Demons & Lullabies
Kallysten
Some little boys want to be firemen or astronauts when they grow up. From the moment Jacob understood what his fathers did, he never wanted to do anything but fight demons.
Andrew, Jacob’s father and a vampire, fights demons because it’s a necessity: few others have the strength or skill to kill the strange creatures that started appearing the very night his son was born. He carries with him some guilt, too, and the suspicion that the magic that made Jacob’s very life possible also opened the way for the demons. The last thing he wants is for his son to ever join this fight and get hurt.
As the years pass, however, and Andrew watches Jacob grow up and grow more determined, he slowly has to accept there’s little he can do to deter his son. It doesn’t help that Nicholas, Jacob’s other dad and Andrew’s Childe, starts giving Jacob sword-fighting lessons under the cover of playing, or that Jacob discovers his mother’s diaries and comes to the same conclusion Andrew did concerning his origins and the demons’.
Through snapshots covering Jacob’s life from birth to adulthood, watch all three members of this unusual family change, grow up, and find their place in the world.
Thank you Kallysten, for this awesome excerpt! Congratulations on your release day! This looks like an awesome read!
In Fangs and Lullabies and the new release Demons and Lullabies, we witness glimpses of Andrew's and his Childe Nicholas' lives as they raise Andrew's son, Jacob, from his birth to adulthood. In one of these glimpses, Jacob is worried to hear why his teacher wanted to talk to his father...
“What did she say? Is she mad at me?”
Fluffing Jacob’s hair, Andrew shook his head as he replied. “Of course she’s not mad at you, buddy. Why would she be mad?”
“I don’t know,” Jacob replied with a shrug. “So what did she say, then?”
A fleeting look of unease crossed Andrew’s features, though Nicholas doubted anyone but he would have noticed.
“She just wanted to talk about your last writing assignment,” Andrew said, his hand still running through Jacob’s hair.
“It was just a story,” Jacob said at once.
Despite growing curious, Nicholas didn’t ask what they were talking about; he was sure he’d know soon.
“I know,” Andrew said. “And I think it’s a terrific story. Is it okay if I put it on my wall?”
Jacob’s smile was brighter than the midday sun Nicholas remembered from so long ago. “If you want,” he said, but it felt like a resounding ‘yes!’
“Go wash up,” Nicholas said. “Almost time for bed.”
Jacob ran to his room; he seemed unable to take three steps without running, these days. Nicholas waited until he could hear the water running in the bathroom before he asked Andrew, “Was that it, really? All she wanted was to talk about a story he wrote?”
Andrew’s lips twisted into a grim smile. He set a piece of paper on the kitchen table and opened the highest cupboard, the one above the fridge, at the very back of which they kept a bottle of scotch. He pulled it out, then two glasses, and Nicholas had his answer before Andrew opened his mouth. Of course it wasn’t that easy.
“She’s concerned,” he said as he poured three generous fingers into each glass. He made the word sound like a curse. “She’s afraid we’re traumatizing him by talking about demons.”
His voice was blank, and with no point of reference Nicholas couldn’t figure out what Andrew thought about that nonsense.
“You don’t think she has a point, do you?” Nicholas asked cautiously.
Andrew downed most of his glass in one gulp and grimaced. “No,” he said, and the word was like ice. “I think she’s like the rest of the city.” Andrew snorted and shook his head. “The rest of the world for that matter. They think demons are just fairytales. Think they’ll disappear like they appeared and there’s nothing to worry about.” He finished his glass and set it down on the table with a light clank. “They’re in for an unpleasant awakening.”
Smiling grimly, Nicholas took a small sip from his glass. Before he could figure out what to say, Jacob ran back into the room in his PJs, a trace of toothpaste still at the corner of his lips.
“I’m ready for my story!”
“All right, I’m coming. Say goodnight to Nicholas.”
A quick hug and a kiss to Jacob’s forehead later, Nicholas was alone in the kitchen. Setting down the glass he hadn’t finished, he picked up the assignment sheet Andrew had left on the table and sat. As he read it, he couldn’t help but smile. He was still grinning when Andrew joined him in their bedroom a little while later.
“It was a great story,” he said, not even waiting until Andrew had locked the door. “Except for the part where you get the last blow. I’ll have to remind Jacob I’m the better swordsman.”
As he approached, Andrew laughed quietly. “Think so, huh?” he asked as he tugged his shirt over his head.
Nicholas licked his lips. “I know so. You’re old and slow.”
Fire gleamed in Andrew’s eyes. He all but pounced onto the bed.
“I’ll show you old.”
They wrestled a little, rolling back and forth on the bed, muffling laughter against each other’s mouths and skin. Before long, Nicholas was trapped under Andrew, his hands pinned over his head.
Andrew grinned. “You were saying?”
“That’s not sword fighting,” Nicholas pointed out, tongue in cheek.
Andrew pressed his hips—his cock—against Nicholas’. Even through their clothes, the touch was exquisite.
“Are you sure about that?” he asked, a little breathless.
Nicholas laughed.
Continued in Demons and Lullabies by Kallysten
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