“It is. So we should get ready to die together, Gloriana.” He got up and bolted the bedchamber door. “You are right, I feel the sunrise coming.” He lay beside me and pulled up the coverlet. Then he turned and kissed me. “Good night, my love.”
I started to say the same but all went dark.
# # #
I woke with a start and looked over to see Jeremiah’s eyes open. Sunset. Would I ever get used to this? I would have eternity to do so. I heard sounds coming from the other room. Fergus and Maggie were back. I got up and washed using the basin and pitcher I’d set out the night before. My vampire senses meant I could smell our lovemaking. I wanted a bath but was too curious about Maggie’s reaction to Fergus’s revelations to wait.
“It’s awfully quiet in the other room.” Jeremiah watched me pull on a chemise, then a dress. “But I do smell Maggie there. I hope she isn’t too upset with him.”
“I must learn how to do that, identify mortals by their particular smell.” I inhaled and my fangs were down. Mortal blood. My new instincts realized that much. “I sense that there are definitely two different two scents next door. One is very rich and I think it must be Fergus. The other has a hint of my rose-scented soap to it. It is also rich though.”
“Fergus has a rich scent because of his shape-shifter blood. He is also fairly old. We don’t drink from his kind without permission as a courtesy or unless we have no choice.” Jeremiah was on his feet and his hand landed on my shoulder. “Maggie’s blood is rich because she is with child. I would never drink from a mortal woman carrying a child.”
“Oh, of course not.” I turned to face him. “I wouldn’t want to hurt the babe.”
“But that blood is very tempting.” He touched my lips where my fangs were thrusting against them. “Look at you. If you went into that room right now you would scare Maggie.”
“Am I to lock myself in here forever?” I told my fangs to go away. I closed my eyes and willed them to retreat. But when I touched them with my tongue they were still there, sharp and, yes, terrifying to a woman like my friend.
“Concentrate, my love. You couldn’t possibly be hungry. You fed twice last night. You don’t need her blood. It is unreasonable to want more now.” He pulled me close.
“I know.” I leaned against his chest and fought tears. “What’s wrong with me, Jeremiah?”
“You are a fledgling. This wild thirst is normal. But you must control it.”
“I’m trying!” I held onto him. He was so strong, so in control of himself. Gods, but I hoped I would find that strength of will. He ran his hand up and down my back and murmured love words, trying to soothe me.
“You can do it. You are very strong. I have seen it. Brave girl. Now think. You are not really needful of a mortal’s blood and you want to check on your friend. She surely had a bad day and night yesterday.”
“Yes. She will need my support if she saw Fergus shift for the first time. Her world has been turned upside down. I remember how I felt when I saw it for myself. And she is carrying his child.” I straightened my back and stepped away from him. “I am not some mindless creature. I am Gloriana St. Clair. Strong.” I breathed, in and out, telling myself that I could do this. But every breath brought a whiff of that seductive mortal blood to me. Oh, blast! I couldn’t, wouldn’t drink from Maggie. “Can I stop breathing while I am in the room with her?”
“Yes, you can. Stop. Right now.” He smiled down at me. “Clever girl.”
I tried. But I’d had a lifetime habit of it. Just shutting my mouth didn’t work. I certainly couldn’t hold my nose while I was with her. I shook my head. “Good idea but I am too new at this.” I walked over to the door. “Get dressed. If I fail to keep my fangs hidden, you may have to come rescue me and erase Maggie’s memories.”
“I can do that.” He reached for his plaid. “You did make your fangs disappear.”
“For now.” I was glad of that. “Do you think he told her that we are vampires?”
“I doubt it. It would be too much at once.” He shook his head. “Try to think of other things while you are with her, Gloriana. I will tell the king we are leaving for the Highlands in a few days. He is leaving soon anyway. I’m sure he won’t object.”
“Then I am definitely going with you. I am so glad to have that to look forward to, it will fill my thoughts. Thank you, Jeremiah.” I walked back to kiss him. “Robert says your parents are a challenge.”
“He’s right. But I expect them to welcome you. I will insist on it.” He dipped a cloth in the basin. “Go, check on your friend. I will be out in a moment.”
“Wish me luck.” I checked one more time with a fingertip. No fangs.
“You don’t need luck. You are amazing. I know you will be fine.” He winked at me as he washed his chest. I stopped, as usual interested in watching him. “Go or we will never leave this bed.”
“Not a bad idea.” I had to face Maggie sometime so I opened the door and stepped into the other room.
The first smell to hit me was chocolate. Maggie sat at the table sipping a steaming cup of hot chocolate. I inhaled and had a fleeting thought of how much I would miss it. I had to be glad though that it masked the scent of her blood. I studied her face. She looked upset. No surprise there. Fergus was busy polishing Jeremiah’s blades. Since they were already gleaming, I knew this was an excuse for them not to talk.
“Good evening.” I stayed close to the fire, another smell that helped me keep my fangs at bay.
“Gloriana.” Maggie jumped up and ran to me, throwing her arms around me. “Did you know? About Fergus and what he can do?”
“Maggie! Yes, I knew.” I practically threw her at Fergus, who was behind her in an instant. Oh, Gods, but I could certainly smell her now. I turned to face the fire. No, no, no! This couldn’t be happening. “Of course I knew. Tell me what he did.” I said this to the flames while I fought my base urges. I was not hungry. Not.
“He showed me how he could change into the most fearsome beast or the sweetest lamb.” She was trembling as she took his hand. He led her back to the table. “I couldn’t believe my eyes.”
“She was verra brave, Gloriana.” Fergus stayed behind her, his hands on her shoulders as he forced her into a chair. He eyed me as if ready to fight if I made a move toward her. I turned to face her but kept a hand over my mouth. Fergus read my mind easily enough and nodded. “She has accepted me for what I am. It was all I was willing to burden her with yesterday.”
“Fergus, you are not a burden.” Maggie grasped his hand. “It is passing strange, but I understand you cannot help how you are born.” She glanced at me. “Gloriana, are you ill? Come, sit at the table. I have more of this delicious chocolate if you want some.”
“No, thank you. I have fed.” I turned away again. “I am thinking about a warm bath.” I reached for the kettle. “Fergus, would you fill the tub?”
“In a moment. I don’t want to leave Maggie just now.” He tilted his head, silently telling me he wouldn’t leave her alone with me. I understood.
“Fergus, you shouldn’t neglect your duties. I am fine.” Maggie sighed. “Gloriana, did you know the babe I carry could have the same talents Fergus has? What if I end up with a child who could do such tricks?” She rubbed her eyes. “It is hard for me to understand.”
“Of course it is.” I sat across from her and took her hand. This was my friend and she needed me. “But it is a wonderful thing. Fergus saved me when he turned into a bear once. And his cousin Bran was that mastiff in the market that kept me from being taken by thieves and perhaps sold into a brothel.” I wanted to convince her that shape-shifting could be a wondrous gift.
“Was he indeed?” Maggie’s eyes widened. “Gloriana! What is wrong with your mouth?” She wrenched her hand from mine. “Your teeth! Fergus! What else aren’t you telling me?”
“Nothing, my love. You are tired and it’s making you see things that aren’t there. You got little sleep last night. You tossed and turned and kept cryi
ng out with bad dreams.” Fergus pulled her up into his arms and pressed her face to his chest. “Gloriana, why not go into the bathing room and start filling the tub yourself? I will bring you hot water.”
“I know what I saw.” Maggie pulled out of his arms. “What is happening to you, Gloriana?” She stared at me but I had covered my face with my hands again.
“She has to be told, Fergus.” Jeremiah stood next to the table.
I hadn’t heard him come in. “No! She will think us monsters.”
“Are you? Monsters?” Maggie was shaking. “Fergus, I will have the truth. I am having your child. Are you risking both of us by keeping us here?”
“It is my job to keep Jeremiah and now Gloriana safe during the day, Maggie mine. I am paid well for it.” Fergus tried to pull her to his side again but she refused to let him touch her. “You have said more than once that you don’t understand the hours they keep.”
“No, I don’t. Sleeping the day away, staying awake all night instead.” Maggie stepped closer to me. “And now you look strange, Gloriana.”
“Step back, Maggie. It’s not safe to be so close to me.” I hated to say it. But her blood. Gods, her blood. It throbbed through her veins, calling to me. I would never allow myself to drink from her. I reached for Jeremiah’s hand and he held onto me, ready to hold me back if necessary.
“What are you saying?” She looked from me to Jeremiah. “Why would I not be safe with my best friend?”
“I am now like Jeremiah, Maggie. It was my choice. We are vampires. Night creatures. We, um, drink blood to survive.” I pressed my hands over my eyes so I wouldn’t have to see the horror in hers. “I can smell your blood, my friend, and am desperate for it. But I’ll die before I touch a drop of it. I swear it.” I sobbed and ran out of the room.
“Gloriana!” Maggie’s voice followed me. Everything was so loud now. I heard Jeremiah talking to Fergus, urging him to take Maggie outside to explain more about us and his duties.
Jeremiah’s footsteps were loud as he walked into the room where I had started filling the bathing tub. He carried the kettle of hot water.
“She will be all right.”
“Will she?” I dumped the last bucket into the tub then stripped off my dress. I felt dirty, ashamed and out of control. Who was I now? I had wanted to dive for Maggie’s vein and drink until she had nothing left to give. I climbed into the tub and sighed as the water reached my chest. If I put my head underwater, would I drown? Of course not. There was no way out of this misery.
“Fergus assured me that she loves you and wants to believe you would never hurt her. She has been here for more than a month and has seen nothing to alarm her.” Jeremiah threw down his plaid and climbed in with me.
“Until now.” I knew we were testing her friendship.
“Maggie is a very practical woman. You heard how she has accepted life with a shape-shifter. Even the idea of being mother to a babe who may well have the same talent, as she called it, hasn’t sent her running.”
“Yes, that surprised me.” I reached for my rose-scented soap. I was also a practical woman. That thought went a long way toward making me decide that moping about, wondering if I had made a poor decision when I’d become vampire, was not only futile, but stupid. I inhaled the floral scent then ran it over my breasts before I grabbed Jeremiah’s plainer soap and tossed it to him. “Maggie is so grateful for her new life, she may well decide that working for a pair of vampires is worth the security it brings her.”
“Aye. Fergus is fairly sure those will be her thoughts exactly.” Jeremiah rinsed and laid his soap on the table beside the tub. “Do we smell better now?”
“Yes.” I rinsed and stood, reaching for a dry cloth. “I have been thinking about shape-shifting. I think I will wait a while to try it. Fergus mentioned once that he knew of a vampire who had trouble with it.” I reached for a dry cloth. “I won’t risk being stuck half bird, half woman.”
“I thought you were brave enough to try anything.” Jeremiah watched me dry my body then grabbed his own cloth. “But I certainly like the shape you are in now.”
“So do I and there is no reason to hurry. I have forever to explore my new powers, do I not?” I patted away the last of the water and let down my hair.
“Yes, you do.” Jeremiah smiled. “So what would you like to learn first?”
“Mind reading.” I pushed against him, skin to skin, then looked down. “Some things are too obvious. Clearly there is no need to read your mind to see that you want me yet again.”
“You are right.” He held me close. “So you want to just read my mind?”
“I want to be able to get into the mind of every person I meet.”
“I doubt you will like what you find there, Gloriana. Most people are a dead bore, worrying about their next meal or whether their lover is seeing another. You could also come to regret knowing how they think of you. Take Lord Summers.” Jeremiah traced a line up my arm to my neck.
“No, thank you. I’m sure his mind is a horrible place.”
“You’re right. I am still haunted by what that bastard wanted to do to you when I ran into him at court.” Jeremiah looked thunderous. “He asked me if I’d tired of you yet. It was all I could do not to run him through. Too bad he has family the king holds dear.”
“Promise me you won’t kill to protect me, Jeremiah. It would upset me.” I stepped back and wrapped a dry cloth around me, then pulled him toward our bedchamber.
“I cannot promise you that.” He stopped in the doorway when I began stripping the bed. “What are you doing?”
“Putting on fresh bed linens. This new vampire sense of smell is turning out to be a nuisance.” I took fresh ones from the chest at the foot of the bed. “Help me with this.” I tossed a sheet to him. “Now why can’t you promise not to kill to protect me?” I stood across from him, pulling the sheet and the coverlet straight. “Jeremiah?”
He looked across the bed, his face very solemn. “This I vow. As long as we live, and that should be forever, I will be your sire and your protector. To me that means I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe. If that requires a killing, so be it.”
I just stared at him. I didn’t like the sound of this. For him or for me. Had I really understood what I was asking when I’d made him turn me vampire? Perhaps not. But it was done now and could not be undone. I crawled across our made bed, glad that it now smelled sweet from the herbs Maggie had tucked into the chest.
“I love you, Jeremiah, and I pray you never regret this.” I kissed him with all the passion in my heart and soul. When I finally drew back, I knew my fangs were down. Yes, I wanted him in every way.
“Here is my own vow. I will try not to become a burden to you. If it seems as if I have become one? Then I will let you go.” I laid my hand over my heart to show I meant every word.
“Enough of this solemn talk.” He tossed me onto the bed. “The only burden I see in this room is that cloth hiding your body.” He jerked it away. “Now let me love you and I will show you how to read my mind. First, stare into my eyes…”
I looked up and saw love and a promise. Forever. Was it too much to ask? Time would tell.
What happens when Gloriana gets to the Highlands?
Watch for Real Vampires: A Highland Christmas, coming Fall, 2018.
For a complete list of the Real Vampires series or to sign up for Gerry’s newsletter, go to http://gerrybartlett.com.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Cha
pter Eighteen
Real Vampires: When Glory Met Jerry Page 28