by Amira Rain
“So, what about the name of your coven? How did you come up with the name Everglen?”
After taking a drink of his whisky, Nick set the glass down with his eyes twinkling. “Well…I’ll answer that. But get ready to laugh.”
*
Uncomprehendingly, I looked at Nick. “What do you mean? Why should I get ready to laugh?”
He took a long drink of his whisky and set the glass down, smiling. “Because the explanation behind our coven name is just funny, or at least, it’s become funny to me all these years later. See, I didn’t really choose the name. Back in my very much younger days as a new vampire, when the coven was just a hundred or so members, I was kind of a hothead, and I liked to gamble and drink to excess.
“One night, this led to me betting another young vampire, who wasn’t even a member of the coven, that I’d beat him in cards, or else he would get naming rights to my coven and the city I hoped one day to build. Things didn’t exactly go the way I’d planned, though.
“This other young vampire, whose name was Glen, beat me at cards, and shortly thereafter, he christened my small coven Everglen, as an eternal reminder that he’d beaten me. Because I’m a man of my word, I kept the name. Now it serves as a daily reminder to me of how far I’ve come since my days as a new vampire and a complete hothead.”
Nick grinned, revealing his perfect white teeth. Having finished my glass of wine and feeling the effects of it at least a little, I did laugh at his anecdote, as he’d thought I might. However, unlike the previous two times he’d made me laugh, I laughed longer than just a second or two. It just felt good for some reason. It almost felt soothing in a strange way.
And, I had to admit, Nick’s explanation for the coven’s name was pretty funny. Or it would be, if it were true. Part of me thought Nick might just be “acting,” determined to reveal a light side to me and keep hidden the evil that I was fairly certain had to be in his heart.
Once my laughter had subsided, I studied Nick’s face while he refilled my wine glass. “Well, that was funny, but is it really true? Did you really name the coven what you did because you lost a bet?”
With his expression of amusement not changing in the least, Nick dipped his head in a nod. “I did…that’s the truth, and I’ve never been ashamed to say it. There are times, though, when I wish I’d named the coven something a little more threatening. Something that would continually remind the Dormio Coven that we’re a strong group, and we’re never going to give in to them.
“That’s something I always want them to remember. I want them to remember that each time we do battle with them, we kill a few more of their members. Someday, we will kill them all, and then all the people in this city can finally live in peace."
Immediately sober, at least as far as my laughter was concerned, I wasn’t sure how Nick had been able to say what he had about peace with a straight face. After all, it wasn’t exactly “peaceful” to slaughter an entire coven of innocent witches for no good reason other than just the thrill.
Afraid that I was going to blurt out something about how murdering a coven of innocent witches fit in with his idea of peace, I immediately asked Nick another question in an attempt to control myself. “Please answer me this question from yesterday. How is it possible that you have so many children here in Everglen after being such a small coven a hundred years ago? And also, speaking of that, how did the community here go from a tiny group to thirty thousand people, anyway?”
In spite of myself, I was genuinely curious to know the answers to both these questions.
Nick knocked back a gulp of his whiskey before responding. “To answer your first question, we have so many children here simply because of dumb luck. The first stroke of that luck was that hundreds of years ago, we original Everglen vampires discovered that we had the ability to produce regular human children with regular human women. This was a stroke of luck because not all vampire groups can reproduce.”
Back when we were dating, James had already explained all of this to me, and I now recalled that he had. But of course, not wanting Nick to know exactly how close I’d been to the Dormio Coven, I had to pretend I had no clue about any of it.
So I widened my eyes just a degree, as if surprised. “Oh.”
Apparently seeing nothing disingenuous in my response or expression, Nick continued. “The second stroke of luck came when the children of these first unions reached adulthood and were turned into vampires themselves, and we learned that they could also reproduce, and not just with humans, but with other vampires, too.
It didn’t even matter if it was one of our vampires with a human, or two of our vampires together. The baby born from the union would still be fully human. This led to quite a baby boom for our community. I even thought a few times that I might like to have a few children of my own, but I never did.
“Instead, I decided to wait because I was always so busy dealing with the Dormio Coven. Now, since I’ve found a woman with the were-gene to hopefully have a child or several with, I’m glad I did. I’m glad I decided to wait for a different reason, too.”
Beginning to really feel the effects of the wine and really liking them, I took another sip, almost unconsciously. “And why is that?”
With his thick, dark eyelashes casting shadows on his face in the candlelight, Nick looked into his whiskey glass for a moment before setting it on the table and looking up at me. “Well, in short, creating new life gives us Everglen Coven vampires increased strength and power. We don’t know why this is, or how it works; we just know that it does. The child doesn’t even have to be born yet in order for the vampire father to experience the benefit.
It happens within weeks of a vampire father impregnating a human female. Because of this, when you become pregnant, we’ll likely find out simply by me recognizing that I suddenly have vastly increased strength. This is also why it was such a stroke of luck that most of the members of our coven were able to have children.
Aside from the natural wanting for children that most people have, even ‘supernatural people,’ like vampires, our coven needed to have children to give us male vampires of the coven a strength increase so that we can take out the Dormios once and for all. Hopefully soon. The Dormios are a particular strain of vampires, possessing incredible strength, so even with our increased numbers, we’ve never been able to fully deal with them. However, in the past few decades, since our baby boom really began happening, we’ve made good headway, and once I gain the vastly increased strength that will come with getting you pregnant, I think it will be a done deal. At that point, we’ll be able to finally do away with John and all his vampires.”
I could have laughed out loud. I could have actually full-out howled with laughter because the irony was just too much. Nick thought that I was going to be something like his savior, when in reality, I was going to be his downfall.
He thought that through being impregnated, I was going to help him take down John and the Dormios, when the truth was that it was John who’d advised me years earlier to get revenge for what had been done to my coven.
It really was too much. And, having finished my second glass of wine, I felt as if I might be overcome by mirth at any moment, giving myself and my intentions away; so once again, I quickly changed the subject.
“So, Nick, you’ve explained about the children in here in Everglen, but I still don’t know how all the adult vampires came to number thirty thousand or so over the years. That just strikes me as such an astounding number.”
Nick, who was refilling my wine glass again, answered with a shrug. “Well, knowing that there’s strength in numbers, and wanting to help us establish not just a coven, but an empire of sorts, I had some of my elite coven members travel all over the continent for years, as a Everglen Coven ‘recruiters’ of sorts, and they found a lot of nomadic vampires who were ready to join a coven.
“They also found many humans who wanted to be turned into vampires. After all, how many humans are really content livin
g a normal human lifespan? Many humans find it more desirable to live ten to fifteen centuries, like we Everglen Coven vampires do, than just one century, like a regular human, and that’s if they’re very lucky.”
After a long sip of wine, I set my glass down, thoroughly intrigued. “You Everglen Coven vampires aren't completely immortal, like the Dormios are? And by immortal, I mean immortal except for being stabbed and decapitated.”
For a long moment, there was complete silence at the table. Then I realized what I’d said. If I were just a regular woman, I shouldn’t have had such specific knowledge about the Dormio’s immortality. However, before I could cover for myself, before I could even think of any kind of a cover, Nick spoke, cocking one dark brow at me.
“Did Clara already tell you about that difference between us and the Dormios?”
Immeasurably relieved, I nodded. “Yes. Either her or one of the other women who work for you. I don’t even remember specifically who. But, yes, one of them did, and I just found it very interesting.”
Nick smiled, once again revealing his perfectly white, straight teeth. “It is pretty interesting. None of us Everglen vampires have actually died yet from this ‘old age,’ but the lore book given to us by our first vampire father, who was a vampire that came here from Ireland and then returned there, tells us that this is what will eventually happen, though even the oldest of us still have hundreds and hundreds of years to go.
“I don’t think anyone's really brokenhearted over this ‘immortality light,’ though. Most of us feel that our lifespan is actually preferable over the Dormio’s true immortality. After all, eternity without end could be wearying, and knowing that our days, though many, are still numbered, helps us Everglen Coven members appreciate things more, I think.
“So, dying of ‘old age’ after a millennium or so honestly seems preferable to me. That’s still an awfully long time to live. As for you personally, Tiffany, after you have all the children you want, you can have that long length of time to live, too, if you want.
“See, after a human woman is done with childbearing, we give her the option to become a vampire herself, so that she can live for hundreds of years with her chosen vampire mate if she desires. Then, when the children born to vampire fathers become adults, they’ll be given that choice, too.”
I finished a sip of wine and gave Nick a small smile. “I see. Well, as for myself and whether or not I'll ever become a vampire after having children, I think I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.”
Which would be never. Unless, perhaps, John decided to offer me immortality once I’d completed my mission to get revenge by killing Nick. Even then, though, I wasn’t sure I’d take it. I’d always been squeamish, grossed out by the very sight of blood, and I wasn’t sure I could ever actually drink it.
From an animal, possibly, like how Nick said he and his people fed. If I really forced myself. But not from a human being, which was how the Dormios fed. Not only had this always struck me as disgusting, but morally wrong, too. Sometimes Dormio members asked permission before drinking from a human, finding a surprisingly large number of humans who said yes just for the thrill. However, more often than not, they just attacked and drank from whomever they liked, sometimes killing their victims in the process, whether by accident or intentionally.
I assumed that despite what Nick had said about drinking from animals, the Everglen Coven members fed the same way, since surely any group of people who killed women in cold blood wouldn’t have too many moral compunctions about drinking from anyone and everyone they wanted.
Soon, after Nick had told me a few other things about the lore book from his “first father,” nothing really of great importance, I realized that I’d somehow finished my third glass of wine without even realizing it. Wanting to stay “on guard,” I certainly hadn’t meant to.
My head was really beginning to swim, but in a very pleasant sort of way, a way that was drawing my focus to Nick’s handsome, strong-jawed face, his broad shoulders, and his hard, muscular chest. I suddenly couldn’t stop thinking about how I wanted to touch his hard, muscular chest, maybe while he kissed me.
I knew I shouldn’t want to do these things, though. I should have just been suffering through my time with Nick, and then suffering through the physical intimacy that was to come. Yet when Nick made me laugh about something, then swiftly pulled me out of my chair and onto his lap while I was still laughing, I didn’t resist.
I again didn’t resist when he lowered his mouth to mine and began kissing me. In fact, I sighed, running a hand across the hardened planes of his chest, just like I’d wanted to do. I didn’t even care that he’d likely been responsible for killing all the members of my coven, because at present, I could barely even remember that.
It wasn’t long before I felt my nipples stiffening in response to a few caresses over my dress while he continued kissing me, playfully nipping at my lower lip every so often. Beneath me, I could feel that I wasn’t the only one becoming aroused. I could feel that Nick’s cock was large, and it felt like he was already rock-hard. This made my sighs quickly turn to moans, and when he slid a hand beneath my dress and bra and began toying with one of my stiffened nipples, I broke our kiss involuntarily, moaning the loudest I had yet.
“Please, Nick. Don’t stop doing that.”
He didn’t, and he spoke in a low voice near my ear while he continued his caresses. “Why don’t I carry you into your bedroom now and start on some other kisses. Kisses from the arches of your delicate, pretty little feet, all the way up to your gorgeous, pouty lips. Then I’ll trail the kisses downward and revisit a certain spot...and I promise that I’ll give that spot all the slow and careful attention it deserves.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
The moment Nick said what he had, about his kisses and “a certain spot,” a certain spot between my now-slick feminine lips tingled in anticipation, and I realized that I was just going to give in. I was going to sleep with my enemy, and I was going to like it. I was probably even going to love it. Particularly if Nick was skilled enough at “kissing” to bring me to one of the powerful orgasms I’d been thinking about the day before.
Part of me felt like I was betraying my coven by just deciding to give in to pleasure so quickly, but another part of me was insistent on pushing that thought from my mind. The part doing the pushing was also telling me that as long as I accomplished my end goal of getting revenge once my powers returned, nothing else mattered. So in the meantime, I figured I may as well not struggle to resist fully indulging myself in some physical pleasure, even if that pleasure came at the hands of a man I’d decided to assassinate.
I smiled at Nick, wrapping my arms around his neck. “All right. Take me to my bedroom.” I giggled, realizing I'd actually said med-loom. “Bedroom, I mean."
Grinning, he rose from his chair with me in his arms, but then his grin quickly faded. “Your wish is my command. But considering how bloodshot your eyes have become, and considering that you’re now slurring your words…maybe let's just slow things down a minute, as much as I really don’t want to. I think you’ve had too much wine, too fast, and on too empty of a stomach to be agreeing about going into your bedroom. Let’s heat up your dinner first and just relax a little while you eat and have something to drink other than wine. Then, we can definitely revisit the bedroom issue.”
Suddenly angry for some reason, and more than a bit, I demanded that Nick put me down. “And I mean right this second.”
Nick instantly obliged, setting me on my feet. Just as instantly, the room seemed to spin around me, but just for a second or two, and I managed to remain upright. I also managed to fold my arms across my chest while glaring at Nick, the act of doing these two things at once seeming to require more coordination than it should have.
“You, Nick. Don’t you tell me how much food I’ve had.” Immediately realizing that I’d messed up my words, I tried again. “What I mean is, don’t tell me how much empty stomach I've had on my wine.�
� Realizing that I’d done it again, I took a deep breath, miles beyond irritated with myself. “Now look what you're making me do, Nick. Just listen to me. Just shut up and listen. Don’t you dare tell me how fast that wine emptied my stomach. Do you understand me?”
“No.”
Dizzy with anger from his one-word response, on top of how dizzy I’d already been, I suddenly began swaying on my feet. I might have fallen over, but Nick immediately caught me in his strong arms and set me down in my chair.
“You're officially cut off from all alcohol for the night, Miss Abbott. I’m going to go reheat your dinner, and in the meantime, you’re going to sit here and relax. Do you understand me?”
Looking up at him standing beside my chair, I suddenly felt like a chastised child who’d been naughty. Which seemed like it should have made me angry. In fact, it seemed like it should have made me livid. But, for some strange reason, I just found myself nodding.
“Yes. I understand you, Nick.”
“Good. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
After he’d grabbed the wine and whiskey bottles from the table, he grabbed my covered tray of uneaten dinner and left the dining room, leaving me alone.
Not even half a minute later, he returned, bearing a short stack of wheat crackers on a little plate, which he set in front of me. “Here. Have some of these while you're waiting.”
“You have some of these while you're waiting.”
“No. No more sass, Tiffany. Or else I will take you in your bedroom right now, but only to sit you in the corner for a time-out because you're acting like somewhat of a brat. Am I clear about this?”
For the second time, I found myself just nodding for some strange reason. “Yes. You’re clear.”
“Good.”
After giving me something that resembled a look of warning, Nick turned to leave the dining room again. With my rate of breathing accelerating, I watched him as he went, taking in his long legs, his tight rear, and his powerful, broad shoulders. I only turned back to the table once he’d completely disappeared from view.
