Arena Wars Trilogy

by Hoffman, Samantha

  I looked at him sharply. “What do you know about Ilene?”

  “I know that she’s got some ulterior motive. Man, he wants the two of you dead; she wants the two of you to suffer. She pulled me aside after he left and told me to prolong it and make it as horrible as possible. Said if I did it, she’d reward me with something he couldn’t. I didn’t have to be a mind reader to know what the hell she meant by that. Girl’s a skank, and a psychotic one at that. I mean, how could you hate someone so much that you’d want them to suffer like that?”

  Quinten looked at me. “What do we do with him? We can’t just let him go. He could come back with his little buddies when we least expect it.”

  “What are we supposed to do, Quinten? Kill him?” Gary balked, and he started blubbering so hard he was impossible to make out. “We’re not like Roger; we can’t become a monster like him.”

  Quinten sighed. “What are we supposed to do then?”

  “Just let me go,” Gary pleaded. “I promise I won’t tell anybody where I found you. I promise I won’t come back, ever. I’ll pretend I didn’t find you, and I’ll disappear. Roger will never see me again, I promise.”

  Quinten ran his hand through his hair. “I don’t know. Alanna, I don’t want to hurt him, but I have to think about your safety first. There is nothing more important to me than you, and I’m not going to let you get hurt just because you don’t want me to take care of someone that just tried to kill us.”

  “Quinten just let him go. Violet can take him away from here and, if he’s smart, he’ll stay away from here in the future.” I looked at Gary, who was still cowering on the couch. “To be honest, he doesn’t look like much of a threat.”

  Quinten sighed. “Alright, fine.” He turned to Violet, who watched our entire argument with a smile on her face. “Will you take him away from here and let him go?” She nodded, and Quinten turned back to Gary, and grabbed his shirt collar. He hauled him up close to his face. “If you ever threaten me or my mate again, you won’t live long enough to regret it,” he hissed.

  Violet grabbed Gary’s shirt and hauled him out the door.

  Chapter Twelve

  The next morning, I managed to finally get up before Quinten, and I decided to cook breakfast for both him and Violet. My stomach growled at me the whole time, and I ended up cooking an entire carton of eggs, along with a twelve links of sausage, and six pieces of toast. By the time I was done, there was so much food it could have probably fed an entire family of six.

  Quinten and Violet got up just as I finished cooking, and they both stared at all the food. I helped myself to an entire plate full of eggs, four of the sausage links, and two pieces of toast. I couldn’t ever remember being this hungry before, and food had never tasted so good. I wolfed down everything on my plate, and could have probably eaten more, but I didn’t like the way both Quinten and Violet were watching me.

  I ducked into the bathroom to avoid their stares, and brushed my teeth for the day. After I was done, I coughed once, and patted my chest. I’d never really had heartburn before, but Ray told me Carmen used to be prone to it, especially after eating a lot of food she shouldn’t have. I didn’t think it struck that quickly, but I guess I was wrong.

  When I was done in the bathroom, I headed to the training room. Quinten and Violet were already in there, and they were apparently waiting for me. When I shut the door behind me, Quinten turned away and started working out with some boxing equipment. Violet nodded me over to the far corner, and she tossed me a pair of boxing gloves.

  “Here, put these on. You and I are going to spar.”

  “What?”

  “It means a friendly fight.”

  “I know what it means!” I snapped. She and Quinten both turned to look at me again, and I shifted uncomfortably. “Well, I do.” I mumbled, looking away in shame. “Oh, I’m sorry Violet. I don’t know what came over me. I’m having nightmares, I’m always hungry, and I don’t feel good. I think I’m still healing.”

  “Hmm, that might be it,” she said, sounding unconvinced. “Slowed down healing or not, you should be back to normal by now. I don’t think it’s that.”

  “Werewolves don’t normally get sick, do they?” Quinten asked. “I thought their rapid healing kept them from catching the cold, or STD’s, or any major illnesses like cancer. You guys are pretty much impervious to sickness, right?”

  Violet looked at me and shrugged. “If you’re not feeling well, we shouldn’t stress you out too much. Instead of a friendly match, I want you to grab a jump rope and get going. Now.”

  I sighed, and grabbed one of the ropes from the wall near Quinten. I counted jumps in my head while trying not to focus on my heartburn, slight dizziness, and shortness of breath. I had to stop after only two and a half minutes of jumping to catch my breath, and Quinten watched me with a concerned look.

  “Alanna, are you…” he stopped, and his eyes got confused and unsure.

  “Quinten, what’s wrong?”

  He looked around the room, and Violet stopped what she was doing. “You finally hear it, don’t you?” she asked. “Personally, I thought you’d have noticed it sooner.”

  “Noticed what?” I asked, watching Quinten. He was looking at me, and I didn’t like the look on his face. It was a mixture of surprise, confusion, and…fear?

  “Nothing, I just thought I heard…no, it can’t be. It’s not possible!”

  “Quinten, you’re starting to really scare me. What’s going on? What’s wrong with you?” I looked between him and Violet, searching for answers. They noticed something I apparently didn’t, and it started to freak me out.

  “Alanna, you have two heartbeats.”

  “What? Quinten, I only have one heart, what are you talking about?”

  “You’ve been eating and sleeping a lot, and you’ve been throwing up lately. You thought it was stress, but…oh, god.”

  I understood what he was saying, I just couldn’t believe it. There was no possible way for it to happen. The only guy I’d ever been with was Quinten, and he couldn’t have kids…right? He was technically dead, or, undead, but either way, it just wasn’t possible. Was it?

  “Is it possible?” Quinten asked quietly.

  “Why shouldn’t it be? The two of you didn’t use protection, right?”

  “Why would we?” I asked, noticing an edge of hysteria creeping up in my words. “He’s a vampire! He can’t have kids!”

  “Well, that’s funny, because I’m pretty sure there’s a baby inside of you,” Violet said, staring at my stomach. “You’re not showing yet, which is good. At least we can hide it for a while. How far along do you think you are?”

  “I don’t know!” I exploded, taking a step toward her. My hands were curled into dangerous fists, and I wanted to hit something just to take my mind off what she was saying. “We only had sex for the first time like nine days ago. Isn’t that too early for symptoms and a heartbeat?”

  “Well, I’m not a doctor, so I couldn’t tell you. I don’t suppose you know any werewolf or vampire doctors that might be able to help?” Violet asked, still staring at my stomach. She had a strange look on her face, and it took me a few seconds to realize what it was…jealousy.

  She had a werewolf lover for many years, and they didn’t have any children. Is she jealous?

  I quickly pushed that thought aside, and took a deep breath. “Ray, my father, is kind of dating a werewolf doctor. She might be able to help us. If she can’t…”

  “Go call her, and pray to whatever gods you believe in that she knows her stuff,” Violet said, leaving the two of us alone. I heard the front door of her apartment open and then slam shut, leaving the two of us in stunned silence.

  “I’m gonna be a dad,” Quinten whispered, completely awestruck. “I’m having a baby. Oh, god, I’m not ready for this!”

  “And you think I am?” I nearly shrieked at him. “I’m nineteen years old, Quinten! And you’re undead. You shouldn’t even be able to have children.”
The edge of hysteria in my voice was long gone, and had been replaced by full-blown panic. I’d never really wanted to have children, let alone at nineteen years old, and now it was happening. And it was happening at the worst possible time.

  “Do you wanna call Jenna, or should I?”

  I took a deep breath to hopefully calm myself, and shook my head. “I’ll do it. But I want you to be there with me when I talk to her.”

  He grabbed my hand and gave it a tight squeeze. “Don’t worry about it, Alanna. I’m gonna be right here by your side, through everything,” he said, forcing me to look at him. “We’ll get through this. We can survive anything, remember?”

  I nodded and, even though I felt like crying, I forced myself to walk out into the living room, grab Violet’s phone, and dial Ray’s number. I didn’t have Jenna’s, but I hoped that she would be there with Ray. If she’s not there, what will I do? I can’t talk to Ray about this…

  The phone rang three times, before a gruff voice answered it. “Hello?”

  “Oh, Jax, thank god!” I nearly cried.

  “Alanna, what’s wrong? Where are you? What’s going on?”

  “Jax, Quinten and I are both fine, but I really need to talk to Jenna. Is she there?”

  “Well, yeah, she’s been crashing with me in your room since the two of you left. Why do you need to talk to her? What’s wrong? Is one of you hurt?”

  “No, Jax. We’re both fine,” I said, only slightly impatiently.

  “Then why–”

  “Jax, just give Jenna the phone!”

  I heard the phone being passed over, and Jenna’s voice answered. “Alanna, are you alright? Ray’s been so worried about you. He’s making himself sick just thinking about what you two might be going through right now.”

  Just hearing her voice destroyed what little composure I still had, and I burst into noisy, messy tears. “Oh, Jenna, everything’s wrong. I don’t know what to do right now, neither does Quinten.”

  Quinten squeezed my hand and whispered, “Put her on speakerphone.”

  “Alanna, honey, what’s wrong?” Jenna asked, sounding slightly helpless. “What can I do to help you calm down?”

  Jenna’s use of the unfamiliar endearment gave me the strength to calm down. I took a deep breath. “Jenna, I’m gonna put you on speakerphone. I’m here with Quinten, and we really need to talk to you. It’s an emergency. Who all is there right now with you and Jax?”

  “Well, Darren’s on the couch, and Ray’s by my side. I think you should know he’s practically pulling out his hair he’s so worried about you. Now, tell me, what’s wrong?”

  “I have two heartbeats.”

  “What?” she asked, sounding completely shocked. “Alanna, I don’t–”

  “Jenna, I’ve never been with anyone other than Quinten, and we’ve only been…intimate…for about nine days. It’s not possible, is it? He’s a vampire; he’s can’t have kids! Please, tell me that we’re both crazy and imagining things.”

  “Quinten? Can you really hear a second heartbeat?”

  “Yes, Jenna, I can. We’re staying with another vampire right now, and she can hear it, too. She left to give us some privacy right now, but you could talk to her when she gets back,” he offered uncertainly.

  I thought of something that I’m surprised I hadn’t before, and I want to smack myself. “Jenna? You said that Darren was there with you, right? Can I talk to him?” Quinten gave me a funny look, but I just shook my head. “Jenna?”

  “Yes,” she said, sounding troubled. “Just a second.”

  Quinten looked at me. “Why–”

  “Darren’s half vampire, Quinten. If anyone can tell us about this, it’ll be him. I can’t believe I didn’t think of that sooner. Of course vampires can have children; how else would we explain Darren and the other dhampirs?”

  “How could we have been so careless?” Quinten asked, instantly blaming himself. His hands clenched into angry fists, and his jaw set in anger. “I can’t believe I could have been so stupid!”

  “Alanna?” Darren asked. “Are you really pregnant? Ray wants to know. He’s here right now, demanding to know what’s going on. I’m gonna put you on speakerphone too, so we don’t have to keep explaining everything to him.”

  “Yes, Darren, I think I’m pregnant. What can you tell me about dhampirs? How are you different from other vampires?”

  “Alanna, I wish I could tell you something good about dhampirs, but I simply can’t, because there’s very little about us that is good. I ripped my way from my mother’s womb, killing her the day I was born. Human women aren’t meant to birth a vampire’s child.”

  “Well, I’m not human, remember?”

  “You’re mostly human, Alanna. Even though you heal fast, I don’t think even you can heal from an exploded womb. Vampires just aren’t meant to procreate. I’m sorry; I wish I had something pleasant to tell you.”

  “So you’re saying this baby is going to kill me?” I asked, getting a hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach. “In your opinion, there’s no chance of me surviving this? So what, I should just go down to a free clinic and take care of it?”

  He sighed. “I’m sorry, Alanna. But it’s either going to be you or this baby. You might be able to rely on your natural healing abilities, but then again, you might not. I’m not sure about this, Alanna. It’s not like I can remember the day I was born…how horrible it must have been for my mother to explode from the inside out,” he said. There was a hard edge to his voice, and I recognized it immediately as self-loathing.

  “Darren, I’m sorry you feel guilty about your mother, but you shouldn’t. It wasn’t something you could help. You didn’t ask to be conceived by a vampire.”

  “But I was, Alanna, and that’s my point exactly. We’re killers, from the very day we’re born. We’re monsters, plain and simple, and so is that thing growing inside of you right now. Pretty much the only thing I can tell you is that I stopped aging once I reached maturity, and your kid probably will too. Not that you’ll be alive to see that…”

  “Darren!” Ray snapped. “You’re not helping. Now give me the damn phone before I rip it out of your hands!”

  “Dad, you’re on speakerphone, you don’t have to be holding the phone to talk to me.”

  He sighs. “Kiddo, I’m really glad to hear your voice right now. You have no idea how much I’ve been worrying about you since you left. Now, why the hell weren’t you two more careful?”

  “I don’t know, Dad! I just don’t know. Maybe it was because we’re on the run, or because we’d almost just died, or maybe because we’d been waiting for it for so long, and we’d been through so much together. We weren’t thinking clearly.”

  “I know that. You weren’t supposed to give me grandbabies for a few years at least, and now in less than a year my baby is gonna have a baby of her own. I know the two of you aren’t ready for this, even if your lives weren’t in constant danger. You two have no time to prepare for this, and you don’t have the slightest clue of what to expect.”

  “I know.”

  “And the two of you are all alone, trying to come to terms with this news. Are the two of you alright with this?”

  I glanced at Quinten out of the corner of my eyes. “I think Quinten’s feeling guilty, and more than a little shocked, but I feel the same way. It’s strange to think that I’m gonna be a mom, because I never really wanted kids. Not to mention I thought that Quinten and I would have a few years to plan this out, and then he died and came back and I didn’t even think about it again.”

  “I really thought the two species couldn’t coincide in one body,” Quinten said in a strangled voice. “I mean, that’s why you guys turn when you do, when you’re exposed to a vampire’s venom. My baby shouldn’t be able to coexist with Alanna’s body. It just shouldn’t be possible.”

  “I know what you mean, Quinten,” Jenna said suddenly. “I’ve been thinking about this, and the only thing I can possibly think of is that this ba
by might have been meant to be.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Think about it,” she said. “It can’t be a coincidence that the first ever cross-species soul mates are now having a child together. Everyone thinks the two of you are a mistake, and now not only your bond disproves that, but so does this baby. Nobody will be able to say the two of you aren’t compatible now.”

  “You really think so? You think this baby was what, preordained or something?” I couldn’t help the sarcastic tone of my voice.

  She sighed. “I don’t know for sure. I guess we’ll have to wait, because only time will tell. Either you have this baby for a reason, or fate is being really cruel to the two of you.”

  “Well, that’s nothing new,” Quinten said bitterly. “Fate’s been pretty cruel to us lately. You’d think we’d be used to it by now.”

  “Quinten–”

  “Alanna, I may have just killed the only woman I’ve ever loved. My soul mate. Do you have any idea how that makes me feel right now? Right now, all I can think about is my future without you.”

  “Yeah, Quinten, I do know exactly how you feel right now. It’s the same way I felt in the Arena when I thought you were dead, when I thought I’d failed you. I know what the pain of losing your soul mate, the person you love and would die for, is like. It’s soul-crushing, heart-shattering, mind-numbing pain. It takes every ounce of your willpower just to keep going.”

  “Then you know how horrible I feel right now,” he said quietly. “Alanna, I don’t know how you managed to go three days thinking I was dead, when already I feel like I’ve lost the only thing important to me in this entire world, and you’re still here. I can’t imagine how lost I’ll be when you’re actually gone.”

  “You haven’t lost me yet, and right now we’re not even sure you will. Just keep your head up, and have faith that we’ll work through this. You’re so convinced right now that things are going to end horribly, and right now we just don’t know that for sure. Everything could work out for the best; we’ll just have to wait and see.”