Darkened Days (22 page)

He thought of Cherise who had confirmed all of his beliefs.  He looked at Starla who had destroyed them.  And shook his head because he had nothing to say.  Then he disappeared in a wave of displaced air.

Jacob came back just as he left
.  Starla went immediately to him and buried herself in his arms.

He held her close, and although he was sorry she was in pain, all he could think of was that this nightmare was finally over and he could take her home and love her.

Ahmose stormed past a group of people surprised when he didn’t greet them as he always did.   He didn’t want to speak to anyone. 

Out on a ridge beyond the village, on a rocky outcropping only a vampire could get to, he sat in the light sprays of the waterfall’s mist to try to accept this awful turn of events.  He would never have believed that if he found his Shoazan she would turn him down.  That the children waiting inside that small body would never become real.

He knew he’d gotten too attached to her.  Should have kept it clinical.  He still could.  He could send Jacob away, keep the girl.  Once the children were born, he would release her to go be with this Jacob.  That’s what he should do.  But would he ever be able to let her go after making love to her and seeing his children grow in her womb?

A voice startled him.   He was never startled.  No one would follow him here. 
What the fuck?

“Ahmose.  You don’t know me.”

He turned to see a blonde vampire with dark red lipstick behind him.  The color of old blood.  In his current state of mind, it was unacceptable that someone intruded.

Grabbing her by the throat, he lifted her off the ground.

“I don’t  know you.  And considering you’re trespassing in my most sacred private place, I don’t want to.  I’d like to throw you over the waterfall.  How about that?”

“Fine.”  She strained to speak through her compressed vocal cords.  “But you might want to listen to me first.  I can solve your problem.”

For a moment he considered his first choice, then let her down slowly and pushed her back.  She was pretty, definitely sexy, and watching him with wary eyes.  He knew everyone in the village so she was an outsider.  Vampire, but not of his family.

“What makes you think I have a problem?”

She laughed with a snort.  “Sorry.  Uh, yeah.  Everyone in the village knows.  You’re vying for the affections of a vampire who can bear your children.  I know you brought in an empath to help determine who gets this girl.  And judging by the fact that you’re here alone looking like someone killed your puppy, she chose Jacob.”

Now he stared
hard at this stranger who knew too much.

“I think you’d better get the fuck out of here before I follow my first instinct.”

“Even if I can take Jacob away where she can never find him?   You would never be implicated.  She would run to you for comfort and you can plant that seed in her before she sees it coming.  Uh, so to speak.”

Rude bitch!  He shouldn’t let her get away with talking like that about Starla.  But all he could think of right now was that she
said she would take Jacob away.  Could he let her do this?  Were his children important enough?

Yes, they were.  More than anything in his life.

“What is it you have in mind?”

Crystal knew she had him.  He was hooked.  Everyone wanted things to go their own way, especially this big piece of sex on a stick that ruled a village of super-vamps.   All she needed was his help securing Jacob.  Permanently.   Then he’d have his little baby maker and they would all live happily ever after. 

Aw.  She liked those fairy tales where the girl gets the boy.  With Ahmose’s help, she would get hers.

“You apologize to her for your attitude.  Tell her you wish her and Jacob a good life, let them go.  Then, a few days later, I’ll arrange to abduct him, with your help.  I need his life force masked, so no one can find him no matter how hard they try.  I need a permanent way to detain him. 
My cabin in Switzerland will be perfect for that.  I just need some of your first blood magic.”

He nodded cautiously.

That would do.  She’d keep him contained in a cell most of the time except when he was frozen.  Eventually, he would accept his new life and she knew he’d be happy once they were a couple.  He’d forget the little vampire.

“See, this way, everyone is happy.  No one is really hurt.  I’ll make sure Jacob is well satisfied. 
If I can keep him long enough, he’ll forget about her and fall in love with me.  I win, he wins.  Now, you’ll take the little baby mama in, comfort her, and when she holds that first precious baby in her arms, you know she’ll be happy too.  You win, she wins.  There’s nothing wrong with this plan.”

Ahmose couldn’t move.  It sounded reasonable.  No one would get hurt.  Jacob would be fine.  He knew Starla would
be once she let herself get past Jacob.  And she’d already told him she could love him.  Could he ally himself with this woman?  Was he capable of this type of deception? 

For the sake of his community and his unborn children, he would risk anything. 

He looked back at the blonde.  The lipstick was disturbing.  Almost obscene.  But she was smart.  Manipulative, but smart.  And she wouldn’t do this if she didn’t love Jacob.  She’d be good to him.

What does it take to make a good man go bad?
  He wondered this as he turned and nodded to the blonde.

“Maybe.  Tell me more about your own background.  I want to know who I’ve gotten into bed with.”

“Don’t worry.  You won’t have any trouble with my pedigree.  I’ve lived and worked with a first blood for over a hundred years.  I know how to get things done.  And I’m very, very good in bed.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Starla cried. 
How could this work out?

When
Ahmose came back to the village, apologetic, she couldn’t believe it.  He explained he was so passionate about the thought of children that he’d been unreasonable.   He now accepted that she loved Jacob.  And he would do the right thing.  She was free to go home with Jacob.  While she felt all kinds of guilt, she was thrilled to get her life back.

And she
couldn’t wait to see Eillia.  She knew now that she hadn’t abandoned her.   That she was with child and couldn’t come to Africa to search for her.  

But mostly, she would be able to be with Jacob.  He’d slept in a separate yurt again last night, but tonight they would be together. 
Just the thought of being in bed with him made her heart race and her face flush.

Henri had agreed to come with them back to F
rance, too.  So, in the end, it had been worth it all.

Except for the pain she left behind for Ahmose and his people.  She didn’t think she would ever be able to forget the children she might have had with him. 
Her hands dropped to her stomach, sliding across, caressing the area that would never carry a child.  In her old life, she’d wanted a family.  Just not in the frozen wasteland where she was raised.  Now she never would.  Unless…

No.  Jacob was her future.  She’d never felt a connection with anyone like she felt with him. 
This coming year would be a time of discovery.  How this vampire life fit into hers, and how she fit into his.   She had already reconciled with the conversion.  Now she just had to learn how to live with it.

Chione helped her pack.   She would take with her a small wardrobe of beautiful dresses handmade for her by seamstresses in this village.  Chione had insisted.

“Mistress, you must take them.  It would be an insult to leave them behind.”

“Oh, I’d love to have them.  They’re extraordinary.  But I don’t deserve them.  Wouldn’t you want to keep them for the next woman that Ahmose might make his queen
?”

Chione shook her head sadly.

“No, mistress.  He does not believe anyone else will come.  The empath says you are the one.  He believes this with all his heart.  I think he still hopes someday you will come back to him.”

“Ah, no.  I don’t know what to say.  He is breaking my heart.”

“You must follow yours, though.  If you love this Jacob, then you must be with him.  I have never been in love, mistress, but I know this to be true.”

“I believe so, too.  May love find you soon.  You are a kind and brilliant, gorgeous girl.  I know
it waits for you.”

“Thank you.  I think…”  She stopped, then started again.  “I think I will need to leave the village to find it.  Somehow, my spirit knows he is not here.”

“Follow that path, then, Chione, until it leads you where you need to be.”

“My name means ‘daughter of the Nile
,’ but I have a need to leave this continent.  I just can’t tell if I am wrong.”

“You are not wrong.  You have great instincts.  If you ever need me, don’t hesitate to call, okay?  I’m leaving my cell number.”

“I appreciate it.  And I may indeed seek your help sometime.”

Starla hesitated, then hugged Chione.

“Anytime, really.  Anytime.”

Koen watched Ahmose say
goodbye to Starla.  It was bittersweet.  He completely understood Ahmose’s desire to keep her here at any cost.  He’d apparently hijacked Park’s mother’s youth, and because of that, her life.  He’d told Jacob he wasn’t proud of it.  And he wasn’t.  But the point in time when the pregnancy occurred was a really strange one in his life.  

In the end, it had all been worth it, though, because Park was spectacular and she’d brought life back into his just as he was ready to seek death forever.  Over a thousand years alive, with no real joy in his life, he’d decided he’d had his fair run.  It was time to end it.  To everything there is a season, he’d thought.  God, he was grateful he found her when he did.

Ahmose turned to him after saying goodbye to Starla.

“My brother from across the sea, child of the sun, please come anytime to our village.  I still would love to see your granddaughter.”

“You don’t feel it will be too difficult, considering the circumstances?”

“A first blood child, how can it be anything but joyful?  Please.  Bring her.
”

“I will.  I look forward to it.  Ahmose, why are we called children of the sun or moon? 
As first bloods, are we different?  Why have we all been kept separate from each other?”

“I do not know the reasoning for the separation.  What I know is that we were called the Dark Ones and the Light Ones a long time ago in history.  Those of us on this side of the world were the Dark Ones who are guided by the power and motion of the moon.  Oddly, we are able to be out in full sunlight briefly, which I know
you
cannot do.  Our abilities are different, and I think our philosophies, although it seems many westerners don’t bother with the spiritual at all.  We celebrate the spirit and our spirit amulets annually in an elaborate three night party.  Lots of drinking and sex.  You should come.  Ha.  Anyway, because those of us on this side of the globe have been called the Dark Ones, and guided by the moon, it stands to reason the Light Ones, your clan, are guided by the sun.  These are spirit symbols for how the clans differ.  Our power cycles, like the moon.   Monthly, it grows and wanes with the fullness of the moon.  We are strongest on the full moon.  It is when all of our important moments are implemented or celebrated.”

Koen
felt jacked up.  How had his people been here over a thousand years and had no knowledge of this?

“Your clan, children of the sun, your power cycles diurnally, with the sun.  It is actually stronger when the sun is full, but that is when you rest.  Your spirit symbol works against you unless you have found a way to guide it.  Koen, because of this, my people have been able to use our power to it’s maximum, and build this village in a way you never could.  Now, with this knowledge, I think you may become stronger than you ever knew. 
It will be exciting to see how this changes your clan.  Please, keep in touch.  We are family.  The blood is the same.  Just a little darker here.  Salaam, brother.”

“Salaam, Ahmose.  I will contact you before we come.  And that may be soon.”

Cherise and David had spent the rest of that first night getting to know the residents of the village.  Curled up in David’s arms as they rested, she told him she had to come back.

“There is a spirit here I have never seen.  It is connected to the earth and sky
through these people.  It’s beautiful, David.  I need to touch it.”

“Anytime, sweets.  This place just makes me sad right now because of the lost children.”

Cherise pulled his face to hers.

“Do not worry.  It will work out.  They have to choose this on their own, but they will.  Trust, my darling, trust.  Now, get inside me before I make you sleep by the waterfalls.”

“Yes, mistress,” he joked, mimicking Chione.

She was naked and he was inside her within moments.

Night came again and it was time to go.  Cherise and David waited for the rest of the group in the community gardens where they’d all first met.  They showed up shortly with just a small escort from Chione and other locals.  Ahmose had already said his goodbyes.

As they journeyed through the village, all the residents were generous with heartfelt wishes for safe travel and good futures.  Starla felt she was walking away from home. 
Her true home
.  It could have been here in this paradise.  It
should
have been here.

Jacob watched her watery eyes as he led her thr
ough the mystical veil.  They all turned after they passed to see the lush forest of trees and underbrush…and nothing else.

Turning to her, Jacob held her face in his hands, and kissed each eyelid, then each cheek, then her lips, gently, with just a soft brush of his tongue.

“That was to remind you of what we have begun together.  This is a moment of joy, not regret.  I know you chose me.  Let me prove to you it was the right choice.”

Starla lifted her hands to his face with heavier tears slipping down her cheeks.

“Oh, Jacob, I know that.  There is no regret.  Not about us.  I just…the babies…”

Koen turned away.  His heart squeezed as he thought about the same.  First blood children waiting to be born.  It was unfathomable.
  It would be a long time before he would be able to forget.  And they weren’t even destined to be his own. 

They
had a flight to Cairo, but would have to sleep the day through there before continuing safely the next night.

Cherise booked rooms in the finest hotel in town.  One for herself and David, one for Koen and Henri, and one for Starla and Jacob.

During the flight, Cherise came over to Jacob’s seat and tapped him on the shoulder.

“Go sit with the men.  We need some female chat time.”

Jacob started to object, but Starla smiled an okay, so he left to let Cherise slip in.

“Little vampire, I can feel your pain all the way over at my seat.  Believe me when I tell you it is all going to be okay.”

“I don’t think so.  I feel like I’m leaving part of me behind.”

“You are.  But the universe provides.  Let me ask you.  You love Jacob
, right?  This will be the first time you will truly be together with nothing between you.  Let all these troubles go and make love to him tonight with no regrets for the path not taken.”

Cherise touched Starla, and gave her a push to allow her mind to stay clear for the night.

Starla sighed and smiled.

“Better,” Cherise said.  And traded places with Jacob so she could sit beside David again.

When they arrived at the hotel seven hours later, Jacob grabbed their key, barked a quick “good night” and pulled Starla with him to the elevator.

Koen lifted his eyebrows as the desk clerk handed their key to Henri.

“Any special plans for me tonight, pup?” he asked. 

Henri let go a line of curse words in French and went up the stairs quickly.

With a last look at Cherise and David, Koen followed.

Cherise glanced up at David. 

“They’re children.   However, I think I’d like to get upstairs quickly with you, too, gorgeous.  It’s Cairo.  My first time in a decade.  I think I’d like to make love to my husband under the Egyptian sky.”

David started to lean down to kiss her when she suddenly turned.

He looked back to see a gorgeous woman waiting behind them with luminous brilliant blue eyes.  Cherise had already walked up to her.

He watched the woman look up startled at his wife,
hesitate, and allow Cherise to touch her.  They spoke, the woman looked stunned, then Cherise turned back to him.

“What was that about?” he asked.

“I don’t know.  Something… something about her.   I’ve never felt it before.  I’d like to read her, but I haven’t the right.  Her life is damaged now, but her path isn’t the one she expects.  I’m sorry, my love, I get distracted.  My talent kidnaps me sometimes.  Come with me.  Let me ‘read’ you.”

David glanced once more at
the woman with the blue eyes who was still staring at Cherise, nodded at her with a smile, and left with his wife.

As soon as the door opened, Starla was whooshed into the room and thrown on the bed where she laid spread eagled.  Jacob stood at the foot just staring at her.  He shook his head.

“I really can’t believe I finally have you here, alone, in a bed, with no crisis anywhere.  I can finally take hours to make love to you.”

“Alone is the important word here, mister.  Why are you over there with me alone here on this big bed?”

“Because all I can see in my mind right now is that surly young vampire standing on a counter with a skirt that barely covered anything, sliding a finger inside her and staring at me like I didn’t have the courage to replace it.  I haven’t forgotten a second of that night.  My cock has been in a constant state of arousal since then.  Do you have any idea what you did to me?”

Starla sat up to look at this magnificent man in front of her.  She’d wanted him desperately that night, too, and now to find out he had felt the same way… She took a deep breath. 

Slowly, she crawled to her knees, then stood in the middle of the bed, stepped up on top of the adjacent dresser, peeled off her shirt and stood there in a bra and skirt, much like that night.