Taylor shook the man’s hand, glancing over at Chase to see his mate grinning from ear to ear. Taylor was glad someone was happy because he was sweating missiles. He had passed the sweating bullets stage when Chase’s family walked through the door. He was terrified he was going to screw this up. He had a family now—a family that he needed to impress. Knots began to form in Taylor’s stomach at the thought.
He was so going to screw this up.
“Nice to meet you,” Taylor replied, relieved he made it through one introduction without embarrassing himself. He normally wasn’t bad with meeting people. But the men standing in front of him were important to Chase, which made them important to Taylor.
“And I am Prince Zacarius.” Devlin’s mate extended his hand.
Taylor reached out and shook the prince’s hand, wondering if maybe he should bow. The man was a prince after all.
“Where is Justin?” Devlin asked. “I thought he would be here to find out if he were truly a vampire or not.”
“He’s—” Taylor froze at the same time Chase’s head snapped around, both staring at each other as Justin’s voice rang in their minds, loud and clear.
“Come get me the hell out of this loony-ass room, now!”
“Is something wrong?” Devlin asked as he glanced between Taylor and Chase.
“Where is Samuel’s room?” Chase asked Dominic, who was sitting behind his desk, going through some papers. The prince’s head snapped up, as if he knew something was wrong. Or maybe it was the mention of Samuel’s name.
“I’ll show you,” he said without asking why.
Chase and Taylor were hot on the man’s heels, Devlin and his mate following close behind. Taylor was thankful that Dominic hadn’t stood there and drilled them before showing them. He knew he wouldn’t be able to take one more shout from Justin.
“We’re on our way, baby,” Taylor said to Justin as they hurried along the long hallway. “Are you in immediate danger?”
“No, but I need you and Chase. Oh, my god, Taylor. Just…get here.”
Taylor didn’t have to be told twice. He put on a burst of speed, walking briskly behind Dominic, and then the vampire stopped in front of a white door. “He’s in here. Should I come in?”
That was an odd question, but Taylor didn’t have time to answer it. He swung the door open to see Justin standing there with Danny, and a brown-haired man who was hugging himself. He glanced around, but didn’t see anyone else in the room. Chase pushed past Taylor, his head snapping around, and then he sniffed the air.
“Thank god!” Justin said as he fell into Taylor’s arms. Taylor hugged Justin close, looking over at Chase, who seemed just as baffled as he was.
“It’s okay, baby. I have you,” Taylor murmured as he ran his hands over Justin’s back. “Do you want to tell me what’s wrong?”
“Get that vampire out of my room!” the brow-haired man shouted as he pointed toward Danny’s mate. “He’s not welcomed here.”
Taylor watched the room clear out, leaving the three original men, Taylor, and Chase. His mate walked behind Justin, pressing his chest into Justin’s back, wrapping their smaller mate in a blanket of comfort.
“I’m afraid he’s had a bit of a shocker,” Danny said, looking apologetic.
“Justin, sweetheart. We don’t know if Danny and Samuel are your brothers yet. Let Prince Zacarius test your blood, baby.” All of this was because the two may be Justin’s brothers? His little lover was taking things harder than Taylor had thought.
“He’s right,” Chase said. “Let find out for sure if you are a vampire or not before you have a meltdown.”
Justin rubbed his face back and forth across Taylor’s shirt as his fingers dug into Taylor’s arms. “That’s not it,” he whispered.
“Then what is it, baby?” Taylor asked.
“He has a twin,” the brown-haired man stated flatly from across the room.
“He what?” Taylor asked, feeling confused as hell.
“It’s a long story,” Danny answered. “But apparently, my father was a slut. He fathered quite a few sets of twins back in the day.”
Taylor couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He was pretty damn sure that if Justin had a twin, the Teacher would have gotten his hands on Justin’s brother. “That’s impossible. You two aren’t twins.”
Danny shrugged. “I just found out about having more siblings than I know what to do with. But Samuel tells me he heard my father clear as day state that every child born to him were twins, aside from Samuel and me.”
“I can’t take any more shocking news,” Justin whispered in Taylor’s neck. “Get me out of here.”
Right.
Taylor swung Justin around without another word and started marching him toward the door. He still didn’t understand fully what had happened, but apparently, Justin had had enough. He was in meltdown mode.
It made meeting Chase’s family feel like a hill of beans.
Taylor and Justin made it as far as the bottom of the steps before Chase reached down and swung Justin up in his arms. He practically bounded up the stairs. Taylor chased after them as fast as his shorter legs would carry him.
When they reached the room they were sharing, Taylor raced ahead and opened the door. He waited for Chase and Justin to pass through and then walked into the bedroom, shutting the door behind him.
Chase carried Justin over to the bed and sat down, cradling Justin in his arms. Taylor walked over and sat down beside them. Justin’s face was buried in Chase’s chest, but there was enough for Taylor to see the tears in Justin’s eyes.
Taylor smiled at his mate and reached over to brush the hair back from his eyes. “You okay, love?”
Justin shrugged.
“Want to talk about it?”
Justin shook his head.
Taylor grinned. Justin was pouting. He even had his lower lip stuck out. It was cute as hell, and Taylor knew just how to get him out of his funk. “Want to fool around?”
Justin’s eyes shot up
