An Eternal Family 1

by Stein Willard

  “Hell no. I might not get the chance to do this again.” She looked up at Tahlia and found her smiling. “Come on, babe, go show me my mother-in-law.” She squeezed Tahlia’s hand. They might be walking through a vision, but they were visible to everyone around them. That’s why they had to dress the part. They had stolen the clothes from a washing line at a house on the outskirts of the city. She was dressed in a coarse grey dress and a long cloak with a large hood. Tahlia had opted for coarse trousers and a tunic with a hooded cloak.

  “Fine. We can take a side street and avoid the jostling.”

  “No.” She shrugged at Tahlia’s confused expression. “Where’s the fun in that? When in Rome; do as the Romans do, hey.” She grinned when Tahlia rolled her eyes at her, but Jemima was utterly pleased with the perfect timing of her pun.

  “Let’s go, woman.” She hooked her arm around Jemima’s shoulders, like a concerned husband, and led her down the street. “Do not make eye contact with the soldiers or they will stop you.”

  “Why will they stop me?”

  “Because you are beautiful.” She glanced at Jemima. “And in the time period you are well-known and well-recognized as Cesar’s goddaughter, Aurora.””

  Ah, Tahlia’s first lover. “Copy that, vampire.”

  They continued deeper into the city and Jemima was overwhelmed by the wonderful scents of bread emanating nearby. Her stomach growled. When last did she eat? She looked around and froze in her steps. Her mouth fell open as she stared into the silvery eyes of none other than Paloma Soleil. She squeezed Tahlia’s hand. “Oh my…”

  “I know. I spotted her earlier. Don’t say or do anything. If she recognizes me, she will want answers.” Tahlia kept her head low as she pushed past Paloma. The tall, gangly bread seller wasn’t so easily deterred though, and she followed them.

  “Bread. Some nice fresh bread. You want some, miss. I promise you won’t stop eating once you’ve tried some.” The voice sounded so youthful and Jemima had to physically force herself not to look at the blonde girl. “Come on, miss. I can see that you want to …”

  Tahlia spun around, her head still bowed and firmly pushed the blonde away. “Stay away, girl.”

  “Oh, Tahlia, was that necessary?” Jemima mumbled in a hurt tone as they moved on.

  “I had to. Paloma was well-known for her persistence. She wouldn’t have let us…” She stopped abruptly when something hard made contact with her head. A bread roll landed at Tahlia’s feet. “Well, there you have it.”

  “Atta girl,” Jemima hissed as she gave Tahlia an evil look. Tahlia cracked a tiny smile as she led them away from the irate bread seller. Feisty little Paloma would become one of the most feared vampires of all time. Lecrac couldn’t have made a better choice.

  The crush of human bodies finally thinned out as they were moving into a quieter part off the main street. The stalls were not as crowded as the ones in the main street, but they were not lacking for clientele.

  “These stalls draw a more local clientele. Their prices suit the pockets of the poor and the items are more basic than desirable.” Jemima noticed that there was a slight tension in Tahlia as she led them further down the path. “The house is not far from here.”

  She wanted to say something, but didn’t know what would be the appropriate thing to say to someone who hadn’t seen their mother for over two thousand years. Instead she squeezed her wife’s hand.

  “I love you, vampire. Just remember that.”

  Tahlia gave her a sideways look and Jemima noticed a relieved smile on the beautiful face. It would seem that she did in fact know what to say.

  †

  Gabriella smiled down at the crib. Noa and Raven were actually holding hands as they slept. These babies were the cutest she had ever seen. She would like to think that she would’ve been this close to her own sister, had she still been alive. The smile on her face dimmed at the thought of her sister. She didn’t think about her as often as she used to since the birth of Noa, but thoughts of her were still there, lingering in her subconscious.

  “Everything okay, my love?” Strong arms slipped around her waist from behind and she leaned back against the solid strength of her lover. Lover. It suddenly sounded so temporary. People had many lovers and they didn’t think twice to move on from one to another. Looking at her baby and feeling the arms of Trinity around her, Gabriella realized that this was her family. Molan had said that Noa could have children one day and then they would be grandparents. She turned around in Trinity’s arms and met the vampire’s questioning green eyes.

  “Are you happy, querida?”

  Trinity blinked. “What kind of question is that, Gabby? Of course, I’m happy. Why would you ask me that?”

  Gabriella cupped the beautiful face. “Maybe because I feel like I’m taking you for granted, that’s why.”

  The vampire sighed softly as she led Gabriella to the bed. “What’s brought this on?”

  “Nothing.” She rolled her eyes. Trinity was not stupid. “My family. I don’t think about them as much as I used to.”

  “What do you think is the reason?” Trinity took Gabriella’s hand and brought it to her lips.

  “Noa’s birth changed a lot of things for me.” She watched as Trinity ran her thumb over her hand, the act so soothing, almost hypnotic. “I feel so full. Too full sometimes.” The action stopped and Gabriella looked up. Trinity had a puzzled look on her face. “I need to make this feeling a permanent part of my life.” Trinity looked even more confused and Gabriella realized she wasn’t doing a good job of expressing her need. She probably just needed to come out and say it. “I want to marry you.”

  This time, Trinity looked dazed before her green eyes lit up with delight. She gently lifted Gabriella onto her lap and wrapped her in her arms. Gabriella felt her tears fill up at the tender and familiar act. Trinity always used to hug her like this when she was extremely happy. She remembered the first time it happened. It was when she passed a particularly difficult geometry test in middle school after hours and hours of tutoring by Trinity. That night when the vampire came to her room, she was nearly bursting with excitement to tell her. Trinity had quietly lifted her into her lap and held her for a long time. Since then, it had become their small celebratory act. To have Trinity do that tonight, was a very good sign. It also had Gabriella wondering if she had perhaps waited too long to ask her. If so, then why didn’t Trinity ask her?

  “I take it that’s a ‘yes’.”

  Trinity nodded and leaned back so they could look at each other. There was a huge smile on her face. “It’s a resounding yes.” They kissed and when they finally broke away, Gabriella leaned her head against Trinity’s chest. In the silence surrounding them, Noa’s soft, rhythmic breathing sounded loud and reassuring.

  “Why didn’t you ask me to marry you?”

  The vampire’s arms tightened around her. “Because it had to come from you.”

  “Why?” Gabriella lifted her head, her eyes searching Trinity’s.

  “If a commitment was to be made, it had to come from you. I left the decision with you, my love. Knowing what happened to your family all those years ago, I wanted you to feel ready to start your own family.” She cupped Gabriella’s cheek. “I wasn’t going to put pressure on you, nor was I going to make you choose between your job and the time you spend with Noa and me.”

  Gabriella swallowed. Her job. That’s what it all boiled down to. She had thought she was doing so well, coming home as early as she could to tuck in Noa and spend a few hours with Trinity before she turned in for the night. Her job had been like a buoy for her all these years. Something to help keep her afloat when everything else in her life was pulling in different directions. After losing Trinity… No, after she sent Trinity away, asking her never to come back again, she had worked hard to establish herself. Life had been so uncertain back then. But then Trinity came back into her life, bringing a whole lot of danger with her in the process, but also a sense of stability and be
longing. Trinity was her link to her past and to her future. Why hadn’t she seen that before?

  She curled her arms around the vampire. She had always been there. “I’ll scale down my hours at the office. Maybe only go in three times a week.”

  Trinity frowned. “Do you really want to do that? You love your job.”

  “But I love you more,” she said firmly. She kissed the strong chin. “On my days off, we could maybe find something we both feel passionate about and volunteer for the cause. That way we can do something together and take Noa with us.”

  Trinity smiled and kissed Gabriella’s ring finger. “I would like to explore that option and…” The green eyes grew lidded. “…more.”

  Gabriella giggled when she was dumped on the bed and Trinity moved over her. “I like the more part.”

  “See, I think we’ve already found a cause we both like and would love to volunteer for.”

  She curled her fingers into the rich copper locks and kissed her soon-to-be fiancée.

  †

  “Are you sure that was what she said?”

  Inger rolled her eyes. “Yes, for the third time.” She pulled at Paloma’s hand. “Now, how about we get some shuteye while the girls are asleep?”

  Paloma glanced at the crib where Aria and Isis were sound asleep and back to her wife. It was obvious that Inger had more than sleep on her mind. She allowed herself to be dragged over to the bed. There Inger slipped out of her nightgown, revealing her trim, full-breasted figure. When she hit forty, two years ago, Inger had spent an inexhaustible amount of time in their home gym. At first, Paloma had enjoyed having Inger with her when she trained in the underground gym, but after a while, she began to notice a slight desperation about her wife. She had immediately sat Inger down and was flabbergasted when the truth to her wife’s obsessive exercising came to light. That Inger had thought, Paloma might be tempted to stray unless she kept her body in shape, had been outrageous to her. When verbal assurance didn’t seem to get through, Paloma had found an alternative. She began to make love to Inger, every chance she got; any possible way she could. After six months of non-stop carnal persuasion, Inger had finally been convinced and banned Paloma from their bedroom for a whole week. But it had worked. Inger was soon back to her old self.

  “Like what you see, vampire?” Inger’s eyes glittered like polished sapphires.

  “Always.” She smiled when Inger giggled naughtily. She stood still as Inger began to undress her. It was only when she stepped out of her pants that Inger stood back and looked at her.

  “They had you in mind when they designed ladies’ boy shorts, babe.” Her eyes raked over Paloma’s body and when she approached Paloma, it was to slip her hand into the underwear and grab a handful of Paloma’s derriere. “We’ll leave it on for a while longer.”

  “As you wish, my love.”

  “Oh, I wish for a lot of things, vampire,” Inger whispered against her lips. Paloma kissed her deeply, tasting the soda on the blonde’s tongue. When Inger pushed her towards the edge of the bed, she gladly fell back, reaching out to catch Inger.

  An hour later, Paloma was climbing back into her pants, looking tenderly at her sleeping wife. The excitement of the evening had been too much for her wife and after one, spectacular orgasm, she had lost her steam. She moved over to kiss the two girls, before she left the room.

  †

  Feeling a whole lot better than he ever had in the past three months, Copernicus poured himself a liberal amount of scotch and walked to the large windows overlooking the city. He had stood here, at this exact spot, numerous times before; looking out over city and sipping scotch. The range of emotions he experienced then, had been just as predictable as his choice of location and drink. Power. Accomplishment. Superiority. Those three words also described him to a T.

  But tonight, none of those emotions echoed through him. Instead, he felt helpless and uncertain. His future looked vague and there was nothing he could think of to change that. The only chance to have secured his future had been taken from him. It crumbled before it even got a chance to take off. There was a soft footfall behind him and he drained his glass.

  “And what do you have to say for yourself?”

  There was a short silence.

  “I don’t know what you refer to?”

  “Syria.”

  He turned to fix a cold stare on the vampire. Valiant quickly averted his eyes.

  “She was good at hiding her true self.”

  Copernicus grounded his teeth. That she was. He, himself, hadn’t even picked up on the vampire’s double-dealing. Not once. Yes, he had known that she disliked him. Maybe even hated him, but that was normal for him. He was sure Valiant despised him, too. But to work for his archenemy? That was too much for him. So, maybe he should cut Valiant some slack. The man was at least loyal and Copernicus couldn’t remember the last time Valiant had disappointed him.

  “I know.” He walked over to the bar to refill his glass. “Now I have two more people baying for my blood,” he threw over his shoulder.

  “I’m afraid you’ve lost me there. Is there someone else apart from Syria that we need to worry about?”

  He turned away from the bar and watched the man from over the rim of his glass. “Lake Noble.”

  Valiant’s eyes narrowed slightly. “But she’s dead. Syria killed her.”

  “Yes, until she was turned by the Royals.” He saw Valiant flinch. “She was with them in Peru.” His jaw still hurt from the stunning blow she had landed. “And she made it clear that she wasn’t going to rest until I’m dead.”

  The news seemed to have truly affected Valiant and Copernicus took pity on him. It was a good thing that he didn’t know about Mopi’helma, yet. Having a determined group of super-powerful vampires itching to separate his head from his shoulders and huge lizard-like creatures with a debilitating toxin in their arsenal on his tail, was not something Valiant would react to well right now. Instead he pointed at the bar. “Get yourself something to drink. We have to reorganize ourselves now that Syria has switched sides. I should also mention that I’m in discussion with a group of private security guys to bring them onboard.”

  Valiant stopped as he was about to pour himself a drink. “Do you think that’s a good idea to bring more humans into this?”

  “Why not?”

  “Men like that are cautious and curious by nature and we risk exposing ourselves to them. Once that happens, the world might be whipped up into some kind of hysteria about our existence.”

  Copernicus had considered that. The first rule of being inhuman was to preserve the different species and that entailed keeping their existence secret. He knew he was breaking a cardinal sin, by potentially exposing the Outlander and vampire races, but if it meant that he could shield himself from the onslaught of a more powerful enemy, then he didn’t care. He shrugged. “Would you rather be alive or dead? In the end that is all that should matter to us.”

  “I’m not so sure about this. In our attempt to survive we might in actual fact, reduce our chances of survival exponentially.” Valiant tossed his drink and placed the glass on the table. “It won’t only be Royals coming after us then.”

  Valiant was right. There were the dormant werewolf clans and the witches’ covens to consider. But they’d been quiet over the last few centuries. All of them taking their cues from the Vampire Queen. If there was a catastrophe, Tahlia dealt with it swiftly and effectively. She had grown that powerful over the centuries. But what to do when the most powerful being in the world is coming for you? Shouldn’t one try everything to protect yourself against the attack?

  “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”

  XXII

  Syria opened her eyes and sighed. She felt strangely refreshed. She turned her head and frowned. She was on the bed in a strange room. It was still dark outside. Her internal clock placed it at two a.m. Where was she and who brought her here?

  And she wasn’t alone.

  She
sniffed the air and when she caught the scent, she surged into a seated position. The blonde sat quietly, watching her.

  “You came?”

  “I said I would.”

  Syria swung her feet off the bed and stood. Lake’s eyes widened slightly and Syria lifted her brow. She was dressed in her underwear. Whoever put her to bed, had also taken the time to undress her. She wondered if it was the blonde. The way the woman was looking at her half-naked body negated that idea. She saw her duffel back on the couch and ruffled through it, aware of the blonde’s gaze on her. She pulled out pants and a black t-shirt and dressed quickly. Afterwards, she went to sit on the bed. “What happened to me?”

  Lake cleared her throat. “You don’t remember anything?”

  Was there something to remember? She frowned. Did the two of them…? She shook her head. No, she would’ve remembered that. Then what? She remembered going out to feed with two guards assigned to her by Tahlia. She had fed well. That, she remembered, because her bloodlust was well satiated.

  “I went out to feed and that’s all.”

  “You don’t remember drinking from an ayahuasca user?”

  She mentally traced her steps from the moment she had left the hotel. Her first quarry had been outside a nightclub. The second was in his car. The third…Where did she meet the third. Was there even a third? Her forehead creased. Yes, there was third. All she could remember though, was the strong smell of urine and other bodily fluids. She shuddered. What was she doing in such a place? Oh Crap, Paloma!

  “Paloma was there.”

  Lake grinned. “She brought you home after finding you in a stinking alley and high out of your mind.”

  Syria blinked. “How is that even possible? I’m not supposed to be affected by drugs.” Now that she knew what she had missed, her mind opened up and images flashed before her. She had been with her sisters. They were back home in the village, chasing each other through the forest. The air smelled clean and crisp. A smile formed on her lips. Later they had lain amongst the pine leaves and talked about their future. Aria was excited about meeting her soul mate. Isis wanted to have sex. Lots and lots of it. Noa’s dream was to repopulate the Outlander race using science, but love was not in her future. Raven wanted to bring the race together. Find each and every one scattered around the globe and reassure them that they would never have to hide again.