“’Tis likely so, yet I do not recall it.” He then clutched at, what she figured was, his aching stomach and cut loose a string of curses in French as she set the tray on the nightstand. She had to laugh. Ethan was proving to be such a baby when sick.
“It’s not funny!” he ranted angrily in a scratchy voice.
And she laughed again. Her giggles earned her the funniest, grumpiest scowl she’d ever seen him produce. “Poor, baby, have some soup.” She helped him sit upright and tucked a pillow behind his head.
Leaning back into the softness, he managed a tiny smile. “You’re so good to me.” He sounded congested.
“You’d do the same for me.”
“Yes, I would. And it would be the most amazing soup you’ve ever—” He sneezed, hard, then groaned again. “Do you happen to” –another sneeze— “have something for the sniffles too?”
“Of course I do.” She had a dose of strong flu medicine. That should dope him up nicely. “Would you like the drugs first?”
He blew his nose into the tissue she’d given him. “Yes, please.”
She handed the little cup to him and watched as he threw it back and then coughed and sputtered. “That’s disgusting! Bloody hell!”
Bursting into more giggles, Danielle patted his cheek and tipped a glass of water to his lips. “Medicine usually isn’t pleasant, but you should enjoy the soup.”
Ethan tasted the broth from the spoon she held out for him and smiled. She wasn’t going to tell him it was canned. Sophia had given her a really great recipe, but she hadn’t had time to actually make it. It was one of those that needed to simmer all day, and she wanted to feed him now.
After a few spoonfuls, he said, “I’m dying for a cup of hot tea. Would you get it for me, darling wife?”
“Of course. I already have the water heating.” She handed him the bowl of soup. “Don’t eat that too fast. You need to sip it slowly.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Danielle frowned when she noted the empty bowl as she returned to his bedside. He’d already finished off the soup by the time she got back, and it hadn’t taken her long to prepare the tea. “You wolfed it down even after I’d cautioned against it?”
“That really hit the spot, honey. Thank—” Then his face screwed up with pain, his arms seized around his middle and he raced for the bathroom. Danielle set his tea on the nightstand and followed.
“That’s why I said to sip it slowly,” she told him from the doorway, her arms crossed.
Ethan heaved until he’d completely emptied his stomach. Cursing, he staggered to the sink and began to brush his teeth, then muttered as he stumbled back to bed, “That soup tasted much better the first go around.” He then collapsed back into bed with a groan, his forehead beaded with sweat.
Dabbing at his face with a warm cloth, Danielle said, “You’re almost done with this. I think you’ll feel much better tomorrow.” She pushed from his forehead a lock of hair that was stuck to the moisture dotting his brow.
Ethan only moaned in reply, and weakly bobbed his head.
When she held the tea out for him, he pinched his lips together like a two-year-old.
Laughing. “You need fluids or you won’t get better. I can’t let you get dehydrated.”
“I really don’t want to taste it twice.”
“If you sip slowly you won’t. Now be a good boy and drink, please.”
After a moment’s hesitation, he began drinking the tea at such a tortoise pace she wanted to say he could go a little faster, but decided to just let it be.
* * * * *
“How are you feeling?” Ethan asked as they snuggled in bed late into the morning, a couple of days later.
“I feel great. Don’t worry about me.”
“You’re certain? I was worried you’d catch that wretched bug.” Ethan curled tighter around her back in a protective manner and tickled her neck with kisses and his hot breath.
“There’s a reason why I said ‘no’ when you were begging me to kiss you better. Truthfully, for someone who worked as a doctor, you’re kind of clueless.”
“I wasn’t in my right mind then, and those drugs you gave me made me loopy.”
“Yes, the wonderful advancements in science and medicine…. This is a much better time to be mortal.”
“I must agree, and I think this is a fine time to be married and with my lovely wife,” Ethan said in a seductive tone, then pushed her back to the mattress so he could blanket her with his body and tickle her collar bone with his lips and tongue.
Danielle giggled and rocked her head to the side to give him better access, but frowned when the room seemed darker than usual, as if someone was standing in front of the window. Her eyes moved in that direction and she screamed when she saw that a large figure was standing there.
Ethan, reacting quickly, shoved her behind his back and scanned the room for whatever threat had made her scream.
“We’re sorry, Ethan, Danielle, but Beon has requested an emergency Order meeting. The threats against you have developed into something much worse.”
“Get out! Can’t this wait? How dare you invade our bedroom!”
The guard frowned and stepped forward. Danielle peered over Ethan’s shoulder and her eyes grew when she noticed that this guard wasn’t alone. They were surrounded by six men.
“Leave so we may dress. You can’t see my wife like this,” Ethan growled.
She then remembered that all she had on was a thin silky nightdress, which barely covered much of anything, and was relieved when the security detail filed out.
“We’ll be just outside the door. Be quick about it.”
Ethan shoved the blankets aside, then helped Danielle from the bed.
“What could this be about?”
“My guess is that things have worsened to an unnerving degree, or I don’t think Beon would do this to us.” Ethan was pulling on his pants while he spoke, and had handed Danielle her dress. “It seems the honeymoon is over.”
“We don’t have time for a shower, do we?” she asked, hesitating to put the dress on.
“I don’t think so. I wouldn’t put it past them to walk back in here if we took too long.”
Sighing, Danielle reluctantly donned the dress, and then ran for her vanity to drag a brush through her hair. She was in the process of applying lipstick when the door opened.
“Let’s go. We have a car waiting in the garage.”
“Nonsense, we can drive,” Ethan said, passing Danielle’s boots to her.
“Beon said he wanted you escorted to him in something you’re not normally seen driving.”
“It’s really bad then.”
“I’m afraid it is,” the tall dark vampire said as he took Danielle by the arm.
Ethan didn’t like that, and to her, it looked like he barely resisted a completely violent reaction to it. Forcing a measure of calmness, it seemed, he did tug the guards hand loose and gather Danielle to his side.
They were silently led through their home and to the garage where a large black SUV was waiting, already running. Danielle could see from the look on the guard’s face that if they didn’t get into the backseat quickly, they would be assisted physically with that too. This troubled her. What happened? And how was Beon going to change things this time? They’d enjoyed a few months of blissful marriage with some of the privacy they’d been craving, and fighting for. It seemed that was all going to end. She couldn’t help but worry about this, and shoved her face into Ethan’s shoulder before the emotion overtook her and she wound up crying in front of all of them just as she had in front of Max. Ethan tugged her closer with one hand on her back and the other around her nape.
“It’ll be fine. We’ll be fine, Danielle, I’ll make certain of it.”
She could only laugh sarcastically at that, unfortunately, the laugh came out sounding like a desperate, wet sob.
* * * * *
Once they arrived at the mansion, they were led to the drawing roo
m for another one of the Order’s tense meetings. She hated those, and had hoped they’d seen the last of them. But Danielle knew it was foolish to expect that. They’d really gotten themselves into something when they cured Ethan, and then spread that blessing by giving the cure to others. It was only a matter of time, and she knew she had to accept it.
Beon was seated on the sofa with his fingers clenched tightly in his dark brown hair. His body posture said a lot to her, and so did Sophia’s. The young-looking, though grandmotherly vampire was seated next to her husband, and her arms were folded around her middle as though she were suffering from the same flu that had tortured Ethan. Clearly, this was much worse than she’d thought.
The room was filled with many men, some she knew and some she didn’t. Max and Nadia were also there, along with Cedric and Seth. Danielle tried to decipher what it was she saw in their expressions. One guard caught onto her gaze and then danced away with what looked like regret.
With a long agonized exhale, Beon lifted his head and faced them as they sat down across from him in the loveseat.
“They’re building an army against us,” he announced in a flat, tired tone. “We’re out numbered. We’ve got almost every trustworthy vampire I know working with us, and still their numbers exceed ours.”
“Who’s standing against us?” asked Ethan.
“Celeste and Lucas, but they’re backed by many. There are hundreds, maybe even thousands of vampires who oppose what we’ve done. They’ve been plotting to murder both of you. You can’t stay at your home any longer, not even with every man we have available to guard you. It’s just not enough. You could be killed so easily. A sniper, a package with a bomb in it, poisoned food…”
Ethan straightened his back. “What would you like us to do?” He was squeezing her fingers so tightly that the normally comforting gesture was growing painful.
Beon hesitated, and alarm seized her chest. Her fingers began squeezing Ethan’s back now, and she was sure that was causing pain for him too, though he too didn’t show it.
With a signaling glance to two of the biggest guards, Beon cleared his throat, and then waited for them to flank Danielle and Ethan. Their movements appeared almost threatening, as if they expected her and Ethan to suddenly make a run for it. Then Beon continued, “I’m afraid we need to turn both of you.”
“What?” Ethan bellowed, surging to his full height taking on his own threatening stance. The two hulking men glanced at Beon as their hands rose to subdue Ethan.
Beon shook his head, stalling them. “Hear me out, Ethan. We know how to reverse it. This will be safer. If you’re both more difficult to kill then we can take our time in solving this problem—”
“There’s no bloody way in hell I’m going to let you turn Danielle!” He seized Danielle by the arm, jerked her upright and made for the door. “We’re leaving! We’ll move, and no one will know where we’re at!”
Six men stepped into his path. Two of them were Cedric and Seth.
Betrayal snagged at her heart when she looked at Cedric. Ethan shoved Danielle behind him, but it didn’t exactly help when four more guards stood behind her.
“I can’t give you a choice this time. We’ve exhausted our resources. If you go out on your own, you’ll be in even more danger. You know that as well as I do, Ethan,” Beon said in a low voice, as if his tone might tame Ethan’s outrage.
“Max! Help me out here!”
“Ethan.” Max shook his head. “I— We’ve all been discussing this for hours now. This is the best option we’ve come up with.”
“Fine! Turn me, but you can’t turn Danielle!”
“That’s not enough, Ethan,” Beon stood and stepped toward her.
This sent Ethan over the edge. He cursed profusely in French and German as he wrapped himself around her trying to protect her. With one arm thrust forward in a show of defense, he shouted, “You can’t do this! You’ll kill the baby!”
Aside from a shriek from Sophia, the room became dead silent.
With a hand dropping onto her chest, Sophia beamed with joy and said in a shrill voice, “A baby? An infant? It’s a miracle!” Then her eyes widened. “Beon! You can’t!”
Beon looked completely dumbfounded. Obviously his plans had been shattered because he certainly wasn’t a baby killer, and turning her into a vampire would definitely do it.
“Beon,” Ethan said, as the quiet dragged on.
“I’ll go back too. You need my knight training to help strategize and carry out an alternate plan,” Max said and Nadia frowned. She said nothing, however, and then began chewing her lip.
Scrubbing his face with one hand, Beon looked at her. “This really changes things…” Danielle believed Beon wanted to say more, but didn’t know what to say now that he was forced to rethink this situation from scratch.
“I’ve got it,” Max said. “Let’s take a page from Ethan’s book and fool them into believing we turned both of them. We’ll, send” —he slid a glance over the only females in the room— “Gillian out hunting with Ethan dressed as Danielle.” He sized them up, and continued, “They’re almost exactly the same build. The others could be fooled. And we’ll spread the word that they’ve both been changed to protect them.”
Danielle swallowed as her gaze passed over Gillian, whom she’d never met. She was curvy and beautiful, making her wonder if she really wanted Ethan going out with her? Even if it wasn’t for real.
“Do you really think they’ll fall for that twice?” Cedric asked, drawing her mind back to the discussion.
Max continued, “I think this is different. Plus they wouldn’t think that we’d be fool enough to try the same con twice. And because of that, it should work. I think it would be the first thing they’d expect, and therefore the last.”
Seth nodded. “This could work.” Scratching his chin, he added. “And we’ll send them to live in Colorado with guards. That may give us some extra time.”
“Won’t seeing guards around make them wonder if she’s still mortal?” Ethan interjected.
“Good point, we’ll need to make sure they’re well hidden, or better yet, we’ll send Nadia with them and make it look like the guards are for her,” Seth said.
“And we need Richard. If anyone can do this with small numbers, it’s him,” Max said.
“The Black Prince?” Ethan asked.
“The one and only,” Max said with a bit more excitement in his voice than she would have expected to hear.
Danielle remembered who Richard was from her history lessons. The first son of King Richard the III who’d died early from an illness he supposedly contracted in Spain. “But I thought…”
“He died in 1376?”
She almost laughed at that. “I had no idea what the actual year was, but yes, I thought he was dead, or he would have been king after his father.”
“Well, he did die a kind of mortal death. He was dying from a disease and no one knew what it was, but it was eating away at his strength at an alarming degree. Luckily for him, one of the knights of the Order of the Garter was a vampire and offered to turn him. He accepted and then had to go into hiding until his face was forgotten. Though I’m not sure that ever really happened here in England, they remember him. He lives in Spain.”
Max then recounted the history as though it were his favorite bedtime tale, as though he had been there to witness the event first hand. Hadn’t he been too young for that? she wondered, not really knowing for certain. “With only ten thousand men he defeated an army that was led by the French king himself, whose men of fifty-thousand were splendidly armored. Richard did it then, and I think he could do it now. We need him.”
“Can he be trusted? He hasn’t exactly volunteered.”
“Of course. He’s one of the founding fathers of the Order of the Garter. The man hasn’t loosened his code of honor for as long as he’s lived. He hasn’t offered his help because he still wants to remain in seclusion, but people shouldn’t recognize him in the States. I th
ink I can talk him into it,” Max announced as enthusiastically as a small boy with his first set of plastic army men. And that’s when she realized he reveled in this, in the prospect of battle.
“How will we hide the pregnancy?” Ethan asked, returning the topic to her, and slightly releasing his tense pose.
“Hopefully they buy the ruse, and back off long enough for us to come up with another plan.”
Beon didn’t appear to be completely satisfied with this plot, but accepted it anyway. “That’s good for now. I don’t see any other plausible options at the moment. Max and Ethan, we’ll turn you both tonight.”
Both men nodded in reply.
Danielle was already crying. She couldn’t help it. She was losing her mortal husband, and the hormones didn’t help at all. She was finding herself more emotional than before and things like this were just too much.
* * * * *
After this distressing meeting, she followed Ethan to one of the empty rooms in the west wing, because Beon wouldn’t even let them go to Ethan’s old room. There they were allowed to spend their last day together as mortal husband and wife.
Sophia had ordered out and cooked up what she could on short notice. Danielle perceived she was eager to give Ethan the chance to enjoy as many of his favorite foods before he couldn’t eat like that anymore.
She watched as Ethan, almost reverently devoured the lunch of sushi, tea, chocolate cake and pizza.
Danielle could only stomach the tea and cake.
“I know you can’t have the sushi right now, but you need to eat better than that if our baby is going to grow.”
“I’ve lost my appetite.” She looked around the nicely furnished room, and her eyes landed on the door to the private bathroom. Rising from the chair she was seated in, she made for it.
Ethan, who was becoming a bit too overprotective, asked, “Are you sick? Please tell me you’re not.”
“I’m not,” she said over her shoulder, “I just want to take the shower I couldn’t take this morning.”
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