The monk gave her a sad smile. “Your good vampire will protect him much better than we ever could.”
Zoltan reappeared by her side. “Ready?”
“Almost.” She bowed to the monks. “Thank you, Venerable Fathers, for raising Norjee and giving him love and kindness.”
The monks pressed their hands together and bowed. “Peace be with you.”
“When it is safe again, I’ll bring him back every now and then to visit,” she offered. The sadness in the monks’ faces made her wonder just how bad the brother’s vision had been.
Zoltan grabbed hold of her, and everything went black.
In Neona’s house, Zoltan guzzled down a bottle of blood. He’d left Neona and Norjee by the central fire pit, where they were having a bowl of soup with Tashi and Lydia. He hadn’t wanted to drink blood in front of the boy in case it frightened him.
A son. Zoltan finished the bottle and started on a second one. A week ago he’d set off to solve an old murder, and now he had a woman he intended to marry and a son. He’d protected hundreds of mortals over the centuries, so taking on this new responsibility didn’t disturb him. Quite the contrary. Instead of countless faces, he finally had the chance to love and protect two people who would be special to him. He smiled to himself. If he could be half the father Istvan had been to him, then Norjee would do fine.
He eyed the second bottle, now empty. It must be because of the Living Water he’d added, for he’d had four bottles tonight and he still felt hungry. There were only two left in the ice chest. So far he hadn’t noticed any effect other than hunger. It could be that it took time. Or perhaps his body undid any changes during his death-sleep.
He removed the bottles, then teleported to the kitchen in his castle with the ice chest. At vampire speed, he refilled the chest. Then, back in Neona’s house, he poured a small portion of each new bottle into an empty one, then topped them all off with his supply of stolen Living Water.
He drank another bottle, then joined the others at the fire pit. Winifred and Freya had just arrived from target practice in the adjoining valley. The queen was with the dragon children in the cave.
Lydia was cooking flatbread over the fire and laughing at how fast Norjee could eat them. Freddie and Freya both hugged the boy and welcomed him home.
With a blush, he scooted up close to Zoltan and mumbled something.
Neona smiled. “He’s not used to being around so many women.”
Tashi passed Freddie and Freya each a bowl of soup. “You two were at target practice for a long time.”
Freya exchanged a smile with her sister. “We’ve never seen so many fine warrior men before.”
Freddie snorted. “Men? It was the tigers you wanted to meet.”
Freya shrugged. “I thought the youngest were-tiger was very handsome. Rajiv is his name.”
“I see you managed to get onto their team,” Freddie said.
“And what about you?” Freya nudged her sister. “You’re on the team with the man who calls you a goddess.”
“We’re being assigned to teams?” Neona asked.
“Don’t worry,” Zoltan told her. “We’ll be on the same one.”
Lydia passed Freya a hot loaf of bread. “I thought the dart gun was rather easy to use.”
“It is.” Freya tore the loaf in half and passed a piece to her sister. “But I insisted on practicing a lot.”
Freddie snorted. “You didn’t want to leave your pet tiger.”
“Do not dare call him a pet.” Freya grinned. “He claims to be ferocious.”
Lydia shook her head. “We’re preparing for battle, and all you can think about is men?”
Freya sighed. “I know. I’m blaming it on Zoltan.”
“Excuse me?” he asked.
“You gave us those books to read,” Freddie explained. “Now we have romance on our minds.”
“Exactly.” Freya stirred her soup as a dreamy look came over her face. “I’ve been reading The Perils of a Passionate Pirate. He has long, flowing black locks and sun-kissed bronze skin. Just like Rajiv. And the heroine—she stowed away on his ship, disguised as a cabin boy, but he saw right through that. He’s very clever—”
“And passionate,” Tashi muttered.
“I’ve been reading Duke in Boots,” Freddie announced. “It’s about a duke—”
“And his boots?” Neona asked, her mouth twitching.
Freddie nodded. “He doesn’t dare leave his residence unless his fine Hessian boots are polished to a glossy finish. He’s so incredibly handsome that the heroine took one look at him and stumbled, trampling all over his boots with her muddy shoes.”
Freya gasped. “The horror!”
They both laughed.
Emma materialized close by and gave Zoltan an annoyed look. “You have yet to teach Neona how to fire her dart gun. She can’t go on a mission tomorrow night unprepared.”
“We’ll do it soon.” Zoltan motioned to the young boy, who was watching everyone curiously. “We brought Norjee back to live here.”
The boy smiled when he heard his name.
Neona patted his back. “He inherited Minerva’s gift. He can communicate with winged creatures.”
“Like the dragons?” Emma asked. When some of the women gasped, she gave them a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with us.”
Her smile faded as she took a seat by the fire. “Angus and I are worried that it may be the dragons that Lord Liao is after. He may have heard rumors of their existence.”
Lydia nodded. “Our dragons have flown these skies for thousands of years. There will be peasants and farmers who have seen them or heard of them.”
“That’s what we figured.” Emma frowned. “Master Han may want control of them. Imagine how easy it would be for him to take over new territory if his soldiers are flying about on fire-breathing dragons. Villagers will surrender to Master Han to keep from being burned.”
Freddie grimaced. “We can’t let Master Han get them.”
Emma leaned forward, her elbows on her knees. “Tell me more about them. How many are there?”
“Three children,” Neona replied. “Xiao Fang is the oldest. He hatched six years ago.”
“Six?” Zoltan asked. “He looks about twelve.”
“The dragon children age twice as fast,” Lydia said. “Until they reach puberty and the time of their first shifting.”
“Xiao Fang can already breathe fire.” Freddie finished her bowl of soup. “He’ll shift soon. Maybe two or three months from now.”
“He had a sister,” Freya added. “But a few minutes after she hatched, she turned blue and couldn’t breathe.”
Freddie sighed. “It was terrible. Our mother tried to save her, but they both ended up dying.”
“That’s how Calliope died?” Zoltan asked, and the two sisters nodded.
“I’m so sorry,” Emma told them. “There are two more children?”
“A boy and girl.” Neona ladled more soup into Norjee’s bowl. “They hatched three years ago, so they look like six-year-olds.”
“Wait a minute.” Zoltan sat back. “The eggs are hatching every three years?”
“Yes.” Neona gave him a worried look. “The next group could hatch any day now. Two eggs.”
“I hope there will be more females.” Lydia handed Norjee a fresh loaf of bread. “By the end of the last cycle, we had only five females left. That’s why there are five nests.”
Neona sighed. “The cycle before that, we had fifteen nests.”
Zoltan winced. The dragons were dying out.
“What do you mean by cycle?” Emma asked.
“They live for about five hundred years,” Neona explained. “Then the females lay their eggs and die. The males die soon after. If the last male doesn’t manage to survive till all
the eggs are hatched and the dragon children are able to take care of themselves, then the whole hive can perish.”
“That’s why they made a pact with us,” Lydia added. “Three thousand years ago, when the original three women came here, there was one male dragon left, and he feared he would die before the eggs would hatch.”
“The old dragon made a pact with the three women,” Neona said. “They were given the Living Water and this valley to live in. In exchange, they were to become the mothers of the new hatchlings. It is our sacred duty to protect the young ones until they can shift and take care of themselves.”
“Then they take care of us.” Freya used her piece of bread to sop up the last of her soup. “They lift the heavy stones to help us build our homes. And they snatch up donkeys and goats and bring them here.”
“And these are the only dragons left?” Emma asked.
“As far as we know,” Neona said. “Thousands of years ago, they existed all over Europe and Asia. But some are hit by lightning and die. Or sometimes they have hunting accidents. When they dive down at great speeds to catch prey, they can crash into each other or into trees. Others are killed by slayers. There was a time when stragglers would fly here from Europe or eastern China, seeking refuge. The last one from Europe came over a thousand years ago.”
Zoltan nodded. “They became extinct there. I don’t recall ever seeing one.”
Norjee sat up suddenly and looked toward the cave.
Emma inhaled sharply. “What was that?”
“Norjee heard the young ones,” Freddie whispered. “I have the gift, so I can hear them, too. Norjee is answering them.”
Norjee jumped to his feet and ran toward the cave just as the oldest dragon shifter dashed out.
The two boys stopped and looked at each other. Norjee reached a hand out to touch Xiao Fang’s shoulder. The dragon boy grinned.
“What is going on?” The queen marched from the cave, frowning. She halted when she saw the two boys.
Neona jumped to her feet. “Your majesty, this is Minerva’s son. Norjee. He has her gift.”
Nima’s face turned pale.
“Xiao Fang is inviting Norjee to sleep in the cave with him and the other children,” Freddie whispered. “Norjee has agreed.”
Norjee glanced back at Neona and grinned. He dashed toward her, gave her a hug, then ran back to Xiao Fang. The two boys went inside the cave.
Freddie smiled, her eyes glistening with tears. “Xiao Fang is calling Norjee his brother.”
The queen stepped toward them, frowning at Emma. “They have told you all our secrets now?”
“We will do everything in our power to keep the dragon children safe,” Emma promised her.
Nima nodded, then scowled at the other women. “Go to your homes to rest. I will watch over the young ones for now.” She marched back into the cave.
“Good night, then.” Tashi poured a bucket full of ashes on top of the fire to extinguish it.
“That reminds me.” Emma watched the fire die. “From now on, no visible fires in this valley or the next. Liao will be looking for us, so the valleys must remain dark.”
“We understand,” Freddie told her. “Good night.” She and Freya gathered up the dirty dishes and took them to the storeroom. Lydia and Tashi followed them with the cookware.
“Where will you do your death-sleep?” Zoltan asked Emma.
“Tiger Town. Most of the Vamps are teleporting there before sunrise.” She tilted her head, gazing at the cave. “Do you hear them, Zoltan?”
“No. I only hear animals. The kind without wings.”
“Maybe it’s because I was a telepath before I was transformed.” Emma turned to him and Neona. “I can hear them. Every word.”
Chapter Twenty-three
It was well after the noon hour when Neona woke up. She stretched in bed, marveling at how much her life had changed in the past week. Zoltan was in his death-sleep, sprawled naked on top of Minerva’s bed. She smiled, remembering how they had made love again before sunrise; climax number six, he’d called it. When death-sleep had crept over him, he’d moved to Minerva’s bed for fear that any contact between them during that time might cause her to die. She didn’t know if that was true, but it was certainly too big a risk to find out.
She wondered how Norjee was doing and smiled again. He and Xiao Fang had become instant friends.
After dressing, she retrieved the flask of Living Water from her chest and added more to each of Zoltan’s bottles of blood. Guilt nagged at her as she screwed the caps back on. It was wrong to deceive him like this. Tonight she would tell him the truth.
She brushed his hair back from his brow, then smoothed a hand over his broad shoulder to his arm, lingering on the bulge of his bicep. Her gorgeous vampire. Somehow they would have a future together.
After slipping out the door, she made a quick trip to the outhouse, then washed up in the stream. Hopefully, the others were already up and had cooked a midday meal in the cave. The children would be hungry.
The night before, when the others had gone to their homes to sleep, she’d returned to the next valley for target practice. Zoltan had introduced her to more of the vampires and shifters, but there had been so many she had trouble recalling their names. Howard she remembered. The giant were-bear was in charge of the operation during the day. Emma and her husband, Angus, were in charge at night. They had divided everyone up into six teams, each one comprised of three vampires, three shifters, and a woman warrior of Beyul-La.
Neona’s team included Zoltan and two other vampires called Jack and Dougal. They both had odd accents, and one of them was wearing a skirt, but they seemed very friendly. The three shifters on the team were Howard and his twin nephews, Jesse and Jimmy. Howard admitted that the two younger were-bears were still in training, but not to worry. If they messed up, he would clobber them.
Jimmy and Jesse had watched her practice, and each time she’d hit a target, they’d cheered and offered her something to eat from a white box. BEARs, they called them, which stood for Bearrific Energizing Attitudinal Restorative. Howard called them donuts. Apparently, the were-bears had brought a huge supply.
Before leaving for Tiger Town to do their death-sleep, the vampires had teleported a shifter from each team to where Russell was watching Lord Liao’s progress. As a vampire, Russell planned to retreat to a safe place for his death-sleep. During the day, the six shifters would follow Liao’s army, and when search parties went out, the shifters would divide up to track them.
From Neona’s team, Jimmy had been selected to be their scout. After sunset, he would call his team and the three vampires would teleport Howard, Jesse, and Neona to where he was located so the attack could begin. Zoltan had cautioned her to get plenty of rest during the day, for they had a long night ahead of them.
Now, as she strode inside the cave, she found the other women relaxing around a small campfire. Freddie and Freya were reading their books. Nima and Tashi were napping on pallets. Lydia was spooning soup into four bowls for the children. Neona filled a fifth bowl for herself and helped Lydia carry the trays of food into the larger cavern.
At some point during the day, Norjee must have left the cavern to collect pinecones, for there were two dozen of them on the cavern floor, and he and Xiao Fang were running about kicking them and laughing.
Neona stopped to listen to Norjee’s laughter. Even Lydia smiled at the sound of it. But it was Xiao Fang’s laughter that surprised her. Because their throats were designed for breathing fire, the dragon children were incapable of speech. They were taught to comprehend Tibetan and Chinese, but they couldn’t respond. The only way to hear their thoughts was through someone who had the gift, like Nima, Freddie, or Norjee.
The sound coming from Xiao Fang was an odd cross between a bark and a wheeze. It was only the joy on his face that let her know it was a laugh.
How sad that he’d been alive for six years, yet this was the first time she’d heard his laughter. She smiled at Norjee. The boy had a way of bringing joy into people’s lives.
He ran up to her, grinning. “I was wondering when you would come. I missed you.”
She set down the tray and hugged him. “I was up all night, so I slept late. How are you?”
“Great!” He wrapped an arm around Xiao Fang’s shoulders. “I have a brother now who’s a dragon!”
“I see that.” Neona motioned to the tray. “Are you brothers hungry?”
Norjee and Xiao Fang sat, side by side, and ate. They kept glancing at each other, so Neona figured they must be communicating. The other two dragon children, Huo and Chu, ate their soup while casting forlorn looks at Xiao Fang. Neona suspected they were feeling left out.
“Can I take Xiao Fang outside to play?” Norjee asked.
Lydia shook her head. “The queen prefers for the dragon children to remain safe inside the cave.”
“Why?” Norjee asked.
Lydia sighed. “Because we have to keep them safe. They are the only dragons left.”
“But Xiao Fang wants to be free,” Norjee argued.
“He can be free when he grows up,” Lydia said. “Finish your meal.”
Norjee frowned, then ate more soup.
As Neona ate, she became aware that Norjee and Xiao Fang were exchanging sly glances. The two were definitely planning something. “When was the last time you bathed, Norjee?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Neona gave him a sharp look. “Did you know that dragons have highly sensitive noses? They can smell prey from miles away. Or dirty little boys.”
Norjee looked at Xiao Fang, who wrinkled his nose, then grinned. Norjee glanced at the other two dragon children and winced. “They say I’m stinky.”
Neona nodded. “There’s a place close by where we dammed up part of the stream to make a small pool. I’ll take you there so you can bathe. And if Xiao Fang wants to come along, he’s welcome.”
Norjee sat up, grinning. “Really?”
“Your mother won’t approve,” Lydia mumbled.
How to Seduce a Vampire [Without Really Trying] Page 25