vampires of san francisco 07 - suckers lost and found

by mcbrayer, jessica

  “I have to be the bait. She’ll only come out for me or maybe the babies but that is not going to happen. I can fight and I will.”

  There are a few moments of quiet and then they all start up again. I shake my head and then whistle again. This time louder. They stop and Sebastian, Aidan, Helena and Julian come over to me.

  “No way, cherie, I won’t allow it.”

  “Uh oh,” Andrew says as I see red.

  “You won’t allow it?” My voice is pitched low and I stare daggers at Bast. He stands firm. I’ll give him that.

  “Lily, child, you can’t risk your baby this way,” Julian says.

  “If I am with her and everyone is close by it could work,” Helena says. She tilts her head and looks deep into my soul. I assume she is checking my sincerity and on whether I’ve gone insane.

  “You can all be close by and Helena can use magick. Aidan can be there to pop me out immediately and then back so he can annihilate the vamps.”

  “I don’t like this, at all,” Bast says and glares at me.

  “Would you rather play cat and mouse and have me and our child be prisoners forever?” I ask.

  “No, but you are risking our child, Lily. Our baby.”

  “I think it will be safer than staying here like a victim, afraid of big bad Giulia. I also think we would have done this sooner if I wasn’t pregnant. I know what’s at risk, Bast, but I do honestly think I will be safe.”

  He pulls me up into his arms. He runs his hands up and down my back and nuzzles my hair.

  “You do not have anything to prove. You don’t need to do this. You are too precious to me.”

  “I love you too, Sebastian. I need to do this. I’m just going to walk down the street. No theatrics or attempts to be brave. I’ll be out of there before anything happens.” I look to Aidan and he nods, though he doesn’t look any happier than Sebastian. I know he will keep me safe, though.

  “All right. I think we better come up with one hell of a plan or I’m locking you in the safe room until you deliver.” I pull his face to my lips and slowly kiss him from his cheek to his soft lips. He devours me in desperation. When he pulls back his eyes look haunted. I know what I am asking of him and so does he. Yet he is willing to stand behind me and support me.

  Alessandro clears his throat. We all turn to the monitor.

  “I believe Manda and the babies should stay in the safe room while this takes place. She’s a babe yet and someone needs to stay to take care of these precious ones.”

  “Would you do that for us, Manda?” Hannah asks. Diel takes Hannah’s hand and squeezes it.

  “Y-yes. I will protect them with my life,” she says. Diel nods and swallows deeply. I know this is a big favor to ask of them. I suddenly want to them to stay back.

  “Diel, Hannah, you shouldn’t fight. You have your babies to watch over,” I beg.

  “Lily, we will never be safe unless we take her out. I don’t want to raise my children behind closed doors and I don’t want to raise them in Hell. We want you to have a chance to have your moment too and this seems like the best plan so far,” Diel says. “Besides, we have Hades too. Don’t ever underestimate the protectiveness of a Hell Hound.”

  “Okay, maybe Andrew and Liam should stay back too. They haven’t had much training in fighting,” I say.

  “That’s where you would be wrong. Auntie Andrew and his honey have been learning how to fight from Julian himself,” Andrew says, smiling wickedly. Oh Goddess.

  “Fine. How do we do this?” I ask the room in general.

  “That should be up to Julian, Alessandro and Matteo,” Sebastian says.

  “Let’s bring the babies out here so everyone can talk,” Hannah says to Diel.

  Aidan waves and two bassinettes appear.

  “Thanks, Aidan. We’ll be right back,” Diel says.

  A few minutes later and everyone is in the same room. The babies are in the corner sleeping peacefully and Alessandro is looking over the map of San Francisco.

  “I believe we should leave here and drive until we know there is a tail. Then we find a destination that is plausible but fairly empty of innocents. Does anyone know a place like this?” Alessandro asks.

  “We could go house-hunting. It would take care of two things at once. Helena, Sebastian and Lilith would do the looking. I’ll open the lock boxes on the empty houses and you can tell us which are worth another look,” Aidan explains. It has merit.

  “We’d have to research houses on the net and find some empty ones. Whatever damage we do, Aidan can fix. I like this,” Sebastian says and looks at Matteo, Julian and Alessandro. Julian is nodding his head and Matteo is leaning over Alessandro’s shoulder while he surfs the local listings.

  “This a good plan. We need to find houses in a variety of locations so we can drive around for a while. The rest of us will be in a vehicle a few cars back and in constant contact,” Matteo says.

  “It will help that we will have an itinerary of where you are going,” Alessandro adds.

  “Good, we have a plan. I am going to go change while you find the addresses and then we can go. I want this over with,” I say.

  THIRTY / SEBASTIAN

  I follow Lily, wanting to keep her safe. We have no incidents but I touch her every chance I can. Memorizing every inch of her body as she changes clothes. I have a bad feeling about this. I understand what Lily wants and I even agree with her, I just don’t want her to be the bait or anywhere near Giulia.

  She puts on a loose off the shoulder shirt and a pair of old jeans. She has to leave the top button of the jeans undone. My eyes rest on where our baby is. Her stomach has grown since this morning. She looks down and then rubs her belly, smiling.

  “Mon amour, I need you to be okay. Run if you have to. Just don’t engage anyone. Please, promise me?”

  “I will, Bast. I don’t want to fight and risk our baby. I just want them to think they can get to me. Then I’ll either run and hide or have Aidan take me out of there. No reason for heroics.”

  “Thank you, cherie. My heart beats for you alone. Remember that and that it would stop if something happens.”

  Lily walks up to me and kisses me gently but I deepen the kiss, letting my tongue caress her lips until she opens up for me. When we pull back I am newly determined. I see the same commitment in Lily’s eyes.

  “Come,” I say and take her hand. I lead her into the dining room. Everyone is assembled.

  “Where are Manda and the babies?” Lily asks.

  “We’ve got them tucked away with Hades in the safe room. She is going to wear one of these kickass talkie things,” Hannah says pointing to an earpiece. Lily laughs at her and knuckle bumps her.

  “Let’s move out. Sebastian here is the list of properties. Take your car. We’ll be in two different sedans that Aidan is procuring for us. They will blend better than any of your cars,” Alessandro says.

  “Sebastian, take this earpiece. You will be able to hear everyone and can talk to us too,” Matteo says.

  “Thanks, Matteo. Do I just talk or do I have to press something?”

  “Just talk and the mic will pick it up. But we’ll try and stay quiet.”

  I tuck in the earpiece and check the safe room to say goodbye. Manda is cooing at the babies. I grab my keys and wallet at the front door and lead Helena and Lily out to the car. I never take my eyes off her and keep her on my arm. My heart is beating fast which is almost impossible for it to do.

  I open the door for Lily and she squeezes my hand. I feel calmer with her assurance. She gets in and I hear Helena shutting her own door. I walk in front of the car and remember that we have a small arsenal on our side. She should be safe. But that’s the rub. Should be safe and will be safe are worlds apart. I climb in and buckle my belt. I look at her a good long moment and she smiles. My world shifts and I am ready to put this craziness behind us so that we can enjoy our baby.

  “We’ll do everything in our power to keep everyone safe, Sebastian,” Helena
says. Somehow she knew that I was feeling guilty about Hannah and Diel being a part of this. They have the babies to think about. Helena squeezes my shoulder and then sits back.

  I hand Lily the list and have her punch the first address in the GPS. It’s in the Richmond District, across from Golden Gate Park. Nice hunting opportunities for Manda. We drive in silence for a few minutes.

  “It’s nice to be in the sunshine. I’ve missed fresh air,” Lily says wistfully.

  “I know, cherie. This will be over soon. Hopefully very soon.”

  Eventually we pull up to an old Victorian that needs a lot of TLC. We still get out and go in. The inside is in just as much disrepair as the outside but it is all original, down to the door knobs. With Aidan’s ability to fix things, this could be a showstopper. And it is still close to us.

  We take our time walking through. Helena and Lily see the potential here and are relaying info about the house to Aidan and Manda. I know Diel and Hannah are listening too. I think Hannah would enjoy taking the twins to the park and visiting the museums with them, including the Botanical Garden. I hear Hannah ask how many bathrooms it has. We tell her that there is one on each floor but it would have to be remodeled to have an en suite bathroom for the master bedroom.

  Manda pipes in that Aidan could do it for them and Aidan agrees. Matteo reports no obvious tails or suspicious vamps, so we go back to the car and head to the next two houses in Haight Ashbury, where Lily used to work. Lily is chatting animatedly to Helena about the last house and how much she loves the Haight. She’s excited about this. I know she wants everyone close. Just as the girls start to read the specs on the next house, Alessandro interrupts.

  “Yes, Alessandro?” Lily and Helena instantly quiet.

  “Sebastian, we have a white van following you. It’s been there since the last house. We weren’t sure until the last turn you took. Aidan wants to take out the whole van right now but too many people would see it disappear. We are going to wait until you get into the next house and go as we planned.”

  “Okay, Alessandro.” I’ve never been afraid unless it had something to do with Lily and this time is no different.

  “Watch your back, Sebastian,” Julian says.

  “You guys watch my back too,” I add nervously, because I’ll be watching Lily.

  “We got you,” Aidan says.

  “Okay girls, don’t look but we are being followed by a white van. We are supposed to proceed as we planned. Aidan wanted to take out the whole van but it would have caused a huge scene so everyone vetoed it.”

  “It would have. How far are we, Bast?” Lily asks.

  “About two blocks. Helena, we’re going to flank Lily until we get into the house.”

  “Absolutely. I’m going to try and shield us with a magick field. I’ve been working on it since the incident with the bitch witches. I think I have it down. It won’t hurt if it doesn’t work, but if it does we may be able to sit behind and watch everything unfold.” Those witches were abominations and give witches everywhere a bad name.

  “That would be perfect,” Lily says.

  “Don’t get too relaxed, Lil. I’ve only been able to hold it for a few minutes. That should get us in the house at least.”

  We pull up to another large Victorian. This one is completely renovated and well cared for, at least on the outside. Probably why it is listed for twice as much as the other. I walk around the car to help Lily out and Helena gets out at the same time. We each put an arm around her and walk into the house. I feel Helena’s field of magick as a tingle across my skin. Once we are in the house we turn around and face the doors and windows.

  “Aidan, what’s going on? Are they here yet?” I ask through the earpiece.

  “Just pulled up. I am going to neutralize as many as possible before they get into the house,” he growls.

  I hear yelling outside as I imagine the vamps have discovered Aidan is there and are scrambling for cover. I go to the window to see what is happening outside, leaving Helena with Lily.

  “Merde, it’s a bloodbath out there. Alessandro and Matteo are going through vampires like they are paper. Aidan is trying to get shots at the ones not engaged but he is being blocked by them using the van as cover.”

  “Merde, Aidan just zapped the van and then took out the hiding vamps.” Just after I said that I hear glass shattering and realize Helena is next to me. Fuck, Lily!

  I spin around and find Giulia holding a knife to Lily’s stomach.

  “A little birdie told me you were expecting,” she says as she rubs Lily’s baby bump. “I have to say I was skeptical until now. How convenient. I can kill two things that are precious to Aidan.” She laughs hysterically. She has to know she won’t survive this. I’ve never been so frightened. She is holding everything that matters to me in her twisted hands.

  Aidan pops in, followed by bloody members of our entourage. Everyone is here.

  “I can’t get a clean shot while she is holding Lily,” Aidan whispers to me.

  “Giulia, don’t do this. It’s me that you want. Let her go,” Aidan says in a commanding voice that shakes the windows. Lily is shaking but holding steady.

  “Fuck you, Aidan. You know I don’t stand a chance against you. The only revenge I can get is to take out this bitch and her unborn brat. Everybody back up, now!” To emphasize her demand, she slices a line across Lily’s stomach.

  I can’t catch my breath. I can’t think straight. I’m strung so tight that I think I might explode if I can’t get to Lily. Blood is pooling around her feet as I am forced to watch.

  “Giulia, you bleach-bottle blonde, let go of me or I will hurt you,” Lily says. Giulia laughs and runs the knife across Lily’s neck. Just deep enough to draw blood but not kill.

  When her hand and knife clear Lily’s neck, Lily thrusts her elbow into Giulia’s chest making the vamp stumble back a step. Lily spins and executes a perfect roundhouse as she screams.

  “Fuck you, Giulia!” Lily yells as Aidan takes his shot and evaporates the deranged vampire.

  Before the smoke clears, I am at Lily’s side. I stare in her eyes and then check her cuts out. The neck wound is superficial. She will heal but the belly cut is deeper. I’ve got to get her to Dr. Hildebrand.

  “Bast, I’ve got black spots spinning in front of me. I think I lost too much bloo…” Lily faints and I scoop her up before she can fall.

  “Aidan, take us back to our house. Hannah, call Dr. Hildebrand and see that he meets us there. Tell him we’ll be in the exam room,” I shout out orders and carry Lily over to Aidan where he grabs onto me so we can transmanifest. Just before we blink out I hear Hannah talking to Dr. Hildebrand.

  THIRTY-ONE / SEBASTIAN

  I lay Lily down gently on the bed in the exam/delivery room we’ve set up. She’s still bleeding and unconscious. I grab some gauze and tear open her dress. I’m not concerned about Aidan seeing her at this point. All I want is for her to be okay, our baby to be okay. Aidan hisses as he and I get a look at her injuries.

  He carefully pulls up the blanket to cover her lower half while I try to stop the bleeding, but the cut is huge and if I press on one side the other leaks furiously. I press gauze all over her belly and watch in horror as it turns bright red. Then I hear voices coming from the hall.

  Dr. Hildebrand and a nurse come bursting through the door. He pushes me and Aidan out of the way, gently but firmly. He’s all business, no joking now. I don’t know what to do. I look down and my hands are covered with blood. I absently wipe them on my shirt. I feel a warm hand on my forearm and realize it’s Aidan tugging me to the couch so I am out of the way.

  “Aidan, I need at least five units of blood, now. As fresh as you can get me,” Dr. Hildebrand demands. Aidan hands him what he asks for.

  “Shh… Manda. She’s going to be fine. No don’t bring the babies in here. I know you want to see her but this is too much yet and the doctor is working hard.” Aidan’s voice breaks on the last word. I can hear Manda in the earpi
ece yelling at Aidan.

  Aidan’s eyes are glued to Lily. He gives my shoulder a squeeze.

  Dr. Hildebrand is now using a needle and suture; he’s sewing her up while the nurse is trying to set up the IV. When she’s done, she starts to wipe the wound on Lily’s neck.

  “It’s superficial doctor, she’ll heal it on her own soon.”

  The nurse cleans Lily’s neck with gauze and water. It’s barely bleeding anymore. She looks up and gives me an encouraging smile. I feel some tension leave me, not all of it by far.

  “Maggie, help me close, please,” Dr. Hildebrand asks. The nurse, Maggie, takes up more gauze and cleans the wound on Lily’s belly.

  Fuck, it goes right across the baby.

  “H-how, how deep did it go?” I stumble out as I get closer to the bed.

  “Not to the uterus but it was close. Too close. The blood will help heal and replenish what she’s lost. I need to do an ultrasound. Mostly I’m worried about her going into shock and a miscarriage.”

  I go down to one knee next to her and grab her hand. I let out the pent up air in my lungs. I hear Aidan turn around and see it’s because they are undressing her. The nurse deftly cuts off Lily’s clothes and I can only imagine what she’ll think of that. Actually, I know she will be more worried about the baby than any clothes, high couture or not.

  Once she is in a gown that snaps around her arm so they can keep the IV in, I tell Aidan that it is safe to turn around. They keep her covered up from the waist down and pull the gown up over her protruding belly. The doctor squirts ultrasound jelly across her stomach, careful to miss her cut. Soon the little screen blips in and I hear the heartbeat. I let out more air.

  Aidan gasps. I turn to him and see his look of wonder. I know how he feels. I hold Lily’s hand while Dr. Hildebrand moves the wand over her stomach and we look at a fuzzy screen.

  “There,” he says. “See your baby, Sebastian? Do you want to know the sex?”