As Elle ran inside the house, Danial began walking toward me again.
Theo pulled his gun, and pointed it at Danial’s heart. “Stop.”
“If I make a move to bite her, go ahead and shoot,” Danial said disgustedly, then took my hand, helping me out. “What is it?”
I clasped him around the neck, pressing my body to his, the coolness of him both soothing and exciting. I rubbed my lips gently down his throat, kissing gently.
Danial sighed, then gently pried me off him. “What happened to the drugs, Theo?”
“She’s on them,” Theo replied gruffly. “The alcohol must be overriding their effects.”
My hands were too cold, and I couldn’t get them to work. I leaned into Danial. “Please,” I whispered. “I need you.”
“And I need you,” Danial said, kissing me chastely. “The real you, sweetheart.” He stepped back, letting Theo come between us. “Take her for a brief walk, then come in. But don’t let her get too cold.”
“She’s my wife,” Theo growled. “I don’t need you to tell me how to take care of her.”
Danial didn’t reply or look back. The front door shut behind him with a soft click.
“C’mon,” Theo said, putting his arm around me. “Let’s get you sobered up.”
Fifteen minutes in the brisk November air had me back to myself, albeit highly embarrassed. “I’m sorry, Theo. I should’ve watched how many drinks I was having.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he said, forcing a smile. “You’re under a lot of stress.”
“I’m okay now. Let’s get back to the others.”
We walked up the porch steps. As we reached for the door, Elle opened it. Danial was there, behind her.
“Told you I’d heard them coming back,” Elle said proudly.
“So you did,” Danial said approvingly. “Your hearing is near my own now.” His eyes met mine. “Please come in, both of you.”
“Are you going to act weird again?” Elle asked me point blank.
“I’ll try not to,” I replied, blushing.
“Dad said you’re on drugs,” Elle continued. “But when you drink too much they don’t work.”
“Elle!” Theo roared. “Enough.”
“It’s true!” she said, shooting him a look. “You told me to always tell the truth.”
“What Theo meant, Elle,” Danial interrupted, making her look at him, “Is not to lie. It is something else entirely to tell secrets that do no good to be told.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, looking at him mournfully.
“It is not to me you should apologize,” Danial said, turning her to face us.
“I’m sorry,” she said, running to give me a hug.
I hugged her back. “We forgive you. Just keep this to yourself, Elle. It isn’t polite conversation.”
“I’m sure Dad didn’t do it on purpose,” Elle added. “He doesn’t like to see you like this—”
“Elle,” I said grimly. “Go to your room. I’ll be in to see you in a minute.”
“I’ll take you there, and we’ll wait for Mom together,” Danial amended, his eyes meeting mine. He offered her his hand. “Come.”
Theo grabbed my arm as I went to follow. “You sure you’re okay now?”
“I’ll be fine. If you want, stand outside the door.”
“I will.”
Theo followed me through the great room, giving friendly greetings to everyone. Brian was standing with a woman that must be Demi, but she wouldn’t look at me when I smiled at her, though he nodded to me. Saddened, I went on to Elle’s room, where she and Danial waited. Theo took up a position outside the door as I went inside.
“Elle,” I said, sitting down on her bed beside her, “You’re right. Danial didn’t change me on purpose. But that’s not the issue. The reason we don’t talk about it is that it hurts him to think about what I’m going through. Talking about it doesn’t change what’s happened to me, or make me get better any faster.”
“So I shouldn’t mention it?” she said.
“Right,” I said, hugging her. “You have a right to ask us about it, and we shouldn’t have tried to keep it from you. But when you have questions, ask Danial or I in private, okay?”
“Then I have a question,” Elle said angrily. “Why doesn’t Theoron get to go with us to Grandma’s? If Theo can call your mother Mom, and I can call you Mom, why isn’t Theoron able to call your mother Grandma? She’s his grandma.”
“He can, Elle,” Danial answered. “Sar’s mother is his grandmother.”
“You told me not to mention him at all to Grandma and Grandpa. I want to know why he wasn’t there with us, and why we can’t tell them about him.”
“Several reasons,” Danial replied seriously. “First and foremost, Theoron is in danger constantly. He never leaves the grounds of our home, Elle. Even then, I am afraid for him all the time.” Danial paused. “Secondly, Sarelle’s mother doesn’t know that we had a child together,” he added softly, his eyes flicking to mine, then back to hers. “To complicate that, Theoron is half vampire. You can hide that you’re werecougar, but he cannot hide his nature well, not yet. When Sar is confident that Theoron will be old enough to hide it, as you are, she’ll take him with you on your holiday visits.” He looked at me wistfully. “And then perhaps I will go as well.”
Danial’s longing was both obvious—and more painful to hear— tentative. He was unsure I would want him to come with us. Guilt flooded me.
I caressed his hand lightly. “You’re welcome to accompany us, when that time comes.”
Danial squeezed my hand, relieved and happy. “I’m glad of that, Sweetheart.”
“But if Sar accepts you and Theoron,” Elle continued, “why wouldn’t her parents? They’re human like she is.”
Danial gave me an affectionate look. “Sarelle is unique. She accepts me as no other woman ever has. She is not the usual human, Elle. Take that for the small warning I mean it as. I don’t want you to be disappointed.”
“Will Mom really get better?”
“Yes,” assured Danial. “She will be fine, in time.”
“Good,” Elle said. “I’m starving. That turkey smells great.” She got up, and raced out of the room.
Danial and I looked at each other, pleased. “I meant what I said,” I added softly.
“I know you did,” he said, kissing me tenderly on the cheek. “Let’s go before Theo comes to see what’s keeping you.”
Theo met us outside the room, relieved. A few moments later, we were standing in the buffet line in the kitchen loading up our plates. The meal was fabulous, from the savory turkey to the triple fudge cake.
“Cia, this cake is perfect,” I complimented. “Theoron loves it so much he’s trying to eat my piece, too.”
“Its roots are in your teaching, Sar,” she replied graciously.
“You surpassed me. All I did for this was help you buy the groceries, and make the pies.”
“Though I can’t add my personal compliments, I thank you again for all your work cooking, Cia,” Danial said pleasantly. “Now that the meal is ending, I must ask you what each of you intends to do for Christmas. The need to retain a workable guard is more important this year than it ever has been.”
“Demi and I have family we’re going home to,” Brian said quickly. “We’ll be gone on Christmas Eve and the following day, but I’ll be available for duty any of the other days.”
Warren and Hans said they would be around. Though they didn’t volunteer anything more, I had the feeling neither of them had any family.
“I’ll be around, too,” Terian added.
As far as I knew, he hadn’t yet contacted Titus. Maybe Christmas wasn’t the ideal time to visit demons, even if they were your father.
“Janice, Ivan, Cia, I, and Aran Jr. will be spending the holidays here,” Aran said. “I think I speak for the rest when I ask why you need us all here when Theo will be with Sarelle at all times, and Terian will be with you and The
oron. The holidays are always slow for Solutions, Inc.”
“Not this year,” Danial said darkly. “Everyone, I will be gone for the two weeks directly before and after Christmas, including New Year’s Eve. Terian will accompany me, but the rest of you will remain here to keep my son and daughter safe.”
A few gasps sounded from around me. I barely registered them, in shock. Danial had never missed Christmas since I had come into his life. He would be missing Theoron’s first Christmas.
Elle was the first to recover. “Dad, you can’t not be here for Christmas!”
“What’s happened?” I asked loudly. “”Is this some big case?”
“This is tying up loose ends in preparation for a party, one I’m not going to alone,” Danial replied coolly. “There is a Gathering on New Year’s Eve. We have been invited; you, Theoron and I.”
“What kind of Gathering?” I asked, worried.
“A Vampire Gathering,” he said anxiously. “Likely the largest in history.”
“What vampires will be there?” I asked fearfully.
He let out a breath. “All of them.”
Chapter Seven
Danial, Theo, and I faced each other alone in the great room. Danial was weary, yet Theo wore a pleased expression on his face. When Danial glanced at Theo a second later, the pleased look was quickly replaced by a scowl.
Everyone had cleared out almost immediately after Danial’s announcement, Cia leading a reluctant Elle away, Theoron in her arms, the festive plans to group-trim the tree abandoned. We’d been fighting for the last ten minutes.
“I’m not going,” I said vehemently, for the third time. “No way.”
“Sar, you must go,” Danial pleaded. “You are Theoron’s mother. These Gatherings are only ever held to recognize great events, maybe once every century. The last was a hundred and five years ago, when Michael became the Ruler of Asia. You will not have to do this every year.”
I looked at him stonily. “No.”
“I get letters weekly now asking for us to attend parties in our honor. Presents have begun arriving, all manner of toys. Soon they will be daily. Their authors all ask the same thing: to see Theoron, either by visiting us here, or by us coming to visit them. Soon there will not be one V.I.V. who has not contacted me.”
“V.I.V.?”
“Very Important Vampire,” Theo supplied. “I know, the acronym sucks.”
I suppressed a smirk.
“I have refused them all, but pretty soon they are just going to start showing up,” Danial warned angrily. “You’ll not think it humorous then, either of you.”
“I don’t think it’s amusing now,” Theo growled.
“Let them come,” I said, folding my arms across my chest. “Let them come here to the United States if they’re so hell bent on seeing me and Theoron.”
“You will not feel safe here when there are twenty vampires in Alan’s Creek, and their guards outnumber ours,” Danial said darkly. “My home’s location is likely not a secret to other Rulers, and they are not above telling secrets in order to gain the first glimpse of our son. Now listen to my proposal.”
“I’m listening.”
“This is a request in name only,” Danial continued impatiently, his eyes tinged red. “We must attend the Gathering, or there will be dire consequences. All of the Rulers—or Lords, as some of them prefer—have signed the letter I received inviting us. Samuel of Europe, Michael of the Far East, Zane of Africa, Perseus of South America, and Ebediah, who oversees Canada, and the Northern territories have all guaranteed your safety, and that of Theoron’s—”
“Have they guaranteed yours?” Theo asked pointedly.
Danial didn’t answer, but from the look he gave Theo, they had not.
“What if they attack you?” I asked, scared. “They could kill you, Danial.”
Danial lost his composure. “Sar, Theo, you know if I refuse, there will be trouble! I have no reason that I can use as an excuse not to go! Sar must be there. Even if they were not asking to see her, I would demand that she go. I will not leave her alone when they know how far I would be from her, unable to protect her. It would be too easy for something to go wrong if the three of us were separated.”
Belatedly, I realized he meant Theoron, he, and I, not he, Theo, and I. I cast an odd look Theo, wondering why he wasn’t protesting he could protect me. He obviously didn’t want me to go, but he wasn’t speaking, or even looking at Danial or I.
“Your argument makes sense,” I ventured. “But my fears do, too. You know if I attend this Gathering, you’ll have to mark me again.”
“Yes, I know,” Danial replied. “And we’ll have to arrange to leave Elle with your parents, Sar. I don’t want her involved, especially if things go badly. With her not being blood relation to either of us, she shouldn’t be in danger.”
“I agree,” Theo said slowly. “What I don’t understand is why you’re going to be gone so long before the actual meeting. Where is the meeting, anyway? When is it?”
“Ebediah’s home ground, near Niagara Falls, at eight p.m. on New Year’s Eve,” Danial said. “A Saturday night, I believe.”
“We should be there then by seven to check everything,” Theo said, his mind already working. “Is it on holy ground?”
“No. I asked that it not be, and that any teleporting of my employees be allowed. Terian will hold Theoron at all times. If there is any danger, he can teleport him to safety. All other teleportation on the grounds of the meeting site is banned. The other Rulers agreed to this.”
“What about Sar?”
“You, Brian, and I will be guarding her, Theo.”
“That’s not enough,” Theo said, dismayed. “We could never fight our way out if something went wrong.”
“We could not bring enough people with us to fight our way out in any case,” Danial said angrily. “After what happened with Monica and Erin, I hesitate to hire any other new people.”
Theo began to pace, growling softly to himself. I sank down on the couch, exhausted.
“We need to make it seem that Sar is still Oathed to me, Theo,” Danial said pointedly. “She should be back to normal by Christmas. I’ll mark her then on the side of her neck that is empty. With the collar, and the bites, she’ll look Oathed.”
Theo gave him a skeptical look.
“Theo, Samuel already believes it,” Danial persisted. “We only have to get the others to believe it, and we’ll be fine. Vampire Law is what holds us together, and keeps order. Younger vampires may not respect this, but the older ones do, and the older ones are in control. They will honor that she is sworn to me.”
Theo stopped pacing. “How do you propose to mark her?” he said, his tone black with anger and resignation. “Even if she is back to normal, I don’t want you being intimate again.”
“You and she can have sex, and as she climaxes, I’ll bite her—”
Instantaneously I was turned on, then felt appalled at myself and flushed crimson.
Theo shouted, “I cannot believe you’d propose—!”
What would you have me do?” Danial shouted back. “I’m doing my best to keep us from being attacked here! Stop thinking of your own interests, and start thinking about how to get us to the point where we all leave the Gathering together! An ending where you and I aren’t dead! If they suspect she’s not Oathed to me, they’ll take her!”
“Isn’t there some numbing potion I could get from Stephen?” I asked.
“Unlikely,” Danial retorted. “He wants me not to bite you, no matter the consequences. And Terian has not made any progress in his efforts to learn healing magic.”
Theo let out a breath. “Say we do find a way for you to mark her. What particulars have already been arranged?”
“I am leaving on December 18th for the first of the meetings. I’ll call in every day. I want to know the instant your condition improves, Sar.”
I nodded.
“Theo, Brian will not be coming with me, so you are
to call him in case of emergencies. Terian will be watching over Theoron when you and Sar aren’t on the premises. Even then, we’ll be stretched thin. I have a lot to do and little time.” He paused. “I’ve not told the others, but I want you both to know that I’m planning to borrow a few of Devlin’s guards to watch over me. Despite what I said earlier, Terian will have his hands full and there isn’t another way.”
Theo snarled “Not that evil—”
“No,” Danial said quickly. “Not him. Most likely Vince and Kev.”
“Him who?” I asked.
“Can you trust them?” Theo said warily, ignoring me. “They have recent history—”
“I trust Dev,” Danial said, cutting him off. “Dev guarantees that they’d do what needs doing. Terian is working on spells of protection to use at the party, researching some rarer ones that might not be discovered. If you think of anything additional we can use to help protect us, either of you, tell me. I want to get us out of this safely, whatever it takes.”
Theo nodded. “I’ll think on it.”
Danial hugged me. “Sar, don’t worry,” he said softly. “We’ll find a way out of this.”
“I trust you,” I said, then gave him a chaste kiss for reassurance. Danial kissed me back passionately, crushing his body to mine. I intensified the kiss, making myself give him the reassurance he needed, despite my desire was once more absent.
Danial broke the kiss, then let me go, striding upstairs to his office.
“Come on,” Theo said, taking my hand. “Let’s get home. It’s been a long night.”
* * * *
The next weeks were a flurry of activity. My day-to-day tasks were at odds with the imminent death situation that we were facing to the point I considered them almost absurd. Still, I knew what normal life like the sleepover meant to Elle, so I kept it together for her.
When Cathy called and said Violet had a cold the morning of the big event, we postponed it until the following Friday. Most appointments were kept, like Elle’s and my hair appointment, where we each donated a good chunk to Locks of Love. Though Elle did close to two feet, ending up with a very short do, I did the minimum, telling myself I wanted it to remain longer. Down deep I knew that was a lie; I was remembering someone else, who’d always loved my hair long.
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