The Trouble With Family

Summary: Six months after the events of Blood Rites, Thomas Raith receives an interesting phone call from his favorite little sister.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Dresden Files.

Thomas Raith stared at his ringing cell phone. It wasn't unusual for him to get calls; it was helpful in his currently fruitless search to find a job. His younger half-brother Harry Dresden bought the phone for him.

Of course, Harry couldn't use it, because Harry was an insanely powerful wizard, and that amount of magic and sophisticated technology (pretty much anything created after the Vietnam War) went together about as well as politicians and truth in advertising.

Giving Thomas the phone was only one of many acts of kindness and brotherly love the big, goofy, fully-human beanpole did for him since his eldest sister Lara banished him from House Raith. One more of those things was to let him crash in Harry's basement apartment, until Thomas could get himself back on his feet.

Thomas's constitutional outside the magical field of Harry's apartment was interrupted by a call from a number in California. Who did he know in California?

"Hello?"

"Thomas! Hi! I missed you so much."

Ah. His favorite little sister moved out to California. "Hey there, Inari. I miss you, too."

Inari was one of the few Raith half-siblings he actually cared for. Well… Tania was at the tender age of twelve, but she showed every hint of truly belonging to the White Court.

The way Thomas did not.

The way Inari didn't, either.

"So, how did my favorite sister get this number?"

She giggled. "Thomas… Lara gave it to me shortly after I left Chicago."

Thomas decided not to try to figure out Lara's web of connections. Instead, he rolled his eyes. 'Of course, she did,' he thought.

He said, "Well, I'm glad she did. So… what is the occasion?"

Inari squealed in happiness. "Bobby and I are engaged, and you are the first person in our family to know!"

Thomas's eyes flew wide open. "Wow. That's great, love. Bobby was… the buff one on Arturo Genosa's set, right?"

"Yes. Jake Guffie's going to be Bobby's best man."

Thomas had wondered about the fate of the porn stars that took part in Mr. Genosa's ill-fated film and lived. (The chaos and mayhem involved in the film's making was mostly due to Thomas's older sister Lara, their father Papa Raith, and Arturo's three vengeful divorcées. The rest could solidly be blamed on a scourge of Black Court vampires.) And now, Thomas knew about Bobby and Jake.

After her announcement, his little sister fell silent.

"Inari? What's wrong?"

He heard the rustle of clothes while the eighteen-year-old lady squirmed. "Thomas, before I left, Lara told me… that you guys are, um… vampires." He could picture her frowning while she paused. "Not like those monsters who tried to kill us, but, um…"

Thomas closed his eyes. He knew this conversation had to happen. "Yes, Inari. By falling in love with Bobby, you managed to avoid the family curse of the Hunger that is part and parcel of being a White Court vampire, allowing you to stay fully human. The love that you share with your soon-to-be husband is anathema to a White Court vampire."

Inari sighed sadly. "That means I can't have any of my sisters as my bridesmaids. Not Lara, not Elisa, not Natalia, not Felicia… probably not even little Tania."

"I'm sorry, baby. The love, the real love you and Bobby share would… hurt them." Lara still had a circular scar on the palm of her left hand from holding a wedding ring, so many years later.

Thomas heard his favorite sister sniffle, and cry, "So… no one from my family is coming to my wedding, because the romantic love I share with my groom is poison to them. So my family, who I love, and have always loved, won't… can't…" She sobbed.

Thomas's heart hurt. Inari hit it precisely. White Court vampires of the House of Raith (exiled or not) were creatures of lust, stealing the life force of their prey via all acts of lust, be it a kiss, a hug, a pet, a caress. Sex was that, but of a whole different magnitude more. Regardless of how it happened, it satisfied the Hunger of the White Court vampire, and the prey was left with a desire for more.

All of this was true, unless said lust of potential prey was tied to love. True love, particularly if such love was expressed with Biblical "knowledge," was extremely deleterious to a White Court vampire. The physical touch of a person who loved intimately and was loved in return, or the touch of a token of love from one to the other was as destructive to the incubi and succubi in the House of Raith of the White Court as sunlight, garlic, holy water, and implements of faith were to vampires of the Red and Black Courts.

Thomas shed tears for his own impossible situation with his own love, Justine.

But that was his problem. Now, he had to deal with Inari's problem.

"No. Hey, no. Inari… I will be there for you. Um…" He thought for a moment. How could he make this work without incurring second-degree burns by hugging the bride?

Got it! "You know that I will totally rock the Victorian gentleman look for you, in a tux, with a top hat and cane, and white gloves… everything. And you, my wonderful sister, will help me by wearing a very modest Victorian-style wedding dress, along with a long, opaque, draping veil. (If not for your face, at least for your hair.) With these precautions, I can and will kiss the bride on her wedding day."

"Thank you!" He could almost feel the heat of her relief and gratitude over the phone.

Inari sniffed, trying to shake off this emotion. "Listen to me, sniveling. I am a very capable woman who manages the Feng Shui consulting firm Jake and Bobby run."

"A very capable woman who received some devastating information about her family."

He heard her swallowing tears, and he became very clever, very quickly. "Inari, love, didn't Arturo Genosa consider the people involved in his film an extended family?"

Inari cleared her throat. "He did. He was very protective of us. We were all invited to his wedding to Joan, the production manager."

Thomas thought that a timely word in the right ear could see the kind older gentleman give his sister away as a bride.

Taking a deep breath, Inari tensed as she asked, "Thomas, do you think Papa…"

"I think he will be very proud of you."

She murmured, "He's not coming, either, I imagine."

"Not likely. He does have a great deal of affection for you, even if he can't really show it properly," he lied. Papa Raith didn't have true affection for anyone he couldn't bend to his will and use them as he would.

"But he does want you to be happy," he admitted truthfully. He grinned to himself. "He may even pay for your wedding; nothing but the best for his little princess." The pride of the White King wouldn't have it any other way.

"I hadn't thought of that." As a strong, independent woman who was marrying an up-and-coming entrepreneur, Inari asking Papa to pay for her wedding honestly hadn't occurred to her.

After that reflection, she was quiet a moment. "Thomas?"

"Yes, love?"

"Could you… tell Mr. Dresden that I'd like him to come?"

Thomas's eyes flew wide open again, and he raised his eyebrows. "Harry Dresden, the wizard?"

The number of people who knew of the brotherly relationship between Thomas Raith, the White Court vampire, and Harry Dresden, the White Council wizard was very small, and he wasn't aware that Inari knew. To be perfectly fair, she was probably one of the few folks not in the know (at least, he THOUGHT she was still not in the know) who he wouldn't mind learning. But he would have to check with Harry on that.

Still… why did his favorite sister want Harry to come to her wedding? Not that he was opposed, but why?

A small snicker escaped her. "The only production assistant who helped us battle the monsters, telling me to 'make like Buffy' and stake the… other vampires."

Thomas chuckled. "Tell you what. You make your plans. Tell Lara to put out the money for apparel and accommodations. I'll see what I can do to get Harry and I to… where in California are you?"

"San Diego."

"We'll get there."

"I love you, Thomas."

"And I love you, Inari."