Claws (27 page)

Vivvie stared at her sleeping son and
felt terror fill her. Looking at his innocent face she fought the
truth. Everyone adored Seth. Her other children never tolerated
Justice, but they practically worshiped this new baby, deferred to
him.

Even Eli was spoiling him rotten. Seth
had that effect on even Jericho, who had enough children in his
lifetime to question the overwhelming love he felt for this new
child. She looked upon him as just another of her children, not
seeing how special he was.

“If what you say is true, than we need
to stop Tania,” Vivvie said quietly, feeling intense anxiety to
know the creature wanted her child. “And do me a favor and tell
Gideon to stay his ass in Florida.”

Jericho laughed in pleasure. “You’re
taking all of this better than I thought you would.”

“I feel like pulling Ryken out of the
ground and killing him again for this. I’m not a happy
camper.”

“Ryken had no way of knowing he would
pass Tania’s gift to you, Vivvie, or what it would
mean.”

Vivvie looked down at her hands. “If
Seth has Eli’s gift; according to you, why does he not tell me?
He’s said nothing to me of it. He has to know because he can talk
to him.”

“Devon is his firstborn son. He is to
be Chief one day,” Jericho told her and shrugged. “Eli probably
wonders what’s going on. He has three kids with his gift. The
original prophecy only allows one to be born with it.”

“If Seth has all nine of these traits
you said he’s like Jesus,” she reminded him. “What do you mean? Is
he like a God to the tribe or something?”

“Vivvie, Seth is a pure being if he has
all nine,” Jericho said with a smile. “The prophecy said it would
end our curse with his coming.”

“Ok, now I know I didn’t listen when
you told me all this,” she said and grimaced at his disgusted look.
“I don’t get it at all.”

“His offspring will purify our
bloodline over time.”

“Ok, now I’m totally lost!”

“The curse will be bred out as time
goes on. It might take time, but eventually they will all be like
him.”

She stared at him with hope flaring in
her eyes. “They would be human again?”

Jericho grinned and rubbed his hands
together. “Now do you see why the demon would want him so badly? He
would lose his hold over us.”

“What does that mean for
us?”

Jericho’s yellow green gaze flared with
sadness. “It means when your son grows to be a man and breeds they
would all be like him, Vivvie. We are what we are,
unfortunately.”

“The deaths in town have you worried,
don’t they? The demon made us mortal again without the nine souls,”
she said and saw Jericho tense. “What does it mean?”

“It means it isn’t happy. Tania failed
to give it what it wanted. Don’t test the theory, just take my word
for it,” he told her. “We already got word of more deaths and know
it is happening. Many of our people left here thinking they would
live forever and grew reckless as a result. They’ll question what
is happening when they don’t heal as they did before.”

“How is it you know this for sure,
Jericho?”

He held out his hand where he cut his
own hand to test his theory. It hadn’t healed as it would have
instantly and disappeared. It looked like a normal mortal cut,
complete with a scab.

“We can die now?” she asked in
surprise. “This demon does like to jerk us around.”

Jericho grinned and shook his head.
“Yeah, so look both ways before crossing the road.”

Vivvie was relieved in some ways. The
thought of growing old with Eli and living a normal life made her
strangely excited.

“What about the shifting and our
powers? Will we always be like this if the one with the nine is
real?” she asked and he avoided her gaze. “What does this
mean?”

“We have to wait and see. Right now we
have to make sure your son survives the next year until he’s grown.
At the rate he’s going; that will be in no time.”

“
Have you gone to Tania
yet?” she asked and saw his yellow green eyes flare at her words,
feeling jealous to know he had.

“She begins to trust me again,” he told
her and avoided her eyes. “It’s necessary to get her to tell me
what she’s planning for you.”

“For me? She claims she just wants the
child for the demon,” Vivvie argued and looked alarmed at his
serious expression.

Jericho laughed without humor. “If you
believe that you really never listened to my teachings, Vivvie. She
waits to get from you what was promised. She’ll take back what is
hers.”

“Eli? She wants him back, even
now?”

Jericho smirked. “It’s the challenge of
it. She’s quite put out that he loves you. She was never good at
taking second to anyone. Why do you think none of us ever took
mates?”

“Second? What do you mean? He claims he
doesn’t care for her the way he did.”

Jericho rolled his eyes and looked
away. “Eli adored her, Vivvie. He might love you now. What he felt
for her does not go away after two hundred years. With you out of
the way; he would take her back. She knows she has such a hold over
him. She lets you borrow him for a time, knowing she has no choice.
She’s not been able to conceive in years.”

“What if she discovers I’ve been
sterilized?” Vivvie demanded. “She’ll realize I’ve
reneged.”

“She won’t know. You can’t sense things
like that by scent.”

“She will try to give me to this demon,
won’t she?”

Jericho’s eyes burned at her words.
“You and the demon hit it off so well too. You might not have
insulted the creature.”

“What’s your plan?”

“She comes to me in my dreams now too.
You will learn to use this gift of yours and imprison her there.
We’ll lock her away. She will return to her sleep and we won’t be
bothered by her again.”

“I don’t know how to do this,” Vivvie
protested. “I can navigate to the compound, but I don’t know how to
do anything else once I’m in there.”

Jericho’s eyes filled with some emotion
she couldn’t name. “I’ll teach you.”

Vivvie saw the sadness there, knowing
he wanted more than they could ever have. He offered to teach her
to control the dreamscape now, master her gift. She knew such a
place was dangerous to them both. A longing that swept through her
made her avoid his gaze.

“You can teach me to create everything
around me as she does?”

“Better than that, Vivvie,” he told her
with a look of anticipation. “I can help you catch her at her own
game.”

“Do we dare leave her there when this
is over?” Vivvie asked and was reluctant to trust a prison such as
the one she was held in to hold the elder.

“We have no choice,” he told her and
shook his head. “The demon will not negotiate. You have less than
four months to meet its demands. Locking her up is the only thing
we can do. I’m sorry, Vivvie. I don’t have any other
plan.”

“No, I get it. I just hate the idea she
will always be there, hanging over my head.”

Jericho looked at her in sudden
understanding. “Eli might have forgiven you Justice, Vivvie. You
were ignorant of your gift and separated from him then. He will
never forgive you for Seth. We knew that when you came to me.
Telling him the truth now will just give Tania what she wants. You
will lose him.”

Vivvie couldn’t bear to think of losing
Eli. He wouldn’t forgive her for giving into her nature and the
result. She looked down at Seth’s angelic face and hope filled her.
This child might be the answer to their existence. She could live
with the truth now, knowing it was for a higher purpose. Her
infidelity benefited them all with the creation of this being if
what Jericho thought was true. She saw that now.

“I’ll stay silent. I hope you’re right
and I’m able to master my dreams or we’ve done all this for
nothing,” she whispered and tucked the blanket around her
son.

“It wasn’t all for nothing,” Jericho
said as he joined her, staring down at his son proudly. “We have
hope, Vivvie. That’s more than we had before.”

“When do we start?” she asked
anxiously.

“Tonight, and do me a favor and don’t
question anything I ask you to do,” he told her and she was taken
aback by the heat in his eyes. “You must learn this.”

“How do we hide what we’re doing from
her?” Vivvie asked. “Won’t she be there too?”

“Not if I’m in her bed when you come to
me,” he said in disgust and turned away. “She won’t
know.”

Vivvie knew Jericho despised himself
for going back to Tania. It showed in his expression. He did it for
her, making her feel guilt it was the only way. Tania had to be
stopped.

~ ~ ~

Vivvie stood in front of the door to
Tania’s apartment. She was nervous. She opened the door and stepped
inside. The place was eerily quiet. The luxury the queen allowed
herself was evident in the plush interior.

Eli pinched pennies with her but
allowed the woman this? She felt annoyance as she saw the richness
within, telling herself that it didn’t matter. But it did. Tania
gave Eli twenty-one children and countless grandchildren, even
great grandchildren. The bond he felt for her was obvious
everywhere she looked.

He still cared for her even if he put
her out of his bed, that much was evident. Vivvie knew better than
to feel jealous. Her relationship with Jericho was no better. Her
former lover still made her long for him. Even knowing it was the
call within her blood didn’t dampen her need for him
still.

She stepped to the bedroom door and
listened. She heard them breathing, smelled them both. She pushed
the door open and saw them in the huge massive bed, felt jealousy
to see Jericho nude at her side.

She felt miserable to know he went to
the female elder’s bed for her. The smell in the room was strong of
sex. She recoiled to know he must have satisfied the queen quite
well. She slept like the contented cat she was, sprawled on the bed
without a stitch on.

Vivvie felt jealousy to see how
beautiful she was. She accepted it, knowing she was not close to
her equal in looks. She was cute. This woman was drop dead
gorgeous. Even after almost one hundred children, her body was
smooth and unmarked.

She touched Jericho’s shoulder and his
eyes opened. He slid from the elder’s bed and pulled on the
Superman sleep pants, making her want to laugh if it wasn’t so sad.
They left the bedroom and the apartment. When they stood on the
street, he turned to her.

“Imagine us in the meadow outside the
compound and nothing else,” he told her, holding her hand. “Take us
there.”

Vivvie closed her eyes and imagined
everything he told her, feeling swept through a vortex, warm wind
whipping at her face. She closed her eyes, unwilling to open them.
When she opened her eyes they were there. She looked up at Jericho
in wonder.

“Imagine it to be daylight with bright
sunshine,” he coaxed, his yellow green eyes filled with
excitement.

It was as if the lights went on and she
shielded her gaze as the sun poured through the moonlight, opening
the meadow to daytime.

“What else can I do?” she asked
excitedly and was amazed at what she saw as she looked
around.

His hand slid through her hair and he
brought her close to him, his eyes filled with need. “Make love to
me, Vivvie. Imagine whatever you want around us then. Let yourself
go.”

She hesitated, knowing they agreed to
stop what they were doing. He smiled and kissed her, his hands
easing her into the tall grass, the sun on their backs.

“Are you sure?” she asked as the elder
eased her onto her back, his lips moving to her neck, making her
shiver with long-suppressed need.

“Take me there, Vivvie,” he whispered
as his teeth scored her neck, biting it gently, his hands sliding
over her with his skillful touch. He eased her out of her pajamas,
his own need pronounced as the Superman sleep pants slid
away.

Vivvie kissed him then, drawing him
close, her mind open and imagining them within the white billowing
clouds above. Soon she gasped as they lay within the cloud, cold
air whipping about them as she drew him to her, luxuriating in the
feel of his body next to hers.

Jericho eased between her legs, head
thrown back in ecstasy as he entered her, making her scream as the
erotic sensation went through her. They floated and mated wildly
within the cloud, bodies moving together hungrily.

“Let your mind go,” he whispered as he
drove deep within her, his hands stroking her feverishly. “Don’t
think, just feel; make it your own.”

She let go then; feeling them
transported to another place. The place was always her favorite,
coming alive in her childhood memories. Jericho smiled as he saw
they were in the middle of Munchkin Land from the Wizard of Oz.
They were making love next to a fragrant fantasy flower bed, sounds
of a flowing stream nearby, the bright colorful background a
template of her imagination.