by C. M. Steele
She grimaced, guiltily biting her lip before she answered, “Yes, she told him already.”
“So, it was safe for him to go into battle with his mind clouded?” I asked, a little ticked that they thought he could handle the news but I couldn’t.
She rolled her eyes at me, which got her a smack on the ass and a guilt-free smirk. She narrowed her eyes at me playfully, then snipped, “No, he knew before we were alerted to the upcoming attack.”
“I need to have a talk with our seer and my second in command,” I grumbled. People keeping secrets from me annoyed me to no end. It was hard to trust people when you were being given half information or none at all.
“She told him the night before.”
“Yeah, but we need to do something to protect the both of you. She could be the one to have a girl.” It made sense if she was the one because my mother had been the ruler along with my father.
“Falcon, I get the feeling that you don’t care for Charlotte.” I was waiting for her to say something. I tried to bite back my constant need to say something less than kind to Charlotte. I thought I did a good job of hiding my irritation, but apparently I was wrong.
“Let’s get going,” I said, ignoring her statement.
“You didn’t answer my question.” Her expression was comical. I felt like she was going to stomp on my foot. She was adorable when she was annoyed with me.
“There was no question to answer,” I said, stealing a kiss from her angry mouth.
She hissed and scrunched her nose at me as I stood there waiting for her to ask me. She took a deep breath and calmed herself down, then formed her question with a bit of bite in her words. “You don’t like Charlotte, do you?”
I shrugged because it wasn’t as easy as they thought. As a leader, I had to be fair and just. As a mate, I was irrational and in full protective mode. Charlotte had failed me when it came to protecting my mate and her supposed friend. “It’s hard for me. I want to like her. After all, she’s mated to my brother, but she didn’t warn me you were in danger.”
“Um, because she knew it would have played out well. One of us would have died if she told you.”
“That’s what bothers me. My mother was the same way and it drove me insane, but I loved her. It’s harder with Charlotte. She’s not the same person to me.”
“I know, Falcon. You don’t have to love her. But you should respect her. You don’t know this, but she saved me from being attacked when I was in college. If it wasn’t for her, I don’t know what would have happened that night.” I stepped back and walked away without a word. Emotions were pumping through my veins and my fangs were protruding. My feelings were conflicted, but she was right. Charlotte had been there for her from the start, saving her the best she could. It was more than I had done. I felt Nora as she followed tentatively behind me. Her soft touch pressed against my shoulder blades, then she moved her hands down and around to my stomach. Her head rested on my spine. My body was shaking with rage and only Nora could take it away.
“Nora, I’m sorry. The thought of someone harming you guts me. To know there was a time before we met that I could have lost you steels my ire and makes me desirous to hunt the weak being down and rip his head off,” I snarled, wishing that I could find the bastard.
“Falcon, never apologize for being so in love with me,” she whispered. “I never will.”
I tugged on her hold, then turned to take in her beauty. “I’d do anything for you, Nora.”
“Do you think we have time?” she asked, giving me a squeeze on the front of my pants. My eyes widened, then I grinned. This woman was insatiable. I dropped my head to steal a kiss when I heard the knock at my door. Damn, it was Draco and Charlotte.
“Never mind. It seems we have company, and I can’t send them away,” I complained. We had a ton to talk about before we started the next round of training.
I moved to the door, holding Nora’s hand. I opened it with a grimace. My cock was stiff and I wasn’t in the mood to talk at the moment. “Come in,” I muttered, turning back and walking to our sitting room that connected to our bed chambers.
“You seem thrilled to see us this morning. I thought you’d be chipper,” Draco teased.
Charlotte eyed Nora and a silent exchange passed between the two which I didn’t miss. “Yes, I know, Charlotte,” I stated, pulling Nora to me and sitting her down on my lap. “About both of you, too,” I added.
“Wait? You’re pregnant, too?” Draco asked, his jaw dropping as Nora nodded. “Wow.”
“Yes, so is there a way to find out what we’re having? Can we go to do an ultrasound or something?” Nora asked, eagerly bouncing in my lap.
“That’s a good idea. I say we break into a prego doc’s office and do the test ourselves. I mean, it’s not that hard. We’re looking for the bit and bobs or not,” Charlotte said.
With a twist of her head, Nora looked at her friend and said, “Yeah, but in normal pregnancies this isn’t seen for months.” Then she turned her gaze to Draco and back to me. “You two would know, how long does this last?”
“I would say about four months. It’s been so long since we’ve seen someone who was pregnant.”
“Really? It explains why we’re starting to show. Thank goodness, I already don’t like the nauseous feeling and the damn smells. Everything is irritating my nose,” Charlotte complained, scrunching up her nose.
“You, too? I can’t stand to be near anyone,” Nora confessed. Immediately, I felt like I got kicked in the nuts.
“Damn, that’s harsh, my love,” I told her, my feelings hurt.
She brushed her hand against my cheek and shook her head. “Well, everyone but you. Your scent to me is stronger and all consuming. I crave it.”
“Do you love the way I smell?” Draco asked Charlotte, leaning into her.
“You know I do. We hardly slept last night,” she murmured against his lips.
“Okay, so we need to time it and see which place we can get in. They won’t have cameras in the rooms, so we should be able to teleport in without being seen.”
“I think my female doctor’s office had one. They aren’t opened on the weekends, so we can go there,” Nora added.
“That will have to do. Check it out while we’re in training so that we know when we can get it done.” It sounded like a great plan, but then Charlotte’s face changed from a smile to a frown. She was staring out not focused on any of us.
“Oh no,” Charlotte gasped. She looked at me and stated, “Arm your men. They are coming to strike soon.”
“Both of you stay here,” I ordered, kissing Nora hard. Our kiss ended too quickly for my liking, but we didn’t have time for more.
“I’m going to check the surveillance. Do you know what time?” Draco asked his mate, looking down on her as he held her by the waist.
“No, I don’t. The sun is up in the sky.” The panic on her face told me that this battle was going to be more dangerous than before.
She kissed him, then pushed him away.
Draco and I teleported from the room to the security center in the secret room of the castle. As soon as we were in the room, the sirens went off. They were already around the farthest perimeter. “This was two battles in less than twelve hours and during the daytime. Stavros can’t be in the light during the day, so I wonder if he’s hiding away and viewing the fight from a safer place. There has to be a lookout somewhere relaying the information or one of the bastards has on a body cam.”
“Falcon, I have a signal jammer for use during the battle. Anything in our battle zone crashes. He probably has someone with a body cam, but it’s not getting a signal until I hit the button. We must scour the area for any evidence of a camera.” Both of us teleported out to the barracks and called the men into battle.
“They are along the perimeter already. Let’s go,” I roared. In a flash, everyone was out the doors, slipping on their armor as they took their positions in around the castle. Our numbers weren’t as great a
s the nighttime when we could enlist all the army at once. However, we had more soldiers than they did and the advantage of knowing the land easily.
Draco and I headed to the front line of the invading foe. Our eyes focused on their armor and I saw the one with a camera. It reminded me of the human’s police body cams. “The signal is already jammed and isn’t going to be undone, so let the battle begin,” I bellowed. Rushing in with swords swinging in unison, Draco and I diminished their numbers two at a time. I started to see the first group retreat back.
“We can’t let them escape,” he growled.
“They’ll want us to give chase, Draco,” I said, pressing my hand to his chest, stopping him from hunting them down. We joined the rest around the perimeter as Dante wielded the blade with more confidence, taking out his foe with ease. Staring down my next Lamian soldier, I smiled. They wouldn’t defeat me and they were foolish to even try.
“Do you smile? Silly, old fool. Your world will crumble.”
“Not before you do,” I said with a grin.
“Your mate will meet her fate,” he sneered. Immediately, my expression changed to anger. He threatened Nora and that alone was more than enough to be killed.
“See you in hell,” I said through gritted teeth. Hitting my trigger point, I snapped and wasted no time, lobbing off his head and stabbing his heart in less than a second. I peered around the field outside the castle and only my men stood. We had managed to get rid of the last who stayed to fight and die.
“Victory,” Draco shouted to our men.
“Victory,” they cheered back, raising their swords in celebration. I had a feeling that this was only the beginning. Stavros was trying to test us and get more details about the castle and the numbers we possessed.
“Game on, Stavros,” I muttered, walking into the castle before teleporting to my bed chambers and locating my wife for a special rendezvous.
Chapter 12
Charlotte
“Please tell me they’re going to be alright,” Nora demanded, her behavior becoming more and more erratic. She was scared and nervous, and it was starting to show.
I patted her hand and led her to a seat as I said, “They’re going to be alright. Come, let’s sit down. I want to know how he took the news.”
“Like a man possessed. He was absolutely beastly. Manly, or rather vampire, pride almost had him pounding his chest in success and proof of his prowess.” She started wagging her eyebrows suggestively. “It was so wonderful,” she sighed.
“Wow, it’s strange how they took it completely different.”
“I was surprised because of the way Draco reacted to the news. I totally thought he was going to freak and lock me in some impenetrable fortress.” She laughed off her worries. In truth, I still wouldn’t put it past them two boys. I tried not to look for answers in the future. What if there were answers I didn’t want? As stressed as I felt, I really and truly cared for a nap. It was as if all my energy was zapped.
“Is it just me or do you feel so sleepy? I can barely keep my eyes awake,” I muttered, lying on her settee in the sitting room.
“I’m with you, Charlotte. I think it’s this pregnancy. But it could be the fact that you two stayed up all night.” I laughed sleepily, ready for a serious break.
I didn’t know how long I fell asleep for, but when I woke up, Draco was holding me in our bed. “What’s going on?” I asked, lost in the fuzzy haze of waking.
“It’s wonderful that you were so secure in our victory that you fell asleep, my love, but you’ve been sleeping quite a long time. Are you well?”
“I am,” I yawned, stretching my arms out and touching the tips of my fingers against our headboard, sitting up so that I could get back into the groove of things. I had the strangest dream that I didn’t quite understand, and I was certain it was some sort of premonition. I don’t know why there were a dozen wolves around, but I was curious.
“How are you doing?”
“I feel awful. I fell asleep during the battle and left Nora all alone. Oh my, how is she?”
“She’s doing good. They’re getting ready to sneak into the doctor’s office. Are you ready to go and see what’s going on with our baby?” Draco asked me.
“Sure.” I dashed off the bed, getting dressed, and moving faster than I ever had before.
“Wow, since when do you move that fast?” he asked, looking at me with narrowed eyes.
I shrugged and tossed up my hands. “I don’t know. I didn’t realize I was speeding.”
“I’m not upset, just surprised. Are you ready now?” he asked.
“Sure.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me to his chest. Instantly, we were transported to the examination room. Falcon and Nora were already waiting.
“Falcon, Leonora. You won’t believe it, but sleeping beauty went to bed and woke up with a change,” Draco said with a cheesy ass grin. I didn’t know how a beastly giant like him could be a dork, but he pulled it off. I rolled my eyes and shook my head. Most of the vampires were a hell of a lot faster than me.
“Whatever. I got faster, he says,” I informed them.
“That’s cool. Maybe it’s for a reason. So can we scan our bellies already?” Nora squealed, dancing around like a giddy, school girl.
“Fine, love. You hop up here first, and I will do the scan.” Falcon helped Nora onto the exam table.
“You know how to use an ultrasound machine?” I asked him. I didn’t know what they were taught or what century they went to med school.
“Yes, it was part of our courses in college. It was only once, but it’s pretty basic considering all I’m looking for is the baby’s bits.”
“Bits,” Nora giggled. “Sorry don’t mind me. I feel extra bubbly.”
Lifting up her blouse, he smiled at her small bump. Then, after applying the gel to the rolling sensor, he began the ultrasound. “Okay, this is going to be cold, love.”
“Okay, let’s get it over with,” she squeaked, her face full of excitement.
Falcon’s face contorted a little, his brows nit as he tried to determine what he was looking at. I hit the button on the screen in front of Nora and the imaging popped up on there. Wow, I could see why he was having a hard time.
“Forgive me if I’m wrong, but why does it look like I have a giant dinosaur egg growing in my belly?” Nora questioned, her eyes looking back and forth between the screen and Falcon.
“I don’t know. We do give birth to live males, not eggs. But look, it’s not hardened shell material. It’s like a thicker amniotic sac.” So, it seemed that we weren’t going to find out the sex for sure.
“Do you think this sensor isn’t strong enough?” Draco asked. “Should we look for another place?”
“Well, this is the safest one there is for looking into the womb without endangering our babies. We don’t know what this type of medium will do or how it will affect the development.” He wiped off her belly with some paper towels. She sat up with Falcon’s assistance. Not because she needed his help, but because he wasn’t going to let her work too hard to do anything. He took this whole pregnancy, or rather I think it was Nora’s health, seriously.
“Ready to hop on up?” Nora asked me. I looked at monitor and changed my mind. A feeling of panic washed over me. This wasn’t right and I didn’t know how to explain it. This was like trying to play with fate.
I shook my head and stepped closer to the door. “No, I don’t want to go up there. I think it’s best if we don’t mess with it. I’m getting a bad feeling about it.” Draco was at my side with his hands wrapped around my waist.
“Okay, then we won’t,” Falcon said with finality. I could see that he was trusting me, a feeling he was just learning to accept.
“Let’s get back before The Lamia decide to attack again,” Draco added, his words coming out tired. My poor beastly man was drained.
“Yes, and we need to come back in the morning to meet with the staff.”
“Do you think we should let Vigo h
andle meeting with them?” Draco asked.
“No, I think we need to go there. If they don’t see either of you they are going to be thinking that more is going on, and if you know anything about humans, it is that their curiosity is stronger than their common sense,” Nora pointed out.
“You have a point, but I know you really just want to get back to work.”
“I do, but I think it’s important. The more people feel like something is going on, the nosier they get.”
“Fine, let’s head to the house. Draco, you have your sensor on and we have Pietro and Placido helping Dante and Mary, so we’re good to stay away for a while.”
“We can always come back if they want to battle again,” my Draco chuckled. He was having fun with The Lamian Army.
“Their army is larger than you expected, isn’t it?” I asked.
“It is. They’ve sent nearly a hundred to storm the castle. Many retreated this time, but I believe that they were reporting back to their commanders. I suspect their army to be close to a thousand, well more like nine hundred after we battled.”
“And we have?” Nora asked.
“They are coming in by the hour. Mary has us at approximately four-hundred and twenty-five strong.”
“That’s less than half, Falcon. Why so little?”
“Nora, many won’t fight unless they are threatened. Those not in the darkness couldn’t care less for those forced to live without the sun. Just because you see those who have shown their support does not mean all will be on board. We are a selfish kind. Mired in our own vanity and power, we aren’t interested in the ultimate sacrifice.”
“I thought you told me that you had huge numbers before,” Nora asked him as he wiped down the equipment and set it back where it belonged.
“We did, but after centuries of war and a reprieve, vampires aren’t willing to let it all go. As it is, our army will grow. It will surpass theirs, it will just take time. They have been silently recruiting or enlisting people against their will. But we can finish this discussion at the house.” He nodded to Draco who gripped me tighter, then took Nora around the waist and we were out.
