"What in the hell is that?" Talamayas asked, clenching his teeth and covering an ear as they headed to the greeting room. Forest had called ahead for a visit, and they found him at the bottom of the thrones patting an infant lightly on his shoulder and soothing its cries to sniffles as it still moved restlessly on his shoulder.

"It's called a baby, Talamayas," Forest called over, dropping his cloak's hood and throwing them a wide smile. His long brown hair trailed freely out of it, and the tan of cloak over his mage robes made him look more like a desert snowman with all the bulk. The bag over his arm for the child also had him leaning as he balanced it with the small life in his hands.

"I know what an infant is, Forest," Talamayas growled, dropping his hand now that the little one had quieted. "I have half a house of nomads living in my castle and they favor the walls when their children are youngest. They usually give me warning though." Talamayas looked into Forest's eyes and tilted his head. "You found a mate?"

Forest huffed a laugh but kept it muted as he rocked the child, so wrapped in little blankets that Wren couldn't see more than the pale hand that Forest was stroking with his as he swayed slowly.

"I'm watching the baby for a friend, Tala. Silvia is all the children I need. She came attached to a very small vampire so my hands are full of crybabies." Forest's jab had Talamayas crinkling his face as he resisted his vampiric urge to growl at him for insulting his best friend, but they both knew he loved Neil Arc to death. "I was hoping to speak to Wren alone. I have some sensitive human matters to deal with, and it would probably bore you."

"I am capable of listening to things not related to vampires," Talamayas bristled until Wren patted his arm. The motion was so heavy of a slap that Tala jumped his focus down to him, those deep crimson eyes seeking out his mate for anything he might need.

"Tala, that's the humans' nice way of saying, 'go away it's none of your 'business'. Forest was not insulting your attention span, even if he's completely right." Wren gave his mate a wide smile that had him crossing those muscled arms over his bare chest.

"You should watch what you say to me, Wren," Talamayas threatened, but it wasn't a promise of violence.

No matter how Wren tried to avoid Talamayas in his grief over Riff's loss, Talamayas continued to smother him with lust and love so that he could not sink into despair. Tala was grieving too, crushed by Wren's unhappiness, so it was more likely that he'd pin him to a bed, lay on top of him, and just stay there until Wren suffocated.

Technically that was a threat, right?

"We can talk in my new study that Talamayas has gifted me," Wren offered, ushering for Forest to follow. "It's lined with Song magic, so no one can hear through the walls, even if Tala presses his ear to the door."

"Sounds good." Forest adjusted the squirming baby against his chest, and the poor little one roved around it for a nipple that wasn't there. It seemed rather young for the child to be away from its mother, but tragedy happened often with young mages when vampires were involved.

Wren left Talamayas with a less than chaste kiss, because even if he tried not to suck on Talamayas tongue as they pressed their hard bodies together with Forest around, Tala would do it anyway. Air gasped into his lungs and Wren's face had yet to calm from cherry back to his normal pallor even after they stepped in his study.

The shelves were mostly empty, waiting to be filled with anything Wren might want, and a desk in the corner gave him a place to sit on days where he just needed to think. Or write. Mages often chronicled their journeys and conquests, and Wren had sat down to write an extensive history of the Songs from his birth to current day. After all, his story was the end of their long journey. It made him feel whole again, like his family wasn't lost and forgotten, and that gave him the will to live most days.

"What can I help you with?" Wren asked, sitting at his desk's chair and ushering to the cushy arm chair behind it. He figured Forest might want to sit with the child, yet he remained standing, a few paces inside the door with his brow lowered and his lips pursed.

"Talamayas cannot hear me in here?" Forest asked again, like what he had to say was so dangerous that it was his death if his mate found out.

"Even if he could, Forest, I'm not sure what news you could bring me that would endanger you." Worry needled Wren as Forest took in a slow breath, rocked the child in his arms, and then sat in the arm chair.

"Not me. You," Forest said simply, a long tired sigh echoing the first like this was tidings worse than war. "Vampires are instinctually protective of what they have, and lethally jealous if a mate wanders into another bed. I am afraid what Talamayas would do if he found out that you slept with a Cinder while your memories were suppressed. You exhibited enough of your real self to not harm Talamayas and work with him for the truth, so not having prudence where your dick was concerned is a bit puzzling."

"Watch what you say, Forest," Wren bit out, not liking the insinuation that he'd just up and fuck anyone. "It's not something I pass around because it's embarrassing and quite frankly shameful that I was so weak, but Riff drugged me. I was not a consenting party when he dropped me on a bar couch and told a Cinder to show me a good time."

"My apologies, I was not given much context when I learned of it." Forest near whispered, dropping his eyes to the floor as he rubbed the child's back softly.

"I was so gone on GHB that I hallucinated Talamayas fucking me, so it wasn't like I cheated." Wren tasted acid as he recalled how Riff had taken advantage of him. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't punched Riff in the face for that. There just hadn't been a chance. "I already told Talamayas. Luckily, Riff wasn't around by the time I worked up the courage to broach it. As much as I wanted to beat the shit out of Riff for what he did, I understood his motivations. Riff didn't want the Songs to die out as much as he didn't want more of himself in this world. I was the only option when he thought Harper and Cadence dead."

"How did Talamayas respond?" Forest asked more curiously than Wren thought a person should. Normally people gave rape victims the privacy of working through their ordeal with their loved ones. To pry was a little messed up considering how recent the wound was, but there seemed to be more to the question than Forest was saying.

"Not well," Wren sighed into the floor, lacing his hands together and clenching them as he thought about how much pain it had put Tala through to know another had taken him against his will. "At first he walked away from me, just up and left without a word, and I didn't need to know where he went. When Talamayas is extremely upset, he tends to break things, and with how much power he throws into the desert floor, I'm convinced he's trying to shatter the rock beds and extend it."

"Did he come around?" Forest asked another strange question.

Come around to what?

"Talamayas and I have been through difficult times this last year, not all of which I feel like detailing to you, Forest. Talamayas understands I did not want what happened, but he has strong vampire instincts and urges. It was a fight within himself between giving me space if I wanted it and fucking me raw so I didn't remember anything but him. Is that enough to sate your curiosity, Forest?" Wren's words came out in snap of anger, but Forest didn't look like he felt any of it.

"I do not care to hurt you, Wren, nor am I at all curious for my own sake. I want to know if Tala might hurt your child, Wren." Forest's words had Wren snapping his eyes to the bundle in Forest's arms.

The ground under him disappeared, and he had such a hard time focusing that he fell out of his chair. Forest was in no position to catch or help him, and Wren's arms trembled as he lifted himself, his vision narrowing as he tried to catch his breath. A small coo grounded him, and he managed to lift his gaze to Forest as he rocked his child.

"Why do you have my child?" Wren asked, wondering about the mother who had fled from him like he was the devil. Riff had said she had been near hysterical at how things had gone down, disgusted that he'd moaned Talamayas' name while he was inside of her.

"The Cinder woman rejected it, said she wanted no part of the Songs and thrust it upon the vampire-mage alliance. Tide was the one at the complex that day, and he kept it hush hush while passing the baby off to me."

"Is it a girl or a boy?" Wren whispered, unable to look at the child as much as he was to find his feet. When Forest didn't answer, he lifted his face to Forest's despairing expression.

A boy then.

Talamayas would not harm a girl, not with the way vampires revered women, and as much as Wren would like to think Tala would not hard any child, Forest was right. Vampires didn't do sharing. Their possessive urges were downright lethal if their mate so much as looked at another. For Wren to have a child with a woman outside of Tala's knowledge was a betrayal, even if it hadn't been his choice. A boy was an heir, a powerful addition to the Song line considering his parentage, but he was also a constant reminded of Wren's infidelity with another.

A knock on the door had Wren near jumping out of his skin. What if it was Tala? How could he look him in the eyes, tell him he'd borne a child with another, that he wanted so badly to keep him, to raise him, to love him. The only other option was to give his son up, to have Forest find a family and keep a lie from his mate until his son was strong enough to defend himself against Tala's ire. But that would be never.

Tears sprung to his eyes so powerfully that Forest was the one to get the door.

As soon as it was open, Forest cursed, and Wren jumped up in fear for his child. What he found was not Tala tearing his child out of Forest's arms in rage though. Quite the contrary. Aaron and Rinslet were there, the leader of the nomads having swiped his son from Forest's hold.

"Awwww, he looks like just like you," Aaron cooed as he angled the baby down to Rinslet who had a bag over her shoulder. It was a diaper bag, Wren realized as she brought a small towel up and wiped his son's face. "Look at those little dark eyes," Aaron said, kneeling in front of Wren so he could see his son for the first time.

Just as Aaron said, the grey eyes of his son peered back at him, but at this age they couldn't focus on much. Plus, the child didn't seem to want to keep them open, and a small hand reached out of the bundle as he stretched and snuggled closer to Aaron. A small bit of red fluff clung to the boy's head, so deep red that it could only be the Song's. Wren couldn't help but touch the side of the child's face with just the back of his index finger, the barest of touch so he didn't get the child dirty.

"I thought you said no one could hear into the room?" Forest objected as he paced back and forth behind Aaron and Rinslet, clearly fearing for the child's wellbeing.

"We can't," Aaron said, standing and using a hand to yank Wren onto his feet. Those dark eyes narrowed on Forest with some sort of chastisement. "No one brings babies into Sol territory, Forest. Talamayas has more than a few brain cells and commanded Rin and me to prepare a place for the child.

"We have a lovely nursery on the lower levels and the babies benefit from being around each other. They grow faster when they see others lifting their heads and crawling before them. Not to mention this guy must be thirsty after sitting around with you guys all this time. We have a few wet nurses right now who can take him. Come on. You should be with your son, Wren."

Aaron pulled him out the door, but he was slow in following, confused by the turn of events and worried about what all of it would mean. A hand dropped on his head as soon as he stepped out the door, and he knew the volatile energy of his mate better than anyone's. The fear it drove through him had his heart pounding and slowing in rotation until Talamayas grabbed him by an arm and stuffed him into his chest for a suffocating embrace.

"Wren, it's all right," Talamayas whispered into his hair as Wren's tears soaked his bare chest. "We will raise your son together, and I will love him just as much as you do." The words had Wren lifting his eyes in question. There was hurt in Talamayas blood red eyes, but also compassion and understanding. "I am relieved to know the mother wants no part in his life, because I honestly could not tolerate that."

"What happened to not hearing through the wall?" Forest ground out, but he jumped as Vice came into view with a hand on his shoulder. "Ugh. You. Of course you."

"You won't resent him?" Wren asked but really he was begging.

"No, Wren. I do not want anything to do with the mother, but without what happened, you would have no other means to create an heir. You deserve a child, a family, the likes of which I know I could not give to you. It had crossed my mind more than once that we might use a surrogate if the time came that you might desire a child, but just thinking about it was a bit stressful. This way is already done, and I would love to raise your child with you." Talamayas paused tentatively. "That is if you would want that."

"I would love that," Wren whispered, reaching up and pulling Tala's mouth down to his to kiss him. What they shared was tender, Talamayas hard lips molding to his but not invading his mouth with lust of any kind.

"Also," Talamayas said into his lips as Wren detached from his hold. "Explain to Forest that I do not eat children. You don't have to go skulking around behind my back like I'm nothing but a threat, Forest. I raised your son in law and he turned out all right."

"All right is subjective," Forest growled, crossing his arms. "No one needs a Song who cries at the mention of homeless puppies."

"What's a puppy?" Talamayas asked so seriously that Forest's jaw hung open, and Wren chased the response with light laughter. Pride and happiness swelled in him as he followed Aaron who held his son.

His son.

A Song who would grow up side by side with Sols and Songs alike, to learn peace and understanding instead of hate. Harper would be so excited to have another Song around, and Cadence would bond with him like brothers. A fifteen year age gap was nothing to mages who lived hundreds of years, and all he could do as he walked was imagine all of the possible lives his son could live.

All of them in safety and surrounded by love.

Something no Song had never had.

XXXXXXX Please stop in to the last chapter for thoughts and next book details! XXXXXXX

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Word Count: 2766