by C. L. Quinn
Burne agreed, and they hurried down the hill to get Park’s car for an easier trip to Koen’s villa ten minutes downhill.
“I’m starving,” Burne announced as they entered Koen’s home and joined the others for a huge buffet.
The next half hour included hearty “welcome backs” from those who knew Burne and introductions to new family members that had joined the household since Burne’s absence the past two years. Bas welcomed her with a warm hug. He was married to her best friend, but he was also her sire.
Burne’s eyes watered when she met Daniel, Eillia’s mate, and their son, Caedmon. The last time she’d seen Eillia, the woman had lost the man she’d loved for centuries. The radiant first blood vampire had been presumed dead, so it was heartwarming to see Eillia home, with a family, and happy. It struck her how little different a vampire’s life really was from normal humans. They lived, loved, grieved, rejoiced, and found hope in the most hopeless times.
Shaking her head, Burne sat quietly watching all these magnificent vampires as they laughed and enjoyed these family moments. She had nearly died on a wood porch in Oregon five years ago when Bas’s enemy had shredded her gut. A plea by Park for her new friend, the vampire Bas, to change Bernie had brought this incredible life to a girl who likely never had a greater destiny than that of a waitress in a small town without ever knowing anything about this spectacular world. Events had coincided to give her this place amongst the most special people on earth, and Burne was grateful every day.
Before things turned bad, she remembered the tough days as she adapted to her life changed forever. There had been moments then when she wondered if it had all been a horrible mistake…that she would have been better off just letting nature take its course and left this corporeal world on the cold porch. Slowly, with Park’s help, she’d adjusted, accepted, and then thrived as a sexy new vampire. When another human had been brutally attacked and changed, due once again to Park’s plea, he’d become a close threesome with her and Park.
Those were some of the best days of her life…when she, Zach, and Park discovered how to live in the world of vampires together, bonded, like a brother and sisters. Three humans torn from their lives into a fantasy of unreality that proved to be all too real. It seemed odd to use the term, but there had been an innocence in those early days. As much as Burne loved her life in Switzerland with Vaz, she missed those times.
A voice interrupted her thoughts, and she turned with a smile to face Park, just inches from her, her eyes sparkling.
“I have a surprise. Cherise has sent a box of her special cinnamon buns, the ones like Eugene made for us in Vancouver.”
“Oh, hell, those things were like food of the Gods. Are they enormous like his?”
“Yes, they are. Cherise recreated them exactly. How many would you like?”
“I don’t want to be a pig, Park. How about…five?”
Laughing, Bas pushed away from the table. “I’ll just bring the box. Eat all you want, ladies, she’s sending another box tomorrow.”
Fifteen minutes later, soft cinnamon and thick white icing covered the hands and lips of everyone at the table.
Licking her fingers one at a time, Burne tried to decide if she had room for one more of the nearly dinner-plate sized cinnamon rolls. “Park, have you heard from Zach lately?”
Still licking her own fingers, Park shook her head.
“No. Since he left Dez, he’s called twice. The most recent was eight months ago. I haven’t been able to reach him since then. He’s a big boy, I’m sure he’s fine, but I would still like him to keep touch. Why, have you?”
“No. Just been thinking of him lately. Of our days in Vancouver. I’ve become a sentimental bitch, with all that’s happening at Vaz’s. I guess I feel a sense of dread at this illness. Things went wrong at Bas’s home, and now it’s going wrong in Switzerland.”
“Ah, Bernie, it’ll be fine. We’ll find out what’s going on, and work the cure or develop something to manage the symptoms. Don’t worry.”
Burne rolled her eyes. “You didn’t really know me when I was human, but I was a major worrier, and now, as vampire, sometimes I’m worse. And because I’m pretty much immortal, boy, do I have a lot more to worry about.”
Park laughed as she scooted the last cinnamon roll on her plate over to Burne. “You need a whole lot more refined sugar, my friend.”
Bas stood. “Ladies, I leave you to your visiting.”
He kissed his mate on the forehead and just as he turned to go, he stopped. “Park, I forgot to tell you that Dez phoned just after we went to bed this morning. She’s coming here to see you.”
“She’s finally going to go to him?”
“If she can find him. Dez has discovered that she doesn’t hold a sire connection to Zach.”
Park sighed. “Then I do. I haven’t tried to search for him, but I suppose I’ll be able to when I do.”
“Bingo, my love. She should arrive by tomorrow morning.”
“Okay. If you don’t mind, I’ll wait to do the trace when she arrives. I suspect that it’ll give me a headache and I want to spend some time with Burne tonight.”
“Works for me. I’m not Zach’s biggest fan, as you know.”
“I remember. He’s never done anything to make you feel that way towards him, though.” Park paused. “Well, after that initial misunderstanding.”
“Still don’t like the big jerk. Burne, enjoy the visit.”
“Thanks, sire.”
Bas sighed and walked away quickly.
Park shook her head again with another soft smile.
“He’s always hated when you call him sire.”
“I know. That’s why I do it. He’s just so proper and controlled, I do it just to rattle his chains a little.”
Standing, Park pulled Burne up from the table. “That, my dear, is my job. I’ve gotten quite good at rattling his chains.” She placed a hand on her swollen belly as she tugged Burne from the room.
“To the beach.”
“Great.”
After the two women grabbed towels and changed into lightweight dresses, Burne followed Park down the stone steps that descended from the villa to the beach. Roaring waves beckoned them with every step closer.
“You never really told me why Bas has such a problem with Zach.”
“I didn’t? The night that Bas kidnapped me, I had a blind date with Zach. My receptionist had set us up, and it didn’t go well. But since Zach was the last one to see me alive, and I had disappeared, he was a suspect. He also felt as if he was responsible for me since he hadn’t seen me safely home to my door. So when he showed up, sliced and diced, at Bas’s compound, and I begged him to save Zach, Bas considered him competition. Plus, Zach, once he was well again, thought I’d been abducted and harmed by this vampire, so Zach and he butted heads from the first moment. Of course, Zach left with Dez shortly after we got here to France, so they’ve never had a chance to get past it.”
“So you never dated Zach?”
“Not really. One failed blind date does not a relationship make. Sadly, because Zach was such a noble gentleman, and he followed me to Vancouver, he, like you, got pulled into this with me. I know both of you are happy as vampires, but I’ll still always feel guilt for my unexpected part in your fates.”
“If there is one thing that I’ve learned from this vampire community, from your deep spiritual connections, it’s that most things happen exactly as they are supposed to.”
Burne linked her arm with Park’s as they hit the soft, warm sand. “Ummm,” she moaned. “This is exactly what I needed. Anyway, I was just thinking at dinner how grateful I am and how fortunate to not have missed becoming vampire. Can you imagine me still working fifty hour weeks and serving sausage and gravy for the rest of my life? With wrinkles and an extra sixty pounds?”
“I’ve missed you, Burne. You need to visit me at least every other month.”
“You’re right. Deal.”
It had been a lon
g day and night. The private plane that Koen had sent for Dez landed on time. Within half an hour she would be with Park and know where Zach was right now somewhere on this big earth. She would know where he was!
While she was excited to see Park and get the information that she sought, her mind went immediately to the one resident of Koen’s villa she prayed she would not see. In that beautiful four story home situated on the edge of the Mediterranean Sea in southern France, the once insane first blood vampire, Tamesine, lived with her new family.
Yes, everyone claimed that she was well now, the manic insanity of 800 years behind her. Dez didn’t buy it and she sure the fuck didn’t care. Not now that it appeared that Tamesine had given up a child all of those centuries ago. She’d abandoned the child to whatever fate might befall her. That little girl had apparently been Dez.
Recent shocking events had linked them, let them see into their past, let them know that they were mother and daughter. Let Dez know that the painful years of her life as a human woman had never really been that; she’d been born vampire and never known. Now, aware of the special nature of her birth, she wasn’t sure that she wanted to know the woman who’d left her alone in this world to carve out a bitter life. At this time, Dez didn’t want to face the woman who’d borne her. Couldn’t. Wouldn’t.
Someday, maybe. But right now, all that Dez wanted was to find Zach and bury herself in him, if he would still have her. Never in her life had Dez felt so uncertain of the future. It was exhausting and she hated it.
So, as the car arrived at Park and Bas’s home, she stepped out to a gentle breeze that curled around her like a lover’s touch. She lifted her face to the air and breathed deeply.
Cool, dry air, so unlike the dampness of the rain forest where she lived, felt pleasant. Maybe it was time to look at making a change in her residence. She’d been in South America for decades, but lately, it hadn’t felt like home.
She grinned. Nothing had. Except Zach.
“You are a pitiful little girl,” she told herself out loud.
The driver turned to her as he lifted her bags from the car. “Ma’am?”
“Nothing, sir. Just happy to feel the fresh air.”
“Look what the night dragged in,” a deep voice said, and Dez turned to face the new arrival. Her old friend, taller than she by several inches, even though her stilettos added four inches to hers, enveloped her in a big hug.
“Bas, you scrappy old dog, it looks like the French air agrees with you.”
It did. Years of stress and worry were gone, his demeanor calm and easy, his eyes warm. “Everything in my life agrees with me, my old friend. Come, my chef has prepared all that awful junk food that you love. Park is feeling a little queasy, so she and Cairine are waiting inside.”
Arm in arm, Dez joined Bas and his family in the main living area of his recently finished villa. Like Park’s father’s home, the entire side that faced the sea was open, a huge balcony a continuation of the inside space, the roaring sea fifty feet below created a natural music for the softly-lit room filled with big furniture and twinkling lights strung all along the edge of the high-ceiling.
Dez moved her eyes over the lovely scene, Park on a big sofa the color of whipped crème, her daughter Cairine on the floor beneath playing with a doll, Park’s friend, Burne, on the floor, too, laughing with the little girl.
This villa was magical, not only because it was decorated with soft and pleasing touches, but because it was filled with love. That was what this was, more than anything, not a house, but a home. A beloved dwelling where people belonged to each other and would be there for each other no matter what happened in their lives. This was the life that Dez finally admitted to herself that she wanted. A home, finally, after centuries without ever finding one.
“Dez, welcome! Please, come sit beside me,” Park called out, her smile genuine, her eyes sparkling.
Their relationship had been rocky at the beginning. When Bas brought Park into his stronghold all those years ago in Vancouver, Dez had been pissed that he might have taken a human lover without even considering her own advances. She’d made it perfectly clear that she was interested, but here this magnificent vampire was, once again, choosing an ordinary human over her. Turned out, they had all been wrong…Park was anything but ordinary.
Standing as Dez approached, Park wrapped her in the same warm embrace that Bas had. Without thought, Dez did the same. Both women surprised at Dez’s response, they carefully pulled back, green eyes searching blue.
Park finally broke the silence that followed their embrace. “I’m really happy to see you again. Are you hungry?”
The common question to any vampire after a long journey met with the usual affirmative nod.
“Then we’ll set up a second meal. Bas,” Park turned to her husband, who’d watched the awkward, heartfelt embrace of his mate and old friend, nodded, and disappeared.
“It won’t take long. You remember Burne, don’t you?”
Dez gave Burne a quick nod. “Yeah. How’s Vaz?”
Vaz was safe territory, an old friend as Bas was, it would be normal for her to inquire about him. Dez felt as if this was all getting too maudlin.
“Good,” Burne answered, with no elaboration, well aware that Dez was not a woman comfortable with small talk.
“Good,” Dez parroted.
“Let’s have a seat on the balcony, shall we?” Park offered. “It’s so beautiful there right now, if a little cool. I have lap blankets if anyone needs one. Dez, you have never had the chance to meet our daughter. This little cherub is Cairine.”
Dez watched the child with a long strawberry-blonde ponytail lift her head. She was pinned immediately by sea-green eyes like Parks. Cairine did not stand up, she just scanned Dez like a little computer, expressionless, the doll motionless in her small hands. When the smile came moments later, the little girl laid down her doll, stood, and walked over to Dez.
In yet another action uncomfortable for Dez, she dropped onto her knees and brought herself down to Cairine’s level.
“Hi, child of Bas and Park. You’re a perfect blend of your parents. You got the red hair, I see.”
Burne watched, incredulous that even the gruff Dez was that uncomfortable speaking to a child.
“Maman tells me it is the color of the sunset.”
Sweet like a five year old girl’s voice should be, Cairine also spoke with a surety that Dez thought must not be so typical. She would admit that her experience with children couldn’t even be called little, more like nonexistent.
Cairine continued to stare at Dez before she smiled suddenly. “I see him in your eyes. You will be together soon. But it will not be easy.”
Picking up the doll again, the little girl shifted her gaze to her mother. “May I have some ice cream now?”
Burne stood and took Cairine’s hand. “I’ll take her to the kitchen.”
Dez looked at Park, shocked, unsure of what just happened.
Park took her arm and led her onto the balcony to a wide cushioned lounge chair.
“I’m sorry. My daughter, like most children, says exactly what is on her mind.”
Sitting down, scooting to press her back against the chair, Dez asked carefully. “What exactly, then, is on her mind? That was cryptic, and yet, weirdly, appropriate to my situation. Does she know why I am here? Does she know something that I don’t?”
Park sat on a second chair and leaned forward.
“Dez, the answers to those questions are no, she doesn’t know why you’re here, and yes, she kind of does know something that you don’t. Unfortunately, it isn’t something that I know, either. Cairine is a third generation first blood vampire. Although her true skills won’t kick in until she is fully mature, her powers are getting stronger and stronger each year. Bas and I have no idea what to expect. It’s getting interesting, though, because it seems that Cairine may be clairvoyant.”
“Like, she knows the future?”
After a little hesi
tation, Park nodded. “We think so. Not exactly that she knows what’s going to happen before it does, but that she is aware of the direction the order of things take. I don’t know how else to describe it since we’re all still watching her to see what comes next. But it seems that she has some idea what you may face in your journey ahead to find Zach.”
“Well, now I’m freaked out.”
“Don’t be. It never hurts to have a little view at what to expect. In this case, yeah, it’s cryptic, but it still gives us information.”
“She said that we would be together soon.”
“Exciting, isn’t it?”
“Not really. She also said that it would not be easy.”
“We make our own path. Much of it isn’t easy, but it will be all right, Dez.”
“What if she means that he doesn’t want me anymore? What if he’s found someone else?”
“There is no way to know that until you find him and see where you two are in this. Do you want to know where he is?”
Dez pushed out of the chair and walked to the edge of the balcony. God, what would she do if he was over her?
“Dez?”
Turning, Dez pressed all of her weight into the stone wall that surrounded the balcony.
“I don’t know. I mean, yes, but, what do I do if he says no?”
“Either way, my friend, you cannot move on until you know the answer. Come back over here, let’s go ahead with the sire trace. At least you will know where you have to go.”
Her heart pounding, Dez shoved against the rough stone and launched herself towards Park. When she was in front of her, Park pulled Dez down to land inelegantly beside her.
Her voice steady and resigned, Dez asked, “What do I do?”
“Just stay at my side. Give me your hand.” Park didn’t wait for Dez to offer it, she just took Dez’s right hand in hers and turned to face her. “Relax, I’m going to go into the spirit realm and send out a message of blood to blood. I want to take you with me.” Park paused. “Dez, I know about Tamesine, that she’s your mother.”
Dez hadn’t expected that. “Oh,” was all she responded with.
