This was when he needed to convince her she was meant to live. With every fiber of his being he tried. Tightly, he pressed her to his body as he moved inside of her, making her feel. Emotion flowed within him and he was determined to share. With gentle precision Rhett claimed her neck. The easy flow of her blood slid down his throat. He didn’t want to take, he wanted to give.
Fly with me, little seal.
There was a place she needed to see he hoped would give her peace. Hope was in his thoughts. Her face pressed to his as they stood by a tomb. A sweet breeze fluttered their hair. The place was as it was thousands of years ago. Flowers and statues below his family resting place. The caves high overhead looked down on this beautiful spot.
Ann will rest here little seal, with my Acca. The two will love playing together.
No pain, Rhett. I’ll try not to be selfish, but it’s so hard.
Holding her tight, Rhett brought them back from their thoughts. His careful thrusting within her stopped. The blood he had taken was minimal but Hope lay exhausted. A tiny hand brushed at his locks while she gazed into his eyes.
“Thank you, Rhett.”
“Thank you for sharing your precious child.”
* * * *
Hope pressed to Rhett’s side as he returned her to Ann. Galf had a bear puppet he danced and with a deep voice, obviously mimicking his father, he told Ann a story. Ann lay back into her mother’s arms as Hope was released from Rhett’s embrace to sit on the grass. Every so often, she would giggle. Hope held her close and smoothed her hair from her face. Their cheeks pressed together.
In the sky the birds swooped, from the trees they chirped out their songs. Children played in the pool, they swung on swings. There was life everywhere. Rhett settled close to them until finally his arms settled around them both. Hope curled her back next to his chest. He wanted her to know she had someone to cling to. He had shown her.
Hope had gotten used to almost always being outdoors. In the beginning, fear for her child made her strong enough to ignore the strange new sights. Now they seemed commonplace. The once elusive sun shone brilliantly to bathe her face when Hope tilted her head. The tickly feel of the grass beneath her mostly naked skin could make her smile, if she let it. Earth and elements were so much more than ice and snow and cold.
Love was warm, that was something Hope learned the day Ann was born. She had strained to bring her daughter into the world; it was strange how so much blood could lead to life. Rhett garnered life from blood. Funny how a predator could love his prey. Hope had seen love when Rhett showed her where Ann would rest. It had broken Hope’s heart thinking that when her daughter died she would have to be buried alone under cold stones in the snow. She didn’t want to admit it, but Hope had always known she would outlive her daughter. Each rock would have killed Hope, especially the last ones to seal her child away from her touch forever.
In her heart, Hope knew Ann would be happy to be near Acca. They could share stories of Rhett. They could pick the flowers and run without losing what little breath they had. Being in the coven was a taste of what Heaven would be, Hope was certain. She was glad Ann had been part of this place. Would it hurt to see an empty swing and picture her daughter learning to pump her legs to make it sail into the air? Death took so many people in Hope’s life. It wouldn’t take Rhett; that was something to cling to.
Galf dropped the puppet when Tavish approached. The little boy flung his little body into his father’s arms.
“Will you make the puppet talk, Father? Please?”
Ann squirmed her way out of Hope’s arms and stood next to Rhett. Her hand looked so small when she placed it onto his shoulder.
“Will you, Father?” she asked Rhett.
Hope felt Rhett tense all the way to his feet. Hope knew it had been centuries since Acca called him Father.
After clearing his throat Rhett smiled at Ann. “Will I what, honey?”
“She wants you to make a puppet talk,” Galf said.
Hope could see Ann struggle for more breath. Ann gave Galf a thankful smile. The boy had been talking more often for her. Hope knew his heart would ache with the loss of his friend. Looking around at the many that had moved closer, heart in mouth at the scene, Hope realized many hearts would ache with loss. Ann was loved. She was surrounded in a beautiful bountiful blessing.
“I will talk for any puppet you like,” Rhett said to Ann.
The child fell into his arms as he released Hope to catch her. Many a vampire cleared his throat while Hope and Mercy quickly swiped at stray tears. Rhett cradled the girl to his chest, reached for a puppet and held it up.
“Little pig let me in,” Rhett said gruffly.
Ann giggled. “Not on my chinny chin.”
Ann pressed Dooder to Rhett’s chest and then Hope’s, saying the doll’s name in broken syllables, she smiled and Hope thought her heart would break.
Later that afternoon Rhett took off for a while before returning. He hunkered down in front of Ann, and in his hands he held out a puppy. It was the same one he had let Hope hold. Hope looked at him questioningly.
“I thought you said…”
Rhett immediately interrupted her. “I spoke to Tavish who spoke to the Anivamps, they will leave him alone. Lucille didn’t want to give him back to me.”
“She’s a mother hen for a gorilla,” Hope said.
Ann was still staring at the puppy. “What’s that?”
“This is called a puppy. He’s a gift for you and the other children to play with,” Rhett said.
“Like Lovel?”
“Yes, good girl, that’s right. Lovel is a wolf and one of the Anivamps. A dog, or in this case a pup, is a lot like a wolf,” Rhett said.
They were sitting by the lake and Ann let Rhett put the puppy on her lap. The puppy was all over her, licking her chin, making Ann giggle. Rhett stood up.
“He’s pretty young yet, still not weaned, but we can give him goat milk from a preemie bottle.”
Hope thought Rhett looked wigglier than the puppy. She smiled at him, feeling her eyes fill with love and tenderness, he must have jumped through hoops with Tavish to bring in an animal humans hadn’t been privy to in over hundreds of years. Hope wrapped her arms around his waist knowing when she gazed up into his blue eyes she couldn’t keep the adoration from brimming.
Rhett would make a wonderful father to any woman’s children. Hope looked away, knowing she could never give him what he wanted. In order for that, he would have to take another female. That female would be bred. There were many handsome breeder males for a female to choose from. None would waste their time with Hope. It was both a sad and comforting thought.
Chapter 11
Rhett lay in his bed listening. Something had awakened him. He turned to look at the cot, wondering if Ann had stirred. But he saw no movement from Hope, and Hope always woke the second Ann moved. With hesitance, he sat up and swung his legs over the bed, still listening. What registered almost made him collapse to the floor.
The scene was what he gazed at each night. Mother and child in one another’s arms. Baby and Dooder were clutched to Ann’s chest. Tonight it was different. Only one heartbeat could be heard from that corner where they lay. Just one.
He sat there until his hands came up to cover his face. One by one the tears fell until they formed rivers over his cheeks, deep sobs tore from his throat. He mourned the loss of another child who had stolen his heart. Rhett couldn’t do that anymore, he wouldn’t. The pain was too much. He never wanted a female to give him children he would love and then lose.
“Rhett?”
Hope sat up and Rhett found his legs. He went to her, snatched her from the bed and crushed her to his chest never wanting to let go. With this loss he had closure, but Hope she would be devastated. Every day they had together was a gift. Now their gift was gone.
“I’m so sorry sweetheart, she’s gone.”
“Oh no,” Hope wailed. “No.”
His bare chest was soaked fr
om both of their tears. Their pain collided and Rhett knew she might pull away from him but he wouldn’t allow it. She clung tighter. Her heart pounded beneath her chest and he feared for her, he called to Caine. Rhett knew grief could kill. Caine was there in moments, assessing the situation. From his grim look, Rhett knew he would understand it was bad. Rhett never called for Caine.
The doctor cast a glance to Ann and listened. He immediately turned his attention to Hope. Hope struggled when Caine gripped her chin. Hope pushed at him screaming she needed to feel the pain; he couldn’t take her child from her thoughts no matter what he did.
“I would never take your memories,” Caine said. His white eyes glowed bright and Hope closed her eyes. It was too late. “Open your eyes, sweetheart.” Hope complied, she looked so—broken.
“Caine,” Rhett said.
“You will always have your memories. You don’t need to block your heart ache but you need to breathe.” Caine was struggling with her, Rhett could see it. Hope had him in her thoughts but she wouldn’t let go.
“Do—od—er,” Hope whispered.
“What?” Caine asked.
“When Ann was very small I would tell her I loved her. Ann struggled with the words, they came out wrong but she’d smile and smile, she was so proud. Do—od—er, she would say. And I knew she loved me. For a while she would say, Mommy Dooder. Finally she could say the words ‘I love you’ but the doll was always Dooder. Because she loved me, she named the doll for love.”
Hope’s heart had stopped its erratic pounding. She blinked a few times and pulled from Rhett’s arms. She went to the child and picked up the doll. Her fingers brushed a lock of Ann’s hair back and she whispered one word.
“Dooder.”
Rhett felt the tears that had slowed spill again. Now he knew the secret giggles between the two. The many times the child pressed her doll to his chest she was telling him she loved him. Oh God. The magical love between the woman and child would never be forgotten, there wasn’t a vampire there that could make it happen, and Rhett was glad.
* * * *
It was a rarity for a child in the coven to die so young. There were stillbirths on occasion but not often. The coven humans were having a hard time coping, it was the elderly who died, not the young. The vampires took care of them. The only thing that offered them comfort was knowing Ann had been an ice dweller. They were certain if she had been born to them, Caine would have been able to save her.
Rhett had Ann wrapped in a blanket. The others had said their goodbyes. Hope made certain Dooder and her baby were wrapped with her child. Hope tried so hard to keep it together but when Galf handed Rhett a cookie for Ann to take with her, Hope broke down. Mercy sobbed with her and led her away as Rhett and Tavish took to the air. It had been centuries since Rhett had been to his family tomb and he needed Tavish’s help to locate it.
Only in Rhett’s memories had he visited Rome after he had laid Acca to rest. All he knew was gone. All he cared for in that brutal era was dead. The devastation of a world gone wild played out beneath them. Rhett hugged Ann to his chest, the last time he would hold her. For a moment he felt she was one of the lucky ones. So innocent and sweet. Her little world had been so cold for so long but she had the warmth of her mother’s love.
The row of tombs within the mountain came into view. Below were flowers and fields not exactly as he remembered. The statues were gone, no doubt stolen or in a museum.
Rhett crushed the cookie in his hand and tossed it. Birds came to peck on the ledge and he could almost see Ann and Acca together giggling. Tavish came to place a hand on his shoulder.
“I’ll give you some time but I won’t be far. There could still be lingering rogue vamps and in your grief, well, I won’t be far.”
Rhett sat on the ground with Ann in his lap, exposing her sweet little face. A tender hand caressed her hair. “You’ll love Acca, my little Andra-Ann. Both of you were so strong and courageous. Make sure you share your dollies. I want you to run through the fields together, hold hands. Giggle, do a lot of giggling together.”
A tear spilled to settle onto the child’s cheek and Rhett was surprised, he didn’t know he was crying. For a second Rhett held the doll in his hands before he opened the blanket wider. He sobbed then swallowed hard. He pressed the doll to Ann’s little chest.
“Do—od—er,” he whispered.
Rhett’s head lowered to kiss her forehead one last time. He swore he heard the laughter of little girls. A smile tugged the corners of his mouth. Finally, he had closure. For a moment, he wondered if Acca hadn’t somehow found her way back to him in the form of this child. For a while, maybe he and his daughter had played openly in the sun as Acca had always wanted. Rhett would never know. All he knew was that he had a chance to love again, for a little while.
Ann was laid to rest beside Acca. Thankfully, the tomb had not been ransacked. Tavish waited in the field, resting against a large dais where a statue had once sat. The two faced each other.
“I’ve seen you struggle all week, my friend,” Tavish said.
“It’s been hard and yet good for me at the same time. I didn’t have to hide and sneak quiet times. I got to laugh and play in the sun. I was able to hold her mother in the open. It hurts, Tavish.” Rhett stared up at the girls’ resting place. “I will be back. I plan on finding every statue that was ever here and I’m going to turn it into how I remember and bring Hope here. I know Tate had his heart set on Hope, but I can’t give her up. To give her up would be giving up Ann and in some way Acca. Hope is the only woman who shares those memories with me.”
“Tate’s young, he’ll have his own female in time. He may even chose a female I feel is past childbearing years, if we find more ice dwellers. That way he won’t have to share.”
Rhett knew any female Tate found and kept would be declared past childbearing years no matter the age. Tavish knew his men and their needs. Breeder females were important, but his men always came first. Tavish must have known the second he saw Hope she was what Rhett needed.
“Hope needs you,” Tavish said.
“I need her, too.”
* * * *
Desolate.
Hope knew the meaning. True to his word Rhett had been reading to her. Books were so interesting, Hope thought as she stared without seeing into the lake Ann loved. There was a beginning, a middle and an end. An anticlimax, a villain, a hero and sometimes heroine. Hope was no heroine. A heroine was powerful, engaging, sweet and sometimes fueled with fire.
Rhett was the warrior, a hero, illness the villain. Ann was the heroine. Did heroines die in stories? None that Rhett had read. Books were a lie, all had happy endings. No wonder they stopped making them. Hope shivered and wrapped her arms around her knees curling within herself. She closed her eyes. She would make her own story.
“Once upon a time there was a beautiful little girl born named Ann. Ann was so precious and sweet. She was strong and healthy and loved life in a strange vampire coven who adored her. She ate cookies and pizza every chance she had. Ann grew to have many beautiful children and saw her children’s children. She lived a wonderful life. The end.”
That should have been Ann’s story, with a happily ever after. Hope winced, nowhere in the story had she mentioned her mother or father. Hope didn’t belong in Ann’s story, she had failed her. Rhett wasn’t her true father, but he had given the child so much love, he deserved a part.
“Ann was watched over by her adopted vampire father her entire life. He protected her and kept her safe from all harm.”
“Ann was adored by her beautiful mother.” Hope heard Rhett’s voice from behind her. Her body stiffened.
She was hoping he would never return. If Rhett stayed away, Ann would never be gone, not really. Hope squeezed her eyes tight. If she didn’t look she wouldn’t see if his arms were empty. In her imagination, she saw Rhett standing there with Ann; her daughter was all smiles pressing her little rag doll to Rhett’s cheek. A bell would ring and Ann would
squeal it was food time.
“Hope.”
No, don’t make me see.
“I’m not going away.”
Hope felt her hands held tight. Her image crashed. He used both hands—there were none holding her child. Her eyes fluttered open. Rhett’s blue eyes were moist, calm. Hope launched herself into his arms. She clung tight as he took to the sky. Hope watched as the scenery changed. Before long, Rhett set them down. There was a body of water that stretched as far as the eye could see.
“This is the ocean,” Rhett said.
“It reminds me of the glacier; it goes on forever. It makes you wonder if it goes anywhere.”
“Long ago there were things called ships that would take you across huge bodies of water. Cruises, some were called, others had different names.”
Small talk. Hope wondered if he felt as uncomfortable with her as she did with him. Was Ann the only thing they had in common?
“Why did you bring me here?” Hope asked.
Rhett took her hand when she made a move to turn away. “I want you to listen.”
“To what?” There would never be another sound as sweet as Ann’s voice.
“I know what you’re thinking.”
Of course he knew, he had lived it too. Rhett ran his thumb across her jaw. Sorrow was a powerful emotion. It blocked everything except the pain. The emptiness surrounded her in a cocoon of despair eating her heart. How would there ever be a way out?
“Every day it will get a tiny bit easier,” Rhett said. Hope shook her head. “I promise you.”
“You said when Ann was gone I wouldn’t be anywhere. You were right.”
“I said that in anger. I know you feel lost—but I found you. I know you feel alone—but here I am. Listen to the waves caress the shoreline. You will always have your memories. Make new ones.”
“But they won’t include Ann.”
“There hasn’t been a day go by when I don’t think to myself, wouldn’t Acca love this, or wouldn’t Acca have loved bubble gum ice cream. I keep her memory alive and so she will never be gone. Live if only to keep Ann’s memory alive, at least for now, until the hurting isn’t so unbearable.”
Vampire Coven Book 3: A Vampire's Embrace Page 12