Finally, Ranelle turned away to move towards the other side of the room. She couldn't continue to look at him as emotional agony filled her body, making her broken heart threaten to shatter all over again. He had left her behind and moved on to someone else, despite his words of yearning to be with her after three centuries of separation.

Logan sighed again, blowing the air out through his mouth. "Did you really wait for me?" he asked finally, breaking the iron curtain between them.

Ranelle took her turn to exhale. "Yes," she said, her voice still soft. She turned around to look at him, seeing he was staring at the patch of floor beneath her feet.

"For how long?"

Her jaw clenched again. "Does it matter now?"

When he didn't answer her, she took an uneasy breath. He wanted to know. "I waited for three nights, at the same bar. I stood under the awning the third night nearly until sunrise before I left... When you didn't appear, I knew it was time for me to go back before I was missed."

"Why did you stay?" he asked.

"Because I didn't want to come back to the life I had," she answered truthfully. "I had every intention of continuing to wait on you if I could. I kept staring at the passersby and the men walking into that speakeasy, hoping one of their faces belonged to you. I was convinced you would come. I wanted that opportunity for us."

Logan went to say something in the seconds of silence that followed her last words, but he turned his head when the other occupant in the apartment spoke:

"Ra-Ra?" came the sound of Avalon's voice from the living room.

Ranelle glanced at Logan for a short moment before crossing the bedroom to the door faster than he could. She pushed it open slowly, peeking into the other room to see the little boy sitting up on the daybed, rubbing his eyes. She smiled and left Logan behind to walk over to the child. "Hello, my darling. What are you doing awake this early?" she greeted, keeping her voice cheerful and gentle.

The toddler shook his head slowly, still wiping his eyes in the dim light. "I missed you," he murmured sleepily.

"You did?" she asked teasingly, stroking his hair back into place from its bedhead tousle. "I'm here. You know I wouldn't go anywhere without you."

"Is he here?" he asked, his voice still soft.

Ranelle glanced over her shoulder to see Logan had followed her into the room again, watching with a sullen expression. "Of course," she answered. "He's here to protect you."

"Hello, Avalon," Logan greeted when his son looked over to him.

Avalon looked up at the man, a moment of panic passing over his facial expression before he realized who he was. He became quiet, immediately sinking his body to be below Ranelle's shoulders and somewhat hidden from the man's view.

The woman smiled. "No need to hide, poppet. I promise, he's not going to hurt you," Ranelle consoled.

"He's big," he whispered.

She giggled and nodded her head. "Yes, he's very tall," she agreed.

"He helped make the bad man go away," Avalon added, his eyes never leaving Logan.

Ranelle's smile sobered. "He did," she said softly. She looked over her shoulder at the Blood Warrior again. "We don't have to worry about the bad man ever again."

Avalon nodded slowly, wiping his eyes once more. He blinked, still drowsy.

"Why don't you go back to sleep, baby? I'll come wake you in a little while when it's time to get up," she said.

"Pwomise?" he asked.

She grinned again. "Promise. Go back to sleep."

Logan smiled slightly, looking down at the ground. Their previous conversation still sat heavy on his chest and he wanted to say something. But he held his tongue. He watched as Ranelle helped Avalon lay back down beneath his blanket and stroked his blonde hair until he closed his eyes. Something in him still felt adrift. He had his son back, but the ancient history standing across the room made him feel as though he had failed. He'd failed her, betrayed her, and yet she stood strong throughout the decades...

And now she was caring for his son as if she had carried him and given him life herself without a grudge. She was more of a saint than immortality had ever given her credit for over the centuries.

Ranelle waited a few more minutes until the boy's breathing became deep with sleep before she got up from her crouched position. She sighed and ran her fingers through his hair one more time, then moved back to the cooler. She picked up a fresh glass and poured some of the blood bag's remaining contents into it. She walked towards Logan, handing it to him as she retreated back into the bedroom. Once he followed her in, she pulled the door closed so as not to disturb Avalon again.

"He trusts you," Logan said at last, breaking the quiet between them.

Ranelle nodded slowly, unable to meet his eyes. "He's my whole world," she murmured. She still didn't know how to address their previous topic as she moved back to one of the armchairs within her bedroom. She didn't sit, preferring to move behind it as she put distance between herself and the Blood Warrior. She picked up her forgotten glass of blood and took a long drink from it.

Logan watched her tense body language, knowing she was still thinking about their prior exchange. He brought his glass to his lips, immediately smelling the tangy, metallic scent of its contents. After it touched his tongue, he recognized it as his preferred blood type. While blood classifications weren't discovered until 1900, vampires had always favored certain victims' blood over others because of taste.

And even after the centuries apart, long after he'd taught her how to hunt and feed, she still chose the exact same taste in her donor blood supply as him.

He smiled, glancing down at the glass in his hand.

She looked over at him again, mistaking his silence for disbelief. "Hadrian thought it would be my ultimate punishment to take care of your child. I rose to the occasion, and that little boy has become my whole world. I couldn't imagine my life without him," she elaborated.

His green eyes flicked up to meet her. "Thank you," he said. "It gives me some peace to know he was with someone who would care for him like I would."

Nodding, Ranelle exhaled quietly. "He thought it would kill me... But it did the opposite. Giving him to me gave me purpose again. I love that boy dearly." When he didn't say anything right away, she added softly, "Sometimes I forget he's not mine."

She finished off the last of the blood in her cup and placed it on the end table beside the armchair. She then took a quick look at the grandfather clock to see it was still only a little after seven. Avalon would probably sleep for another forty-five minutes before she would need to have him up and dressed for dinner.

"Is that what you wanted?" Logan asked, careful to keep his tone kind, after she turned away to begin tidying up some loose toys that sat on the ground around the secondary loveseat.

Ranelle sighed heavily, her eyes closing for a minute. Her exhaustion filled her again, but she knew it was from the emotional weight as much as it was physical. "Once upon a time," she answered truthfully. "In the Twenties, I thought maybe there was a chance we would have a full life together. We'd had enough years stolen from us before then and I had thought about how to make up for that lost time."

She looked up at him. "Didn't you?" she asked.

"I did," he said gently.

Hearing the reply felt like a bullet to the chest, and she had to hold her breath as his words filled her. Finally, she inhaled shakily. She nodded, letting that realization settle as she tried to process it. He had wanted a life with her; and yet, he hadn't been there when their chance had presented itself, no matter the danger his sire had threatened. Somehow, knowing both of those facts made the hurt worse.

She hadn't realized there were tears in her eyes until the first one hit her cheek. It nearly made her jump as it dropped onto her skin. It took only milliseconds before the next one fell.

Logan frowned. For the longest time, he had thought he did the right thing in letting her go and making a clean break. He wanted to give her the chance to have a happy life without the threats of the Count and the other grand elders hanging above her head. But he had never truly understood how much agony that decision caused her. And that wasn't something he had ever wanted.

In the lull, he sat his glass down and moved towards her. Being separated from her any longer and seeing the suffering on her face would surely kill him. Once he was close to her, his head bowed down to bring his mouth to hers.

Ranelle recoiled quickly. Her hand came up faster than she could consciously think to stop it. There was a dull smacking sound as she slapped him across the cheek. She backed up another two steps to put distance between them.

"Don't. Don't do that," she warned, her weak tone turning harsh.

"I'm sorry, Ranelle, please," he begged, trying to make another move towards her. In response, she stepped back two more paces.

"No," she objected as more tears began to fall. "Don't do this if you're just going to leave. Don't break me all over again."

"I'm sorry," Logan repeated. "I am. I wish I could take away your pain. I'm sorry that it has happened this way."

"No," she reiterated. "I don't want to hear this now. You left me. You don't get to come in here and turn my world upside down again. You have a wife and a child. Don't do this."

Logan sighed, frowning as he watched her retreat from him. "I'm sorry," he said again.

Another sound filled the tension-charged room from the main door. The knock was purposeful, just loud enough to be heard from the bedroom, but soft enough it wouldn't disturb Avalon.

Ranelle glared at Logan again, holding still. When the knock sounded once more, she turned away and went back into the living room to the main door. She unlocked and opened it slowly just enough to peek into the hall. She held her finger up over her mouth when she realized it was Nathaniel Bartholomeu.

The dark-haired man glanced over her head to see the sleeping toddler behind her. He sighed and nodded. "We need to talk," he said, keeping his voice low. "Upstairs in the conference room."

She bit her bottom lip and looked behind her to Avalon. "And the Blood Warrior?"

"Bring him. We have questions."

"I'm not leaving the boy down here by himself."

"I already have a guard at the door. No one else is down here but us. This shouldn't take long."

Ranelle frowned again, not wanting to leave Avalon behind. Her head bobbed up and down slowly, giving in. She looked over her shoulder to see Logan had stepped back into the living room to listen to the conversation. She moved into her apartment and retrieved a pair of heels from the bedroom. As she came back, she noticed Logan had also put on his shoes and picked up his jacket from the back of the desk chair.

The pair followed Nathaniel into the hall and towards the interior staircase. Ranelle double-checked to see the Vanguard Shadow waiting at the secure door to the bloodline's floor. She nodded to the tall man and he saluted in return.

Now, they would have to wait for Nathaniel's judgement as the coven's new commander.