by A C Warneke
“I know about the Aradians,” he interrupted.
“It’s not about the Aradians.”
Clearing his throat, he nervously asked, “Um, is it about Toby? Is he okay?”
“He’s good. Where are you?”
“Malorie,” he said on a weary sigh, sounding so tired. He was quiet for a few moments, making her stomach flip over on itself in fear because she knew what he planned on saying. And he didn’t disappoint. “It’s not a good idea for you to find me.”
“Father….”
“It’s complicated.”
“You have a son,” she blurted. “I’ve risked everything getting him to safety. Everything, father. The least you can do is meet with me.”
Stunned silence met her announcement and she waited with bated breath for him to respond. When he remained silent for far too long, she wondered if he had hung up on her. “Father?”
“I’m still here,” he rasped. She could picture him scrubbing a hand through his hair as he paced back and forth trying to digest this bombshell. If he had just agreed to meet her, she wouldn’t have had to rip the rug out from beneath him in such an abrupt manner.
“Tell me where you are,” she told him, pushing to her feet and gathering up a few things that she was going to need since she wasn’t sure how long she’d be staying. She wasn’t sure whether she was going to try to convince her father to return to the compound or to keep running. “And I can be there in five minutes.”
“We’re warded against Aradian technology so you won’t be able to get to us directly,” he said, finally relenting and agreeing to a meeting. Not that she had given him any other choice. He let out a desolate chuckle, “If it were up to me we’d meet in a neutral location but there are extenuating circumstances that make that all but impossible.”
“You talk as if I am the enemy,” she said softly, pausing in her frenetic attempt to get dressed.
“Hell, I don’t know,” he sighed. “Everything is fucked up, Malorie, and for all I know you could be the enemy but, you’re right, we have to meet.”
Swallowing thickly, blinking a few times to stem the tears the threatened to fall, she rasped, “Where are you?”
After he gave her the general location and directions on how to find him, she hung up and sat down on the edge of her bed. Was she now her father’s enemy? All she had ever wanted to do was keep him safe, to keep them all safe, and now….
Taking a shuddering breath, she wiped her dry cheeks and stood up. She debated whether or not she should leave Feryn a note and decided against it. Hopefully she’d be back before he even realized she was gone and a note would be pointless. She did call Jack to ask him to watch Toby for a while longer. He was groggy when he answered as if she had woken him up, but he was also quick to agree, which she appreciated.
Looking around the opulent room that seemed more like a prison without Feryn there, she realized once again that her world was collapsing around her and there was very little she could do about it. Especially since she was the one who was responsible for everything.
Maybe they would all be better off if she simply didn’t return after she met with her father. Toby could have a semi-normal life with the man who had far more experience with normalcy than she had ever known. Feryn would be able to get to know his son once more, no longer needing the baby she carried….
Putting a protective hand over her slightly rounded stomach, she vowed to love the child no matter what, whether Feryn still wanted it or not. She couldn’t imagine him deciding he wanted nothing to do with the baby, even if he had apparently made that choice in regards to her. But in case he did….
She’d do what was necessary, the same as she always did, and raise the child on her own if need be. She’d also figure out a way for Jack to escape the island with Toby and while she would never again be his wife, the three of them could be a team. No, the four of them. She’d find someone for Jack, someone who accepted Toby and Malorie’s place in his life and why was she even considering any of this? All she had to do was make sure her father was okay and then return and figure things out with Feryn.
She needed to try to fix what was broken, she just wasn’t sure how because to ensure the future of his people he had to enslave hers.
Pushing her sunglasses up, Malorie looked around the vast grounds and wondered why her father never told her about his land in Mississippi, land that was hundreds of acres. Luckily, it was warmer than it had been in New York but still far cooler than the tropical paradise she was coming to think of as home. Thanks to her travel sickness, there was a brand new, three hundred year old tree at the edge of her father’s hidden property.
There had been a car waiting for her where she stepped through the portal, which she thought was strange until she realized just how vast her dad’s property was. At first, she had missed the turn off for the discretely hidden road and had to double back before she found it. The single dirt road twisted and turned, wending its way through the dense forest before suddenly opening up onto the well preserved estate. Her breath had caught in her throat when she first saw the place, a far cry from all of the dives she had grown up in. Combining that with the pile of money she found in her dad’s room in New York, she wondered why they had stayed in dives to remain so far off the radar as to be non-existent. On the other hand, wealth brought its own scrutiny.
The property itself was beautiful, with gorgeous trees that were covered with silky moss, gardens that were cultivated to look untamed and wild, and a grand old mansion that seemed to come directly from the Antebellum with its wrap-around veranda, soaring pillars and arched doorway. Ivy clung to the exterior, giving it a dreamy, romantic look and the whole thing was so out of synch with what she knew of her father, she wasn’t sure she knew him at all.
Taking a deep breath, she pressed the doorbell, hearing the echoing gong deep within the bowels of the house. It was very gothic and she wondered if the place was haunted as well, the thought bringing a smile to her lips. Then she remembered how tired her father had sounded on their brief phone conversation and her stomach clenched when she considered the possibility that her father was gravely ill and didn’t want her to know.
When the door opened and she saw him standing there, her suspicions were cruelly confirmed. Her father who had always been the essence of good health now looked like death barely thawed out. His full lips were drawn and bloodless, his skin was pale and sallow, and he had deep, dark circles beneath his dull gray eyes. He was thinner than before and his clothes hung on his withered frame.
“My God, what happened?” she asked, stepping past him and into the house, barely noticing the beautiful, marble foyer that glowed in the morning light. Wrapping her arm around her father’s waist, taking the weight of his body, she dragged him into one of the side rooms and eased him down onto the plush couch. Kneeling in front of him, she took his hands in hers and looked imploringly into his eyes, “Please don’t tell me the Aradian has done this to you.”
A slight smile curved his lips, cracking one until a drop of blood appeared, Coughing, he croaked, “There is a valid reason for it.”
“I’ll kill her,” she growled, furious on her father’s behalf. At least when Feryn drank from her, he gave her enough time to replenish her blood supply. Granted, it didn’t’ take a long time, which only made Gus’s situation that much worse. The woman must have been drinking from him constantly to cause this much damage….
“You will not,” he bellowed, or tried to bellow. His voice came out as a pathetic rasp.
“Why not?” she asked, her jaw tight. For an answer, Gus gave a sheepish expression and raised his shirt to expose the glimmering mark on his stomach. Holding her father’s eyes, she raised the hem of her shirt, seeing the surprise in his face as he took in the mark that covered her entire torso.
“I see you understand,” he said with a rough chuckle.
“She shouldn’t drink so much,” Malorie protested lamely.
“I don’t mean to,” an
exquisitely beautiful voice purred from behind Malorie. Spinning around, Malorie’s jaw hit the floor as she saw the humongous stomach that seemed to precede the woman into the room. The Aradian looked about fifteen months pregnant and uncomfortable as all hell, though Mal knew she couldn’t be more than four or five months along.
Slowly, Malorie lifted her head and took in the Aradian, her brilliant violet eyes that were wide and terrified in her beautiful face. “You’re pregnant.”
“You’re so observant,” the woman said wryly, waddling into the room and slowly easing her unwieldy body down next to Gus, whose arm automatically went around her in a protective gesture. “I’m Tari. You must be Gustav’s daughter and Feryn’s mate Malorie.”
“I am,” Malorie managed, plopping down on a chair and staring at the hugely pregnant Aradian. She tried to wade through Feryn’s memories to see if such a thing was possible but she could barely manage her own shock let alone the effort it would take to access his memories. “Are you even supposed to be able to get pregnant?”
Tari chuckled, resting her hands on the mammoth belly that seemed to be in a world of its own. “No. And I know that this isn’t normal for a regular pregnancy either.”
A growl ripped through the air and Tari’s face turned red as her belly rumbled and she glanced at Gus out of the corner of her eyes. Without a word, Gus rolled up the sleeve of his shirt and held it out to his Aradian lover. Malorie saw the track of bite marks up and down his arm in varying stages of healing and gasped. Tari wasn’t even giving him the thirty minutes it took to heal!
Without a thought, Malorie was out of the chair and pushing her father’s arm out of the way. At his low snarl, she glared at him as she sat down, rolled up her own sleeve and held it out to the ravenous woman. In a low voice, Gus warned, “Malorie.”
“You need to let your blood replenish otherwise she’ll drain you dry.” Warm, slender fingers wrapped around her wrist but when she looked at Tari, the woman hesitated. Tari’s eyes looked to Gus for approval and when he nodded his head with grim reluctance, she opened her mouth and let her teeth sink into Malorie’s wrist, making Malorie wince.
“Thank you,” Gus murmured as he bent his head in humble defeat, gratitude burning in his eyes.
Malorie nodded. Knowing that the timing couldn’t possibly be worse but also knowing that it needed to be said, she began, “I met your son.”
Gus shook his head in bewilderment, “To be honest, Malorie, I’ve barely been able to think since we left the Aradian compound. I’ve tried to figure it out since you told me last night but I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about. What son?”
“The one you had with Nadine?” At his blank look, she scowled, “On the night of my eighth birthday….”
Color flooded his pale cheeks and she knew the moment he remembered. Shifting uneasily, he avoided her eyes as he cleared his throat, “That had been a really rough night and I wasn’t thinking clearly.”
“We stayed for a week,” she reminded him dryly, wincing a little as Tari shifted slightly.
“It was only that one night,” he protested. At her look of disbelief, he grimaced, “I only remember one night.”
“It was an entire week,” she repeated.
He closed his eyes in remembered pain and offered a brief nod.
“You were injured,” she murmured, picturing the day so clearly. Ignoring the light-headedness she was starting to feel, she added, “And very, very sad. I always wondered what caused you such grief.”
His eyes pleaded with her as he shook his head, “Malorie, please don’t make me explain the reason why.”
“I need to know,” she said softly, leaning back against the chair as Tari continued drinking her blood. “You’ve never forgotten my birthday, before or since, and yet that night not only did you forget but you had sex with a stranger while I lay awake in my bed.”
Swallowing thickly, he looked at Malorie with desolate, guilty eyes. “I staked your mother that night.”
Malorie gasped softly but didn’t say anything, letting her father speak without interruption. “I thought, I hoped, I could reason with her but she attacked my men and I had no choice. She didn’t even recognize me, Malorie, even when I let her get close enough to slash me with her talons. She recoiled in disgust when she touched me and I staked her.”
“They don’t like our blood,” Malorie said lamely, not knowing what else to say. She felt cruel for not caring more about her mother but she was more concerned about the outcome of that night, her brother. At her father’s blank expression, she clarified her comment, “Vampires don’t like our blood, father, it repulses them. Yet if they drink enough….”
“Malorie?” Gus said as she trailed off. At her look, he arched an eyebrow, which looked even more intimidating in his gaunt face. “Yet if they drink enough… what?”
“If they drink enough of our blood, they change back. No, that’s not quite true. If they drink enough of our blood, they become Breeders,” she muttered, looking down at Tari who was still mindlessly drinking. Giving a little tug, she felt the resistance as Tari held tight so she sighed and relaxed. The woman could drink plenty more before it became an issue. Meeting her father’s eyes, she continued, “I know this because Jack….”
“Jack was a vampire?” he gasped, his eyes widening in horror. Of course, he hadn’t known Jack had become a vampire or how he had almost drained her dry and killed her. At her nod, he shook his head, “God, I am so sorry.”
“They’re testing my blood to see how much is needed to neutralize a vamp or possibly even cure it,” she offered with a shrug instead of dwelling on Jack. “There are plenty of vamps still out there even though Feryn has destroyed so many of them.”
A little gasp came from Tari but it didn’t slow her drinking, making Malorie smile. “Still, it will be nice to have another weapon to use against the blood suckers if or when they make a comeback.”
“Jesus,” he swore. “How much have you been through?”
“A lot,” she blurted before pressing her lips together to keep from saying anything more.
“I should have come back for you and Toby,” he groaned, anguish twisting his features. “But I thought you would hate me for falling in love with an Aradian since I’m the one who told you they were our enemies.”
“And I thought you would hate me for the same reason.”
“Yet you kept looking for me,” he said mournfully. Guilt and remorse flooded his eyes and she knew that he was beyond exhausted to let so much emotion show. In that moment, she was grateful to see that he did care. “You said you risked everything for my… son. What did you do?”
“I gave him his freedom,” she said simply. “He’s with someone I trust and he’s safe and that’s all I can say.”
“But at what cost?”
Capturing her lower lip between her teeth, she looked at Tari to keep from seeing the concern in her father’s gray eyes. “Feryn is avoiding me as much as possible. He even tried to remove his mark but I didn’t let him.”
This time, Tari pulled her teeth from Malorie’s arm, her lips parting in surprise, “Feryn doesn’t avoid anything or anyone. He faces adversity head on.”
“Yeah, well, he’s avoiding me,” Malorie repeated glumly, her thoughts swirling in her head: Feryn, Varick, Toby, Jack. Nodding her head to her arm, she asked, “Are you still hungry?”
“Ravenous,” the Aradian growled, sinking her teeth once more into Malorie’s flesh.
With a chuckle, Malorie turned to her father, “I see why you’re so drained.”
“Malorie,” he slurred, his eyes heavy with exhaustion.
“Get some sleep and we’ll talk after you wake up,” she murmured gently. There was so much to tell him, about Taella and the vampire attack and Toby and Varick but he was already asleep. With a soft chuckle, she looked down at Tari and they shared a matching grin, even as the Aradian managed to do it with her teeth in Malorie’s wrist.
After a few m
inutes of continuous sucking, Tari finally pulled her teeth free and looked at Malorie in wonder. Pressing one of her hands against her stomach, she breathed, “Something has changed.”
Feeling woozy from blood loss, Mal stared at the Aradian as Tari kept eying the little droplets of blood and licking her lips, Malorie asked, “Do you need more?”
Without answering, Tari sank her teeth into an unmarred patch of Malorie’s skin, her eyes closing in ecstasy. Malorie sank further into the couch and closed her eyes, letting the Aradian take her fill, knowing that she’d stop the woman if it got to be too much.
With her eyes closed, she felt herself drifting in the world between sleep and wakefulness. A slight smile curved her lips as Feryn’s scent wrapped itself around her and she sank into his phantom embrace. All of the problems between them disappeared when her eyes were closed and it was just the two of them in her head, bound together forever. Whether he freaking liked it or not.
The next thing she knew, her arm felt like it was being torn open as Tari was shoved out of the way and strong arms were wrapped around her. A mouth was hot against her wrist and it sent shivers through her body as a tongue moved over the bite marks. Frantic hands were pushing her hair out of her face as a low, desperate voice growled, “Malorie, my love, open your eyes!”
Slowly, she blinked and found herself staring into the beautiful green, panicked depths of Feryn’s eyes. Reaching up, she cupped his cheek and offered a bewildered smile, “What are you doing here?”
“I felt your pulse weakening and I thought you were in danger,” he rasped, running his hands over her face, his eyes taking in her appearance. He was completely oblivious to the fact that she wasn’t the only one in the room. In that moment, she knew that nothing else mattered to him but her safety and she loved him a little more. There was hope that they could work through their differences. “Are you okay?”