Page 100 of Volik

“I still had my brother.” Volik continues to rub my back, comforting me.

“What’s your brother’s name?” I whisper.

With my forehead tucked against his neck, I feel Volik swallow.

“Vameer,” he whispers back.

I breathe in the mint. “Vameer, a good name.”

I feel him nod.

“Volik is a good name too.”

Fingers flex against my neck. “Not as good as Nix. My nighttime goddess.”

It’s my turn to swallow. “My brother’s name was Lucas. The bringer of light.”

Volik’s exhale is rough. “Was?”

I nod, more tears falling.

“Tell me another time.”

I nod again.

Volik squeezes me to him. “Vampires reach maturity at thirty. We are born with our powers inside us. Our fangs and horns grow as we grow. But at thirty, we are who we are. The size of our bodies. The strength of our gravito.”

“Gravito?”

“The power inside us.” A small pulse moves out of Volik, different from his purr. “It is how we move so fast. How we can move other things.”

“Like when you grabbed my sweater from across the room?”

“Da.” Volik hums. “So, when I was six, Vameer was still only twenty-one. Still young. But he took good care of us. And some years later, our uncle found us.”

“Years?” I almost open my eyes at that, but Volik’s warmth and the vibrations of his voice are turning my muscles to jelly.

“When people live for centuries, they treat time differently.” Volik says it simply.

I try—and fail—to wrap my mind around that. “So it was just the two of you until then?”

“It was so long ago. Before phones. Before electricity. We did not know who to trust. And we did not know the way to our relatives’ home.” Volik shrugs. As if that wasn’t tremendously traumatizing for a child. “We had our gravito, and Vameer was already very good, but we were too young to jump long distances without getting lost.”

My mind tries to grab the questions floating through it… but Volik’s purring starts again, and I let them go.

“After my uncle showed up, he took us to live with him and his mate, my Aunt Bridget. They never had children and treated us as their own.”

“Are they still… around?”

“Da.”

“Do you get along with them?”

“Da. They are good people.” I feel Volik move, like he’s shaking his head. “I have put off seeing them for too long.”

“How long has it been?” I can’t help but ask.

“Decades. I do not remember how many. They have reached out. I told them I would find time, but I have not.”