"I'm sure he'll be fine with it."
"You haven't told him about it yet?" her dad asked, pausing to take another bite of steak.
"I didn't want to upset their vacation," Atreides said, making a mistake in saying so. "I mean, if my brother had known all the trouble I've had, not with Selena, but with the rogue hunters, he would have returned right away with Tezra.”
"Tezra," her mother said. "She will help Selena make the transition as well."
"That's what we figure."
"We're glad for you both," her dad said then. "But we want to know if things change when Daemon returns home."
So they weren't fooled by Atreides's attempt to try and show that he believed Daemon would be fine with him and Selena mating.
Selena suddenly appeared in the dining room, arms folded across her chest, and frowning at Atreides. She'd startled everyone and four hunters had their swords drawn. Her parents hadn't seen her using a vampiric mode of transportation yet, so it was probably sinking in a little more that she wasn't exactly like them any longer.
"It was my decision, Daughter," her dad said. "Join us before you fall down."
Atreides was already helping her into the seat beside him, trying not to smile at her dad's words, or appear too grateful her dad had made the decision for her and wouldn't hear another thing about it.
"I told you I wanted to eat with everyone."
"You are, Selena," her mother said. "Just a little late. You were tired, sound asleep, and even Rosa's talking to us in your room didn't wake you. What were we to do? You are a bear when you are tired. And after being injured so? You needed to rest further."
Selena was already eating her steak. It appeared she hadn't lost her appetite, though halfway through her meal she sat back in her chair and looked sleepy all over again. He wanted to carry her back to bed, but he suspected she wouldn't go for it and they would have their first fight as a mated couple.
Instead, everyone talked about the battle, what worked, what went wrong while Selena made the greatest effort to stay awake. Atreides appreciated that they were trying to keep the subject off how tired she appeared. The way she was so lethargic, reminded him of when she'd been so savagely attacked before. Atreides was dying to ask her if she wanted to return to bed, but she could return herself there, so he knew she didn't want to.
All her family members were glancing at Selena, looking at her with worried expressions, feeling as Atreides did. That she needed to be in bed, sleeping, to recover from her wounds faster. They finished the meal, all but Selena, and Atreides saved the rest of her steak for her for later. Then he carried her to the couch and his housekeeper brought a blanket and pillow for her.
They all took seats in the living room where they continued to discuss hunter strategy, while Selena rested her head on Atreides's shoulder and was fine like that for a while. The next thing he knew, she was lying on the pillow on his lap and was sleeping soundly. Everyone seemed pleased to see the way Atreides handled the situation with Selena and were comfortable with her being there.
He still wanted to take her to bed, but he suspected he would wake her and as long as she was happily sleeping there while they all discussed issues, he would do so.
He was surprised to hear her family speaking about hunter strategies though, since he was a vampire.
"So what do you think about the change in this game?" her father asked.
He wasn't sure if her father meant the business with having huntresses who had been turned working with them or—
"The gun issue," her father clarified.
"The vampires can dodge bullets, vanish, as long as we're not hit before that happens. Selena didn't stand a chance because she entered the apartment first to invite me in, was shot, not expecting it, and then had to transport to somewhere safe—the extra bedroom. She was unconscious for a few minutes before she could invite me in and then I immediately came to her aid. I wanted to take her out of there right away, but she was insistent that we take down the hunters, so they didn't get away from us and kill some more."
"She's persistent when she's after a rogue," her mother said.
"And she was right in taking down the hunters before they could kill any more innocents," her dad said.
"If we have trouble with this in the future, those who have to hunt rogues down of this nature, might have to wear bulletproof vests. We all heal faster, but if we bleed out before we can get to safety, it could be bad news for those who are newly turned or who are hunters. As far as it goes for us, the ancient vampires, it shouldn't be an issue. If that's the case, the League might have to call on us to come and help out against hunter rogues. Or rogue vampires who might decide that's the way to go. In a way, I would have liked to have kept this news from the press, so to speak. But there was no way to keep it under wraps because of the injuries Daniel and Selena had suffered," Atreides said.
"I agree," her dad said. "When it comes to a situation like this, we need to be aware of what had occurred anyway, to decide how to handle it best. If we don't, and it occurs again and we're wholly unprepared again, that's not good either."
"True." Atreides stroked Selena's dark hair.
"The hunters were staying in a bad part of town. Do you think they had the guns for that reason?" her mother asked. "They wouldn't have been successful against gunmen if they were using only swords."
"No," her father said. "If that were the case, they would have used swords in an honorable fight. They wouldn't have drawn guns and used them against a huntress. They knew who Selena was. Rosa. Daniel. They might not have known the huntresses turned, but they knew enough of the hunters that they should have dropped the guns and grabbed their swords to fight. They didn't because they planned it that way."
"Did they even have swords in the apartments?" Rosa asked. "We were in such a hurry to get Selena out of there, we never looked."
"The hunters who investigated the crime scenes found their swords near their bodies. They were armed with both. Maybe in the event vampires came after them and they knew they would have to kill them with a sword to the heart or remove their heads,” Daniel said.
They were talking for about an hour when Selena suddenly groaned and sat upright, groaning again. When she saw her whole family sitting in the living room, she let out her breath. "I thought you had gone home."
"No, we didn't want you to think we had abandoned you. We were visiting with Atreides. Are you finally ready to retire to bed?" her mother asked. "We are. We've had a delightful time, and next time, we would love to have you both to our home for dinner."
"We would love it," Atreides said, glad her mother said they were ready to go home. He enjoyed visiting with them, but he really wanted to take Selena to bed where she belonged, and he suspected she wouldn't retire to bed until he did.
"Oh, yes, that would be great," Selena said.
"We have an early hunter meeting to go to," her dad said, standing and stretching.
"I have some calls to make," Daniel said. "Great dinner, Atreides."
"Thanks, we'll do it again sometime."