Lara’s eyes blinked against the bright lights of the room. She stepped backward, and her hand flew to her mouth to stifle a cry when she looked down on the crowd.
Lucien stared at her until finally their eyes met. He took comfort in the faith and trust in her eyes. Her hand lowered to her stomach and she sent him a thought across the connection they shared.
I carry your child.
His eyes narrowed as the news washed over him. No one was going to harm either his wife or his child. Pushing through the crowd, Lucien advanced to the platform.
“Let her go,” he coldly stated. “This was not part of our agreement.”
Laughter bubbled from Marissa’s lips as she stared down at Lucien. “I want her to realize you will no longer have need of her.”
With a slight nod of her head, Steven tied Lara’s hands to the rope that was attached above the platform, keeping her securely in place.
****
The rough rope tore into Lara’s wrists as she tried to escape its bonds. Thankfully, Steven was somewhat inept at tying knots, so she concentrated on loosening it. As she worked, Lara kept her attention on her hands, ignoring the murmuring throng of people.
A collective gasp arose when a drop of blood fell from her wrists. At the sound, she lifted her head. Several people licked their lips in anticipation. Deciding this was definitely not to her benefit, she held still, hoping her abraded skin would cease bleeding.
To distract the vampires from his wife, Lucien materialized upon the platform. Approaching Marissa, he didn’t spare a glance at Lara. “I will not honor my word if you cannot honor yours.”
Smugly, Marissa met his stare. “Would you have me set her free now?” Her arms spread out, indicating their anticipative audience.
Cursing Lara’s and his own vulnerability, the muscle in his jaw flexed while his mind sought an answer to his dilemma. As he was about to capitulate, his long-time friend, Damien, appeared beside him on the platform.
Amid the gasps from the mortals and retreating vampires, the tall dark man glared in contempt at all who were present. “I take it that you hold yourself above all others.” Damien silkily addressed Marissa.
The older man’s powers forced her to hold her tongue and her scathing remarks as she backed away from him, in a form of respect.
Moving to Lara’s side, Lucien untied her hands and held her close as Damien’s deep voice fairly shook the walls. Marissa bowed her head in submission, but the curve of her lips belied her pose. Lucien knew this was not the end but simply a reprieve.
While everyone’s attention was centered on Damien, Lucien and Lara faded away.
****
The sand beneath her feet signaled to Lara she could release her pent-up breath. Her husband still held her tightly. The sound of waves crashing and the glitter of stars in the sky verified that she was still very much alive.
Taking Lucien’s hand, she settled it on her stomach and smiled up at his loving eyes. “Your child is waiting to meet its father.”
Lucien’s mouth descended on her lips briefly. “I want you to stay in your old apartment. Better yet, I’ll have my solicitor purchase you a home where you and our child will be safe.” He closed his eyes and rested his chin on the top of her head.
“No!” Lara shoved away from Lucien’s tenacious hold. “I’m staying here with you.”
“You will indeed leave. I can’t have you underfoot here.” Tears filled his eyes. “Lara, if you can’t think of the baby, then it just wasn’t meant to be with us.”
Horror swept through Lara as his words sank in. He had sworn that, for better or worse, they would be together. Now, at the first sign of trouble, he was breaking his vows.
Slipping his hand into his pocket, Lucien withdrew the small black wishing stone she had given him. Placing it in her palm, he instructed her, “Take this and give it to our child. He’ll need it more than I will.” Turning, Lucien headed around the bend of the beach and out of sight.
At last the tears fell, but Lara wouldn’t give up. In a dead run, she went after Lucien. There had to be a solution to this problem. No matter what he thought, they would find the answer—together.
Spying him up ahead near the same driftwood log with the up thrust branch where they had first sat and kissed had Lara grinding to a halt. He wasn’t alone. Flanked on either side of Lucien were Marissa and Steven.
Each with deadly intent on their face while looking at the other.
Chapter Fifteen
“You thought you could just slip away unnoticed with your whore?” Blue sparks shot from Marissa’s eyes as she glared up at Lucien.
Steven circled him.
Lucien didn’t say a word, just stood waiting for his chance while she spilled her wrath.
“That old man is going to slip up one of these days, and when he does, I’ll be there to snap up the control,” she promised.
“Where is she? Or are you hiding her again?”
When Lucien still wouldn’t answer, Marissa signaled to Steven.
Steven pulled Lucien’s arms behind his back, and Marissa advanced on him. Her fingernails trailed down his chest until they rested on the fly to his pants. Cupping her hand over his loins, Marissa licked her lips and stroked him with her palm.
A vicious grin replaced Marissa’s sultry expression as she peered over his shoulder. Taking a couple steps back from Lucien, she gleefully informed him, “It seems your little slut has returned. You have no control over your woman, Lucien.”
Turning his head, Lucien watched as Lara ran closer, the black stone held tightly in her fist. The fire in her eyes fairly seared him. This would surely be their end. He had tried to spare her. Now he would not only have to fight for his life, but also for hers and that of his unborn child.
Coming to a halt next to Lucien, Lara’s voice shook with ire, her fist tightly grasping the black stone as she shook it at Marissa. “What do you want with my husband? Can’t you find a man of your own?”
Lucien’s eyes closed. Marissa was barely holding on to her sanity as it was. Now Lara wanted to provoke her and send her careening over the edge.
“Husband?” Marissa screeched. “Husband?”
As Marissa faltered, Lara held up her left hand. The Saint crest glittered on her finger in the remaining moonlight.
Recognizing the family crest emblazoned on the other woman’s hand, only one of the many heirlooms owned by Lucien’s family, sent Marissa completely over the brink of sanity.
“They are mine!” she exploded. “I’ve waited centuries to own them and you will not stop me!”
The sense of impending doom broke the hold Steven had on Lucien’s arms. Pushing the younger man away as if he were merely a nuisance, Lucien started for the two women, intent on protecting his spitfire wife.
Steven leaped on Lucien’s back, knocking him to the sandy beach.
****
As Marissa closed the gap between them, Lara took note of her surroundings, seeking an escape route for herself and Lucien. Water gently lapped the shore on one side while the dense foliage covered the other side. The log she and Lucien had sat upon in the quiet moonlight rested off to the side with a jungle of ferns.
Her adversary bared her lethal fangs, and Lara faltered but the child in her womb urged her to fight.
Marissa lunged toward Lara, gripping her shoulders firmly. Her mouth descended to Lara’s unprotected neck.
Realizing Marissa’s deadly intent, Lara curled her fingers around the black stone, creating a hard fist. Rage and jealousy worked through her, lending her strength, as she swung her fist up and into Marissa’s jaw, taking the vampire completely by surprise.
Staggering backward, her arms flaying about as she frantically searched for balance, Marissa tripped over the edge of the log behind her. Her screams tore through the night as the dead branch tore through the center of Marissa’s chest.
Lara froze at the shock of seeing the piece of wood protrude through Marissa’s flesh, and then made
to move to the other woman’s side, expecting to see blood pouring from the horrendous wound. Strong arms stopped her. With horror mirrored in her eyes, Lara watched as Marissa began to rapidly decompose, exposing areas of raw bone until only a skeleton remained on the log, impaled by the branch.
“Leave her.” Lucien turned Lara away from the morbid sight. “When the sun rises, it will take care of her remains.” The sky was already beginning to lighten with the first blush of dawn.
“I’ll kill you both for that,” Steven raged. They turned to see him struggle to his feet, fangs bared, eyes glowing.
Lucien set Lara away from him. “Go back to the house!”
“I won’t leave you.”
Digging his fingers into Lara’s soft shoulders, Lucien ordered, “If you can’t think of yourself or the baby, then think of me. Your presence here will distract me, and I don’t need that with what I have to do.”
Pressing a firm kiss on her parted lips, he stalked to the rising man.
Lara turned and ran up the beach toward the house and any help within. As she rounded the bend, daylight’s fingers peeked over the rise. It was too late. She fell to her knees, sobbing.
Opening her palm, she stared down at the black stone and shouted at it. “If you do have any power at all then please save Lucien!”
Knowing he would die with the first ray of sunlight, Lara sank back on her heels, watching the sky and praying for all she was worth. Her prayers didn’t stop the sun as it rose over the island, lighting the sparkling blue waters.
An agonized scream sounded from far behind her.
“No!” she screamed up at the heavens.
Collapsing in the sand, Lara cried as the pain of losing Lucien swallowed her whole. Sobs wracked her body, and her hands ground into the sand.
Strong hands lifted Lara, and Ethan’s gentle voice barely penetrated the sound of her cries as he carried her toward the house. “Shush, now. You have to be strong.”
Kicking open the bedroom doors, Ethan gently deposited Lara on the large bed she shared with Lucien. She curled into a tight ball, her mind retreating in shock.
She sensed Ethan’s hand hovered over her shoulder, but he hesitantly withdrew it. There were no words he could offer that would ease her pain. Soundlessly, he left the room, closing the doors behind him.
Blessed numbness closed in on Lara, sucking her into a welcome darkness. Her fingers loosened their tight grip, and the stone fell from her hand to the floor.
Chapter Sixteen
Much later in the day, Margaret waited patiently in the kitchen for Ethan, a moist handkerchief wadded in her hand. At her questioning look, he sunk even more within himself.
“She just lays there and stares at nothing. She won’t talk and doesn’t seem to be aware of her surroundings,” he told the older woman. “We have to snap her out of this, if not for her sake, then for that of the child.”
Margaret agreed with Ethan. Five months had passed since he had carried her in from the beach. Nothing had changed. The pain of Mr. Saint’s death still brought a wet sheen to Margaret’s eyes, but at least his wife was still alive, along with the child her body sheltered.
It was a daily chore to try and persuade Lara to eat, and Margaret was determined to correct that.
“The first thing I want you to do is call the best doctor this island has to offer and schedule an appointment for Lara to begin her prenatal care. We’ve both been remiss in not doing this before. It will be your job to get her there. While she is gone, I will have her suite totally refurbished.”
Leaving Ethan to his chore, Margaret strode into the master suite, opened the blinds and turned on the shower before she approached the huddled figure who watched her from the large bed.
Pulling the covers from Lara’s body, she said, “I know what it’s like to lose your man. But you are luckier than I ever was.”
Lara watched the housekeeper as she spoke. “You have the one thing I never had and that is the child your husband gave you.”
Lara’s hand went to her extended abdomen. The size of it seemed to startle her. Slowly, she rubbed her swollen belly as if to apologize to her baby for ignoring its needs.
“The water’s warming up for your shower. You have an appointment at the doctor’s office in two hours. I’ll be right back. I believe I can find something for you to wear.” Stopping at the doors, Margaret warned her, “If you are planning to stay in that bed, I’ll just have Ethan come in and wash you himself.”
With that said, she left the quiet bedroom and its wide-eyed occupant.
****
In the dark vault, a moan was the only sound heard as the body on the small bed thrashed beneath the tight confines of the carefully arranged blankets. The cold, dank stone walls offered no compassion to the fevered brow of the bed’s lone occupant.
Tears filled the caretaker’s eyes as he sat in the chair, watching his companion writhe on the bed and fighting an inner battle; disheartened that he could not offer a helping hand.
****
Lara squinted as the bright sun caressed her while she waited for the car to pull around to pick her up. A hand resting on her protruding stomach, she contemplated her future.
Margaret was right. She had to resume her life and devote her attention to Lucien’s child. No longer left alone to bemoan the loss of such a good man, she pledged that their child would hear of its father and treasure those memories its mother passed along.
The soft idle of the engine interrupted her musings. Ethan’s hand lightly grasped her elbow, leading her to the passenger side. With her seat belt in place, he headed back around to the driver’s side.
No words were spoken as Ethan maneuvered the car along the road leading into town.
In the waiting room, the doctor soon appeared and offered his hand in greeting as he approached Lara. “I’m Dr. Flannigan. I see you have need of me,” he joked, assisting Lara to her feet. Turning to Ethan he asked, “Are you the father?”
That simple question brought tears to Lara’s eyes, and Ethan somberly answered the question, “No, I’m not. The father recently died.”
The doctor’s eyes flinched as he absorbed the information. Without further thought, he helped his pregnant patient through the doorway and down the hall to the examination room.
Sometime later, Lara exited the examining room with a wide dreamy smile wreathed her face. An inner peace filled her for the first time since Lucien’s death.
“What........What did the doctor say to you?” Ethan asked with trepidation.
“I saw her!” Lara stroked her abdomen. “I saw Lucien’s daughter.”
****
As soon as Lara and Ethan entered the house, Lara headed to Lucien’s special room. When she rounded the corner, she saw a dark figure staring up at her portrait.
Rage and indignation swept through her that someone would dare trespass in Lucien’s room. “How dare you enter here,” she spat, ready to take on one and all in defense of her husband’s memories.
The broad back, clothed in a chambray shirt tucked into distressed jeans, slowly turned. Black hair swept back from his familiar face, with traces of gray at his temples. Deep blue eyes gazed down at her with love.
At the shock of finding her once-dead husband now alive and well and standing right in front of her, Lara crumpled.
Lucien quickly caught his wife before she could hit the floor. Carrying her to the master suite and laying her on their bed, he calmly smoothed the hair from her face and whispered, “I’ve missed you, love. I don’t know what I would have done if anything or anyone ever took you away from me. Come, my love, open your eyes.” His lips skimmed over her mouth.
Hesitantly lifting her lids, Lara looked up at him. With a happy cry, she flung her arms around his neck, planting kisses all over his face. God, he’d missed her.
The bright daylight shone in the windows of their bedroom, and as if just noticing the burning rays, she squirmed from his grasp to race to one window. “Ethan,
help me cover the other windows.”
Lucien turned to find Ethan calmly leaning against the doorframe. “Did Margaret tell you?”
Ethan swallowed, hard, and nodded.
“Why are you just standing there? Help me!” she desperately pleaded until the male chuckles stopped her.
Turning to face him with her fists on her hips, she demanded, “What do you find so funny? I’m trying to protect you from the sun.”
“There is no need to protect me anymore. From now on, it will be me who will protect you and ours, my little spitfire. And heaven help whoever tries to come between us ever again.” He reached for her hand and tugged until she sat next to him on the bed. “There will be no more staying away from the sun. I want to invite it in everyday,” Lucien proudly proclaimed.
With Lara’s belly snuggled against his side, his hand slid to caress it with wonder. The little kick he felt against his palm made his heart turn over.
“I believe our daughter agrees with you,” Lara happily revealed.
“We’re having a daughter?”
“Ethan took me to the doctor today, and he did a sonogram, which showed our little girl has just been waiting for you to come home.”
Lucien looked to the other man, who was grinning like an idiot.
“Now tell me what happened that day,” Lara asked, looking up at Lucian.
Knowing she wouldn’t settle for anything other than the complete truth, Lucien urged her back to the bed before starting his story.
“After you headed back up the beach, Steven grabbed a piece of driftwood. As he came toward me, I searched for some way to disarm him, but dawn had already broken. A fierce burning tore through my body, leaving me virtually helpless. Neither of us could escape the death it promised. From that point, I can’t remember anything else other than falling down, trying to put out the fire that ate at my back. Later, when I awoke, I was on a bed in Damien’s tomb.” Lucien pressed his mouth to her moist lips.
The Wishing Stone Page 12
