by Tinnean
“Would you think less of me if I told you it never occurred to me?”
“How could it not have?” I knew without a doubt my dad loved me and thought of me when I wasn’t with him. It shook me that Adam might not love his son.
“Until a few decades ago, I had little to do with Valeriu.”
A few decades? Adam’s son hadn’t seemed more than maybe a couple of years older than me. But come to think of it, I’d always thought Adam looked like he was in his early to midtwenties.
Meanwhile, Adam was saying, “…and he was raised by his mother. All born vampyrs are.”
I shoved aside thoughts of his son, because oh my God, yes, there had to be a woman—okay, a female vampyr—involved, and that was something I’d never considered. For some reason, before I’d learned he had a son, I’d been certain Adam was gay. Had that been wishful thinking on my part? Was he bisexual? I had to know.
“Did you… do you love his mother? Oh Jesus, are you married to her?” I edged away from him. Was I not only a sabor, but the other sabor as well?
“No. Dragul meu, I’m not married. Oh, I’m fond of Valeriu’s mother, and she’s done well by our son, but what we had was strictly a relationship of convenience.” He gave a tug to bring me back against him, and I let him.
“But she gave you a son.”
“Mmm.”
“Adam….” A thought started niggling at the edges of my mind. “Do you think we could…?”
But Adam was out cold, and I realized it must be sunrise.
That was okay. I’d have time to think this through. The university I attended had an advanced genetics department. I couldn’t give the scientists who ran it samples of my sperm and Adam’s—they’d probably be able to tell Adam’s sperm wasn’t a normal’s. But what I could do was change my major and become a geneticist myself.
Once I got my degree, I’d discover a way to combine our little wrigglers, recruit someone… a day watcher, maybe… to carry our child, and Adam and I would have a little boy. Or a little girl.
I never once questioned whether we’d be successful.
This child, half vampyr, would have a longer life span. Not as long as a pureblooded vampyr, but longer than a sabor.
And after I was gone, Adam would still have a part of me.
I couldn’t sleep dressed the way I was in spite of what Adam had said. I got up, stripped off the shirt and trousers, and gazed down at my vampyr.
My vampyr.
I snuggled next to him and pulled the comforter over us, holding a corner up so Mina could join us.
“Would you like to be an aunt, pup?”
She licked my chin, and I smiled and fell asleep making a list of names.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
COME IN FROM THE RAIN
I KNEW there was still about half an hour or forty-five minutes ’til sunset when I woke up. As I’d told Raymond, when you lived with vampyrs, you picked up on stuff like that.
Mina whined softly, hopped off the bed, and trotted to the door.
“Need to go out, pup? Okay, hold on a sec.” I leaned over, kissed the corner of Adam’s mouth, and whispered, “Shh, go back to sleep, it’s early,” when he mumbled something and reached for me, and then I slid off the bed.
I retrieved the shirt and trousers I’d shed some hours earlier, put them back on, and looped the vial of holy water around my neck.
And I had to laugh. I’d left the socks on all night.
I ducked into the bathroom to relieve myself and wash my hands, and then I joined Mina. I reached for the doorknob, half expecting it to be warm to the touch as it had been the first time I’d closed my fingers around it, but it was cool.
“Hmm.” That was… weird. Maybe it had something to do with it being a doorknob in the rege’s citadel? I shook my head. “Well, you know the way, Min. After you.”
I followed her down to the lower level and toward the door Adam had showed us before we’d gone to bed. It opened into the rege’s gardens, not that I’d been able to see what they’d looked like the night before, since I didn’t have the preternatural-sight thing going on.
But I could hear bustling as the servants began their evening’s work, and I could smell the aroma of the meal being prepared for them. My stomach rumbled.
“Are you hungry too, Min? Let’s hurry.”
We went out the door, and I blinked.
“Oh!” The sky was streaked with blues and gold, reds and lavenders. I allowed myself to enjoy the beauty for a few seconds before I turned my attention to the walled garden. I hadn’t realized this was an orchard.
The fruit looked gorgeous, ripe and plump, and my mouth watered. I’d have loved to have an apple or a pear, but they were way out of reach. The peaches, on the other hand….
While Mina explored the area, I found a peach tree whose trunk forked low enough for me to get a hold on a branch and scramble up. I tugged the front of my shirt out of my trousers and filled the makeshift pouch with peaches.
Braced against the main trunk, I leaned back and selected a nice-sized peach, making sure there were no worm holes—because ugh; the only thing worse than finding a worm in your peach was finding half a worm.
Chuckling softly to myself, I dusted the peach off on my sleeve and took a bite.
Oh, God, it was good! Sweet and juicy, and I finished it in a minute. I wiped the juice off my chin with my sleeve.
Would the rege mind if I brought the pits home with me and grew my own peach trees? I slipped the pit into the breast pocket of my shirt and went to work on another one.
I was about to take another bite when someone yelled at me, and I jumped, almost falling out of the tree, and dropped the peaches. One of them landed with a thud on the man standing below me, and that pissed him off even more. He rubbed his head with one hand while he shook the other at me and shouted in a language I didn’t recognize. All I knew was it wasn’t English or Spanish and it didn’t sound like Romanian.
“Sorry,” I called down to him. “I don’t understand.” I wasn’t sure if he’d understand.
“You are in His Grace’s orchard!” he shouted in accented English
“Yeah, I gathered as much.”
His scowl deepened, and he snarled, “You will descend!”
I drew my legs up so they were farther out of his reach. “Why?”
“You don’t belong here!”
Geez, were we having a repeat of the night before? I was going to tell him who I was—I figured that might defuse the situation—when Mina came trotting up. I didn’t think she’d be so relaxed if there was any hint of danger.
“Is that a… an Înger Păzitor?”
“Yeah.” She held her head high, a limp rabbit almost as big as she was dangling between her jaws. I dropped down out of the tree. “Mina, what have you done?”
She placed the rabbit at my feet, obviously very proud of herself. As I was about to examine the poor animal, it bounded to its feet and scampered away; I grabbed Mina before she went after it.
“Sorry about that.”
“Pity. It would have gone well in the stewpot.” He gave a couple of sharp whistles. No longer angry, he stared at me thoughtfully. “You’re a sabor.”
“Yes. I’m Ty Small. And you are?”
“I am Milosh. His Grace permits my people to shelter on his land.”
“Your people?”
“We are Romi, yeah? Occasionally turiști find their way here, and as a way to repay His Grace, we chase them off. I ask your pardon. It’s been centuries since a sabor has resided here, and I hadn’t been informed—”
“I’m just here until Adam decides it’s okay for me to go home. I’m not going to live here on a permanent basis.”
“Pity,” he said again.
“Um…. Do you remember the last time a sabor lived here?”
“No. That was a very long time ago, according to the grandmother.” He chuckled. “My people are long-lived, but not three hundred years.”
“That
long? Do you know why?”
“I’m afraid not, m’lord. His Grace doesn’t share his reasoning with us.”
“I’m not a lord,” I told him.
He ignored that and just studied me soberly. “May I ask why Duke Adam felt it was necessary for you to come here?”
I shrugged. “Juan de Vivar wants me. That might sound conceited, but—”
“No. Even we have become aware of his ambitions. His Grace will deal with him in his own good time.”
I just hoped it was sometime soon. Of course I wasn’t going to say that to someone who obviously thought the moon rose and set on him.
Suddenly, a big black dog—oh, crap, not a dog, a wolf—appeared at his side. It had a rabbit—the rabbit?—in its mouth.
It was full dark now, and the animal’s eyes gleamed yellow in the night.
“Uh….” I swallowed and backed up a step. “Mina.” She was at my heel, and as fast as I could, I stooped and gathered her in my arms. I was sure I could get up in the tree before the wolf charged us. Well, I was pretty sure.
“No need to fear.” Milosh ran a hand over the wolf’s ears. “This is Shandor. He’s a vârcolac.
“Okay.”
He laughed when he realized I had no clue what he was talking about. “He won’t harm you or your guardian.” The wolf dropped the rabbit at Milosh’s feet, hacking as if he had a mouthful of fur. That amused Milosh even more, and the wolf growled and took the Gypsy’s hand between his massive jaws. “All right.” Milosh tugged on his ears. “I beg your pardon, yeah?”
Shandor released his hand and leaned against his leg, almost seeming to be amused.
I put Mina down, and she approached the wolf, raising her head to sniff him.
I hoped Milosh knew what he was talking about, especially since she appeared intrigued by the wolf to the point I’d swear she was flirting with him. It was a good thing I’d had her spayed. I wouldn’t have objected to a litter of puppies, but with a dad as big as the wolf… that delivery would be hard on her.
“Come.” Milosh ruffled the wolf’s ears one last time. “We will escort you back to the citadel.”
“But the peaches? It would be a shame to waste them.”
“They won’t go to waste. My people will enjoy them, even if they’re a bit bruised.” He gathered them up and put them into a bag I hadn’t realized he’d had with him. “Are you ready? If you’ll come this way, yeah?” Fortunately, he didn’t try to touch me.
It didn’t take long to reach the door. “Thank you again.”
“You are welcome. Perhaps one day you will come to visit our caravan.”
“I’d like that.” I held up my hand in farewell. He did the same and then walked away, the big wolf at his side, the rabbit once again dangling from the wolf’s mouth.
I looked down at Mina. “Y’know something, pup? We get to meet the most interesting people!” She glanced over her shoulder and wagged her tail as if in agreement. “Well, let’s get some breakfast.”
UNLIKE THE night before, the kitchen was crowded, and Mina and I stood in the doorway and watched as women took bags of blood from the refrigerators and placed them into microwaves. Were the jewel-toned goblets that sat on trays waiting to be filled and then brought to the vampyrs?
Shoot. Should I have provided glasses for Adam and Raymond to drink from? Why hadn’t they told me?
One of the women noticed us, and her eyes grew wide. “M’lord Tyrell!”
I really wished they wouldn’t call me that. And then I wondered how she knew who I was.
The others turned to stare at me, and then they rushed to encircle me. They exclaimed over my hair and eyes and the cleft in my chin—they spoke English, which was a relief—although none of them tried to touch me, which was an even bigger relief.
My cheeks felt hot. “Please, call me Ty.”
“And I’m Afina, m’lord,” the first woman said. “I run the kitchen.” She curtseyed, which looked odd considering she was dressed in a skirt suit similar to the one the woman last night had worn.
“It’s nice to meet you.”
“We’re so pleased to have you visiting us, m’lord!” a short blonde gushed.
Afina frowned at her before turning back to me. “Have you eaten, m’lord?”
I gave it up as a lost cause. “I had a couple of peaches out in the orchard, but I was hoping to make some eggs and toast.”
“I’ll make them for you!” the blonde announced, and she rushed first to the fridge and then to the counter.
“Sit.” Afina indicated the long table off in a corner; I hadn’t seen it the night before. “That is, if you don’t mind breaking your fast in the kitchen?”
“Why would I? I did last night.”
“You’re a guest of His Grace! You should have summoned us. We would have been more than happy to serve you.” She urged me toward the table.
“Thank you, but I didn’t want to bother anyone.” I also didn’t have a clue as to how I could possibly “summon” them. “Besides, I’ve been cooking for myself since Adam came for me.”
She frowned. “You should have been given a servant. It’s not fitting for a sabor of your caliber to have to do for himself. Next you’ll tell us you clean your house and make your bed.”
“I don’t know what you mean by ‘a sabor of my caliber,’ but I do. And that reminds me. I’m sorry I didn’t clean up last night.” If I’d been at home, I’d have put the bottle in the recycle bin and the plate in the dishwasher instead of leaving everything in the sink.
“You did more than enough.” She waved aside my apology. “Lia, is m’lord’s breakfast ready?”
The blonde carried a huge plate of fried eggs, sausages, and toast to the table.
“That was fast.”
“I just had to butter the toast and put together the platter.”
“Was this someone else’s breakfast?”
Lia waved my concerns aside. “Ciprian doesn’t mind.” She tossed her hair back over her shoulder and fluttered her lashes at a man who hovered in the doorway.
He smiled when he saw us looking his way and nodded vigorously. “Please, m’lord. You will honor me.”
Okay, the best thing to do was be gracious about this. “Thank you.” I turned to Lia. “Thank you too, Lia. This looks delicious.” And I had no idea how I was going to finish it all.
She gave me a coquettish smile. “I’ll pour you a cup of coffee, m’lord. How do you take it?”
“One sugar, please.”
“No milk?”
“I’d better skip it. I’m lactose intolerant, and I don’t have the enzyme supplement with me.” She looked blank, and I clarified, “Cow’s milk doesn’t agree with me.”
Afina gave her a poke. “Goat milk will do the trick. We’ll take care of you, m’lord.”
“I’ve never had it before.”
She stopped herself from patting my shoulder. “You’ll enjoy it.”
“M’lord.” Lia placed my coffee on the table and stood there giving me more coquettish smiles.
Afina frowned at her again. “Go make Ciprian his breakfast, and leave m’lord in peace! And then fill the goblets.” Lia pouted but scurried to obey her, and Afina gave a satisfied nod. “Now, enjoy your breakfast.” She smiled down at Mina. “I imagine this little beauty could do with some food as well. We roasted a chicken last night. Will that suit?”
“Yes, please.”
A glance at the clock showed me Adam should be up by now, and I knew he’d find me if he needed me. I settled in to eat breakfast.
“THIS WAS delicious,” I told Lia as I mopped up the last of the egg yolk, surprised I’d been able to finish the meal.
“And you liked the goat milk?”
“Yes, I did. I’ll have to see if I can find somewhere to buy it when I get home.”
She opened her mouth to suggest something, and Afina scowled at her. Fortunately, before World War III broke out in the rege’s kitchen, Silvio came bustling in. “Are the go
blets ready? Ah, m’lord! There you are! His Grace and Duke Adam require your presence in the dining hall.” Afina handed him a tray with four goblets on it. He peered into them and then nodded in satisfaction, muttering something about the American wench. “If you’ll accompany me, please?”
Mina and I followed him down one hallway after another until we came to an enormous room. A table large enough to seat about forty people—vampyrs—took up just a small area of it. Mina went to explore the vast space.
The rege sat at the nearest end, with Adam to his right. On his immediate left was the brunette from last night. She didn’t look any happier than she had then. Beyond her, Raymond negligently rested a hip against the table. He looked at ease, but I knew him well enough to be aware of the coiled tension in his big body.
Silvio moved around the table smoothly, serving the rege and Adam first, and then the female vampyr and finally Raymond.
“You can’t keep me here!” The brunette’s accent made it obvious she was the “American wench” Silvio had been talking about.
“Of course he can.” Raymond nodded to acknowledge my presence before glaring at her. “He’s the rege!”
“And I’m an American citizen! Why should my vampyrs and I have to be ruled by you?” she snapped. Raymond growled and straightened. He took a step toward her, and she did a little growling herself. “Keep your enforcer under control!” she snarled at the rege.
“Raymond, sit down. Ms. Diamond, kindly remember you’re here only under my sufferance.”
She ground her teeth, but then she saw me and her eyes widened.
“Are you insane, letting a sabor in here? Stupid European vampyrs! He won’t be able to decide which one of us to love, and he’ll go mad! Wasn’t that the reason you gave for confining possession of them to your family, doling out use of them to your favorites?”
“It would behoove you to guard your tongue, woman.” The rege’s tone was mild, but it was clear: this vampyr was king, and anyone who crossed him did so at their own peril. “We wouldn’t have had to bring Tyrell to the citadel if you hadn’t tried to abduct him and then interfered with his dreams!”