The Kingdom of the Nine; The Vampire Legacy IV (15 page)

“I can't forget us, Cait.” He said, softly.
Feeling frustrated, I closed my eyes and relaxed, never seeing him
advance, until his hands were on my face and his lips were pressed,
heatedly, against mine. I reached up, touching his hands, thinking
about pulling them away, pushing him away, but I just held on to
him as his kiss became more demanding and the fire I felt between
us started to get overwhelming.

When he finally broke, after what seemed like
an eternity, he looked down at me with sparkling eyes and he
smiled.

“It's been a long time since you've done
that.” I whispered, swallowing hard as I looked up at him.

“I know, too long.” He sighed. “Cait, this
thing with Ashley and telling her about our past with each other,
changes nothing.”

“It changes everything, because you are going
to be with her, no matter how we feel, apart or together, and I'm
still going to be here married to a man that I never see, thinking
about you being with her every second of the day, driving myself
crazy, because I can't stand her” I sighed, and rubbed my face. I
looked up at him, drew in a deep breath and then let it out slowly.
“I think you should leave.”

“Fine.” He said, quietly, and then turned to
go. I followed him to the door and watched as he turned to look at
me. “Come to dinner, at the mansion, tomorrow night, the boys can
play together and I won't have to worry about you being in this
place by yourself with just Damien to protect you.”

“What about Ashley?” I asked, softly.

“I'll talk to her today; that is if she's
awake when I get home, and explain some things.”

“About us?”

“No, I don't think I want to explain us to
her anymore, not the “us” we are now. What we were two years ago,
before she came home has nothing to do with what we feel now,
except that it's stronger.” He smiled, leaned down and kissed me,
softly, again. “I don't want to leave you, yet.”

“But, it's probably better if you did.” I
smiled, touching his face with my hand. “There are some things that
are out of our reach still.”

“I know.” He answered and stepped back, away
from me, grabbed the doorknob, and opened the door. “I'll see you
later, and you don't have to come to work today.”

“I kind of figured that.” I smiled and
watched him step out the door. He walked away, and over to his car,
where he turned and looked back at me, before getting in and
backing out of my driveway.

I closed the door, turned and leaned against
it for a few minutes before going upstairs, changing into something
more suited to sleep in, and climbed into bed to try to get a few
hours of sleep before Damien woke up.

* * * * *

It was a cool night as we walked from our car
to the house, with Damien bounding away by leaps ahead of me. We
were casually dressed in jeans and shirts, but I knew that Julian
would be in a suit, for that was just his way and the table would
be set in some fancy way because nothing was done half way in that
house.

When we entered the building, we were greeted
by a young man, named Jake, who took our coats and told us that the
others were in the sitting room. Damien ran on ahead, knowing
exactly where he was going because he knew this house, top to
bottom and I smiled when I heard him call out Julian's name.

I stepped into the room and stood in the
doorway, watching my son and a blond haired little boy play with
some new trucks that Michael had presented them with, and Quinn
walked over to greet me. He informed me that Julian and Ashley were
having a private discussion and would be out shortly, then he waved
Lauren over and the three of us discussed the day.

“Things went fairly well this morning when
Julian got home.” Lauren whispered, reassuringly, as if I needed to
hear that I hadn't broken up the whole house.

“What did you and Julian discuss last?” Quinn
smiled. “He came in awfully flush and preoccupied.” However, when I
looked up at him, his smile faded. “That serious, huh?”

“He asked me what I thought of Ashley,” I
replied and shrugged, “and I told him that I couldn't give my
approval if that's what he wanted, and he knew why.”

“It's hard.” Quinn sighed, and touched my
shoulder, gently, and then I watched him glance at Lauren. “We know
how he feels about you.”

“But, also know how he is with Ashley, too.”
Lauren added. “It's going to be hard on all of us to keep this
straight until you're done telling your side.”

“I know, but how much about us should I leave
out?” I smiled and then shook my head. “How much should she
know?”

“She should know everything.” Michael said,
softly, as he stepped up to us. “This way here you don't have to
think about what you did and didn't tell her, when you're around
her.”

“Oh, yeah, I could see the blackmail already
if I told every intimate detail about when I came back.” I said,
shaking my head.

“Maybe, you should leave some of that out.”
He smiled, and then looked up as the two of them walked into the
room.

I smiled at Julian, who winked back, then
turned back to Ashley who had begun to ask me a question.

“I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that.” I
said, looking her in the eyes.

“No, I didn't think you did, you were too
busy staring at him.” She sighed and crossed her arms. I glanced at
Julian, once more then looked at her as I felt my face grow warm.
“It all right, you know.”

“Excuse me?” I asked.

“For you to love him, it's all right, because
I know that you're not coming between him and me.” She replied,
confidently. I looked at her as if she had lost her mind, but, I
suddenly understood. I wasn't a threat because I was married. “He
told me what went on between you two.”

“He did, did he?” I asked and watched her
nod. “What did he say?”

“That you were there at the time and not me,
otherwise he and I would have been together.” She smiled. I watched
her eyes light up with mischief and I caught on to her little plan.
“Did you really think that you meant something other than a quick
piece of ass that night?”

“You're a vulgar and disgusting pig.” I
whispered, stepping closer to her. “And, it's not my fault that he
hasn't been with you in all the years he's known you.”

“How would you know?” She snarled. I could
tell that little bit of information bothered her.

“I have my sources.” I said as I crossed my
arms and turned to go, but I looked back at her briefly.

“By the way, I heard you were lousy in bed.
No wonder he decided not to waste his time.”

I stepped away from her, feeling the fury
that seemed to flow off her very being, and then I felt a light
hand on my shoulder and I knew it was her. I turned, slowly, to
face her and looked at the red glow in her eyes.

“Know this before you turn your back on me,
O'Neal,” she whispered in a threatening voice, “I could rip you
apart.”

I smiled at her and shrugged her hand off my
shoulder then stepped back.

“I'd like to see you try it.” I replied and
walked away.

The second floor hall was lit by candles;
safely placed in hurricane lamps mounted to the walls and I stopped
to look at one of them briefly before I turned and looked in the
direction of the figure that was walking out of the darkness
towards me, holding his hands behind his back.

“I thought you were in the Alps.” I smiled as
I turned towards him fully.

“Well, you know your sister and her instincts
about trouble especially when it has to do with you. So, we flew
right home and that's when I heard that little Ashley Wolf had
returned. I came to see how you were holding up against your
competition.” Nick smiled, raising his eyebrows. He reached out and
drew me close, hugging me tightly to him.

“There really isn't any competition.” I
laughed, wrapping my arms around his waist. “Since she's already so
confident that I'm not coming between them, him and her, so, it's
all right that I love him.”

“Ah-ha, so she thinks.” Nick laughed.

“I'm not trying to break them up.” I smiled,
backing away from him. “All I want to do is gouge her eyes out with
a couple of rusty nails so she can't look at him anymore.”

“Brutal.” He smiled and held my hand. “Cait,
tell me that you’re all right, so that I can pass it on to your
worrywart, I mean, sister.”

“I'm fine, just a bit, how should I say this,
possessive.” I replied then shrugged. “After all, Larado did
prophesize it.”

“Oh, please, like you really believe that
stuff.” He laughed, again and we walked back towards the back
sitting room, where he and I sat together on the couch. “This
should have ended two years ago; you should have dropped that bum
of a husband and been with someone else.” He stopped and looked me
dead in the eyes. “It's too late, isn't it?”

“I'm afraid so.” I sighed.

“What is it?” He asked, worried.

“I'm pregnant.” I whispered.

“You're...pregnant?” He asked, softly. I
nodded at him, and then stood up. “Are you sure who the father is
this time?”

“That's not funny.” I replied and looked at
him. “The baby is Robert's.”

“You don't sound so thrilled about it.”

“It's not that I'm not happy, Nick, but it’s
one more thing tying me to him when I know he's off with someone,
having an affair.”

“Maybe, when this is all out in the open, you
should think about divorcing him. I crossed my arms over my chest
and sighed.

“And, do what? I'm pregnant, with a four year
old. How would I support us?”

“Tell Julian to start paying you or start to
charge for the services you give to the other vampires that you
see.”

“I don't think your brother could afford me
if that's what I did.” I smiled and looked over at Nick, who smiled
at me and shook his head. “He worries about you.”

“I know, and I'll see him, soon, just not
now.” Nick stood up and walked over to me as I stood near the
window. “Have you told Julian?”

“He knows something, but nothing that would
confirm it.”

“I meant about the baby?” He said, looking
down at me.

“I told him the other day.” I looked up at
Nick and smiled. “He'll find out the rest in due time, but it's
hard to just come out and say something like that.” I walked away
from the wall, and then looked back at him. “Are you coming
down?”

“No, I think I'll just sit in the shadows and
watch what events unfold.” He smiled. “Then, maybe I'll pop out if
you need me.”

“Always the protector.” I smiled and kissed
him on the cheek. “I should go and make my appearance.”

“Watch yourself, remember, she's vicious.”
Nick laughed.

“Please.” I replied, waving him off as I left
the room.

13

The dining room was set up just as I thought
it would be, eloquently, with a little table for the children set
over in the corner. The other people in the house had already
gathered there when I stepped into the room and I felt a bit
awkward as I looked at the power that seemed to surround me. Julian
walked over and stood next to me as I smiled up at him.

“You look lost.” He pointed out. I shook my
head.

“Not lost, just observing.” I replied and
looked at his outstretched hand. Slowly, I reached over and took it
as he looked me in the eyes.

“Things will get better.” He whispered as the
rest of the room seemed to disappear and the two of us concentrated
on only each other. “I promise you that.”

“Can you really make that kind of promise,
especially at this time, in this house? Take a look around, Julian;
look at the power here, the only thing that can be promised is that
things are going to happen. Things that are out of our control,
yours and mine.” I sighed and looked back at the crowd. “She's
vengeful.”

“She doesn't mean it, like you said; she
thinks she's had me all to herself. Think about how you would react
if you thought that way.” He answered. I smiled as I looked at
him.

“See, that's the difference between her and
me.” I laughed. “I've always known that I couldn't have you all to
myself.”

“Come, it's time to eat.” He smiled as he
walked me to the table.

I sat on the side closest to the children so
that I could watch Damien. Dinner went uneventfully slow and the
conversation around the table was that of anything but of what
happened two years ago. After dinner and shortly after the nanny
took the two boys to the large playroom that Julian had set up
across the hall from the sitting room, the six of us sat around,
having drinks outside on the patio.

“So,” Julian said, softly, as Ashley pulled
up a seat beside him at the table. I looked over at him from where
I stood looking out at the backyard, and then I leaned against the
wall. “Shall we begin?”

“That's up to you.” I replied, shrugging, and
then I looked at Ashley. “Or, you.”

“I'm interested to see where this whole thing
is going.” She smiled, placing her drink on the table beside her.
The others seemed to find seats around the table, also, and I
crossed my arms, hugging myself as I looked at the candle's flame
that sat in the middle of the table.

“Where were we last?” I questioned myself
then I looked up at the window just over the patio and smiled at
Nick, who stood there, half in the shadows, staring down at us.
“Oh, yes, the fourth person, and Larado.”

I closed my eyes, and concentrated on that
day, and the strange events had led me to believe that something
about Larado wasn't right.

* * * * *

I stood there, in the small room that Nick
and I had been talking in, looking at Julian, who was, at the
moment, biting on his finger, thinking to himself.

“So, what are you thinking about?” I asked
him.

“Witchcraft.” He whispered and turned to face
me. I looked at him, eyebrows raised and then I sat down.