MY SUGAR MUMMY IS A BEAUTIFUL VAMPIRE

They stayed like that for a long moment before Celena pulled back. "Now I should show Mommy," she said decisively. "She's sad."

Blake smiled at his daughter's perceptiveness. "Yes, she is. Sad that she missed so much of you growing up."

"It's okay," Celena said with the simple acceptance of childhood. "You're here now."

Blake followed her back downstairs to where Rose waited with Nana. Reggie had disappeared, presumably to check security before the patrol passed through.

"Mommy's turn," Celena announced, taking Rose's hand. "I have drawings of you too."

As Rose allowed herself to be led upstairs, Nana gestured for Blake to join her in the kitchen. Her expression had grown more serious, the brief respite of family reunion giving way to the gravity of their situation.

"She's remarkable," Blake said as they entered the kitchen. "So advanced for her age."

"Vampire children," Nana replied with a small smile. "They grow too fast in some ways, not fast enough in others." She pulled a chair out for him. "But that's not what we need to talk about, and there's little time before the patrol."

Blake sat, leaning forward. "Tell me everything, Nana. What happened after we disappeared?"

Nana's weathered hands smoothed her apron as she gathered her thoughts. "Salvador returned with an army six months after you entered the spirit world. No warning. No mercy." Her eyes grew distant with memory. "Humans were taken—to send a message, we think. A statement to other humans who had allied themselves to fight against vampires,"

Blake's jaw tightened, grief mixing with rage. "And Elena? Rose's sister? How did she get involved?"

"Power," Nana said simply. "Always her weakness. Salvador offered her control of the city's eastern district if she betrayed the council. She didn't hesitate."

"And Damien?"

Nana's expression hardened. "That one... he brought something back with him. Something dark. The way he feeds now..." She shuddered slightly. "It's not natural, even for a vampire."

The back door opened, and Reggie slipped in, his massive frame moving with surprising silence. "Patrol's coming," he said without preamble. "Ten minutes out."

"We need to hide them," Nana said, rising. "The basement—"

"No," Reggie interrupted. "Salvador's enforcers have been using thermal scanners. They'll find them." He turned to Blake. "You need to register. Both of you. It's the only way you can move around the city safely, be with Celena."

Blake frowned. "Register? As what?"

"As returned citizens," Reggie explained grimly. "Everyone's tracked now—vampire and human alike. Different systems, different rights, but everyone's in the database." He pulled out what looked like an outdated tablet. "This is linked to the registration network. We... liberated it from an enforcer last month." Continue reading at My Virtual Library Empire

Nana's eyes widened. "Reggie, if they trace it—"

"They can't," he assured her. "Dumphries made sure of that." He handed the tablet to Blake. "We can enter you into the system as returning from Europe. Salvador's too focused on his artifact hunt to notice two more vampires in the registry."

Blake took the device, studying the complex form displayed on its screen. "What does registration mean? What are we agreeing to?"

Reggie's expression darkened. "Blood tax. Movement restrictions. Potential draft into Salvador's forces. But also protection for Celena. The right to live as a family."

From upstairs came the sound of footsteps—Rose and Celena returning. Blake looked up at the ceiling, then back at the tablet in his hands. "Do we have a choice?"

"Everyone has a choice," Nana said softly. "But some lead to harder paths than others."

Rose entered the kitchen with Celena at her side, the little girl now wearing the silver locket around her neck. Rose's eyes were red-rimmed from emotional tears, but she looked more at peace than she had since their return.

"What's happening?" she asked, sensing the tension in the room.

Reggie explained the situation quickly while Nana took Celena to help gather supplies from the pantry—a thinly veiled attempt to shield the child from the harsher realities of their discussion.

"Register," Rose said without hesitation when Reggie finished. "We'll do whatever it takes to stay with Celena."

"It means working within Salvador's system," Blake cautioned. "At least for now."

Rose's eyes hardened. "I don't care. We've lost five years with our daughter. I won't lose another day."

The sound of an engine outside silenced them all. Reggie moved swiftly to the window, peering through a narrow gap in the curtains. "Patrol's here," he murmured. "Two enforcers. Standard check."

Blake made his decision, quickly filling out the registration form with false information about their whereabouts for the past five years. Rose leaned over his shoulder, adding her own details. When they finished, Reggie took the tablet and transmitted the data.

"Now we wait," he said grimly.

The knock at the front door came seconds later—three sharp raps that seemed to echo through the entire house. Nana returned with Celena, her arm protectively around the child's shoulders.

"Stay here," Reggie instructed, moving toward the hallway. "Let me handle this."

They listened in tense silence as Reggie opened the door, his deep voice carrying easily as he greeted the enforcers with practiced casualness. The conversation was brief—standard questions about curfew compliance, household occupants, recent visitors.

Then a new question: "System shows two new registrations from this address. Returned emigrants from Europe?"

Blake and Rose exchanged an alarmed glance.

"My cousins," came Reggie's smooth reply. "Arrived this morning. All paperwork submitted. They're staying until they find housing in District Four."

A pause. "We'll need to verify. Blood scan required for all new registrants."

"Of course," Reggie agreed. "They're resting now. Travel fatigue. Can they report to the station tomorrow?"

Another pause, longer this time. Blake tensed, ready to move if necessary. Rose's hand found his, squeezing tightly.

"Tomorrow. Before noon," the enforcer finally said. "Failure to appear will result in revocation of residence permits and immediate detention."

"Understood," Reggie said. "Thank you for your service."

The door closed, and they waited until the sound of the patrol vehicle faded before releasing their collective breath. Reggie returned to the kitchen, his expression grim.

"That was too close," he said. "They're getting stricter with the checks."

"Will the registration hold?" Rose asked.

Reggie nodded slowly. "For now. But you'll need to be scanned tomorrow. They'll take blood samples, DNA. Once you're in the system, you're in their world."

"Their world," Blake repeated softly, looking at Celena who had remained remarkably calm throughout the ordeal. "What happened to ours?"

Nana moved to the stove, putting on a kettle as if making tea could somehow restore normalcy. "The world moves on, with or without us," she said. "Sometimes in directions we never imagined."

Celena slipped away from Nana to stand between her parents, taking both their hands in hers. "Are you going to fight the bad king?" she asked, her voice small but steady.

Blake exchanged a look with Rose over their daughter's head. In that moment of silent communication, five years apart vanished. They were partners again, parents again, facing an impossible situation together.

"First," Rose said carefully, "we're going to be your parents. That's what matters most."

"But the bad people hurt others," Celena persisted, with the clear moral certainty of childhood. "You always taught me to help people who are hurting."

Blake knelt to her eye level. "We did. And we will. But right now, we need to understand this new world. Find our place in it. Make sure you're safe."

Celena considered this, her expression thoughtful beyond her years. "Uncle Randal says sometimes you have to lose a battle to win a war."

Reggie made a choked sound that might have been a laugh. "She's definitely your child," he said to Rose. "Same stubborn idealism."

Rose smiled, though her eyes remained worried. "Let's get through tomorrow first. Then we can talk about battles and wars."

Later, after Celena had finally been persuaded to sleep—insisting that her parents stay in her room, one on each side of her bed—Blake and Rose stood by the window, looking out at the changed city. Lights still burned in some windows, but the streets remained eerily empty, the silence profound.

"Five years," Rose whispered, leaning her head against Blake's shoulder. "She's nearly grown, and we missed it."

"Not all of it," Blake reminded her, his arm tightening around her waist. "And she remembers us. Loves us."

"She's so beautiful. So smart." Rose's voice caught. "Nana and Reggie did an amazing job."

Blake nodded, his gaze shifting to the distant skyline where new structures rose—angular, imposing buildings that hadn't existed before. "What are we going to do?"

Rose turned to face him, her eyes—the amber eyes he had fallen in love with decades ago—resolute. "First, we protect our daughter. Then we find out what Salvador is looking for. What Randal is tracking."

"And then?"

A small, fierce smile curved Rose's lips. "Then we do what we've always done. Fight back against monsters."

Blake nodded, pulling her close. Together they stood in the darkness, watching over their sleeping daughter, reborn into a world transformed. A world that would soon learn what it meant to face Blake and Rose—together again, and with everything to fight for.