“Jerome…” I began to protest. Sleeping tablets were no doubt a wonderful invention and would definitely make me sleep, but I needed to have a nightmare, had to try and discover what was happening in Sfantu Drâghici.
“No arguments, Lottie,” Jerome responded firmly. “While I understand your concerns about what's happening in other parts of the world, you need to regain your strength and recover from the attack. One night of sound sleep and that's Doctor's orders.” He disappeared for a few seconds, returning with a small paper cup with two pills and watching like a hawk as I put them in my mouth and swallowed them down with water. “Good girl,” he said approvingly. He leaned over and kissed my forehead. “See you in the morning.” Straightening up, he turned his attention to Lucas. “I assume you intend on staying here?”
“Of course.”
“Make sure she sleeps.” Jerome left us alone and I wriggled to the side of the mattress, holding my arms out to Lucas in invitation. With a smile, he settled down beside me, capturing me in his arms and we snuggled together on the narrow bed.
“I swear, I will never allow you out of my sight again,” he murmured, brushing his lips against mine.
“It was the last thing I expected,” I admitted. “When the portal opened, I expected a demon. Not Archangelo.”
“It was unfortunate he was put into the sleep at that particular time, when you were alone.”
I rubbed my fingers across his cheek. “I forgot to tell you.” I briefly recounted what Archangelo had told me, about stealing the potion and being able to see me for brief moments of time on a regular basis.
Lucas was immediately concerned. “The man is deranged and taking the sleeping potion like that, it may cause him to lose further grip on reality.” Lucas ran his fingers through my hair, his eyes distant as he considered the revelation. “Conal believes he's developed an obsession with you and he's obviously enraged about our relationship. He'll be more dangerous now he's failed to kill you.” Apprehension was clear in his voice. “And if he's taking that potion as you say, he could reappear at any time if he sleeps and discovers you alone.”
“If you're never going to let me out of your sight, he can't get to me,” I tried to reassure him, kissing him softly.
“I wish I could believe that,” Lucas sounded doubtful. He sighed, pulling me against him. “Maybe your father has the right idea. We should leave, run away somewhere.”
“It's funny you should mention that,” I admitted. “Before Archangelo came through the portal, I was having exactly the same thoughts.”
Lucas flashed a smile. “Believe me, if I thought I could take you somewhere safe, somewhere you couldn't be found - I'd do it in a heartbeat.” He leaned his forehead against mine. “I'm terrified of losing you.”
“Not as terrified as I am of losing you.” Despite the warmth in the room, I shivered. “I wish we could spend all our time together. I hate this, being so busy all the time. Or unconscious.” I smiled wryly. “I want to be with you every minute of the day and I resent not being able to do that.”
Lucas gazed at me. “I promise you, love. When this is over, we will spend every minute of our lives together.” He kissed my forehead and I closed my eyes, relishing the feel of his body against mine. His aroma washed over me, tonight it was a mixture of pine with a hint of something sweet, a comforting smell which made me relax against him despite our worries.
“Lucas… if I had wanted it - would you have tried to create me?”
He pulled away, his expression betraying his answer. “Although I wouldn't wish this existence on another person, the answer is yes. I would have, if you had requested it.”
“Because I wouldn't get old?”
He shook his head. “For purely selfish reasons. Not because it would keep you from getting older, I've told you more than once that doesn't matter to me in the slightest. But because I don't want to be without you and when you… die, I intend to find a way of ending my own existence.”
Tears brimmed against my eyelashes. “I don't want you to do that, Lucas. You have Rowena and Ben, the rest of your group. If I die, it doesn't mean that you shouldn't live.”
“I won't exist without you,” he responded quietly. “The five months when you were gone - although I kept my promise to you, it was agonizing to be without you.” He ran his fingertips across my bruised cheek, his eyes intense in the darkened room. “I cannot - will not - do it again. My existence has no meaning without you in it.” He brushed my tears away with his thumb and watched me curiously. “What brought on this discussion of being created?”
“Being an angel. Before I found out about that, even though I didn't want to be created - I guess it was always an option.”
“I see.”
Rolling onto my back I stared up at the ceiling. “I feel like I got cheated out of my choices. Maybe later, with time - I might have changed my mind. Decided to be created so we could be together for decades… centuries. Now,” I closed my eyes, squeezing back the tears, “now I don't have that choice and I'm going to get old and you'll remain exactly as you are now.”
“It doesn't matter, Charlotte. Not to me,” he whispered earnestly, pressing his cool lips against my cheek in a kiss so soft, his lips felt like a whisper of air against my skin.
I drew a shuddering breath. “You say that now. If I manage to survive this thing with the Consiliului, and I get old – how do you know you'll still feel the same way? Won't you be embarrassed, when you still look twenty four and I'm in a walking frame?”
He was amused and didn't attempt to hide it, his blue eyes twinkling, the silver in them whirling in slow circles. “I'm having a little trouble visualizing you in a walking frame, love.” He saw the troubled look in my expression and continued more seriously. “Charlotte, you're only twenty one. Only just twenty one. What you're speaking of, it's years away. Years and years. Can we not concentrate on the present and worry about this later? I love you, you love me and that's all that matters.” He leaned forward and captured my lips, stopping any further discussion. I breathed in deeply, aware of the delicious clenching deep in my groin.
“Lucas?”
“Mmmm?” He was distracted, pressing gentle kisses against my cheek, down my throat.
“Make love to me.”
His amusement was visible when he glanced up. “Here? In a hospital bed?”
I nodded, beginning to undo the buttons on his shirt. “Yes. Here and now.”
He captured my fingers and lifted them to his mouth to kiss. “As much as the thought is delightful,” he whispered huskily, “perhaps we should allow you to heal a little more first.”
“I don't want to wait to heal.”
He sighed, closing his eyes. “Charlotte. There is nothing more that I want on this earth than to make love to you.”
“I sense a 'but' coming,” I grumbled.
“Having your father in Zaen is affecting my decision-making process. I can't see him being happy with the idea of me making love to you in a hospital bed.”
I scowled. “What's that got to do with anything?”
He chuckled, brushing a stray curl from my cheek. “It seems inappropriate to make love to you when he's so close. He doesn't like the idea of you being involved with me as it is, I very much doubt he'll be happy to discover I'm the one responsible for deflowering his daughter.”
“I really don't care.”
“But I do,” Lucas responded gently. “He has enough reasons to dislike me, Charlotte. I don't want to add to the list.”
“Why does it matter what he thinks? You're probably four times his age anyway.”
“Whilst that may be true, your father sees me as a twenty four year old man who's dating his daughter. His only daughter. While you are of age, it's understandable that he's concerned. Particularly because he's aware of what I am.”
I rolled my eyes. “It doesn't matter anyway. He'll be gone soon.”
Lucas was silent for a minute. And then, “Do you really believe he'l
l leave?”
I nodded. “I might not know him particularly well, but based on past experience - I'm guessing he'll go.”
“How do you feel about that?”
I shrugged, inhaling a sharp breath. “I saw the way he was with you and the others. He can't comprehend what he's seeing. He doesn't understand it and that's only going to make things more difficult for me. It will be better if he leaves.”
“When Conal suggested bringing him here - we had grave concerns about whether he could grasp what we were about to introduce him to,” Lucas admitted. “Our lifestyle - what we are - there are reasons it's kept secret.”
“Well, Matt doesn't get it,” I said firmly. “And it doesn't matter anyway.”
“Won't you regret it, if he leaves?”
I sighed. “Lucas, he can't fix what's broken. We were attempting a relationship with emails before this happened, but to be honest - he's a stranger to me.”
“What you said tonight - I learned more about you in that five minute conversation you had with your father than I've known since I met you.”
“That's not true,” I protested, “you know a lot about me.”
“True, I know a lot about you from our time together,” he agreed. “But your life before then - it's like a closed book.”
I took a moment to think about what he'd said, thinking back over our time together in Montana. It was a shock to realize he was correct. “I guess I've shut a lot of things away.”
“Like your first crush? Who was that, by the way?” he asked with a teasing smile.
I screwed up my nose at the memory. “Alex Petterson. It was in sixth grade. He was the most handsome boy in the class and I worshipped the ground he walked on. At least, until I discovered he was far more interested in himself than any other person on the planet.”
Lucas laughed and hugged me close. “And I didn't know you broke your wrist in fourth grade. Although it shouldn't surprise me unduly. Since I've me you, you've had a continual parade of broken bones. Perhaps you really are accident prone.”
“Hey, that's not fair,” I protested good-naturedly. “The broken wrist was a genuine accident - every other broken bone has been inflicted by someone else.”
His expression darkened. “I will stop that from happening to you again, love. I'll protect you.”
I snuggled against his chest, safe and happy with him beside me. “I know you will.” Despite my intentions of staying awake and savoring this time with Lucas, I yawned loudly.
He wrapped his arms around me, so I lay with my head on his chest. “Sleep now, Charlotte. I'll keep you safe.”
“Are you sure we can't make love?” I demanded sleepily.
The smile was clearly recognizable in his voice. “Yes, I'm positive. And stop tempting me. Go to sleep.”
Chapter 35: Getting To Know You
Bright sunlight was streaming into the room when I woke up. Rolling towards where Lucas should be, I discovered he was gone. Matt was sitting on the chair beside the bed and he smiled sheepishly, leaning forward in the chair. “Hey, Charlotte.”
“Matt?” Scanning the room, I established it was empty other than my father and I. “Where's Lucas?”
“He left a little while ago.” Matt paused, eyeing me cautiously. “He seemed to think you and I should talk.”
I studied him, seeing him for the first time in daylight. His hair was much like mine, dark with a smattering of grey at his temples and his eyes were chocolate brown. Clearly visible around his eyes were laughter lines and his jaw was strong and wide. He was dressed in blue jeans and a rust-colored golf shirt, his elbows resting on his knees and hands clasped together as he watched me.
“Matt, I meant what I said last night - I'm not leaving. I don't want to go to San Diego with you.” There wasn't any point beating around the bush - I wanted my decision to be clear and was intent on ensuring he knew the subject was absolutely and definitely closed.
He surprised me by changing subjects. “This… Lucas - he's your boyfriend?” he asked. “Even though he's a…” he swallowed deeply, “a vampire?”
“Yeah.”
He gripped his hands together, clasping them tightly till his knuckles were showing white. “He…” Matt frowned, the shallow lines on his forehead deepening significantly as he composed his question, “he doesn't drink your blood?”
My lips curled into an amused smile. “He doesn't drink human blood, Matt.”
For a time he considered this statement, looking puzzled. “I thought they needed to drink human blood.”
I pushed myself upright, discovering that overall, I felt much better. Other than a fairly insistent throbbing in my knee. “He can survive as well on animal blood. Lucas and his Kiss have chosen to survive on animal blood.”
Matt leaned back in the chair, hooking one leg over the other and he clasped his hands around one knee. “Animal blood?”
“Yeah, animal blood. You know - bears, deer; stuff like that.”
Matt rubbed a hand across his chin thoughtfully. “Charlotte, I'm trying to understand this - I really am. Misaki's handling it much better than I am, she's always been a believer in this kind of… stuff.” He eyed me doubtfully. “But, you've got to understand that these… these people you're spending your time with, they're meant to be dangerous. And you're my daughter. Despite the mess I've made of this, you're still my only daughter. You can't blame me for wanting to keep you safe.”
“They aren't dangerous,” I stated calmly. “They do everything they can to keep me safe and protected.”
His eyes flickered to the bruising on my face. “They aren't doing a very good job.”
I touched my cheek. Although the sigil had healed the bone, the skin was puffy and tender. I hadn't seen a mirror, but I was sure it would be a startling shade of purple after Archangelo's casual slap. “This wasn't their fault, Matt, it was the people we're fighting. Our enemy.”
“Our enemy,” he echoed. Matt managed a faint smile, shaking his head. “I'm the ex-Marine and my daughter is talking like one.”
“Well,” I said slowly, “I guess I am. Kind of.”
“The Doctor - Jerome - he says this is a recent development with you. Only in the past twelve months or so?”
I dropped my gaze to my hands. “I've heard the voices for years, since I was a kid. It's only when I finally embraced the voices that this other stuff came up.”
“And… you have special weapons, like that wooden thing they got me to touch?”
“It's a Hjördis and that isn't a weapon. It's used to create portals, heals wounds. The weapons are different.”
“Heal wounds?” he questioned.
“I can heal broken bones, stop bleeding.”
His attention focused on my cheek. “The Doc said you had a fractured cheekbone.”
“I did,” I replied patiently. “I've healed it.”
“And your ribs?”
I raised my arms up and forward to demonstrate the amount of movement I had. “Healed.”
He took a minute to think this through, his expression thoughtful. “That's impressive,” he finally said. “And the weapons?”
I tugged open the drawer and retrieved my weapons belt, laying it on the bed to show him. “This is a Katchet, these are Philaris.”
He leaned forward to study the weapons. “How do you - you can kill those creatures with them?”
“Some of them. The weapons are used to kill demons, the werewolves and the shape shifters can handle the others.”
He laughed dryly, the sound devoid of any real humor. “It sounds like I've landed in the middle of a horror movie.”
I smiled, feeling a little more comfortable in his company. “Nope. It's just… it's my reality, Matt. Welcome to Wonderland.”
He was silent, watching me before he managed a smile. “You are so beautiful. You were a pretty baby, but now you're -” He broke off, rubbing a hand over his jaw. “You're so much like Lorraine - your Mom. Exactly the same eyes.”
; I chewed my lip, composing my words carefully. “Why didn't you ever try and contact us? Why didn't you keep in touch?” It was a question I'd asked myself a million times when I was growing up, wondering why my father didn't want me. The pain it had caused was like an open wound, one I'd carried all my life and I suddenly knew I needed to hear his answer, wanted to know why he'd made the choices he did.
“When I left your Mom, I was a kid. A stupid kid. I wasn't ready for the responsibilities of a wife, a child. My father was an alcoholic, I guess I fell into the same habits,” he admitted quietly.
“Do you drink now?”
He scowled, as if recalling a bad patch in his life. “Nope, never touch the stuff. Stopped about three years after I left your Mom. By then I'd joined the Marines and I was working hard. I grew up, I guess. Finally realized I couldn't make a career for myself if I was drunk most of the damn time. And I really did want to make something of myself. I'd screwed up so many things when I was younger.” He paused briefly, his eyes lost and filled with misgiving. “And I always regretted leaving Lorraine like I did. She was a good woman.”
“Did you love her?”
He sighed deeply, his eyes distant, focused on a time many years ago. “I did. I really did.”
I persisted, questioning him despite the pain in his eyes. “You never contacted us, Matt. You never even rang to see how I was doing. You don't realize how much it hurt my feelings.”
“I can see that, Charlotte. I can't offer you any excuse which would be good enough. For the first three years after I left, a good proportion was spent in an alcoholic stupor. For the most part I did my job and I did it well, but you see stuff when you're in the Marines - stuff that doesn't help if you're already nursing an addiction. Evenings, weekends - I'd finish up work and go bury myself in a bottle.” He looked away to the window, lost in a time of his life that he'd obviously prefer to forget. He sighed deeply, pulling himself from his recollections to continue. “By the time I admitted I had a problem, it took a bit of time to get back on the straight and narrow. Before I knew it, six years had passed, since I'd walked out on you and your Mom. I was overseas most of the time.” He shifted uncomfortably in the seat. “In the end, I was too embarrassed to contact you.”
Knowledge Hurts (The Nememiah Chronicles Book 3) Page 30