Master

Chapter 62

I tilt my head, asking, "Dry?"

Wequie's golden eyes light back up, "I'll tell you later," he promises, "but you distracted me! That wasn't even my secret."

I normally didn't like secrets, it seemed so mean to know something others didn't, but I loved Wequie's secrets. His were usually something naughty for me to try, and the results were always super good. So I lean in, bringing our faces close enough for him to tell me.

"Kítpivoç," he whispers extra quiet.

I try to say the word back, but it comes out as a jumble of sounds that is nothing close to what Wequie said.

Snorting, he repeats, "Kítpivoç. The name of our clan. We are the Kítpivoç Clan."

Wequie pulls back to see my reaction, which is barely contained excitement that almost makes me explode!

I knew how long he'd been trying to choose the right name for the clan. He spent endless nights searching through all sorts of books and materials for the perfect fit, and while there were lots of great names, nothing had been just right – until now.

This sounded perfect, like something super important and old, but in a good way, and powerful too!

The way Wequie said it, Kítpivoç Clan, it sounded so right.

"It's perfect," I promise, which makes him beam proudly, "does it have a meaning?"

Wequie's smile somehow gets even bigger, "It does, actually. It's greek, and it means yellow." My heart does happy pumping things, making my ears ring so much I almost miss his next words. "I know yellow isn't one of our colours, and it probably won't make sense to anyone else who knows greek, but I wanted a piece of you in the clan since none of us would be here right now without you, flower."

My lips part, allowing for a short gasp as all sorts of emotions start swelling inside me.

"Did you know that yellow can represent sunshine and happiness?" He asks while he passes his fingers through my hair, "two words I think everyone would use to describe you. We may be a clan full of vampires, but we're also a clan full of happiness."

Wequie gestures around the Great Hall, where everyone was dancing and clapping, chatting and laughing so freely now that all our battles had been fought, and we were safe.

"They're practically glowing," Wequie says as he looks back at me, his smile turning sweet, "I think you had a very big role to play in that, flower. So, I thought it only fitting to have a piece of you in the name."

I make a small happy sound before I pull Wequie in for a hug, a super tight one that hopefully filled him with all the good feelings his words had just poured into me.

"The Kítpivoç Clan," I repeat, trying my hardest to get it right. "I love it."

"Good," Wequie replies, squeezing me back, "I'll tell the others before the night ends. I just wanted you to know first."

When we pull away, I give Wequie a kiss on his cheek that makes the spot colour a little before he gives me one back.

"With that sorted," he says as he slides off of me before skipping over to where Malcolm sat. "My good sir," he bows deeply, offering his hand, "may I have this dance?"

Malcolm drinks the rest of his blood before he turns his seat around and eagerly stretches out both his arms, "You may."

Wequie pulls him from his chair, and the two of them go stumbling to join those dancing. They didn't really fall into the dances everyone else was doing, but they didn't seem to care. They just grinned at one another while they spun around, their heads thrown back to let their laughter roll free.