Greta’s words echoed in his head. I could be all she ever needs he thought. So, he tried everything he could think of to get her to feed. He bit his own finger and tried to get her to drink the blood. He even tried his own flat manly nipple, but nothing worked. He had no idea how they had exchanged energy while she was in Aurora’s belly, but whatever they did, he could not duplicate it now. When Aurora came back and took her from him, he felt empty, and he went to go see if his twins were born yet. He knew Lily didn’t want him to think about them as his babies, but he couldn’t help it. Destiny and all that was happening were making his instincts rule his emotions. He was feeling protective, possessive, fatherly, and even motherly. It was confusing and frustrating when none of the babies could ever truly belong to him.
Sara was cleaning up the second twin when he knocked softly on the door. Lily motioned for him to come in, but gave him a disapproving look when he started to touch and murmur softly to the little baby boy, she held in her arms.
“Ryan, please don’t do this. You can’t allow yourself to become attached to these babies.”
“I know, I just want to see them for a little while before we go home again.” He looked so lost that she couldn’t refuse him.
Sara brought the other baby, a girl, and with a nod from Lily, she placed her in Ryan’s arms. She looked at him, but her cloudy blue/ gray eyes didn’t truly focus on him the way Destiny’s always did. He wasn’t even sure what color they would end up being. She did have his thick mane of black hair, though, and he ruffled it gently as he had done to Destiny’s. Sara and Greta left them alone, shutting the door quietly. Lily looked at Ryan with sympathy but had no intention of changing her mind.
“What will you name them?” Ryan asked.
“I don’t know. I haven’t actually thought about it yet.”
“Then, may I do it?” he asked.
“Ryan--" she started to say.
“I know. I won’t get attached. I just want to name them,” he said.
She looked at him suspiciously, but said, “Okay. What do you want to call them?”
“Keith and Becky,” he said quickly. She didn’t know that Keith was his father’s name and that Becky was Sara’s mother’s name.
“Okay, Ryan, but if I do this, that’s where it ends. You can’t think of them as yours in any other way.”
“Agreed,” he said. He looked down at the little girl and said. “Hello, Becky.”
Lily exposed her breasts and attached Keith to one side, and Ryan helped her settle Becky on the other so that she could feed them both at the same time. They both fed and then fell asleep at the tit. Ryan helped Lily, wrap them warmly and tuck them in a bassinet next to the bed. They both heard Destiny start crying in the other room.
Lily looked at Ryan’s anxious face and said, “Bring her.”
He went and got Destiny from Aurora and brought her to Lily, who put the baby to her breast. Destiny’s seeking mouth didn’t even get as far as Lily’s nipple when she sank her little needle fangs into the swell of Lily’s breast. Lily smiled at the euphoria and said, “See, she doesn’t even really care about the milk. A little blood will do as long as she can pull from my Life Force.
This time Ryan pulled Destiny away before Lily could pass out. Lily said she felt fine and would like to rest, so Ryan took Destiny to be with the others.
Greta was sitting with Sara drinking a cup of tea, and he told her how Destiny had fed. “So, if she doesn’t need the milk, how come I can’t get her to drink my blood and take my energy?” he asked her.
“How should I know, boy? Maybe she just wants the comfort of a mother’s breast. I’m afraid I don’t know any experts on Vampire babies,” she chuckled.
“So, if she doesn’t need mother’s milk, I could feed her,” Sara announced. “Then we can all go home together instead of splitting up again.”
Ryan hadn’t thought of that, but he was still unsure of the suggestion. “Sara, you can’t feed every Vampire without it taking a toll. We need to think of something else.”
“Tyler has been bringing Lily blood supplies. Why can’t he get some for us too and then Sara can feed Destiny.” Aurora suggested.
“What about Sara’s Life Force?” Ryan countered.
“We will be careful, and I will never feed her when I’m alone,” Sara insisted.
Alex spoke up for the first time all night “I say we test the theory here before we make any decisions that might put Sara at risk.”
Ryan could swear that Alex was looking a little scared for Sara, but he shrugged it off and said, “I agree.”
On the following day, the Alpha and the L.T. came to Lily’s to speak with the Vampires.
Elvis cleared his throat and started. “The last few weeks have been a learning experience for me,” he said. “I think maybe a lot of people have learned a thing or two lately. Ahem. So, what I’m trying to say is that, now that everyone knows Aurora, and she saved the life of one of my scouts, by the way; no one is in a hurry to see you all stuck out there in the sticks again. There are empty houses around here from the ones we lost in the cities that day. You all are welcome to stay and be part of our little community here.”
Alex looked at each of them in turn, and when they all nodded, he answered for everyone. “We would be grateful and happy to accept your offer of hospitality, and we will do everything we can to help out.”
Elvis grinned as he pumped Alex’s hand.
Thirty-five
Gates picked up the suit that was laid out for him and tossed it at the old Vampire, who caught the clothing before it could fall to the floor. “Reginald, can’t you find something I haven’t worn in the last week? People will think I don’t have a decent wardrobe.”
“Certainly, sir. Let me find you something befitting your station.” Reginald spoke quietly and didn’t look at the Vampire elder.
Gates snorted contemptuously at the beaten man. He was originally planning to execute the Vampire, but Mother’s potion had worked so well that he decided it would be unnecessary, and he could easily control Reginald as he had the council. If Alexander Lake could have a valet, then Gates could too. He actually liked having a valet, a personal manservant, to dress him, shave him, and take care of a multitude of personal needs. He, certainly, did not give Reginald the responsibilities that Alex had. It pleased him to treat Reginald like a servant.
“I hope this will be more pleasing,” Reginald said, returning with another suit.
“I guess it will have to do,” Gates said, “I don’t have time to be screwing around here all morning. Go down to the council chamber and make sure that refreshment is brought in before the council arrives. I will be there presently.”
“Yes, sir.” Reginald left to obey, feeling a little perplexed as to why he was willingly working for Gates but, he didn’t let his confusion show. He just did what he was told. The routine was the same every day. Reginald brought the blood to the council chamber and Gates would check to see that it was suitable and then would return it to Reginald to serve to the council members as they arrived. When his task was complete, Gates would dismiss him.
“Take the rest of the blood away and make sure you have a cup for yourself, Reginald. You are required to keep your strength up for your duties, do you understand?”
“Of course, sir, as you wish.” Reginald left with the tray. On this day, as he rounded the corner toward the kitchen area, two Vampire guards blocked his path. He already knew the drill. One of the two guards, a burly young Vamp, had discovered him partaking of the remaining blood four days ago and decided that an old servant, such as Reginald, did not need the extra sustenance, but that a young guard with essential duties was more deserving of the surplus. He took Reginald’s ration and the remainder for himself and apparently his friend because the friend was with him every day now that they knew the routine.
“Hand it over, old man,” the burly one said.
Reginald complied without any resistance. He cared little about wh
at happened to him now, and he certainly didn’t care enough to tell Gates about the appropriation by the guards. But, the last day or so had become confusing for him. He began to wonder why he had been blindly obeying Gates, but it was more than that, he remembered feeling the desire to please the elder, and that was the inexplicable part. He hated Gates. Gates had nearly cost the life of Reginald’s master, Charles Devereux and then when Devereux did die, he admitted to removing Devereux’s remains, leaving Reginald to grieve at an empty vault every day for years, never knowing Devereux was long gone. It was Gates who plotted against Alex, accusing him of assassinating the council members that Alex himself had appointed and creating a false conspiracy theory involving McPherson, the Were, and Reginald too. McPherson! He must still be locked in the cells that had been installed in the basement. Mac might know how to find Alex, and Reginald could escape. He rubbed his forehead, befuddled. Why didn’t I think of escaping before? He didn’t understand, but it felt as if a fog was lifting from his mind.
Reginald found McPherson exactly where he thought that he’d be. The guard watching the area didn’t even blink when Reginald told him that he had been assigned to clean up the cells as a punishment. He took a mop directly to Mac’s cell as there were no other occupants. Reginald was released nearly six months earlier and Mac looked bedraggled after all the time he’d been locked up. Reginald knew that, in the beginning, Mac had been beaten regularly. He knew because he heard it when he was still being held in a nearby cell. Reginald had taken several beatings himself. Gates usually came to watch or pretend to ask questions as if the purpose of the torture was to obtain information. Reginald knew very well that Gates made up the conspiracy, so he never seriously expected to get any information about Alex’s whereabouts from Reginald or Mac.
Eventually, Gates lost interest or got too busy, and the beatings stopped. Reginald was released and Mac was kept alive with a vague thought of being some sort of hostage, a tool against the Weres. Reginald found Mac to be in remarkably good condition under the circumstances. He was thin but relatively healthy. He was filthy and smelled terrible but was otherwise healed and unharmed. He was suspicious of Reginald, knowing that Reginald had been released some months ago, but he listened without talking as Reginald hatched a plan while cleaning his filthy cell.
“It’s still early in the morning, and the council won’t break until around noon. Gates won’t look for me before then. If I leave your cell open, do you think you can sneak up behind the guard if I distract him?” Reginald asked.
“I’m sure I could, but why should I trust you?” Mac was wary.
“You have no reason to trust me, but you also have nothing to lose. They won’t leave you alive down here forever,” he said. “I want to find Alex, and I think you could help me.”
Mac wasn’t convinced, but he agreed to go anyway. “I don’t know what you’ve been doing the last few months, but you’re right that I don’t have anything to lose. Just know that we will have this conversation again on the other side of the bars before I take you anywhere. If that’s not acceptable to you, then you might want to reconsider busting me out.”
Reginald didn’t know how he would explain that, for a while, he just wanted to obey Gates for some unknown reason, and that somehow the feeling went away, and he remembered how much he hated the Vampire. It didn’t make sense to him, and he knew Mac wasn’t going to like it as an explanation. Deal with it later, he thought. “Fine. Let’s just get moving before we lose the whole morning’s head start.” He pretended to lock the cell with the keys the guard had provided and, when he returned them, he struck up a conversation while facing the cells so that the guard had to turn his back to look at Reginald. He made sure not to look or react when he saw a gigantic brown and white wolf, stalk out of the cell and walk on silent paws behind the guard. But, then he saw the guard wrinkling his nose as if to try and identify a foul odor. Oh, Hell! The beast stinks worse than the man did. We are caught! The wolf leaped the last fifteen feet and snatched the Vampire by the back of the neck, biting through the spine and severing the cord with a vicious splintering of bone that Reginald knew he would never be able to forget the sound of. With his head virtually severed, the Vampire knew the true death and Mac shifted back to human form. He stood naked and dirty, and even though he was still a big man, his ribs were showing under his skin.
“Quickly, help me strip this guy before his clothes are ruined by the blood. You can’t wear the rags you had on,” Reginald said, already tugging on the Guard’s boots.
There was no saving the shirt, but the guard had a jacket hanging on the back of his chair and Mac was able to zip it to his throat, so no one would be able to tell he had no shirt. The pants were a little too big around the waist with his weight loss, but the belt cinched tight enough to keep it from being too obvious.
“You still smell, I don’t know what we can do about that right now, but you’d better keep your distance from anyone we see or they will smell you for sure.” Reginald said.
As it turned out, they were lucky and saw no one except at a distance on the grounds outside. Mac knew every alley and short cut through the entire city, and they were at the edge of town within the hour. Over the next couple of days, they never detected any pursuit. The few hours head start they had apparently been adequate considering Gates had lost his only real tracker when Mother took the Chief back. The Vampires he had working for him were mostly young. They had no experience hunting, tracking or killing. They had been pampered and privileged in the years after humans and Vampires agreed to coexist.
Mac led them steadily west and Reginald, who had little experience himself, couldn’t help but realize it after a while.
It finally occurred to him that they should be headed somewhere to the North where the mountains were. “You’re not taking me to Alex, are you?” He wondered if the Were was planning to kill him, but didn’t understand why he wouldn’t have done it already if that was his intent.
“I’m sorry, Reg. I can’t take you to any Were settlements and I wouldn’t know how else to find him. Besides that, I don’t know what to make of your story about being brainwashed into serving Gates and then having it go away. You gotta understand.”
“I suppose it was too much to hope for,” Reginald said. “So, where are you taking me?”
“No matter what happened in the last few months, you did save my life, and I’m taking you someplace where I think you will be welcome and safe. However, I’m not going to talk about it until we’re there, so if you don’t trust me and want to strike out on your own, then you should go now.”
“I don’t think there is any chance that I will find Alex alone, so I guess I’m going to choose to trust you.” Reginald was disappointed. He had been becoming close to Alex, and it was nice, but he believed the Were when he said he would be safe and so, they headed West.
Thirty-six
Mother Zhukov sat cross-legged in her usual place on the low ledge around the fountain pool. She had turned her whole body to the side so that she could sit facing the child, who sat next to her. They were playing patty-cake, and the two-year old was squealing his delight every time their hands came together. He was so fair that she could see the flush in his cheeks rise with the excitement of the game, turning his chubby features a robust, rosy shade. His fine, pale hair was the color of corn silk, and his eyes were a light shade of blue that reminded Mother of the sky before the clouds had taken over for the protracted winter. “Adam, can you say clap?” she asked the happy toddler as she smacked her palms together, demonstrating.
Adam tried reproducing the sound from his own pudgy baby hands without much success, but that didn’t dampen his mood at all. He continued to giggle, and he shouted, “CAP!”
Mother smiled proudly at the boy. “Very good, Adam. You are so bright.” Very bright, indeed, she thought as she observed the brilliant sparkle of his Life Spark. At least three times as bright as any other she had ever seen. Adam was the first of the special ch
ildren she was gathering to her, and he was her favorite. To date, there were fifteen others in her compound at the rehab center. None of their mothers had lived through the birthing. It was as if the babies absorbed all of their Life Spark as they entered the world, leaving nothing for the mothers, who passed quietly. The women in the compound tried to make it up to the babies by lavishing attention on them. Mother liked to spend time with Adam every day as well as her other uniquely gifted little babe. She looked over at the little girl playing quietly with her blocks on the flagstones surrounding the fountain pool. As if she felt Mother’s gaze, she looked up with her brilliant, amber eyes and gave Mother a gentle smile before turning back to her toys. Like Adam and most of the other children, Lana had been born in the compound, but unlike the other children Lana was not human. Her mother was a Vampire that Mother Zhukov had sent the Chief after on the day that Adam was born.
Cherishing Destiny (A Dangerous Destiny) Page 24