Once these most urgent matters had been seen to, my mind returned, predictably, to my nephew.

Jeramiah, Jeramiah, Jeramiah.

I was growing sick of his name flitting through my head, and yet still I couldn’t drop the subject. Perhaps it was due to the pent-up frustration I felt over my own son, being able to do nothing to help him in his plight—wherever Ben was now. Sofia and I had interfered before in an attempt to help him, but all signs indicated that we’d only made his situation worse. And so, Jeramiah continued to haunt my mind.

At first I’d feared that my nephew had kidnapped River, rather than the hunters, and that her capture would be yet another strike against his character. But then Corrine came hurrying to Sofia and me to inform us that River had returned safely and that it had indeed been the hunters who’d managed to swipe her. I was anxious to hear her story, but there would be time for that later, once she was rested.

As I brooded over my nephew, I left the spare room in Vivienne’s penthouse, where Sofia and I were staying until we rebuilt a new penthouse of our own. It was as I walked along the forest path, deep in thought, that an odd idea struck me.

I should talk to Claudia.

* * *

As I rapped on the door of Yuri and Claudia’s penthouse, it was a strange feeling to be visiting the blonde vixen for advice. Throughout all the centuries we’d known each other, this was a first.

But she’d known my brother better than anyone. Hers was always the bed he’d fallen into whenever he wanted an escape, and I suspected that it was with her he’d shared the most about himself. Likely far more than he’d ever revealed even to our father.

Jeramiah’s accusation of me, that I’d never taken the trouble to get to know Lucas, did hold a thread of truth. We had never been close, and I had never really understood him. But I had never been the one to instigate fights. I had always tried to resolve conflicts like gentlemen. It had been him who’d closed himself off from me, even as I’d tried to get through to him. I had given up on him in the end because he’d worn me down.

I was shaken from my thoughts as Yuri opened the door. His eyes widened. “Derek? What’s going on? Come in, come in.”

I followed him through the door and into the hallway.

Claudia—and her protruding belly—emerged from the kitchen carrying a bowl of roasted peanuts, her cheeks bulging with the snack.

I still hadn’t gotten used to seeing Claudia as a human. It was hard to believe that the pregnant woman standing before me now—a soon-to-be mother—was the same bloodthirsty creature who had tortured Benjamin Hudson and countless other male slaves senseless.

“What’s up, King Derek?” she asked.

I took a seat on the couch and coughed my throat clear. “I’m here to see you actually, Claudia. I want to ask you for… uh, some advice.”

Claudia’s eyes immediately brightened. I was certain that if she were to write a list of three things she loved most in the world, it would consist of Yuri, her baby, and the sound of her own voice. “What about?” she asked, slinking onto the sofa next to me.

“About my brother. Lucas.”

Claudia frowned. “A bit late for advice about ol’ Lucas, don’t you think?”

“Well, actually it’s more about his son, Jeramiah…” I breathed out in frustration before proceeding to recap the whole conversation I’d had with him on the rock, as well as the desire I held for reconciliation.

When I’d finished, Claudia looked lost in thought as she munched on her peanuts.

“Hmm,” she murmured. “So you don’t want Jeramiah to become another wayward satellite like your brother was.”

“I guess that sums it up,” I muttered, slumping against the backrest and folding my arms over my chest. “I’m honestly not sure what I hope to achieve by telling you this. I just thought, since you knew Lucas better than any of us…” My voice trailed off as I glanced at Claudia.

“I hear you, Derek. I hear you. You did the right thing in coming to me for advice…” She paused to put her now-empty bowl down on the coffee table before dusting her hands off and crossing her legs. She turned to face me fully. “You really wanna know what I think?” she asked, pouting and quirking a brow.

“What?”

“That boy just needs some good lovin’.”

I could hardly have expected a different answer from Claudia. I caught Yuri rolling his eyes… and so did she.

“What?” Claudia admonished her husband.

Yuri chuckled. “Continue, Doctor. Didn’t mean to interrupt your flow.”

She stood up, hands on her hips. “Well don’t you think he needs loving?” she shot at him. “He’s an orphan, you know.”

Yuri shrugged. “I guess it’s kind of hard to feel a lot of sympathy for a cold-blooded murderer.”

Now it was Claudia’s turn to roll her eyes. “And what was I, when you professed your undying love for me? What was I, when you proposed?”

That silenced Yuri. Claudia had been one of the vampires who’d indulged in her dark side the most. I’d no idea how many innocent humans she’d tortured to death. I was sure even she’d lost count.

Claudia turned on me. “That was the problem with Lucas. He never got any good loving.”

I heaved a sigh, half wondering why I was even asking, “And what exactly do you classify as ‘good loving’?”