by Doug Welch
Paris waited. Alex glared at him. Her mind-glow felt strange, one he'd never sensed in her.
He decided to continue. “The Council has agreed to make all of the State of Kentucky our territory, but we'll start with Jamestown and Russell County. They’ve decided we are to be called 'the Family of the People of Jamestown'.”
“Isn't that a little pretentious? Why not just call us the Jamestown People, or the Jamestown Family?” Edward said.
Paris smiled at him. “You haven't dealt with the Council, Edward. They are quite fond of grandiosity. The other Houses wouldn't take us seriously without a fancy name.”
“I don't feel comfortable bowing to some stinking Shadows,” he muttered angrily.
For reasons he refused to explain to Paris, Edward passionately hated Shadows and wanted to kill them all. Edward Rowan was Elizabeth and Caesar's father. Confined to a wheelchair, he awaited a heart transplant, but so far, they hadn’t found a compatible donor. The odds of his survival past another year were slim.
“People, Edward, they're called the 'People'. Get used to it. We’ll all have to try and be correct around them. Our lives depend upon it. All of you need to understand. When I went against Luca in the clearing, he could have killed me easily. – If it hadn't been for Alex, he would have. Compared to any of the Council members, Luca was easy prey. We do not want to upset or annoy them. They can and will crush us.”
Luca had been an Adept; a ruler of the House of Borgia. He’d abducted Elizabeth and Caesar in order to trap Paris and Alex. Paris' transformation from a normal person to a Shadow Adept marked a turning point in the confrontation, but a few bullets from Alex's gun had completed the task and prevented Luca from killing him.
Paris moved to the next subject. “Anthony Anagnostopoulos,” he twisted his tongue around the polysyllabic Greek name, “has agreed to be our liaison with the Council until he returns to Greece. For obvious reasons, I think we can all agree to call him...Tony.”
Chuckles rippled around the table.
“June,” Paris nodded to her, “has passed her bar exam and is now a full-fledged lawyer. She’s agreed to become our legal council. I propose that we fund a law firm with her as the head partner. We have a lot of legal problems to solve, and June has been handling our business interests since Silas died. Are there any objections?”
Paris smiled at her. Her hazel eyes smiled back. June was a handsome, graying middle-aged Jamestown native who’d been the legal secretary to their former lawyer, Silas Brawley. She’d also been his lover. His death at he hands of the Shadows had been a devastating and personal tragedy to her because they’d planned to marry.
Caesar looked concerned. “Do we possess enough funding?”
Paris directed his attention to his future brother-in-law.
Caesar had the dusky face, handsome features and glossy black hair of a Middle Eastern movie star. His snapping brown eyes were so dark they looked nearly black and the tall muscular body had been honed by his service as a Navy Seal. Like his father, he spoke with a slight British accent.
Paris turned to June. “June, can you give them some idea of our financial picture?”
“About seventy-three million and growing. If I’d known you wanted it, I could have brought the exact figures.”
Caesar whistled. “I had no idea.”
Alex draped her arm around his wide shoulders. “I told you, lover, we're rich.”
“Actually, you are correct in more ways than you think, Alex. According to Shadow custom, in a House, all wealth is held in common. Therefore, the whole Family is rich,” Paris said.
“The Borgias are one of the exceptions,” Dan said. “They concentrate their wealth in the Adept aristocracy. The other members of the House are treated as thralls.”
“That leads me to another issue. Dan wants to join our Family,” Paris said.
Dan Simmons was a Jamestown police detective. A brown haired, gray-eyed half-Shadow and cousin of their stepmother, he’d come to Kentucky to watch over Paris, Alex and their parents. He still blamed himself for their parents’ deaths, although there was nothing he could have done to prevent them.
“What’s stopping you, Dan? I certainly don't object,” Alex said.
Dan leaned back in his chair and threw his hands up. “I can't. Not until my Association and the Council approve it. I think they’re hoping I'll hear something and I can be forced to divulge it.”
“Thanks for the heads-up, Dan. Remember – all of you. Family secrets remain within the Family.”
Paris knew that with the exception of Dan and June, they all knew the secrets to which he alluded. A hidden room concealed in the basement of the farm house contained the necessary information and equipment that would enable normal humans to acquire Shadow abilities. But the most damaging secret of all was the fact that just as the Shadows could hide in plain sight from normal people, Paris could, at will, vanish from the Shadow's sight.
“I have only a few more items to discuss and then we can adjourn. My lovely bride-to-be, Doctor Rowan, has agreed to resign from Russell County hospital and set up a practice here in Jamestown. She wants to start a clinic. I propose we fund it.”
“I've found a good site in town,” Elizabeth said. “Some of the local doctors are interested in joining. The facility will have urgent care, emergency services and a limited number of beds. I've even had an inquiry from dentists and a veterinarian; although I don't know how we could fit that in.”
Alex giggled. “I can see the ads now.’Everything from humans to horses, we cover it all'.”
Paris knew that the supposed 'veterinarian' would actually be a doctor chosen from the People. He would treat Shadow patients in a secure area of the facility.
He also sensed another change in Alex's mind-glow. Strange, what was happening to her?
“Last thing before we adjourn. The Family desperately needs another Adept. I propose Alex start the training immediately. Eventually, all of you should acquire some Shadow abilities, but she has the best chance of succeeding. In addition, Father felt that she could prove to be more powerful than me. We need her to cement our position with the Council.”
“You know my position on that, Paris,” Caesar warned. “You bloody-well nearly died when you tried it. I will not risk her.”
“Caesar, I can guide her through it. I know where the danger lies and what to do to minimize it. She's my sister. I love her as much as you do. I wouldn't do anything that would harm her. You need to trust me.”
Elizabeth looked concerned. “I had to restart your heart, Paris. I was never as terrified in my life. I thought I would lose you.”
Comments continued around the table, but Paris focused on Alex's senses. Something had changed. He had expected her to display her usual independence and stubbornness, to leap at the chance to practice their father's techniques, but she was subdued, pensive.
Finally, she interrupted the conversation. “Hold it. All of you!” She waited until the babble ceased.
She looked at Caesar and caressed his cheek, staring at him. “Honey, I’ve been meaning to discuss this when we were alone. I guess now is the time... You're going to be a father. I'm pregnant.”
Everyone sat as though stunned. No one spoke.
Caesar looked like he’d just been jolted with a cattle prod. More emotions than Paris had ever seen on a person at one time flashed across his face. Finally his features settled into a dazed, loopy smile. He leaped from his seat.
“I'm going to be a father?” Alex nodded and smiled. “I'm going to be a father,” he shouted. “This is the most wonderful day of my life!” Alex looked relieved.
# # #
Caesar stared in amazement at his fiancée. She appeared luminous. The perky, sassy woman had been replaced by a pensive but purring feline. The gorgeous face and voluptuous body still excited him beyond reasoning, but the contented spirit that suffused it had transformed her. She looked like a mother. In a way, it enhanced her sexuality.
The
fact that she’d agreed to marry him, still filled him with wonder. Although not a violent man by nature, preferring instead the life of a Kentucky farmer, Caesar had served in the Navy Seals and he knew he could and would protect her from anything, even if it meant sacrificing his own life in the process. Now, he had a new reason to guard her. Unbidden, a thought surfaced. He wondered if she carried a son.
# # #
“So how did this happen?” Paris began. Elizabeth crossed her arms and stared at him like he'd gone brain-dead, so he back-tracked. “I mean, weren't you two using any kind of protection?”
“Nothing but skin between me and my big hunk,” Alex said. “I like it that way.”
Paris now knew what he’d sensed in Alex's mind. All his careful planning had just crashed into a disorganized heap. Without Alex he’d have to carry the Family alone.
“I suppose this means...”
“I won't risk my baby, Paris.”
“Don't even think about it, Paris,” Caesar growled.
Paris couldn’t help but feel disappointment. I should be happy for them. But this would make his burden a lot harder to bear. Then he remembered that he and Elizabeth had also engaged in unprotected sex. She told him she’d planned to start birth control, but there were a few times...
Ordinarily, he refrained from examining Elizabeth's mind-glow, but now he focused on her. He sensed it. It was the same as Alex's. He knew. He gazed at her. His eyes widened and glistened. “You – You're...”
Elizabeth smiled. “I just found out this morning, future daddy. I'm pregnant also. Alex already knows.”
The whole table erupted into laughter and cheers.
Now it was Paris' turn to be dazed. Collapsing back in the office chair, he became concerned and widened his senses to envelop Elizabeth.
“Paris, what are you doing?” she said.
“Just trying to see if the baby's all right.”
She assumed a look of astonishment. “You can do that?”
“I don't know, but I'm damn sure going to try.” He focused on her womb.
She patiently endured it for a few moments. “Paris, stop it. It’s not even a fetus. Let it grow.”
He relented, withdrawing his probing. “I love you Beth and I love the life we've created. I'm going to be a good father. I promise you.”
# # #
Elizabeth examined the man who stirred her passion. He doesn't have any idea how devastatingly handsome he is. The thick auburn-brown hair, with the curl that keeps flopping over his eyebrow, the distracting amber eyes and the boyish shy grin, along with that sleek muscular body, it's enough to make any woman hot. She basked in the joy of carrying his child. The wonder was that he had chosen her above all others.
“Does it get any better than this, Paris?”
“We've a full life to live, Beth. I suppose we'll just have to find out.”
Edward wore a wide smile. “I hate to inject a note of sanity into these proceedings, but where do we go from here? Do I conduct a double shot-gun wedding?”
Paris snapped his fingers. “The wedding.–We haven't discussed the wedding.”
Caesar spoke up. “I thought we were going to have a dual wedding. The sooner, the better, if you get my meaning. You know how Kentucky is.”
Alex interrupted. “There's no waiting period in Kentucky. We could get the licenses and jump right over to a Justice of the Peace.”
“I wanted to see Elizabeth walk down the aisle in a white dress,” Paris said. “I've been imagining it. I’d like to make our weddings special. It's the only time and it's only once. It should be something memorable that we can enjoy.”
Caesar spoke. “If we have a big wedding here, we will have every biddy in the county crowding into the church or hall to get a glimpse. Or have you forgotten the 'Love nest at the Fox farm' headlines?”
“No, but there is not much we can do to prevent it unless we leave the state,” Paris said.
Elizabeth frowned. “I thought the papers agreed to print a retraction.”
“It was buried somewhere between the obituaries and the want-adds,” Alex said. “We're still the topic of gossip all over the area.”
Elizabeth appealed to June. “I thought we were going to sue the state.”
June joined the conversation. “We did, but there's a gag order on the settlement. I believe it will push a million, but the negotiations are not finalized.”
Dan broke in. “Why don't you all fly to Nevada and get married. Go to Las Vegas. There's no waiting and they have everything you'll need.”
“I don't know. I've never been there. Have any of you?” Paris said.
Elizabeth smiled. “I went once, for a medical conference. It's quite a city.”
“I've been twice, for antique shows,” Alex said. “Dan’s right. Their resources are amazing. You can have anything you can pay for; including the most glamorous and expensive dresses on the planet.”
“What about father?” Caesar said. “He's on the waiting list for a heart. What if the call comes? He can't fly with us. Who’ll care for him while we're gone?”
# # #
Paris thought for a moment. “We'll hire the best cardiac nurses available. If the call comes, we'll fly back. How about it Edward?”
“Just make sure that they're pretty nurses and take lots of pictures. I'll be fine. You four have fun. It's your time. Enjoy it.”
“Okay. I need to contact the Council to make sure we're not intruding on another House. I also need to see if Tom Bradley can come. Caesar is there anyone you would like as best man?”
He shrugged.
“Alright, we can share Tom. How about the brides?”
“I want June as bride's maid,” Alex said promptly.
“Elizabeth?” Paris said.
“June works with me. We'll share.”
“Dan would you like to come as a witness for the People?” Paris said.
“Can I bring a friend?”
“Of course. The pretty cop at the police station?” Paris asked.
Obviously embarrassed, Dan’s face colored. He grinned and nodded.
“Done. June can you make the arrangements? Expense is not a factor. First class for all of us. Go the whole way. Whatever it takes,” Paris said.
She slyly smiled. “Pull out the stops. Okay, you’ve got it boss.
Paris felt his excitement building. “Folks, it seems we have a plan. Watch out Las Vegas, here we come!”
Chapter 3
Viva Las Vegas
They all emerged from the chartered Lear Jet into the bright desert sunlight.
Alex had insisted they purchase sun glasses before they’d left Kentucky and she'd been right. Paris eyes started to tear from the blinding glare and he quickly slipped on the shades. He felt as if he’d stepped into a furnace. It was early October and the days had become much cooler at home. Here, it felt like midsummer as the sun’s heat hammered down.
They walked toward the terminal entrance and entered the commercial VIP lounge.
Abruptly blasted by cool air, the contrast between the heat of the tarmac and the cool interior of the terminal disoriented him. He decided acclimating to Las Vegas’ weather could take a while.
Gazing around the plush interior of the terminal, he saw a dapper blond-haired man, dressed in a crisp business suit, holding a sign that read FOX/ROWAN.
Alex had apparently spied it first and headed that way. Paris gestured to the rest of the group who seemed intent on examining the furnishings. They followed him as he approached the man clutching the sign. The blond man searched their faces. “Miss Fox – Mister Fox?”
Paris nodded and gestured to Caesar and Elizabeth.
“This is Mister Rowan and Miss Rowan.” Caesar and Elizabeth smiled.
The man lowered his sign. “Welcome to Las Vegas, sir. My name is Eric and my partner over there,” he indicated a handsome Hispanic man dressed in the same style suit, “is James. We’ll be your hosts while you enjoy your stay. Consider us as yo
ur drivers, valets and guides. Whatever you need or want, will be our pleasure to provide. If you and your party will follow me, please, the limos are waiting outside.”
“What about our luggage?” Paris said, as they walked to the terminal exit.
“Don't concern yourself, sir. It will be waiting in your suite, unpacked and freshened when we arrive at the resort.”
They walked through a corridor and entered a crowded, massive terminal. Paris stared at a sea of humanity that seemed to be in constant motion both into and out of the building. Exiting through two sets of automatic doors, they were again greeted by the blazing heat.
Eric and James quickly opened the doors of two of the largest limos Paris had ever seen. Idling at the waiting zone, they were black and shiny; with tinted windows, the resort emblem ornately emblazoned on the doors. The valets quickly ushered them all into the cool, plush interiors. Paris, Elizabeth, Caesar and Alex; sat in the first car and June, Tom, Dan and Dan's friend, Roxanne, occupied the second. The drivers started the limos and smoothly pulled away from the curb.
As soon as they had cleared the airport and entered the traffic pattern, Eric looked back and spoke from the front passenger seat.
“Refreshments are in the cooler in the center. I believe all of your preferences are there. Please inform me if you require anything different, and we’ll provide it. I believe, Mister Fox that you are partial to Blackened Voodoo?”
Eric looked at him and Paris nodded. “You’ll find several chilled bottles. They’ll be replaced whenever required.”
Paris opened the chiller. Sure enough, six bottles of the beer were nestled between several other choices. He removed one and opened it.