Tempest of Vengeance

by Tara Fox Hall

  “How does he know?” Lash said quickly. “I never said anything.”

  “I told him,” I confessed. “I wanted him to leave you alone, and I’d heard enough badmouthing of you. So I told him, and he relented. He just reminded me again that he felt like a father to me, and he hoped that I was happy.”

  “Good,” Lash said, grinning. “Maybe I’ll call him ‘Dad’ next time I see him, just for kicks.”

  I hit him lightly and he laughed, smirking at me. “You have anything else to confess?”

  The moment he said the words, it hit me that I did. I turned to Lash with tears in my eyes.

  He went still immediately. “What is it?”

  “I’m so sorry, Lash. I broke a promise to you. I told Devlin why I came back to him—that it was because of you helping me.”

  Lash’s eyes went flat instantly, the rage emanating from him so hot it was making him twitch. I stayed motionless, a little afraid, watching him get it under control.

  “Why?” he got out finally.

  “I was drunk, and angry,” I admitted, crying a little, and feeling stupid. “You and I had fought, then you’d gone to Davy’s. I’d cut myself deeply on the knife you’d given me, and was trying to bring Danial back—”

  Lash’s anger disappeared, and he clutched me to him tightly. “Dev stopped you? Healed you?”

  I nodded.

  “And?”

  “Devlin told me to go and make up with you. I was angry, and it slipped out.”

  “How did he take it?” Lash asked warily.

  “He said he’d suspected, but he was upset, until I told him I could have children again, and then he said he didn’t care.”

  “You told him that, too?” Lash said, letting out a breath. “Well, that’s—”

  “He knows about our baby, about my miscarriage.”

  “Sar, I’m guessing Dev didn’t take more than an hour to show up at Davy’s, and find me passed out. How the hell did you have so much time to discuss all this?”

  “Lash, you told him about the baby. You were drunk, really drunk, but you were awake, when we both found you. You don’t remember, but I came to Davy’s with Dev. You fought—”

  “No, I went to Davy’s and trashed the place, and then drank myself into a stupor. Dev came and got me, and brought me home, I guess. You woke me up the next afternoon.”

  “No, I went with him, and we found you drinking, and you called me a bitch.”

  He gave me a look that said he didn’t believe me, but was unwilling to call me a liar. “Why do I not remember this? I always remember what I’ve done, drunk or not! What the hell happened, Sar?”

  “Dev stuck you with something while you were, um, distracted, and it knocked you out. He said you wouldn’t remember.”

  Lash looked at me with flat eyes, but this time it was because he was very, very nervous.

  “What else did I say?”

  It’s obvious he’s afraid to know. “You said some things, Dev said some things. You fought with him, and stabbed him and bit him. Then you had me on the pool table again.”

  “Shit, I want to remember that! Was it as good as last time?” He grinned widely.

  I gave him a look that said it had not been the same. “Not really, no.”

  He hugged me. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?” he said hesitantly. “Please tell me I didn’t hurt you.”

  “You were rough, and angry,” I said honestly. “But when I told you how much I loved you, you calmed down. You were very tender, near the end.”

  Lash actually blushed. His voice when he spoke was more worried than ever. “What did I say? What did I do! Tell me everything, word for word!”

  I looked at him warily, debating what to edit out and what to tell him.

  He saw the look in my eyes. “Please tell me I didn’t cry,” Lash hissed with repugnance. “Anything but that.”

  “You didn’t cry,” I said honestly.

  “Tell me what I said to you, all of it,” Lash said staunchly. “I need to know what I said, especially if I made you any promises.”

  So I told him all of it, though I minimized what he had said about thinking I had healed and not telling me, because it would only make him feel guilty, and it didn’t matter anyway. After, Lash and I lay together unmoving, just holding each other.

  “We don't have to talk about it further,” I ventured finally. “I—”

  “I’d rather not talk about it,” Lash said in relief. “Except to tell you that everything I said to you was true, Sar. None of it was a lie.”

  “I never thought it was,” I assured, hugging him close.

  “I heard you that day, you know,” Lash said, changing the subject. “That day you were talking in the kitchen with Serena. She’d asked you if you were afraid of me, if I’d been bad in bed.”

  “She said there was no one listening,” I said, blushing furiously.

  “No, she said she heard no one nearby,” Lash corrected, smiling faintly. “I was there, holding completely still, because I wanted to know what you would tell her. I was angry about having to give up being with Cin, and I thought if I told Devlin that you abhorred me, that maybe he would assign a bear to guard you instead. I was sure you were going to say how much I repulsed you, that it had been awful with me, how much you detested what we’d done. But when you told her I was good, I was shocked. I knew it was a lie, and that intrigued me, that you would lie out of kindness for me when you didn’t even like me, when there was no one who would even know of the lie except her.” Lash gripped my body to his, squeezing me in his arms. “It didn’t take me long to start falling for you. And when you came and told me you couldn’t bear to let me die, that was it. I was lost.”

  I kissed him tenderly, and then drew back from him. “When is your birthday?”

  “In the summer, in June,” Lash said, looking at me in confusion. “Why?”

  “I wanted to know if I’d missed it,” I said, hugging him. “I’m glad it’s coming up soon.”

  “Does that mean I can’t have a present now,” he teased, kissing his way down my shoulders.

  “No,” I responded throatily, reaching for him. “Come here.”

  * * * *

  New Year’s Eve was a pleasant affair. We all overindulged, and had a great time in the process at a loud party in the ballroom. Most everyone was there, save Theo and Jenny, of course, and Sundown, who was feeling nauseous and stayed home. But Terian came for a brief while, and T, Rip, Titus, Leri, Serena, the bears and their mates and girlfriends, and even Elle and Danial. It was time for a big celebration, now that Ulysses was finally dead, and Danial was awake, even if he was still not his old self. Devlin had a good time playing both his piano and host, and I enjoyed my first time playing hostess at his side. Lash did security for the party, but he told me ahead of time that he would celebrate with me the next day, if I felt up to it. I assured him that I would. As the New Year began, I gave Devlin a kiss, hugged Venus in my arms, and thought that life was good indeed.

  * * * *

  The next day, Titus and Devlin gathered with me in the Silver room, and Devlin gave Diana a kiss. Before she stirred, and fully awoke, Titus teleported her and I to Africa, where a waiting Nineva was there to take custody of her.

  “What do I tell her?” he said quietly, looking with unease at Titus, who pointedly ignored him, his attention on Diana in his arms.

  “Tell her that she had cholera, that she has been sick for a long time,” I said, gazing at Diana as she began blinking her eyes. “Tell her that she graduated.” I handed him a folder. “Here are the papers to prove it. Tell her that she’s a nurse, and arrange for her to get to this Peace Corps camp. They are expecting her.”

  “Why are you doing this?” Nineva said in a low rumbling tone that was too close to Theo’s for my liking. “She’s the sister of the man who caused you terrible suffering.”

  “Because she never wanted any of that,” I replied, stepping back from him. “She only wanted to help peopl
e. She has a good life in front of her, if she can only forget the past.”

  “Something happened to Elle, didn’t it?” Nineva asked.

  I shot him a look, but didn’t answer.

  “It’s in your voice, Sar. Tell me.”

  “Yes,” I said in a brittle tone. “I have to go now. Please see she gets there?”

  “You know that Zane may come after her anyway,” Nineva said, looking at me out of the corner of his eye as he took her from Titus. “He’ll not draw the distinction you did, that she’s innocent.”

  “She has a chance to live, where she wouldn’t have before,” I said with finality. “This was the life she wanted. That’s all I can give her.”

  Nineva just looked at me sadly. I knew he was going to say something, and I didn’t want to hear it, especially if it was about how a woman’s duty was to become were if her husband asked her to. And I didn’t want to hear about his harem, either. “Thanks for your help. Take care.”

  “You’re welcome,” Nineva said, his tone suddenly aloof.

  He’s been talking to Theo. Or maybe he’d seen my ring finger was bare. Either way, it didn’t matter. I nodded to him, then Titus and I teleported home.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Lash and I were sitting at the kitchen table one Saturday morning in silence, later that same week.

  I’d been having dreams of Devon the last few nights, which was causing me to lose sleep. As much as I liked waking up with Lash and Dev, dreams of my lost son kept leading me to the expectation of waking up in my old bed, Theo in my arms, and Devon beside us in his little bed.

  God, what I’d give to wake up just once and see little Devon curled up twitching in his sleep...Leave it, Sar. There’s no use remembering what’s ashes and dust. I rubbed my eyes, then felt Lash’s hand on my arm.

  I looked over at him, my expression haggard. “Do you want to talk about it with me?” he hissed softly. “I see your eyes when you first wake, and I can guess what you’ve been dreaming these last few nights. I can feel how much you miss what you’ve lost.”

  “Not really,” I replied tiredly, trying to manage a smile and failing. “It’s not that I don’t want to share it with you, it’s just—”

  “I understand,” Lash hissed, his tone low and rough. “It was the same for me, when I lost my loved ones. I didn’t talk about it for years.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said, putting my hand over his.

  “It was a long time ago,” Lash said heavily, glancing away from me. “But it still hurts bad, when I remember how much I loved them.”

  I wanted to know then what had happened to Lash’s family, a story he had never told me. But I didn’t feel comfortable asking him about it, when I wasn’t willing to talk about my own pain. “You’re right that I’ll feel better, as time goes by,” I said hollowly. “I know that on some level. Right now it just feels raw.”

  “I know you lost your first mate, too, Sar. Your first husband,” Lash added quietly.

  I nodded, waiting for him to elaborate.

  “I want you to know, you aren’t going to lose me like you lost him,” Lash hissed staunchly, pulling me gently into his arms. “I gave you my word, Sar. I won’t ever break it. And even if I began to fail like before, I won’t die without a fight like I almost did last time. I’ll do whatever I have to, even if it’s as horrible as before, so I can stay here with you, and protect you.”

  “I know you will,” I assured, embracing him. “And you aren’t going to lose me, either.”

  “Are you going back to bed, after breakfast? Devlin said you might stay up today.”

  “Probably not,” I answered, yawning. “I want to spend some time with Venus, until her lessons in the afternoon. And I’m caught up on the e-mail work for T, finally.”

  “Would you want to go out for lunch with me later, then?” Lash offered. “I have a busy morning, but my afternoon in free.”

  “Sounds good to me,” I said, finally locating a smile, and giving it to him. “Say meet back here about noon?”

  “That’s doable,” Lash affirmed, nodding. “Maybe we can catch an early movie, or something.”

  “Okay,” I agreed, nodding. “It’s a plan.”

  Lash gave me a quick kiss, and then he was out the door, putting his dishes in the sink on his way out. I loaded the dishwasher, and went back upstairs. Devlin was sleeping soundly, so I left him there, and went and showered. When I got out, I kissed him awake. He finally opened his golden eyes on the fourth one, lifting his head to kiss me back gently.

  “Where are you off to?” he said, looking at my clothes. I was wearing the outfit Lash preferred, the tan leather duster and the dark brown top, with my tight jeans. “Must be somewhere with Lash, with the colors you’re wearing.”

  “I’m spending the morning with Venus, and then going out to lunch with Lash. He mentioned a possible movie afterwards.”

  I wondered if Devlin would be jealous, but he just gave me a soft look, and a gentle hug.

  “Have a good time with him,” he said, looking searchingly into my eyes. “I’ll see you a little after dusk. I have conference calls for later in the evening, but we can have dinner with V before that.”

  “I’ve been meaning to ask,” I ventured sexily, leaning in and kissing his throat lightly. “When can we do again what we did that night the three of us went out to celebrate our Oathing? It felt incredible, that time with you in the car.”

  Devlin groaned, when I bit him lightly, then pushed me back gently. “Stop it, Love,” he said lustily, “or you won’t be leaving at all.” He regarded me thoughtfully for a moment, before he answered. “I’d say we could do it once a month or so,” he said finally. “Typically, I’d do it only once with a woman, to complete the turn from human to vampire, the first and last blood I’d give her.”

  “I thought it might be something like that. You enjoyed it a lot, I noticed.”

  “Very much,” Devlin grinned, his eyes melting hot gold just thinking of it. “Clinically, it’s the virus in my blood, wanting to replicate itself. It’s like sex, that there is that same orgasmic rush, both when I bite down fully into flesh and taste blood, and when I’m bitten lightly by a human, and feel their teeth get sharper and sharper as they began to bite harder and harder...” Devlin shuddered deliciously, and then stretched languidly. “But with you being resistant, we could do it once a month, if I didn’t take much from you at other times, or give you any blood outside of that. But we’d have to be careful, Sar. Truthfully, I’d not have risked it with you, if I had drunk like I usually do from you at all in the last few months.”

  “Wouldn’t it be safe?” I persisted. “I didn’t get sharp teeth this time.”

  “You did, just very briefly,” Devlin remarked with an uneasy smile. “I felt them, as you bit me, and it felt so good I had to scream. A few seconds later when you kissed me, they were normal again. But still, it will be at least a month, Love.”

  “All right,” I agreed. “I’ll look forward to it.”

  “As will I,” Devlin proclaimed with longing. “Now kiss me, My Love, before you go.”

  I nodded, and with a last kiss for him, I went to go find Venus. She was playing with Serena in the ballroom. She seemed to love that room best, for some reason. When she saw me coming toward her, she ran to me. “Mommy!” she said in her high yet perfect voice. “Have you come to play with me?”

  “Yes,” I said, smiling down at her. “What are you playing, V?”

  “Vampire Barbie,” Serena said, trying hard to keep a straight face. “We’re having a Hallows party. I’m sure you’re dying to come.”

  “Will you make me some more doll clothes, Mom?” Venus said charmingly. “I need some more ball gowns.”

  “Sure,” I said, taking her hand, and walking with her back to Serena. “Come with me later to my sewing room, and tell me what colors and material.”

  “Silver and gold,” Venus said, as if that was the only choice there could be.

&nbs
p; I couldn’t help smiling down at her. She was so much like Devlin, so sure of herself. “Silver and gold it is,” I said.

  For the next few hours, Serena and I helped Princess Venus hold court at the party she had thrown. She had all of Devlin’s arrogance, and she was exacting, as she made her guests toe the line. But I was glad to see she wasn’t treating her underling dolls that Serena and I were giving voice to like they were only servants, she was treating them as friends, too. It was a start, anyway. I’d take what I could get.

  The morning passed swiftly, and soon it was time for Venus to go to her tutor. Unlike Bill, who’d been human, this was a supernatural tutor, some faerie relative of Leri’s. She seemed nice enough, though I’d told Devlin I wanted to see her credentials, at some point, even if they were in some language I couldn’t read.

  “Have a good rest of the day,” I said, giving my little daughter a kiss and hug goodbye. “I’ll see you tonight, to have dinner and read you a story.”

  “I love you, Mom,” she said softly, looking at me with her beautiful golden eyes.

  “I love you too, V,” I said. I watched her go, deciding then and there to try my best to let go of what I’d lost. Thinking of Devon all the time wasn’t going to bring him back to me. I had a child right here who needed me, who wouldn’t be a child for much longer. A few years, if I’m lucky. Cursing Theo wasn’t going to make things better with him, or make him be more permissive with Elle spending time with me. Everything was better this way, anyway. He had someone that was his, and only his. He could spend every night with her, in her arms. And Elle and I were finding time to get together now, even if it wasn’t as often as I’d have liked.

  If only Danial was as easy to let go.

  I still could not seem to get past the loss of Danial, because the wound from him wasn’t just sore, it remained freshly raw, no matter how much time passed. He could not move on from his own loss, and to see him grieving me constantly, day after day, and not be able to ease his pain was agony. He always treated me with respect, but a little more of me died each time I looked into his eyes and saw he no longer loved me, or knew me as anything but “Lady,” Devlin’s Oathed One. Danial also knew that I was Lash’s lover, as did everyone else by now, though we had kept the mating part of the Oath we’d done secret from everyone, as Lash had requested. But just knowing Devlin had a “new” Oathed One was too much for Danial to deal with. Danial hated that I had taken his “Sar’s” place so quickly in Devlin’s affections. I’d heard him arguing enough nights with Devlin, accusing Devlin of “disgracing Sarelle’s memory with your current whore.” So I tried to avoid him as much as I could, but I still ran into him sometimes. Happily, this afternoon, I managed to avoid him.