by Bronwyn Lee
She was tempted—truly tempted—but she wanted to tell him about herself first, and about the baby. “Stephen, I need to tell you something ... actually, two somethings."
The contented look on his face turned to one of wariness. “Go on."
She stopped to think about how to word it but couldn't think of any nice way to say it, so she plunged straight in. “I'm a vampire, and I'm pregnant with your baby."
He looked at her hard and narrowed his eyes at her. “You're a vampire, and you're pregnant with my baby?” He smiled. “Yeah. Right."
"It's true. I tried to tell you before, but we got interrupted. The thing is, Vampires don't normally get pregnant. It's a very rare occurrence, so this baby is very special. Not just to us, but to the vampire community as well."
Stephen's expression closed down, and his body tensed. She stepped away from him, her stomach twisting as a bitter taste filled her mouth. This was going to go badly.
He grasped her shoulders and shook her lightly. “Kayla, you're ill. You may be pregnant, but your mind is ill. I've seen you walk about in the day. I've seen you eat. Vampires don't do either."
"I can eat; I just can't process food for its nutrients. I need blood to live.” He became more agitated, running his hands through his hair then wiping them on his shirt. He paced around her, refusing to meet her gaze. He kept shaking in his head as he tried to deny it.
She continued on, needing to explain. “I can walk around in day, but I'm weaker then. You can also see me in reflections and photos. So many myths aren't true, but some are.” She shrugged.
"The nightmare I had when I was in the hospital—the one where you changed into a monster...” He shook his head.
"Is true, I'm afraid.” She reached across to take his hand.
He jerked back before she could touch him and spun on his heel. Her hand dropped to her side. All the warmth left her, and she stood in silent misery as she watched him.
"I have to think. It's bad enough finding out my nightmare was real without having to find out I'll be spawning one."
Tears rolled down her cheeks as he turned away and left the alley. Damned emotions, so long held in tight check, were now out of control. “Oh, my baby,” she whispered as she stroked her stomach. “I'm sorry, but I'll have enough love for the both of us."
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Chapter Ten
Kayla stepped from the alley and saw the sleek, black limousine. One of Givanni's henchmen stood near the back, holding the door as if expecting her. As she stepped forward, he opened it, and she saw that they had Stephen. Without them saying a word, she slipped into the vehicle and didn't glance back as the door closed behind her. Stephen sat next to Dan Givanni, who held a gun on her lover.
"You seem to have more lives than a cat, my dear,” Givanni said as the vehicle started to move. “I knew you wouldn't be able to stay away from him. You weren't going to leave him when you escaped from the wrecking yard, and you took a bullet for him. You could have fled at any time without him.” He smirked. “I find you very entertaining to watch."
No emotion showed on Stephen's face, and she kept her own impassive, although she was dismayed that yet again Givanni had been privy to an intimate moment.
He shot Stephen a piercing look. “It must have cost her in the sun. I watched the recording on our security cameras, and it was hard for her. Very hard. Her emotions must have gotten in the way, though, because it would have been much quicker to escape without you and send back help."
Kayla knew he wouldn't be stupid enough to give her another chance at escape. He now knew she could move in daylight, and he knew what she could change into. She'd have to destroy so much, a ton of evidence to ensure her secret didn't get out.
"I know your power, and I want it."
He grabbed her, and she wanted to rip off his arm. She resisted the urge because the other guns were trained on Stephen, and she wouldn't risk his life.
"I didn't realize the power of vampires or I wouldn't have been in such a hurry to dispose of them when I found them. It took you to show me the error of my ways."
Kayla jerked her head in denial, and his evil grin was filled with malice.
"I'm going to keep you locked away, and I'm going to starve you of blood. I want you good and thirsty, and then I'm going to present myself to you. A gift. I want you to feed from me, drain me. And then you are going to give me your blood so I can become a vampire."
"No.” She shook her head in emphatic denial. “You can do what you like, but you won't induce me to do that."
"Ah, but you won't have a choice. Once you've finished feeding, I'll have your hands cut off, and your blood will be dripped into my mouth by those I trust. I will reawaken, and then I will kill you."
"I will die before then,” she said, her teeth bared.
"No, you won't. I'll be holding Stephen hostage, and if you try anything, I'll torture him and keep him as my personal blood bank for years."
Kayla's stomach clenched, her heart pounding in fear and anger. He was the type to do it, too. She'd seen slave feeders; they were drained till they were almost dead again and again. They had no energy, no life; they didn't care. Slave feeders were rare and only kept due to punishment they were serving. If Givanni turned, it would be bad for vampire kind. His lust for power was too profound. A lust that would see the return of terrible times for humans and vampires. He had to be stopped.
She silently cried for the life inside of her, and hated the risk she was about to put her baby through, but she wouldn't be able to live with the idea of letting her child be born under captivity to this man.
Starving her until the bloodlust was irresistible would take months. By then he'd know she was pregnant, and God only knew what he would do then.
The car pulled into one of the new estate areas under development. Although too dark for everyone else to see, she could make out the scenery as if it were day. High walls and security gates surrounded the large, secluded properties they passed.
She turned toward Stephen, but he refused to look up. He stared at the floor. She only had one chance to do this. Otherwise, she'd lose Stephen and the baby. Stephen may already be lost to her, but she didn't want him to die, and she wasn't going to give up her baby without a fight.
They stopped at a gate. It slid open, and the car drove through. She'd have to mesmerize Givanni and clear his memory, but first she needed to find out about the information he had on her and where it was. In order to do that, she needed for him to look at her, but he was careful to avoid her gaze—they all were. After she cleaned up the mess, it would be time for her to disappear.
She needed to destroy the grip Givanni had on his empire to make sure she and her baby were safe.
Impatience and frustration coursing through her, she waited until Stephen and she clambered out of the car, allowing her to move more freely. Then she exploded into action.
Stephen ducked for cover, but not before she saw the horror etched on his face as she transformed. Her teeth snapped forward, and her limbs lengthened. Powerful wings beat, hitting the ground, causing dust a small dust storm. Guns fired at her, but they were of no use against her. She grabbed one man and, with a quick flick of her wrist, his neck snapped. He dropped to the ground lifeless.
The bullets hit her and blood spat out of the wounds only to have them cover and heal seconds later. It was night, and she had fed the night before. She was strong. The bullets stung, but it was no more than an irritation; like a mosquito bite.
She took off into the air and dove onto another man, lifting him into the air as he struggled. She snapped at his throat. His claret spurt into her mouth, and she gulped greedily. She dropped him, and he hit the ground near Stephen, the body lying at an awkward angle.
Stephen reached out and grabbed a gun from the body and start snapping off rounds. When they lowered their weapons to aim at him, she swooped at them, attracting their attention back toward her.
She grabbed men and br
oke their necks. Some she ripped their arms off of their bodies, and they would try and stop the flow of their life force before they dropped to the ground to die. Her power grew with the gore spraying from wounds that she created.
More people piled from the house, yelling and shooting, but above the noise she heard the limousine start up. She dove onto the vehicle, smashing through the windshield, and bit the driver's neck.
Blood gushed out into her mouth, and she drank deeply, unable to resist the desire, which overtook her. She screamed a wild shriek of power and turned on the men coming at her. A few stumbled back and started running into the night, obviously unable to deal with what she was.
Her huge wings beating the air, she dove at them, grabbing them as they ran, and slaughtered them where they were.
The limousine door opened, and Stephen was there with his weapon trained on Givanni, while she continued to deal with the henchmen until they were all dead or had fled for their lives.
She landed on the ground and reached into the limousine, hauling out Givanni. “Where are the security tapes?” she growled, spitting blood from her victims onto his face.
Givanni rolled his head back, trying to avoid her eyes. “In the house; in my safe."
"Is your family here?” she spat at him.
He shook his head.
She grabbed his hair and turned him to face her. “Take me to the tapes. Are there copies?” She stared him directly in the eyes, forcing him to tell the truth. He had no chance to escape or lie.
He slumped, unable to resist her. “No, there are no copies."
As Givanni led the way, Kayla resumed her human form. Stephen didn't look at her, and her grief for what she'd lost weighed her down. But she still had their baby. She would be fine. She raised her chin and pushed her shoulders back, making silent plans for her future.
She'd never return to the station. Not tonight or ever. She'd move somewhere and start afresh. Someone would always be after her for putting Givanni away, and she wanted the baby to be safe. Trying to figure out how to cover up the mess she'd made here, she came to the conclusion that she would most likely have to mesmerize Stephen to wipe his memory of this episode. Her head ached with the idea, but she didn't know what else to do.
Givanni gave her the tapes, and she destroyed them. Stephen was bent over, looking at what else was in the safe, when Givanni struck.
He'd been standing at the end of his desk when movement caught her eye. She swung to avoid the stake Givanni wielded in her direction and managed to dodge the deathblow to her heart, but still it went deep into her body. She staggered and screamed in agony, clawed at the stake but couldn't budge it as her strength started to wane.
She was vaguely aware of a hoarse shout, and then a shot rang out. Givanni hit the floor and didn't move. And then Stephen was beside her, trying to remove the stake, but it wouldn't budge.
She cried out, “Leave it. Destroy the house. Burn it."
He carried her outside, hugging her close. She lost sense of time, but she was aware of the smell of burning wood and flesh.
"Let me call the ambulance.” He was sweating, and a frown creased his brow. He gently cupped her face in her hand. “You need help"
She laughed a harsh sound but it quickly turned into a cough that had her shuddering and tears coming to her eyes. “No.” Her voice came out soft, forcing Stephen to lean closer. “You need to phone Tray. His number is in the phone."
He fumbled with the cell, searching for the name. “Tray, this is Stephen, a friend of Kayla's...” He glanced at her as she rested her head on his lap. “She's hurt."
There was silence as he listened to whatever Tray said, but when he did speak, his voice seemed further away. She struggled to listen, to ignore the pain making her nerve endings burn.
"I'm not really sure ... out towards Bribie Island on one of the estates. I couldn't see much on the way here.” He looked toward the house. “Look for the giant bonfire."
Silence for a moment.
"Tray ... Oh, good?"
It felt like hours but could have only been minutes before the vampires arrived. Darkness seemed to cloak them as they skimmed above the trees. She thought she should be afraid, but there was nothing. Not fear, not despair, just ... emptiness.
The sound of sirens reached her as the vampires swooped in. One took her, and she was vaguely aware of another grabbing Stephen. Her vision darkened, her head lolled to one side, and she saw others pick up the remaining bodies and toss them into the blazing house. The darkness won, and she slipped into its welcoming embrace ... away from the pain.
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Chapter Eleven
Stephen tried to convince himself this was a dream. A bad dream, but a dream nonetheless. This isn't real. Vampires aren't real. I am not being carried. I must have eaten something that gave me this incredible nightmare. He glanced across to where Kayla was. Her head lolled to the side. Oh god, let it be a nightmare.
They flew silently, staying low to avoid being seen, and he tried to relax. He didn't want to make it difficult but the fact that he was clasped against a monstrous-looking creature made it very hard. Especially as insects seem to be pelting his face, stinging it as they struck.
He was relieved when they reached another estate. Stephen knew they had flown miles from where they had left the bodies burning, but a quick look at his watch told them they had been in the air less then fifteen minutes.
They laid Kayla on a bed, and a tall, brown-haired man pulled the stake from her chest. Her skin was ashen, and he waited for the wound to heal now that she had the stake out, but it didn't. The vampire who removed the stake, and a few others, gave her their blood, cutting their wrists and dripping it into her mouth, but she gave no response.
"Send for a doctor, Brett,” the brown-haired vampire ordered. “Who's here?"
"I don't know, Tray, I'll get someone,” Brett replied as he left the room.
Helplessness pressed in on Stephen as he picked up Kayla's hand and held it, willing her to respond. He didn't hear the others leave.
A short while later, a doctor named Sharni came and checked her. She took an ultrasound, and he saw the tiny heartbeat of his baby. My baby. The weight of the world sat on his shoulders as he realized he could lose his baby and the woman he loved. He did love her, even though he couldn't quite come to terms with the fact she was a vampire.
"Why isn't she responding?” he asked, turning to Sharni.
She gave a slight shrug. “No one knows why wood is poison to us. Through the heart is lethal, but elsewhere leaves us weakened, and we need time to heal. She needs blood and plenty of it. We will keep sharing ours with her and bring in the supplies that we have."
At what must have been a horrified look on his face, she laughed a short sound that was almost bitter. “No. No. We don't bring in victims. There are blood banks around. And if a vampire takes a human lover, they're often willing to share their blood with their lover. Sometimes they will share with others, too, if the need arises. Just be thankful your babe is healthy inside of her."
He looked at Kayla's unmoving form. “I thought she would kill the person from whose blood she drank."
Sharni sat down with him and looked him directly in the eye, her small features serious. “A lot of vampire myths are just that. Myths. We are not undead. We bleed and feel pain. We have limited shape-changing abilities. We are immortal, but very few vampires actually reach a thousand years old. They are more often or not killed, and others just grow tired of living and want to be released.
"We are able to drink the blood of animals, but we need a human's. We don't want to change the human race to be all vampires; that would kill us out, too. There are many ways of extracting what we need from someone without them realizing it.
"Scratches that bleed, nipping a lip and having the blood well up...” She smiled at Stephen's look of shock. “Ah, see? Blood sucking is rarely a terrible thing. More often than not it is part of a seduction, an
d it can feel wonderful with the right person."
She stood up and pushed a stray blonde curl out of her face. “You need to look at it differently and get rid of your notions about vampires. We never change anyone against their will."
She patted his arm and walked out of the room.
Restless, Stephen decided to wander around the property. Most of the people were friendly, and he couldn't tell who were vampires and who were not. He went out to the garden and walked through the lovely flowerbeds, slipping into the cool of some trees out of sight. He sat down, trying to clear his thoughts.
A couple wandered past him interested in only each other. The blond-haired male lifted his companion's hand to his mouth. His fangs extended and then disappeared as his mouth covered her wrist. He watched the expression on the woman's face as she moaned, “Oh, yes."
There was no fear on her features or in the sound she made. It was pure lust and, to confirm his thought, her free hand lowered to the vampire's groin. He looked away, not wanting to gawk at their private moment, but couldn't resist and turned back to glimpse the vampire's hand slipping under her top to fondle a full breast. He released her wrist and licked up her arm to her shoulder. Her head dropped back, inviting him to take her neck, but he softly nipped her skin and then dropped his attention to her breast that he'd freed.
Her hand slid to the back of his head, holding him closer. Stephen didn't know what to do. He was turned on and self conscious as he watched, but it didn't stop his hand from dropping to stroke his penis.
The vampire suckled one of the woman's breasts as he plucked at the nipple of her other. Her legs started to buckle, and the vampire caught her, lowering her to the ground.
He kissed his way down her body, and she raised her hips so he could slip off her shorts. Leaning down, he lapped at her pussy, and the woman writhed beneath his mouth, mewling for him, calling to him, demanding him.
Stephen's mouth dried, and he couldn't watch any more. He longed for Kayla.
