wore his dark hair down
the middle of his back.
    "Dad!" Kai walked up and hugged Creed
Saint-Pierre. "What are you up to tonight?"
    The nearly millennia-old vampire had a soft,
sure smile that creased at the corners of his eyes. "I was in the
area and thought I'd stop by. Haven't seen you at the house for
weeks. Figured you'd be secluded in your shop. Working on
something?"
    "I've had a renewed streak of inspiration.
Let me show you."
    They wandered into the shed, lit with bare
bulbs hanging from hooks at the ceiling on long extension cords.
Kai showed his father the blade.
    He and his dad were close, much closer than
he and his mom. Which he'd always thought weird because his mom was
wolf, and she'd shown him the ropes at puberty. How to get control
of his werewolf had been a challenge. They'd gone for runs in the
forest and spent entire nights loping about. But ever since his
sister, Kambriel had left to 'explore her life' in Paris, his
mother, Blu, had been cold toward him.
    "It's—do you hear something?" Creed asked as
he moved the blade before him.
    "It's the blade, singing," Kai said, as if a
singing blade were common and something he heard every day.
    "Interesting." Creed handed him the blade
reverently, placing it across his forearm as any warrior would do.
As he had surely done many times before, since his father had been
born in the 1100's and had served many kings with blade in hand. "I
know you didn't get your creativity from me."
    "You did teach me the art of sword
fight."
    "A dying skill, but still valued by the
paranormal breeds. Your allergies any better?"
    "I still get itchy around iron, but the more
I work on this blade, the less so. It's as if the metal is taking
on a new form, unlike iron."
    "It is an interesting metal." Creed tapped
the blade. "Almost iridescent."
    Yes, but if Kai mentioned his faery theory
Creed would have a conniption fit. "So how's Mom? I think she's
upset with me over Kam's leaving."
    "No, Kai, she's not. It's hard for her with
Kam gone. She knows your sister needs to go out and discover the
world, but she'd prefer her at home. Forever."
    Kai smirked. "It was tough on Mom the day I
moved out. I can't imagine what it must be like to lose a
daughter."
    "Kambriel is not lost, just…seeking. You talk
to her at all?"
    "Nope." Though he wished she would call him
once in a while to check in. He'd tried her cell phone half a dozen
times over the past few months. Had she shut if off? "I only know
she's in Paris. She's fine, dad. She needs the space. We've been a
tight knit family. Give her some breathing room."
    Creed nodded, but his eyes didn't convince
Kai of his agreement. "You're keeping busy, I see. I hope you don't
spend all your time in this dark little shed. How's your love
life?"
    Kai placed the blade on the rough-hewn work
table behind him, hiding a smile with a tilt of his head.
    "That good, eh?" His father could read him
without seeing his face. "Is she werewolf or vampire?"
    Hell. Wasn't like he and Rissa were an item,
so he couldn't claim she was his. And he shouldn't. Even though
parts of him felt like he already had.
    "Just a new lover," he said, hoping his
father would drop it. "Someone I met in town."
    "I thought you'd gone through all the women
in town?"
    His father had been a Casanova in his
heydays, too. Only that had been sometime in the medieval ages, or
maybe it had been the decadent eighteenth century.
    "Must be a vampire," Creed decided. "Not a
lot of female werewolves in this neck of the woods who aren't
already attached." He glanced to Kai. "No? A wolf? Really?"
    "She's uh…faery," Kai muttered under his
breath, and tossed his heavy leather work gloves