A Secret Baby for the Vampire

by Wylder, Jasmine

  Begging is futile. He does not need anything from me. What could I possibly offer him?

  Nira was left only one choice if she wanted to live; she had to run.

  Without weighing the consequences, she whirled toward the door, grasping at the metal handle. She had not accounted for the serum and jet lag which slowed her down considerably but her amygdala had taken over; she was in fight or flight mode. Reason had gone out the non-existent windows of the almost suffocating septic room.

  She wrenched the knob, the door falling open to her relief but the feeling was short lived as her waist was suddenly seized, the door slamming with finality, blocking the light of the corridor.

  “No!” she screamed, her psyche on the edge of hysteria. Cozul whirled her around, dancing her up against the far wall in two strides. His pale hands pinned hers against the grey surface mercilessly, his blue eyes enraged.

  “You fool!” he hissed. “Do you know what the guards would have done with you if they caught you trying to escape?”

  Nira did not care, tears pooling her luminescent irises.

  “I don’t care!” she wailed. “You are going to do far worse!”

  For an inexplicable second, Nira watched as a strange humanity seemed to fall over him, but it was gone as soon as it appeared. Nira remained glued to the wall, Cozul’s fingers digging into her. She became aware that she was slightly elevated from the ground, held up only by the vampire’s weight pressed tightly against her trembling body.

  They stared at one another and Nira was flooded with terrible memories.

  You fool. You complete and utter fool. How can you be allowing this to happen again? Do you never learn?

  Nira closed her eyes, resigning to her fate. Resistance was futile. He was stronger, more powerful and he was going to take what he wanted regardless of how desperately she fought. Streaks of water fell from her closed lids, streaking her smooth cheeks. She felt Cozul draw closer, his breath in her ear.

  “Do not be afraid,” he whispered. “Everything will be fine.”

  Her eyes flew open and she stared at him, dumbfounded.

  How can he say that? She wondered, choking back a lump in her throat but as she took in his chiseled features, she experienced a rush of calm. There was a longing in his face which had not been there earlier, as if he was seeing her for the first time. She shook her head.

  This is mind control. This is what they do. You have read about this. Don’t succumb to him!

  Yet she could not help but become lost in his gaze as he leaned forward again, his lips contacting the lobe of her ear.

  “You must relax and trust in me,” he told her quietly. Despite her overwhelming consternation, Nira felt her body sag comfortably against him. She tried to reason that he was manipulating her mind but as he slowly allowed her down to the ground, she wondered why he would bother. He could just as easily drug her again. He would not need to spend the time or energy if he simply used the serum.

  No, he wants me to trust him, she realized. He is genuine. The only question is; can I?

  Chapter Five

  What are you doing? You are not thinking rationally.

  Cozul began to pace the confines of the interrogation room, his mind in turmoil. The mortal female remained against the wall, her back pressed up against it, silently watching him. He could not understand the influx of emotion he was feeling, his judgement clouded by the insurmountable attraction he was feeling toward her. He had never experienced anything like this in his existence.

  What is it about her which makes me hesitate? He wondered, his thoughts a jumble of fascination and concern. He could not return to the estate without a donor but he could not bring himself to surrender this being to the others. The need to protect her was smothering him and he had no reason to understand it.

  She is just like all the others; you must think rationally, he ordered himself but he could not. He remembered her words from the club, how her story had affected him deeply as if he had been party to her disturbing childhood. There was a kinship he felt to her as if her suffering was a mirror to his.

  We have lived completely different lives we should have nothing in common and yet…

  He shook his head as if to activate sense into his thoughts.

  “No,” he said aloud. “I must bring you back to the tribe. I have no other choice.”

  She stared at him beseechingly, her pupils dilated in fear.

  “Please,” she begged. “I must return home…”

  She sighed deeply and Cozul found himself watching her, waiting for her to finish her sentence. Her mind seemed to wheel through various thoughts until resignation filled her bright green eyes.

  “I promise that I will come back with you but you must let me return back to the South. I have…something to attend to. When I have done that, I will do whatever it is you want.”

  Cozul regarded her puzzled.

  She is less concerned with her fate and consumed with something she left behind. Was it a child? A lover?

  The latter idea filled Cozul with a rush of jealousy and he drew toward her. She did not recoil at him this time however and he found himself pleased.

  “What have you left behind? A family?” he demanded, opening his mind to probe into hers. To his surprise, she managed to block out his intrusion to her thoughts as if expecting his manoeuver.

  She is more intelligent than the other mortal women I have encountered, he mused but he found he was not stunned to realize that. He had been aware there was something more to this mortal from the moment he had been tempted into High Stakes by a force he did not see.

  His mind flittered briefly to the easy prey he had claimed over the years, the women smitten by his alluring charm and innocuous ways. They had never seen his smooth tongue and captivating good looks as a threat until it had been much too late, but Nira had seen something in him at the parking lot. She had rejected his kiss. Whether she realized it or not, a sense had warned her against him and she had acted upon it.

  It did not serve her well, but it shows that she is not like the others. Perhaps that is why I am so enthralled by her.

  “I have…unfinished business to attend in the South,” she replied evasively. “No, it has nothing to do with my family.”

  Again, he noticed her jawline tighten as she mentioned her kin.

  “You are giving me no valid reason to keep you from being the donor,” he told her coldly and she averted her stare to the floor.

  She is wondering if she should tell me her secret, but if she wants to live she will tell me what I wish to know.

  Nira seemed to reach the same conclusion and when she began to speak, her voice was heavy with emotion.

  “The first night I sang at the club, I was well received. The manager offered me a contract immediately, signing me on for two months. I was heady with the rush which singing brought, intoxicated from the adulation of the crowd even though I knew it would be short lived. Reality always sinks back in at some point but I was riding on that high.”

  Cozul found himself listening intently, relating to her words at his core. He, too, understood the feeling which being adored brought, the feel of the chase, being caught up in a fleeting dreamlike state.

  I have experienced all of that with the females I have captured, both mortal and immortal. The results have always been the same; the dusk falls and my eyes open. I am left feeling empty and unfulfilled.

  “Everyone was buying me drinks. I knew I had gone past my limit but I didn’t want the night to end. I was truly relishing in the love and the opportunities this job was going to afford me in the future. I don’t know if you’re aware but High Stakes is a renowned nightclub. This contract would have opened doors in dozens of other venues. I would finally be able to understand my goal of being a professional singer. It was what I had been striving toward my whole life.”

  Nira paused, gulping back the misery in her windpipe as if she suddenly realized how close she had come to knowing her dream.


  “Go on,” Cozul urged, eager to hear the rest of her tale. He was all consumed by her features, the pain and animation on her lips. He could not tear himself away, but Nira seemed reluctant to continue. She would not meet his gaze as she swallowed again, catching her breath.

  “I closed the bar, feeding off the drinks of the fans until the wee hours of the morning. I could barely stand when it came time to walk. The bartender called me a taxi and offered to walk me outside but Delano, the bouncer offered to wait with me.”

  Cozul thought of the meaty security guard who had tried to block his entry at High Stakes and felt his jaw tense. His well honed sixth sense told him where the story was headed but he needed to hear it from Nira herself.

  “Tell me,” he said, his voice a barely audible roar. Tears began to spill from her thick lashes, splashing onto her cheeks as she hung her head in shame.

  “I am usually so careful, so vigilant. I carry bear spray with me – I know what kind of men are out there, especially at night in clubs. I was too disoriented, too drunk to see it coming. He dragged me into the alley and began to attack me by the dumpster. I fought with him, clawing at his eyes but he was determined to take me. Before I knew what was happening, I was on the filthy ground of the laneway, my dress pulled up and he was inside me.”

  A gasp escaped her mouth and Cozul realized that she had never disclosed this information to anyone. A peculiar semblance of ease crossed over her lovely face and Cozul thought he saw her shoulders collapse as if a weight had been removed from her.

  “What did you do?” he asked quietly. There was a genuine concern in his tone but Nira did not seem to notice it as she raised her head and wiped her tears.

  “The cab arrived before he could finish and the driver honked his horn, giving me a slight advantage. I pushed Delano from me and ran to the car, trembling and terrified. From there I went home and took a long shower, trying to push his awful face from my mind.”

  “But you went back there,” Cozul mused aloud. “You could not have been so terrified.”

  Nira glared at him so harshly that he began to feel another unfamiliar reaction; shame.

  “I had a binding contract and the chance to live my dream. I was not going to let some pervert stop me from achieving what I have been working toward since I was a child. Singing is my escape and nobody is going to take that from me. Anyway, if I didn’t go back – “

  She abruptly stopped speaking as if she had said too much. Cozul stared at her expectantly.

  “Why do you wish to go back now? Your contract will mean nothing in the North albeit, we do not have much in the way of mortal entertainment. You might be very successful.”

  We have never had a donor provide dinner and a show, Cozul chuckled to himself. He was immediately contrite as he realized how dire the matter was they were discussing.

  As he expected, Nira did not smile at his small joke.

  “I have been biding my time…no that is not true. I have been procrastinating. I cannot leave that man to hurt another unsuspecting woman. I must get my vengeance upon him and leave a scar so deep he will never forget it.”

  “What are you planning to do?”

  She did not respond and Cozul concluded that she had not devised a plan to take down the violent predator. He recalled how Nira’s face had turned to stone at the club when she had laid eyes upon Delano at the entrance, wishing to leave without finishing her drink.

  That is why she rejected me; she is terrified of all males after what that one did.

  He studied her for a long while, weighing his options.

  We have already been processed. I must bring her back to the estate. Perhaps I can bring her to the South in a few days but I cannot simply return to the South without good reason.

  He thought of what waited for him at the estate; keys to his new home.

  That will certainly make things easier. I could hide her in my basement until I am issued another travel permit. If I should decide to honor her request…

  Cozul looked into her pleading eyes once more and made his decision.

  “I will bring you back to the South but we must return to my clan first.” Doubt colored Nira’s face and Cozul found himself inches away from her wan complexion.

  “You must listen to me,” he growled and she forced a neutral look upon her face. Content that she was listening he lowered his voice as if concerned the guards were listening. It was unusual for an immortal to remain in holding after being released and he knew his time was limited.

  If she does not listen to what I tell, I can only bring her back and her fate will be beyond my control. If she truly wishes to get her retribution, she will be wise to listen to me.

  The thought sent a fusion of worry through Cozul but he shoved it aside, his crystalline eyes penetrating her frightened jade ones.

  “You will return with me as planned but I will tell them you perished in transport. You will remain in my vehicle as I speak to the council.”

  Nira visibly shuddered at the word “council.” Cozul could see the difficulty she was having reconciling the reality of what was happening to her.

  “I will inform them that I must return for another donor and bring you back to the South when I leave again. I cannot leave for at least three lunar days, however. It is required by immortal law that travel permits outside the hemisphere will only be issued three days apart.”

  Nira seemed at a loss for words, sparks of confusion lighting up her bright green eyes.

  “Where will I go for three days?” she whispered. He could see she was reconsidering her appeal but it was too late. Cozul had already begun to formulate a plan.

  “You must trust in me,” Cozul told her again, cupping her cheek with one hand. He was lost in the depth of her emerald globes, his sense of danger obliterated by the weakness he was feeling for this woman. Her pupils constricted, her gaze falling to his dark stained mouth. He could feel her pulse pounding against his body, her veins rising and falling rhythmically against the soft flesh of her neck. He pulled her face toward his and joined their lips together, their eyes still clashing in an electric storm. As they parted, Cozul’s long finger traced the round lines of her face, his fingertip slipping down her shoulder. A soft but demonic smile touched his mouth, masking what he was truly thinking.

  I hope I do not get her killed for this.

  Chapter Six

  Dawn was breaking as Cozul’s 874 Yamarine sports utility vehicle approached the rear of the estate. He squinted as the onset of a headache began to announce itself but he willed it away. He would not be outside long.

  At the iron gates of the service entrance, he swiped his hand against the black fob pad, the imbedded laser in his wrist unlocking the gate instantly. It had been implanted in him before he could recall and only the hybrids had the chips. The originals rarely left the estate and if they did, they had other ways of re-entry. The elders had secrets which the youngest could only hope to acquire one day.

  The eggplant-colored vehicle raced toward the loading docks and he heard Nira gasp in the back from the momentum.

  “Quiet,” he growled. “You must lay still and remain quiet.”

  She did not respond and Cozul could feel himself tense in anticipation. To his knowledge, no one had ever attempted to deceive the council. It was unwise to say the least. The civil unrest which had once plagued the vampires a thousand years prior had been abolished with the rise of the Hierarchy. No one went against the elders and the elders knew their place amongst themselves. It had been hundreds of years since an attempted usurping, possibly because the immortals had bound together in a quest to conquer the South. Regardless of its reasoning, Cozul could not recall a time when a vampire had contradicted the laws of governing.

  If I am caught, he thought again but he shoved the worry from his mind as he leapt from the front seat and opened the rear of the car.

  “Do not move, Nira,” he told her again, pulling her body from the cargo hold. She was shaking and he urged to
her be still.

  “If we are caught,” he warned her. “Being a donor will seem like a fairy tale come true. You have no idea what our kind is capable of.”

  Her trembling lessened but Cozul could still feel her as he slung her over his shoulder as if she weighed nothing. Slamming the trunk, he easily climbed the stairs of the warehouse entrance and flew open the metal fire door.

  He had purposely arranged to arrive at that hour. The staff would be retiring for the day, leaving less scrutiny for him.

  As he had anticipated, only one agitated hybrid stood in the lab, glaring through the glass at the two depleting donors.

  “What is the problem, comrade?” Cozul asked, striding toward the disgruntled bank worker. Those who tended to the donors were the lowest in the rank of their clan. It was not their fault, not entirely. They lacked the ability to be useful anywhere else with their low intellectual quotients and oftentimes lacking social skills. Generally, it was hybrids working the tombs but rarely a mad original would end up shackled to a chair, with a garland of garlic encircling his neck, monitoring blood intakes and outlets, simply to keep a guard on watch. Somehow, those elders would never stay long and often disappear, never to be seen or heard from again.

  Amaia had once told the other hybrids that if not for their mortal blood, there would be no Lessers as their handicaps were a result of human influence.

  “You see, darlings,” Amaia had cooed wickedly when they were truly young. “If not for the Lessers, you would all be taking turns working the tombs as you do going South. You should be grateful to the simpletons the humans bore and not treat them with distain. Have mercy on those less fortunate than you.”

  “Can you not see the problem?” he snapped back at Cozul, gesturing through the glass into the cocoon. In his arms, Nira tensed. Cozul stopped walking. He sneered at the half-wit.

  “Can you not see I have a donor in my arms?” he snapped. The hybrid, whose name was Nelo, froze and hung his head.