Reid is a special case. Reid has been around since the beginning of the ideas of this story, only he didn’t always belong to me. He’s had countless name changes but I keep coming back to this. Several characters have had name changes since the inception of this story, Ryan being the only exception. Reid’s name has changed, but it also hasn’t. I’m pretty sure originally he had the last name of King, but his name was Christian. That part never left, no matter what’s happened, his name will always be Christian, and I can’t imagine calling him anything else.

In the beginning, he actually was a character from another book by another writer friend of mine, we were attempting to collaborate, but our stories were going in two different directions, so we split our characters, took our own back and I lost him. I had every intention of creating someone to fill that void in my story, but before I could, my friend called and basically told me “You keep him, he won’t work with me anymore.” So with a laugh Christian became my character and she created someone new. We even made it legal when I moved away by putting it down on paper and framed it. It was my favorite going away present. He isn’t quite the same now as he was then, but there are characteristics that have carried over.

Christian Reid Walker, when we meet him, is nothing short of an asshole. At least that’s how he’s described by the people that know him. Penelope has a slightly different opinion of him and everyone thinks he’s being weird whenever she’s around because he doesn’t treat her like he does everyone else. Asher goes so far as to call him out on it in front of everyone. Reid gets understandably upset and walks away. When Penelope goes to check on him, he explains to her that he usually is what everyone claims he is, but goes on to explain why, sort of. The condensed version at least.

Reid has been a Vampire for 120 years. He should have long achieved the rank of Master, making himself available for a position of power within the Arkane society. Reid has no interest in those things like he once did. He likes living quietly and doing the tasks and jobs that Atlas assigns him. Atlas Rivers is the Sage in charge of their area, and his second in command is Eli Holden. The position of Second in Command should be Reid’s but he doesn’t want it.

His maker, Akina Rue, is the resident Sage in Paris, France and that was where he spent most of the first century after she turned him. He was being groomed to take over as the other Sage in her area, but he shunned everything twenty years before the story started and went on the run. He doesn’t speak to Akina any longer and has renounced anything that had to do with her, except his title and his sister Echo. Echo is the older child of Akina, and her and Reid are the only two of Akina’s children still living. They both feel the same about their Maker, so they get along well.

Reid’s soft spot and change of heart happened on a cold New Years Day when Akina asked him to do a job that he didn’t have the stomach for, something so terrible no one would want to complete it. Instead of killing the newborn Dhamphir, he took her and ran. Emma Walker is his daughter, as far as he is concerned. Even though he hadn’t met her before that night. He spent years on the run, only communicating with Asher and occasionally one or two of his other friends, just letting them know he was okay.

Now that Emma is fully grown and living on her own, he’s settled into an easy life working for Atlas. He spends his time doing work, and actively shunning most responsibility; he likes being a grunt. He doesn’t know how drastically meeting Penelope will change all of that. In the beginning he’s not really thrilled that her and Ryan are coming to the party at his house anyway.

He ends up alone with Penelope pretty early on and they get along well enough to argue about Football before they party starts. He can’t help but feel drawn to her, and as such has a deep dislike for Ryan. When Atlas assigns him to guard Penelope once she goes home, to keep her safe from the potential threat her and Ryan have walked into, he thinks it will be an easy job. Stay hidden, don’t let Penelope know he’s there, and keep her safe, what could go wrong?

Apparently a lot.

He gets further involved in Penelope’s life when they start hanging out and the Reid she gets to know, is playful and fun. He’s the one that only his closest friends know. She also gets to know the side of him that his daughter knows, the caring side, the part he doesn’t tell anyone else about. The last pieces of his humanity are in this part of him that he hides away. This is the Reid Penelope gets to know and trust.

When things go fully off the rails, he tries to revert back to the way he had been, but Penelope can see straight through his tough exterior and even though he tries, she calls him on it. Eventually they find a balance of sorts and things settle down. Her relationship with Ryan is an ever increasing thorn in his side however, and he doesn’t want to be that guy, but at the same time he kind of does.

Reid’s character development happens mostly through commentary from his friends, as they can see the shift Penelope doesn’t see. Penelope only sees him close himself off and knows something is wrong. She earns herself a protector and permanent bodyguard because of this as it hasn’t gone unnoticed that she is important to Ried. There are only a handful of people on the planet that are, and all but Penelope can handle themselves, so he makes it his mission to keep her safe.

Reid is one of my favorite characters to write for because he is so dynamic. He carries the pressure of his bloodline, because of who his maker is, and who her maker is. They’re the closest thing to royalty as the Vampire’s can get. It carries a lot of weight in the entirety of the Arkane community, something Penelope and her friends learn about first hand at one point. Right now, two of the books in the series are going to be from his perspective so that we get a real look at what is actually going on with him. There are snippets sprinkled through Noctivagus, but I can’t wait to work on the next book to really explore all of the things that make Reid the complex character that he is.

I hope you all enjoyed this little sneak peak into who Reid is. There is so much more I want to share about him, but they would be spoilers and I don’t want to do that. Instead, I will leave you with one of my favorite vision boards that I’ve ever made. And it has to do with Reid, so enjoy.

So that’s it. Remember to be awesome! See you later!