Bound For Eternity

10

It was hard to celebrate anything knowing what was lurking out in the night for us.

It wasn't long after our confrontation with Natasha that we learned he really did have no intention of making anything easy for us. She turned herself Strigoi the same night and had been sending taunting threats to all of us for weeks.

It wasn't exactly easy to let loose and celebrate my twenty-fifth birthday. But both Dimitri and Lissa were bound and determined that I have a good night.

"Here's to the baby finally becoming a quarter-century old!" Lissa exclaimed, clinking her shot glass against mine. I rolled my eyes and took the shot. Other than Ellison and Sydney, I was the only mortal here. They could drink all night long and not feel an ounce of what I would feel in the morning.

"Not yet she's not," Christian snickered, "She's got three more days to go."

"Wait, why exactly are we celebrating this so early?" Ellison asked after he set his shot glass on the table.

I smiled. "Because there was a cancellation and I got booked for my surgery on my birthday. Get to get a diagnosis finally," I said as I picked up my cider and took a sip to rid my mouth of the bitter taste.

Lissa looked at me softly and smiled. "Everything will work out well," Lissa soothed, knowing that I had been antsy since I booked my surgery a few weeks back. I nodded at her and looked down at the drink that was set down in front of me. I raised my brows and then glared at Adrian.

"Really?" I asked, pointing to the shot glass with whipped cream on top.

"Someone had to buy you one," Adrian snorted, "No hands, little dhampir."

I rolled my eyes and looked at Dimitri who simply smiled at me, pulling my hair back from my face so I wouldn't get cream in it. I sighed and leaned over the table, wrapping my mouth around the shot glass and then tipping my head back. Adrian made a loud whistle as I set the glass back on the table, lifting the napkin that came with it to wipe the whipped cream from the nose.

"Damn, Rose. We all know that you have some skills," Adrian drawled with a smirk. I rolled my eyes again.

"You buy me one for every birthday," I said dryly and took another sip of my cider with a grimace.

"Alright, this is my last drink for the night," I said lifting my cider, I was already starting to feel nauseous. Dimitri chuckled quietly beside me and rested his arm on the back of my chair, twisting the ends of my fingers over his fingers.

"No, no, you have more on the way," Ellison snickered, tipping on his chair slightly. I rolled my eyes and glared at him for a moment.

"Here we are!" Ivan exclaimed and set the platter of drinks on the table. I groaned at the sight of the tequila sunrises and covered my face.

"Seriously? The one drink I told you fucks me up every time," I moaned.

"It's your birthday, babes, drink up!" Ivan snickered and sat in the chair. I groaned but took the drink, taking a sip with a grimace, despite loving the drink. Our banter continued, Sydney perking up as the night went on. She was starting to get better. Adrian had called me worried out of his mind one night, but I soothed him, telling him that the pain would come in waves, and to a degree, Sydney would feel like it was her fault, but reassuring her would help.

"So how exactly does this work? If you two punch out a few kids while you're 'human', what are they?" Ellison blurted out.

I snorted a laugh and shook my head. "I think they could be born either or?" I said looking at the Ekon-borns at the table.