Bloodline

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

I didn't sleep that night. I laid awake staring at the rafters over my head, trying to imagine how this meeting was going to go in the morning. Were they going to kill me on sight? What if they already killed Thirteen? What if they imprisoned him? What if they were holding him hostage? What if the Mother had already found them and took Thirteen back?

Or... Or what if Keros was right? What if they were taking care of Thirteen? What if they were genuinely trying to keep him healthy and safe? What if he was safe and sound in a warm cozy bed for the first time in his life? What if they gave him pancakes like Blaine made us?

It was far fetched. It was really far fetched, but I needed to hang onto something, anything, that might indicate Thirteen was alright. He had to be. They wouldn't hurt him, not when they looked at him. Surely they would know on sight who he was, what he was to them. If he was at a hospital, they had to have gotten a blood test back and seen the results, who his parents truly were. Would they love and care for him as if he were truly their own? Would they love and accept him?

Fuck, it was keeping me awake all night until the sun rose.

I threw the blanket back, shooting to my feet and running for the shower before anyone else got to it. I was showered and clothed and downstairs before Blaine was. When he came down the stairs, he was surprised to see me, tying his hair back from his face.

"You're up early," he commented. I swallowed at that as I watched him go to the fridge to get ingredients for breakfast.

"I'm... going to see my brother today," I answered. Blaine raised an eyebrow at that as he started to cut up slices of fruit.

"Your brother? Does he live in Atlantis?" He asked. The question wasn't innocent and I chewed my bottom lip, trying to think of a response to that, but a smile graced Blaine's lips as he continued slicing away at fruit with his huge kitchen knife.

"Save it," he said, making me blink and look at him, "You're not really Keros's friend, are you?"

"Ah, I..."

"I've never seen you before, and Keros has so few friends that I recognize all of them," he responded, making me grimace, "Don't worry. I'm not going to cut your head off or anything. I just need to know your intentions being around my son, that's all." He said it innocently, but his knife hit the cutting board particularly hard as if to emphasize how he felt about the matter. I swallowed nervously.

"I'm not trying to hurt him. That's the last thing I want," I assured. Blaine nodded.

"That's all I need to know. And all I need you to know is that I'll be watching," he said, slicing into an apple so hard that a piece rolled across the counter. I looked at it, at the knife in Blaine's hand, then at Blaine, who smiled at me.

"I'd do anything to protect my babies," he said, "Anything." I nodded slowly at that as he went back to chopping.

I stepped back just as Cerberus came down the stairs with a huge yawn, wearing only a pair of sweatpants. I stared at his rolling eight pack and wondered how the fuck the guy was so jacked. He cast me a sleepy smile, then came over to flirt with Blaine while he prepped our breakfast. I pretended to be interested in the ocean outside.

"So how're you liking Atlantis?" Cerberus asked me as he went to sit down.

"It's beautiful," I replied, "I've never seen anything like it."

"That's paradise for you," Cerberus answered with a sigh, "Personally I'd love to live here, but the husband prefers Hades. The realm, not the person."