Birth of Jaiden (23 page)

Isabella’s lips spread
into a grin. “That would be nice. That thing yesterday wiped me out
and I was up with her for a while too.”

Alex nodded as Isabella
lay back down onto the pillows. He couldn’t help but notice she
slept in a tee shirt instead of a nightgown. That was part of what
he liked so much about her; she was practical and normal. Not like
some women he knew who wanted everything handed to them on a silver
platter. Isabella was tough, and he liked that.

“
I’ll take her but you
will have to get up after a while because we have to start getting
ready to go. We have a lot to do.”

“
Ok. Wake me when you need
me.”

Alex picked up Jaiden.
Picking her up seemed to be getting less awkward each
time.

“
Sweet dreams,” he told
Isabella as he walked out with Jaiden.

He took her into the
sitting room and he sat on one of the recliners with Jaiden in his
lap. “Well, Jaiden, it’s just you and me for a while.”

She gurgled
something.

“
What?” he asked
her.

She gurgled
again.

“
Is that so?” Speaking to
her like she was grown, he continued the conversation. “Tomorrow
night, we are going on a really long trip. It is going to be kind
of dangerous but I’m going to make sure nothing happens to
you.”

She stared up at him
intently, her black eyes wide with the wonder of
innocence.

“
I promise I won’t let anyone
hurt you.
Eve
r.”

Suddenly, Alex realized
he
liked
sitting with Jaiden. Time passed all too quickly while he
and Jaiden bonded. He didn’t realize they had been sitting there
for an hour and a half until the door bell rang.

He stood with Jaiden, who
hadn’t yet fallen asleep, and went to answer the door. On the other
side, Deanna and Chris were waiting to be let in.

“
Hi, Alex,” Deanna said.
“So, I had an idea last night and I wanted to come by and try it
out.”

“
Come in.” Alex moved
aside with Jaiden in his arms and Chris raised his eyebrows as he
passed by. Apparently, Chris didn’t know what it was about, either.
They followed Deanna into the sitting room, anxious to know what
was on her mind.

“
Ok,” Deanna began. “I
know you two are really nervous about being around slayers. So, I
thought maybe I could come up with some kind of protection spell
that will keep you safe if something does happen.”

“
So, you’re not sure it
will work?” Chris asked.

“
That’s the thing. I have
never done a protection spell on a vampire before.”

Chris looked a little
skeptical. “So, how will we know if it does work?”

“
We will have to test
it.”

“
How?”

Deanna sighed. “Relax,
Chris, we can figure that part out later. But, you two will have to
try to stay out of danger. Even though we are doing this, it’s not
an excuse for you to provoke any of the slayers.”

Alex knew it was a good
idea but he did have reservations. He had been around plenty of
magic but someone putting a spell on him of any kind wasn’t
something he wanted. On the other hand, something was better than
nothing.

“
Ok. Let’s do it.” He lay
out a blanket on the other side of the room for Jaiden and lay her
down on it.

Then, he and Chris stood
side by side with Deanna in front of them. She took two small
crystals out of her pocket and palmed them. Careful not to drop the
crystals, she placed one hand on each of their chests and began to
speak.

“
Those I touch are good of
heart. A perilous mission we shall start. When danger threatens,
keep them safe. Take them to a safer place.” She removed her hands
from them but Alex noticed that she lingered a moment longer on
Chris than on him.

“
Is that it?” Alex
asked.

She nodded. “That’s
it.”

“
I don’t feel any
different.”

“
You’re not supposed to,
silly.” She stepped back a bit farther. “Unless, of course, someone
decided to throw a wooden…stake at you.”

In the pause between
wooden and stake, she had put out her hand and a stake had appeared
in it.

She ruthlessly and
perfectly hurled the stake toward Alex’s chest.

Time seemed to suspend
into slow motion as Alex watched it come toward him. End over end,
until it was maybe two inches from his chest. Alex closed his eyes
in fear.

Nothing
happened.

He opened his eyes and
discovered, much to his relief, that he was behind Deanna. The
stake had lodged into the wall behind where he had previously been
standing.

“
Oh,” he
muttered.

Chris stood in the same
spot with his mouth hanging open. The whole thing had happened
within a matter of a few seconds. Even with vampire speed, he
probably wouldn’t have had time to react.

“
See,” Deanna said while
she turned around, “it works; now, you are in a place to protect
yourself.”

“
Oh, I get it. Take them
to a safer place.”

“
That’s right. Chris,
close your mouth.” She bounced over and lifted his chin to shut it
for him.

“
Sorry…but, you threw a
stake at him.”

Impatiently, she
responded, “Oh, for crying out loud, Chris. I could have made it
disappear before it hit him. Don’t be such a baby.”

Chris didn’t
reply.

Deanna went over to Jaiden and
picked her up. “She is
absolutely
the best baby in the world, hardly ever cries.”
She lifted Jaiden higher up, onto her shoulder, and wrapped the
pink blanket around her. “I’m going to see Isabella; I’ll take her
with me.”

Alex called out to her
before she got too far. “Tell Isabella to start packing. There are
suit cases and duffel bags in the hallway closet next to her
room.”

“
Ok,” Deanna said from the
hallway outside the sitting room door.

“
So…” Alex turned to
Chris. “What’s going on with her?”

No embarrassment
whatsoever appeared on his face. “It’s nothing.”

Alex sat in the recliner.
“
That
,” he pointed toward the door, “didn’t look like nothing to
me.”

“
Ok,
fine
. We have a thing.”

“
What do you
mean?”

“
Look
at her. Can you honestly tell me you
wouldn’t do it if you had the chance?”

Alex shook his head. “I’d
rather not answer that. So, what’s the problem, then?”

“
It’s just…she acts like
we are together, like in a relationship together. You and I both
know I can’t have any kind of a relationship with her.”

“
Why did you sleep with
her, then?”

Chris sighed. “It just
happened, ok.”

He plopped down on the
sofa.

Alex leaned forward.
“Maybe you should just talk to her about it.”

“
Oh yeah, and piss her
off. That’s a really good idea. You’ve seen what she can do to
people.”

Alex grinned. “You’re
afraid of her.”

“
No
.”

“
Then talk to
her.”

“
I’ll think about it but I think
I’ll wait until after the little trip we’re going to take with her
buddies, the
slayers
.” He emphasized the last word, mockingly.

“
Chris, would it be so
hard for you to maybe just date her? There is no law that says you
have to be in love and have a long-lasting
relationship.”

“
She is also a
mortal.”

“
There is also no law
against dating a mortal, only that you can’t make them into
vampires.”

“
Do you really think I
should lead her on like that?”

“
I think you should tell
her that you like spending time with her and dating is fine but
you’re not ready for a serious relationship. And if you tell her
why, I think she is grown up enough to understand.”

Chris kept
quiet.

“
I know you like her,
Chris, everyone can see that. She likes you too, that much is
obvious. You are the one who is always telling me to take chances
and have fun. Take your own advice.”

“
Maybe I will.” He paused for a
moment. “You know, Alex. She
did
look really hot when she threw that stake at you.”
He grinned.

Alex gave him a mock
disgusted look. “You’re sick.”

25

Malcolm sat in what he
liked to think of as his throne room. He lounged in his jeweled
throne, high upon a massive stone platform with four carved in
steps. His lovely queen sat beside him, the diamonds, rubies and
sapphires from her own throne accentuating her dark beauty. They
watched silently as the two guards cautiously made their way into
the room to face Malcolm.

The guards who had seen
Stewart disappear into thin air feared for their lives. Malcolm had
killed for much less than witnessing an escape.

“
What are you two doing
here?” Malcolm demanded. “Aren’t you supposed to be guarding the
council member?”

The tall, thin one lowered
his head. “Yes, we are, which is why we have come to
you.”

Malcolm’s eyes narrowed. “Well,
if
you
are here, then where is the prisoner?”

The guard’s head sunk even
lower. “He…got away.”

Malcolm stood; his silk
cape wavered around him as he marched down the stairs toward the
guards.

“
What do you mean, he got
away?” His voice remained calm but his eyes glittered with rage.
The guards began to quiver with fear as Malcolm circled
them.

Again, it was the tall,
thin one who answered. “We both saw it; he disappeared.”

“
Disappeared
?” Malcolm hissed. “His powers
were bound. That bunch of witches must have found a way to get to
him.”

“
We did what we could,
master.”

Malcolm had stopped
circling but his anger continued to grow.

“
Damn it
!” He grabbed the tall guard by the
throat and raised him off the ground. “
That prisoner was
valuable
.”

The shorter guard quivered
with fear while Malcolm held his partner in the air. He wanted to
run away, as far away as he could get.

The tall one began to
stutter. “P…please, master. There wa…was nothing we could
do.”

“
I. Don’t
. Care
!”

One quick movement and the
guard’s head hung lifelessly off to the side. Malcolm dropped the
body to the floor.

“
Get this out of my
sight.” He directed the swarms of vampires who surrounded his
thrones.

There was a bustling of
activity as they all hurried to accommodate Malcolm’s orders. The
guard’s head needed to be severed in order to finish the
kill.

Malcolm faced the shorter
guard, reached out and wound his hand through his hair. Then, he
yanked him forward. All of a sudden, he felt a hand on his
shoulder.

“
No, love,” Levine
whispered into his ear. “Let me have this one.”

The guard fell to the ground
with a thump when Malcolm released his hair. “You can have
whatever
you want, my
darling.”

She focused on the guard. “I
want
him
.”

Her green eyes glazed over
with hunger.

Levine dropped to her
knees and caressed the guard’s chest with her smooth hand. Slowly,
her fingers found their way into his hair while her lips found
their way to his.

She kissed him tenderly,
forcing him to open his mouth and let her tongue graze over his.
When she pulled away, his lower lip was covered with blood. Levine
licked her lips and reached for his inner thigh while she kissed
him again.

“
Mmm
, I
love
the taste of vampire blood,” she whispered to the
guard, who had no choice but to return her kisses. She continued to
stroke his inner thigh until she felt the time had come.

She bit into his neck and
gracefully moved her scarlet lips while she suckled his blood from
his taunt throat.

Malcolm watched silently,
with lust for his queen as she aroused the vampire who knew he was
going to die. He reached out for her. “That is enough.”

She panted softly as she
turned to him. Blood dripped slowly from the corners of her lips
and down her chin. Malcolm took her hand and helped her to her
feet, then kissed the blood off her chin.

With a nod of his head,
the flock of vampires swarmed again and dragged the guard’s body
away so they could finish killing him.