We watched the Council return. We stood to one side letting them pass. Our family smiled when they saw us standing there.
We followed them into the cave.
Elder Camarillo was in the main chamber when we walked in. "I am so glad you are better."
"Thank you Elder Camarillo." I bowed to him.
We heard growling coming from the prison cells. The Boys were standing in front of them growling.
"Pete. John. Come here please." Paddy called to them.
"They survived the Councilwoman's burn?"
"They only survived because the Boys were too close."
"Why were they that close to them?"
"They were trying to kill them." Elder Camarillo said.
"What?" I was shocked. "Is this the part you did not want to tell me?" Paddy nodded.
"Do not blame Paddy, Kylie. We all know you have been through a lot lately."
I nodded. Paddy took my hand.
The Boys walked over to us. "Sorry Mom. Dad. We do not like them."
They looked back at the prison cell.
"No one does Boys." Paddy told them.
"How interesting." Elder Camarillo was looking at the Boys' eyes.
"Scott thinks it is the combination of the Councilwoman's blood and the dominant shifter blood."
"I tend to agree with him."
The rest of our family came to see us. We were hugged by everyone.
Quinn looked at his brothers. "Hey Boys. I like the eyes."
The Boys looked at each other. They both reached up to touch the other's eyes.
"Sir?" Samantha called to Shaun.
"Yes Samantha."
"Sir, Rachelle and I are working in the cell opposite the prisoner's cell. Sir, they are hiding something in their cell."
"They are, are they? Let us go and take a look." Quinn, Colleen, Gen, Elder Camarillo and about ten vampires went to check their cell.
We kept the Boys away from them.
"We will watch from here." Paddy said holding the Boys' shoulders.
"Yes Father." They said quietly.
We watched as they moved Crispin and Marisa out of their cell and into Caleb's old cell. They had a squad of Guards around them.
The shifters went through the cell piece by piece. They found more of the little silver darts.
Elder Camarillo and Shaun went into the cell the prisoners were in and screached the clothes they were wearing.
They found more on them.
Shaun and the Clan Elder walked out of the cell. The Clan Elder shifted into a lion and went back in. He tore them apart.
He came back out.
"I am sorry Shaun. They are trying my patience."
"They are very good at doing that."
The Clan Elder walked back in and put the body parts back together.
"They will feel my wrath for a little while."
"Dad can we do that?" The Boys asked their father.
"You mean shift into a lion or tear someone apart?"
"Both." They smiled eagerly.
"You are allowed to shift not tear people apart unless you are order to."
"Yes Father."
Scott and Elder Camarillo took the little darts back to their testing room.
Athos, Anna and Arthur came in from feeding. Arthur was becoming quite big. He was almost as tall as Athos. Which was amazing for a two year old.
Anna told me a while ago once he started drinky blood he grew faster.
The Boys were seven months old and the height of their father. Arthur asked them if they wanted to go swimming in the main pool. They did. They headed down.
"What is going on?" Athos asked pointing to the prison cells.
"They found more of those silver darts on the prisoners."
"They did?"
"Yes Scott and Elder Camarillo have taken them to their testing room." Paddy told him.
"Really I would like to know what was so special about them." Athos said.
"A mystery?" Anna and I said together.
"Why not go and help them Love?" Anna told him.
"Are you sure?"
"Of course, I have my students' papers to look at."
"All right. I will see you later." He kissed her cheek then ran off to the testing room.
"He does love a mystery." Anna said. We laughed. "I will see you later." Anna went to her schoolroom.
Colleen, Gen, Quinn and Shaun walked over to us. "We are going to have some tea. Would you like to join us?" Colleen had a hard time looking at me.
We nodded and went to their quarters.
"How are you feeling Kylie?" Colleen asked.
"I am feeling fine." I said hesitantly.
"You do not sound so sure."
"Having some of the Council's blood. I am not really sure."
"Oh?"
"Is their blood different from other vampires?" Gen asked.
"You feel different for a while. The Council drinks a lot of human blood and they all have different powers."
"Do not forget how old they are?" Paddy said.
"And that too."
Colleen served the tea.
"It is almost like you are waiting for something."
"I am sort of." Paddy looked at me with concern. "I do not know what was on those darts if I am going to be ill again."
"Do not worry Mom. They will find out." Quinn said.
I nodded.
Everyone except Colleen and I went on patrol. We made bread with Melissa's help. The Boys showed up a little while later.
Melissa showed them some books Shaun had brought back from his last Montreal trip. "These are fascinating Aunt Melissa."
"Look at this one. It has a lot of different animals in it."
"We should try some of these." The Boys were pointing to some of the drawings.
"It does not work that way Boys. You have to see them before you can shift into them."
"Oh? Then hopefully we will be able to see them some time."
The Boys started yawning.
"I will see you later Colleen."
"Bye Grandma, Bye Aunt Melissa."
"See you later Boys."
I took them to our quarters. They had a snack then went to bed.
I cleaned up and waited for Paddy to return. I was sitting in his meeting room reading one of his books.
"Hey what are you doing?" He asked from the doorway.
"Waiting for you."
He smiled. "Good. Come with me."
We went down to the bathing pool and swam for a while then made love on the beach. Afterwards he laid on top of me. "I love you." He kissed my chin, my nose then my lips. "I love you."
We laid there for a long time just holding each other.
