Love's Challenge (Pearl Vampire Chronicles #5)

by Dara Nelson

  “I’ve been trying to figure something out that’s puzzling me. I can understand the reasoning behind using female vampires instead of humans. A human would never be able to carry one of those things to term. It would kill them too early in the pregnancy. But why are they still using vampires? I’ve seen females of those things. There was one out there today. Why aren’t they using them? I mean, they might be able to deliver the young without dying.”

  “I’m not sure, Sarah.”

  “Well, I want to ask him tomorrow. And I want to be down there where he can see me.”

  “Jesus, Sarah! Why?”

  “Because he’ll answer my questions if I am,” I said then I closed my eyes for a second.

  “Honey, you need to sleep.” He leaned in and gave me a kiss, then turned to walk out, but I held firmly to his hand. He watched me for a second then nodded his head. “I’ll be right back.” He walked out, and returned a few seconds later, with two chairs. “Get him in here, Sarah,” he said as he set one chair on the left side of the bed and one on the right.

  “Matt, that’s really not necessary,” I whispered.

  “Yes, it is,” he said as he turned, sat in the chair and held my hand.

  I closed my eyes. ‘Ummm, busy?’ I thought.

  ‘Never too busy for you. What’s up?’

  ‘Well, he brought a second chair into my room. He says it’s for you. Are you…’

  ‘I’m on my way.’

  I could hear him running through the halls, until he was just a few feet from my door. Then he slowed to a walk. He silently walked in, sat in the other chair and held my other hand and quickly I drifted off to sleep with a smile on my face.

  I grunted. I couldn’t breathe. That thing was on me again, trying to find his way in. Crap! I didn’t have any clothes on this time. It was going to be so much easier for him. It lifted its head and smiled at me. “Get it off me! Get it off me! Oh God, get this fucking thing off me!”

  “Sarah, wake up!” came Matt’s voice in one ear.

  “Shhhh. You’re okay, Sarah. It’s not here. Nothing’s going to hurt you,” Carlos soothed in my other.

  They were both standing and pressing down on my shoulders, trying to keep me from moving. It took me a few panicked moments to realize that it wasn’t that thing holding me down. I tried to calm down my breathing, ’cause it was hurting like hell. “Shit, shit, sorry, shit,” I said between gasps.

  Carlos graciously sat down, holding my hand, and let Matt take over. “It’s fine, Sarah. It’s not your fault. Relax, sweetheart. You need to go back to sleep.”

  “Sorry guys. I guess that thing freaked me out a little more than I thought it did,” I whispered.

  “I’m not surprised. It freaked me out too, and it didn’t touch me. You a little better now? Think you can maybe sleep again?” Matt said as he smoothed my hair back.

  “I’ll try,” I said as I nodded my head. He sat back down and again clasped his hand in mine. I closed my eyes and forced that thing’s face from my vision. It took a little while, but I finally drifted off again. When I next woke up, I smiled as I looked down and saw both of their heads on my bed. They were sound asleep. I gently pulled my hands out from theirs and caressed my fingers in their hair.

  Carlos woke first. He yawned, turned his head to look at me and smiled. “Hi,” he mouthed, not wanting to wake Matt yet. “Thirsty?”

  I nodded. He stood, gave me a kiss on my forehead and went out the door just as Matt began to stir. “Good morning, baby. Hungry?”

  “Breakfast is on its way, sweetheart,” I said as I smiled and continued to run my fingers through his hair. He leaned down and kissed the scar on my palm, making me inhale sharply, and then wince.

  “Oh crap, I’m sorry honey.”

  I smiled at him and tried to pull his face towards mine. “Don’t be,” I said as I lifted my lips to his.

  Carlos cleared his throat in the doorway. We stopped kissing and I smiled at him. He walked in, handed two pints to Matt, kept two for himself and set four on the nightstand. He handed me one and then we all drank in silence. It was definitely an awkward moment. There were a lot of awkward moments these days.

  Luckily Cameron came in and changed that. “Gotta take her back to x-ray, guys. I want to see what’s healed. Leg looks good. Cuts are healed and the stitches are dissolved. Wait here a second, I’ll have her back here in a flash,” he said as he started rolling the bed from the room. Shit, he’s going to leave the two of them here, alone?

  “Ummm,” I began.

  As if reading my mind, Cameron said, “Relax Sarah. They’re adults. They’re going to behave themselves and be just fine, aren’t you two?”

  They stared at each other then they nodded. As Cameron wheeled me back in a few minutes later he said, “See? I told you they’d be fine.”

  “Yeah, I only hit him a few times,” Matt said, grinning.

  Carlos and I looked at each other and couldn’t help but grin. Matt? Made a joke? About this? Wow.

  “Gotta go develop the films. Be back in a second,” Cameron said as he raced out the door. Another awkward moment followed and was again broken up by Cameron, who came in and placed the films on the screens. “Pelvis fracture is healed, and that’s good. The ribs need another day though.”

  “I need to be able to talk to that thing in person, Cameron. Anyway we can make that happen today?”

  Cameron rolled his eyes. “I’m not going to be able to talk you out of this, am I?”

  I shook my head. “Not a chance.”

  “Fine. No walking, no carrying her. Wheelchair down there and back, got it?”

  “Can I walk the few steps from the hall to a chair in front of his cage? I don’t want him to know I’m still hurt.”

  “Christ, but you are stubborn, Sarah. Fine, you can walk the few steps. But I don’t want you sitting in some unpadded, metal folding chair,” he said then he looked at Matt. “Lug a comfortable, padded chair down there for her, got it?”

  “I can do that right now,” Carlos said. “See you in a bit.”

  “Are you sure about this, Sarah?” Matt said.

  I nodded. “Absolutely. Can you give me the laptop. I need to prepare some questions for him. And can you bring me a t-shirt and pants?”

  Matt pulled the tray and laptop closer to me then leaned down and kissed me. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. I want to let everyone know what you’re going to be doing.”

  I spent the next few minutes alone, typing and translating questions onto the laptop. I heard Matt talking on his cell phone as he walked back in, “Okay. Really? Juan said that? God that’s awesome. Yeah, she’s here, hold on a second.” He held the phone out to me.

  “Hi Cindy,” I said.

  “Do you ever remember your cell phone?”

  “When I’m here? Not usually. How are you?” I said.

  “Me? I’m fine. What I want to know is how you are doing. And how you and Matt are doing?”

  “I’m fine. We’re doing better. We’re, ummm, adapting.”

  “Adapting? To what? Not life as a threesome?”

  “No, I definitely wouldn’t go that far. More like life as a couple and a half,” I said smiling at Matt, who mumbled, “A couple and an eighth,” as he grinned.

  “Well, according to Matt it’s a couple and an eighth.”

  “No way. He’s making jokes about it? Hell, Sarah. That is so much better than I thought it’d be right now. You must be thrilled.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t exactly say thrilled. I think it’s more like cautious, terrified optimism.”

  Cameron walked in pushing the wheelchair.

  “Hey Cindy. I’m late for a meeting. I’ll call you later, okay?”

  “Sure, okay. But keep your damn cell phone on you. I’m tired of trying to track you down.”

  “Will do. Bye, sis. Love you.”

  “Love to you and Matt, too. Bye Sarah.”

  I handed the cell phone to Matt and gingerly pulled my clot
hes on. I started to swing my legs out of bed. “Ah, ah, ah. Stop right there,” Cameron said. “Some ground rules first. You do not get in or out of that bed or that chair without help. Help comes under both arms. I don’t want you helped from one side or the other – that would put more stress on that side and not enough on the other. The help comes from behind you, like this,” he said, demonstrating on Matt.

  I nodded. “Got it. Thanks, Cameron.”

  They moved to either side of me and helped me move from the bed to the chair. Shit, that smarts, I thought. Matt gently set the laptop on my legs. “You ready?” he whispered.

  I winced slightly as I tried to adjust then nodded, “Yep.”

  He wheeled me through the halls of the clinic. As we pushed through the doors to the hall, Carlos was waiting for me. He silently fell into step next to me. I was trying to control my breathing, but I was getting more and more nervous as we moved through the halls. As we reached the final corner, Matt stopped. Carlos took the laptop from me and stepped to the side. Matt reached under my arms and helped me stand. Oh shit, that hurts. I almost sat back down, but then I heard his voice. “EGO nidor vos (I smell you). Female, ostendo vestri (Female, show yourself).”

  I clenched my teeth and tried to work through pain. “He knows I’m here,” I said.

  I braced myself for the face I would see as I stepped toward the corner.

  Chapter Ten

  I gingerly stepped around the corner and met his gaze. I watched him as I walked the last six feet to the waiting chair. Matt and Carlos deliberately stood in front of me so he couldn’t see me wince as I sat down. Carlos set the laptop on my thighs then they both stepped to either side of the chair. “Abyssus Aquila (Hello, Aquila),” I said.

  He dipped his head to me but didn’t respond. He was watching me, though. He was watching me, well, like an eagle. “Vos es non vigorous etiamnunc,” he said. I typed it into the laptop. “Crap, he knows I’m not healed. Fere (not quite). May EGO scisco vos nonnulus questions? I just asked him if I can ask him some questions.”

  He dipped his head again and waited. “Quare don’t vos materia per vestri females? I just asked him why they don’t mate with their females.”

  “Quoniam they es sterilis. They es unable gero a parvulus.”

  “I was afraid of that. Their females are sterile. They can’t carry a child. Tamen vos mos run ex females amo mihi. But you will run out of females like me.”

  He shook his head. “Abbas est opus in an alternate incubator.”

  I stared for a second. “Sarah?” Matt said.

  “Ummmm, he says his father is working on an alternate incubator. What? Like test tube babies or something? Whoa.” I started typing another question into the computer, but he spoke first, “Meus verto.”

  “He says it’s his turn.” I said then I waited.

  “Vos have vindico pro. EGO could voluntas ut in vos. Ut planto vos validus. Meus parvulus would non vulnero vos. Liberi tantum vulnero pallens. Mos vos gero meus spawn?”

  I typed as fast as I could then tilted my head to the side as I stared at the screen. “What the hell was all that, Sarah?” Carlos said.

  “Well, he said he could tell that I’ve delivered a child before. He says that makes me stronger. He says their young only harm the weak when they are delivered. He said it wouldn’t harm me. And then he asked me if I would bear his spawn.”

  “Gee, well, isn’t that a tempting offer?” Carlos mumbled.

  I smiled as I typed. “Quare operor vos futures? I just asked him why he exists.”

  “Vos did non refero meus question,” he snapped.

  “He’s angry that I didn’t answer his question. Ummm, Meus pectus pectoris eram infractus ut meus primoris parvulus died. EGO could non gero habeo alius.”

  Aquila nodded his head at me as I translated for Matt and Carlos, “I told him my heart was broken when my child died and that I couldn’t bear to have another.”

  “Couldn’t a simple ‘no’ have sufficed, Sarah?” Matt said.

  I rolled my eyes at Matt. “I don’t think you say no to him, do you?”

  “EGO sum hic protego abbas,” Aquila said.

  “He says he’s here to protect his father. Quis si vestri abbas est effectus nefas? I just asked him what if his father is doing wrong.”

  “Meus abbas can operor haud nefas,” he bellowed.

  “He says his father can do no wrong. Marvelous. Guess there’s no reasoning with him there. Si EGO scisco vos ut subsisto vulnero meus pius, mos vos? I just asked him if he would stop hurting my kind.”

  “Potissimum vestri pius operor non mereo mereor ut futurus,” he growled.

  “Gee, that’s nice. He says most of my kind do not deserve to exist. Vos es nefas. Nos totus mereo mereor ut futurus. I just told him he’s wrong and that we all deserve to exist.”

  “Vos certus. Tamen vestri materia es pallens per suum affectus vobis.”

  “Christ, does everybody fucking know?” I mumbled.

  “Know what, Sarah? What did he say?” Matt said.

  “He says that I deserve to exist, but that my mates are weak with their emotions for me.”

  “Oh. Well I suppose he’s right about that,” Carlos mumbled.

  “They es validus quod mereo mereor futurus. I told him you are strong and deserve to be here.”

  “Vestri somes esurio habeo alius parvulus. EGO can tribuo ut vobis. Non lemma,” he said.

  I silently stared at the translation on the laptop then I quietly folded it closed. “I’m done for now. I want to go back to my room.”

  “Sarah. What did he say?” Matt whispered.

  “Not now, please? Just help me up,” I mumbled. Matt and Carlos looked at each other. Carlos knelt down in front of me and forced me to look in his eyes. Shit, seriously, do not look at me that way. “Not here, in front of him and the others, please? I’ll tell you in the hall where it’s more private.”

  Carlos nodded and grabbed the laptop. He stood in front of me, blocking Aquila’s view, as Matt helped me up from behind. I held tight to both their hands as I made my way back around the corner to the wheelchair. I was exhausted, but I knew it wasn’t just from the walking. It was emotional too. Aquila had struck a chord that was for damn sure. Matt pushed me around two corners and then stopped. The two of them came and squatted in front of me, waiting. I winced as I tried to take a deep breath. “He said that my body yearns to have another child. He said he can give that to me and you two can’t. It just hurt a little, that’s all.”

  Matt squeezed his eyes shut and started muttering, “I never should have turned you. I should have left you alone. I never should have turned you.”

  I took his chin in my hand and waited for him to open his eyes and look at me. “Don’t be stupid. We’ve been over this before. I couldn’t possibly be any happier than I am with who I am now. The longing for a child was always going to be a part of me, human or vampire, but it doesn’t mean that I actually want to have one. I love my life the way it is now, Matt. And as complicated as our lives are, it wouldn’t be the right place to have a child. But just because I can’t have one and just because I shouldn’t, doesn’t make it hurt any less when someone recognizes that yearning. Does that make sense?”

  He nodded and kissed my cheek. Carlos squeezed my hand. Complicated? Yeah, I’d say my life was just a little complicated right now. Suddenly we heard Cameron coming down the hall. “I give you an inch and you take a mile. Sarah, you need to get back to bed right now, damn it. This has been too long, way too long, for you to be sitting up. One of you go get her four pints, please. Now.”

  “On my way,” Carlos said as Cameron took over pushing duties and Matt moved to my side. “Cameron, relax. I’m fine,” I said as I winced while trying to shift slightly in the chair.

  “Yeah, you look fine, Sarah. Totally fine.”

  “Oh, shut up,” I mumbled. He pulled the chair up by the bed and the two of them helped me up and gently laid me down. “Ouch.”

 
; “Yeah, ouch. Of course ouch. This is probably going to push you back a day, Sarah.”

  “Cameron. We need to get to Romania. Soon.” I said.

  “Romania! What the hell for?”

  “That’s where we think they are, Cameron.” I said.

  “And of course you have to go. You always have to go. No traveling for at least two days, Sarah. Preferably three. I’m putting my foot down here. I’ll lock you in this damn room if I have to, got it?”

  I brought my arm up and saluted him, “Yes, sir.” I smiled as Cameron shook his head and walked out the door. Carlos came in a few seconds later with my meal. “Okay,” I said after I’d eaten, “what’s the plan now?”

  “Well, now, you finish healing,” Matt said then he cringed as I gave him one of those looks. “Okay, okay. I’ll start making travel arrangements. But, Sarah, we don’t know how to fight these things. What are we going to do if we find them?”

  “First of all, we’re going to use stealth to try to rescue as many vampires as we can before they see us. Then, I’m thinking fire would be our best bet. Carlos? What do you think?”

  “Me? Oh, that sounds like a good idea. But how many are we going in with? I mean, is this more of a reconnaissance mission this first time or is it a search and rescue?”

  “I’m thinking reconnaissance this time. So maybe fifteen or twenty, tops,” Matt said.

  “That’s sounds good to me. Are we leaving the day after tomorrow?” I said.

  “Sarah, Cameron said you might need three days,” Carlos said.

  “Yeah, but the flight over there is really long. So, if we leave in two days and add on the flight time, it’s more like three.”

  Matt stood up, “I need to go figure out who’s coming with us and then make flight arrangements.”

  “Will you be back later?” I whispered.

  He leaned down and gave me a long, lingering, very loving kiss. “Of course I will, baby. I don’t think Carlos could hold you down by himself if you had another nightmare. He’s kind of a wimp.”

  I saw Carlos grin. “Gee, thanks,” he said.

  “No problem,” Matt said as he walked out the door.