Boaz hesitated, keeping his eyes on Michael for a moment before looking back up. “Can we wait for them?”
“Sure,” Drago said. He crossed to the couch opposite Boaz and sat down, his gaze immediately locking onto Michael.
Boaz could feel the weight of his stare. He had thought Alexander could be intense, but Drago felt sharper, more controlled.
“I heard you saved Alexander years ago,” Drago said.
“Yes, I did,” Boaz replied.
“Thank you,” Drago said quietly. “The thought of him gone…” He trailed off.
Boaz frowned. Gone? He wasn’t sure what Drago had been about to say, and the unfinished sentence lingered in the air like something heavy.
Alexander was gone now. Or at least, he had been. Was this better than before? Worse?
Boaz tightened his hold on Michael, unsettled by the silence that followed.
Then hurried footsteps echoed down the hall.
He looked up just as the door opened and Blade stepped in with two older-looking vampires behind him. Boaz instinctively held his breath.
“Oh my god,” Blade said, covering his mouth with his hands as his eyes landed on Michael. “Is he?” he asked.
“Yes. He’s Alexander’s son,” Boaz said.
Silence filled the room as everyone stared. Michael stirred in Boaz’s arms, fussing softly as if sensing the shift in energy around him.
Alexander’s mother was the first to move. She crossed the space slowly and sat down beside him.
“May I?” she asked, extending her hands gently.
“Yes,” Boaz said, carefully placing Michael into her arms.
The baby whimpered at first, a small protest leaving him, but quickly settled as she held him close against her chest.
“He’s a sweet little thing,” she said.
Alexander’s father stepped closer, a soft smile spreading across his face with every step. “Isn’t he amazing?” she asked, looking down at Michael, then up at Boaz.
Boaz watched them admire the baby, giving them a moment before bringing up what he had come here for.
He could feel Drago’s gaze on him the entire time.
Boaz looked up and met his eyes, finding him still watching intently.
“What?” Boaz asked. “You don’t believe Michael is his son?”
“No. I believe you. I can sense he’s blood,” he said. “I’m just wondering why you came all this way to tell us. You could have called.”
“I…” Boaz wrung his hands together, suddenly unsure they would even allow him to see Alexander’s grave. But they had no reason to deny him.
“I want to see where you buried him,” he said. “I want to say my goodbyes.”
The room fell into an uneasy silence. Boaz noticed the glances they exchanged, quick and wordless.
“Take him to him,” Alexander’s mother said.
Drago rose from his seat and walked toward the door. “Are you coming?” he asked, glancing back over his shoulder.