by Lexi Blake
Neil had held my hair when I woke up just after noon, heaving up everything I had.
“The boys don’t seem too fond of me waking up.” Once that initial queasiness was done, they seemed ready to eat anything and everything I could get my hands on. I opened the granola bar, inhaled it, and Neil handed me another. “What happened to worrying about my spectacular figure?”
“You’re beautiful no matter what your size, Z,” Neil said. “I love you. I don’t know what I’d do without you. Just have healthy babies.”
I nodded because if I’d said anything at that moment I would have cried again. After a moment, I got back to the job at hand and Neil sighed over the new Gucci collection.
Thus the next few weeks of our life was set.
I spent the nights with Marini, allowing him free and liberal access to my body. Every time he touched me it felt like I was giving up a piece of my soul, but I did it. I did it for Dev, for Daniel, for the babies in my womb. I choked my way through every encounter. I hated him more than I ever hated anything in my life, even Chad. Chad had been able to kill Dev because of Louis. My feelings didn’t matter during that time. I cuddled up to him and pretended I couldn’t get enough of him. No one questioned my devotion. It seemed this was the normal pattern between vampire and companion.
More vampires came to the catacombs. Two new Council members were rapidly elected to fill Marcus’s and Niko’s seats. Two warriors. Adam Brooks and Rodrigo Vargas were old European vampires who seemed thrilled to be in on the action. They did what Louis told them to do. When Louis attended his war council, I sat at his side listening for any news of Daniel. The vampires had contacted the demons but working with demons was a slow, careful process. They were still banging out their contracts and it looked like it would be a while before Louis could expect help from that quarter. The tension seemed to make him short with the other Council members.
Neil and I became fixtures in the catacombs. Once it was obvious I was behaving properly, I was given a great deal of freedom. As long as my “guard” went with us, I was allowed to walk around freely. We only came across Chad once. I stopped in my tracks and Trent moved in front of me. Chad stared through Neil like he didn’t matter but smiled at me.
“You should watch out for that one, Trent,” Chad said as he moved past us. “She could get into serious trouble.”
I turned to watch him walk away, and I caught the slightest brush of his fingers against Neil’s. It was subtle. If I wasn’t watching closely, I would have missed it. I couldn’t see his face. He was looking the other way, but the action had an air of tenderness I couldn’t mistake.
While I slept, Marcus and I walked the streets of Venice. I don’t know what my dreams would have been like had Marcus not come to me each time I slept, but it was peaceful to walk along the canals with him. I visited the Piazza San Marco and the huge basilica. We dined at his favorite restaurant in the Cannaregio section of the city. I was surprised to find out Marcus had a favorite restaurant.
“I love food, cara,” Marcus had told me as he ordered lobster alsace.
I learned that was spaghetti and lobster. It was delicious. “But you don’t eat.”
He grinned, the smile making him look young and carefree. “But my companions do. I might not be the strongest of vampires, as evidenced by my current predicament, but there are definite advantages to being an academic. My powers are mental and sensory. When I have a deep connection with a companion or even a human lover, I can sometimes taste through them. It’s how I know that this dish is exquisite and how I can pass on the experience to you.”
Then we were off. I tried just about everything Marcus could remember loving. I decided gelato was better than ice cream, but I preferred American pizza, much to his dismay.
My days were spent in Louis’s office, listening carefully for that sweet little click that came when the pins were in the right position. Of course, if it was as easy as that I would know the combination almost immediately, but it’s not. That click just told me a range of numbers. After first discerning the contact points and the number of wheels in the safe, I knew where to “park” the wheels before I started slowly moving the dial, waiting to hear that click. I used a piece of paper and pen to graph my results. After days of listening carefully, I had six possible combinations. Neil made fun of my carefully plotted numbers on my handmade graph when he could just tear that sucker open, but in this case we needed subtlety. I didn’t intend to steal the stone the first chance I got. I had to time it just right. Once I had the combination, Trent was going to risk communicating with his outside contact. The contact would let Danny know I was ready to go. I just needed a day to exchange the stones and then Daniel could do his worst. Louis would be panicked when he heard Daniel was raiding the catacombs, and he wouldn’t pay attention to the stone until he was ready to use it. It would be too late then, and Daniel would have the upper hand. If he discovered my deception too soon, I was worried he would run and regroup and potentially give us hell for the rest of our lives.
I came up with a different excuse each night why Neil and I needed to use the computer. We shopped for a few days because I obviously deserved a completely redone bedroom and I needed an awful lot of clothes. After that, we enjoyed playing games and watching American TV over the Internet. As Louis had never caught me doing anything wrong with the computer, he allowed it, all along stating he would install one in my rooms as soon as possible. I made sure Neil and I were sitting in front of the computer laughing at some comedy or OMGing over some ridiculous soap. The minute Louis entered, we sweetly broke up for the night and I acted thrilled to see my master.
Every moment of the day Dev was in the back of my mind, his memory constantly pulling me back to grief. I wondered if there would be a moment of my life that I wouldn’t miss him, that some piece of me wouldn’t be waiting to see him again.
I did end up getting those clothes we ordered, and I was already sucking in to get my pants closed. It was a daunting prospect that I was already gaining weight even with my morning throw-up sessions, but three weeks into my stay with Marini I began to see my belly starting to gently curve. I was barely a month along and my boys were making themselves known. The changes were subtle, but I worried if I had to be down here much longer, Louis was going to notice.
I had my final six combinations shoved in the pocket of my slightly too-tight Rag and Bone jeans as Neil sighed and sat back in Louis’s big chair. “Is that it?”
“I think so. What time is it?” I asked, wondering if I could try them out now and figure out which one worked.
“Just after sunset,” Neil replied. “Sorry, Z, but it’s show time.”
Not two minutes later Louis walked in. He smiled down at us. He was becoming fond of Neil, who had been true to his word and caused no trouble. “I like knowing exactly where you will be, Zoey.” He helped me up and kissed me lightly. “I find I like this routine of ours. Perhaps I should think about moving you into these rooms with me. It seems silly that you should have to walk to your own rooms each morning when you would rather be here.”
It would make it easier. I hugged him and nodded. “Neil could sleep with me in the big bed.”
He smiled down indulgently. “Yes, chère, I’m accustomed to your little pet now. You can stop worrying. I know he has no designs on your person.”
“Now that’s where you’re wrong, sir,” Neil said. “I have lots of designs on Zoey’s person. If you think she could dress herself, you’re wrong. She needs me to look her best.”
“She always looks beautiful, so I will thank you for that,” Louis murmured.
Neil walked up and kissed my cheek. “Night, Z. See you in the morning.”
The door closed behind Neil and Louis was on me immediately. He sat down in the chair Neil had vacated and his lips met mine in a ravenous kiss.
“I dream of you all day,” he whispered.
He was starting to play with my neck when there was a long knock on the door.
“It’s important,” Niles said, opening the door anyway.
Louis’s eyes narrowed. “It had better be.”
The Brit frowned. “Well, I’m sure as it concerns your companion, you might be vaguely interested.”
Now Louis was paying attention and so was I. I jumped off his lap and waited for Niles to tell me what was going on.
“Is it Donovan?” Marini asked, his voice tense. Everyone was waiting for Daniel to make his push. The weapons had come out of the armory and everyone walked around armed to the teeth.
“No,” Niles said. “It’s much stranger than that. I can’t tell if it’s a good thing or a bad thing. The Queen of the Seelie is at our gates, requesting entrance.”
Louis went paler than normal and he spewed a litany of curses in his native language. He took my hand in his, squeezing tight. “She can’t have Zoey.”
Niles rolled his eyes. “I don’t think she’s here because she loves Zoey. I went down and talked to her and heard that son of hers cursing Zoey’s name. The heir doesn’t like your girl.”
Now I felt really sick. Declan was here. The last words I’d exchanged with my brother-in-law hadn’t been pleasant ones. He’d warned me that there would be hell to pay if anything happened to his brother. Grief pulsed through me. How was I going to face Declan? How could I face Miria?
“I should warn you,” Niles was saying. “I was taken by surprise. The heir looks just like his brother. It’s eerie. Of course, once he opens his mouth, the differences are vast.”
Marini turned to me. “What do you think they want?”
I shrugged. “I guess they want to know how Devinshea died.”
“No.” An evil little smile lit Niles’s face, unsettling me. “The queen told me she knew why her son died. He died because he followed her. The queen blames Donovan and your companion for her son’s death.”
I gasped because I really hadn’t expected that of my mother-in-law, but then this had been her greatest fear. She’d been terrified of losing her youngest son since the moment she learned he was mortal. She had to be devastated. It must be worse knowing how they had parted.
“I won’t give her to them,” Marini said again. I wondered how long it would take him to start worrying about fighting a war on two fronts. He needed the Seelies to stay out of the fight.
Niles laughed, a wholly nasty sound. “They don’t want your bitch, Louis. They want the babies in her belly.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
There was a loud cracking sound and I hit the ground as I took the full brunt of Louis’s slap across my face. The shock of it hit me and then the pain. I tasted blood and my hands shook.
“Tell me it isn’t true,” Louis barked, pulling me up by my hair.
I hurried to get up so he didn’t pull it all out. So much for loving me. I braced for the next blow.
“Fuck,” Louis cursed as he dropped me so abruptly I fell back down.
Niles leaned against the doorframe with a smile on his face, enjoying the show. “Louis, as much as I love that little bitch getting her comeuppance, you really should think before you beat the fetuses from her body.”
I backed up, primal instinct taking over, and I covered my belly. It wouldn’t help if Louis wanted to kill me, but I had to try something. I had to do anything to protect my babies. I’d failed to protect their father. I had to save them.
“How could you?” Louis loomed over me, growling.
I put my head down and curled into a tight ball. I couldn’t lose my babies.
Niles sighed. “Louis, you’re an idiot when it comes to her. Think for two seconds. Those children might keep the Seelies out of this war or it might bring them to our side. The prince was a fertility god, the last of his kind. If little Zoey there has his spawn in her womb, that’s a bloody big bargaining chip.”
I huddled against the wall, hoping Niles’s words got through to Louis. I was also wondering how the hell Miria knew I was pregnant. Had Bris somehow found a new host and informed the Seelies? I’d wondered where the fertility god had gone when Dev died. I had so missed his warmth.
There was no warmth at all as Louis hauled me up again, though this time he took his pleasure by nearly pulling my arm out of socket. “Tell the Queen she and her son will be allowed in with one guard apiece. I will assure their safety and we can discuss this mess we’re in.”
Niles nodded and smiled at me as he left.
“How could you lie to me?” Louis growled the question as he twisted my arm. I wondered if he planned to break it.
“I didn’t lie,” I replied through the pain. “I’m not sure if I’m pregnant.”
“Menteuse.” He pushed me away and sat down in his chair. His claws were out and now I felt the blood where he’d dug them into my skin. “You have another man’s seed growing in your belly and you do not see the betrayal.”
I tried not to whimper as I rotated my arm. It still worked. Mostly. “It happened before you took me. You know Dev died before we were married. How can you blame me? He was my husband. Of course I slept with him.”
Louis brought his big fists down on the desk. It cracked and he seemed satisfied with the destruction. “Get out of here, Zoey. Go and change your clothes and clean the blood from your body. You have ten minutes to be ready. You will be at my side when I greet the Queen. Understand this, my companion, you belong to me so whatever is in your belly is mine to do with as I please. If I decide giving those babes to the Queen when they’re born is to my advantage, then that is what you’ll do.”
I fled the room to do what he asked and prayed I could survive seeing Declan Quinn again.
* * * *
“You have to stay here,” I told Neil when Trent came for me ten minutes later.
Neil shook his head. “After what he did to you, you expect me to leave you alone with him?”
“You don’t have a choice. I’ll take care of her.” Trent was grim and had been since he’d heard the news. My pregnancy made his job ten times harder. “Look, Zoey has the combination to the safe, right?”
I nodded. I was sure it was one of the six numbers I had hidden in the bathroom with the fake stone.
“Tomorrow we take the stone and we run,” Trent said. “We do it during the day and I just kill anyone who gets in the way. We can’t wait for Donovan any longer.”
It wasn’t the best solution, but I had to think about my sons. They had to come before anything else, so I nodded.
“How does Miria know about the babies?” Neil asked. “She said babies, right? Not baby. How does she know you’re having twins?”
Trent held the door open for me. I glanced back at Neil. “I don’t know.”
He looked like he wanted to say something, but when he opened his mouth he merely wished me luck and told me he would be waiting for me.
Trent cursed under his breath the whole time he walked me to the great hall. My pregnancy put him in a really bad mood. He’d been pissed when he’d seen the blood covering my arms and dotted on my face. The wounds had healed quickly, but there was no mistaking I’d gotten my ass kicked. Any questions I had about the blood bond being the same for all vampires had been answered forever. Daniel could be out of his mind angry and he wouldn’t hit me. Daniel Donovan loved me and it had nothing to do with blood.
The great hall was filled to capacity by the time I got there. It looked like every vampire in the catacombs had come to see the Queen and her heir. Louis had changed his clothes. I was sure I’d been rude enough to bleed on him during his assault on my person. His stance was arrogant and angry as he motioned me over.
“You say nothing, do you understand?” he said harshly, pulling me to his side. “You are to speak only when spoken to and you obey my every command. When this is over we’ll have a long discussion about the future, my companion.”
Then the golden doors that led from the catacombs opened and I got my first glance at Miria, Queen of the Seelie. She was dressed
in contemporary clothes for the first time in our acquaintance. Despite her five hundred plus years she appeared to be in her mid-twenties. Her golden red hair brushed her waist, hanging in a perfect waterfall. She wore a fashionable business suit that draped her slender figure. She moved down the grand staircase with a grace and elegance that befitted her royal status. I stared at her for a moment, putting off the time when I had to see Declan.
Tears sprung to my eyes and it took everything I had to remain upright. He looked just like Devinshea. He was in a tailored suit just like the ones Dev favored. Had favored. With his hair pulled back, I could almost believe Devinshea was walking toward me until I saw the cold arrogance in his emerald eyes. He sought me out immediately, and I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt he’d come for revenge.
Padric walked behind his lover, the queen. He was the head of the guards so it made perfect sense that he was with them, but I didn’t recognize the other guard. He was short for a Fae but obviously fierce, with dark hair and brown eyes. He walked behind Declan, so he was obviously the heir’s dedicated guard. Both he and Padric carried long swords on their backs that seemed incongruous with the suits they wore.
“I bring you greetings, Mr. Marini, from the Seelie Fae to the Vampire Council,” Miria said formally. She hadn’t looked at me yet. She kept her regal gaze on the vampire beside me. Declan had no such desire. He openly stared at me, and I caught his glance going to my belly.
“We’re surprised to see you, Queen Miria.” Louis’s voice betrayed none of his earlier panic. He was smooth and calm. “You so rarely leave the sithein.”
“Well, as my youngest son has so recently proven, the Earth plane can be very dangerous for the Fae,” she said.
“I was very sorry to learn of your son’s death,” Louis said and I wondered just what Miria had heard. “I was actually quite fond of the prince.”
“I bet you were.” Declan eyed the vampire with overt distaste.
“Declan,” Miria warned.