"Hey there, buddy." Blake poked again. "Your butler dad from the dark underworld figured out where your cambion is."

Nos's distant gaze slowly became focused as he sat up and met Blake's eyes. "Dad found Cal?" He shook his head to clear the cobwebs.

"Yep," Blake affirmed. "Your match is somewhere in Helderlus."

Just then, the three young men heard Luc's angry tones drifting through the open door. All three heads looked up as the words grew louder.

"For fuck's sake, Andrea!" Luc growled into the cell, causing Nos to flinch from inside his room. "If you can't do it for your own son, then do it for me. You know you owe me far more than just that!" More heated words were exchanged before his voice once again drifted towards them. "Fine, then we're coming to you!"

Luc ended the call as he poked his head into the room. "Son!"

Nos flinched again despite Luc's voice shifting from anger to surprise. He'd never witnessed his dad calling his mother, at least not willingly. The only time the incubus ever talked to her on the phone was whenever she'd randomly call, not the other way around.

"I'm glad you're more alert," Luc said as he walked over to Nos's closet and tossed a few heavy coats onto the bed. "We're going to see your biological father and your mother. In that order."

A splash of ice-cold water couldn't come closer to snapping Nos out of it than hearing those words coming out of his dad's mouth. "We're doing what?"

"I'm not repeating myself." Luc sighed. "You!" he barked, turning his attention to the dark-haired Emon. "Is your car still parked out front?"

"Yeah?" Emon responded.

"I'm going to need you to drive us southeast," Luc demanded. "Quickly, while we still have nightfall." His tone turned polite again as he addressed Blake: "Please help Nos carry these coats if you don't mind."

"Yes, sir!" Blake responded before jumping into action. He then whispered so only Nos could hear. "Your dad is freaking awesome."

Not a moment later, the four clambered into Emon's black BMW i8 and took off. Emon had a queasy expression on his face as Luc gave him directions from the passenger seat. Blake and Nos were in the back, nearly buried in protective coats.

"I don't know how I'll ever be able to repay either of you," Nos whispered.

"It's what friends do," Blake scoffed. "You can thank us by inviting me to your future wedding or naming one of your adopted kids after us or something."

A wide grin formed on Nos's face, his first genuine smile in twenty-four hours. "Emon Blake. I'll remember that."

Blake elbowed him in the ribs. "You know my name should be first, not Emon's."

Thirty-three minutes later, they arrived at a skyscraper. Luc insisted that Nos enter that building with him while Emon and Blake stayed in the car. Nos could have sworn that it wasn't just his stomach turning in nervousness but all the accompanying organs, as well. Ever since Cal was transported away, his marking was dormant, and for once, he was glad the cambion wasn't able to sense just how cowardly he was feeling just then.

They rode a glass elevator to the highest floor, and when they stepped out, Nos started having trouble breathing. The older incubus recognized the signs.

"Nos, stay out of that head of yours," Luc scolded. "Remember who you're doing this for."

An image of Cal's swollen face rose to Nos's mind, and he focused harder on steadying his breathing. He didn't have the luxury of having a nervous breakdown in his biological father's waiting room, not when his fated match was injured and unconscious somewhere he couldn't even reach. Curling his hands into fists and then letting them go, he followed Luc into Norris Novak's private office.

"Mr. Novak," Luc greeted with a slight nod. "It's been a while since the last time I sent you a photo, so I figured you might want to look at him in person while you still can."

"Nostriano," Norris greeted with a stoic expression on his face as he held out a hand for Nos to shake. The younger man did so with only a touch of hesitancy. His father's hand was just as large as his and felt hotter than he was used to. The warmth of his hand did not carry into his words. "I imagine you have a lot of questions."

Norris was his height but had a wider build. They shared the same skin and hair color, as well as similar facial features. Nos was surprised they even shared a similar nose shape and hand size.

Nos had so many questions as he took in the image of the man before him, an infinite number. Why didn't Novak want to raise him? Had his mother denied him the Novak last name, or was it him? Why hadn't he so much as visited him? What possessed him to send monetary support over the years to a child he didn't even want to recognize?

"Oh, I have questions," Nos finally replied out loud. "Many of them." The image of Caliber tied and bruised once again rose to his mind. "But, now is not the time."

"Andrea refuses to meet us halfway," Luc explained. "She has something in her possession that we need for the sake of your son's future happiness."

"Future happiness?" Norris asked with the raise of a brow. "Am I to be a grandfather so soon?"

"Not quite yet," Nos responded as he fought down a blush. "But without your help, there may not be any grandchildren at all."

"Andrea's too far away for our limited funds to reach," Luc confessed.

Norris nodded, his stoic mask back on, as he wrote out a check and handed it to Nos. "Consider it an everything-gift. Wedding, housewarming, baby shower, and continuing education. That should cover it all."

When Nos saw the amount, the paper he held began to tremble. "I-uh–th-thank you," he stammered. “But I don't think I can accept all of this."

Luc pushed him toward the door. "We can renegotiate an amount when we return. We'll never forget this, Norris."

The businessman gave them a solemn nod before Luc all but shoved Nos toward the elevator.

As soon as the doors slid closed, Nos turned towards Luc and hissed, "Dad, I can't accept one billion freaking dollars from someone that's little more than a stranger to me!"

"You don't have to," Luc responded as he handed Nos a pen and had him sign the back before taking a picture of the front and back of the check on his bank app. Unlike human finances, vampire banks didn't think twice about depositing that large an amount in one go. "He'll just roll it right over to your grandkids and great-grandkids until someone accepts it. Just don't turn all his money away," Luc insisted. "That man helped keep you clothed and fed for twenty-two years. If it's his one wish to give you money, I ask that you not throw it all back in his face, if only for my sanity's sake."

"Why? Out of guilt?"

"That may have been why he started sending support in the first place," Luc said. "As a way for him to accept that his love of his career superseded that of his love for his fated match and child. But, if you want a more complex answer, you'll have to ask him yourself someday."

Nos nodded.

"I'll think about it after we get to Cal," Nos responded. "Do we really have to hunt down my mother to do it?"

"Of course," Luc acknowledged. "It's the only way for us to get to Cal. She has the other half of my horn."

The next few hours passed in a haze as Nos drifted through Luc’s instructions, the shuffle out of the skyscraper, and the ride to the airport with Emon and Blake.

He barely noticed the city lights outside the car window, his mind running in circles. During the drive to the airport, courtesy of Emon and Blake, Nos mentally sorted out a few things. First, Cal was somewhere in Helderlus. To get to him, they required an incubus or succubus to teleport them over. He didn't understand why that incubus had to be his dad.

"Couldn't we have just asked one of the visiting incubi or succubi to help?" Nos asked while Emon got off at the exit leading towards the airport. Blake was in the passenger seat this time. He was seated in the back seat next to his dad.

"That's who I called first," Luc explained. "Savvie gave me their contact information so I could verify Cal's final destination. The ame-onna that answered the phone was distraught because the entire incubi and succubi group also disappeared in a flash of light, including her fated match."

"Must have been awful for Asuka," Blake commented, assuming it was Grandee Asuka who had answered.

"Whenever an entire group is summoned like that," Luc continued. "It's usually the work of our liege. I don't know who replaced the liege I knew, but there's a chance that she'd never allow Cal to leave Helderlus again."

"Why wouldn't she?" Nos asked.

"Safety? Wariness?" Luc guessed aloud. "I all but had to defect to leave in the first place."

"Was your home plane so terrible that you never went back?" Blake wondered.

"We can be a dramatic bunch," Luc admitted. "But I had entirely different reasons for leaving. I wasn't in the best mental, physical, or emotional state when I was around your age. I thought a change of scenery would help me mature." He let out a small, sarcastic laugh. "What really made me mature was forming a bond with equally lost and downtrodden friends while raising an unexpected son."

The word unexpected gave Nos pause. The older man had been a part of his life for so long that he'd never stopped to think if fatherhood was something Luc even wanted. "Do you ever regret staying here for so long, raising me?"

​Luc vehemently shook his head. "Never." He reached over to ruffle the top of Nos's brown hair, and the gentle touch eased some of the ache Nos felt deep inside. "Taking care of you was, in many ways, my one and only chance to know what it feels like to be a father. That's why I can't be too angry or frustrated with your mother. While I never approved of how she handled her situation, that she couldn't move past her pain to truly get to know you, a part of me has always been grateful for the opportunity."

Their conversation was interrupted by Emon’s voice from the front seat: "Departures." He was following the airport signs, already preparing to pull over at the curb.

Blake twisted around in his seat to look at Nos. "Are you sure you don't need us to come with you? It's not like Emon and I would prefer to work on our master theses."

Nos placed a hand on his friend's upper arm. "You've done more than enough. Plus, we don't know if we'll all end up stuck in Helderlus. Can't quite graduate if you're not physically present."

"It should not come to that," Luc insisted. "I'm sure I can negotiate at least that much with the new liege."

"Then, I hope we see you again soon," Blake said. When everyone except Emon got out of the car, he gave Nos a tight hug goodbye.

Blake then helped Nos and Luc grab their winter coats and reclaimed his passenger seat. He let out a worried sigh as he buckled himself in.

"He better be back by graduation," the blond grumbled.

"Have faith that he will," Emon replied.

Nos heard it all thanks to his vampire inheritance. He couldn't see them pull away from the curb because his dad immediately urged him onward, but a part of him was sad to hear them go. Emon had earned his trust when he helped him get to Cal, but Nos never thought he'd ever feel indebted to him.

Luc led them through security and customs. Before long, they followed the signs to their gate. The Airbus A340 was specially designed to shield against natural lighting. The artificial light lining the floor path and dotting the aircraft seats wasn't harmful to vampires.

"Here are our seats." Luc stopped in the aisle and stacked their coats in an overhead compartment before allowing Nos to slide next to the closed window. He sat in the aisle seat and buckled his seatbelt, knowing no one would sit between them.

"We should reach your mother in 8 hours," he told Nos. "It's far from ideal, but Andrea's always been more stubborn than anyone I've ever met."

"Will the new incubus liege allow us to see Cal?"

"We'll find out her conditions when we arrive, and then we can negotiate. One thing at a time. Try to get some rest for now. This flight might not make you jet-lagged, but Helderlus certainly will."

Once they were airborne, Luc donned his sleep mask. Instead of resting, Nos pretended to watch the extended version of a fantasy series on the small screen in front of him. His dad didn't snore, but the incubus's breathing was steady and even. Luc was either asleep or meditating. Nos wished he could do the same. Far too many things happened in such a short amount of time, and the night wasn't even over yet.

How had it come to this?

Of all the people in all the planes of existence, how was it that Nos's mother held the key to reaching his fated match?

The vampiress still disturbed him.

She was everything that Nos had the potential to be: frightened, forlorn, and furious. Nos didn't want to turn out like either of his biological parents. He wanted to be like Sven, who didn't hesitate to live with the person he loved. He wanted to be like Luc, who put the people he cared for first. Nos intrinsically knew that everyone had different strengths and flaws. But he still found it difficult to justify his mother's treatment of him.