Birth of Jaiden (24 page)

Once they were both seated in
their thrones again, Malcolm continued to fume. “What the
hell
are we going to do
now? Damn them
all
!”

Levine reached over and
touched his hand. “Don’t worry, love. We shall have our victory
regardless of whether or not you have that boy.” She leaned her
head in toward him and whispered, “We need to move in on them
soon.”

Then, he ripped his hand
from her grasp, jumped to his feet and waved his cape
around.

“
Find them
!” he roared at his court,
“Find them
now
!”

The entire court
scattered, none of them wanting to be his next victim. Malcolm
paced back and forth and muttered to himself, “I know we must take
them soon, my love. I know. You will soon be able to live in this
kingdom in safety, as you have always wanted.”

Levine smiled and kissed
Malcolm’s cheek. “The only thing I have always wanted is
you.”

Malcolm leaned back in his
chair. “Darling, you always know the right words at the right
time.”

She stood. “I’m tired;
take me to bed now.”

“
With pleasure.” He took
her hand and helped her down the step. Just as they were departing
from the throne room, a burly blond vampire came running through
the hall way, nearly knocking Levine to the ground.

“
You
fool
!” Malcolm roared at him.

“
Oh…master, I am so glad
you are still here.”

“
Did you find the council
member? If not, you need to remove yourself from my sight
immediately.”

“
No. No, sir, but we do
have word of movement of the council.”

“
All of them?”

The guard nodded. “All of
them…and the baby.”

“
Where are they?”
Malcolm’s rage was quickly diminishing.

“
They will be going to see
Corrine, the witch who stays young.”

Malcolm glanced at Levine.
She put her index finger to her cheek.

“
It’s perfect,” she
whispered. “You have done well, Lance. Please let us know
immediately if more information arises.”

Lance nodded his huge
head. “Yes, of course.”

He backed away with his
head slightly bowed.

Then, Malcolm led Levine
off to their bed chambers where they could celebrate their
anticipated victory.

26

When Alex woke the
following evening, his entire body tingled with anxiety. With the
challenges ahead on his mind, he sluggishly rose from his coffin
and maneuvered the tunnels in the same fashion.

In his room, a large
duffel bag sat next to the door and the clothes he had chosen lay
on the bed. He heard commotion from within the house but he ignored
the voices that carried into his bedroom and went into the bathroom
to shower.

After his shower, he felt
ten times better. He dressed in blue jeans and a black casual
button up shirt. Then, he ventured toward the voices.

He found Isabella
struggling to carry a large suitcase and a huge duffel bag down the
curving staircase and Deanna at the bottom with Jaiden in her arms.
Alex glanced at the main doors and saw a big pile of more
luggage.

“
What the heck are you
bringing?” he asked as he rushed to help Isabella with the
bags.

“
Jaiden needs a lot more
things than we do.” She handed him the suitcase.

“
Oh, well, I guess it’s a
good thing the rest of us packed light, then,” he said
teasingly.

Isabella laughed and threw
the duffel onto the pile by the door.

Damion and Danielle came
out of the kitchen, both with sullen expressions on their
faces.

“
What’s the matter?” he
asked just as Stewart appeared behind them.

Stewart hung his head. “I
still don’t have any powers.”

Alex didn’t know what to
say. How could Stewart not have any magic? But, he didn’t have to
say anything because Stewart answered his unspoken
question.

“
That
bastard
had my powers bound and now no one
can undo it except the person who did it.”

“
What? Is that why we
couldn’t contact you with telepathy?”

“
Yes.” Stewart nodded.
“
Damn
it
!”

Danielle comforted
Stewart. “Don’t worry. We will find out who did it.”

She rubbed Stewart’s
shoulder with her tiny hand.

“
But, now I am no use.
Maybe I shouldn’t even go.”

Damion shook his head
vigorously. “You have to come. You’re the only one who has seen the
inside of his lair. If we make it
that
far, we’ll need you more than anyone.”

Suddenly, a loud, blaring
horn assaulted their ears.

“
What is
that
?” Alex exclaimed as everyone moved
toward the door. Damion flung the doors open and thus allowed them
to view two sets of head lights making their way to the house. They
all watched silently as two white hummers came to a stop next to
Alex’s black one, which was parked in front of the
house.

“
Cool.” Deanna
grinned.

Chris jumped out of the
first one and trotted up to the house. “I thought we could use
these for the trip.”

“
Good idea.” Damion nodded
his approval.

They could hear voices
spilling out of the other hummer. Then, the passenger door opened
and Victoria emerged from it with such an irritated look on her
face that everyone laughed. Jeremiah lowered himself from the
driver’s seat and rushed over as fast as his old legs would take
him to help her.

“
You people really expect
me to climb in and out of that thing for the whole trip?” She
proceeded to make a big deal out of swiping imaginary dirt from her
gray dress.

Everyone laughed even
louder.

“
Gee, thanks a lot,” she
mumbled as she turned and yanked her bag from the seat.

Damion jokingly tried to
reassure her. “Don’t worry, Victoria, We’ll bring a step ladder for
you.”

Alex watched with humor as
Victoria glared at Damion with her little mean eyes. Then, she
pushed her way through the group and right up to Damion. She lifted
her hand and poked Damion in the chest with her finger.

“
Damion, you may think old age
is something to joke about because
you
can’t get old. It’s not a funny thing and I don’t
want to hear anymore about it. Do you think I
like
being like this?” She waved her arms
down the length of her body.

Put in his place, Damion
mumbled, “I’m sorry.”

“
Humph.” Victoria stuck
her nose in the air and continued into the house. The rest of them
followed her but no one was laughing anymore.

Everyone gathered in the
dining room for a final briefing before it was time to leave. He
could smell the nervousness radiating off of Isabella. She sat in
the chair next to Alex, fidgeting, unable to sit still. Alex leaned
in close and whispered in her ear, “It’ll be ok.”

“
I know,” she whispered
back.

Deanna stood next to the
doorway holding Jaiden while the rest of them took seats at the new
dining room table.

Damion took charge. “Ok,
everyone, we don’t really have any idea how this is going to play
out. It is pretty much going to be sink or swim. Our plan is to
meet up with the slayers at the border where they will join our
convoy.”

Alex, as well as the rest
of the group, remained silent. Damion glanced around at them. “Does
anyone want to add anything?”

No one said a word. Alex
was silently praying they would be the ones to prosper in this
mission. Danielle had told him to have faith, and he did, but going
into something with a blind eye and using his baby as bait for a
monster was definitely something to worry about.

My baby
.

Damion pushed his chair
back and lifted his massive body from the table. “Let’s go,
then.”

With tension thick in the
air, each of them rose and reluctantly exited the room.

Alex tackled the pile of
luggage by the door, grabbing as much as he could to put into the
hummer. Isabella silently helped him while Deanna put Jaiden into
her car seat.

An hour later, two white
hummers and one black one headed through the clear night toward the
state line. Alex drove silently, anticipating their first encounter
with the slayers.

Isabella rode in the front
seat with Alex. She rode in silence as well, but every few minutes,
she would turn and look into the back seat where Jaiden lay in her
car seat, lulled to sleep by the moving vehicle. Alex suddenly
wished he were a baby, without a care in the world besides eating
and sleeping. If what Danielle told him was true, though, Jaiden
had a dangerous life ahead of her. Not the life of your average
child, that was for sure.

As they neared the
Nevada-Idaho state line, Alex could feel Isabella’s tension without
even looking at her. He could smell her blood, and hear it pumping
faster than before.

The two white hummers
turned off of the freeway and headed towards one of the largest
truck stops Alex had ever seen. He followed closely while he
scanned the truck stop for slayers.

He saw nothing. The first
hummer which carried Deanna pulled in next to a semi which had no
logo on it. When the hummer stopped, Deanna jumped out and walked
up to the window of the truck.

Alex watched intently as a
large black man opened the door and stepped down from the
truck.

“
Oh
great
,” he mumbled.

“
That is exactly what I
was thinking,” Isabella told him. “Where do you think all the
slayers are? In the back of the truck?”

“
They have to be. I don’t
see any other vehicles.”

“
Look at all of his
scars.”

Alex observed his bald
head. His chest was also exposed due to the lack of fabric on his
shirt. Some people referred to that particular type of shirt as a
“wife beater.” As he watched them more closely, Alex could swear he
sensed an attraction between them. When Deanna finished talking to
the slayer, she turned in their direction and beckoned them over
with a little wave.

“
I don’t like this,” Alex
said more to himself than Isabella. But she replied
anyway.

“
I am going to stay with
Jaiden; we can’t leave her alone.”

He nodded. “You’re right.
I’ll go.”

Alex couldn’t believe
himself.
Some vampire I am, all scared and stuff
. He knew he could take a few
vampire slayers but from what he already knew, there would be a lot
of them there, more than he could manage. And
that
did scare him.

Slowly, he opened the door
and got out, watching the others open their doors and get out as
well. He found Chris and met his eyes; they exchanged a look of
shared anxiety.

Don’t worry
, he told Chris

You’re feeling the same way,
old man
,
Chris answered back.

Alex knew he was right
managed a little smile for Chris’s sake.

Alex, Damion, Danielle,
Chris, Jeremiah, Stewart, and Victoria all marched with
determination and fearlessness on their faces and in their
walk.

Deanna smiled radiantly
and stretched her arm out toward the group. “Members of the Great
Council, this is Michael. Michael, meet the group.”

She named them all in turn
and each smiled courteously and said hello.

Alex noticed that when she
introduced him to Chris, Michael narrowed his eyes. Alex in turn
defiantly reached out to shake Michael’s hand. “It’s nice to meet
you, Michael.”

Without hesitancy, Michael
took hold of Alex’s cold, hard hand.

“
You too, Alex,” he
replied, and then withdrew his hand. Although Alex appeared to be
brave, Michael seemed to sense his anxiety. “Don’t worry, none of
my slayers here will hurt you. We know what side you are
on.”

Alex laughed. “And how do
you know that?”

“
You’re here, aren’t
you?”

Alex nodded. Michael’s
simple answer was a logical one. Still, he was far from convinced.
Alex could feel it without even reading his mind.

Damion spoke up. “So, you
will follow us?”

“
Yes.”

With an awkward glance at the
trucks, Damion asked, “You
are
aware that where we are going, it is a massive
wooded area, so you and your people will need to be prepared to
camp.”

Michael nodded. “We have
been informed of the situation.” He nodded toward Deanna. “We are
prepared.”