Free Desire by Blood by Melissa Schroeder

had been working with Gray, then the
early day visit with Cordelia, and then back to Gray’s. He needed a healthy
night’s rest, or maybe two.
    Worse, watching Hurst discover that his life was completely
changed, that everything he had known was now gone, had been draining. Sure, he
could live as someone in the ton , but
he would spend his life watching his friends and family die. Nico himself had
been through that, and it had been horrifying. It was something he did not wish
on anyone, Born, Made, or human.
    “You should probably stay in tonight, old man,” said Malik.
“Not sure if you are up to a soiree.”
    He shot his friend a nasty look as his butler opened the
door. “Bugger off.”
    “That is no way for a gentleman to talk, Nicodemus.”
    He glanced down the hallway and found his parents standing
in the foyer. Bloody, bloody hell.
    “When did you arrive?” he asked as he strode forward to hug
his mother. The smell of lavender immediately surrounded him. He could never
smell the blossom and not think of his mother.
    “Just in time,” she said, then gave him a kiss and drew
back. “Are you going to tell me what all the gossip is about?”
    “Always cutting to the chase, mother?” Nico asked.
    She gave him a knowing look. In all his five hundred years
he could never fool his mother. The woman was one of the strongest Carriers he
knew. She didn’t suffer fools, and she always knew what he was up to. It was a
bit disconcerting that his mother was so tapped into his life.
    “Adelaide, do you think we could possibly let the boys join
us in the parlor? Nicodemus looks like death incarnate at the moment,” his
father said.
    She sighed and nodded. Then she looked over his shoulder.
“Do not think you will be getting away tonight, Malik. Come, join us.”
    He glanced at his friend and smiled. The irritated look on
Malik’s face told Nico that he still was not comfortable with his mother’s
insistence that he was part of the family. She did not wait, though. As usual,
she turned and started to walk into the parlor. His father gave him an amused
look and followed.
    “Come on, Malik, there is no way out of it now.”
    He said nothing but he did follow Nico. His mother took a
seat on the couch and was joined by his father. He studied them for a moment.
His father did not look a day over fifty and his mother the same. No one would
expect that they were both over six hundred years old. For their kind, being
surrounded by family usually gave them a sense of peace. It had been even more
so after his brother had died. For some reason, he felt as if he itched from
the inside out.
    “I want to know what is going on.”
    “Yes, mother I do believe you did mention that earlier. I
sent you a message, but that was only a few hours ago. What I am trying to
understand is why you are here?”
    She was stoic, her expression telling him nothing. Still, he
could feel something simmering beneath the surface. She was barely holding on
to her temper.
    “Your mother had a feeling,” his father said. The low tone
told him the trip had not been easy on either of them. For bonded mates,
especially those with a long relationship like his parents, the empathic
connection was strong.
    He shared a look with Malik. No one inside the family, or
even close friends, ever doubted her intuition. She was the one person who did
not like Neal Pearson when he had befriended Nico. Their family would have been
better off if Nico had listened to her at the time.
    She looked between the two of them. Nico had a feeling that
his mother was taking the time to choose her words carefully. “I insisted that
we leave. You down here doing your investigations…I was worried.”
    “You thought I was in trouble, and of course you rushed
down. Do you not think that you could put yourself at risk by coming here?”
    The look his mother gave him would shrivel a lesser man’s
manhood. He had centuries to learn to be immune but it still made him twitch.
“Do