Mia cringed at the thought, because she realized her life would be fraught with them forever. “Okay. Thank you.”
He gave her a reassuring smile and said, “Get some rest. I’ll see you soon.”
Mia walked him to the door, then closed it behind him and sighed. She’d learned much today and it wasn’t all bad news. However, many questions remained. On a hunch, she walked to the bedside table and opened the top drawer. What she sought was there. She picked up the Gideon Bible inside, sat on the bed and began to read.
Chapter 12
“Why the hell hasn’t he called today?” Nathan growled. Julia and Dimitri were in his kitchen with him, eating their evening meal, watching him pace. Their expressions bore concern over his antsy behavior, yet they said nothing. Wise. His mood was so foul, Nathan feared what might come out of his mouth.
Six days had passed since Mia awoke from her turning. Except for today, her doctor had called Julia to report on her. For her privacy, he’d provided little information beyond that she fared well, but Nathan suspected her frame of mind wasn’t progressing at the same pace as her new body.
Nathan was dying to know more. He realized vampire doctors didn’t adhere to all the health regulations of human ones, but privacy for one’s patient still prevailed. The doctor wouldn’t share anything that might violate Mia’s trust in him. Nathan couldn’t blame him there, but damn it, he needed answers.
Julia finally replied to his question. “If Christian has nothing to report regarding Mia, he probably feels no need to call. You know she’s fine, Nathan. Physically.”
Nathan’s gaze slashed her way. “I know that, but what I don’t know is how she’s adapting to her turning. Poorly, I would suspect, given her disgust for me and our entire species. I’m surprised she’s even allowing that doctor of yours within her same zip code.” Worry for her was driving him insane. His gut felt as if it were infested with a legion of writhing snakes and had since the night he’d left Mia. “And what the hell will happen to her once Dr. La Mond releases her?” he muttered.
“Oh dear, that is a conundrum,” Julia said, then sat down her fork and nibbled at her lower lip.
Dimitri looked troubled too, but didn’t comment.
A big one, Nathan thought. Imagining her life as an unmated female without vampire protection, was his greatest fear for her now. He knew all too well what feral males were capable of doing to a fledgling female. If they were lucky enough to capture one, or unlucky in the case of the female, they force mated them. It wasn’t just a matter of physical rape, which was bad enough, but the feral male marked the female against her will.
Marking was marriage for their kind and although he’d never experienced it, Nathan understood it to be a beautiful act between two vampires who loved each other. If the act was perpetrated on a woman of their kind by a feral, it was the single most horrid thing that could happen to a female of their race. She’d be bonded to that insane vampire forever. Even if the feral male died, she’d never have another chance to life-mate. The horror she’d suffer under the male’s mind control would drive her insane and eventually she’d turn feral too. If, god forbid, they had children, it was an even worse nightmare, resulting in feral children.
“Christian will explain this to her if he hasn’t already,” Dimitri finally said.
Julia added, “Don’t worry, my darling. She will be protected. Christian would never release her to live on her own without a plan in place. I’m sure he has methods arranged for her safety until her mind heals and she’s ready to accept you as her life-mate.”
He raked a hand through his hair and stared at them, finally offering a nod. The couple had great confidence in the man and Nathan assumed as a doctor, La Mond would be attentive to her aftercare.
If she allowed it.
“I know you are worried, Nathan, but there is nothing you can do presently. She is being cared for. Try to take comfort in that. Come and eat,” Dimitri said, then gestured toward the untouched dinner plate Julia had prepared for him. “You’re neglecting both your hungers. When have you last fed? You look like the poster child for what humans consider our kind to look like.”
Nathan said nothing. He’d taken inventory of himself in the mirror this morning after his shower. He looked like shit, compounded by the fact he’d done a hack job shaving, but he didn’t care. He hadn’t fed in nearly a week and had eaten little to nothing. His face was gaunt, pale and he looked almost as bad as he felt. Nathan knew he needed to hunt. His body craved blood, and he’d developed vampire DT’s. He shook so badly, he knew that partially explained the sick, worried expressions on his friends’ faces.
He didn’t want to feed. Hunting made him think of Mia, and the notion brought great shame and guilt. The woman he now loved had started out as nothing more than a meal to him and an attempt at a sexual dalliance.
No wonder he disgusted her.
“Let me give you a transfusion,” Dimitri offered.
Nathan hated them. He’d had a transfusion a time or two, but considered them a vegetarian diet. He just grunted and walked across the kitchen to a microwave. Mia’s purse sat beside it. He’d placed it there the morning he’d returned home. For the last six days he’d periodically camped at this same spot and stared at the little red handbag, dotted with gold studs and strips of ribbon, wanting to use it as an excuse to go see her. He’d heard her phone inside ding several times and eventually took it out and charged it, but he hadn’t snooped as much as he’d wanted to. However, he had noticed text messages pop up from her children a time or two while it charged.
He smiled faintly. Her daughter Tiffany had a colorful tongue. The last message she’d sent her mother said, “WTF, Mom? Did ya fall in a hole and die or what? We’re freaking out here. Better answer soon or we’re sending out the f’ing National Guard. Seriously.”
Had she contacted them, Nathan wondered? These days most people didn’t have phone numbers memorized because they were so dependent on their smart phones. He didn’t know that to be the case with Mia, but realizing how desperate her children were to hear from her, it gave him a damned good excuse to go see her.
He snatched the handbag, spun and headed for the back door, intending to drive himself to that doctor’s house. Julia had him blocked before he could reach for the door handle. “Out of my way, Julia.”
She scowled at him. “Oh, no you don’t, Nathan. If you go over there you’re only going to make matters worse between the two of you. She is not ready to see you yet. If she were, she would have contacted you.”
He loved Julia, but his emotions were so foamed up at the moment he couldn’t tame his tongue. “How the hell can it get any worse than it is? I want to see her and I don’t care if she tells me to go to hell. Believe me, if it would get her back, I’d stay in the worst pit of it as long as she required. Now, get out of my way, woman!”
Dimitri joined his wife at the back door, wrapped an arm around her waist and gently pulled her back. “He has to do this, love. It probably will end very badly, but I understand how he feels. Sometimes not knowing something is worse.”
Julia blinked up at Dimitri for several moments then nodded. To him she said, “Be careful what you say, Nathan. She’s bound to be very fragile still. I seriously doubt Christian will even let you see her, but Dimitri and I will pray for you both.”
He gave them a single nod of appreciation, then exited.
It was dusk when Nathan arrived at the doctor’s country home; probably one of the largest log cabin style structures he’d ever seen. He parked outside the closed four car garage, then wasted no time heading for the front doors. He rang the bell and waited.
Several minutes later, one opened and the same older, human nurse from the night he’d brought Mia here, smiled up at him.
“Good evening, Mr. Davenport. How can I help you?”
“I want to see Mia. I have something for her.” He held up the little red purse, feeling foolish sporting the feminine frippery, but at the momen
t the thing was a talisman and his only hope to garner an audience with her.
The nurse nodded once and stepped aside. Nathan entered and glanced around the great room. He hadn’t viewed this room before. The night they’d taken her here, they’d entered through a side entrance which led to the hospital level of the building. The doctor obviously hunted. The room’s style was Adirondack with a combination of nearly two dozen deer, elk and moose heads decorating the walls of the enormous space.
“If you’ll wait here, Mr. Davenport, I’ll tell her and Dr. La Mond you’re here.”
“How is she?”
The nurse smiled at him again. “Doing very well and pestering us all as to when she can go home. I’ll see if Dr. La Mond will allow her visitors. Excuse me.”
He nodded and watched her exit an archway at the rear of the room. Nervous and impatient, he studied the decor and furnishings also sporting a southwestern flavor. As a hunter himself, Nathan appreciated the surroundings. The sixteen point whitetail mount on the wall right of the river rock hearth, was especially impressive. It was an irregular rack. Nine points on one side and seven on the other. It had to have been a record buck. If his mind hadn’t been singularly focused on Mia, he would have enjoyed talking to the doctor about where he’d harvested the thing.
He continued to putter around the room, settling his attention on a huge, walnut gun cabinet with a glass face, housing a good two dozen arms from the civil war era to present. The wall adjacent, held various bows, recurves and modern compounds, and a very nice medieval crossbow. Beneath, there was another large glass-faced cabinet with a good bevy of arrowheads, ranging from flint to modern broad heads.
He scented Mia before he heard her footsteps coming down the hallway the nurse had disappeared into earlier. She wasn’t alone. Her doctor was with her. Moments later they entered together holding hands. He didn’t like that at all, but he suspected the man a support line for her currently and in her mind, he was the enemy.
She glared at him, her pretty amber eyes swimming with disdain and mistrust. He wasn’t surprised by her reaction, but it still hurt.
She looked great though. Beautiful. Her cheeks were rosy beneath her golden features and her thick curls, loose around her shoulders. She wore tight jeans and a tank top that fit just right. His body literally pulsed with the need to touch her, comfort her, kiss her. He had a despondent feeling executing such notions would be a long time coming, if ever.
She swallowed hard and looked up at her doctor. It was a gesture for protection and he instantly provided it.
“Mia agreed to see you, against my advice. So what do you want?” he demanded, stepping in front of her.
Nathan didn’t answer readily, because he didn’t know what to make of the man’s possessive nature. He reasoned his attitude was a doctor thing, but the vampire in Nathan fired with jealousy. Mia had been interested in Dr. La Mond before she knew he was one of their kind, but after how poorly she’d taken the news of her turning, surely not.
Doubt caused anger to trail his jealousy. However, anger was not an emotion he could afford at the moment. He tamped down his ire and said, “Mia, I brought your purse. I apologize. I did get into it to charge your phone a couple times. I thought you’d want it because I heard your cell ring over the last few days. Your children are trying to get ahold of you.”
He’d scored there. She immediately approached him, took her purse from his hand and dug out her cell. She stood between him and the doctor, scrolling through the phone, oblivious to the fact he and Dr. La Mond glared at each other with dual expressions of territorial attitude.
His stemmed from his need to be with his life-mate. Nathan wasn’t sure what prompted the doctor’s attitude, but he had a few ideas. Mia was disgusted with him. She’d probably been telling this man she wanted nothing to do with him. That being the case, Dr. La Mond could very easily be viewing Mia as a potential life-mate because she was an unmated female.
Nathan’s vampire carnal nature began to hum along his nerve endings. He couldn’t suppress the growl that rose to his throat as he stared down the man. The doctor returned one just as savage and Nathan knew his instincts had been on point. La Mond wanted Mia or wanted to explore things with her, one of the two.
Wasn’t going to happen.
Everything became tunnel vision at that point because he faced off with another male of their kind. When it came to life-mating, vampires were nothing like human males. They were instinct driven, like a wild animal. If things didn’t work out, a vampire didn’t just waltz down the road and look for another woman. It was all or nothing once a male chose his female, and regard for life or limb did not exist, nor rationale. If it came to a fight, it would be to the death. Only one thing mattered and that was the sanctity of the life-mate union.
Nathan glanced her way, not surprised to see terror riddling her features as her gaze darted back and forth between the two of them. His love for her gave him a thread of sound reasoning, even though every cell in his body wanted to attack his competition.
He glowered at La Mond and said through clenched teeth, “I want to thank you for taking care of Mia. Do you plan to release her soon?” He knew the doctor would understand what he meant.
“I’m taking care of Mia for her benefit, not yours. She’ll be discharged when she’s fit to face the world as a new one of our kind and I’ll see she’s taken care of thereafter.”
And how would that be? And where? He had a pretty good idea. “Have you given any thought to how she’s to survive as an unmated female?” He had to ask the question. Had the doctor bothered to tell her about that yet? Her next words confirmed La Mond had been negligent in that regard.
“What are you talking about, Nathan?”
Dr. La Mond looked down at her and frowned. “You’ve had so much to deal with this week. I didn’t want to add this just yet, but it appears I have no choice.” The doctor’s gaze met his and swarmed with fury before he continued. “You understand the term feral. We discussed it regarding Isabella. However, there are feral males of our kind and they are very different than female ones.”
Mia’s narrowed gaze slashed back and forth between them, then honed on La Mond. “How?”
“Males turn feral when they believe they have no chance to life-mate. Scientifically, what happens is this, the gland I told you about which creates our venom and houses our physic and telekinetic center also produces a second kind of testosterone in males of our species. Occasionally, when serotonin and dopamine levels are off kilter in certain males, paired with an extreme rush of this secondary male hormone, insanity results. Their goal is to force mate at that point. An unmated female of our kind is their first pick, but I’ve known some to get so desperate they turn a human female and force mate them.”
She shook her head and rubbed her temple. “What do you mean, force mate?”
The doctor looked at him with an expression promising retribution. He returned one he hoped matched it because she should have known this by now.
Nathan understood this was a dicey topic, but Mia would need protection when she returned to life. He wasn’t foolish enough to believe she would accept it from him and knowing her stubborn streak, she wouldn’t accept assistance from La Mond or any vampire for that matter. That notion terrified him, because she had no idea the danger she faced as an unmated female of their kind.
Finally, Dr. La Mond said, “We’ve talked about life-mating.”
“Yes, and as I told you, I consider it nonsense.” She folded her arms across her chest and glared at the man.
“Mia, it’s not. The way we life-mate is a physical consummation that goes beyond the act of sex. We marry differently. When a couple of our kind make their life commitment, the male bites his mate, typically in the shoulder. The venom released is paired with the testosterone hormone I spoke of and basically creates a new scent shared by the two vampires when mated ones of our kind drink from each other. Other vampires instantly know that person has a life-mate. Eve
n a feral would never breach that union. Life-mating is complicated on many levels, but as far as marking, it’s an intimate thing. A sexual thing. I can tell by the nauseated look on your face this was something you weren’t ready to hear, but you…” He broke off and shot Nathan a scathing look. “…had to get it out there and I’m sure your reasons were self-serving as they’ve always been with Mia.
Do you seriously think she’ll ever want anything to do with you again? Your lies were the stone-worked path that led her to this life she wanted no part of. Leave her be. You aren’t her life-mate. As far as her protection against ferals, I’ll provide it.”
Not her life-mate, huh? For him to say that after Nathan had told him he had claimed her as his mate meant he’d become far too emotionally attached to Mia. Granted, Mia had probably convinced her doctor that she loathed him. Deserved as that loathing might be, as a doctor, La Mond should know Mia wasn’t thinking straight. He’d said himself that a human turned against their will would have great difficulties accepting the transition into vampire life.
Nathan was livid and so close to attacking the man, his fangs extended without initiation. He clamped his mouth shut to keep from frightening Mia and squeezed his hands into fists, wanting to plow both of them into the man’s face.
“Stop it, Christian. I can speak for myself.”
Oh, so they were on a first name basis now? No surprise after what he’d witnessed thus far. If Mia weren’t present, her doctor would be witnessing him ripping out his throat.
Miserable bastard.
Mia glared at Nathan, then continued, “He’s right. I don’t want anything to do with you. And you should be thanking Christian. He’s worked his tail off trying to get me to understand why you…you…” She swallowed hard, then continued, “You treated me like a mid-night snack. He’s actually defended you, whether you want to believe that or not.”
Forever and a Night_A Vampire Romance Page 17
