“What? Why? Are you not feeling well?” Inger looked worried as she touched Jemima’s arm. “What’s wrong with you, Mom?”
“Nothing.” At Inger’s disbelieving stare, she smiled. “Really. There’s nothing wrong with me.” She could sense Tahlia’s unease and reached out her hand to her wife. “It’s the truth, my love. For some reason, I’ve turned into a hypochondriac of late. Melissa did all the tests possible and told me that I was in perfect health.”
“And do you feel like you’re in perfect health?” Tahlia’s black eyes pinned her with an unblinking stare.
“Yes, I do,” she said around the small fist that had found its way to her mouth.
“And you promise not to keep anything from us, Mom.”
Jemima kissed Inger’s cheek. “Of course not, honey. I wouldn’t dream of it.”
“Good. Paloma’s waiting for me. Aria woke from her nap and started fussing.” She smiled at them and walked back the way she had come. The babies were six months old and growing increasingly closer to each other. After inexplicable crying episodes, Molan had determined that The Pillars wanted to be together. According to him, it could be a residual effect of their spirits having been locked together in a crystal for centuries. The bottom line was that they all had to move back into the bunker. Besides the installation of a new security system and two new hidden exits, known only to the Royals, the new parents were on constant alert.
Jemima became aware of a very close scrutiny and looked down at her baby daughter. She doubted she’d ever get used to that look in Aria’s eyes. There was no doubt that a highly intelligent being was studying her through the eyes of her baby girl. She blinked her eyes rapidly and chuckled when the child broke into a wide grin. She blew a raspberry on the baby’s cheek and felt her whole being grow warm with pleasure at her soft chuckle. That drew Tahlia closer and Jemima watched as her stoic wife’s demeanor changed as she looked down at their daughter. The bright blue eyes of the baby lighted up at the sight of her powerful mother and she reached out to Tahlia. Jemima sighed deeply when Aria pressed her head against Tahlia’s chest and hummed softly. She had witnessed over the past six months how Tahlia and Aria fell in love with each other. It was incredible to see the baby change in Tahlia’s presence. There was a sense of reverence in the air the moment Tahlia was around Aria or any of the other babies.
“Hi, my love. How was your nap?”
Jemima laughed. “One day she might just answer you back. Let’s go to our suite so I can feed her.”
Both Aria and Tahlia’s eyes lit up at hearing that. Of course, each for entirely different reasons. She winked at Tahlia and led the way to their suite.
†
The silence in the courtyard was deafening. Copernicus glanced at Herassa…Oops, Syria! The vampire had decided to change her name a few months ago, severing her only link with the Royals. He had been all too happy to accommodate her. It showed that she truly despised the Royals. Syria, the vampire bodyguard, was born after that.
“What do you think?” He had traveled and slept in some really dodgy places over the past few months, so all he wanted was to get the man they came for and leave. There was still so much they needed to do before their trip back to the States.
“He’s here. I saw someone at the back slip away as soon as you spoke the name.”
“Should we follow him perhaps?”
“Yeah, why not. It’ll be dawn soon and I don’t want to be caught here with these guys, nor do you. Stay close.” A path opened for them as Syria walked through the wall of muscled and bare-chested men with Copernicus following closely. The buildings were even more dilapidated than the rest of the prison and Copernicus prayed that it wouldn’t collapse while they were there. It would be so unfortunate. Syria suddenly pushed him back against the wall, protecting him with her body as a shot rang out. He heard it make contact with the vampire’s body. Syria hissed furiously. One moment she was still standing in front of him and the next, she was gone. He heard a deep growl followed by the man’s high-pitched scream before it all went quiet. The men, who had followed behind them, all froze as they listened, wide-eyed, to the commotion in the cell where the noise was coming from. There was loud gasp when a man’s head rolled out of the cell and Syria followed a few seconds later. Copernicus saw the men scatter at the sight of Syria. She looked calm and collected without a drop of blood on her person.
“You, in the Brazil soccer shirt, where is Chuey’s cell.” The man stopped, the white of his eyes showed as he looked at Syria. “Don’t make me ask you again.”
His Adam’s apple bobbed nervously. “It’s…it’s the third one from where you stand.”
She glanced at Copernicus. “Shall we?”
He nodded, hiding the smile that came over his face. Unlike with Beira, he liked his new bodyguard. He was still not happy with the fact that she wasn’t completely eating out of his hand, yet. That had been one of her terms when she accepted the job. But that could easily be remedied. He only needed to find something or someone she held dear and hold that over her head. Even vampires were known to care about their partners. The Royals were a living example of that. Syria stopped suddenly and he almost walked into her. Glancing past her, he realized that they were standing in front of a cell. By the look of it, it could also be loosely termed an apartment. It was spacious with the two adjacent cells having been broken through to create a spacious area. A bedroom, lounge, and kitchen were visible from where they stood, but that was not really what drew Copernicus’ attention. The figure seated on a large couch, watching TV was nowhere close to what he had expected.
Cezar ‘Chuey’ Pinche didn’t look a day older than eighteen.
†
Gabriella entered the kitchen and dumped her briefcase on an empty chair. She smiled at Jessica who was on the phone and opened the double door fridge. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see Jessica pointing to the opposite wall where a scrumptious buffet was laid out. Gabriella almost swooned at the sight of the pitcher amongst the covered plates. The one thing she totally adored about living in the bunker, was the service. The chef was one of top three most decorated in the world and his food was absolutely heavenly. She especially appreciated his non-alcoholic cocktails when she got home from work. It was the best way to blow off steam. She approached the buffet and fixed herself a plate of the most delicious-looking dishes and a large cocktail. She had tasted a bit of everything when Jessica wrapped up her call and took a seat opposite from her.
“Good, hey?”
“Divine. Have you had dinner already?”
“Yep. When I saw Jemima make it over here, I followed. It still cracks me up to see her eat.” They both chuckled. “She keeps on stabbing the food with her fork as if she is scared it will come alive and attack her.”
Gabriella grinned. “She hasn’t eaten food for over thirty plus years. Must be quite an adjustment for her.” She took a bite of a succulent prawn and moaned softly. She found Jessica looking at her with an amused look on her face. “What?”
“Nothing. Seems all of Tahlia’s girls are funny eaters.”
Pulling a face, Gabriella took a sip of her drink. “Couldn’t help but overhear. Are you planning a job?”
“Not really. It would seem that Howie is getting married and…”
“Get out of here! Howie found a girl?”
“He did. Thing is, they want to get married pretty soon and he asked if I could take pictures at his wedding.”
Gabriella shook her head slowly. She and Jess were still dating when Howie started to work for Jess. Gabriella had immediately felt protective of the shy, country boy working in an industry renowned for its exploitation of the young and untrained. Jess had quickly made her promise that she would stay out of Howie’s life and allow him to make mistakes so he could grow used to the city life and breakneck pace of the modelling industry. It had been difficult, but she had done as requested and it had actually worked. Howie had proved himself to Jess and had beco
me an assistant par excellence. Now, he was getting married.
“And? Are you going to do it?”
“I don’t know. It’s all so sudden and with Raven still so young, I haven’t spent as much time with Howie as I have wanted to.” She grimaced. “He actually commented on it the other day. Can you believe, that he hasn’t met Raven, yet?”
“Oh?” Gabriella frowned. “I thought as her godfather, he would have met her by now.”
“Clarissa is still a bit spooked by all this. First-time mommy issues, and all. I’ll speak to her again and see if we can meet Howie somewhere and officially introduce him to his goddaughter.”
“You should do that. While you’re at it, also ask him why he’s in such a hurry to get married? Howie is …How old is Howie?”
“Twenty-seven.”
“Okay, he’s old enough to get married, but why so sudden. Maybe if you could talk him into waiting a few more months…” The sharp ring of Jess’ phone interrupted her, she gave an apologetic Jess the thumbs up and the other woman left the kitchen to take the call. Gabriella quickly finished her dinner, suddenly in a hurry to see her family.
II
Paloma was watching her opponent closely. The sword may be made of wood, but wood was the one thing that could actually kill a vampire. There was a slight narrowing of the eyes and a subtle, very subtle, tightening of the grip on the hilt of the sword. She let out a soft breath as the attack came. Pierre was fast and strong; a formidable combination in a fighter. She sidestepped a lunge, knowing he would recover quickly. She feigned a step to her left, but he wasn’t fooled and hammered away at her sword until she pushed away from him. Pierre’s eyes were glittering with purposed as he, too, used the break to assess his options. Paloma loved sparring with Pierre and Jonas. It was almost like she was sparring with herself. They were tough, shrewd and relentless. The only time they’d managed to beat each other was when the other made a mistake or was distracted. That wasn’t something that happened too often.
“This is a new record,” Jonas said from the sidelines. “Two hours, forty-seven minutes.”
Both Paloma and Pierre blinked. That long? She dropped her sword and just as expected, Pierre attacked. She sidestepped his onslaught and using the momentum of his preternatural speed, she grabbed his arm and tossed him over her head. Pierre landed on his feet and turned to face her. His blue eyes were twinkling with mirth.
“You tricked me.”
“Of course, I did.” She walked up to him and thumped his shoulder. “There was no other way for me to win.”
“I’ll be more careful in the future,” Pierre said as they made their way to where Jonas and Trinity sat. They each had a baby on their lap. Paloma immediately reached for her daughter and grinned when the baby eagerly leapt out of Jonas’ lap to be in her arms.
She kissed the soft silky cheek and inhaled the sweet, clean baby smell. Underneath the baby smell, she could make out Inger’s perfume. She wondered where her wife had wandered off to. Last time she had seen her, Inger had mentioned taking Aria to Tahlia. As if she had conjured Inger up with her thoughts, the woman strode into the training room and Isis burst out in baby garble at the sight of her mother. Inger’s pace picked up as she spotted her child. Their reunion was a cacophony of kissing sounds, squeals and baby language. Inger finally looked at Paloma and the playfulness in her eyes turned to something more suggestive as she took in Paloma’s disheveled appearance.
“Who won?”
“I did.”
Paloma received a kiss as an award. “My hero. I have a meeting with a client upstairs in the restaurant. Will you be okay for an hour and half without me?”
“Yes.” Paloma raked over Inger’s outfit. Her wife was wearing a black cocktail dress that hugged her tall figure perfectly, a dash of perfume, tiny diamond eardrops on her earlobes and her dark hair was pulled back into a chignon. “You look gorgeous.”
The blue eyes warmed. “Thank you, babe. Now, I really need to run or I’ll be late.” She kissed Paloma and Isis before rushing out the door. Paloma looked to her daughter who was staring at the door intently, her lower lip quivering slightly.
“Come now, bunny, let’s go get you in a bath and then you and your sisters can play together a little tonight.” She nodded at the others and left the training room to prepare Isis for the evening. Inger would breastfeed the baby before they put her down for the night.
†
Copernicus took in the cell, his eyes growing wider by the second. The boy basically had everything any teenager his age would want. The little he could make out of the room, showed a large, plush-looking bed with satin sheets. The kitchen was fitted with state-of-the-art appliances, all in a gleaming chrome and black. He turned to Chuey and found his eerie dark eyes studying him too.
“You’re both not of this physical plane.” His tongue dragged a bit, giving the impression that it was too large for his mouth. He rose and Copernicus was grateful when Syria stepped closer. The boy was unnerving him. He appeared fearless and way too calm considering that they, two westerners, had managed to enter Hell’s Pit and found him. All this, without them having a scratch on them. Syria towered over the boy, but Copernicus could tell from her stance, that the vampire wasn’t necessarily seeing that as an advantage. She, too, must be aware that there was more to the boy than met the eye. Furthermore, it was incredibly unsettling that with one look he could tell that they were both not human.
“Are you Chuey?” The way the boy was looking at them, Copernicus wondered if perhaps his nickname was a derivation of the word ‘chewy’. The beady, dark eyes seem hungry as they studied them.
“Why are you looking for me?”
“We need directions.”
The boy chuckled, a deep ominous sound. “You’ve managed to find me. I would say that you are quite good at finding whatever it is you’re looking for, all by yourself.”
“We need you to accompany us somewhere.”
Chuey looked confused for a moment, before he smiled slowly. “You want to take me out of here?”
Copernicus glanced at Syria. She had a tightness around her mouth as she watched Chuey. Another thing he liked about Syria that Beira lacked, was knowing not to question him—no matter where they were, in public or private. Syria wasn’t happy at the prospect of letting this obviously unhinged young man out of the confines of this prison, but she wouldn’t question him. She would follow instructions and collect her pay check at the end of their excursion.
“It depends.”
“On what?” Chuey now looked quite motivated by the idea of leaving Hell’s Pit. “Where do you want me to take you?”
“To meet Mopi’helma, your shaman.”
Chuey’s face froze and then he turned away to retake his seat on the couch. “I don’t know who that is.”
Copernicus wanted to sigh, but instead he hid his frustration behind a soft chuckle. “I think you do, Chuey. If you take us to him, I’ll make sure that you never see the inside of this prison ever again.” He was about to walk over to where Chuey sat, but Syria’s hand on his shoulder stayed him. Giving her a frustrated look, he shook her hand off. They had come too far to give in now.
“You should leave.” Chuey didn’t move his gaze from the TV screen. “The guards will leave soon and there won’t be anyone to let you out.” He glanced at them and this time there was something almost sinister in his eyes. “You don’t want to be locked in here when the clock strikes midnight.”
“Midnight? What happens around midnight?”
Chuey smiled, an almost angelic smile. “That’s when I usually eat.”
That and the smile, send a chill down Copernicus’ spine. He couldn’t give up. It was still early. What more could the boy want?
“Tell me what you need and I’ll get it for you. Anything.”
Both Chuey and Syria looked at him. Syria’s gaze held surprise and Chuey’s shrewd interest.
“Anything?”
“Anything. You can thin
k it over tonight and give me a call tomorrow.” He removed a business card from his pocket and placed it on the nearest surface. “I’ll be expecting your call. Goodnight.”
They left the room and Copernicus realized that the hair on his arms had been standing on end for the few minutes they had been in Chuey’s cell. He rubbed his arms, hoping Syria had not noticed, as she was already scanning the area for any lurking dangers.
†
The waiter finished pouring their wine and placed the bottle on the table before he disappeared. Inger didn’t need to consult the menu to know what she wanted. With the restaurant only a few floors up from where she lived, she had regular meetings here. Some evenings, she and Paloma came up here when they had date night and didn’t want to stray too far from their baby daughter.
“I’ve heard the lobster is the best in the city.”
Inger glanced at her dinner companion. Alexandra Mears. She had never met the woman before, but she had heard a lot about her. Alexandra ran a multi-billion-dollar hedge fund business and was quite the philanthropist. She supported a great number of foundations and could claim a lot of extraordinary successes behind her name, thanks to her funding. A renowned socialite, she was constantly in the limelight and had, on a number of occasions, attracted negative press. The latter was mostly due to her tendency to get caught with women, who were not her fiancé. The woman in question, was watching Inger from over the menu, her dark eyes direct and almost predatory. Inger smiled. If only Alexandra knew that Inger had the-real-deal a few floors down, bathing their six-month old.
“What will you have?”
“The lamb ragu.”
Alexandra grinned. “And that without even consulting the menu. Do you dine here often?”
Inger took a sip of her wine, meeting the woman’s gaze head-on. Clients always wanted to know more about her. “I do.”
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