Cole woke to warmth wrapped around her and two voices chatting back and forth. She listened to the man and woman talking. Cole knew his voice and would probably know it for the rest of her life. Joseph, the strange man who was her other half. The woman's voice; Cole realized, was also very familiar. Her adoptive mother Anna. They were talking about Ben and how he would be cared for, where he would live, what he would eat, and how Joseph would afford to pay for it all. Cole was thinking this was odd because Joseph wasn't going with the circus so why would all these things matter?

Because my little warrior kitten, you love the cat and the circus won't be able keep him when you leave.

How do you know I won't go with them?

Because you know our kind needs soil and you cannot risk others in your circus family knowing of our existence.

So where will Ben go?

He will live with us.

Cole knew if any other person had said this she would be asking dozens of question and seriously doubting the truth of the words, but she knew Joseph was telling the truth.

I can walk you know.

I know.

Let me down Joseph. There was a bite with her words. She could feel Joseph's amusement at her words.

No, I want to carry you. Please let me do this small thing.

It wasn't really a question, he would carry her whether she agreed or not, but the pleading in his voice made her give in. He kissed her forehead and Cole sent him an image of her strangling him.

He chuckled darkly, That's not very nice.

I'm not a nice person. She shot back at him.

His laughter seemed to resonate into her very soul. You are right, you are so much more than nice. You are all that is good in this world.

Cole snorted, but she was pleased he believed so. She remembered her promise to the vampire, her ability to pull darkness around her soul like a heavy cloak. She knew that she wasn't normal, the Carpathian women were supposed to be wholly of the light. Light did not allow shadows to creep close and banish all that was good from one's thoughts. But it was still nice to enjoy someone believing she was good.

Joseph had slipped through Cole's mind and seen her thoughts. He saw she believed she was born with something wrong with her. He had been deep in her mind when she had wrapped darkness around her. It seemed like it might smother her light, the inner light in her was strong, the strongest he had ever seen in had noted her dark surface thoughts, knew she would make the vampires suffer for harming her family, but deep down she took no joy in the act. It was merely her making an example out of them.

Joseph opened the front door to his home and let Anna in. Anna looked around with wide eyes, her gazing flicking back to Joseph.

"I miss judged you."

Cole snorted and squirmed trying to get out of Joseph's arms. Joseph set her down gently.

"You have no idea," Cole muttered to her adoptive mother.

"Anna!" Sarah and Maria rushed into the room and flung themselves into Anna's arms. Anna swung them back and forth before setting both girls back on their feet. She bent down and looked as if she was inspecting both for something. Both Sarah and Maria waited until she was done.

Maria asked, "Find what you were looking for?"

"Yep, you are both you."

Sarah and Maria exchanged guilty glances and both looked towards Cole.

"So you noticed," Maria asked her.

Anna nodded solemnly, and tried to smile. "Your sister is different, but she is still the same girl who saved my tiger. That much could never change." Anna gave Cole a reassuring smile.

Cole turned to her sisters. "You two should be in bed, you need your rest if you're going to be learning anything tomorrow."

Both girls' eyes lit up, before they could ask anything Cole held up her hand to silence them.

"Get dressed and ready for bed, and then I'll answer questions."

Maria and Sarah bolted towards their bedrooms before Cole could even finish her sentence.

Anna laughed, "You always did have a way with those two."

"Being honest helps."

At that moment the front door banged open as Gale came in carrying a box of stuff.

"I think this is the last of our stuff."

Joseph walked over to him and held the door open so he could get in the house without dropping the box and all its contents in the snow. Gale heaved the box onto the couch then turned to Anna and hugged her. He had to stoop a little in order to hug her.

"I'm glad you are alright."

Anna nodded.

Gale did not mention Jason and Cole appreciated it. His death weighed on her like a heavy stone. Joseph sent her waves of comfort while Gale pulled keys to the RV out of his pocket and handed them to Anna. "You are still on our insurance so you're good to drive it. Consider it an early Christmas present from all of us."

Anna took the keys and wiped away the tears in her eyes. She then glanced at Joseph, "There's still the matter of Ben."

Joseph nodded and waved for them to follow him down the hall. He turned into a room that had a huge oak desk. On the desk were three different computer monitors. The whole room was covered floor to ceiling in book shelves with just about every title imaginable. Mythology had entire bookshelf to itself. Cole snorted when she saw a few of the latest popular vampire books stacked up in the giant black office chair. Joseph set the books on the floor and turned the computers on. His fingers flying over the keys for several minutes. Then he pulled off a book of law from the shelf behind him. He consulted it for a long moment then went back to typing. Finally he smiled and printed off several papers. He then pulled a pen from the desk and handed it to Anna.

"You need to sign those."

Anna blinked down at the stack of papers. "What are they?"

"They are papers of adoption, saying that Cole and I are adopting the tiger Ben." Joseph pointed to a number on the page. "This is how much we will be paying for him."

Cole watched as Anna blinked, counted, and recounted the number of zeros behind the one. There were six zeros behind it. Then she gaped like a fish for a long moment. She opened her mouth to say something then closed it again.

"That is to cover any losses the circus sustains due to Ben's absences. Does that about cover it?"

Anna swallowed her surprise then her gaze became shrewd. "It does, if you can actually pay for it."

"My uncle is a jeweler; I picked it up and made a considerable amount of money. Plus my art sells pretty well. And my computer skills are unsurpassed. My people basically employ me to take care of their computer needs and problems." Joseph pulled a check book from a filing cabinet that was hidden under the desk. He swiftly wrote the check then handed it to Anna.