Daniel

I smiled to myself as I watched her read her book. Her expressions were so easy to read. Of course, our building bonds helped too.

"Does she remember everything now?" Susan asked as she gathered soft drinks for them. "She seems almost like her old self."

I nodded, "She hasn't told us everything, but she says she can remember and much to all our relief, that bastard, Drake only seems to have kissed and fondled her."

"Damn, that's good. I know before they took her this last time she kept worrying someone had raped her. Then again, being forced to drink is a violation all its own." Susan came to stand next to me as we both watched her. "Any side effects?"

"Not a one so far. I'm just ready to put it all behind us," I sighed.

"Yeah, the future Queen and Consort have enough to worry about," she snorted. I groaned. Of course, she was right. Now that Serenity was home we had to begin the process of introducing her to the Council and there was also the issue of Garen's bond to her as well. I had no doubt there would be many that took issue with it.

"How's Garen holding up? He's never been fond of the limelight and sorry, boss, but there's no way he's getting out of it now," she grinned.

"Sullen...he's sullen," I laughed. "I swear she's the only one who gets him to smile these days. He's also paranoid about Genevieve and her sudden departure."

"Yeah, that was weird," she agreed. "Oh well, back to my girl time. Oh, by the way, I could get used to this no-work thing if my future Queen needs a lady in waiting," Susan teased.

I gave a half-hearted his in jest as she pretended to scurry away. Just then Matt came into the room with a stack of folders. "Why is my Eternal running from you?" he asked, his eyebrow half-raised.

"Oh, the usual, life threats, asking for royal favors, etc, etc," I chuckled. He just shook his head. "So what's all this?" I pointed at the folders.

"Well, seems no one has heard the latest news about your dearly departed mother and our little hunting expedition paid off," he beamed.

"Okay, now translate that to English, because I'm not following," I said.

He grunted, "We caught the mole, or at least one of them. Caroline Salva, the bitch at reception. She's been feeding your mom info regularly. Hell, she's got more files than HR on everyone including Serenity." He handed me a folder.

I opened it and began skimming the details. Wait, what? "Where did she get all of this?"

"No clue, man. So far I can't prove the connection to Caffrey & Dahl beyond their dealings with Drake, but what if they gave Salva some of this? The details about her family are just insane."

There were genealogy reports and references to vampire factions that had died out long ago. I'm not even sure my historical archives had some of this information. "I think it's time to tender her resignation and pay Caffrey & Dahl a visit - both Garen and I this time."

"Oh, I want tickets to that show," Matt grinned wickedly.

Turning back to the front room, I said, "Now to get the Queen's approval."

Matt and I walked into the front room to hear the women giggling as they leaned their heads together to read something. Serenity's cheeks were rosy red as I teased her, "And just what are you reading, my love?"

She quickly slapped the book closed and tucked it under her thigh, 'Um, nothing." Hmm...interesting.

Susan snorted, "Nothing my ass. Our girl here has a thing for smutty romance."

Serenity sucked in a gasp and slapped her arm, "Susan, shut up!" If it were possible, her face became an even darker shade of red. "It...it's just a book."

I picked her up and placed her in my lap as she tried to hide her face. "What kind of things are you reading about, my love? Can you show me?" Reluctantly she pulled the book out and opened it, then buried her face in my shoulder as I read. Seems our girl was curious about being with both of us at the same time. Susan smirked, quietly getting up and walking into the kitchen with Matt to give us some privacy. "Look at me, Ren," I whispered, tilting her chin. "This is nothing to be ashamed of. I think we need to talk about what you are comfortable with and what you want to know more about. How about I text Garen and we can talk after dinner tonight?"

"You're not mad at me?" she asked, those doe eyes looking up at me with worry.

"Why would I be mad? It's a book, love. However, if you have questions, I'd prefer you ask Garen or me instead of Susan. Your comfort and safety are all that matter to us, Ren." She nodded, her eyes glistening as she threw her arms around my neck.

Feeling her complete trust was the best sensation I'd ever known in all my years. She pressed a chaste kiss to my cheek when she pulled back and smiled, "Can I make dinner for you both tonight? You have been taking such good care of me and I want to show you how thankful I am," she explained.

"Of course you can. Do you need me to have the staff pick up any items for you?"

"Hmm, I'm not sure, let's go see what you have already." She grabbed my hand and practically dragged me to the kitchen. I watched, along with Susan and Matt as she began nosing through the pantry and fridge. She found a notepad and began scribbling on it as she searched. "Do you have any wine?" she asked, pen hovering over the notepad.

"An entire wine cellar, darling," Garen said as he came into the room. "Are we planning a dinner party?"

"No, our lovely Eternal wants to cook for us," I told him. "She was trying to make a list of what she needs so I can send someone out for groceries."

Garen's face lit up with pride. In our culture, providing for our Eternal is a sign of acceptance. Her desire to care for us as we had been doing for her was a huge step in our eyes. Even if we hadn't consummated the bond, Serenity was accepting us and what being Eternals meant.

She giggled, "Well since you obviously have the wine covered, here's my list. It isn't too much, mostly what I need for dessert and a couple of spices. You already have everything else. Would dinner at six be okay?"

"That sounds perfect," I told her, placing a soft kiss on her lips. "Now, I'm going to steal Matt and Garen for a bit to discuss work. I'm sure Susan can keep you entertained. Don't be afraid to put her to work either," I chuckled as Susan rolled her eyes at me.

"But I just got here," Garen pouted as he pulled Serenity into his arms. "I need affection." His dramatics earned him a rather deep kiss from her. When her hand brushed over his mark, I thought he was going to collapse. His pupils were blown and almost fully black when they parted. "Damn woman, that was one hell of a kiss! Not that I'm complaining, but what brought that on?"

I snorted, "Seems our love has some questions we need to address tonight. I'll explain in a bit." Her cheeks flushed again as he looked between us, seeming to catch on. He whispered something in her ear that caused her to shiver and her eyes glazed slightly before he kissed her again, gently this time, then walked toward me as I led us to my office.

"So what has she been asking?" Garen asked as he sat on the couch loosening his tie.

"Not asking us, per se, but she and Susan were discussing an erotica novel she was reading. One with a reverse harem. I told her we would discuss her questions and limits tonight. That's when she suggested making us dinner." He smiled at me, then frowned when I handed him the folder from Caffrey & Dahl. "This is what I need to discuss with you. I wanted to talk to Ren about it, but then the other topic came up and I didn't get a chance to."

"Holy shit, this is insane. Have we verified any of this?" Garen's face showed a myriad of emotions as he read through the information. "Why the fuck would her human bosses want so much information about her ancestry, and why does it just suddenly vanish?"

"Wait, what?" I hadn't even noticed that. "What do you mean, vanish?"

He held out the page, expanding it on the coffee table, and began pointing to the line with her mother's ancestry. "See, it goes back about four generations, then poof, it just stops, but her father's goes back almost six hundred years. How the fuck does a human firm find this much information on an entry-level employee? What the hell kind of game have they been playing all along?"

"So the question is, did your mother approach them, was Drake orchestrating the whole thing, or was it the humans pulling the strings?" Matt suggested.

"Like I said, I think we need to storm the damn place and get some answers," I reminded him. "And Ren needs to tender her resignation effective immediately." They both nodded. "Oh and where exactly is Ms. Salva?"

"Dungeon cell 9," Matt smirked. "She hasn't been touched except the sedatives in her food and drink. I figured less fight was best until you reached a decision. Do we know if the Council has learned about your mother yet?"

"No, that's another item on my to-do list. Of course, getting some answers from the humans might help soften the blow. She still had many loyal to her and my father's ways."

"So, do we have the sex talk first or the doom and gloom first," Garen deadpanned.

"If you have the doom and gloom talk, you are definitely not getting laid," Matt laughed.

I rolled my eyes at both of them knowing he was right. Damn, we just can't catch a break, can we?

Author's Notes:  I just love Matt and Susan's snark.