At his grumbled acknowledgment, Tavia leaned toward him and kissed his cheek. “We have guests in the other room. Come back inside and try to be sociable. Leave that scowl out here in the hallway and let’s spend some time with our friends.” She smiled at the pair of warriors. “Eli, Jax.”

“Ma’am,” they replied in unison.

After Tavia had slipped back into the living room, Chase asked, “Have you seen Nathan and Jordana tonight?”

Jax nodded. “They were in the command center operations room with Aric when we came in a minute ago.”

Chase had deliberately kept Carys’s twin brother off the patrols that would take him to the club where Rune fought. Aric shared his father’s opinion that Carys was only going to get hurt. Not long ago, he’d tried to discourage her from seeing Rune and as a result, his children were hardly speaking to each other anymore.

Chase heaved a sigh. “Ask Jordana and Nathan to come see me in about an hour. I have a favor to ask of them.”

With the two warriors dismissed, Chase went back to the room where Tavia was chatting with Mathias Rowan and his Breedmate, Nova, who had arrived a short time ago from London.

Chase had known Mathias from their days together in the Breed’s Enforcement Agency in Boston. That was more than twenty years ago, but the two men had remained close friends and both now served the Order as district commanders of their respective regions.

Chase had never seen his comrade more obviously contended and happy than he was sitting next to Nova. The contrast between the couple was striking—straitlaced Mathias and the tattooed, blue-and-black haired spitfire at his side. Nova’s colorful inked arms were encased in a sheer black blouse tonight that made the unusual beauty look both elegant and rebellious. And Mathias was clearly smitten with her. He’d been holding Nova’s hand all night, hardly able to take his eyes off his mate.

The Darkhaven’s third guest was also from London, and had been visiting Tavia and Chase for the past couple of days. Pretty, sable-haired Brynne Kirkland was an investigator with the Joint Urban Security Taskforce Initiative Squad. While the Order and members of the Breed/human law enforcement group had a prickly relationship at best, Brynne’s trip to Boston hadn’t been in an official JUSTIS capacity.

She had come to spend time with her half-sister, Tavia.

The women had found each other about a decade ago, both Breed females born in a madman’s lab as an experiment in blending various Breedmate DNA with the DNA from the last-surviving Ancient forebear of the Breed. The result had produced the Breed’s first females in existence.

There had been several daywalkers like Tavia and Brynne from that experiment who had survived to adulthood, but all were raised apart from one another in secret and most remained lost. Tavia and Brynne had been working to locate their sisters, and in the process had forged a special bond.

Tonight’s gathering was supposed to be pleasant, casual. Chase’s expression must have resembled a thundercloud.

“Problems in the city?” Mathias asked.

Tavia arched a brow, a smirk dancing at the corner of her mouth. “Some of us are still trying to adjust to parenthood, even after twenty years of practice.”

Mathias and Nova shared a look. His grin widened. “In that case, I guess we’d better start collecting tips and advice now.”

Chase gaped.

Tavia drew in a surprised breath. “You mean—”

Nova’s cheeks flooded with color. Mathias beamed like a son of a bitch and pulled his expectant Breedmate closer. “We’ve only known for a few days.”

“Oh, my God,” Tavia exclaimed. “We’re elated for you!”

Nova’s blush deepened as she murmured her shy thanks.

Mathias looked at Chase. “We’d like you and Tavia to be godparents. That’s why we wanted to stop in to see you before we headed on to D.C. to meet with Lucan.”

“It would be an honor,” Chase said, humbled by the gesture of trust and friendship. He rose to take Mathias’s hand, then decided the occasion merited more than the stiff gestures of his upbringing. He clasped the other male in a brief embrace. “You honor us well, my old friend.”

Tavia went to Nova and hugged her too, delight shining in her eyes. “A baby is the most wonderful news.”

Although Brynne’s smile was more reserved, her dark green gaze was warm as she reached out to grasp Nova’s tattooed hand. “Congratulations to you both.”

As they all resumed their seats, Tavia asked, “Have you told anyone else?”

“Only Eddie,” Nova said, referring to the nine-year-old human boy who’d worked in the tattoo shop with her when Mathias had first met her. The couple had taken Eddie in when they mated, and the boy now lived in the London command center with them.

There was a time when no human would have been permitted inside a Breed household. A lot had changed in the twenty years since First Dawn had brought the human and vampire worlds together.

Chase met Mathias’s gaze. “How’s the boy adjusting to life among the Breed?”

“Very well, actually. Thane and the other warriors have practically adopted him along with Nova and me. If they have their way, they’ll probably turn him into an honorary Order member in a few years.”

Nova tilted her head. “Not if I have anything to say about that.”

Mathias shrugged, chuckling as he stroked his Breedmate’s right hand.

Chase couldn’t help but notice the Egyptian eye symbol on the back of Nova’s hand. He’d been told that beneath that mark was another one—a black scarab forced on her when she’d been just a little girl, branding her as the property of Fineas Riordan, her adoptive father.