by C. L. Quinn
Eillia moved forward.
“You feel like you’re being punished for refusing to stay with Ahmose.”
Starla nodded. She couldn’t speak, tears began to flow like the waterfalls in Zambia.
Daniel was on the phone to Koen’s security team. He looked down at Eillia on the floor with Starla, and up at Koen near the patio doorway.
“Nothing on security cameras. She has to have had help. There’s no trace.”
Eillia nodded.
“There’s a trace. In here. That’s how I know it was her. She left impressions in the room. It’s a touch skill and hard to use, but I feel her presence. She was alone. At least in here.”
“Well, someone blanked all surveillance. And none of the team recalls seeing anyone or anything. She could have compelled some of them, but not the ones she didn’t see. And how the hell did she pull it off during daylight?”
Koen looked at Eillia.
“I do not know. That should have been impossible. Although we know she can use some first blood abilities, even I couldn’t travel through daylight. Doesn’t matter. There is no chance in hell she’ll get away with this. Jacob is no lightweight himself, and we know he’ll fight her every second. We’ll bring him home.”
“It’s my fault. I have to start searching right now. Koen, Eillia, how do I start? Are any of your first blood talents going to help me with this?”
“We’ll do everything we can, you know that. Jacob is family. So are you, sweetie.” Eillia hugged her again.
Koen snapped his cell phone closed and dropped it into a pocket.
“Bas is on his way over. That man is a bulldog. Jacob has been with him for over two hundred years. That bitch has no chance.”
“When we find her, we stop her forever, I don’t care what it takes,” Starla stated clearly, tamping the tears down. She stood up, and helped Eillia up.
“Thank you. Sorry for the breakdown. Won’t happen again.”
Every fucking part of his body hurt. That’s how Jacob woke. Pain a vampire wasn’t used to.
He finally opened his eyes that felt like they’d been glued shut to see a log timber roof. Where was he? No place he recognized. He turned his head forcibly, and that hurt too.
God, no. He was on a bed, and beside him, the red-lipped she-devil. How the hell did she get him again? His head, eyes and mouth were the only thing he could move. Fuck!
She was asleep, actually looked sweet and innocent curled up next to him. But he was here, taken against his will, so yeah, not sweet, not innocent.
What was his last memory? Falling asleep with Starla in his arms. Oh, god, she’d be so worried when she couldn’t find him. He had to get back to her as quickly as possible. This bitch would not keep him this time.
He saw her eyelids flutter. She was waking. Seconds later, she looked into his eyes and smiled.
“Jacob. Hi, gorgeous. How are you feeling?”
Like this was just another normal night. She really was fucking nuts!
“How did I get here, Crystal?” He tried to sound calm, reasonable, because she was volatile. And obviously really obsessed since she’d recaptured him.
“I’m clever. And I love you. I didn’t get a chance to tell you that before.”
“You don’t love me. You don’t know me.”
“I do.”
She rolled over and kissed him. He felt her hand at his crotch. As he suspected, he was naked. And she was tugging on him. Déjà vu all over the fuck again.
“Just curious. How did you pull this off? I was in a first blood’s protected residence.”
She stared at him with a smile. And he could see her eyes were blank. Had she been compelled? But she snapped out of it.
“I told you. I’m clever.”
Crystal moaned.
“I wish I could ride you right now. But I can’t unfreeze you until I’ve made you understand that we are meant to be together. I don’t think it’ll take long. I can be very, very persuasive.”
She leaned in close to his face, still tugging on his cock.
“And I am really good in bed. Here, let me show you.”
She slipped down lower on the bed and had his cock in her mouth before he knew what she was doing. Jacob stopped her.
“Whoa, whoa, Crystal. Don’t. What happens when I come, but because I’m frozen, it doesn’t work right? You could hurt me.”
She tilted her head. “You think it won’t work right?”
“How could it? I’m frozen. Probably that function is too. If you want to do that, I think you’ll have to unfreeze me.”
Crystal thought about it.
“I see you may be right. But I’m not unfreezing you. I know you can’t be trusted yet. We’ll wait. It’ll be worth it.”
Jacob sighed in relief. At least he kept her from touching him. He had no problem with a good blow, but not from her. He hadn’t personally had much interaction with Tamesine when she was dangerously crazy, but he felt as if Crystal was roaming in the same ball park. Except now Tamesine was still crazy, just not dangerously so. Crystal definitely was. He wasn’t sure at all that she might not be willing to kill Starla to keep him with her. Or kill him so he would never leave.
He would have to proceed cautiously. But he would fucking proceed the hell out of here as soon as he could. And see if Xavier wanted to deal with Crystal to stop her permanently.
Crystal rolled off the bed, naked, and did a pirouette.
“Nice stuff, right?”
He had to admit she had a good body. Full high breasts, slim belly, long legs. He wasn’t an idiot, he knew he had to play her game.
“Gorgeous,” he said, stroking her enormous psychotic ego.
“Just give me some time and we’ll make love like you’ve never had before. I know you’ve been with that little vampire. A mature man like you with a baby vamp. She can’t satisfy you.”
He desperately wanted to tell her how satisfied he was. Enough to commit the rest of his long life to her. This wasn’t the time, though. Defending Starla’s worth would only make her jealous and possibly attack Starla.
Crystal just nodded slightly and kept looking straight ahead to the closed door.
“I have a spelled cell here in the bottom level of this chalet. Like the one at Xavier’s. So don’t try to get out. You can’t. It’s beautiful here in the mountains. You’ll love it. I put the cell near long windows so you can see out. Jacob, give me a chance to show you how amazing we’ll be together.”
He didn’t say anything, just gave her a pained smile. It was the best he could do.
“He isn’t anywhere,” Bas said, coming back into the room. “I can’t find a trace. I checked with Xavier and he hasn’t found the crazy bitch yet.”
Sick to her stomach, Starla felt like she was going to throw up even though she hadn’t eaten anything. Eillia had her arms around her, but nothing made her feel better. Jacob was missing, that’s all that mattered.
Eillia had tried a blood trace like they had done with Starla, but no results. She knew something was wrong with that.
“How are we going to find him?”
“I don’t know. But we will.” Bas dropped beside her. “We have good security teams on this, the best. We will find Jacob.”
Tamesine ran into second meal the next night. Frantic, her long hair wild, no shoes, she called out to Koen, who was trying to get Starla to eat, which had been impossible for the past two days since Jacob was taken.
“He’s coming!”
Then she disappeared.
Koen called Park and hurried upstairs with Starla.
Eillia lay in her huge bed with Daniel sitting close holding her hands over her belly. She moaned loudly as they entered.
Daniel looked up.
“Shit, she told you? I didn’t know if she would. Good. Did you call Park?”
“I did,” Koen assured him. “She’s on her way right now. So, he’s on his way, too, eh?”
Starla came to the other side of the bed
and gently got on. Her eyes drifted to the beautiful disheveled blonde at the back of the room. She would swear the blonde and Windari were the same woman. They were identical and she wondered if they were related. Was that possible?
Starla shook her head and turned back to Eillia.
“Lia, you’re going to have the baby now.” Not new news, she was just so thrilled for her dearest friend.
“I know. Crazy, isn’t it? It hurts. Like a normal human birth. I don’t get it, but I guess it’s universal. Childbirth has a price. Ohhh…”
Another contraction brought a long groan.
Park swept in a few minutes later, Bas behind her.
“Hi, this looks familiar,” she said, having borne Cairine just a year earlier.
While labor was very much like a normal human labor, the birth went quickly, and the perfect little baby boy arrived within three hours of the first contraction on an easy slide.
Park attended, her medical background helpful, and held up the naked, slightly pink little boy so the parents could confirm all fingers and toes exactly as they should be.
His eyes were already open, dark blue, and looked into Eillia’s as she reached out to hold her son. Daniel could barely see him through the tears trailing from his eyes.
Park, eyes watery, too, stood and watched the couple.
“So precious, the family unit. Perhaps the most wonderful thing on earth. Mother, child, father. I am so happy for all of you.”
Starla stood at the end of the bed, battling emotions that threatened to overwhelm her. Thrilled for her friends, amazed to see the beautiful baby take his first breath of air outside the womb, worry for Jacob, pain for her choice that kept other children like this from taking that first breath.
She couldn’t speak, but just tried to hold a tremulous smile while wiping moisture from her eyes.
The baby didn’t cry, but kept looking at his mother’s face above him.
“Hello, little man,” Daniel said, touching his cheek.
Eillia looked at this huge new vampire she was truly mated with who had given her a miracle baby.
“Look what we made, Daniel,” she whispered.
He leaned in and hugged his little family.
Park moved closer and touched Daniel’s shoulder.
“He’s fine, everything exactly as it should be. He’ll be hungry soon, so we’ll go and let you guys get acquainted.”
Koen and Bas, who just came back in after the birth, kissed Eillia and Daniel and told them they would see them later, Starla nodded, touched their hands and left along with Park.
Through it all, Tamesine had stood in the back of the room, her hands to her mouth, eyes huge, as the child she had a special connection to the entire time he grew inside of Eillia, took a first look at the world. She didn’t know what to say or what to do. So she stayed still and stayed away.
Eillia motioned her forward, and when she came, tentatively, Tamesine dropped on her knees, tears in her eyes.
“My little friend. I can’t believe you’re here. So beautiful. May I hold him?”
“Soon. Not yet. Can you go back to your room and take care of yourself until tomorrow? Then you may hold him.”
Tamesine nodded, then hugged Eillia and Daniel, touched the baby on the forehead, and walked out humming.
Eillia couldn’t take her eyes off the little boy who cooed quietly in her arms, already seemed more aware than a normal baby.
Daniel couldn’t stop staring at him, either.
“Caedmon. You agree?”
Eillia nodded. “I do.”
Already he grasped her finger with his tiny hand.
“Hello, little warrior,” she said.
When, a short time later, Eillia lowered her gown to feed Caedmon, Daniel felt it deep inside as she guided her nipple into his mouth. He thought it might be the most beautiful moment he’d ever experienced. His son at his wife’s breast. His family. Past, present, future all in this one perfect moment.
The next six days crawled for Starla. There was the joy of the new baby, and she felt it deeply, but they hadn’t found any leads for Jacob.
Starla slept alone in that huge bed with tears in her eyes because it felt so empty without him. He’d become her life. She sleep-walked through the nights, slept fitfully during the days, ate little, couldn’t take her blood meals. She spent most of the time on the beach watching the sea pitch and roll, waiting for her cell phone to ring and someone to tell her he’d been found.
After he’d been missing a week, she decided she had to get in on the search.
“I can’t sit here anymore.”
Koen shook his head.
“Starla, my team is combing every CCTV feed, they’ve interviewed everyone Crystal has ever come into contact with and checked out anyplace she’s ever been. They’re monitoring her credit accounts, everything. I don’t know what else you can do.”
“There’s something. There’s always something. I have to find him and sitting here isn’t doing it.” She paused as she looked at him with wet eyes. “I can’t stand this.”
Nodding agreement, Koen spoke in a coarse voice. “I know. I’ve been looking for someone for two months now. It’s horrible, waiting, wondering. At least in my case, I don’t think the woman I’m looking for is in trouble. Jacob is. I’ll take my team off my search and add them to those already working on Jacob.”
“I’m sorry, Koen. I didn’t know. Who is she?”
He didn’t answer her right away. When he did, he spoke quietly.
“I’m not certain. Maybe just a dream I had.”
Another week passed and nothing. Starla had become obsessed. Every moment was about the search. She’d lost weight, which wasn’t easy for a vampire, but she was starving herself, by vampire standards. Her skin was pale because she refused blood nutrition until he was home. She was gone for days, physically searching Paris, then other cities beyond, asking about Crystal, looking for any clue. They had tried Cherise already, who sometimes could get a read or vision from objects, but it hadn’t worked. She was an empath, not a psychic, and although sometimes visions did come, she could rarely call them up at will.
The days had turned to shit. Miserable every moment, Jacob sat near the cell door. Crystal was serving dinner and wine, as she did every night, dressed to the hilt in sexy clothes, her hair pulled high to show off her breasts, which were usually bare. He’d been patient and accepting, even affectionate, hoping to lull her into a sense of security. He knew he needed to step up his flirting.
Tonight, she wore a red thong, sheer red vest with nothing beneath, and red high heels. Deprived of sex for over two weeks now, even this crazy woman made his cock twitch. He could use it’s betrayal in his favor though.
Jacob leaned through the slot in the cell door that was wide enough to slip a tray through. His hand could barely reach her breast, but he could flick a nipple several times. It was the first time he’d touched her.
Crystal moaned.
“Oh, Jake. That was nice. Keep touching me.”
He smiled. He hoped he looked sincere and sexy, and leaned out.
“Move in so I can reach you better.”
She did, putting both breasts right to the tray access area. He used both hands and worked her nipples to rock hard.
“Mouth please,” she said, her eyes closed.
Fuck! Well, in service to his desperation to convince her he was coming around, and he wanted her, to get the hell out of here. Forgive me, baby, he thought.
He lowered his head. She moaned again, overly dramatic. Thank god her eyes were closed because he was sure his expression was less than passionate.
When she opened them a few moments later, she looked at him dreamily.
“You see how it would be, Jake. Just you and me and the best sex of your life.”
“I’d like that. You are a beautiful woman, Crystal. You may have realized Starla and I hadn’t been together very long. We were just playing around. You’re right. She’s young and
uninspiring. Not skilled like a woman with your experience. I think I’m ready to see what we can do together. It’s your call. I can’t really touch you inside this cell. You can’t touch me.”
Crystal stared at him. Was he sincere? She didn’t have the ability to read him like some vampires. But she really wanted to believe him.
“You have to trust me sometime. Or we’ll never get together. Let me ask you, do you really believe Starla couldn’t satisfy me?”
She nodded.
“Okay, do you think I’m a smart man?”
“Oh, yes.”
“All right then. Doesn’t it stand to reason that I would choose you?”
He saw the wheels turning in the rat’s maze of her mind. He hoped that worked. Sometimes counter-reasoning worked.
Crystal sucked in a lip and chewed on it while she thought about this man she was in love with. Could he mean it? He was smiling now so charmingly. She’d kept his clothes because she loved his naked body and he had a nice hard-on. Evidence that she was the one he wanted.
But she was a cautious woman.
“I want to, Jake. Maybe next week. I think you are almost there. Patience my love. What we have is worth the wait.”
Fuck me. God, he couldn’t take another week. But he couldn’t show that. So he smiled.
“I know you’re right. Like I said, your call. You’ll know when it’s time.”
It was the right thing to say. She smiled as if someone gave her the moon. Odd that he chose that word. Play the game, he kept repeating in his mind. That night, he fell asleep, and visualized making love to Starla. It was the only thing that kept him sane for now.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Ahmose was done. Nothing had gone right since he’d betrayed Starla, Jacob, and himself. He had to fix it. He knew more than anyone how karma worked, so he was on a plane to Switzerland to get Jacob. He would rescue him and send him home. But he couldn’t face Starla. How could he justify his behavior? It would not be possible.
