Julien Gregg's Immortalis Chronicles One: The Society Chapter 6

 SIX

I got home and found that the framing for the rooms was there. The place was clean and looked like they'd always been there. David told me that they'd left for the night. They'd be back tomorrow to put up sheet rock and insulate. That was all they really had to do. The electrician would be there in the morning to run electrical into both rooms and the bathroom. Then they'd insulate and hang sheet rock and they'd be done. It was up to us to get the plumber to do the bathroom. They'd put tile down on the floor but that was as far as they were going. I told him it was fine.

I sat with all of the bonded when Declan and Evan came home. Todd cooked dinner and I sat and ate it. I thought about the conversations with my uncle and grandfather. I suppose they were all right. They had to be because they were what I had. I was looking forward to seeing Nicole again. The dinner would be nice. I hoped everyone got along. I wasn't worried about my boys. I was worried about Nicole, William, and Drake.

We had dinner and they all told me about the men that had come to put the rooms in. Each had a different adjective to describe them. I was laughing by the time dinner was over. I told them that an electrician was coming tomorrow to put in the electric for the rooms. Then the guys would be here later tomorrow to put the sheet rock in the rooms and the tile on the bathroom floor.

"So we'll have rooms," said Evan.

"Yes," I said. "And they're coming along. I have to call a plumber to put in the water in the bathroom."

"We'll have our own bathroom, too?" Evan asked.

"You'll have a bathroom that can be accessed from either room," I said. "That will make a total of three and a half bathrooms in the house. If someone needs a bathroom and all of the others are full you will let them use the bathroom accessed from your room or Todd's."

"Oh of course we will, won't we Todd?" Evan asked.

"What?" he said. He'd been stuck in the kitchen cooking and hadn't come out yet.

"I said we'd let people use our bathroom if the bathrooms are full in the rest of the house," he said.

"Oh, yeah," he said. Then he went back to cleaning up.

David came in and sat beside me. I looked at him and he smiled. I smiled back. I was thinking about what I wanted to happen with the bonded. Roland and William said they had to have a purpose. David was good at overseeing things and corralling people to do what he wanted. So that would be his job within the family. He'd be the organizer. He'd like that. They all wanted a job within the bonded. I had jobs for all of them if I thought about it. I would need an organizer and that was David, a computer guy and that was Declan, a logistics guy and that was Evan, a driver and I think that was going to be John, and a security man and that would be Todd. I had them all in place. I just had to teach them.

I wanted to send John to a driving class. I wanted him to know how to drive like a pro. I wanted him to learn to drive defensively and offensively. I wanted him to learn to drive a number of vehicles. I wanted John to be able to drive no matter what was thrown his way. That was going to take a class and I'd have to pay for it. That was fine. I'd pay for him to learn to drive like that. It wouldn't be a problem.

I needed Todd to work with James and Constance on security. He needed to learn all he could from them because a teenager taking weapons classes and all that entailed would raise too many eyebrows. It wouldn't work. So it had to be James and Constance, and maybe Drake that taught him what he needed to know. I just hoped that James could continue to teach Evan while he was teaching Todd.

"What are you thinking about?" David asked me after I'd been quiet for a while.

"What position I want you all in," I said. "You're the organizer because you can get things to happen that no one can. John will be the driver. I'm going to send him to an aggressive driving class. I want him to be able to drive anything. Todd's going to be security. I have to get him over to the hotel or the house by that time and he has to work closely with James and Constance. But James is currently teaching Evan to be logistics. Declan will be our computer guy and counterfeiter. I've got you all planned out. I just hope you all like your positions."

"We'll love them because we're doing them for you," he said. "I don't think you know how much the bonded love you."

"Well I love all of them in my own way," I said. "I won't fall in love with any of them though."

"Plus you have to bond the coach," he said. "What's his role in all of this?"

"He's going to go to work," I said. "He can coach baseball all over the country."

"Yes," he said. "I just thought he'd have another function in the family."

"Well I can't have him doing a job and being this or that at the same time," I said. "If you guys get jobs I want them to be in your positions inside the family. If you get a job you'd be a manager. If Declan gets a job it would be in computers. And on and on."

"Sounds good to me," he said. "But you don't need Eric to work. You have all kind of money."

"But he's going to want to work," I said. "That's the rub. None of you have to go to work. I don't even have to go to work. I just think you're all going to be bored if you don't."

"Damon, we're going to school," he said. "Then college. Then school. Then college again. We don't have time for jobs."

"You're right about that," I laughed. "I had forgotten about that. Thank you for reminding me." 

"Evan is learning what he needs to get us on our feet every time we move?" he asked.

"Yes," I said. "Declan is learning all he needs to know to get us identification when we move. Todd is learning all he needs to know about security. I'm sending John to aggressive driving courses and you don't need special training."

"You've got it all planned out," he said. "But for a long time we'll just go to school and college. That's going to get a bit tedious after a while."

"We can take a year off now and then to just be," I said. "We'd have to be somewhere off the grid for that though."

"Yeah that way we don't have to explain why a bunch of teenagers aren't in school," he said.

"That's it," I said. "We may go to Milan to stay with Nicole for a few months when that happens."

"That sounds fun," he said.

"I don't know," I sighed. "We'll do what we do."

"Are you all right?" David asked.

"Jason bonded Rodney Franklin tonight," I said.

"Coach Franklin?" he asked.

"Yeah that's the one," I said.

"What's got you worried about that?" he asked.

"I have to bond Eric Knoll," I said. "I feel like I should go find him and bond him."

"Well that's not feasible," he said. "You have to do it Dad's way."

"I know," I said. "Oh, they're having a catered dinner there at the hotel to celebrate my return to the family in a week. They'll all be there. I'm to be there with all of my bonded."

"Well then in a week we'll be at the hotel to celebrate with you," he said. "No big deal."

"We're waiting for Nicole to get here," I said.

"She's coming back?" he asked.

"For this she is," I said. "She has a project to get through and then she'll be here."

"Okay," he said. "Who's in your bedroom tonight?"

"Evan," I said.

"Okay," he said. "I'll let the others know."

I sat there and thought about how to spend time with each member of my family. I could go to the hotel or call my sister and we could hang out. I could call Jason and have him and Rodney over here any time I wanted. It was Roland and William that I had to figure out how to spend time with. I supposed I could see them at the hotel until Father moved to the house. Then I'd see them all over there. Of course William had told Drake to look for a house here in town so soon I'd be able to do the same thing with him. It was working out. Arena and Jason would be in school with me and I'd see them there. Plus they would come to the house or I to theirs as well.

"So I'm with you tonight?" Evan asked as he sat down beside me.

"You are," I said.

"Finally," he said with a smile.

"It may feel that way to you, but I've been fair to the bonded," I said.

"Of course you have," he said. "We can have sex with each other just fine but we all want to be with you."

"Well you'll all be with me one night or another but it won't happen every night for any of you," I said.

"You do what you do and we'll be happy," he said. "I'm learning a lot with James. I know which databases to use and where to look. I also know to buy and not rent. Renting is for members of he bonded who don't want to live with the rest of us for a while. And I'll be thinking about the next move as soon as we land in the first one."

"That's great, Evan," I said. "That's exactly what I wanted you to learn."

"I need a computer that's just mine so I can set up moves ahead of schedule and we can move seamlessly from one place to another," he said.

"I'll buy you one tomorrow," I said.

"Thank you," he said. "It needs to be fast and high powered."

"It will be don't worry," I said. "You'll use that for the moving?"

"I'll keep a database of places and houses to move to, school records, college records, and the like," he said. "I'll be able to map it all out on the computer and print references for each of us to follow when moving times come."

"That sounds awesome," I said.

"Declan needs a specific kind of equipment for what he's doing," Evan said. "He'll need a computer like mine and a few other items. A specific kind of camera, printer, and materials. He'll give you a list when he's ready. It's all for making identification. He'll get school records put together on school stationary and college transcripts for those who want to go further in their education."

"That's all amazing," I said. "When he gives me the list we'll buy and order all of the stuff he needs."

"We're all learning our jobs for you," Evan said. "When does John start with the driving course?"

"When he turns eighteen," I said. "He can't take those kinds of courses until he's eighteen."

"Well that sucks," he said. "James could teach him faster. He's done with me. He's working with Todd now. Well him and Drake."

"Okay," I'll talk to James about teaching John to drive aggressively. He'll have to wait until he's eighteen to get licenses for the other types of vehicles. I want him to be able to drive anything."

"That sounds amazing, but we have to wait on that," he said.

"Well it isn't like he needs to know all of that tomorrow," I said. "We'll be here for a few more years. When we move we're going with Jordan and the family."

"We're moving with the family the first time?" Evan asked.

"Yes," I said. "I suppose I should have told everyone that we were. You don't need to map out a life for us. James and Tom are already doing that."

"Well okay then," he said. "I still need the computer because sooner or later we'll be on our own."

"We sure will be," I said. "I won't want to live with the family forever."

"I get that," he said. "The others will have no problem with this. I'll probably work with James to do what he does. Declan will work with Tom to help him out."

"That works," I said. "And James and Drake can show John how to drive."

"That's great," he said. "Now you just need to figure out what Coach is going to do."

"Well I've decided that he'll go to college with Jordan the first time," I said. "We'll all be going to high school where ever we end up."

"Won't all of his bonded be in college with them?" Evan asked. "They're all college age or at least look like they are."

"Then probably," I said. "I don't know what's going to happen with our first move. We're six years out from it."

"Yeah," he said, deflated.

"Come on," I said, taking him by the hand and leading him to the stairs. "It's time for our shower."

"Oh goody," he said with a smile.

I took him into the bathroom where we stripped naked. Then we started the water and waited for it to heat up. Then we both got in the shower. I washed him first and bent him over and slid a finger into his ass and out again. Then I washed his feet and legs. Then I washed his hair. He did the same to me right down to the finger in my ass. I was getting a lot of fingers in my ass lately. Then we got out and dried off. I put him in the bed and climbed on top of him. Then I rimmed him with his knees beside his head and his ass exposed. He loved that. Then I fingered him and got him ready. I lubed my dick and slid it all the way into him. He didn't seem to be in distress. I asked if he wanted me to wait and he said no. I let his knees down until his feet were on my shoulders. Then I moved him into the right position and started to ram his prostate.

He moaned and moved his head from side to side. He said, "Oh God, yeah." I just kept going. It didn't take long at all to get him to clamp up and shoot cum up his torso. I couldn't have that be the end so I long dicked him for a while. He hummed and sighed. Then he went back to breathing heavy and I went back to his prostate. He yipped at me and pulled me down for a kiss. Then I was just jabbing at his prostate. He finally clamped down and shot cum up his torso for the second time. I sped up and got to my own orgasm. Then I was just laying still on top of him kind of glued to him by his cum.

"You need to clean up and let that out," I said.

"Yeah," he said and got up.

I used the towel to wipe myself down and then I laid there and waited for him to come back. When he did we cuddled up and went to sleep. We slept in the same position all night because when I woke up he was still sleeping with his head on my chest. I moved and he woke up. He smiled at me and I loved his dimples. I kissed him and then we got up and got dressed. They all had clothes in my room for this purpose.

Downstairs again I had breakfast cooked by Declan. He told me that he'd heard Evan all night long. I just smiled and left it at that. I ate my breakfast and got it all eaten before the phone rang. It was the plumber wanting to come and do the plumbing. I told him to come on. The boys from the construction crew wouldn't be here until noon. The electrician was supposed to come and do the wiring. Then they'd come and do the sheet rock. The tub and shower combo was scheduled to be delivered tomorrow. The vanity and counter with cabinets would come the same day.

The plumber was there for a short time. He got all of the plumbing done and there were capped off pipes sticking out of the wall in various places. The boys came and put in the sheet rock and finished the tile. Now it was ready for the fixtures. They came the next day and then it was a finished bathroom. They installed everything. There were even towel holders. I went and bought towels and a bath mat. I put those in there and then they were moving the bedroom furniture in that I had bought. Evan and Todd slept in their own rooms that night.

The next day I was with Arena combing the stores for this and that for school. She was a machine when it came to getting things for school. We had school supplies and folders for every one of my bonded. We had pens and pencils, loose leaf paper, notebooks, folders, highlighters, and backpacks to put it all in. We put everything in each backpack and put them back in the car. Then we went to lunch.

"Well we have school taken care of," she said. "Nicole will outfit everyone. She always does."

"I'm supposed to be waiting for a shipment of Arcola Clothes that we can't get in the US," I said.

"That's Nicole," she laughed. "So tell me about you. What do you like? What do you hate?"

"Well I love dogs and cats," I said. "I've never been allowed to have one but I love them. I like sweet and salty food. I'm a sucker for a cheesecake. I like good movies and books. I play video games and hang out with the bonded. Before the bonded it was just me and John but now he's one of the bonded too. I found out that I was adopted when my grandmother put money away for David to go to college but not me. Then my mom ran off with her business partner. That didn't hurt me. She was never a hands on mom. Dad told me I was adopted the very next night. I mean I knew it had to be something like that. David and I are the same age. There are literally months between our birthdays. He'll be seventeen for two months before I turn seventeen. I thought I was the child of Dad's mistress and Mom was forced to raise me. I thought that's why she left. But it turned out that I was adopted and she left because she wanted to."

"Damn," she said.

"Other than that I'm an easy going guy who tries to do the right thing," I said. "I'm in no way a pushover but I will go out of my way to help people when I think they need it."

"That's a good quality to have," she said.

"Well usually when someone wants something from me they don't get it," I said. "But you let me find the suffering or the bereft and I'll try to move mountains for them."

"That sounds like me," she laughed. "Oh Damon it's so good to be with you. You have no idea how long we've searched for you or where and how we've searched."

"You've searched for sixteen years," I said with a smile.

"Smart ass," she said.

"Better than being a dumb ass," I said with another smile.

"Ha!" she said. "I love it. You and I will get along famously."

"I love hearing that," I said. "I'm close with David and I wanted to be close with you and Jason as well. Jason and I have already bonded."

"You and I will bond," she said. "I'm sure of it."

"As am I," I said. "Well what else do you have planned?"

"Well I was thinking I'd go and check out the high school," she said. "Get a lay of the land."

"All right," I said. "Let's go. It's open they have lunch programs and the gym is open all summer."

"That's wonderful," she said.

We drove to Claymore High and walked around outside for a moment. Then we went inside and I showed her where the science classrooms were. They each had labs connected to them. The math classes, and the history classes were together. The language and reading classes were together. Then there was metal shop and the wood shop. There were classrooms for art and music back there too. She liked how the school was laid out. Then we went to the gym and found the cheerleaders working out. She talked to them for a bit and then she performed a few cheers for them, did back flips and all sorts of acrobatic things. They welcomed her to the squad. She came back to me and said she'd found her club. I laughed at this.

We left the school and headed for my house. She met all of the bonded and told me they were a good looking bunch. She talked with Evan about his role as the facilitator and he told her about all he'd learned. Then she talked with Todd about security and Declan about computers. She was impressed. John was with James and Drake learning to drive aggressively. He couldn't get the license for other vehicles until he turned eighteen but he was learning to drive them anyway. That made me happy.

She stayed for dinner which was chicken alfredo with garlic bread and iced tea. She loved it. I loved it. I didn't know that Evan could cook so well. He told me it came out of a jar and I told him he'd done something to it. He said I was right and left it at that. We all sat down to dinner and she asked each of them some questions about themselves and came away from dinner with an understanding of just how different from each other my bonded really were. She said they were different in ways that complimented me. I told her I was happy with the bonded.

She went back to the hotel after that. This would be their last night in the hotel. They could move into the house tomorrow. I was excited for them. This was an unscheduled move so it was proving difficult for them all. They didn't need new ID because they were being themselves and it had been two hundred years since Jordan had been Jordan Arcola to the world. Jason and Arena had never been Arcola to the world. So it worked out. The bonded had their own names because they had been bonded for years. That was all good.

"Who's in your room tonight?" Evan asked me.

"Todd," I said. "He's looking forward to it."

"Yes he is," Evan said. "He's been asking all of us when his night is."

"Well as I told you tonight is his night," I said. "Then I'm taking a night off and starting all over again."

"You're taking a night off?" he asked.

"Yes," I said. "I need a night to sleep with no sex in it."

"All right," he said, but he sounded down about it. It did move their nights off a bit.

"You'll be all right," I said. "There are bonded to sleep with."

"Yes, but they're not you," he said.

"Well you shouldn't get too attached to me, Evan," I said. "I'm not going to fall in love with any of you."

"I know that," he said. "But do you find any of us special?"

"Special?" I said. "You're all special or you wouldn't be here."

"I mean you moved us in here," he said.

"I don't want you or Todd to mistake my moving you in here as anything other than necessity. You both needed a place to live and I'm your bond holder. You both just happened to luck out with this house."

"There wasn't another reason?" he asked.

"No there wasn't," I said. "I would have moved any of you in here. And let's not forget that after I bond him, Eric will be moving in here."

"Where will he sleep?" Evan asked.

"In my father's room most likely," I said. "Then I'll have six of you to rotate."

"Well I guess being bonded is better than being alone," he said.

"You'll never be alone again, and as I said the bonded will sleep with you," I said. "It doesn't always have to be me. I don't have a favorite among you. If I was to say that I'm closer to any of you it would be David because he's my adoptive brother."

"I get it," he said and walked off.

I didn't want to hurt his feelings but he was never going to get what he wanted from me. He needed to know that. I had enough on my plate without worrying about how one of the bonded felt about me. I didn't need this. I sat in the living room that night with all of them touching me. I made it a point to pay attention to the movie that we watched that night. I paid such close attention that I missed it when they started to remove their clothing. I got up and walked away from them. If they wanted an orgy I wasn't going to be involved. I went to the kitchen and got myself a snack. Todd came in a minute later.

"They stopped," he said.

"Well I told them all I would not be party to an orgy," I said. "Evan is upset because he's no more special to me than any other bonded. None of you are. He needs to get that through his head. I'm not going to fall in love with one of you. That isn't what this is all about."

"I know that," Todd said. "I'm not in love with you, but I love you like a great friend. You're one of the best friends that I've ever had."

"Thank you," I said. "I feel like you're all my family but that sounds bad because we all have sex. You're all my people. How's that?"

"That works," he said.

"Well let's go upstairs," I said as I took his hand and led him to the stairs.

We went into the bathroom and he didn't know what to do. I told him to take off his clothes. He did that as I did the same thing. I turned on the water and waited for it to heat and then I turned on the shower. We stepped in and I washed him from his shoulders and his pits to his arms and his hands. Then I started in on his chest and stomach. I washed all the way down to his pubic bone. Then I washed his dick and balls. Then I told him to turn around and bend over. He did and I washed his ass. I slipped my soapy finger into his ass and he moaned. I took it out and washed his back. Then I had him turn around again and I washed his legs and feet. Then I washed his hair. Then I pushed him back into the water so he could rinse. Then I told him to do that same thing to me.

He did all of it, and his hands felt so good on my body that I moaned. He had a really good touch and I told him. He smiled at this and went back to what he was doing. I told him not to put his finger in my butt because I was not the one is going to be fucked. He smiled at this too. Then he had me turn and bend he washed my ass but didn't stick his finger in. Then he washed my back and had me turned. He washed my legs and feet and then my hair. Then he pushed me into the water so I could rinse. Then we were drying ourselves with the towels. I grabbed an extra towel and we went into my room.

We made out for a while and I sucked his dick. His dick was as big as mine so it wasn't as easy to get it into my throat as the others. I did though. He came down my throat and I was sorry that he had. I knew that fucking him would make him cum again. I got him on the bed and lifted his knees until they were beside his head. Then I rimmed him and he grunted and tried to push his ass further onto my tongue. Then I was fingering him and getting him ready for my dick. I had three fingers in him and spread them as I could to stretch him. Then I let his knees fall until his feet were on my shoulder. I lubed my dick and slid straight in. He grunted at this. I stayed still to let him get used to the girth.

"I'm good," he said. "Fuck me."

I did just what he said. I tilted his hips to get his pelvis into the right place. I fucked his prostate and he moaned and looked at me with big eyes. I smiled and kept doing it. He dropped his head to the pillow and began to grip the sheets. Then he clamped down and shot cum over his torso. He looked at me after that. I long dicked him and let him come down from his orgasm. He was moaning and gripping he sheets again. Then I went back to his prostate. That made him moan louder. I fucked it for a long time before he clamped down and shot more cum on his torso. Then I fucked him until I had my orgasm. Then I slowly pulled out.

"You need to go into the bathroom and sit on the toilet," I said. "Use one of the towels that we dried with to get your cum off your torso."

"Okay," he said. "I really loved what we just did. I can't wait to do it again."

"I know," I said.

He went to clean up and out and I used the towel I had brought in to clean the cum off of me and wipe my dick. Then I laid back and waited for him to come out. He was the same height as me so we were perfect cuddling. He slid down and put this head on my chest. He hummed for a bit and then looked at me. He smiled and I smiled back. He looked like he needed to say something so I waited.

"Thank you for bonding me," he said. "I have people that I never had before. I wasn't gay but I am now and I have the best lovers. You're the best so far and I can't wait for another night. I know that you're taking a night off tomorrow. I understand that. I just want you to know that I loved every minute of it. I'm not in love with you so don't get upset. I love you but not that way."

"I know," I said. "I love you, too. But not that way. I don't love any of you in that way. I just love you like my people." 

"I figured," he said with a smile. Then he put his head back on my chest.

We went to sleep that way and stayed that way. The next morning I woke up to find him smiling at me. He told me that I made funny noises in my sleep. I told him that was because he hadn't let go of my dick. He laughed and got out of bed. I got up and got dressed. Then we went downstairs. We were the first ones up so we made breakfast. I made biscuits and gravy and had it piping hot and ready when Evan and Declan came into the kitchen. I gave them both plates. Then David and John came in and I gave them both plates. We all sat down to eat and talk.

"So Evan told us that you love us all equally and no one among us is special," Declan said.

"I did tell him that," I said. "I said that if I was closer to any of the bonded it was David because he's my adoptive brother."

"Well that would make sense," Declan said. David nodded. "We all love you but we're not in love with you if that makes sense?"

"Yes it does," I said. "I feel the same way about all of you."

"Well we didn't understand what Evan was talking about at first then we decided that you need to take him out of the rotation for a while until he settles down and stops thinking you should be in love with him," David said.

"You all three talked about this?" I asked.

"Yes," said John.

"Todd, what do you think?" I asked.

"I think Evan needs to understand his place in this family," he said. "So I agree with the three of them."

"So I don't get a night with Damon for weeks because I'm in love with him?" Evan asked.

"You're not in love with him," Declan said. "If you were I wouldn't have had my dick in you last night."

"That's what we said to him," John said. David nodded.

"I know how I feel," he said.

"Yes but you shouldn't feel that way," Declan said. "He isn't in this for love. He's in this for the people. He wanted a tight knit group of people and that's what he got. You're rocking the boat."

I sat back and let them talk. It was interesting to me that the only one with this issue was Evan. Todd didn't have this issue and I'd saved him from his father. I could still feel the man in my head so he wasn't dead yet. It had to be close he'd been gone almost a month. The others didn't feel that way toward me so why did Evan? Could it be that he was so repressed by his parents that he fell in love with the first one to touch his dick? If that was the case he needed therapy. But that was out of the question.

"What do you have to say about all of this, Damon?" Evan asked.

"I'm not in love with any of you and will not be in love with any of you at any time," I said. "If you think you're in love with me you had better get over it because I will never be just yours. I will continue to have sex with the bonded. You will be taken out of the rotation until I decide that you're ready to try again. That isn't to say that the others can't have sex with you. I encourage that. It might make you understand that what you feel isn't love."

I went and bought his computer after breakfast. It was a high end gaming computer with a lot of power and memory. I took it home and put it in Evan's room. Then I talked with James and Tom about what Declan would need. They quoted me a price and told me that they'd have everything he needed in a day or two. They had to make a trip. I told them I'd be waiting. Then I called Jason and asked him what was going on at the house. He told me that he was coming over so that I could drive back following him to see the house. I told him I'd be waiting.

Jason showed up and I told the bonded I'd be gone for a while. I followed Jason to the edge of town to a house I knew well. I'd always wanted to live in it. It was a three story white house with clapboard siding, black shudders, and a wrap around porch. The roof was dark shingles and there was a pool with a pool house. This house was meant for someone with money. Now it had someone with money. It had my father.

We parked behind the house in front of the three car garage and got out. "Well what do you think?" Jason asked.

"I love this house," I said. "I always wanted to live in it."

"Well now you sort of do," he said. "Follow me I'll show you the inside."

The inside was just as grand as the outside. The first room we came to was a mud room with a bench and a pair of gloves on it. The walls and floor were hardwood planks and the ceiling was wood planks too. We went into the kitchen and it was a massive. Counters were everywhere with cabinets under them and above them. The appliances were stainless steel and looked brand new. There was a nook with a table and four chairs off to the right. The archway led to the dining room. This was hardwood flooring, wallpapered walls, and a huge chandelier over the table with crystal prisms suspended from wire that sparkled in the light. The table was long and constructed of dark wood. There were eight ladder-back chairs that matched it all around the table. There was a china cabinet that matched the table and chairs on the left corner filled wit china.

The next room was a family room with couches and chairs. There as no television in this room but there was a fireplace with a hearth that was brick and tile. It was beautiful. We went into the main living room and here were Jordan, William, and Roland. Arena was nowhere to be found. We came in and sat down. They looked at us and smiled. Roland shook his head. He was no doubt marveling again about how much Jason and I looked alike.

"Damon, welcome home," Jordan said with a smile.

"I always wanted to live in this house," I said. "I used to drive by and just look at it."

"So I did good, huh?" he asked.

"You did great," I said. "I finally got to see the inside of it."

"Well what do you think?" he asked.

"It's as awesome inside as it is outside," I said. "I love the pool house."

"That's where William and Drake live," Jordan said. "Roland is thinking of moving here too."

"We're looking for a house," Roland said.

"The whole family will be living here before long," I said.

"Nicole will never live here," William said. "She'll visit often but she won't live here. Perhaps she'll buy a house for her and her bonded to reside in while she's here though."

"That would be best," Jordan said. "I can't keep displacing the bonded to give her place to stay when she visits."

"Tell her that," William said. "She'll understand."

"I will then," Jordan said. "Damon how are your bonded?"

"I have one who thinks he's in love with me," I said. "It's aggravating. The others decided that he should be taken out of the sexual rotation for a while until he settles down. I agreed."

"You rotate them sexually?" William asked.

"I sleep with one each night and then I take a night off," I said. "I had five to get through but now I have four with Evan sitting out for a while. The others can have sex with him I just won't."

"Good idea," Jordan said. "I haven't had that kind of problem in a long time. I handled it a bit differently than you. I gave him the elixir and threw him out of the house."

"I can't do that," I said. "He's literally sixteen years old. He can't make it on his own. I'll just treat him carefully for a while. I might just ignore him completely for a while. He has to understand that I'm not in love with any of them and never will be."

"You're sure about that?" William asked.

"Well if I was going to be wouldn't I be already?" I asked.

"Probably," he said. "You may just be too young to really feel it."

"I know what love is," I said. "I just don't feel that way toward any of the current bonded. That may change with future bonded. Who am I to say it won't? But I hope it doesn't."

"I hope it doesn't for your sake, Damon," William said.

"With WIlliam living here on the property things have changed for how we'll live here," Jordan said. "To the world I'm your older brother and William is your father. I and the bonded will be going to college here in town. You, Jason, and Arena will be in high school for two years and then you'll join us in college. When you graduate we'll leave this area and set up to do it all over again in another city."

"Sounds good," I said. "I need to ask your bonded how mine are doing with their classes so far. Evan said he needed a high powered computer to do what he needed to do."

"That's about right," Jordan said. "He'll be keeping databases on cities and houses for you to live in when you move to another city. He'll also be keeping track of your new names and where you lived with each name. He'll need space for that and a high powered computer with the internet to download information about future cities and houses. He'll work with Declan to keep your new names straight in each city. It's important that you use those names even at home to get used to them."

"So he's right in what he needed then," I said. "I talked to James and Drake about what Declan would need. They gave me a price and told me they'd have it all in a few days that they needed to take a trip."

"Yes, they're both off to gather the things your Declan will need," William said. "There are a lot of things he'll need. You'll pay them back for buying it."

"Yes, that was the plan," I said. "I want John to work with someone over here for aggressive driving. I'd like him to be able to drive anything that he comes across and to drive it well. I can't put him in classes for that in the legitimate world because he isn't eighteen. He can't have the license for the other vehicles until he turned eighteen but he can learn."

"You send him to the house and we'll get him sorted," Jordan said. "I have bonded that do that sort of thing. Todd is learning weapons right now. He'll need some weapons to keep on hand but you'll buy them on the black market. Age isn't an issue for us when it comes to stuff like that. John doesn't need a license to be able to drive any vehicle. He just needs to know how. We'll teach him that."

Then suddenly Travis disappeared from my head. I sat up straight and really paid attention to the knots of emotion in my head. Yes, Travis was gone. I looked at Jordan and sighed. He looked at me expectantly but I didn't know what to say. This was the first time I'd done something like this and I hadn't been prepared for the way it would make me feel when one of those knots were unraveled and just gone.

"Travis is dead," I said.

"Is that leaving you feeling a bit off?" Jordan asked.

"Yes," I sighed. "I didn't know it would feel like this."

"It'll feel like that every time one of your bonded withers and dies," William said. "It isn't pleasant but you can live through it."

"Yes I can live through it," I said. "I should have been prepared for this if I was willing to let him die in this way."

"Well now you know what it feels like," Jordan said. "None of us could have described that feeling for you. It won't last but a bit. Then it will go away. You didn't have an attachment to that man so it'll go away for you a bit quicker than it does for the rest of us."

"All right," I said. I tried to ignore it. "Is there anything else I need to know?"

"Not that I can think of," he said. "Just don't do that again for a while."

"I don't plan to," I said. "I need to figure out what to do about Evan but I wouldn't do that to him."

"Good," Jordan said. "You and Jason will have a lot of firsts with your bonded. It's been a long long time since any of us have been in your shoes. Plus you're both young to have bonded. We don't know how certain things will be for you in the scheme of things."

"That makes sense," I said. "I'll get through this. It isn't completely mind numbing. It's just aggravating. I can handle it."

"You can," Jordan said. "We all did."

"I fully intended for him to die so I'll put up with this aggravation as long as it lasts," I said. "I have to tell Todd that his father is dead."

"He's going to be relieved," William said. "That boy hates his father. And he should after what that man has done to him."

"Well he's gone now and can't hurt anyone else," I said. "That's the important thing."

"That is the important thing," Jordan said. "I'm glad you understand that."

"Well what's going on with the dinner?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Nicole is on her way back," William said. "We've booked the banquet room in the hotel and we're having it catered. The party is next Friday at five o'clock. We'll eat, drink, and make merry. We'll do it up. This'll be the first time the entire family has been together in eons."

"Well good," I said. "I'm glad that I could be the cause of such an event," I said, smiling at him.

"You are," he said. "Nicole wouldn't do this for just anyone. She hates Drake."

"I understand that better than you think," I said. "I'm just glad that she can put that aside for me."

"She'll do a lot for you," Jordan said. "You are amazing to her. She can't believe that you've acclimated so young."

"Is it really rare for one as young as me to be in this position?" I asked.

"As far as we know it is," William said. "Who's to say with the other Immortalis out there?"

"Have you not met any of them in all of these moves you make?" I asked.

"We try not to," he said. "Maybe one day."

"Maybe," Jordan said. "But you have one more to bond."

"Yes, I do," I said. "I have to have him move in so the world sees and adult in the house. It's aggravating."

"It's going to be that way for eternity," Jordan said. "This first move you make won't be so much. You'll have William. But when you move out into the world on your own you're going to have to find an adult to live in the house with you. I had thought it would be your adoptive father but he took the hands off approach to an extreme I had not counted on."

"He's just a phone call away," I said. "He's not really gone. It's still his house."

"He's given it over to you," William said. "You've done construction. You've made it yours."

"Well I don't know what to say about that but I had his permission to do the construction and he had to get the permits for building," I said. "So it's still his house. He still pays the house payment and the insurance on the house. I told him I could take over but he wouldn't hear of it. I told him it had to be paid off and rented out when we move. He said we'd deal with that in the six years that we'll be here."

"Invite him to this dinner," William said. "I'd like to get to know that man. While we're in town he needs to be around all of us. When we move he'll be around all of us. Then he'll be on his own. He needs to know what he needs to be on his own with bonded. We need to give him money to finance his bonded and the life they'll live. He needs to accept it because we won't take no for an answer."

"I'll call him and invite him," I said, pulling out my phone. I talked to him and told him all about the party and told him that he and his bonded were expected to be at the Plaza Hotel in the banquet room Friday and five for a dinner party to get to know everyone. I told him that they had information about how to facilitate a life with the bonded seamlessly and easily. He said he'd be there. Then he asked me if I was having any problems at the house. I told him that everything was running smoothly. He said he'd see me Friday. We hung up.

"So he's going to show up?" Roland asked.

"He said he would," I said. "He's always kept his commitments."

"Then we'll see him for ourselves on Friday," William said. "How many bonded does he have?"

"One that I know of," I said. "There could be more of them for all I know."