Cherishing Destiny (A Dangerous Destiny)

by Blakely, Noelle

  “Adam,” she said. The woman nodded. “Did the mother live?”

  “No, Mother, she didn’t.” the woman answered.

  “That’s a shame. He could use mother’s milk. Perhaps when the next one is born, the mother will be able to suckle this one too.”

  “Yes, Mother.”

  “He looks like he’s getting cold. Take him back to the nursery and get him cleaned up.”

  “Right away.” The woman hurried out.

  Gates was watching silently, shocked and fascinated by the little drama. He looked at the water in the pool and saw that it was crystal clear again. Mother turned back to him.

  “You are fortunate, Samuel. This offering will only help to strengthen the potion we are about to create.”

  He had no idea what she was talking about, but he nodded anyway. He watched as she dropped bits of dried things, he could not identify, into the water. She added herbs and drops of oil. Finally, she called him over, and with the little knife she pricked his finger and let a single drop of his blood fall into the water. She took a small vial from the tray and submerged it in the pool. She muttered words he didn’t understand low under her breath. When she pulled the vial from the clear water, it was filled with a dark red liquid, like wine or blood, but he could smell neither when she handed him the vial and a stopper.

  He tucked it in the pocket of his jacket and took her blue veined hand in his, bringing it to his lips and planting a kiss on the thin, translucent skin. “Thank you, Mother. You are always so kind to me.”

  “You have the favor of the spirits, Samuel.” She patted his hand and extracted her other hand from his.

  Gates thought about the oily sludge swirling in the pool and wondered if he wanted to be indebted to these particular spirits. Too late to turn back now, he had already agreed to give Mother a Vampire to sacrifice. What more could he do that was worse?

  “One drop every day will give you a gentle but constant sway over the recipient. However, if you need to be more persuasive, you can administer an additional drop that will have an immediate effect on the one who consumes it. Come and see me more often, Samuel. I would welcome a longer chat sometime.”

  Gates, who was not accustomed to being dismissed, straightened his shoulders and lifted his chin. It was clear that dismissal was her intent, but he didn’t offer any protest. He had much to do anyway. He offered his assurances of return and left. The Vampire guard he left behind seemed a little confused as to what his new duties would be, but he didn’t question Gates’s order to stay and serve the witch.

  As Gates rode toward the front gate, he noticed several women strolling around the grounds, taking advantage of a short break in the increasingly drab weather. He counted at least five that were extremely pregnant and he wondered again about the baby that Mother called Adam.

  Mother Zhukov closed her eyes and waited until she sensed that Gates and his other Vampire guard were on their way. He didn’t waste any time in leaving, and she didn’t have to wait long. When she opened her eyes a warlock was holding the door open for the Chief, and when the scarred Were-panther entered the Atrium, the warlock closed the door behind him.

  The Chief stopped at the edge of the pool, and she motioned him closer until he was close enough for her to reach out and touch him. She pulled on his arm until he leaned over, bringing his ruined face closer to her wrinkled one.

  “Xavier Blood Moon, you have had some trouble, I see.” It was just an observation. She didn’t expect an answer and so he didn’t give one. She traced the line of one of the scars with a finger, across his face and down to the collar of the shirt he wore. “I sense a Four Walker,” she said.

  “What is a four walker?” the Chief asked, careful to keep his tone polite around the Mother.

  “Not a what,” she said, “but a whom.” She released his arm and allowed him to stand straight again. “I think it was, maybe, twenty years ago or thereabouts that a Were, who’s name I will not mention, came to me with a broken claw in his possession. He asked me for a tracking spell to find the wolf that the claw belonged to. The Were-wolf’s name was Four Walker, Keith Four Walker if I remember correctly. I only know that Four Walker was eventually found and killed because I asked the tracker to bring me the rest of his claws and teeth as payment for the spell. He found the wolf living as a human and going by the name of Walker. He kept his word regarding the payment, so I know that particular Four Walker is dead.” She reached out and touched another of the Chief’s scars, this one on his forearm. “I well know the feel of those claws and these are Four Walker claws, a brother or some other relative without a doubt.”

  “The one who gave me these marks, paid dearly for them. I doubt he survived. His rotting corpse is probably being consumed by wild animals right now.” The Chief sneered at the memory of the black wolf.

  Mother looked introspective for a moment and said, “No. I don’t think so…But,” she said becoming more animated, “that is not what I want from you right now.”

  “Ask me for anything, Mother. I will do it.” The Chief pledged.

  “First of all, how would you like your eye back?” she asked brightly.

  ∞∞∞

  Daryl watched as the other two Vampires rode away. Gates had told him that he had an important assignment for Daryl and that he was to remain and serve the old witch. Daryl was unsure of what the important part was, but he had only been a Vampire for a couple of years and he was grateful to have the job with Gates. He would never dream of questioning an elder. He had known his maker to tear the heads off of Vampire servants for less until he was crushed beneath a luxury hotel during the earthquakes. Daryl had been lucky to be one of the first Vampires to take shelter in Syracuse and so was put to work almost as soon as Gates arrived and took over. He turned from the front windows, and one of the creepy bald guys came and escorted him back to the Atrium.

  The Chief was standing silently behind Mother, and she spoke to Daryl. “Young man, tell me your name.” she said with a smile.

  Her teeth were yellowed and crooked and for some odd reason, looking at her smiling, reminded him of a spider sitting in the middle of her web. “My name is Daryl, Ma’am.”

  “Come a little closer, Daryl, my eyes are not as good as they used to be.”

  He obeyed her and was soon standing next to the pool edge where she sat. She craned her neck to look up at him. Then she raised her arm and the Chief took it and helped her to stand. She was so short that she stood on the ledge around the pool and was still no taller than Daryl.

  “You are a very handsome man, Daryl,” she said. “You’re eyes are so blue. You must be extremely popular with the ladies.”

  Mother Zhukov was very close to his face, and it was making him terribly uncomfortable. He laughed nervously at her compliments. He began to wonder if she was going to ask him to sleep with her, when the creepy bald guy behind him grabbed his arms and held them by the elbows behind his back. He tried to jerk away using Vampire strength, which wasn’t what it used to be, but was still pretty strong. The man smelled human, but Daryl couldn’t budge his grip even a little. “What are you doing?” he demanded, the fear audible in his voice. Another of the bald men approached him from the front and shoved a rag in his mouth. Daryl tried to squirm and spit the cloth out, and the man grabbed the hair on the back of his head and held it perfectly still. Daryl could only blink his distress. Mother brought her face within an inch or two of his and peered into his eyes. He could smell her sour breath. She put a bony finger to the corner of his left eye and pushed it into his socket, quickly hooking out the eyeball and examining it as it lay in her palm. He tried to scream and thrash, but the two creeps had him immobilized completely. The Chief looked on with no expression whatsoever.

  “This’ll do just fine,” Mother said. She leaned in close to his face again and peered into the empty eye socket. She was satisfied that his Vampire healing was adequate to stop the bleeding without assistance, and she nodded to the warlocks to take Dar
yl away.

  Tears were streaming from Daryl's remaining eye, and he wailed as soon as the creeps released their hold on him and he could tear the gag from his mouth. They left him in a locked room that had no furniture in it and boasted only a small rectangular window in the door to break up the monotony of the white-washed concrete walls. He sobbed and cursed Gates, but no one heard him in the room designed to hold detoxing drug addicts.

  Mother watched the warlocks lead the young Vampire out of the Atrium. Missing one little eyeball would not change the effectiveness of the sacrifice she planned for Daryl later. She turned back to the Chief. “Xavier, come stand in the water, in front of me.”

  He obeyed but not without a twinge of nervousness. He had seen things lurking in the pool sometimes when Mother was working her spells. He stood in the water that was less than eighteen inches deep. He was near the edge and was facing outward from the center. Mother still stood on the two foot wide ledge, making it possible for her to look him in the face. She unwrapped the gauze bandage from around his head and carefully pulled away the wad of material that covered his empty eye socket. Someone had already removed the ruined eye while he was unconscious, but the bandage was stuck a little to the dried blood and fluid on his face. Mother crouched down and put the stained gauze on her tray. He briefly wondered what she did with all the nasty things that she seemed to collect on that tray. For instance, it looked as if there was an umbilical cord lying next to Daryl’s eyeball and his own bloody bandages.

  Mother picked up the eyeball and reached over swirling it in the water next to the Chief’s leg. She started chanting softly. He could never understand what she said. She stood again and faced him with the eyeball in her hand.

  “Close your good eye,” she said and when he obeyed she put her empty, left palm over his closed right eye and spread her fingers to grip and hold his forehead. She then put her right palm, with the eye in it, over his left socket. She pushed the eye into his socket, and he felt the orb turning and rolling around inside until it seemed to find a place to stop on its own. She was chanting again with both palms pressed against his eyes. Suddenly, he felt as if a dozen or more cold, wet hands were reaching out of the water around him and touching his body. They caressed him gently, but it still felt sickening and unpleasant to him, and he shuddered. When the sensations went away and Mother stopped chanting, she removed her hands from his eyes and told him to open them.

  “What do you see?” she asked.

  “I can see everything. There is something just a little odd about it, but Vampire vision seems to work about as well as my own panther eyes.” He panned his gaze around the garden, testing his new eye.

  “Excellent!” Mother exclaimed. “Now let’s talk. I’ve heard some whispers about pregnant Vampires.”

  Twenty-nine

  By the time Gates returned to Syracuse and the compound he created in the gated community, the three pregnant Vampires had arrived and were waiting for him in a comfortable sitting room. Two of the recently arrived elders were speaking to them.

  He peeked around the door frame and then pulled one of his men aside. “How long have they been here?” Gates asked.

  “We brought the women in a couple of hours ago. We used a closed carriage, just like you said, and we didn’t say anything to anyone, but the old ones showed up within fifteen minutes of our arrival.” He cleared his throat and looked nervous, “Sir, I think we must have a spy.”

  “Of Course we have a spy, probably more than one. Do you think that elders are stupid? They would’ve planted informants the minute they came. If they were really smart, they would have sent them ahead and had them in place. That’s what I would have done.” He smirked at the guard. “We don’t need to concern ourselves with a few rats. I have everything under control.” He touched his jacket pocket to reassure himself that his potion was still there. “Tell our guests that I will be with them shortly, and I will see to blood for our refreshment.”

  He administered the first doses of the potion in the blood served and wished that all the elders were present. He was going to have to take his opportunities when he could. He didn’t feel as if he could trust anyone else with the secret. He participated in the gentle questioning of the pregnant Vampires. Their stomachs remained flat and smooth so far, and he asked, “How is it that you are positive that you are with child?”

  The oldest of the three spoke up. She must have been around two hundred years old, which was not saying much in Vampire time. “If you listen, you will hear the heartbeats of the fetuses.”

  “What do you mean, heartbeats? How can a Vampire have a heartbeat?” This was disturbing news to Gates. His belief that the Vampire creation problem might be solved by these births was looking a lot less likely. Vampires did not have heartbeats. Therefore, these women were not carrying Vampires. The woman had no answer and was staring at him with wide confused eyes.

  One of the elders, a man named Arthur Hawking moved across the room and patted her shoulder comfortingly. “Before you arrived, Samuel, we were able to determine that these Vampire women could only have been impregnated by other Vampires. In all three cases, the women know exactly the only partner that could have been responsible and while they are all at slightly different stages, they all became with child after the Solar Storm.”

  “Thank you, Arthur. You’ve been remarkably thorough in your questions,” Gates observed without enthusiasm.

  “We have also sent for the fathers to be brought here so that we may examine these Vampire parents and discover the cause of these anomalies.” Arthur still stood with his hands on the woman’s shoulders.

  “Very efficient, too, I see,” Gates quipped. “Arthur, perhaps you would like to sit down, now and allow me to make my own inquiries.” Gates could not keep the annoyance from his inflection, but that annoyance turned to surprise when Arthur abruptly walked over to a chair and promptly sat down, folding his hands politely in his lap.

  “Uh-h-h-h,” Gates looked around at the others and no one seemed to have noticed anything odd about Arthur’s behavior. “Arthur, would you mind handing me that book on the table next to you?” Gates watched in awe as Arthur swiftly responded to the request by handing the book to him and returning to his seat without a word. Gates barely contained his excitement. The potion is working better than I could have ever wished for or expected. That’s one problem solved, he thought, as long as he could think of a way to administer the dose to all the members daily. “Arthur, you have handled this matter so competently that I am finding myself in agreement with you about suspending martial law and renewing the council. I think it would be wise for us to meet at least once a day for a briefing even if nothing else is pressing. Can I count on you to convince the others?”

  “Absolutely. I will inform everyone, and we can meet—“

  “Here,” Gates interjected. “We should meet here, daily.”

  “Excellent notion. This would be a perfect place to meet. Shall we say, every morning?” Arthur looked from Gates to his fellow elder, who was nodding enthusiastically.

  “It’s decided then. I will see you both in the morning with the others. You have a good evening, now.” Gates smiled.

  “Yes, of course. You have a good evening as well,” Arthur answered as he and the other man hurried to leave.

  Gates, still a little shocked by the success of his plan rubbed his face with both hands until he noticed the three women watching him with wide eyes. He let his hands drop and walked over to the two sitting next to each other on a sofa. He kneeled before them and put a hand on each of their bellies. He laid his cheek next to his hand on the woman who was closest to him and listened to the heartbeats. The women were silent and did not make any objection to his forward behavior. Without, sonograms and medical tests, it’s going to take months to figure all this out. “What exactly are you?” he mused to the life beneath his hand.

  thirty

  Those months went by quickly for the little group in the lodge despite the f
act that there was little to break up their daily routine. The snow had nearly trapped them indoors. Ryan was the only one who went outside with any frequency. He usually had to change form to do it. In his wolf form, his huge fur tufted paws acted like natural snowshoes, and he was able to stay on top of the snow more easily. When he did break through the icy crust, he was better able to leap back out without difficulty. He hunted and occasionally went to the settlement for news or supplies.

  Lily, like Aurora, was also growing big with her pregnancy. She was carrying twins, and her belly was bigger than Aurora’s even though she was at least a month behind the Vampire’s due date. Lily had valiantly made the journey to the lodge on two occasions, after that first examination of Aurora, to continue monitoring her progress and health of the baby. But, now, her own pregnancy prevented her from making the strenuous journey and Aurora’s time was drawing near.

  The wind and snow showed no signs of letting up even though it should have been springtime. Alex was reminded of his conversations with the scientists about possible climate changes, and he wished he had asked more questions at the time. Aurora, who had always been able to identify the stars, told him that the sky was in the wrong position for the time of the year that it was. She pointed out various constellations, when the sky was clear enough, and explained what their positions meant.

  “Do you see those three stars over there?” she asked, pointing to them while she stood with her back against Alex’s strong chest.