"Good morning," Ari greeted everyone about 10 o'clock the next morning.
"Morning," Spencer greeted.
"Yes, good morning," Dave said smiling, as he flipped pancakes.
"Sleep well?" Liana asked.
"Actually, I spent most of the night thinking," Ari said. "I do need to sleep sometime, but not as much as mortals."
"So what did you think about?" Spencer asked, as he enjoyed his uncle's pancakes. Both his uncle and his aunt were very good cooks, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to eat once he was a vampire. He wouldn't be a half vampire like Ari, but a full one and while his mate could eat when she wanted to and he wouldn't be able to. He'd only be able to drink blood, so he might as well enjoy it while he could.
"Well, first I want to see you transform Dave," Ari said. "It's not that I disbelieve you, but still, I'd like to see it for myself."
"Alright," Dave said calmly, as he placed several pancakes at Liana's place at the table. "Right, after breakfast, I'll show you."
Ari nodded at this and watched as Dave expertly prepared pancakes. Syrup was offered, but rejected when Ari found strawberries in the mixture.
"One of Uncle Dave's best breakfasts," Spencer said as he gobbled down his. "He can cook just about anything really and he often does it from scratch, still, his pancakes are one of my favorites. I'm going to miss eating when I am a vampire," Spencer added.
"I'm lucky that I can still eat sometimes," Ari said.
"You know magus were said to be immortal or at least very long lived," Dave said. "Spencer really doesn't look 18 and I have no doubt he'll barely look in his early 20s even when he's 40."
"What are you saying?" Ari asked.
"Just that you might not want to turn him into a vampire until he starts to look old, which might not happen for a long time," Dave said. "Even Liana might've lived for 1000 years, because of the amount of power she possesses, and she wouldn't have started to look old until the very end of her life. Now, that we've mated though, she's not going to start to look old for a very long time, not until I do."
"You know that's an interesting proposition," Ari said finally seeming to be thinking. "My only objection is he can be hurt a lot easier, since he's still mortal, even if he's very long-lived."
"But it's also his choice," Dave told her. "I'm sure he wants to enjoy food and other things he won't be able to for a long as possible."
"I would say at least give it a try," Spencer put forth his opinion. "I would like to be able to enjoy food and drink for as long as I can, as long as I still look young. If others attack me, just because they think I'm helpless well, Uncle Dave taught me how to defend myself."
"Yes, I did. He was quite a good student," Dave praised. "Once he outgrew his natural clumsiness. His body went through an awkward stage just like a lot of children's bodies do."
"I used to trip over my own 2 feet, or over what seemed like nothing," Spencer said ruefully. "I never thought that I'd outgrow it, but Uncle Dave was right, I did."
"His biological father gave him some untrue ideas about himself," Dave said tactfully.
"He means that William Reid told me things to make himself feel better and made me believe that all my faults were going to be permanent instead of me outgrowing a lot of them, as I grew into my body. He made my intelligence sound like a disease, instead of it being a wonderful thing that needed to be nurtured," Spencer explained.
"It's not like Spencer can help his intelligence and for his father to want him to dumb himself down, just shows how much he didn't really care about his son," Liana who had been silent said.
"Well, considering you told me that Spencer was going to go live on the street in his own dimension, thinking that he'd be at least marginally safer then with his own father that tells me that no, he wasn't much of a parent at all," Ari said. "Also, considering that Spencer saw him murder his mother I don't blame him for thinking that the streets would be safer."
"I know better now," Spencer said. "Though at least I would've died free, instead of being murdered if that's what happened. I'd rather die a freeman then to be murdered by someone who is supposed to care for and love me."
"I don't think anyone can blame you for that," Liana said. "I felt the same back when Templar was chasing me."
"So what happened to this Templar?" Ari asked causally.
"Don't worry he's dead," Dave grinned evilly, causing Ari to echo his expression. "He got exactly what he deserved."
"See as soon as my concealment charm faded, his thugs showed up within 48 hours, as Templar had a witch working for him, one that could divine the future like Brigid, just not as powerful. I was pregnant you see and the fetus was soaking up a lot of magic. Even with Dave supplying me with some of his power it still made minor charms fade if you were using them," Liana explained. "I couldn't use magic much when I was pregnant, but I was used to not using it anyway because of Templar, so it was no inconvenience for me."
"We got the location of his headquarters out of one of the men he had sent. We killed the rest," Dave said taking up the explanation. "And it wasn't really hard to get into his compound."
"Dave and I, along with Brigid took him out, but put the others under a sleeping potion," Liana said. "We figured that some of the thugs would be grateful to get out of that life and this would protect the women who never wanted to be part of his organization in the first place, but were, because of threats against their loved ones. Templar didn't treat them very well no matter how expert they were in whatever they were doing for him. He had a really low opinion of women actually. I think, he thought, that he could control me easily using threat and intimidation."
"He had some of those rare slave collars, I'm not sure how many," Dave continued and even Ari visibly shuddered at that. "And we learned that he would be willing to use one on Liana if she didn't cooperate."
"Considering I got myself a concealment charm and was hiding from him he must've known he'd never get me to cooperate willingly. He killed my mother after all or least his men did, even if it was supposedly an accident, so I don't see him just assuming I would cooperate after that. He wasn't a stupid man, just arrogant, with a low opinion of women," Liana said. "He might've been an evil man, but that doesn't mean he was stupid, unfortunately."
Both Dave and Liana explained the rest of the story to Ari who listened intently.
"Well, at least he's dead now, so you're free," Ari said looking at Liana.
"I know, but I still don't use magic much," Liana said. "I just got so used to not using it that I just don't see a reason to break the habit. That's one reason I enjoy doing potions. I own a shop that's mostly run by Brigid, though I do go in somedays. I was only able to start a shop thanks to Dave's generosity when I sold him that jewelry. He was more than generous."
"I only gave her what it was truly worth," Dave told Ari with a wink. "One of those items was enchanted, so it was worth at least three times the regular stuff. She didn't want to believe that I wasn't giving her more than they were worth, but really, I wasn't. She'd had to live on so little for so long that having so much money seemed like a sin, for a long time."
"I'd had so little that having so much cash, all of a sudden, just seemed rather...wrong," Liana decided finally. "I've gotten over that now, but for at least a couple of years, I was marveling that I had so much suddenly. It's actually rather nice not to have to worry about where my next meal is coming from like I did for so long."
Everybody ate breakfast talking softly.
"So when do I get to meet your children?" Ari asked.
"Anytime you like, though the older ones are old enough to get out of their own now," said Dave regretfully. "I think they're only staying because they get fed and they don't have to worry about cooking their own meals."
"It's not that we mind having them around. After all, they are still quite young for dragonlings," Spencer said smiling.
"The older two are of age, so they're free to leave at anytime," Liana said.
"At least they've learned not to transform into their dragon forms, unless they are sure they're alone," Dave said. "If there's is one thing we've drummed into their head all their lives its caution and secrecy. Our very existence depends on it."
"You have to admit they're responsible, even the two younger ones," Spencer told his Uncle Dave.
"Yes, they are," Dave admitted looking proud. "I would never allow them to leave and go off on their own if I didn't believe that they were."
"How would you stop them?" Ari asked.
"There is such a thing as binding and compulsions spells," Liana explained her tone neutral. "They literally wouldn't be able to go off on their own until they learned responsibility and couldn't talk about it if they tried. Its not the type of magic I like to perform, as it is literally forcing them to stay here and not talk about unsafe subjects until they learn responsibility and how to keep a secret. However, our lives are more important than my morals in this case. Our very lives depend on them being responsible and not revealing what we are to the wrong people, like my mother did. As dramatic as that sounds that it doesn't make it any less true. It was my mom being careless and displaying how much power she had in the wrong environment that brought Templar down on her head and then on mine, once she was no longer around to protect us."
Ari was nodding at this, because even as young as she was by vampire standards she knew very well that sometimes such actions were necessary. It was clear that neither Dave or Liana wanted to take such action, but they would if necessary, because if one dragon was discovered, well, more would be looked for until they were all hunted down even the children. It had happened before, hundreds of years ago after all. Sometimes actions no matter how distasteful had be taken for the good of a lot of people.
"Luckily, for us, they have proven very responsible," Dave said cheerfully. "And we don't have to worry about children for over two hundred years and the next mating cycle. It pains me to admit that I know the younger two are going to be eighteen as well sooner then I would like. Now about that transformation," Dave said rising having finished his breakfast. "If you're done with breakfast, I'll take you to where I transform sometimes."
Ari finished up the last of her pancakes, which had been beyond delicious and then followed Dave to a large room that didn't have much furniture.
"I transform here sometimes," Dave explained. "Sometimes I just like to relax in my dragon form. Liana often joins me and works on the computer or reads a book while leaning against my side. She knows that I would never think about harming her not even in my real form."
Ari watched, as Dave started to transform rapidly. He was surrounded in a blue silver nimbus of light, that grew to at least 10 times the size it had been and Ari knew that he had transformed into his dragon form.
Finally, the blue silverish nimbus of light faded and an enormous dragon simply lay there breathing smoke.
"He won't hurt you so you can pet him if you like," Spencer's voice said from the doorway.
Ari turned and looked at her mate who stood there looking relaxed.
Ari gently patted Dave's side making sure to stay away from his mouth that could throw flames at her. If there was one thing vampires were vulnerable to it was fire. Dave seemed to understand, because somehow he looked amused, though he was nice enough to turn his head away from her, so that she wasn't afraid of being set on fire.
Finally, Ari stepped back and once she was far enough away Dave started to transform.
It didn't take any time at all for Dave to be back to his normal human self.
"Well, I'm convinced," Ari said. "I now definitely understand why you are so careful about who you tell and why it took so long for you to trust me completely."
"It wasn't just for Liana's or my children sake or, it was for Spencer too," Dave said. "Spencer has a very rare talent that the government would love to get their hands on. I know you didn't know what kind of power we had until last night, but now you do and I know you'll protect him."
"I can protect myself Uncle Dave," Spencer protested.
"Not from a whole bunch of government agents, you can't," Dave told Spencer firmly in a chastising tone, causing Spencer to blush. "They would eventually either convince you to work for the government or kill you, because the spell on the cells at the prison are not meant for someone with our power, something I promise you they would know. I know you don't like to kill, even when you see the necessary of it. Ari won't have that problem."
"Definitely not," Ari said vehemently. "They'll be dead if they dare come after you. I'll kill so many of them they'll either give up or die. Us vampires, are a law onto ourselves. We mostly live in the Shadowlands, though we do come onto this world sometimes, for business and for pleasure. We have our own laws and the government here is well aware of that fact. Mates are absolutely sacred to us, threaten them, go after them and you're dead. There will be no second chances."
"Let's hope that's never necessary," Spencer said grimacing.
"It might be one day so you need to prepare yourself for it," Dave told his nephew firmly. "Humans can be very idiotic, arrogant and demanding lad, something you should know. Supernaturals are no different in that regard. You're going to be very long lived according to what I remember about magi so long as you aren't killed. You can't expect to always have a peaceful life for as long as you're going to live, Spencer. You might wish for it, but it's unlikely that it'll always be. They'll probably be decades of peace, before there's some problem, but you also don't really know."
Spencer listened and knew that his uncle was right. He couldn't expect to have a peaceful life for all the centuries he was going to live. He might wish for it, but it was unlikely. He suspected that he'd eventually find to much peace rather staid at least. Still, he had to admit that he was looking forward to his life with Ari. Hopefully, she'd agreed to let him stay human at least until he was a hundred or so, because he didn't want to argue with her about it and he would if he had too. It would depend if he still looked to young by the time he reached that stage of his life, like his Uncle Dave thought he would. He'd like to enjoy as many foods as he could before Ari finally changed him.
Dave led the way out of the room where he had transformed and back to the library where they all settled themselves on the comfortable furniture, so they could talk in comfort.
~~~Dave and Liana~~~
Several years later
"So I've been wondering if it's possible for us to have children?" Spencer asked his mate. Spencer was now 23 and had just graduated college the year before. He and Ari had mated, as soon as he had graduated, though they were not yet married. He didn't really look old enough to be married to a woman who was fortyish, though she didn't look it, so they were holding off on the wedding until Spencer looked older, which meant that they might never be able to get married, as Spencer suspected that he would look young for at least the next hundred years if not longer.
This question about children Spencer had been thinking about for sometime. He had never wanted children when he was younger, but then, he figured he'd never get married. His father's parenting skills had still been very much part of his makeup. His father's words had stuck with him until his uncle had finally told him to forget them and reminded him that William Reid hadn't cared about him, so why should he abide by what his father believed about his son. Still, it was hard to shake what his father had told him, more than once. In fact, numerous times and he was only seven when he had come here to this dimension.
"Yes, we should be able to," Ari said. "And much easier than my parents had me. The only reason I was born is because my parents were a truelove match, soulmates just like you and me. One was a magical, though not as powerful as your aunt and the other a vampire.
"So no brothers and sisters?" Spencer asked.
"No, though they might have more in the future if the gods are kind. I'm less than 50 though, so it's still very possible," Ari said.
"But isn't your mother too old to have children now?"
"No, she's a vampire while my father is the magical, though my father is getting older."
"Which is one reason you want to turn me into a vampire," Spencer guessed. "You don't ever want to lose me, because of my mortality."
"That's one reason yes," Ari admitted sheepishly. "While my father is still young by magical standards, he will die someday unless he consents to be changed. He could live another two or three hundred years, but still, the day will come when he passes away."
"Eventually I will consent to be changed," Spencer promised her solemnly, "but I know very well I don't look 23. In fact, I barely look 17."
Ari knew it was true so nodded. She couldn't blame Spencer for not wanting to look so young for the rest of his immortal life, as people would discount him because of that, except his family who knew him. A lot of people believed that age brought wisdom, but she and Spencer knew better. Many people never learned that lesson though.
"I want to look at least 30 before I agree to that unless I'm deathly ill or injured," Spencer said, "and I would prefer to look 40. Considering I barely look 17 that's likely going to be several centuries at least, but I suppose we'll see."
"Alright then," Ari said. "I can't blame you for wanting to look older than you do now. I know we discussed this a few years ago when your uncle's suggested not turning you for a few decades, but I wasn't entirely sure I agreed with him at the time. So long as you're not deathly ill or injured."
"I rarely even catch a cold," Spencer told Ari. "I'm usually as healthy as a horse, as the saying goes."
"Alright then," Ari said.
"Now, about those children," Spencer said returning to the original subject
"Yes, I should be able to have them since I'm only half vampire and much easier then my parents had me," Ari answered. "There are not many quarter vampires around, but there are a few. Of course, once you're a vampire yourself, we'll still be able to have them, the only difference being that they'll be three quarters vampire. Why do you ask?"
"Because I would like children someday," Spencer said. "Not right away. I never imagined I would think that, but Uncle Dave and Aunt Liana have been kind to me. Their children are intelligent and well-behaved for their ages. If there's one thing I'm going to teach any children we have it's tolerance of others. That's one reason I never wanted a kid you know. I was teased or bullied so badly and my father did absolutely nothing about it, that I didn't want to put any children of mine through that."
"I've said it before and I'll say it again your father is a bastard," Ari said with a grimace.
"Yes, he is. I think he believed that it would help teach me how to handle my own problems, which yes, is very stupid. I've come to realize that he really didn't care about me at all. I always wished that my mother could've met someone like Uncle Dave and married him. Uncle Dave is the best. He's understanding and compassionate, even if he is very cautious, which neither one of us blames him for."
"No we can't," Ari agreed.
"Look at what he gave me, years ago now," Spencer said taking a coin out of his pocket.
Ari studied the coin, though she didn't know much about it.
"It's a Satin Proof Indian, Gold Eagle, with a rolled edge," Spencer explained. "It's a proof coin, that are struck specifically for collectors. Only 50 proofs were struck for this particular coin and because of it's scarcity it's worth nearly $2 million."
Ari stared at the coin in shock. She had never been interested in coin collecting, but if this one coin was worth so much...
"Uncirculated coins also tend to be valuable depending of course, but because the proof coins are done in such detail and with such high quality materials that makes them more valuable a lot of times. I could probably get double that if I found the right collector if I cared to sell it, but since Uncle Dave set up a bank account for me once I hit 18 there's no need. I don't care about the cash value just that Uncle Dave gave it to me, which makes it have sentimental value."
"Why would he give you such a valuable coin?" Ari asked confused.
"It was to show he trusted me to be responsible, to do the right thing and to be discreet," Spencer said. "He did the same for Brigid, Aaron and my Aunt Liana. It came directly from his collection in his trove. Each of his children will also receive one once they have proved trustworthy. I'm sure you'll get one to once we marry, though that's probably decades away at least, if I age as slowly as I believe I will."
"But that's it at least 15 million dollars," Ari said awed, when she thought about how much money Dave must have stored somewhere and not necessarily in a bank.
"This represents nothing," Spencer told her putting the coin back into his pocket. "He has far more wealth stored in his trove then he'll ever spend. He said he collected it when he was a young dragonling for the most part. I've actually been in it, and believe me he has gold and silver coins, gems piled up in one corner, books that are out of print, paintings, object d'art, even bottles of wine that he goes to retrieve when he wants one."
"So where is this trove, it doesn't sound like it's in a bank," Ari said puzzled.
"Of course, it's not. Banks didn't even exist back when Uncle Dave was originally born or if they they did they were very primitive. Remember, he said he had traveled to other dimensions," Spencer reminded Ari.
"But other dimensions have people in it," Ari said confused.
"This is kind of a pocket dimension according to Uncle Dave. There's nothing in it except his treasure. He said he created it, but that it took a lot of power. It's huge, so there's plenty of room to add more if he wants to, though what he has already represents so much money that it's absolutely staggering. He doesn't really need it anyway, because his two jewelry shops make more than enough to support a lot of different people. He once told me that to him paper money seemed almost worthless, even though he knows it's backed by the gold depository."
"Well, I suppose, to a dragon, it would seem like that, especially one that's full-blooded, with no human in their bloodline," Ari said.
"That's what he said," Spencer agreed with a smile.
"So this means Aaron probably has a trove somewhere as well," Ari said.
"Probably, but if he does he is not going to tell me and I'm not going to ask. That would be rude and I wouldn't get an answer anyway. The bank account that Uncle Dave gave me is more than enough for me," Spencer said. "I've never been a spendthrift, so it's enough to last me for quite some time if I didn't already know how to invest, so it doesn't get to low."
Ari thought this was wise so nodded, as she had plenty of money of her own and didn't need to look for anybody else's. She wasn't greedy and neither was Spencer and that was good that they were the same in that way.
Spencer's birth father on the other hand, sounded very greedy as he had apparently grumbled about how expensive children were to raise on numerous occasions and Spencer had only been seven when he came here to this dimension. William Reid had only had one son and while children could be expensive it wasn't like he had a dozen, which just told Ari that William Reid was not a good man, especially since she knew that Spencer's father had murdered his mother and had likely been planning to quietly murder his son as well.
Ari's only regret was that she couldn't go to the dimension Spencer came from and teach William Reid a lesson, but unfortunately, dimensional travel while not impossible was rare as it should be. She knew that Spencer's adoptive father felt the same way she did as what the Senior Reid had done was criminal, but since there was nothing they could do about it they had to let it go.
She was only grateful that Spencer had managed to create that portal at only seven, the one that had deposited him here, because she loved him so much and she probably never would've met her match if that hadn't happened. There was no Spencer Reid in this universe Dave had told her because there was no William Reid Esquire or Diana Hawkins. Dave had checked into Spencer's background once he had full names of Spencer and his parents and Ari could only be grateful that Spencer had survived going through an unanchored portal.
Unanchored portals were very dangerous and more often killed someone then brought them to their destination.
Ari was grateful that Dave had been there at the right time when the portal had formed and wasn't one to not investigate, to pass a child on the street one who was clearly alone with no adult present.
~~~Dave and Liana~~~
Epilogue
"This is fantastic, Dave," Liana told her mate with a beaming smile.
The two of them walked into a hotel side-by-side with their luggage. It was 500 years later and they had moved from Glasgow Scotland a long time ago and were now back in the States. Now they were in San Francisco California, but actually lived in the magical section of New York. They were here to explore the human portion of the city as well as the supernatural part.
The hotel was a five star of course as Dave would never stay anywhere else unless it was a cozy bed and breakfast or a nice quiet upscale inn. The hotel lobby was spectacular with an old world feel. There was a nice thick carpet on the floor that looked expensive and the desk of some kind of gleaming light wood right in front of them looked antique.
"I thought it was time too see some of the world," Dave offered, as he and Liana approached the front desk. "Our children, at least for the moment are grown and I won't go into my mating cycle for quite awhile so this was a good time to take a long vacation."
"Yes sir, can I help you?" asked the lady at the front desk.
"I should have a reservation under Rossi," Dave said with Liana standing silent at his side.
"Yes sir," said the lady checking the computer for the reservation. "You have our best suite on the top floor. I'll have someone escort you up. I'm sure you and your wife want to freshen up before dinner. We have one of the best restaurants in the area right here in the hotel and a list of places you can visit once you've settled in."
"Freshening up sounds good," Liana said, even though they hadn't taken a plane to get here. Dave had simply opened a portal in the supernatural section of the city and he and Liana had stepped through. They had then walked several blocks until they were in the human portion of the city and called a cab. Dave saw no reason to waste hours on a plane when taking a portal was faster and easier, even if it was tiring. Dragon shifters had multiple talents instead of only one or two and since Dave was a dragon meant he could open portals whenever he wished. It wasn't like he did it very often. Hardly ever actually.
Using a portal was also free and didn't cost money not that that mattered to them Liana knew but still it was a consideration. She suspected it always would be for her considering she had had very little money at one point in her life and she would never forget going hungry a lot of the times.
The two of them were ushered to the elevator and the man that had been assigned to escort them pushed the button for the top level.
"So how long are you staying for?" the man whose name was Theodore asked.
"A month or so maybe longer," Dave answered.
"It's been awhile since we've had a vacation," Liana said.
"That's true," Dave agreed. "Spencer is out of the house, has been for awhile and so are our other eight kids so it seemed like a good time to get away for a while."
"So you have nine children?" Theodore asked whistled appreciatively. "That's a lot. Most people stick to two or possibly three like my wife and I did."
"Yes, though our oldest son Spencer is adopted," Dave offered not going into details. "He needed a home as he's an orphan and you know what probably wouldn't've happened to him if he's gone into a foster home."
"The other eight though are ours and I was kind of glad to see them get away from home. More peace and quiet," Liana offered, as she squeezed Dave's hand. "Dave and I always wanted a large family because we're both only children and I believe we got a wish."
"Oh yes, I know that very well, as they can make a racket," Theodore agreed.
"It's nice to have some alone time with just Liana and I," Dave said, even as the elevator dinged when it reached each floor. "The children visit often and we even have a few grandchildren."
"You don't look old enough to have grandchildren," Theodore said as the elevator finally arrived.
"Let's just say we're older than we look," Dave said simply not elaborating as Theodore opened the hotel room door for them.
"I'm leaving now," Theodore said, "if you need anything the numbers by the phone.
Dave and Liana were alone again and they immediately started to kiss tenderly.
"I suppose we should unpack," Liana said reluctantly.
"We can leave that for later," Dave said shaking his head. "I think we need to go get us something to eat because I'm pretty hungry after using all that energy that open that portal."
"OK, sounds great to me," Liana agreed. "Where do you want to eat?"
"The hotel restaurant will be good for right now and then tomorrow we can start exploring some of the city," Dave suggested. "It's nice to not have to cook for once. You know I enjoy it, but it's nice to have a break."
"Yes, it is," Liana agreed. "Just let me change my shirt at least and then we can go."
A few minutes later the two of them headed down in the elevator and to the hotel restaurant that was on the first floor so they could enjoy their first meal of their vacation.