You know what? I don't care. I fucking don't care anymore. I'm going to concentrate on my glass of wine and pretend I haven't heard anything. If Jonathan can't care less about revealing who the hell he is and jeopardizing his safety, then so be it. It's not my problem.
…Still, he should be more careful. My brother is fine, but the patriarch should keep quiet in front of others, 'cause Lucy is right: he's in no state to fend off for himself. The fewer people know about him, the better it is.
I don't think it's that complicated to understand…!
"There's no need for you to confront the elders," Jordan says, gently squeezing my hand as if to comfort me. Dude, I'm fine. It's not my fault if your adopted son is a careless dimwit. "Eve and I are investigating the suspected involved elders. We've already found a few leads, and we'll find proof soon enough, so stay home and don't rush things."
"Are you grounding me?" Jonathan asks with a twitch of his mouth, and Jordan responds with a smile that doesn't reach his eyes. "I'm not a kid!"
"I'll stop treating you like a kid when you stop behaving like one," my husband replies in a stern voice, and I hear my brother choke on his wine. Bryan glances at me. I pretend not to notice, sipping on my glass instead. Bro, get used to it. In Eve and Jordan's eyes, Jonathan is akin to a son, so they're going to act like parents with him, regardless of his standing in the vampire clan. "Anyway, you have a statement to give to Bryan later about the kidnapping, so think about what you've done in the meantime."
"What statement?" Jonathan snorts. "I slept through the whole thing."
Buddy, how about you stop throwing oil into the fire, huh? If you haven't noticed yet, Jordan is about to snap. Like, any second now.
"Jonathan…" Jordan narrows his eyes at the vampire. It doesn't do shit.
"What?" Jonathan scoffs, and I can't help but throw the guy a pointed glare. I don't want to handle Jordan's agitated true form today, thank you.
Most of all, I'm not sure my brother can take it.
The message seems to pass across. Jonathan sneers but lowers his head and stops stirring up the hornet's nest. Meanwhile, James has grown fascinated by the ceiling. He's been avoiding meeting our eyes, looking everywhere except at us.
"I'd also need the statement of the little girl who was with you," Bryan finally speaks, glancing at James briefly. No one has told him the little girl is a little boy, so he's pretending not to know, even, if to his eyes, the vampire's identity couldn't be any clearer. Looks like he's as good as I am at playing dumb. That's the only way for Seers to survive, after all. "I don't need a full account of what happened. It's just for formality's sake."
Little James jolts, looking like a deer in highlight. He shifts his attention toward me, giving me puppy eyes for some reason. What the hell does he want me to do? He's a grown-up ass man and can handle his problems on his own. It's not because he shifted into a kid form that he's not an adult anymore.
"Could she be mute?" Bryan gives a perch, and James is quick to take it, nodding as if his life depends on it. "Then—"
"Why is Uncle lying?" Ellena interrupts my brother, frowning at James by her side. She admonishes him as I hold my breath, "You shouldn't lie! That's what bad people do, and you're supposed to be a good guy!"
A silence falls on the living room, and a crestfallen expression looms over James's face. Well, I guess he won't be able to escape it now. For some reason, he's been hellbent on avoiding my brother, pretending to be sleeping in my arms yesterday and whatnot. I don't know if I should laugh or cry, 'cause Bryan has already figured out who he is. There aren't many vampires with these types of eyes and who linger around me and the kids, after all.
Eve claps her hands, breaking the awkward silence. She raises her glass high into the air and giggles, "Let's drink all night, guys!" Anyone with a bit of social awareness can tell she's changing the subject, but no one points it out.
"How many drinks did you have already?" I ask, eyeing the empty bottles of wine beside the couch. "Shouldn't you slow down?"
"Nuh-huh!" Eve snorts. "It's a day to celebrate today! I'm gonna drink my fill!"
I feel my mouth twitch. Sure. Whatever. Goddamn drunkard.
"But y'know…" Her smile turns mischievous as she lets the words hover, and my stomach throbs with a bad premonition. "Just drinking isn't fun. Let's play a game, too!"
"A game?" The kids sit up straight at the mention of a game, their eyes sparkling. "What kind of game?"
"A drinking game—" Lucy smacks the back of Eve's head before she can finish her sentence. Well. Glad to know I'm not crazy. Kids shouldn't be involved with alcohol, even if they're a demon's offspring. No, actually, especially if they're a demon's offspring. They get too easily addicted to human food. "Lulu, what was that for? It hurts!"
"Good. Maybe the pain is going to sober you up a little," the angel snorts. "I'd rather Scott don't kick us out 'cause of one of your stupid ideas."
Huh, sorry, what? Since when did I have the authority to kick my husband's ex-bed partner out? Eve is still the kids' mother and a matriarch, as far as I know.
"What strange ideas?" Eve grimaces, rubbing her head. "I was thinking of a truth game. You know? To get to know each other better."
Lucy stares at her, unconvinced. The eyes on her cheeks roll, and I feel disgust rise in the pit of my stomach. I doubt I'll ever get used to these things.
"Alright, alright, fine," Eve gives up, a pout on her lips. "No need to drink if one of us doesn't want to answer a question. Happy now?"
"Then, then, then!" Ellena bounces on her butt, raising her hand high. "Does that mean I can ask any question to Dad, and he has to answer?"
"Only if he wants to," Jordan speaks up, cutting off Eve.
Ellena nods and shifts her expectant gaze toward me. She smiles broadly, asking in a barely contained voice, "Dad, what's your favorite color?"
That's… That's not the kind of question I was expecting, to be frank. I didn't even agree to the game, but guess it's too late to hop out now.
"Dad?" Ellena tilts her head.
"Sorry." I clear my throat, offering a small smile to the kid. "I'm thinking. I'm not exactly sure what my favorite color is."
I've never really thought about it. I prefer some colors over others, yes, but a favorite one? Did I ever stop to think about it? No… I haven't. I didn't have the leisure to think about these kinds of frivolous things in the past. I just wanted to survive the day, nothing more.
"You don't know?" Ellena blinks before turning pensive. "Mine is green, and Elois's is blue. Jonathan said he likes red, and James said orange is the prettiest color. Hm, but none of those colors seems to suit you."
I can almost hear the gears turning in her head. Meanwhile, Elois also adopts a pensive look beside his sister, thinking hard about what color I might like.
"You liked baby pink a lot when we were younger," Bryan says with a hint of teasing, making me choke on my wine. I glare at him, and he shrugs in response. "What? It's true. You'd always ask for the pink blanket with strawberries and throw a tantrum when you didn't get it. You often begged mom for the puffy, pink hair ties, too. And you also smeared your lips with her pink lipstick a few times."
James, Todd, Lucy, and Jordan are polite enough to stifle their laughter, but Jonathan and Eve sure are not. Bro. Don't bring up my shameful past, thank you.
"What's wrong with loving pink?" Ellena asks. "I love pink, too!"
"Nothing is wrong with loving pink," Jordan quickly appeases. "It's just unexpected coming from Scott."
"Hey," I correct with a glare, "I didn't say I like pink; my mom liked pink. That's different. And that blanket was super soft, warm, and comfy. It just so happened that it was pink." Oh, gosh, that sounds like excuses, but I double down anyway. "Also, the ties were my mom's favorites, so I wanted to borrow them, and the lipstick… Well, what kid doesn't imitate the grown-ups?"
"You looked adorable wrapped in that blanket, with your hair tied up in a pony tail with the pink ties, and lipstick smeared on your face, though." Bryan is merciless and turns the knife. "I think I've got a picture of it. I can bring it next time."