~1838~

In the four years since summoning Kristofer to remove his deadly daughter from their territory, there had been no further sightings of any of the Harris family at their old house. Though that gave Sean and Claire comfort, she still couldn’t help wishing to know how Kristofer was faring now that his daughter was the same sort of creature as the wife that he had killed to save Claire seventeen years earlier. Seventeen years, Claire thought wryly. Now it was possible that even Kristofer’s son had become that kind of creature as well; and she couldn’t help being terrified for him trying to be a father to one werewolf, let alone possibly two.

Another change that had happened since she had last seen Kristofer was that the Beringer estate was slightly emptier now as well. Daniel had returned to his wife back in England; and after almost twenty years of being Kindred, Nicolas faced more of his own demons and had moved into the Toreador haven where he would decide if he wished them to find him a home outside of the estate’s high walls eventually.

Claire herself was still running Raven’s Loft, which had become slightly more successful in the five years since its reopening. On that particular night, her attention was pulled from where she was wiping down a glass left behind by the five or so patrons that had been there that night. Outside she heard a man drunkenly shouting at a beggar to be gone. Claire sighed slightly as she set the glass aside and moved out from behind the bar to attend to the racket.

Upon stepping out of the tavern to deal with the disturbance, she was more than a bit shocked and even a bit fearful when she saw that the beggar in question was none other than Kristofer’s now seventeen year old son. She immediately adjusted her vision to see his aura and relaxed a bit when she discovered that he was thankfully still human. She still swallowed a bit of worry, even though now she knew that this likely wasn't actually to be her last seconds of a long life. Then eyes that were so identical to Kristofer’s moved to her with their own surprise at seeing her vaguely familiar, and still youthful, and beautiful face.

“Leave the boy be” she shooed the other man back into the tavern as he grumbled but headed back inside nonetheless.

Sebastian swallowed the lump in his own throat as his eyes moved over her, being even more startled by her beauty than he had been four years earlier when he had only seen her from a distance and through the bars of a thick wrought iron gate that had been plated with silver.

When he finally found his voice, he assured her “I swear I’m not like my sister” he told her with a bit of his own worry that she would chase him out of town on sight as well.

“And where is your sister?” Claire asked bravely as she protectively wrapped her arms around where her chest spilled over her corset, her eyes quickly scanning the area around them for any sign of that deadly sister of his.

“I have no idea” he admitted, his eyes still not able to stop moving over her with some combination of surprise as well as desire at her appearance, “I haven’t seen her since the night I met you” he added, his voice wavering as he spoke of that night for what was most likely the first time since it had happened.

“You haven’t?” Claire asked warily, studying his aura for any trace of deception and finding only fear, sadness and that tiny tinge of desire peeking in around the edges.

“Sophie almost killed me that night” Sebastian sniffled slightly as Claire’s eyes widened, “and when I came to… dad was dead” he finished sadly as Claire’s own despair and regret were immediate then as well.

“Your sister killed him?” Claire asked shakily, her fear and hatred of those creatures even more apparent then.

“I don’t know, honestly. But there wasn’t a mark on him” he sniffled again as he looked around furtively to make sure no others were near enough to hear, “but after what she did to me, she disappeared again; and he was dead, so…” Sebastian sniffled again, his beautiful dark eyes trained on the ground between him and Claire now.

Claire tried to push through her own fear, anger and grief then as she tried to dissect his words. Though, before she could have any sort of reaction, another customer left the tavern, reminding her that they could very easily be heard by the wrong ears there outside the establishment.

“Just come inside with me. We can go talk upstairs” she told him as he looked at her warily. She then remembered who indeed this boy was related to, and decided to give herself a few more assurances of safety before letting him inside, “but first” she began as she moved to catch his eyes with hers and spoke in that measured tone “you must never lead your sister or any of those like her to me, my husband, my friends, our home, this tavern, or this town” with that she released him from that trancelike state and guided him inside with her. Nodding to the servant who was helping her run the place that night, she then led the young man up the stairs to her office, lightly shutting the door behind them as she centered another sad look on him.

There was a bit of an awkward silence before he managed to speak again, “you must have been even younger than I am now if you knew dad when we were babies.”

Claire was thrown by that comment as she took a moment to find some response. But before adding her own information to the conversation, she decided she had to know what she even could say without scaring the obviously frightened young man even more so, “what exactly did your father tell you about me…um…?”

“Sebastian” he supplied quietly as he took a deep breath and cast another look at the door behind them, “he said that he met you after he left… his childhood home; and you helped him get his degree and our house just because you wanted to do something good” he settled on.

“I’m sure he must have said more than that” Claire stated warily.

Sebastian took another shaky breath before continuing, “he said that you were his friend, but our mother and his brother, and the rest of… them” he swallowed another lump, “were raised to believe that people like you were evil, so they tried to kill you. His brother killed your friends, and he… stopped our mother from killing you” he whispered the final part of the sentence.

“People like me?” Claire repeated cautiously.

“He never explained what that meant” Sebastian answered warily, “he didn’t seem to like talking about you; probably because of what he had to do to our mother… to save your life” he added more quietly, “but I think he loved you more than her” he added in a whisper, brave though it was.

Claire shakily sighed at that comment, “you were only a baby when she died; I’m sure he…”

“He was afraid of her, and his brother, and my sister. And then his brother killed your friends, and our mother tried to kill you, and my sister almost killed me” he added the last bit with a sob, “I hate them; all of them. If you can keep them out of this town, then can I please stay here too?” he pleaded as the tears welled up, touching Claire’s tender heart despite her wariness of falling into the same trap of caring for yet another beautiful young man who was related to their mortal enemies. Though his fear of them was as great as hers it seemed, and she hoped that would mean that he wasn’t likely to ever lead them to her; but that danger would always be there, nonetheless.

Claire was quiet a long moment before managing to find any words at all, “how old are you now, Sebastian?”

“Seventeen” he sniffled as he looked back up at her obviously worried expression, “I’m way past puberty; I’m not going to become one of them” he promised her.

After another long moment of arguing with herself, Claire spoke again, “and were you really out there begging?” she asked sadly.

“I was only thirteen when dad died” he sniffled again, “I survived for a while on what money he had left, then I sold our two remaining horses to get food, then I had to sell our house too. I only have one thing of value left; and I can’t sell it” he stated quietly as his hand moved to open his worn jacket and expose that gun that Sean had given Kristofer twenty years earlier.

Claire sighed again, “I’m guessing the bullets are still in it.”

“All but the one that killed my mother. When Sophie attacked me, it happened so fast that… dad never even got to reach for the gun; he was just trying to save me. Then she was gone before I recovered enough to even open my eyes” he informed sadly.

“And you’re sure your sister or any other family will never come looking for you?” Claire worried aloud.

“I don’t even know if Sophie knows that I survived; it’s not like any of them ever came looking for me once in the last four years… which is why I haven’t had to use any other bullets yet” he added bitterly, his hatred for the werewolves almost seeming to match the Kindred’s opinion of them.

“You would really kill your own sister?” Claire whispered softly.

“She would have killed me if dad hadn’t been there to save me” he told her as he forced the words through more despair and hatred.

Claire sighed and took in the boy’s aura for another long moment, seeing his desperation and despair so clearly that it couldn’t help but tear at her. Her brain was telling her to compel him right back out of the tavern and the town itself; but her heart was telling her that he had already lost so much, due in large part to her friendship with his father, that she just had to help him. Her guilt wouldn’t let her refuse to, even if her worry knew better.

Another heavy sigh before she let her heart win, as it did so often, “there are beds up here from before I owned the place. If you run it during the day for me, then you can live here and make enough to at least stay fed and clothed. Just please do not ever make me regret letting someone with your particular family relationships back into my life and town; please, Sebastian.”

“I hate them as much as you, I swear” he promised her again, “and thank you so much” he swallowed hard as he bravely added one more comment, “I think I’m beginning to understand why dad did love you after all.”

When Claire closed the tavern and headed home around three, she was not looking forward to having to tell Sean of the events of evening. She braced herself as she sensed him approaching their chambers while she finished removing her boots. “Evening” she greeted him with a wary smile once he entered their room and closed the door behind him.

“What’s wrong now?” Sean asked perceptively.

“Nice to see you too” she responded as she bit her lip, hoping that it was only her aura or her expression that he was reacting to. She then quickly moved on though, “well I did manage to come to a decision tonight that will most likely give us even more income” she attempted to begin with the positive side of her tale.

Sean looked around pointedly, “are we in need of more money?” he furrowed his brow.

Claire laughed awkwardly as she took a seat at the edge of the bed before replying, “no, but it’s still a good thing, right?”

“So, I’m guessing the worry on your face is in regards to something other than just that fact?” Sean returned knowingly as he reached down to remove his boots as well.

“I found someone to be in charge of Raven’s Loft during the day; but they’re not bound. So I guess that isn’t ideal” she attempted to skirt the subject.

“I suppose you at least compelled them not to rob us or anything” Sean replied as he cast another wary glance before finishing his task and moving toward the bed.

“Well, he has nowhere else to live, so he’d be staying there. So if he robbed us, I’m pretty sure we could track him down” she stated. As Sean still looked unmoved as he sat, she then continued “but I can always do that if he gives me any reason to worry” she offered.

“Or you could just bind him” Sean stated as he continued to watch her with a questioning look.

“I just don’t want that to always be our first plan of action with every mortal we ever meet” she returned quietly. She then quickly moved on again, “besides, compelling should be sufficient; he’s not guarding me during the day, just my business.”

“I suppose” Sean gave in as he gently kissed her cheek before moving back against the headboard, “so if you’re not worried about his trustworthiness, what is it that did have you looking so worried about telling me about our new employee?”

Claire shook her head as she also moved back to a seat next to him to buy herself a moment to even try to explain her reasons for inviting back the kinfolk he had ordered out of their territory years ago. Bracing herself she began, “like I said, he has nowhere else to go. He was orphaned four years ago and has already sold his family’s horses and their home. He was begging outside the tavern tonight. And he’s only seventeen years old.”

“As sad as that all is…” Sean let the sentence end there.

Claire sighed again, “it’s Kristofer’s son” she admitted as Sean’s eyes immediately widened, causing her to quickly move on, “his werewolf sister nearly killed him the night we sent Kristofer to get her out of their old house; and Kristofer died trying to save his still very human son’s life, Sean” she told him with a sad urgency.

Sean did have a flash of regret pass over his face, but he still had to respond with “Claire, you know this is not a good idea at all” Sean told her with some cross between a tone that was as scolding as it was fearful.

“He hates the werewolves he’s related to as much as we do; and none of them have ever come looking for him once in the four years since his father died and his sister changed, which most likely means they probably don’t think he’s alive at all” she attempted to reason, and then added more quietly, “the only possession he refused to sell, instead deciding to go begging before giving it up, was the gun and bullets you gave his father all those years ago” a slight pause, “that’s how much he hates them, Sean.”

“I hear you, I do; but if you honestly want to keep him around, then you’ve gotta bind him, Claire” Sean told her with the same urgency.

“Actually Sean, I think that would be a mistake” Claire disagreed, though gently.

Sean scoffed slightly, “how so?”

“They haven’t come after him in four long years. But if one did just happen to wander into town again, and saw Sebastian; would you rather them see a mortal who they have no reason to even take note of, or a blood bound ghoul who they’d kill on sight before coming to look for his masters?” she told him pointedly, having thought long and hard on that very possibility after getting Sebastian settled in at The Loft.

"I just don't know, Claire..." Sean responded quietly, though his resolve was beginning to weaken.

Claire then gathered her courage to add one more argument against the binding of this young man, "also, do we really want to force those desires on a boy whose very blood carries the possibility to create more of those monsters, if he were just to get careless with those desires even once?"

That was when Sean sighed in defeat, realizing that she did have a very valid point. All they really could do now was hope upon hope that this good deed would finally be the one that went unpunished after all.