Endless Days (The Firsts)

by C. L. Quinn

  “I am your father, not you son. I protect you, so…”

  “No, I’m serious. You need to let me know. If she shows up again, she’ll be looking for revenge…against you. She’ll kill you. I can handle her. Just, you know, without any freaking surprises like this time.”

  “I won’t let you be hurt again.”

  “Thanks. I’m not a child, either.”

  “You’re my child. I just hope for everyone’s sake she falls off the world. Because if she returns, I will kill her.”

  “Bloodshed. It must be Thursday.”

  They both looked at the door when the deep voice interrupted them quietly. The large vampire came into the room and knelt before the bed.

  He looked at Koen. “I hurried.”

  Park’s breath caught in her throat as her husband leaned in and hugged her carefully, then laid his head against hers. Bas touched her cheek with his lips and remained still. He was, literally, feeling her pain.

  Koen watched as Park and Bas brought their life forces together, heard her sigh in relief, and saw her color improve noticeably. She opened her deep green eyes and looked at the man who brought everything to her life when he tried to steal a ride with her over a year ago.

  “My love,” she said, and pulled him close.

  Koen left the room.

  The next night, after they’d risen and dined, David let Cherise know he had her brother in the lowest level of the house, what he called the dungeon. She had nodded and said nothing. What would David want to do with the man who had orchestrated his torture? Although he was her brother, she didn’t feel she had the right to tell David what to do. So, whatever he felt he needed to do, she wouldn’t stop him. It tore at her heart to think of Didier dead or tortured, but it was no worse than he had put David through. Or any number of other supernaturals. She shook her head as she walked away. Whatever happened to Didier was of his own design. Sometimes you got what you deserved.

  But she had to try not to think of it. So she checked in on Park and was thrilled to see Bas had arrived. Park was sitting up, and although her body was still mending from the deep stabs, her pain level still noticeable, she was smiling. Cherise noticed Bas didn’t get very far away from her. It still amazed her that she was once afraid of the big vampire who had been her boss.

  To see him in love, gently tucking a pillow in for his wife, was a lesson in judgment. She remembered how she’d always thought Didier the kindest of her brothers. Perhaps she had turned off too much of her innate empathic abilities over the past few years. It was time to reconnect to her heritage. It wasn’t as if she could avoid the vampire world anymore, since she would be one soon. And she wondered how that would affect the skills she was born with.

  Park laughed as something Bas said, and called Cherise closer. Funny how life spins out of control, and still often puts you exactly where you belonged. Cherise smiled back and went over to see what Park needed.

  Later, before they went to bed, David sat her on the large couch.

  “Cherise, I’ve released Didier.”

  “What?” she asked, surprised. “But…what he did to you…”

  “Yes. I would have killed him. He’s your brother, though, and I don’t know how easy you would have been with that. He deserved it, but, out of my love for you, I couldn’t do it. You need to know, though, Katerine and I combined our powers and we stripped him. He’s pretty much completely human now. Not only does he not have any of his empathic skills, he also has no idea at all about the supernatural world. I couldn’t let him back into the world with that knowledge. I emptied his memories, too. So, he thinks he’s just a laborer, with no family. He’ll have to begin his life again. You understand?”

  “I do. And thank you. He’s done terrible things and he deserves this. No, it is kinder than he deserves. Thank you for doing this for me.”

  “As long as you understand I did do it for you. I’m not a cruel man, but I believe in protecting my family, and if I thought for a second he would ever hurt you again, I’d destroy him. That’s why we made him blank. You can’t have a relationship with him.”

  “I don’t want one. He wanted to kill you. My love and loyalty are one hundred percent with you and this household.”

  “I know. And you realize, mine is with you, too. Now, race you to the bed.”

  The raid on Didier’s complex was accomplished with no resistance at all. Koen and Bas stayed behind to protect David’s home and care for Park. David led Bryn, Katerine, Leo, Lauren, and a team of twenty of David’s human security forces to release a total of sixty-two supernatural and hybrid individuals from captivity. Their condition was deplorable, but the first bloods were able to help begin healing physical and mental pain with a touch. They would need a lot more, but time and getting home to family would have to take care of that.

  It was good that Lauren was there, since she was familiar with the facility and many of the caged people, and helped them more efficiently organize their aid. All other staff and security were compelled and sent home with the command that their jobs were over and to look for something in social services helping people.

  Leo helped contact family and friends and arrange for their transport. Sadly, they discovered a couple dozen poorly dug graves in the basement where one large area had a dirt floor. Didier and Tamesine had a lot to account for.

  David was able to walk through the massive warehouse with a detached mind…because he was, mostly, past it. And because Cherise had bonded so deeply with him, he could feel her there with him. Whatever he had endured, ultimately, it had led him to her. He could never regret that. They were both ready to move forward without looking back. So he walked past places where he’d been chained, windows that had been opened to burn him, and beds where he had been held down and raped. When he looked away, he let the images in his memory fade and turn to white. Katerine put her hand on his chest and looked into his face.

  “You’re okay?”

  He smiled slightly. “I’m alright. Let’s go home.”

  She nodded, and as they drove away, they heard explosions rock the air behind them. He’d had Bryn secure the empty building, and then burn it down. If there was anything in history that needed a righteous purge, it was that place. He had one last flash of Tamesine as she watched him thrown down to the ground to submit to violent sex. There was one thing he would never forget. It wasn’t the abuse, or the pain, or the lost freedom. It was the smile on her lovely lips, the evil intent. She had loved every second.

  David would not purge her image or the memory of what she was. Because he knew. He was certain. Someday, she would be back. Someday she would come for him…or Cherise. They would live their lives, long and full of love. Deal with her when the time came.

  When they arrived back in Iceland, Koen announced that he and his family were ready to depart for France. Cherise hugged her friend. Park still had mending to do, but was already much better. And although she could walk, Bas carried her.

  “I’ll come soon to see little Cari,” Cherise promised.

  “You better. You’re her godmother. You knew she existed before anyone. And now that you’re back in our world, we will keep in close touch, yeah?”

  Cherise nodded.

  David thanked them for their help. “This would have gone very differently, without you here.”

  “I’ll keep an eye and ear out for any sign of Tamesine. If she ever unblocks her life force, or gets too close to another first blood, we’ll know. Keep vigil, though. She’s a crazy motherfucker,” Koen said, before they boarded their private jet just after sunset.

  Bryn hugged David once again, gave Cherise a careful one, mindful of his jealous friend, and then laid a big kiss on Katerine.

  “I’m off back home now. Enough excitement for a while. If you need me, my friend, don’t hesitate. I’m just glad this worked out in the end. Cherise, it still breaks my heart that I lost you before I ever got you, but I’m glad if I can’t have you, my best buddy can. Kat, soon as you’re
finished with the human, come see me.”

  Katerine laughed. “That is going to be a very, very, very, long wait! Have a good flight.”

  Cherise moved in closer as if she was going to return his hug, but whispered, “Someday, we’re going to chat about that thing you can do with your aura.”

  He frowned and shook his head. “Nay, lassie, I don’t know to what ya refer.” He pulled out his heavy Scottish brogue and laughed. “Goodbye, my friends, until we meet again.”

  The household was too quiet. At dinner, David and Cherise shared a large round table with Katerine and Gunnar. Lauren and Leo shared another a few tables away from them. They would be leaving the next night for New York. Leo had a family waiting for him and Lauren had a life to rebuild.

  David and Katerine had built this huge vampire-protective home over two hundred years ago. They now shared it with the two humans who had stolen their hearts.

  The resident chef, instead of a buffet, brought large platters of food to each table. They all murmured a quiet thank you, and got to the task of eating.

  Jules had been with him for over ninety years, creating culinary miracles for vampires with very particular palettes. He was a blood-bond, and would remain the same age of around fifty in normal human years until the time he no longer ingested small amounts of vampire blood. Jules had an enormous gift of appreciation for the long healthy life. David expected he would be with them for a very long time to come.

  And Gunnar. David loved the man like a brother. He wasn’t surprised Katerine had fallen in love with him. The large human had a heart that had been battered and yet could love with the intensity of a vampire. Gunnar had fought in Vietnam and come out a closed and damaged young man after losing most of the young friends he’d made in his platoon. He’d been raised in Indiana in the states, a wide eyed farm boy named George. But after the war, deep in PTSD, he’d wandered around the world, and met David on a late night, where they’d argued, fought, and then become friends. He embraced the vampire world immediately, something out of the ordinary…which is a place he felt he no longer belonged. He’d found that a young man who had killed and watched his friends be killed, no longer belonged in polite society. Well, not him, anyway. So he’d moved into the house, taken a local name, and been there ever since. David trusted him with his life. And while he and Katerine had slept, he most certainly did.

  Gunnar ate quietly, looking up at David in between bites. They hadn’t talked yet about the situation. He was apprehensive, it showed in every movement.

  Katerine gave David an intense look. David looked at Cherise and smiled. She whispered, “Do it.”

  David scooted his chair over next to Gunnar’s, who stopped the fork halfway to his mouth. He put his hand on Gunnar’s shoulder.

  “It’s okay. I understand. She’s an incredible woman. I don’t think she was ever in love with me like she is with you.”

  “God, I’m so relieved. I wouldn’t want you to think I would ever betray you.”

  “I don’t. I was gone, and you guys had no reason to think I would ever be back. You’re great together. Love is only worth it if you’re with the right one. I think we both are now.”

  “I am loyal to you forever. You must know that. And I will always take care of Katerine.”

  “Well, then, we have a double vampire conversion coming up in the near future. That calls for a small celebration. Jules, champagne. Choose something special.”

  The champagne flowed for the next hour, the six diners enjoying the flavor and the freedom it created.

  When Leo and Lauren retired to their rooms, Katerine snagged Gunnar’s sleeve and whispered something to him. Her hand seemed to be moving down beneath the table, and he jumped a little at one point.

  Gunnar nodded and looked at David.

  “The lady has a request. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

  They left quickly as Cherise waved and downed a glass of champagne in one swallow. She yawned.

  “I know it’s not nearly daylight, but I’m suddenly exhausted. Would you like to meet me in our bed?”

  “So you just want to sleep?”

  “Um, sure. Unless you have another idea?”

  David’s eyes traveled from her full head of curly brunette hair to her feet with pink painted toenails. She was dressed in loose comfy clothes. But he knew what lay beneath them. His respiration quickened.

  He got up and threw her over his shoulder fireman-style, his hand caressing her butt.

  “I have another idea.”

  Half the world away

  Yes, she’d fucked up. She always fucked up. But she still wanted to go home. She needed to go home.

  How was it that the most powerful, most beautiful woman on this planet was alone in Tasmania? It baffled her.

  Well, not exactly alone. Her legs were spread for a handsome local young man who was very, very good with his tongue. And she still hadn’t had dinner, so he would stick around for that. But he didn’t count.

  She needed her people. First bloods needed first bloods.

  Things were going to change. Soon.

  FINI

  Thank you for traveling the path for a little while with Cherise into the vampire world created by C.L. Quinn. This is the second in a series called the Firsts, so if you haven’t tried Forbidden Days, take a look. It defines this vampire universe a little better and gives some backstory for Cherise’s arrival in Colorado where we find her at the beginning of this tale.

  Charlie Quinn, the author of this book, inhabits her own story in the novel by T.C.Butts, Last Best Hope, where she lives a normal life that becomes extraordinary. She’d left a life that wasn’t working for her in the busy city of Chicago, relocated to the stunning Colorado Rocky Mountains, and finally felt like she was home. Filling in her time in her own little paradise on earth, she wrote a series of highly successful vampire romance novels, about which she says, “So I didn’t create timeless canons of literature…I created moments of escapist enjoyment, and in the lives many people had trapped themselves, it was as important as any Shakespeare sonnet or Tennyson poem.”

  If you would like to know Charlie’s story, she chronicles it in Last Best Hope, diary style, so the reader can come along for the ride. T.C.Butts just helped Charlie bring her stories to the real world. It is a labor of love.

  Next in the series is Eillia’s story, set up at the end of Forbidden Days. So, if you enjoyed this one, keep watch for the third in the series, Longest Days.