Awkward was putting the situation mildly. As Ramon listened to the conversation, he could almost feel Thorn and Jonah's hearts breaking from the brutal refusal of Eduard to leave the pack. Nor would he welcome their intrusion into his current life. He hesitated because he didn't know what to say.
Jonah smiled. "He's always been like this." He shrugged. "I've known for some time how he felt about me and Thorn."
Thorn rolled his eyes. "We all had different mothers. Nothing in common but our father. Which was, to put it mildly, not a good reason to remain together as long as we had." He shrugged. "As for the babies, even he understands that is the only tie that binds us."
Unborn children all surviving against horrible odds. That was the common tie between the pack members. Ramon considered the situation that he faced. The odds weren't good that the children that Jonah, Thorn, Rose and Jessie saved would be welcomed by anyone in the pack. He glanced at Jessie and Rose who were scowling in anger. "I take it that you two want to refute that speculation about romantic interest?"
Rose snorted and Jessie rolled her eyes. "Neither one of us has the patience to talk about that." They shrugged.
Good, Ramon didn't bother to worry about them throwing bitch fits right then which would've been thoroughly embarrassing. "All right, we shall just enter." He didn't want to think about their lack of welcome once Eduard noticed their presence.
Eduard stared at all of them in silence.
He listened to what Ramon said and gestured for them to enter. That's when Ramon realized that everyone in the pack gathered in that single room. They'd chosen to guard their leader rather than remain in another part of the house. Wow talk about loyalty. When he considered the implications now, he understood why Eduard preferred this type of residence.
Well, he wasn't going to drive them out. They could remain if needed. As for Rose and Jessie, they would learn manners one way or another. As for Jonah and Thorn, he suspected that they'd be allowed to roam the grounds when needing inspiration. It was just in the way that Eduard phrased his responses to Jethro and Jarl, along with the females.
At first, he didn't know what to think about Tamerlane, but when he heard what Eduard said. His eyebrows rose as faint connections began creating a larger picture. It took Ramon a moment to gather his memories of why he'd come in the first place. As for Tamerlane, well he would do some research to remember what he'd gone through in the past.
"These are the children that Eleanor tried eliminating that fateful night." He stared at Eduard. "That was also on a Beltane eve."
Eduard inclined his head. "Yes, though we celebrated it somewhat differently than nowadays." A faint smile quirked his mouth. "What are their names?"
Ramon exchanged glances with Thorn, Jessie, Jonah and Rose. "We don't know. That is the one thing we haven't figured out yet." Those little brats refused to give them any hints. They'd wanted to be presented to Eduard first.
Several chuckles erupted from all the pack members. Ramon eyed them. "Let me guess, you all went through that with him as well?"
They shrugged. "Some of us knew our names but since we didn't know we'd survive our first month out, none of us wanted to reveal our names." Jarl admitted. "A few didn't survive, but we honored them anyway so that they wouldn't roam nameless in Purgatory."
A few of them looked pensive, and Denise swiped tears from her face. She clearly had some history with that happening.
Ah, now the moment of truth would happen. Ramon regarded Eduard. "Please take a look at them."
Realizing he wasn't getting away without looking at the children, Eduard sighed. "I'll take a look at them." His lack of enthusiasm warned Ramon he might have a battle on his hands.
However, Eduard merely cradled them in his arms. "A female and male." He murmured. "One from Thorn and one from Jonah." He cast Jonah a startled glance. "Your only one, I'm going to guess."
Jonah nodded. "No more are coming from me." He stated curtly.
Thorn shrugged. "When I find a woman, who won't slice and dice me the minute I piss her off with no good reason, I'll consider more children in the future." He regarded the children in Eduard's arms. "That is beautiful and natural looking."
Eduard grunted. "Blah, blah, blah." He eyed the girl. "Rachel Maureen Fuego." He looked at Ramon with lifted eyebrows. "You're their dad despite who sired them." He smiled when Ramon gawked. "As for the boy, hmm…" Eduard sighed. "Rafael Jonah Vanguard…" He frowned at the boy. "Seriously?" He sighed when the infant burbled at him. "Okay, oh, so you want it to be Vanguard dash Fuego." The baby burbled again, and he shrugged. "Hope you wrote all this down." He glanced at the onlookers. "For what its worth, this better be the last time this happens anytime soon."
The effort of communication clearly wearied the man. Ramon frowned because he didn't think this weakened state was normal for him. Did it have to do with the sight of the infants that shared blood link with him? Either way this situation didn't seem normal to him at all. His mouth tightened. "I have it recorded. You should probably get some more sleep." What worried him was the possibility that the old version of the vampire wouldn't survive the night.
The others stared at him in stupefaction. They put their heads together and finally, Jethro and Tamerlane were left alone with Eduard and the door snapped shut. Jarl regarded Ramon. "What is worrying you about him, Ramon?" His wording surprised Ramon.
"So, you guessed from my expression that something is off about him?"
They nodded soberly. Ramon sighed. "He's dying. The essence that kept him going this long is running out of him and there's no stopping it."
Jarl winced. "I remember him saying that at some point he would perish. He just didn't know when or how." His hands fisted. "I still think that Eleanor and that jerk Orlin did something to him in that final battle."
Ramon shook his head. "No, the longevity is coming to an end for him naturally. As a hybrid, he wasn't a true vampire. Just how much blood did he ingest?" That generally made the difference between long lived healthy vampires and the others that would fade away after a certain period.
When the others frowned at each other. "When you can figure out how much blood he ingested…" Ramon stopped when they shook their heads.
"Never took blood at all?" His shock was obvious. "Then how has he survived?"
"Pure adrenaline." Tamerlane answered from the doorway. He looked at Ramon. "There is also psychic energy that he drained from individuals that attacked him over the centuries." He frowned. "That might've also warped his mindset as well after a while."
Ramon grimaced. "Psychic vampire, eh?" No wonder he'd survived if he had. "That explains how he was able to communicate with the babies." It made him realize just how rare of a vampire Eduard was. "I definitely don't think he's going to survive through the night." His mouth tightened. "I have a feeling he passed his abilities to these two."
Tamerlane hesitated. "Actually, he passed what he had to everyone who shared the psychic link four days ago." He didn't blink. "Well, other than those jokers that attempted to kill him. They got drained which is why they couldn't keep up with Eduard. Eleanor was turned to ash when he drained her."
Ramon grimaced hearing that. It was one thing to suspect, another thing to gain confirmation. "I watched it happen." He confirmed. "He even sent something to me as well." He looked at Tamerlane. "He always knew I was your father. He didn't force you to acknowledge me, nor me to acknowledge you."
Tamerlane nodded. "I've known of you for a while, but I didn't want to disrupt the life you made with the granddaughters and other ladies of long acquaintance." He made a sour face. "The woman who birthed me was right up there with the venomous Eleanor. If I didn't know any better, I would've said she was the same one."
Ramon shook his head. "I would've known." He rubbed the back of his neck. "She was not." Therefore, there was no way that Tamerlane's mother had reincarnated to ruin someone else's life. "I think that if you want to get to know me more, you can visit me any time. Open invitation." He offered. There was a good chance that he wouldn't accept, and he knew it.
Tamerlane sighed. "I will probably accept it when I'm sure that Eduard survives or not this night." He shrugged. "The others are already going through the process of accepting the fact hat he is dying." None of them wanted to accept the.
Ramon inclined his head. "I'm sorry to be the bearer of such sadness." It was regretful because he'd known Eduard for a very short time indeed.
Tamerlane grunted. "In all honesty, he's been preparing us for when this time would happen." He smiled. "It is just something we've been avoiding accepting as fact."
Ramon sighed. "Well, I'll be on my way with Rachel Maureen and Raphael Jonah. They need their naptime as well." He wasn't going to disrupt their schedules no matter what. The little ones were going to soon outgrow their current cradles.
He walked to the door with growing reluctance. His granddaughters waited for him with Jonah and Thorn who held the doors open for him. The fact that they opted to leave with him, startled Ramon. He didn't question their decision though. Clearly, they had reasons for what they did, and he wasn't going to push them to do anything right away either.