I swallowed harshly at the wave of emotions that sent through me, barely containing my need to release those emotions in either a sob, or a temper tantrum. Alanna shifted her gaze back to mine. “It’s even more difficult for Teren and me, knowing that we could possibly save them from that death with our mixed blood.” She sighed and shook her head. “And it is only a possibility. We really don’t know what our blood does to humans. So we resist the temptation. We let them die naturally, as we’re all meant to.” She gave me a wry smile. “Immortality isn’t all it’s cracked up to be anyway.”
A small smile lit my lips and she grinned wider at seeing it. I suppose that was the whole point of her comment. Her smile dropped as she shook her head again. “But you…” She sighed and looked down for a moment before lifting her gaze to mine again. “He wasn’t prepared…to lose you so fast. He thought he’d get a lifetime, and he reacted purely on instinct…and love.” She put a hand on my cheek as my tears fell freely. “Don’t fault him for that, Emma. What would you have done?”
I closed my eyes, squeezing out the last few tears welling. I know exactly what I would have done for him. The fact was, I’d done much worse for him already. I’d taken a life to save his. He’d only given me a chance at another, when mine had been ripped away. Sure, this new life may not stick, and either me or the twins, or all three of us, may die anyway, but then again…we were going to die anyway. He had, at the very least, given us a slim chance at survival. Even if today was all I got, at least I’d get to say goodbye.
No, on the grand scale of things, what Teren had done to save me was nothing compared to what I’d done to spare him. What I’d do again to spare him. I’d move heaven and earth to keep him, and I had to believe he would do the same for me.
As my fear and anger started dissipating, guilt flooded in. I’d had no right to snap at him, he’d done nothing wrong. He’d given me a chance, and without him, I’d be lying in a morgue somewhere, instead of a plush ranch resort, sipping on what could arguably be the best cocktail on earth.
I sighed and opened my eyes to find Alanna watching me intently. “I should talk to him. Where did he go?”
She tilted her head at me, curious. “Can’t you feel him?”
My brows scrunched. “No. Why would I-”
I stopped speaking as a nagging sense in my head shouted at me to listen. I focused on that and instinctually, I knew where he was. It wasn’t like I could see him in my head, I couldn’t. But if you’d blindfolded me and told me to point him out, my finger would just unerringly go to exactly where he was. In fact, I could sense the location of every vampire in the house that way. The way that some people just always know where north is, no matter how many times they’re twisted around, I knew where every Adams vamp was. Every single one of them was my true north.
My eyes widened and my mouth dropped at this new, odd feeling. “He’s in the east pasture, about a quarter mile away.” My eyes fixed on hers, startled beyond belief. “How do I know he’s a quarter mile away from me?”
Alanna smiled warmly, her suspicions confirmed apparently. Her hand turned one of mine over and traced the line of one of my veins from wrist to elbow. “Our family blood now runs through these veins. You’ll be able to sense all of us, just as we can sense you. You’re connected to our family now, Emma. It’s in your blood.” She smiled broadly and then reached over to hug me.
I was so startled at this, I hugged her back loosely, more out of instinct than anything else. I’d already been low jacked, thanks to the twins, but now he was low jacked as well. And this connection we shared wouldn’t leave when the twins left me. I’d been connected to the hive, so to speak, and we were blood-bonded for life now, however long that life may be.
Alanna left me still reeling over this new development as she went to go talk to Teren. He’d been too far away to hear any of that conversation and wasn’t yet aware that my anger had faded. I got a little nervous waiting for him to come back; I hadn’t exactly been real nice to him, and he had saved my life, even if it was only a temporary patch. A slice of fear ran though me at that thought, but I pushed it back. I felt fine right now, well, aside from the slight throb of my neck and the overall odd feeling of my newly enhanced body. At any rate, I was fairly certain I wasn’t dying today.
Oh boy, don’t I sound exactly like Teren used to now.
Actually letting a small laugh escape me, I settled in to finish my drink and let my ears and eyes open. My eyes were picking out dings in the furniture that I’d never noticed before. A gouge missing in the vanity leg, a slight crack in the mirror on one of the corners of the frame, faint spider-line breaks in the plaster on the ceiling. As my eyes took in the faint threads of blue running through the gold and cream colored quilt over my body, words floated into my head nonstop.
“Oh good, she wants to talk to him, I’m sure they’ll work it out now…oh god, I still feel sick…yes, they can’t ever seem to be apart for long…drink some water for a change, you’ll be fine…and Teren would be so lonely without her…no, don’t pass out by the toilet…right, he’d have to find someone else to scream his name when he-”
I sat up straight in bed, my neck irritated at me for that. “Halina! You know I can hear you now, right?” I felt my entire body flush with heat over the comment that I knew without a doubt came from her sultry voice.
I heard her laugh huskily and reply with, “Yes, I’m aware of that… and?”
I floundered for a snappy comeback, but couldn’t manage to come up with anything other than ‘shut it’. Not wanting to sound like a bratty teenager, I kept my mouth shut and fumed silently instead, setting my empty cup down on the nightstand. Even with the contents of the cup gone, and the mug itself a good foot and a half away from me, I could still smell the blood. The air in the room was so heavy with the lingering scent of it, that it nearly felt palpable on my skin. I tried to pull my fangs back, but I may as well have tried to retract my fingernails. Nothing happened.
Then I felt every sense in my body focus on one location - Teren was coming back to the house. There was something about his presence getting closer to me that my body reacted to. I didn’t know if it was because of our earlier spat, or if it was because he was directly responsible for changing me, but I was more attuned to him than the others. I felt a slight tingling sensation in the very core of my bones. I relaxed back on the cushions and inhaled a deep cleansing breath, the smell of blood mixing with the scent of antiseptic and lilacs. Letting it out slowly, I could feel him approaching me. Just the act of him drawing nearer gave me goose bumps and my body surged with energy; I felt like I was vibrating.
He paused at the door and I stared at the stupid obstacle, wishing I could see through it. I didn’t know why he stopped; I couldn’t sense his intentions, only his location. It was frustrating me that I didn’t know if he felt this energy too, or if he was just nervous to be near me. Wanting him to enter either way, I whispered, “Please come in. I need to see you.”
He twisted the knob and I focused solely on the sounds coming from him, to block out the rest of the house. Even though I could still make out Jack helping Ben into a bed, Alanna and Imogen have a tearful sounding conversation, and Halina tossing out suggestive one-liners, Teren’s slight noises pushed them all back into a dull buzz in a corner of my head. The sound of his strong hand twisting the brass knob, the creak of the wood frame as he pushed the door in, the rustle of his jeans as he stepped forward, the slow, deep breaths that he didn’t need to take, but faked so often that he did it as unconsciously as any living person, and my name, whispered off his tongue as he came into view.
The energy in my body almost came to a sharp point and I gasped when I saw him. It was an odd sort of feeling, like how I’d imagine lovers reuniting in an airport terminal after months, or maybe even years of separation must feel. I had no idea if my physical reaction to him was just because of the emotional day and everything we’d gone through already, the rekindling in the air as I waited to
tell him that he did nothing wrong and I wasn’t angry, or if maybe, we did have a unique bond now and we’d feel this…electricity every time we were together.
Tears stung my eyes as the emotion in the room and the energy in my body mixed. Teren’s face had the same sort of surprised and emotional look on it that mine did. He softly closed the door and then closed his eyes and inhaled deep, almost like he was savoring the tension of reunion in the air, savoring the smell of us. I could sense it too. Even with all the other smells lingering in the room, like notes of a specific fragrance, I could pick out his. It was unexplainable. It was just a smell uniquely his own. Nothing on this earth compared. Nothing on this earth smelled as good, not even blood.
I was bristling with the need to touch him by the time he opened his eyes. Nearly ready to jump out of this luxurious-to-the-touch bed, I tossed back the covers at the same time that he blurred to my side. He scooted into the spot I’d just opened up for him, his hands instantly on my face, his lips instantly on my mouth.
The energy between us culminated as we connected: fiery, needy, unrestrained. Our heated kisses tapered, as the feeling between us finally subsided to a dull roar in the background. Returned to the more normal level of intense love we always felt for each other. His lips slowed on mine and it was only then that I noticed that his hand had drifted down my body to curl my leg around his hip, my fingers were locked tightly in his hair, and somewhere along the way, I’d managed to pull my teeth up.
We pulled apart slightly to look at each other and from down in the kitchen, I heard Halina’s throaty chuckle. Swallowing, I tried to steady my too fast breath. His was fast as well as his eyes searched my face, drifting over to the wound on my neck, a wound that until he looked at it, I hadn’t even felt. I felt it now and rolled onto my back, my leg sliding away from his hip.
He propped up unto an elbow and leaned over me, his brow creased. “I’m sorry, I just needed…to do that.”
A chuckle escaped me and I sucked in a quick breath as my neck throbbed. He laid a cool hand over the wound and I sighed as his touch calmed the area. Meeting eyes with him, I gave him a small smile. “Don’t be…I needed that too.”
He smiled in return and leaned down to kiss my forehead. “I’m so sorry, Emma. Please believe me.”
I sighed and cupped his face as he pulled back, his eyes down. Feeling those tears again, I carefully shook my head. “No, I’m sorry. You did what you had to, to save us. It may or may not have worked, but you had to try.” I gripped his face harder, making him raise his eyes to mine. “I love you so much, for fighting for us.” I reached up and grabbed his hand from my neck, placing our fingers over my stomach. The twins reacted to our joint touch and we both smiled. “I love you so much, for fighting…for them.”
He sighed, his smile not leaving him and I left his hand on my stomach to stroke his cheek again. “This may not have been the path I expected, but, I want us to be in this together, not pushing each other away.” The tears in my eyes fell freely as the uncertainty of my future loomed ahead of me. “I don’t know how much time I have, Teren. I don’t want to spend it fighting. I love you too much, for that to be how we end.”
The tears in his eyes fell too as his hand reached up to clasp over mine on his cheek. Leaning over me he whispered, “I won’t let anything happen to you, Emma. You or them.” His voice quavered as the emotion behind it threatened to crush him. “If we don’t have answers, then we’ll find those who do.” His mouth set in a firm line as determination filled him.
I scrunched my brow, feeling like I was a step behind. “What? Who would know about this? Who would know if I’ll be okay?”
“Other mixed.” He nodded as he stated that, like it was really just as simple as that.
I blinked at him. Mixed? Up until that maniac had taken us, the Adams hadn’t even known other mixed vampires existed; they’d thought they were the only ones. His revelation that they weren’t, had been quite a shock to them, and their existence was a shock to full vampires, as that bastard who’d created this mess had pointed out. He’d obviously never seen anything like Teren. But somehow…we were supposed to find these secretive vamps in time to save the children’s lives and mine, if they even could or would?
Teren’s face didn’t lose any of his determination as he watched my reaction. This was his hope. This is what he’d cling to, to save himself from despair. I swallowed. I wouldn’t snatch that hope away. Wouldn’t tell him he was grasping at straws. He needed this. “Okay,” I said quietly. “What do we do?”
He relaxed back and even smiled softly. I think he’d been prepared to have to convince me that this was a completely doable and realistic goal that he’d set for himself. He grabbed my fingers and interlaced them, stroking his thumb against me excitedly as he talked. “That man that killed me, Great-Gran kept all of his journals. She wanted to make sure he was working alone and that no one would come searching for him.” My eyes widened at that; I hadn’t realized they’d looked into his life. Teren shook his head. “We can’t find anything that says he wasn’t, so we’re pretty sure now, that he was on his own.” I nodded and swallowed again.
Teren put his hand back on my neck automatically and I realized I must have flinched when I’d nodded. He kept up his plan, obviously having done quite a bit of thinking about this in the past few days, when he’d been waiting around for me to die. “Great-Gran also wanted to know what he’d dosed me with, so she kept anything that looked like research.” His eyes brightened along with his smile. “I think I can use his notes to find others.” He shook his head, his eyes swimming with hope. “There has to be someone out there, like us, who’s tried to turn a human.” He shook his head. “There just has to be.” He nodded, his jaw set. “And I’ll find them.”
I put my hand on that jaw, trying to ease the tension I felt there. “We’ll find them, Teren. Together, remember?”
He looked away briefly and then looked back. “No, Emma. I’m sorry, but you have to stay here now.”
I laughed, and then realized he was serious and stopped.”What? No, I want to go with you. I want us to do this together.”
He sighed and ran a hand down my hair. “Emma, baby, it’s too dangerous. We don’t know…what sort of people we’ll find.” He looked down. “I’m not risking your life like that. Not when I’m trying to save it.”
I grabbed his arm as he pulled his hand away. “Then I don’t want you to go. If it’s dangerous…” My throat closed up on me and I couldn’t finish that thought.
He sighed again as he looked over my face. I could see the strain of the last few days in his countenance and hated everything that had happened to our merry family, changing it completely. I suddenly wished our biggest problem was the ex who remembered too much of him.
Finally, he softly said, “What choice do I have, Emma. I can’t just sit back…and not try and save you.” I looked about to protest again and he held up his hand, cutting me off. “I won’t go alone. I’ll take someone with me.” From downstairs I heard a flood of Russian and Teren chuckled softly. I hadn’t caught the comment (I guess magically knowing Russian wasn’t something passed along with his blood, darn), and Teren smiled softly as he explained. “Great-Gran just volunteered her services.”
I relaxed back into the pillows a bit with that news. Halina was strong, stronger than Teren, and as driven to save my children as we were. Plus she’d fight tooth and nail to keep Teren safe. As far as bodyguards go, she was a pretty good one.
Seeing my silent acceptance of that, his face brightened for a moment. I smiled at seeing the hope there. It didn’t ease the strain I saw underneath it, but it lightened the edges of it considerably. I wanted to let myself believe that he’d find our answers, that everything would be okay, but even with the madman’s help, finding others like Teren seemed impossible to me. At least finding them in time seemed impossible.
Exhaling in an attempt to distract my mind from my pessimistic thoughts, I felt my teeth stubbornly drop ba
ck down. They slid into my lower lip and popped right through the tender skin. “Ow,” I muttered, as I carefully sucked on my lip.
Teren gave me an odd, knowing grin and pushed back a corner of my mouth to look at my tooth. He didn’t seem at all weirded out at seeing fangs on me, now that I was aware they were there, but I felt a little weirded out by him examining me. He dropped my lip and brought his hand back to my stomach. “You need to be careful, those things are sharp.”
I gave him as much of a lopsided grin as I could with my still overly large feeling mouth. “Well, I didn’t exactly mean to do that. I suppose I’ll get used to them. I hope I do okay at work with them.” I sighed and looked over his suddenly perfectly still shape lying beside me, still propped up on his elbow. “What day is it anyway, Teren? How much work have I missed?”
Watching his reaction carefully, I wondered how angry Clarice was at me for missing even more work. I seriously hoped she didn’t take it out on me by inundating me with records room work. My feet were starting to swell in the afternoons and the thought of standing on them all day made them ache already.
Teren sniffed and looked down, speaking more into the sheets than at me. “It’s Sunday. You only missed Friday.”
Conversion Book Two: Bloodlines Page 27