BloodGifted (31 page)

Chapter 31

Business Arrangement

LAURA

A voice said, ‘Laura?’ A cool hand touched my cheek. ‘Laura, wake up. ‘You’ve been dreaming.’

Dreaming? I didn’t know I’d fallen asleep.
It was so real. My eyes struggled to open. ‘No dream. Nightmare.’ My words were slurred.

He looked at me with concern. ‘
After trauma you can get nightmares.’

For how long?
The thought raced through my mind. I dreamt of my best friend, Jenny, as a vampire and the image was still before my eyes. No matter that it was only a dream, a phantom of my imagination, it was disturbing.
It’s not real!
I told myself. I tried shaking it and the accompanying grogginess from my head. Besides that, the inside of my mouth felt like cotton wool.

I turned my head toward the window.
A couple of chairs hid Russell’s dust from view. The foul memory of his breath in my face brought up bile, but I forced it down.
Must get out of this room
. The urge was so strong I pushed the sheets off me and tried to rise from the bed.

A firm hand gently pushed me back.
‘No,
ma petite.
Stay there.’ A plastic cup was placed into my hand. ‘Here, drink this. It’ll make you feel better.’

‘I want to go home
.’

‘Drink first,’ Luc said. ‘And we’ll arrange something.’ He glanced at Alec. ‘She’d be safer at my place. None of the Brethren would dare try anything there.’

‘You’re probably right.’ Alec turned to me. ‘Since I can’t guarantee your safety here, it’s best if you stay at Luc’s for a while till we catch whoever sent Russell.’

‘And—
’ my father added just as I opened my mouth to ask if I couldn’t simply go back to my own flat. ‘Your mother and I would love you to spend some time with us.’

How could I argue
with that? ‘Can we go there now?’ I pushed the cotton blanket aside and swung my legs over the edge.

‘Laura!’ Alec protested.

I ignored him and stood up. My legs buckled beneath me as if made of jelly. Two pairs of hands caught me and lifted me back onto the bed.

‘Not until you’ve had something to eat,’ my father said, the tone of his voice making it clear he would brook no argument. ‘I’m already in enough trouble with your mother,’ he said
, as he tucked the blanket around me. His face softened. ‘Laura,
ma petite
, you’re the most precious thing in my life, next to Judy. And right now you need to give your body a chance to recover.’

‘Breakfast is on its way,’ Alec said. He sat on the edge of my bed. Probably to ensure I didn’t try crawling to the door.

I gave a resigned sigh and looked down at my bandaged hand. ‘How long was I asleep?’ I asked.

‘Little over an hour. Not enough.’

‘I had a horrible dream.’

‘Want to talk about it?’

I thought a moment then shook my head. Alec had never met Jenny. I’m sure my father knew her though, since he’d been secretly watching over me all my life. But that wasn’t all of it. Maris had been in it, too.

Luc’s mobile rang.
‘Excuse me,’ he said and walked outside, graciously sidestepping one of the hospital staff who walked in carrying a hot tray. It smelled delicious and my stomach grumbled.

Alec smiled. ‘
Good sign. Let me arrange for you to eat it in another room.’ He took the mobile from his jeans pocket and rang down to reception. ‘Dr Munro here. Do we have another suite available?’

He waited while the receptionist did a search. All the while his eyes never wavered from my fa
ce. I must have looked terrible and probably resembled an unkempt red setter: my hair was loose and tousled and I’m sure my eyes were red and puffy from lack of sleep. I brought the cup to my lips and drank. It was freshly squeezed orange juice and tasted good. The dizziness I’d experienced on waking began to wane.

‘Perfe
ct.’ He paused. ‘No, I won’t need a wheelchair.’ He tucked the phone back into his pocket. ‘There’s a room available down the hall… moving you there now.’

He rose and wrapped the cotton blanket modestly around my waist, scooped me up
like I was an invalid, and proceeded to make his way down the corridor to the other suite. ‘Follow us!’ he said to the young woman who carried my breakfast.

‘I can walk, you know!’

‘This is quicker,’ he said, and to prove it he strode at such a fast pace the girl carrying the breakfast tray clunked it back onto the trolley and practically ran after us.

Since there was no arguing with him,
I put the bad dream—and everything else that happened in that room—behind me.

We reached the end of the hall and
Alec turned into an open doorway. The early morning light streamed in and bounced off glass-covered pictures lining pale apricot walls, while twin beds, separated by a three-drawer cabinet, stood adjacent to a window that overlooked a leafy suburban park. He lowered me onto the nearest bed, removed the cotton blanket in which I’d been cocooned then tucked me into the fresh sheets. He took the tray, perched himself on the edge of the bed and watched me eat. Since I was unable to use my right hand, he buttered the toast, sliced the bacon and cut up the baked tomato. He was as attentive as any nurse. The contrast between his vampire self and the caring physician could not have been greater.

‘Now, our unfinished discussion.’ He leaned toward me.
‘Do you love Sommers? I’ve asked you that three times and you’ve never replied. Why the difficulty?’

‘Why does that
matter to you?’

‘Y
ou’re evading the issue.’

Was I? O
r was I afraid to admit I had my doubts since learning what Matt was planning to do with the white oak bullets Alec found on him? Not only that, but were I to marry him we could never have kids as it would only continue the curse, and being an only child, I wanted a house full.

‘I don’t know!
’ I finally admitted. ‘How can I love him after what you told me? He’s not the man I thought he was.’ It’d been playing on my mind all this time. He and Alec and Luc would only ever be enemies. How could I marry someone who hated my family enough to want to kill them? ‘Besides, I want kids, yet I don’t want to pass on this wretched gene!’ I gave a derisive laugh. ‘I need to end this curse and the only way is to find someone with Pictish blood and have a child with him!’

Alec was silent for moment, then he said,
‘Would you be willing to do that?’

‘Do I have much choice
?’ Up until last Friday I believed my future lay with Matt and in the space of four days all that had changed. I was faced with the decision of my life – to marry for love or to end my family curse, and it looked more and more like it was going to be the latter.

‘In this situation, no
you don’t, since you’re apparently the Child of Light and Darkness the prophecy spoke of. It’s your destiny to end this curse.’ He paused. ‘As it appears, it’s mine.’

‘
What do you mean?’

‘
I’m descended from the witch who uttered the curse. My blood is Pict.’

My heart jumped into my throat and all I could do was stare at him as his words sunk in.
Alec sat on the edge of my bed and watched me.

‘Why didn’t you tell me sooner?’
I eventually said.

He huffed. ‘You always want to know everything
before you’re ready to hear it. If I had told you last Friday night that you need to have a child with me in order to end your family curse, I doubt you would have met me for coffee the next day!’

‘
Probably not.’ Matt would probably have tried to kill him sooner.

‘Would you consider it?’

‘Have a child with you?’

He nodded.

Could I do this? My parents placed me in the care of others to ensure my safety, at great cost to themselves. Could I do any less? I tried to imagine myself fifty years from now having to explain the coming-of-age ceremony to my child and the very thought chilled me. I couldn’t let that happen. I wouldn’t let that happen!

I lifted my head and looked at Alec. We’d known each other less than a week and if I agreed to his suggestion, he would become the father of my child. The
enormity of it all struck me—whatever decision I made affected the future. Yet I couldn’t deny the attraction I felt toward him and the image of the two of us making love rose unbidden in my head. A rush of pleasure surged between my thighs and I tried to mask it by looking out the window, as if deep in thought.

I felt his hand
turn my chin to meet his gaze. ‘Laura, I know this is a difficult decision for you, so think of it as a business arrangement. We’ll come together until you fall pregnant and when the baby is born our contract is at an end. After that you need never see me again.’

It was so clinical, so cold, yet what choice did I have?
‘That simple, huh?’

He shook his head. ‘Anything but. The ba
by needs to be born in Scotland at the site of the Roman massacre. I’ll arrange all that; be with you when the time comes.’

He said
nothing about feelings. How could two people be so intimate and then go their separate ways? ‘Then you’ll be gone.’

‘Y
ou won’t need me any more. Once the curse is lifted, there’s a chance your blood will revert to human and its unique properties will disappear. My role as a guardian will be over. You’ll be free to marry whoever you want and have as many children as you like.’

I should have welcomed that knowledge, but instead it filled me with
emptiness. He wouldn’t be there. But I couldn’t let my mind—or my heart—dwell on that. As long as I kept in mind that my child would never have to undergo the Ritual, I could go through with it—no attachment, no obligation… no emotion.

I took a deep breath.
‘All right. I’ll do this.’

‘Good.
It’s best we start tonight, while you’re ovulating.’

I’m sure I looked startled, not just by his reference to my cycle but his suggestion for us to be together so soon.
‘How did—’

‘I can smell it on you, Laura. This is the most fertile time for an
Ingenii
and we need to take advantage of it.’

We could have been discussing the price of fish!

He dropped his hand and his head turned toward the door. A few seconds later a young woman stood there. It was one of the hospital staff. ‘Excuse me Dr Munro, there’s a Mr and Mrs Dantonville asking to see their daughter.’

Two dear and familiar faces a
ppeared in the doorway. It was Mum and Dad.

Chapter 32

Family Ties

LAURA

Mum and Dad both stood in the doorway as if unsure what to say or do. I smiled at them, extended my arms and temporarily put Alec’s “business arrangement” out of my mind. Mum practically threw herself over me in a huge hug.

‘It’s okay, Mum,’ I said. ‘It’s all okay,’ I whispered into her ear and patted her shoulder as she began to cry.

Dad came over and kissed the top of my head. ‘You’re still my baby girl,’ he said. He appeared even older than the last time I’d seen him.

‘I know
, Dad. That’ll never change.’

‘We got
a phone call early this morning,’ Mum said. ‘We came over soon as we could.’ I nodded and glanced up to see Alec quietly leave the room. ‘I’m so sorry I didn’t come to the Ritual. I just… couldn’t. The thought of seeing you as some creature’s blood supply…’ her eyes glistened.

Oh no, please no
tears
, I silently begged. That’s all I needed to set off my own waterworks. I took both her hands in mine. ‘Mum, I know and I understand. It’s all right. Really.’

‘
We had to keep the truth from you all these years… Your father—’ she stopped and then corrected herself. ‘John and I promised not to reveal anything to you till you came-of-age. And even then Judy wanted it to come from her.’ She looked at me with tear-stained eyes. ‘I’ve loved you as my own child. Never doubt that!’

‘I know Mum
, and I couldn’t have had a happier childhood. This doesn’t change anything between us. I love you as my mum and always will. The same goes for you, Dad.’

He squeezed my hand, then sat down in one of the two empty chairs by my bedside.

This must be hell for
the
m, I thought.

‘Thank you, Laura
, love.’ She cupped my cheek. ‘We’ve had the privilege of having you in our home all these years and it’s only right that Judy and Luc share that joy now. They suffered to keep you safe.’

‘I know, Mum. They told me everything.’

‘Lucien’s a good man despite… what he is,’ Dad said.

I smiled. He couldn’t bring herself to say the word, “vampire.”

‘I met him only once; the day they brought you to us,’ Mum said. ‘He came with them and arranged the necessary papers—birth certificate for you and death certificate for my little Katie.’ She smiled to cover the emotion the memory evoked. Dad placed a comforting arm around her shoulder. ‘Parental names were swapped, of course.’ She paused. ‘He came across as a very sympathetic man. I never saw him after that—till now.’

I gaz
ed at Dad. He said nothing and his lips were set in a firm line as he gazed out the window.

‘I
was worried sick how you were going to take it,’ Mum said.

‘Don’t be. I reall
y am fine—with everything.’ I gave her a reassuring smile.

‘Do they know who did it?’
Dad asked. His gaze came back to me.

‘Yep. They were all caught. They won’t be committing any other offences.’
I raised my right eyebrow at him meaningfully.

Mum
moved off the bed and sat in the other vacant chair while I briefly outlined what happened Tuesday night, and the reason Alec brought me here instead of letting the ambulance take me to RPA.

‘Thank God you wer
en’t injured worse,’ she said to me. ‘Have you heard how Matt is?’

‘He’s
okay.’ I repeated Alec’s words. ‘The police spoke to Alec earlier this morning while I was still out of it. Said they’d be back later today to interview me.’

‘Want
us to be with you?’ Dad asked. ‘You shouldn’t be alone.’

‘Look
, I’m sure I’ll be fine, but it’s really up to you.’

As I finished saying it,
Alec walked in and declared the police were here to speak to me.

‘We’re staying,
’ Dad said.