“So I suppose now is a good a time as ever,” Adriel murmured. “I love you, Caleb.” With a shy sideways glance, he added, “And I’m sorry for not saying it sooner.”
“That’s okay!” I blurted out. “I love you too!”
Adriel smiled, wide and genuine. He embraced me, and I never wanted him to let go. I was so proud of him for finally being honest with his own emotions, and with me. I realized this was the type of affirmation I needed to prove that this relationship could really work out.
And I couldn’t deny that hearing him say he loved me - and saying it first - made butterflies explode in my chest.
“I think I need to rest,” Adriel admitted. “This took a harder toll on me than I expected.”
“Good idea,” I said.
Adriel paused. “Do you have a shift tonight?”
“Shit, I totally forgot,” I said with a groan. “I’m scheduled to work tonight.”
With an exhausted expression, Adriel nodded. “Then I’ll come with you.”
“No, Adriel. You look terrible. No offense,” I added. “You need to rest.”
“None taken, but I would be a poor excuse for a vampire and a boyfriend if I didn’t protect you, regardless of my own health.”
As soon as he said it, my chest did a strange flip. “But - wait. What are you protecting me from now?”
Adriel paused, like he hadn’t realized the uncomfortable truth until that moment. “Oh.”
“Yeah,” I said awkwardly.
“I suppose with Margaret gone, there’s nothing you need protection from at this point,” Adriel murmured.
I shrugged. “I guess not.”
Adriel looked utterly defeated. I couldn’t bear to see him like this. I stood from the couch and said, “It’s okay. I’ll get to work on my own. I’ll just call a cab or something, okay?” I smiled. “You don’t need to worry anymore. Just, please, get some rest. You need it.”
For once, he didn’t have the energy to argue with me. “Fine. But at least let me make the call. I’ll arrange for the driver to pick you up at the door instead of you going all the way down the hill to the main gate.”
I kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks, Adriel.”
“Just don’t get into any trouble,” he said with a sliver of humor.
“I won’t,” I promised.
As regrettable as the situation was, I couldn’t deny that a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. No longer did I have to worry about Margaret stalking me in the shadows, waiting to kill me at any moment. I could finally be a normal person again.
Everything was going to be okay.
15
Caleb
I arrived to work a little later than usual, since my cab driver didn’t know the route as well as Adriel did, but thankfully my boss wasn’t around to notice.
“Caleb!” Jess cried when she saw me, then threw herself at me in a bear hug when I snuck behind the counter.
“Ow. Geez, you’re way too strong.”
“Sorry.” Jess let go, then looked around curiously. “Hey, where’s your sexy bodyguard guy? Adriel, right?”
“At home,” I replied. “There was, um… A death in the family.”
Jess gasped. “Oh, Caleb, I’m so sorry. Is your brother okay?”
“Yeah, he’s fine,” I said quickly. “He actually had his baby today.”
She gasped again. “What! Oh my god, congrats!”
I felt bad for throwing so much wild information at her, but I continued, since I knew she would pester me for it anyway. “Yeah, it happened almost at the same time. Adriel’s mother passed after Benji gave birth.”
Jess’s face glowed with sympathy and she touched my shoulder. “I’m so sorry to hear that. Were you two close?”
“No,” I admitted. I decided to leave out the part about her wanting to murder me. “But I could tell it hurt Adriel a lot. And Benji’s mate, too.”
“Oh, I forgot. Benji’s mate is a Tenebrae too, right? Pierce?”
“That’s right,” I said with a shy laugh. “I know it’s confusing.”
“Oh my god, it’d be super funny if you and Adriel were dating, too. Then you’d have two pairs of brother dating the other guy’s brother.” She criss-crossed her fingers as she spoke. “Totally like a soap opera or something.”
“Uh, about that,” I said awkwardly. “Adriel and I… we are dating now.”
“Shut up,” Jess cried with a gasp. “You’re dating your bodyguard? And he’s the finest man I’ve ever seen? Boy, you have got to invite me over sometime. I need to see this.”
I laughed and secretly wished I could invite her over without revealing the whole vampire family secret.
“Seriously, though, I’m happy for you, Caleb,” Jess said with shining eyes. “You’ve been through a lot, and you deserve this.”
Her words warmed my heart. “Thanks, Jess.”
She groaned dramatically and flopped against the counter. “When am I gonna get my sexy man or woman to sweep my off my feet?”
“You’ll get one soon,” I said, patting her on the back. “Hell, I feel like if I can find someone, anyone can. Besides, you’re like the nicest person I know.”
“Thanks, Caleb,” she said, smiling. A mischievous glint appeared in her face. “So. If you two are an item now, does that mean you’ve… you know…”
I blushed. “Jess! This is totally not an appropriate workplace conversation.”
She gestured to the lack of customers in the store. “No one’s here! Come on.”
“Fine.” I rolled my eyes. “Yes, we’ve done it.”
She squealed. “Was it good?”
“Uh, obviously. Have you seen the guy?”
Jess laughed. “I know he’s hot, but that doesn’t mean he’s a good lay.”
“Well, he’s hot and good at fucking,” I said with a grin. “Does that answer your question?”
“Totally.” She leaned on the counter. “So, wait. If he’s an alpha, and you’re an omega, does that mean you’re pregnant?”
I tried to ignore the growing uneasy sensation in my gut. “Just because I’m an omega doesn’t mean I get pregnant the instant I date an alpha.”
“I know, I know,” she said. “I was just curious, is all. I wondered if seeing your brother’s baby sparked some omega switch inside you or something.”
I groaned. “I know you’re mostly joking but…”
Jess’s eyes widened. “Did it? Oh my god, Caleb!”
A customer came into the store and started perusing the snack aisle. He didn’t look like he immediately needed our help, so Jess greeted him, then we lowered our voices and continued our conversation.
“It’s not like I want to have a baby right at this moment,” I told her. “But now I feel like… it might be something I want eventually?”
“You are so cute,” Jess said. “My Caleb, all grown up and wanting a baby.”
“Oh, shut up,” I mumbled.
“Can I be the baby’s godmother?”
“There is no baby!”
She grinned. “Yeah, but there totally will be.”
I blushed, not because of the intimate discussion but because I was genuinely nervous that I was pregnant already. “We’ll see.”
“If it’s a girl, you should name it after me,” Jess teased.
But as Jess spoke, a growing sense of unease crawled upon me. The unsettled feeling in my stomach returned, more powerful this time. Sweat broke out on my forehead and I gripped the counter hard.
“Caleb? You okay?” Jess asked.
“Yeah,” I mumbled. “My stomach’s just bothering me a little.” I tried to think of an excuse. “Maybe a delayed reaction to the stress or something.”
She nodded in understanding. “That can definitely happen.”
I was vaguely aware of Jess offering me a seat in the background, but my mind was currently focused on two things. One, the growing turmoil in my gut, and two, the lone customer who came in to presumably buy a snack, an
d so far had done nothing except walk around the store while avoiding eye contact with us.
The memory of the robber flashed in my mind, and I grew even more anxious. My stomach lurched like I was on a rollercoaster, and not in a good way.
“Earth to Caleb,” Jess said loudly. “Can you hear me?”
“Huh?”
“I asked if you wanted some water or something,” she said.
“Um… Sure,” I replied, not really paying attention.
“Okay. I’ll be right back.”
As soon as Jess left, I regretted sending her away. I was alone with the customer, who was still walking around slowly and not picking anything up. My heart rate accelerated.
Is it going to happen again? I thought desperately. Please don’t leave me alone with him!
This time, there was no Adriel to save me. If something were to happen, he wouldn’t be here to protect me.
I clutched the edge of the counter so hard my knuckles turned white. Sweat dripped down my brow. At the same time, a hideous sensation curled in my stomach, and I knew I was going to be sick.
Nausea rose up within me. I couldn’t take it anymore. I scrambled to the bathroom in the back, practically pushing Jess out of the way as I locked myself in and purged the sickness.
“Caleb?” Jess cried in panic. “What happened? Are you okay?”
I wanted to tell her to go away, so I could be ill in peace, but I thought about the man out there. What if he was another robber? I didn’t want Jess to be alone with him, either.
“Do you want me to call Adriel?” she asked frantically behind the door.
It was selfish of me to want him here. He was exhausted, and just been through a horrible ordeal with his mother… but I was scared. Terrified. I wanted him here so badly.
“Yes,” I said as loud as I could muster. I gathered my strength to unlock the door and toss my phone at her. “Use this.”
“Okay. Hang on, Caleb.”
She shut the door for privacy as another wave of sickness slammed into me and I heaved again.
When it passed, I heard Jess’s voice on the phone. “Hello? Is this Adriel? ...Yes, it’s about Caleb! He suddenly got sick and - uh huh. Okay. Okay, thank you.” Jess knocked on the door. “He’s coming, Caleb, don’t worry.”
I groaned in reply. My head swam. I felt disgusting and awful, especially since all of this was happening in front of my friend, and at my workplace. Why couldn’t it have happened at home instead?
“Is it okay if I leave you alone? I have to go be at the storefront,” Jess said sympathetically.
“Go,” I replied, my voice hoarse.
“Sorry… Adriel will be here soon.”
That was what I clung to while the waves of sickness continued to churn in my gut. Knowing Adriel was going to come help me, even though he didn’t feel so great himself… that was my only relief in the moment.
It felt like ages before I finally heard a deep familiar voice demand, “Where is he?”
Hurried footsteps came up to the bathroom door.
“Caleb?” Adriel called.
“Here,” I croaked. “It’s unlocked.”
The door flew open and Adriel immediately kneeled beside me. “Are you all right? Did something happen?”
“No, just felt sick suddenly,” I replied. “I’m sorry I made you come.”
“Don’t speak that way,” he growled, but his voice was laced with sympathy. “I’m going to take you home.”
I nodded listlessly. Adriel picked me up with great gentleness and carried me through the store. The man from earlier was gone. I was so full of relief that Adriel had come for me that it washed away any negative feelings, and I wondered if I imagined the man’s presence in the first place.
“If he asks, can you tell Lewis that Caleb became ill?” Adriel asked Jess.
“Yes, of course,” she said seriously.
“Thank you.”
Adriel carefully placed me in the car and raced home. The whole ride I clenched my eyes and tried not to think about how my stomach was flipping.
Adriel parked the car and picked me up. But instead of heading towards our cottage, he entered the mansion through the garage.
A low panic set in.
“Wait,” I said. “Where are we going?”
“I’m taking you to see Maxwell,” he said.
In my delirious sickness, I could barely remember who that was. “Huh?”
Adriel didn’t look at all comforted by my confusion. “The human doctor who delivered Benji’s baby. He’s staying here until we know what to do with him. Remember?”
“Oh.”
I didn’t want to see a doctor. Too many sour memories of white coats and hospitals turned me off of them for good. I just wanted to curl up on the bathroom floor and rot until this horrible sensation passed. But if I was being forced to see one, I was at least grateful that he was inside the mansion, and therefore close to home.
Adriel ran into Theo in the hall. “Where is Maxwell?”
Theo’s eyes widened when he saw me. “Oh my god, Caleb, are you okay?”
“Theo!” Adriel snapped.
“He’s down the hall. Here, I’ll show you,” Theo said quickly. “Geez, what happened?”
“Don’t bother him with your questions,” Adriel growled. “He fell ill at work.”
The panic from before flared up. “Don’t tell Benji. Please.”
“Huh?” Theo said. “Why not?”
“He has enough on his plate, with Lark and recovering,” I said breathlessly. “I don’t want him to worry about me.”
Theo didn’t look pleased about keeping secrets but he nodded. Finally he stopped at a door on the main hall and knocked rapidly. “Max?”
A tired-looking man with glasses appeared, scowling. “I told you, it’s Maxwell! Dr. Maxwell!”
But Maxwell’s face changed when he saw me. “Oh my! Come in, come.”
It was one of the many rooms in the mansion I’d never seen before, so the unfamiliarity made me uncomfortable. I squeezed Adriel’s hand as he laid me down on an examining table.
“Don’t go anywhere,” I begged.
Adriel’s eyes flashed protectively. “No. Never.”
Theo stood by the door, his brows furrowed in sympathy. “Maxy, you need me, or…?”
Maxwell shook his head and shooed Theo away with a flick of his wrist. I had the feeling that under any other circumstance he would have scolded Theo for calling him that, but now wasn’t the time.
Maxwell examined me intently. “How long has this been going on?” he asked. “Frequently?”
“Just tonight,” I replied. My voice was hoarse from being sick.
“It hasn’t happened before?”
“No.”
He nodded to himself. “Caleb, is it? I need to ask you a few personal questions. Mr. Vampire, if you could give us some privacy, please?”
Adriel glanced from Maxwell to me, unsure of what to do. His protective instincts must have been flaring up. He didn’t want to leave my side - especially when I’d asked him not to.
“It’s okay. Whatever you want to ask, you can say in front of both of us,” I told Maxwell.
He considered my words. “I see. Then I’ll assume the two of you are in a relationship?”
“Yes,” we said at the same time.
“Okay.” Maxwell sighed. “Caleb, have you been sexually active, involving penetration?”
My stomach flipped over itself. I said quickly, “Yes, but we used protection.”
“Was it during a heat cycle?”
“Yes,” I said. “But we used a condom.”
An uncomfortable prickle pulled at my skin. I didn’t like the way Maxwell wouldn’t get to the point.
Whatever he was thinking, he was wrong. He had to be wrong.
I can’t be…
“Caleb,” Maxwell said softly. “I think you might be pregnant.”
16
Adriel
Caleb paled so
quickly that I was afraid he would pass out right there on the examining table.
“I can’t,” Caleb muttered, repeating it. “I can’t be pregnant.”
If I still had a pulse, my heart would have been racing. I watched the scene before me unfold as if in slow motion.
Maxwell gave him a sympathetic shrug. “If you are, then you are. I recommend we do a test right now to find out. If it’s not, then you have nothing to worry about and I’ll send you home with some antiemetics. If you are, there are ways of terminating, if that’s what - “
“No!” Caleb cried. “No, that’s not what I want.”
Maxwell spoke slowly and remained calm. “Okay. So if you are pregnant, you’d like to keep the baby?”
“Yes,” Caleb said breathlessly. He turned to me, his eyes wide and desperate, like a terrified deer.
“I’m right here, Caleb,” I promised.
What was the look in his eyes right now? Guilt? Shame? Fear? Whatever emotions raged inside him, I was there to calm the storm. I held his hand within mine, and my gaze never left his own.
“Don’t be afraid,” I told him. “No matter what happens, we’ll get through it together. I swear it.”
Some of the anxiety in his gaze lifted. He nodded with a meek whimper.
“Well, Caleb,” Maxwell said, getting ready to stand up. “Shall I get you a pregnancy test? It’s the fastest way to find out.”
We watched as Caleb nodded and exhaled a shaky breath. “Yeah.”
“Okay.” Maxwell put his hand on Caleb’s shoulder. “You’re gonna be all right. Just breathe. There’s a bin over here if you feel the need to be sick again.”
Caleb shut his eyes, trying to escape the situation the only way he could. “Adriel… What if he’s right and I am pregnant?” he murmured.
“Then you’ll be pregnant,” I stated. “It won’t change anything.”
“How can you say that?” he asked, eyes snapping open. “I - I’m gonna have to bring a baby into this world!”
I kneeled down closer to him. “What I meant is, it’s not a bad thing. I don’t see it that way. Do you?”
He hesitated. “No.”
Omega’s Vampire Bodyguard: Tenebrae Brothers Book 2 Page 11
