Twenty minutes later Nolan joined Rhia in the kitchen. The smell of coffee and sausages drew him as powerfully as the sight of the stunning redhead leaning against his counter. He walked past her to pull open the curtains to the enormous windows, letting in the full blaze of the late morning sun. She raised an eyebrow. "U.V. filtered glass?" she asked.

"Yes, but it's more for Cameron and the kids when they come over. One of the advantages of being so old is that the sun stopped affecting me a while ago."

"Do you sparkle?" she teased.

He scoffed and took the mug of coffee she offered. "I sort of look like a cross between Skeletor and Bill Nighy in those Underworld movies."

"Oh no," she grimaced. "Unless you get his voice too. Mmm, please tell me you get that sexy Nighy voice."

"If only." He smirked and slid into a bar stool. "Just grey skin, bony face, and really weird things going on with the eyes."

"Damn." She pouted. "I guess I'll just have to accept normal, out-of-this-world sexy you."

"You poor, poor thing. How ever will you get by?"

She matched his laugh and checked the cooking sausages in the oven. "Hey, by any chance do you have an iPhone charger? Mine died last night."

"Oh, come on, iPhone? You're better than that."

"I got it half-price! Sorry, I can't afford top of the line technology, Mr. I-have-twenty-thousand-years-worth-of-savings-in-my-account." She tossed the phone back into her purse and leaned across the counter, facing him. "So, now that we're caffeinated and clothed, will you tell me if you've ever bonded with someone?"

"Not happening. It's your turn."

"What are you talking about?"

"All I know about you is your name, your job, and that your dad is a complete ass."

"Ha! Rhia's not even my full name. I shorten it to keep the fae from wanting to rip my head off!"

"I think you just proved my point. Why would the fae be upset about your name?"

"My full name is Rhiannon." Nolan's mouth opened in an 'oh' expression of shock. "Alright, that explains a lot. Why would someone like your father name you after her?"

"Technically he didn't. It was embroidered on my baby blanket before I was abandoned. I think he kept it to spite them, though. She was a queen, right?"

"She was the queen. The last queen before the fae were divided into the Seelie and Unseelie courts."

"Did you know her?"

"No, she was before even my time. But I knew of her. She bonded with a Celtic human king. Their son inherited the human throne. But they only had one child, and the fae would never let a half-blood rule anyway. The thing is, Rhiannon had no other blood-heirs and who was supposed to rule after her was a little... unclear. It split the kingdom in half. The current Seelie king thinks he is directly descended from Rhiannon and the Unseelie queen thinks he's full of shit and the crown should be divided even further, sort of like how the elves run things. But the one thing you don't do when dealing with the fae is bring up how the elves manage shit."

Rhia nodded slowly. "Given that, I think I'm going to stick with Rhia."

"It suits you. I'm still curious to why your birth parents named you Rhiannon."

"I'll add it to the list of questions I have for them if I ever meet them. I hope you don't mind that it takes second place to why."

She practically threw the tray of sausages on the counter, making a harsh clattering sound that echoed off the tiles of the kitchen. Nolan winced. Okay... birth parents were a sore subject. She leaned against the counter without looking at him.

"Sorry." she muttered. "You don't need to be a shrink to see that my adoption fucked me up."

Nolan reached out and took her hand. "It's alright. Come on."

He dumped the sausages onto a plate and guided her onto the couch. "Not worried about spilling?"

"I have a three-year-old grandson," Nolan chuckled and pulled her down next to him. "Stains are inevitable."

"That is still weird to think about." She sighed and popped a sausage into her mouth.

"Yeah, I know, I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to drop that on you so soon."

"I don't know if it would have been any easier to hear regardless of how long you waited."

She leaned back into the cushions and crossed her legs over his lap. He ran his hand across the smooth skin of her lower leg. He was powerless to resist touching her. "Do you..." he hesitated. "Remember anything about your birth family?"

She shrugged and took a long drink from her coffee. "Nothing specific." She said slowly. "No names or faces. I remember... feeling like I belonged. Feeling safe... loved. Then all of that was gone and I was a Kincaid."

"How old were you?"

"Earliest vivid memory was when I was five... ish?"

"And you don't remember anything from before?"

"Nope. My ever-so-charming childhood therapist told me my mind is a powerful tool." She sounded mocking and angry. "Apparently I shut out those memories to protect me from whatever happened. To be honest I wish I could forget the first six months with the Kincaid's."

"Yeah, your brother mentioned you were in the hospital a lot that first year."

Rhia narrowed her eyes before her jaw clenched. "Oh, that rat bastard. He told you, did he?"

"He... heavily implied."

"I am going to kill him."

Nolan's grip tightened on her leg, bringing her back to focus on him, concern dancing in his sapphire eyes. "Is it true?" he asked gently. "Did your... did Richard really put you through the heritage tests?"

"I was never told what I was being tested for. Just that it was for my own good. The doctors took blood, bone marrow, and more lumbar punctures than I care to ever think about. Is that's what involved in the heritage tests?"

"It's the... rapid succession of the tests that allow for deep magical activation. It's not supposed to be performed on children. Really it shouldn't be performed on anyone." He watched her take another sausage and the silence stretched out. "I'm guessing your mother knew nothing about it?"

She smiled, relaxing again. "Madeline is a sweetheart. All she ever wanted in her life was to make art and raise a family. She's too good for Richard but is also the source of the few good memories I have as a kid. She's also kind of a bad ass. If she had any idea that he did that to me, he would be out on his ass."

"So why didn't you tell her?"

"There are better ways of getting revenge. Like being happy and successful." After a second, she cleared her throat. "Let's talk about something else. You still haven't answered my question."

"Fine, fine," he laughed, holding up his hands defensively. "No, I've never bonded with anyone. It always felt too... permanent."

"Commitment-phobe," she chuckled. "I like it."

"First date?"

"Fourteen; Misha Novak. Maddox was twenty, a full-blown police officer, and escorted us the whole time. Extremely awkward. Favourite wife?"

"Wow, way to call me out like that."

"So, you do have one?"

He rolled his eyes. "Cam's mother. Valentina Dracula."

Rhia's eyes rose so fast they could have flown right off her forehead. "Were you the Count Dracula?"

"No! I married into that crazy. The right amount of crazy is sexy. Valentina was on the edge of sexy and scary."

"Well, that explains why you like me."

"You're not crazy. You have crazy family, a crazy history, and maybe some insane fetishes, but you?"

"Ass!" she laughed and threw a pillow at him. "You were having just as much fun as I was."

Nolan's fingers walked up her leg to stroke the inside of her thigh. She let out a little sigh of pleasure. "First real boyfriend?"

"Sam Padalecki. Total sweetheart if a little arrogant. His family moved up to Canada after Richard found out he was a moose shifter. Favourite era?"

"Definitely Victorian England. Scientific advancement, the balls, the courting. It was the first time since the fall of Atlantis that I felt really at home. First love?"

"Jensen Winchester. We bonded over shitty fathers. They travelled a lot, so it was doomed from the beginning. Favourite technological advancement?"

"Showers."

"I'm serious."

"So am I!" he laughed. "Atlantis had revolutionary plumbing that was lost at the fall. Nose blindness doesn't exist as a vampire. Last love?"

Rhia's smile faltered. "Christian Churchill." She said slowly.

"What the hell kind of name is that?" he burst out laughing and stood up. "More coffee?"

"Yes please. Everyone called him Church. He works at the same department as Maddox. He was the one guy Richard approved of. That should have been my first warning."

"What happened?" he refilled her mug before flopping back down next to her.

"It was a normal, adult relationship and I didn't have Richard hovering over my shoulder. I even moved in with him for a while. It was good... until it wasn't. It was kind of like a switch. Suddenly I wasn't pretty enough, smart enough... good enough. It's different when it's someone you actually care about instead of the shithead who adopted you."

Nolan reached out to cup her chin and pull her eyes back to his. "Is that what you meant about the bruises?"

Rhia sighed with irritation, put her mug on the table and shifted to sit on his lap again. She was going to scold him again. He should not be so excited for it. "Now you listen to me because I'm only going to say this once. I like rough sex. I like being tied up during rough sex. What we did last night was absolutely mind blowing. What Church did was beat me until the surgeons had to screw titanium plates to five ribs on one side."

Nolan sighed and ran his hands through her hair. "You got out." He said quietly. "That's what's important."

"Yeah." Rhia slid off his lap and curled into his side. He rubbed her arm soothingly. "It's a good thing Maddox was so popular. Half the department showed up to move my stuff out of his place so I wouldn't have to go back there. I've been living with him since then."

"When did you break up?"

"Ten months ago. I started looking for my own place in the new year, but since his injury, he might need a little more help at home for a while. So, my plans of getting my own place will probably be put on hold for a bit longer."

Nolan pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head. "I have some friends in real estate. Let me know if you want some help finding something affordable and livable."

"Does that even exist?" she joked.

"Only for good girls who beg just right." He growled and kissed her.

She half laughed, half moaned and met his kiss eagerly. When he pulled back, she sucked her bottom lip between her teeth. "Have you ever been to an art gala?" she asked slowly.

"One or two over the eons." He shrugged. "Why?"

"Madeline and a few other artists get together for a charity event every Christmas. It's coming up in a few weeks. It's a black-tie event and I have to wear this stupidly extravagant dress that costs more than my yearly salary... would it be too soon for me to ask if you'd be my date?"

"Not afraid of Richard seeing you with a vampire?"

There was a solid minute before letting out a slight laugh. "I'm twenty-six years old and I'm afraid of my father." She laughed again. "As if he could do anything more to me. Or anything to you."

He brushed the hair from her eyes. "If you want me there, I'll dust off my tailcoat."

She burst out laughing again. "Do it! I dare you."

Suddenly, the shrill ringing of a telephone cut through the room. Nolan sighed and rose to his feet while Rhia whined for him to ignore it. She threw herself back against the couch and drank the rest of her now cold coffee. He came back a few minutes later looking worried. "I have to go." He said stiffly, shoving his feet into his shoes. "There was an accident at the labs."

"Oh my god." She stood up. "Is everyone okay?"

"I don't know. Sorry, to leave you like this."

"It's alright. I should be going anyway."

"Take this." He handed her a key ring with a card and a key attached. "Key to the gates, key to the house."

"Wait," she grabbed his arm as he opened the door. "You trust me enough to give me a key to your house?"

"Rhia," he sighed, trying not to sound irritated. "One of these days, I'm going to be late coming back from work. The kin get twitchy when people hang around the gates. I would rather you make yourself comfortable here." He dragged her into a deep kiss. "I'll call you later."

~

Two hours later Nolan sat in his office. The smell of chemical and electrical burns lingering in the air from the charred remains of his lab. Fire fighters continued to sift through the rubble to make sure the fire was completely out and wouldn't start again spontaneously. No one knew what had happened. The techs were doing their regular work, running samples through the maze of machines, until one of the synthesizers suddenly exploded. Luckily, no one lost their life, but there were injuries, including his lab manager who had a major concussion.

The fire department was doing an investigation. So far they couldn't find any evidence of foul play, but nothing else could explain it. Those machines didn't just... explode. The other hospitals and the other labs in the area would cover the work while they were rebuilding. There were plans and designs and budgets and a thousand other things to consider, but Nolan only had eyes for one thing. A single item on the list of papers he held in his hand. Of all the specimens and samples that had been lost in the accident, he could only focus on one.

Kincaid, Rhia – Whole blood

He stared at the name. He remembered the wave of magic he'd felt the night before. The lights in his bathroom hadn't just burned out, they'd blown out. His phone, no matter how long it was plugged in, would not turn on again. He was willing to bet the other electronics in his bedroom were fried.

"What the fuck are you, Rhia?" he muttered under his breath.

~