by Lexi Blake
“I didn’t faint,” Daniel growled from his place on the big bed.
“Let’s call it a manly loss of consciousness,” Felix offered.
“Dude, he fainted. Just like the southern belle he is. He had a fit of the vapors.” Dev sounded more like himself than he had all day. He smirked down at Daniel, but I knew he’d been worried, too. He’d taken Daniel out of Zack’s arms, preferring to carry his partner himself. He’d carried Daniel all the way to our rooms and called for a healer. He’d been holding my hand when Daniel woke up.
Now they were back to their normal, deeply masculine relationship.
“Fuck you, Dev,” Daniel shot back. But I noticed he didn’t try to get off the bed. Daniel laid back in our enormous bed and let his head rest against my breast. I cuddled him. It was what he’d asked for the minute he woke up. His skin was pale against the red of my dress. I stroked his hair and he snuggled down. It had been like this when Danny was alive. When he wasn’t feeling well, he turned into a baby who needed an enormous amount of attention. “It’s your fault. You made me get in that stupid coffin.”
Dev held his hands up in complete confusion. “I did everything I could to make that coffin comfortable for you and all you can do is complain. Do you know how hard it was to get the lighting installed so you could read your comic books? People don’t typically put lighting in coffins, man. Besides, you’ve been out of the coffin for hours. How is this related?”
“I don’t think it is.” Sarah looked Daniel over. Sarah had taken charge of the room, immediately ordering Zack about and generally keeping everyone calm because she seemed so competent.
We were waiting on the Fae healer who lived in the village. Padric had sent a royal guard to fetch the man. In the meantime, Sarah had ordered everyone to keep the noise down and to make Daniel comfortable.
“What do you think it is?” I asked Sarah.
Daniel didn’t get sick. It wasn’t part of the vampire experience to get weak and faint. No matter how Felix wanted to play it, I agreed with Dev. Danny fainted. One minute he’d been standing up and talking and the next he hit the floor. If that wasn’t a faint, then I didn’t know what was. Zack had been shadowing his master and said Daniel had grown even paler than usual right before he passed out. Luckily Zack had caught him before he hit the floor.
Sarah gave me a long look. “I have my suspicions but you won’t like it.”
“Just tell me.” The last thing I needed was to play guessing games. If something was wrong with Danny, I needed to know right away.
“Why don’t we talk about it alone?” she said quietly in a way that made my heart pound with terror.
What could be so bad that we needed privacy to discuss it? We weren’t the most private of people. Our crew tended to witness everything in our lives. When we fought we usually had an audience. Even when we did…other things, we sometimes learned someone had been watching. If Sarah thought we needed privacy, it must be bad.
I was about to insist she just spit it out when Declan walked in the room with a tall, thin man carrying what looked to be an old-fashioned medical case. The healer was a faery with long brown hair who looked around the room, his eyes finally fastening on Daniel.
“This is the vampire?” he asked, looking Daniel over.
“Yes,” Declan said with a sigh. “This is the weak vampire. My mother and brother insist that you save him. However, if you allow him to expire, I will make sure there is something in it for you.”
“Declan!” I wasn’t sure he was joking.
He shrugged and moved away, letting the healer sit down with his patient.
“What are your symptoms?” No one had taught this particular healer bedside manner. He frowned and his words came out in a flat, couldn’t-care-less tone of voice. I supposed it fit, since he more than likely didn’t get to practice his profession often. Faeries tended to not get sick. This healer would mostly be used to dealing with injuries.
Daniel was silent so I spoke up. “He was tired earlier today and then after dinner he passed out.”
“I will ask the obvious,” the healer began, sounding completely uninterested. “When was the last time you ate?”
Dev took that one. “About thirty minutes before we went in to the banquet. Zoey was busy so I fed him. He took the normal time. Daniel doesn’t gorge himself but he gets a decent meal. I haven’t eaten anything strange, if you’re wondering. I had two ales at Ross’s but it’s nothing he couldn’t handle.”
“I couldn’t even taste the alcohol,” Danny complained.
Dev rolled his eyes. “Sorry. Someone tried to kill our wife and then I forgot about our drinking binge. I’ll try harder next time.”
“Do you have any other symptoms?” The healer began what appeared to be a routine checkup. He examined Daniel’s eyes and ears and even made sure his fangs were functioning properly.
“No. No other symptoms. I’m just tired. It’s not a big deal.” Daniel suffered through the exam, but he didn’t like doctors. He hadn’t liked them when he’d been alive. He had to be near death before I could get him to make an appointment.
“Danny, you have to tell him everything,” I insisted.
Dev started to look concerned now. He knew when Danny was lying, too. He sat up and paid attention. “Yes, Dan, you do have to own up. You shouldn’t be sick. If it’s something serious then we need to deal with it now. Maybe there’s something here you could be allergic to.”
“Could he have been poisoned?” The terrifying idea hit me as I contemplated the events of the day. I held Danny even closer as I thought about someone trying to kill him. They tried to take me out. Maybe they would go after Danny next.
The healer shook his head. “Prince Devinshea is the only one you fed from today?”
Daniel nodded. I was sure he’d been planning to make a meal of me later on tonight, but we hadn’t gotten there yet.
“And you are feeling fine, Your Grace?” The healer turned his attention to Dev.
Dev shifted up in the bed. He moved next to me so he could place his arm around my shoulders. I felt better having both of them close. “I’m perfectly well. I admit there was some nausea when my mother was hitting on my wife and then my partner. It welled back up when she discussed her sex life with Marcus, who I hate, but I doubt that has anything to do with poison. The only antidote is years of therapy.”
That got Danny’s attention. “Your mom did Marcus?”
“Lay back down, invalid.” Dev ignored him. “Everything I ate before dinner was prepared by my butler’s own hand. There is no risk of contamination. I didn’t feed him after dinner.”
The healer listened intently. He seemed much more interested now that he thought he was dealing with something more than an anorexic bloodsucker. He took Daniel’s wrist in his hand. A vampire’s heart pumps when their blood is up, though slower than a normal human’s. He counted for a moment. “His pulse is fine for a vampire. I know of no poison that would not kill the prince before it could contaminate the vampire’s system. How do you feel now?”
“Fine,” Daniel said shortly. His eyes were stubborn, and I knew he was hiding something.
“Daniel,” I ordered, forcing him to look up. “You tell this doctor the truth right this second. I am not going to lose you because you’re a stubborn ass.”
“It’s nothing,” he insisted and dug in.
Dev got up and took charge of the room. I looked around and pretty much everyone we knew was there. Lee, Zack, and Neil stood at the end of the bed with Felix. Sarah sat on the end of the bed. Declan and several members of the royal guard were waiting by the door.
“Out,” Dev commanded. “Everyone who does not sleep in our bed needs to wait in the outer rooms. That includes you, Neil. I’m certain Zoey will tell you the tale before she shares it with anyone else. Go about your business. Sarah, you may stay, please.”
“Why does Sarah get to stay?” Neil never liked being out of the loop.
“Sarah is our g
roup’s healer,” Dev explained. “Whatever the healer decides Sarah will have to administer. She needs to know what is going on.”
Sarah and Neil exchanged a long look, and I knew they had been talking about something. I just wished I knew what Sarah was thinking.
When the room had cleared out, Dev turned back to Daniel. “Everyone is gone. Sarah won’t mention it. I’m sure healers have an oath or something. Please tell us what’s going on.”
Daniel sat up and ran a frustrated hand through his hair. He looked flustered and a little emotional. It made me worried.
“Danny, please,” I practically begged.
“Okay, Z,” Daniel finally said. “But it’s not a big deal. It’s just been going on a little longer than I might have let on. I’ve been feeling…the only word for it is drained, I guess. I’ve felt that way for a week, maybe.”
“Wow.” Sarah shook her head, and she had those lines on her forehead she got when worried. “Z, how much did you eat today?”
I wasn’t sure how my daily caloric intake would help anything, but I thought about it. “Not much. I had a half a cookie but I just wasn’t hungry. Maybe it was the traveling, though I usually love road food. There’s no Dairy Queen here, so that might explain it.”
I liked Dairy Queen. My stomach rumbled at the thought of a nice-sized Blizzard. I hadn’t eaten much.
“What does Zoey’s appetite have to do with this?” Dev asked. “Please focus, girls.”
The healer stared at Sarah for a moment, considering what she’d said. He directed his questions to her in an obvious sign of respect. “She sleeps with both men?”
Sarah nodded. “They’re in a committed ménage a trois and have been for a while now. The prince is…well, you know what his specialty is.”
“Yes, a vampire and a Green Man. An interesting combination.” He finally turned back to Daniel. “Vampire, this is your companion? She is a true companion?”
Companion meant something different in vampire society than it did in the regular world. I wasn’t simply Daniel’s wife. My blood was different from other women’s. It made Daniel stronger and faster than a vampire without a companion. I had a little bit of angel DNA in my background. It hadn’t helped my morality, but it did boost my blood.
“Yes,” Daniel admitted. “She’s my companion. Her glow is strong.”
“I would bet your blood connection is strong as well,” the healer said, drumming his fingers on his bag. I noted he had closed the bag as though he would no longer need it. “You love the girl?”
“I’ve loved her for as long as I can remember,” Daniel said quietly. “I loved her before my turn.”
The healer turned to me now. “And you, Your Grace, how long has it been since you last had your woman’s time?”
Dev gasped a little. “Zoey?”
“I don’t remember.” I took a shot. I didn’t have to worry about getting pregnant. I knew my period was coming when I got PMS.
But I hadn’t had any PMS signs for weeks and weeks. I knew what was coming and I knew I should have been prepared for it, but I was panicking as my husbands stared at me, realization dawning on their faces.
“She’s five days late,” Daniel said quietly.
I took a deep breath and chose not to comment. It was one of those creepy vampire things that previously Daniel had hidden from me. So he knew my periods better than I did. Lots of women were late. It was just stress. I led a stressful life, what with the wars and vampires and numerous people out to kill me. I couldn’t be blamed if my periods were irregular.
Except, they weren’t and never had been. I’d always been on time. I was like clockwork.
All of a sudden everyone was looking at me like I was the patient. Dev and Daniel went utterly silent as though they were attempting to process the information. Sarah reached out and gently took my hand.
“Zoey, sweetie,” Sarah said with infinite patience. “Sometimes, when a vampire has a real, true connection with his companion, the vampire will be able to sense when his companion is weak. He can share his…energy, essence, I don’t know what the proper term is, but he can share it with you. It only works in chronic situations where the discomfort is constant. It’s called sympathetic transference. When you’re weak he can make you strong, but there’s a cost to him.”
Daniel looked up at me. There was a look of strange wonder in his eyes. After a moment, he turned to Sarah. “I’ve heard of it. Is it true, Sarah?”
Sarah’s face was so serious, and for a moment I thought I caught a sheen of tears in her eyes. “Yes, I believe so. You understand the implications?”
“I do,” he said, but there was a little grin on his face.
“What implications?” Anxiety began to pulse through my system. There are times when I just know things are about to change and I want another couple of minutes of blissful ignorance. The way Daniel and Sarah were looking at each other, this was one of those times and I doubted it had anything to do with whether or not I was pregnant. “I’ll eat. I don’t want to make Danny sick because I forgot.”
“It’s more than that, Zoey,” Dev said, exchanging a look with Daniel.
“This is serious.” Sarah looked at me. “It means Daniel isn’t immortal, Zoey. He’s connected to you on a base level, and it’s about more than just blood. He’s formed a biological and psychic connection. If he’s trying to bolster your strength now, think about what happens when your body fails. No matter how long you take his blood, your body will fail.”
“Danny’s body will try to keep mine alive?”
Sarah nodded, thankful I was finally getting it. “And he will fail but not before you drain him of everything. When you die, he’ll go with you.”
Daniel should have had eternity. My heart nearly seized at the thought of what I was going to cost him. “Can we stop it? Is there something we can do?”
“He can break the connection now,” the healer said academically. “If the vampire walks away now, it is possible that he could break his connection with you, but he is not going to do that, Your Grace. The fact that the connection was formed at all is proof that the vampire needs you.”
“I don’t want to do anything, Z,” Daniel said. “I’m fine with this. I’m kind of happy about it. But baby, you need to eat. I can’t take care of you if I’m fainting because you have morning sickness.”
“Is she really?” Dev asked, his voice breathless. He looked at me with a mixture of joy and abject horror in his eyes.
Daniel lay against me suddenly. He placed his ear right above my pelvis and everyone got very, very quiet. I watched Daniel’s eyes close as he focused everything he had on listening for that one sound. He sat up and looked at me. There was so much tenderness in his eyes, I knew what the answer was before he said anything.
“Z, you have two heartbeats.” He gathered me against his chest and kissed my forehead. “You’re pregnant, baby. I told you sleeping with that bastard would catch up with you.”
Dev was sitting rigidly, staring at us with his mouth hanging open. “But I used a condom.”
“Not on our wedding night,” I corrected him. “Not when we were on the altar.”
“That night’s a bit of a blur, sweetheart,” he admitted. “All that magic flying around kind of messed with me.”
“Yes, all that fertility magic,” Sarah pointed out.
“Oh, goddess, my wife is pregnant,” Dev said as though he had to say it out loud to believe it. “We’re going to have a baby.” He turned to Daniel and there was a wariness in his eyes. “I didn’t mean for this to happen, Daniel. I tried to protect her but I didn’t. It’s my fault.”
Daniel’s arms tightened around me. “You don’t want a baby? I thought you would be happy about this.”
“I want it more than anything,” Dev admitted. “But it’s not what we agreed upon. We were all supposed to decide when the time was right, if it would ever be right. I took that decision away from us.”
“It was a matter of time
,” Daniel said. “I always knew it was going to happen. We were fooling ourselves if we thought we could control it. I’m fine with it, Dev. I am.”
Dev tried not to laugh but failed and finally came up behind me, letting his head rest against my back. I was glad the boys were working through their angst because I was still numb. I was having a baby. It didn’t seem real, but there was another heart beating inside my body and I was responsible for that tiny sound. It was mine. It was mine, I decided. It was mine and Dev’s and Danny’s. Our baby might end up being a fertility god, but he or she would be ours first.
“Well, it seems Her Grace is in good condition.” The healer stood, clutching his bag as he walked to the door. “You will need a midwife. Until I can find a good one, the witch can make do. It is fine for you to feed your vampire, Your Grace, so long as he is not greedy. If you take his blood, you should definitely continue to do that. It will strengthen you and the child. And intercourse is permitted though, please, one at a time.”
“We will take good care of our wife,” Dev promised the healer, his hands going around my waist.
Sarah got up to go as well. “I’ll leave you guys alone to let it all sink in. Daniel, as long as Zoey starts eating again, I think you’ll feel stronger. I’ll make sure Albert makes her some ginger tea in the morning. We’ll get a couple of good meals in her and it should help.”
Daniel’s head suddenly came up. “Sarah, am I going to go through labor with her?”
Sarah bit her lip, trying hard not to laugh. “If only I could make that happen. No, you aren’t going to feel her pain and you won’t ever be able to take pain for her. This connection works to give her strength over long periods of time. It helps her to survive when maybe she shouldn’t. But I could try to work out a spell…”
“Don’t you dare,” Daniel muttered.
Sarah slipped quietly out. I let myself fall back on the bed, and Danny and Dev took their places beside me. We let our hands find each other, and I knew I wouldn’t go through this alone. A thought struck me. “Danny, you only heard one extra heartbeat, right?”
