Valley of the Shadow: An Elemental World Novella

by Elizabeth Hunter

  Beatrice put a hand on her shoulder to steady her. “Don’t even think that way. He’s just not a man who likes change. You know this.”

  “I changed the comforter on the bed last spring,” Natalie said. “We’d had the same damn blanket on the bed for like five years. It was all stained. So I got this really pretty one, and you know what he said?”

  “He wanted the old one back?”

  “Yes!” She shook her head and immediately regretted it. “Wow. There are a lot of lights in the forest now.”

  “Nope. Still just the one path with solar lamps.”

  “Really?” Natalie squinted. “Nooooo. There’s more.”

  Beatrice was laughing again. “To sum up, Baojia is a totally normal vampire who doesn’t like change. He’s probably worried you’re feeling pressured into this. He’s probably worried you’re going to change—”

  “Am I?” She blinked hard, trying to rid the sleep from her eyes. “I mean… am I still gonna be me?”

  “Change is inevitable.” The voice came from behind her. Makeda rode up on the other side of Natalie’s mount. “Of course you’re going to change.”

  “Know what else would have made you change?” Beatrice said. “Time. Fear. Chemo. Living through cancer treatment. Exposing your kids to the fear of losing you permanently.”

  “Life changes you,” Makeda said. “In good ways and bad. Baojia will change you. You will change him. Your children will change you. Your work will change you.”

  “But you’re never going to forget who you are,” Beatrice said. “I promise. We’re your friends. We won’t let you.”

  Natalie sniffed; her nose was running. “I love you girls so much.”

  And that was the last thing she remembered before she fell asleep.

  Chapter Seven

  Natalie woke to the feeling of soft lips kissing along her bare shoulder. Her head hurt. Her body hurt. And her shoulder really hurt.

  Whaaa?

  Oh. Right.

  It was still dark out, but just barely. A golden lamp shined a half light on the room. She looked over her shoulder to see a pair of deliciously bare shoulders and a familiar dark head.

  “George?”

  He smiled against her skin, and Natalie breathed an internal sigh of relief. Smiling Baojia meant he wasn’t pissed off about the tattoo. Smiling Baojia meant that her world regained alignment.

  “It’s beautiful,” he whispered. “Really, Red, I love it.”

  “It’s the moon phases when—”

  “When you told me you loved me the first time.” He kissed the skin under the crescent moon on her right shoulder. “The moon the night Jake was born.” He tapped the second. “When Sarah was born.” He ran his fingers over to the fourth moon on her shoulder, the full moon. “And a full moon for when you turn.”

  Could she love him any more than she already did? It didn’t seem possible, but he kept proving her wrong. “You remember the moon on all those dates?”

  “Of course I do.” He bent down and kissed her shoulder again. It still felt raw, but his lips were soft. “Those are the most important nights in my life. I love it.”

  “Glad you’ll be able to see it every night for the next three hundred years?”

  He slid over to her side. “I only get three hundred?”

  Natalie turned to face him and blinked away tears. “I really love you.”

  “I really love you.” He frowned. “I’m sorry I haven’t dealt well with all this. I’m trying—”

  “I know. And I know you don’t like change. This is a big one, maybe the biggest we’ve ever been thrown. But everyone keeps telling me I’m doing the right thing. And since I’m super emotional right now, I just decided to listen to them and not myself. That way if anything goes really wrong, I can blame my friends.”

  He smiled, and the corners of his eyes creased. She reached over and traced the small lines that marked the geography of his face. She knew every inch of him. Every quirk and corner.

  “Trust you to make a joke about all this,” he said, “when I’m doing my best not to go crazy.”

  “It’s not a joke.” She put her fingers on his chin, watching his profile. “It’s nothing even close to a joke. Do you think I’m not scared?” She blinked hard.

  Baojia turned to look at her. “You’re never scared.”

  “I’m scared to death.” Natalie swallowed hard. “But I’m more scared of leaving you and the kids. Or getting so sick I want to die. I don’t want that. I don’t want to even get close to that.”

  He traced his finger around her lips. “You will always be hungry. You’ll always crave blood. You’ll learn to control it, but it will always be there, sitting in the back of your mind, like an addict craves a drug.”

  “The way I crave you?”

  He turned to her and took her lips, kissing her hard. He hooked his arm around her waist and pulled her into his body. His hand came up to cradle her face as he thoroughly and utterly owned her kiss. She breathed into him, and he angled her head so he could go deeper.

  “The sun…” She gasped for breath.

  “We have time.” His hunger enveloped her, and Natalie felt his amnis prick her skin like an electric charge.

  Baojia pushed down the comfortable pants she’d been wearing, and Natalie kicked them off her ankles. Her shirt was already off—she’d removed it so it didn’t stick to her healing tattoo—but he unhooked her bra with experienced hands and tossed it off the bed.

  Her warm breasts pressed into his cool chest, and Baojia held her, slowly heating his amnis to keep her warm.

  “I love that you can do that.” She kissed his neck. “You’re like my own personal space heater.”

  He was careful with her shoulder, keeping his hands off her back and rolling her up until she straddled him. He ran his hands up her body, his fingers tracing over the lumps and bumps she could be self-conscious about. He didn’t see that. He didn’t see any of it.

  “Beautiful.” His mouth said it. His eyes proved it. He watched her as she reached down and unzipped his pants, pushing them down until they were skin to skin, her thighs spread over his hips and their bodies aligned.

  “We have to be quick.” She glanced at the window. “This is daring for you.”

  Baojia surged up and caught her mouth again. He put his hands on her hips, lifted her, and Natalie sank down on him as they both let out a satisfied breath.

  The corner of his mouth turned up. “I promise I won’t fall asleep before you come.”

  “Oh no.” She laughed. “You better not. I’m not rolling you to that closet, George.”

  His breath hitched as she began to ride him. “You’re incredibly sexy.”

  “Am I?”

  He spread his hands on the small of her back and thrust his hips up. “I’m not going to have to be so careful with you after you change.”

  “You mean”—she could barely form words—“this is going to get better?”

  “You. Cannot. Imagine. You won’t get tired.” He pulled her hips down hard, going deeper than he usually did. “You won’t even need to breathe.”

  Natalie’s mouth formed the word Fuck, but she couldn’t say it. He’d been her lover for over eight years, and he knew every button to push, every move that made her moan, every trick to bring her pleasure. Her thighs were burning, but her focus was on the growing thread of pleasure that was beginning to unspool and take hold of her body.

  He caught it and coaxed her, whispering in her ear as she closed her eyes and pressed her cheek to his. Within moments, she was coming on him, falling forward into his arms as her body shuddered and her skin came alive.

  Baojia held her tight and thrust once, twice, and then he let out a long string of whispered curses in her ear as he came. He put his arms around her and fell back on the bed, his chest rising and falling against her breasts.

  Natalie kissed his skin, dragged her hair across his torso like she knew he loved. She felt him shiver and then grow sti
ll.

  Really, really still.

  Her head popped up. “Baojia?”

  His blinks were long and lazy. “Huh?”

  “Uh-uh. No you don’t. Come on.” She scrambled off him and closed her legs tight. “No time for afterglow, George. Sun is coming up.”

  He blinked. “What?”

  “Sun! We’re not at home. You can’t fall asleep here.” She reached for the box of tissues on the bed and quickly cleaned herself up. “Why is sex so messy?”

  His smile was lazy and wicked. “All the best things are.”

  She wanted to laugh, but she didn’t want to encourage him. “Seriously. Darling husband of mine, father of my children, do you really want me to have to call Matt in here to move your naked ass into the closet because you fell asleep on the bed?”

  That seemed to get through. “Oh. Right.” He muttered something she couldn’t understand and reached for a towel hanging off the chair by the small desk. “Just gonna take a shower.”

  “Nope.” She took him by the shoulders and steered him away from the bathroom and toward the lightproof closet. “You’re falling into day rest.”

  “What?”

  “Day rest!” Natalie hooked the door with her foot and swung it open as she aimed her half-asleep vampire into the dark. “It’s gonna be nice to really share a bed after I change, you know. We won’t have to do this whole routine all the time.”

  “Routine?” He sat on the edge of the narrow bed in the walk-in closet and rubbed his eyes. “Hey.” He reached for her. “Sleep with me.”

  “I will. I will. Give me a minute.” Natalie got up to make sure the door was closed and locked, checked on the kids in their bedroom, then went back to Baojia’s closet. He was already lying down and looked half-dead. She closed the door, squeezed in next to him, and pressed her face into his quickly cooling chest.

  “Pretty soon, George.” Closing the door shut out the light, which her slightly sore head appreciated. “Pretty soon this won’t be weird at all.”

  Baojia didn’t answer her with anything intelligible, but his arm wrapped around her waist and he fell completely still.

  Baojia woke the next night and smelled sunscreen, water, sweaty children, and blood. He turned to see a thermos sitting next to him, which proved to be the source of the blood.

  He opened it and sniffed.

  Great. Cattle blood. He’d forgotten that most of Carwyn’s clan kept to his human-free diet.

  Wait. Cattle. Cattle blood could be a problem.

  Frowning, he drank down the cow blood and rose, only to realize he was buck-naked.

  Oh right. He wrapped the towel around his waist and walked out of the closet and into the bedroom where wet bathing suits and beach towels decorated every available surface. He didn’t hear or see his wife, so he assumed she was with the children. He took a quick shower, dressed, and walked out of the room and into the hall.

  Following the high-pitched voices, he walked down the stairs and into the great room where the children were decorating cookies. Or doing something that involved green frosting and sprinkles everywhere.

  “Baojia!” Dez waved. “You’re the first one awake.”

  He raised an eyebrow and headed toward his son, who had something green in his hair. “Clearly not.” He took a napkin and tried to remove the green gunk. “Frosting goes on the cookies, not the hair, Jake.”

  Jake looked up. “Oh. Hi, Dad!” He reached up and touched his hair with green-coated hands. “I have frosting in my hair?”

  “It appears you have frosting everywhere.”

  “Baba!” He turned to the sound of Sarah’s voice, only to find her halfway up the stone fireplace in the center of the room.

  “Hello, Monkey.” Baojia walked over and took Matt’s place underneath the climbing girl. “Did you ask Isabel if it was okay to climb the fireplace?”

  “Mama climbed rocks today!”

  Matt and Baojia exchanged a look.

  “Of course she did,” Baojia muttered.

  “She did great,” Matt said. “She’s a natural.”

  “Don’t encourage her.”

  Matt grinned. “The wife or the daughter?”

  “Either.” Parenting a small daredevil was a tricky proposition. Baojia never wanted to clip Sarah’s wings or make her think he didn’t have confidence in her.

  But sometimes wings that were only four needed to be clipped. “Can you climb down, please?”

  Her mouth formed a small O. “Ummm…”

  “Not sure how to do that?”

  Her smile would have been adorable if it weren’t so guilty. “Can you get me?”

  “No.”

  “Baba!”

  “But I’ll show you how to get down.” He climbed on the hearth and reached for her little legs. “Which rock did you put your foot on to get up?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Feel around,” he said. “Don’t let go, and feel with your toes.”

  Bit by bit, he worked Sarah down the rocks until she was standing on her own feet with her hands fisted in the air. “I did it!”

  “You definitely did.” He picked her up and put her on his hip as they walked back into the kitchen. “Did you decorate cookies?” He was guessing yes by the red frosting smeared on her cheek.

  “Yes.” She pointed at some red stars. “See those?”

  “With all the sprinkles?”

  She nodded.

  They were truly a sight to behold. Sarah’s cookies bore a thick coating of red frosting made even thicker by colored sugar and sprinkles. “That looks… very sweet, Sarah.”

  The huge smile she gave him made his heart beat. “Do you want to taste one?”

  Please no. “We need to save them for Christmas, don’t we?”

  “Okay.” She crawled down from his arms and onto a chair, reaching for the most sprinkled cookie. “But I’m going to tell everyone to save this one for you.”

  “Thank you… so much.” He ruffled Jake’s still-gloopy hair and asked, “Has anyone seen Uncle Lucien?”

  “I think he’s still in his cabin,” Matt said. “You’re the only vampire awake so far.”

  “Mom says Dad is an early riser,” Sarah said. “Early and often.”

  Baojia coughed and Matt snorted a laugh.

  “I bet she does say that,” Matt said.

  “Shut up,” Baojia muttered. “Do you know if Lucien brought supplies?”

  Matt frowned. “What?”

  Baojia lowered his voice. “I had cattle blood when I woke up tonight. Do you know if Lucien brought supplies?”

  “Oh, you mean…” Matt’s eyes went wide. “I didn’t even think of that.”

  “Tonight was the first night I needed blood since we’ve been here,” Baojia said quietly. “I just thought of it too.”

  “Unless Lucien planned ahead and brought some of the genuine article…”

  “We could have a serious problem.”

  Cattle blood was not going to cut it for a newborn vampire. Not even close. If Lucien didn’t have the blood issue covered, Natalie’s turning could mean a very unhappy New Year.

  Chapter Eight

  “Don’t overreact.” Lucien tried to calm his pacing friend. “We have blood, and we have time. We can get more.”

  Giovanni spoke from the doorway. “I’ll have the pilot fly to Santiago immediately. We have connections at a blood bank there. Baojia, we’ll get enough stores for her.”

  “See?” Lucien nodded. “We’ll take care of her.”

  Baojia wasn’t satisfied. He paced Lucien’s cabin like a caged cat. “But what will we do in the long term? In the first week alone, she could easily drink the equivalent of four human beings. We all know how newborns eat. If she slipped up even once, she’d be devastated.”

  It hadn’t even occurred to Lucien that their hosts would be animal drinkers, that Carwyn’s austere diet would extend to his family. It wasn’t just the initial week, it was every week after. They could get re
serves for a while, but eventually Natalie would need regular, fresh donors.

  “Would the humans in the valley be willing to donate blood?” Lucien asked Giovanni.

  He shrugged. “I’ve never asked.”

  “Beatrice—”

  “We hunted in the nearby villages. We went into town. We had stores here.”

  “Ernesto sent regular shipments,” Baojia said. “I remember that.”

  “And we were exchanging blood,” Giovanni added. “Which—I don’t want to presume—but it’s possible you and Natalie will also choose to do.”

  Baojia frowned. “That makes a difference?”

  Lucien nodded. “A huge one.” He thought of how quickly Makeda had started to control her power and her appetites once she began taking his vein. In addition to control, it was an intensely pleasurable and intimate experience to exchange blood with one’s mate.

  But he didn’t need to get into that with Baojia.

  “Good.” The worried husband was nodding. “At least that’s something I can do. Natalie can drain me dry if she wants to.”

  Lucien saw the moment Baojia realized how much he wanted Natalie to do that. The quiet vampire stared at the wall intently. Then he cleared his throat, crossed his arms, and looked out the window.

  Not many could read Baojia, but Lucien had spent years in close proximity with him as they worked and lived together. Their friendship had been a surprise to both of them, but not an unwelcome one.

  “Okay.” Baojia nodded. “Okay. We can do this.”

  “And supplementing with animal blood will not affect her long-term health,” Lucien said. “Remember, she’s going to be my daughter. And I have not sired a child in a very, very long time. My blood is rich.”

  And he was more than willing to share it with Natalie. In truth, he already felt deep affection toward the woman, possibly because this change had been planned for so long. Lucien didn’t feel like a father toward her, but an older brother? Yes, it felt a little like that.

  Giovanni said, “All things considered, it’s likely Natalie will be stronger than you once she gains control.”