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“It’s an honor to meet you, Josiah Blackwater.” Josiah bowed again, and Gideon chuckled, knowing how much she loved their old manners.

“No, please, there is no need to bow,” Aerin said, touching his shoulders to make him stand again.

“But there is absolutely a need! As my brother’s partner, you rank higher than I do in our clan,” Josiah informed them.

“How about we forget about clan rules while you are here?” Gideon winked, unsure what he meant by clan rules. He hoped his brother’s arrrival might bring back some memories.

“As you wish, my King.”

“I’m no king,” Gideon corrected.

“But—” Josiah frowned.

“We can discuss all that later. Happy you’re here, brother,” Gideon said, “but let’s forget formality for now. Aerin isn’t used to such rules, and I don’t want you to frighten her off.”

Josiah nodded. “Thank you for keeping my brother safe all this time.” Josiah wrapped his arms around her and lifted her clear off the ground, following orders and throwing formality to the wind.

“I can’t take all the credit. It was his coffin that I was really after. He was just a bonus,” Aerin rasped in his hold before he put her back down.

“His coffin?” Josiah stared at her blankly. A sense of humor in vampires really was sparse. Gideon was relieved it wasn’t just him who struggled with it.

“Never mind,” Aerin said.

“Regardless, you saved my brother’s life, and on behalf of the royal family, I want to thank you for saving our king’s life.” Josiah went to bow, but Gideon shook her head, so Josiah hugged her again instead. Gideon stifled a laugh, knowing that wasn’t much better, as she wasn’t great with strangers touching her.

“Where are you staying?” Aerin asked, wriggling herself free of his grasp.

“At the inn in town, but I’ll be leaving tomorrow at dusk. I didn’t book a long stay. In all honesty, when we received news of your belongings, I thought I was going to be bringing them home to bury. That your relics had finally washed up from the wreck. I didn’t dare to hope after so many dead ends. I didn’t expect to find you, brother. Though I can see now why you were in no hurry to return home,” Josiah said, glancing at Aerin with a smug smirk. “We’ll return home and share the news with our clan. They’ll be most excited and anxious to hear about your adventures.” Josiah slapped his brother on the shoulder.

“My return?” Gideon frowned.

“You are planning on returning with me? I understand you may be reluctant to leave, but as our rightful king, I need you to return with me as proof of life,” Josiah said, clearly confused by his hesitation.

“Why don’t we talk about all this over dinner? You’ve come such a long way. I’m sure you’re hungry,” Aerin interrupted. Gideon silently thanked her for interrupting, the porch wasn’t the place to have such a delicate conversation.

“I’ve already intruded long enough. I can return tomorrow night,” Josiah said.

“There’s no intrusion. Please stay for dinner. I’m sure you and your brother have much to discuss,” Aerin blurted out, and Josiah stopped on the porch steps. Gideon wasn’t sure whether she was desperate for him to stay, to discuss his leaving, or anxious to know what his decision would be.

“Aerin is right. You’ve only arrived. I’ll walk you back to town before sun up,” Gideon said, backing her up. As much as he wanted to talk to Aerin first about what his brother’s arrival might mean for them, to know how she felt, he was also eager to spend more time with his brother.

“If you’re sure?” Josiah said, walking up the porch steps.

“Please, I’ve more than enough blood for both of you,” Aerin said. “Besides, it’s the least I can do for Gideon’s family. It would be wrong to send you off to bed without a meal, or a drink, whichever.”

Over a few bottles of blood-laced wine, Gideon told his brother about what happened to the Draque. Josiah laughed at first, not believing their tale about this great sea monster, but when they didn’t join in on the joke, his face fell.

“I’m beginning to wish I took the plane, but I was in Canada when our sister called me with news of the letter. I sailed down as fast as I could. I’m glad we didn’t suffer the same fate,” he said, and downed his glass of wine.

“Don’t worry, Kennie has been well fed over the Autumn Festival, so he’ll be having a nice snooze for a while,” Aerin said, trying to lighten the mood.

“What a relief to hear.” Josiah grimaced, not ready to joke about the beast that had kept his brother from him. “That explains why the search for the ship came up empty. We wondered if your voyage was sabotaged, a mutiny to stop you from returning to take Dad’s place as king, but we found no trace of foul play, no chatter about a plot against you or your crew. The Draque simply vanished.”

“My memories are few and far between. I get flashes mostly, but it’s taking time. I haven’t fully figured out why I left. I recalled a memory about our father being ill, but I don’t know much else about the trip,” he said, fidgeting with the stem on his glass.

“I’m sorry that your memory hasn’t fully returned yet. I can fill in some of the blanks. Father was losing his thirst; we may be able to live for centuries, but we aren’t impervious to time. You’d heard about some witches’ brew that helped restore older vampires’ vigor, but we all know once a vampire loses his thirst, there is no cure. We all knew you weren’t eager to end your adventures and take Father’s place. We accepted your leaving as one last adventure,” Josiah told them.

Gideon didn’t expect to hear that he would leave his family in their time of need, but he didn’t interrupt.