On the third day of her imprisonment, Rainer got a call from Judge Valerie. Thanks to the research Isaac and Dane were doing, the hired killer had been found. Apparently, he was pretty good at what he did; the police had been looking for him in connection with five other murders.
After hearing that news, Angelina went to sit with Tommy and tried very hard not to think about how badly this would have turned out, had she not had Rainer’s quick thinking on her side. Tears, both from anxiety about what could have happened and gratitude that it had not, were short-lived, though. Tommy noticed quickly enough and was so concerned that Angelina had to make herself stop.
Rainer came swaggering into the spare bedroom shortly after. His standard cocky grin was plastered all over his face. Angelina rolled her eyes at him but had to admit that she felt better seeing him with his usual smugness.
“Did I, or did I not, tell you everything was going to be fine?” he asked as he lounged on the floor. He picked up one of the horses that Tommy loved to play with and made it ‘trot’ up Tommy’s arm. Tommy laughed hysterically and took it from him.
“I don’t recall those exact words,” Angelina mused. She tapped her chin thoughtfully, a teasing glint in her eyes. “In fact, I remember something about me saying that to you.”
Tommy slid off her lap and ran to the other side of the room, yanking out his teddy bear.
Rainer caught Angelina around her waist and tugged her into his lap. She squirmed, shaking her head. “Stop, I’m gonna crush your legs.”
“And how do you intend on doing that?” He kissed the back of her neck and nipped at her shoulder. “I’m far stronger than you are, and you know it.”
Angelina giggled as his breath tickled her neck. “Hey, not right now! Not in front of Tommy.”
Their boy looked over curiously at the sound of his name but resumed playing with his toys without batting an eyelash.
“He doesn’t care,” Rainer whispered in her ear. “I bet he won’t even notice if we slip away for fifteen minutes.”
Angelina elbowed him lightly in the ribs and managed to free herself. She shifted off his lap but stayed by his side and leaned against him. “We don’t have fifteen minutes, buster. But if you’re a good boy and very patient, we can celebrate our new freedom tonight.”
“Not quite,” Rainer replied slowly. “We don’t know if Marcus hired anybody else. But I promise, it won’t be long, now. I’ve spoken with the Elders and they’ve agreed to put a living clause on you and him. Meaning, he only lives as long as you live.”
Angelina nodded, relief washing over her. That was one way to solve that problem. As she toyed with the buttons on Rainer’s shirt, more out of habit than anything else, she watched Tommy playing with his toys. Her nerves came back, although for a completely different reason this time. She swallowed hard and pressed her hand flat against his chest.
“Rainer?”
“Mmm?”
“About… me not telling you about Tommy…”
Rainer sighed, tensing slightly. “We already talked about this, Angel. I know why you didn’t tell me, and I don’t blame you for that. I don’t have any reason to be angry with you. I love you. I do wish you had told me sooner, but the past is the past and there isn’t anything we can do to change that. I wish I had told you about Jennifer and Matthew before you found out…”
“But you had very good reasons for not telling me about them.” Angelina frowned as she rested her head on his shoulder. “It hurt so much… And I—”
“No.” Rainer pulled her around and pressed his mouth to hers. “No blaming yourself, my sweet Angel. No feeling guilty. We both could have done things differently and reacted to how we found out differently.”
“I was wrong not to trust you—”
“No,” Rainer said again.
Angelina huffed. Why wouldn’t he just let her apologize already?
He grinned at her and touched her cheek. “You were right not to trust me. You had to protect Tommy first and foremost, and you had no reason to trust me. You waited until I proved myself and you proceeded with caution. I couldn’t ask you to do anything better to look after Tommy.”
Angelina melted. For him to take her distrust and turn it into something positive was more than she had hoped for. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss. They kept it short and chaste, mindful of Tommy. He was still happily playing with his toys, though, oblivious to what his parents were doing.
“Thank you,” Angelina whispered. “Thank you for being so understanding. And thank you for being so good with Tommy. Even before you knew. You’ve been amazing.”
“Thanks. I’m glad you think so.” His smile faded as he turned back to Tommy, whose horse was currently stomping on the bear’s head. “I’m not afraid to admit that it terrifies me. The thought of being a dad again, I mean.”
Angelina nodded. “I understand, but you’re going to be a great father.”
Rainer smiled at her nervously. “I hope so.”
“When I found out I was pregnant… I was terrified. I knew right away that I was going to carry him to term, even though I had no idea how I was going to take care of a child. I had no way to pay for a doctor during my pregnancy and I was so, so very afraid. There were times when I almost hoped I’d die in childbirth because I thought he’d be better off without me, but I knew I could never give him up for adoption.”
Rainer wrapped his arms around her, a soft growl in his throat. She knew it wasn’t threatening; rather, it was him trying to comfort her. Him being angry that he couldn’t comfort her three years ago.
“I’ve grown a lot since then,” Angelina added softly. “I was able to get help. To understand where those feelings were coming from and learn how to recognize when I was in danger of them again. Plus, I know how to get the help I need before it gets too bad. I’m lucky, though. It was brought on mostly by external conditions I was facing.”
Tommy suddenly dropped his toys. He came over to them, looking incredibly concerned. He wrapped his small hand around Angelina’s and tugged on her gently. “Mama, I’m poopy.”
“I can take care of this.” Rainer got to his feet and swooped Tommy into his arm. “Come on, little man, let’s get some clean underwear on you.”
Angelina followed them out, getting some fresh undies for Tommy. Apparently, he hadn’t pooped yet, though, and Rainer was able to get him on the toilet in time. As Angelina watched him start instructing Tommy on how to clean himself up after going to the toilet, she leaned against the doorway.
“And now we wash our hands,” Rainer finished up, holding Tommy up so he could stick his hands under the stream of water. Once he set him down, Tommy ran off to go play again.
Angelina softly shut the bathroom door. There was something else she needed to know, something she had never been able to find any proper information about. Rainer gave her a quizzical look, and she wrapped her arms around her middle.
“What is his life going to be like?”
Rainer dried his hands. “It’s going to be good. Hard, I’m sure, but things are getting better. We’re seeing a lot of social growth—”
“No. I don’t mean that.” She took in a shuddering breath. “He’s half vampire and half human. Some things I’ve seen say that they only live a human’s lifespan, others say that they live forever and I just… I don’t know what to expect for him.”
“Children who are vampire-born tend to have a natural life in similar length to shifters. Aging normally until they hit their twenties and thirties and then slowing down to a fraction of the way humans age. Longer than humans but not immortal.” Rainer took her hands in his and held her gently. “However, there is always the option of turning them like more vampires are created. It’s not as simple, but it happens. Which is probably why you get the varying accounts.”
Relief washed over her. Angelina wrapped her arms around him, more than grateful to have him here, to be able to express her concerns and questions without worr
ying about whether or not it was just some weirdo on the internet making things up.
“He’ll have a good, long life then. And he can choose if he wants to be turned or not.”
Rainer nodded, but his expression remained serious. “And you?”
“And me… what?”
“Do you want to be a vampire? Or just live your human life and have that be enough?”
Angelina opened her mouth then closed it again. She hadn’t considered it before. She licked her lips and shook her head. “I don’t know. Not right now, at least. Did Jennifer…?”
“No. She didn’t. I accepted that at the time.” But worry shone from his eyes.
Before Angelina could reassure him, tell him that she couldn’t make a decision right now but that she would think about it, there was a knock on the bathroom door. Isaac’s voice came through. “The Elders are here to see the two of you.”
Angelina’s eyes widened in alarm. Rainer looked grim, and they both left the bathroom, Angelina holding Rainer’s hand tightly. She suddenly remembered—it had been election day in the Starlight mountains. Could the Elders be here with the results so soon?
She swallowed hard when she came into the living room and saw the group of them. There were at least fifteen. Some sat on the couch while others stood behind them. If it wasn’t for the heavy black robes they wore, she would not have guessed that they were vampires, let alone ancient ones.
“Greetings,” one of them, a wrinkled old woman, said as she bowed her head. “We come with news. The elections have been made, and we are all in agreement as to who will be the next ruler of the Starlight Mountains.”
Rainer’s hand tightened around hers. Tommy came running in, holding his T-Rex, and climbed onto the couch beside the old woman.
“Roar, roar,” he growled. “I have horses, too.”
“Tommy,” Angelina gently chided, leaving Rainer to collect their son, then retreating to her mate’s side.
The old woman smiled. “It’s quite all right. It’s good to see a vampire born to a human who has that friendly spirit. So many of them are so withdrawn and frightened of their own kind… But I suppose having his father in the picture helps.”
Angelina bit her tongue to stop herself from snapping that Rainer had only been in the picture for a couple months now. Instead, she inclined her head.
“I have always wanted him to have a strong connection to his heritage.”
The woman smiled. “Well said. On behalf of the council, we do apologize for Marcus’ behavior toward you. It’s unfortunate that this election was marred with such corrupt behavior. But tell me, how old is your son now?”
***
Angelina’s brow puckered with confusion, but Rainer had to stop himself from snapping that it wasn’t relevant.
“Two,” she said.
The Elder Lady, as she was known, nodded as though confirming something. “Tis what I believed. So, your protests that this human was not your mate and could not be given to Marcus if you lost the blood challenge was just an attempt to protect her, then?”
“No,” Rainer said, struggling to keep his voice even. “I didn’t know at the time that Tommy was my son. He’s got a friendly spirit because Angelina is a fantastic mother, not because I was in his life. And even if we had known then, just because she’s my mate doesn’t mean she’s my property. She’s my mate, not my slave.”
This wasn’t why they were here, either. Rainer knew that but stopped himself from saying it out loud. They would get to their point when they were ready. The Elder Lady smiled at him for a moment before turning her eyes back on Angelina. “Morticia told us that you had the desire to raise your son with ties to the vampire community. If Rainer wasn’t in the picture, would you have really?”
“I’d have done my best,” Angelina replied, her voice firm. “As I said, I wanted to raise him with a knowledge of his heritage.”
The Elder Lady smiled still. She cocked her head to one side, as though she was trying to get a read on Angelina. Apparently, though, that conversation was over because she turned back to Rainer. “You won the blood challenge.”
“I did. Marcus forfeited.”
“Indeed he did.” She sighed as she shook her head, disappointed. I have to say, it was unexpected and not what we had been hoping for. How will the vampire race grow without men who do what they must?”
Rainer was silent. He wasn’t going to argue the point as though he should have killed Marcus. Once they stopped caring about life, what would become of them?
The Elder Lady waited a moment, then, seeing she wasn’t going to get a reaction, laughed daintily. “But that is not why we are here. All of Marcus’ properties now belong to you, Mr. Weiman. You cannot simply state you don’t want them or give them back. If that were the case, then we would have blood challenges left and right, to transfer properties to others in order to avoid taxes. No. Some sanctity must be maintained.”
“Sanctity?” Angelina repeated. She started to say something else but fell silent, ducking her head. “Perhaps I should wait in another room.”
“That may be for the best,” the Elder Lady agreed. “After all, you are not a vampire. We cannot expect you to understand our ways. It’s best if you go take care of your little one while we speak with Rainer.”
A flush rose in Angelina’s cheeks. Rainer could see how much she was biting her tongue as she nodded and turned away. He would have liked to tell the Elder Lady that it was none of her business to come in here and treat Angelina like that, but these were the Elders. They ruled over all vampires, and he was not going to piss them off if he could help it.
“Now,” the Elder Lady said as he was left alone. “All of Marcus’ properties belong to you. There can be nothing else.”
Rainer opened his mouth to protest but quickly swallowed it at the look on the Elder Lady’s face. He thought a moment, then nodded slowly. “Very well. But it’s mine to do with what I will, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Then I wish to give all the properties that I won from Marcus to his sister, if she’s still alive.”
He’d heard rumors about her for years. Some said that the property Marcus owned had originally been hers, as she had married an Earl back in the 1500s and that after she became a vampire and her husband died, Marcus had stolen it from her. Whether it was true or not, Rainer didn’t know; he didn’t want that property. He was satisfied with what he had.
“Such a generous man,” the Elder Lady sighed. “Very well. If that is what you want to do. We will not forbid it. But you could have done so much more with his wealth and property. Why give it to some dirty beggar woman who couldn’t hold it in the first place?”
“I have enough wealth,” Rainer was quick to reply. “And I—”
“You waste it,” another of the Elders grumbled. “Giving it to humans. You could have made yourself great and instead you—”
“Instead he makes himself great with generosity,” another of them interrupted. “What does one man need with more than he needs when there are others dying for want of a loaf of bread? Or will you say let them eat cake?”
Rainer tensed. They were arguing before him over his wealth? That did not bode well. He waited, keeping quiet so as not to bring more attention to himself. The Elder Lady tapped her cane against the floor and the rest of the Elders quickly fell silent. She eyed them for a long moment before shaking her head and turning back to Rainer.
“No doubt you are anxious to hear the results of the election.”
“I am.”
“Very well. You did quite well for yourself among the Starlight citizenry. You had the highest votes, followed by quite a gap before your next competitor.”
Rainer stood a little straighter. Highest votes? That meant that the Starlight citizens wanted him for their king. He could do so much good with the position. The first thing he was going to do was demand that the US government make a thorough inquest into the treatment of paranormal beings in their jails, espec
ially the vampires. And then—
“However,” the Elder Lady continued, “you must remember that the citizens of the Starlight Mountains only account for sixty percent of the votes. And we, with a few exceptions, do not believe that you are kingly material. Not yet, at least. You are far too inexperienced.”
Rainer’s heart crashed. Disappointment moved through him so strongly that he almost said that what they thought didn’t matter, that the people had a right to rule themselves. He swallowed it back, though. Saying that would no doubt get his head removed from his shoulders.
He nodded stiffly. “Thank you for letting me know.”
The Elder Lady smiled. “Oh, and we have informed Marcus, now, that his life is dependent on Angelina’s. So I’m quite sure your little guard dragon is no longer needed.”
The Elders shifted around her, but Rainer ignored the looks they gave each other. He bowed to them and, since they had nothing more to say to him, showed them to the door. He shut it softly, shoulders slumping with disappointment. Isaac and Dane came out of the nursery, where Angelina and Tommy were, and both looked at him questioningly.
“Well?” Dane asked. “Are we going to have to start calling you Your Majesty now?”
Rainer shook his head. “No. But the threat to Angelina’s life is over now. So thank you, both of you,” he looked between the two of them. “I’m sure you’ll want to get home to your mate and son now. I heard the adoption went through. You must be very happy.”
Both men puffed up and beamed. Dane shook his hand and told him that, if he ever needed them again, they’d be around. Rainer thanked them. As soon as they were gone, Angelina brought Tommy out and the three of them started making supper—or rather, Tommy played in a sink full of water while Angelina and Rainer made supper.
“I’m sorry you didn’t get what you wanted,” Angelina told him as she cut some carrot sticks. “It’s not fair. The people of Starlight wanted you as their king and a bunch of old people decide that they know better? I bet it’s because they don’t like the thought of their power being challenged, and you’re too popular.”
“God, I hope not,” Rainer said, only half joking. He stirred the meat on the stove, then looked at Tommy, soaking wet, and grinned at Angelina. “I’m disappointed, yeah. I could have done a lot if I was made king. But I’ve also been thinking about what you said to me… why isn’t what I have enough?”
In Bed with the Vampire Page 16
