[Victor] Once I finished getting ready, I put my hand out to Echo. She accepted it with a sweet smile and we headed out of the bedroom. I was glad she had joined me in the shower. She smelled like werewolves more than normal after a day alone in the house. That usually meant her sister came over, but it was even more than that.As we exited the bedroom, I saw Grayson in a towel. Since our door was locked, he had obviously used one of the guest bathrooms. He didn’t look thrilled.Echo let go of my hand and went to give Grayson a hug and a kiss. He rubbed his face in her hair, marking her with his scent. Sometimes his wolf got possessive, and it happened more if he thought I hadn’t protected Echo properly.I raised an eyebrow at him over the top of her head. The challenge was obvious in his eyes.“What did I do wrong this time?” I asked.“You didn’t forbid Echo from going into the room with that man. She took not only Harmony in there, but Carmen and Austin.”“Did they die?”He glared. “It doesn’t matter what the result was. The danger was there, and she brought three vulnerable people with her. Not to mention putting our baby and Harmony’s baby at risk. We don’t know anything about that human.”“Gray, Harmony and I were careful. Her magic was on alert for if he tried anything. I know you haven’t seen how it works, but trust me, none of us were in any danger,” Echo told him, pushing out of his arms.“Angel, don’t put yourself in danger like that again. At least, don’t do it when I’m not there to help protect you,” Grayson said, cupping her cheek. “It scared me when I found out.”“How did you even find out?”“When I got back to the office, Carmen wasn’t looking great. I was worried, so I asked her if she was okay and she told me what happened. You brought her here to use her seer ability with only an omega for protection.”“Neil was here! Harmony and I were here! We wouldn’t let anything happen to her,” Echo argued.“Grayson, what’s done is done. No one was harmed, and Echo has already given me some important information with only a few minor facts. I would have tried talking to the witches or the fae about their seers, but there’s no telling how long it would have taken to get one to agree to come. I never would have thought about asking Carmen. That doesn’t mean Echo is in the wrong, it only means that she found a different solution.“Please go get dressed so the two of you can have your dinner. I have some work to take care of this evening. I would like the two of you to talk calmly and maturely about boundaries and expectations. Grayson, you have to be open to compromise.“Echo is finding her footing as a person and as the Solus Amor of the Master of this territory. Sometimes that means she will have to make decisions you might not agree with. The safety and security of our territory is important,” I explained.He frowned, but nodded. Grayson was an Alpha blood werewolf. They were dominant and behaved that way. It meant that they protected things harder and were more dedicated to their pack than other wolves, save the ranked members of the pack. Grayson still hadn’t accepted that being part of this family meant that my territory was part of his ‘pack’ as well.In time, he would. I knew it. The territory was important to Echo, and if it was important to her, then he would learn.Grayson went into our bedroom to get dressed and I continued on to the office with Echo. She didn’t seem very happy. I understood. She didn’t like getting scolded, especially when she felt what she had done was right.We had dealt with this a little after they got back from their honeymoon last summer. Grayson and Echo had been at odds during the whole curse ordeal because of the curse affecting both of their minds. I knew they would still experience differences, but they wouldn’t listen to me when I told them that.It was really one of those issues that came up when being in a relationship where there was such a vast age difference. They were both hundreds of years younger than I was and both at the age where they thought they knew more than others. At least this would help me practice before we had any children who reached that age.When we arrived at the office, Echo went to the desk and picked up a voice recorder. She handed it to me with a big smile. I knew that smile. She was expecting praise.“What is this, Echo?” I asked.“I recorded what Carmen told me. I figured you would want to listen to it and transcribe it yourself. You like doing that. It would give you a chance to listen to the words and to absorb it in a second way,” she replied.Echo was as observant as ever.“You did very well, Echo. I would like to transcribe this. Why don’t you go have your dinner? Then you and Grayson can talk.”She nodded, but didn’t look happy about it. I understood. It was a process they would have to learn to deal with. A relationship like ours couldn’t thrive without open communication. That was something I struggled with, but talking to Echo before I slept this morning helped tremendously.It wasn’t her responsibility to balance our needs. It was our responsibility to communicate those needs to her and each other. I was hurting our relationship by holding on to the things that bothered me. It just happened so rarely that talking wasn’t my first instinct.I took her hand and kissed it gently, then pulled her into my arms and twirled her around. Echo giggled and gripped me tightly.“Go get something to eat. I love you, Echo,” I murmured into her ear before kissing just below it, making her shiver.“I love you, too, Victor. Will we have time together this evening? I planned on having time with only you.”“We’ll have to take a rain check, my love. I have a feeling the information you got for me will create a lot of work. I hope you’ll forgive me for having to put you off for tonight,” I said.“Your territory comes first, Victor. Let me know if there’s anything else you need me to do,” Echo replied and squeezed me once more before letting me go.I watched her go to the office door. She turned briefly and wiggled her fingers at me before leaving and closing the door behind her. I looked at the voice recorder in my hand and went to sit behind my desk.After preparing my computer, I restarted the voice recorder and played Carmen’s story. As I listened, I typed. It was all very intriguing. She gave a fairly detailed description of the training an apprentice Templar received. This was similar to the training male dhampyrs had gotten in the past.Like Spencer, Dennis’ sire raised him from near birth to become a warrior. All aspects of his life, until he was considered a man, revolved around his sire’s will and the training. Dennis’ ‘graduation’ had been a ceremony where he was bonded as a servant to his sire.It fascinated me as I listened to more. When Carmen reached the point where Spencer tried to leave the order to be with his family, I became concerned. The men had never offered him more money for any other job. This one didn’t even seem more difficult or urgent than a normal one.It seemed entirely possible the men coordinated it. I didn’t understand why, though. Earlier, they said they would release him from his service. They only wanted to get him to kill as many demons as possible before they did. Could it be that the others didn’t know and only one of them was responsible?Did whoever orchestrated the death of his family want to punish him for leaving? Did they think he would come back if his family was gone? It wasn’t a wise move. Grief does terrible things to a man. To anyone. If he wasn’t there to protect them because he was working for the Templars, then he would never want to go back. They were as much to blame for him not being there as he was.Once the recording was over, I looked at what I had written. When I got to Stephanie’s name, I realized I forgot to have Echo call her uncle. Preston was fond of the triplets and would talk to them more easily, but I was hoping he would talk to me if I called. I didn’t want to interrupt Echo and Grayson while they were working out their issues.I found his contact information and dialed Preston’s number. He was in a different time zone, but I hoped he wouldn’t mind the call. It was about nine o’clock where he lived.“Hello?” he answered after a few rings.“Preston, it’s Victor. I hope I’m not bothering you this evening,” I said.There was a rustling on the other side of the line and I heard a light click, as if he was closing a door. I could wait until he got to a place where he could talk. It was I who was intruding on his night.“Is everything okay, Victor?” Preston asked. “Are the triplets alright? Did Harmony have the baby?”“Everything is fine. To my knowledge, none of the triplets have been injured, and Harmony has not given birth yet. I’m sorry for worrying you. I actually had a question about your family. Would you be willing to indulge my curiosity?”“Oh, I guess. What did you want to know?”“I know that you and Melanie were named Hayes, but were there other Aimes’ out there? The twin boys, Roger and Franklin, went with Grace to the east coast. Did any of their children survive the attack on the coven?”“Most of them were still in the coven when it happened…. Except Ferris and his wife moved to her coven when Mel and I were young. The coven was in a western state. Utah or Wyoming, I think. I should try to reach out to them…” Preston said the last bit quietly.“So you wouldn’t know anything about Ferris’ children?”“They had three children. I last spoke to them about nineteen years ago. We never went back to Maine, but we did meet up to grieve our losses. Their sons were sixteen and seventeen. Their daughter was fourteen. I don’t really remember their names though. I lost contact over the years…. Did something happen to them?”It was entirely possible that Stephanie was the third child of Ferris Aimes. Preston didn’t seem to have that information. I wished I knew Spencer’s father-in-law’s name so I could confirm it.“Sadly, I can’t say that with any certainty. You should get in contact with covens in Utah, bring more of your family together. Let me know if any of them are interested in meeting Echo. She would love to have even more family, and I bet Grayson would love to take her to visit them sometime,” I said.“You’re worried they might not accept her if they know about you. She could easily pass herself off as a plant witch and choosing to accept a soulmate outside her species, though not encouraged, isn’t considered as bad as long as it’s not a vampire. None of them would really understand her relationship with both of you. I’ll see if I can find them. Is there anything you want to know?” he asked.“If any of them have heard of a Spencer Santos. There’s a creature here killing homeless humans, and he was the most recent victim. We found out that he was married to a woman named Stephanie Aimes and her family lives in Utah.”Keeping the status of Spencer’s life quiet was important. If he didn’t want them knowing he was alive, then I would keep it from them. It was the least I could do for him.“Was married to her?”“I have it under good authority that she may have passed on. If she wasn’t your family, I didn’t want to distress you, so I was trying to remain vague,” I told him.“At least they can be together again in the goddess’ realm. I’ll find out. Would you like me to tell the family?”“I don’t know that it would be his wish for that to happen. If they blame him for her death, they may not care what happens to him. Direct them to me if they want answers about him. I’ll let you go. Thank you for taking my call,” I said.“Any time, Victor. You’re family, too, you know. I’m your uncle-in-law. Though I’m a few hundred years younger, if you ever need to talk to someone, you can call on me. I’m here for all of you,” Preston replied.I laughed. “I extend the same offer to you. If you ever need help with vampire issues, as well, let me know. Have a good evening.”With that, I hung up the phone. I’d been typing as I talked with Preston and had all the information. It would be easy enough to look up records to find out if Stephanie’s parents were relations of Echo’s.Going online, I went to a genealogy website and signed up for a free trial. This made things easier than they had been in the past. No hiring investigators or sending people to ferret out the information.I searched for Ferris Aimes in the public records section and found a record of him marrying a Paula Wilson in Maine. Following that trail led me to records of birth. The first for a Trevor Aimes in Maine and the second for a Joshua Aimes in Utah.Then there was a third for Stephanie Aimes. I found a record of her marrying Spencer Santos in New Mexico, the births of both of their children, and the death records for all three of them. It might take Preston a few days to track down the information I had found in just a few minutes, but I wanted him to find them under his own power. It would mean more to him.Once Spencer was more relaxed, I would try to get him to open up about his family. I would find out if he wanted his wife’s family to know if he was alive. If not, we would help him keep them from finding out. He was family, after all, and I knew Echo wanted to care for him.