Belonging (31 page)

C
hapter
44

Analise

They walked into the kitchen of the shelter just as the staff was preparing lunch. Her spidey senses tingled and she couldn’t get over the unease she felt. Damian gave her a reassuring squeeze of the hand and she felt mildly better.

There were several people flitting about, one cutting vegetables for salad, one at the stove, stirring food in several pots. The undeniable scent of pasta filled the air, her very favorite food, except that wasn’t Ragu bubbling over the hot flame. It was definitely homemade. Her stomach growled, loudly.

“Wow, that smells amazing,” she gushed, approaching the lovely old woman who juggled several hot pots.

“Thank you, dear. My great, great grandmother’s recipe. She hailed from a small town in northern Tuscany north of Agliana.”

“Yum.” Analise breathed deep, inhaling a lungful of the aromatic, spicy sauce. “Would you mind if I tried a small taste?”

“Of course not, child. Be careful, it’s very hot.” She grabbed a spoon and scooped up some of the savory sauce, handing it carefully to Analise. She blew on it for several seconds and, unable to resist any longer, took a bite too soon, burning her tongue and the roof of her mouth in the process.

“Yikes,” she yelped, dropping the spoon and the remaining sauce on the kitchen floor. Her tongue throbbed only briefly before it started to soothe. Within seconds, the burning was completely gone, as if she hadn’t scorched the tender flesh away at all. She could actually feel her skin repairing itself, which was a little unnerving.

Huh?

“One of the many benefits of being bonded to a vampire, kitten,” Damian whispered softly from behind her. She turned with a puzzled look on her face when Damian answered, “She knows.”

Well, thank goodness for that. She didn’t really know all of the rules yet and who knew or didn’t know about their kind and certainly didn’t want to be responsible for a very kind old lady’s untimely demise. Yes, she was now including herself in ‘their,’ because she was also part vampire.

Damian told her she’d gain all of his very impressive powers since she was now his mate, but it happened over time. Every mating process was different, so there was no general rule of thumb for how long it would take her to come into her full capacity. She’d gotten used to the sound of blood pumping through everyone’s veins, so that was a good thing. For the first day, it was deafening. Every day she felt more power coursing through her veins, humming underneath her skin like an electrical current. But she just didn’t quite know how to harness the energy it would provide. Damian said he’d know when she was ready, so she had to rely on his expertise.

She looked down at the mess she’d created. “I’m sorry,” she started, only to be interrupted by the kind old woman.

“No worries, dear. Easy enough to clean.”

Just then two young women walked into the kitchen, talking and laughing. They stopped short, all chatter cut off when they saw Damian and Analise standing there. Their gazes flicked nervously back and forth between them.

“Sarah, Meagan, this is Analise, my mate,” Damian announced gently. So gently, it reminded her of how one might speak to a cornered animal or a tortured victim.
Victim
. Because that was how Damian saw them. But they weren’t. Not anymore. They were survivors now and she was sure they’d want to be treated as such. She did.

“Hi, I’m Meagan. Nice to meet you, Analise,” she said meekly. Meagan wasn’t classically pretty with too round of a face and stringy dark brown hair, but her soft brown eyes were piercing, haunting. And they couldn’t hide the pain and suffering she’d been through. Analise didn’t know her exact story, but she could relate on too many levels.

“Hi, Meagan. Pleased to meet you.” She held out her hand and Meagan looked at it like it was a cobra, coiled and ready to strike venomous poison into her bloodstream. Finally, Meagan reached out, tentatively shaking it. At her touch, Analise pushed every ounce of comfort and healing she could into the frightened girl. She didn’t know if it would work, but it certainly couldn’t hurt. She physically felt something pass between them and saw Meagan’s eyes widen slightly before pulling away quickly.

She turned to Sarah and was struck dumb by the immediate sense of kinship she felt. They were kindred spirits, Sarah and her. Again, she didn’t know Sarah’s story, but knew she’d had been to hell and back and survived, just like Analise. And she was the stronger for it.

Sarah had reddish blonde hair that was pulled sleekly back into a low ponytail. Her soft brown eyes were framed by fashionable thick black glasses. On most other women, they’d look ridiculous, but on her they looked striking. She was very beautiful.

“Hi, Sarah. I’m Analise.” Once again she held out her hand and unlike Meagan, Sarah shook it quickly and firmly. Sarah had a strong mind and an even stronger will. Analise felt a powerful connection with her and hoped they could become friends.

“Nice to meet you, Analise,” Sarah said genuinely. “Hi, Marta. Whatever you’re cooking today smells divine.” Sarah walked over and gave Marta a quick hug before grabbing a spoon and taking a taste of the heavenly sauce. “Yum. Tastes fantastic!”

Sarah turned back toward Analise, who could do nothing but marvel at how
normal
Sarah acted, despite the circumstances. “Are you staying for lunch, Analise? Marta makes a mean spaghetti sauce. Noodles are homemade too.”

“Ummm, yes sure. Is that okay?” She didn’t want to intrude and could tell Meagan felt uncomfortable with her and probably more likely Damian’s presence. She didn’t want to make them feel unwelcome in their own home.

“More than okay, right, Meagan?” Sarah had sensed Meagan’s discomfort as well. In just the few short minutes she’d met her, Analise had Sarah pegged. She was the mother hen. She was the caretaker of the other girls here. She exuded strength and resilience and people were drawn to her like moths to an open flame.

“Y-yes, sure,” Meagan stuttered. Analise smiled warmly at Meagan, trying to put her at ease.

“Lunch is ready!” Marta exclaimed. “Everyone to the dining room. Tut tut.”

Through lunch, Meagan barely uttered a word, unless prompted by Sarah. And Analise could tell something wasn’t quite right with Sarah either. She looked a little peaked and Analise had asked a couple of times if she was okay. She’d reply with a tight, pained smile and politely answer yes, but Analise knew it was a lie. She’d barely touched her food, pushing it around on her plate instead to make it appear she’d been eating.

Through their brief conversations, she’d learned about Olivia who was also a dreamwalker, as were Sarah and Kate. For this dreamwalker thing being so rare, she now knew of four people who shared this unique gift. How could that be a coincidence? It wasn’t, that was how.

Just as that thought entered her mind, Sarah gasped and doubled over, clearly in agony. “Sarah, what’s wrong?” Analise rushed to the other side of the table where Sarah was bent in half, struggling to breathe, her skin ghostly white.

“I…I don’t know,” she choked. Sarah grabbed her arm, her grip so punishing it would leave bruises. She was very strong for such a tiny woman. “Get…get the…doctor. Now,” she panted.

Not saying a word, Damian swiftly drew Analise out of the way, picked up a now crying Sarah, and quickly left the dining room. Analise, Meagan and Marta quietly followed Damian through a maze of hallways and downstairs into a medical clinic waiting room. Except for the fact that it was empty, it resembled any other normal physician’s waiting room, with several chairs lined up against the wall and a rack filled to the brim with magazines.

As they walked through the empty waiting area toward the back, Duchess Kate, holding a sweet baby Prince George, stared back at her from the latest issue of
People
. She couldn’t help but think about how happy the Duchess looked and how cruel it was to showcase a woman living a fairy tale life while these women lived in the aftermath of unspeakable horrors.

They’d made their way to an exam room and Damian gently deposited an agonizing Sarah gently on the exam table. Sarah curled into the fetal position, wet tears of pain streaming down her face. Analise recognized the doctor waiting for them inside as the one who’d taken her blood just a few days ago.

“What happened?” Big D asked, snapping on a pair of rubber gloves. Analise looked to Damian, neither of them quite sure what was happening.

“She was fine one minute and doubled over in excruciating pain the next,” Damian replied, confused as everyone else.

The doctor softly lay a hand on Sarah’s shoulder. “Sarah, can you tell me where the pain is?”

“It’s…it’s all over.” She breathed heavily, indicating her abdominal area. Big D asked several more questions about nausea, appetite and pain elsewhere as he gently poked and prodded Sarah and cursed under his breath as several more people streamed into the confined space. They were also medical professionals if their scrubs and white coats were any indication.

Sarah cried out in agony as Big D barked orders to the rest of his team, something about an ultrasound and blood typing and ordered all non-medical personnel back to the waiting room. Analise was glad to get out of the fray, but she was loath to leave Sarah alone. Someone should be with her.

After Damian told the doctor to keep them updated, they all walked silently back the way they’d come. Damian softly kissed her temple. “I’ll be back in just a few minutes, kitten. I need to change my clothes.”

For the first time, she noticed red sauce splattered down the front of his shirt. It must have spilled in the chaos. “Okay,” she replied quietly.

Sarah didn’t deserve this. She’d already suffered so much. Meagan was trembling beside her now, clearly trying to contain her sobs. Analise could see that Sarah was Meagan’s rock and without her Meagan was lost in a vast sea of nothingness. The sea would soon open up and swallow her whole and Meagan would be lost to its blackness forever. None of these victims, including Beth, deserved what had been done to them by the cruel, malevolent hands of her father.

Her eyes flicked again to the mocking
People
magazine. The wrongness and unfairness of this entire fucked up situation caused anger to well inside her so intense it was like someone had struck a single match to a truckload of brittle kindling.

Suddenly Duchess Kate was in flames, ashes from the burning magazine falling silently to the ground. Analise looked on in complete and utter horror. She felt Meagan and Marta’s eyes upon her, but she couldn’t look away from the red, orange and yellow colors dancing before her. Nothing else was ablaze, only the God-awful magazine that had caused her raging fury. The flames slowed and died and all that remained of the offending article was a pile of black ashes on the carpet below.

She
had done that…but how?

“What the hell?” Damian’s deep voice rumbled causing a shiver of desire to run the length of her spine and ending right between her thighs.
Jesus, Analise, what a completely inappropriate reaction
. She’d officially turned into a sex addict, but one could hardly blame her with a mate as sinfully handsome and sexually skilled as hers.

“How did you do that?” Damian asked, confusion lacing his deep voice. When she finally tore her eyes away from the mess she’d created to look at her mate, she saw the sincere bewilderment on his face. “You shouldn’t be able to access your powers yet, let alone control them with such precision.”

“I…I don’t know. The magazine made me angry and all of a sudden it just combusted.” Jesus, she could have burned the entire place to the ground killing everyone inside. She was completely mortified.

Damian smirked, the corner of his stunning full lips turning upward. “Wow. I can’t imagine what kind of offense a stapled, glossy piece of paper did to earn such retribution, but remind me never to piss you off.”

She tried to laugh, but it came out choked, sounding more like a pigs snort instead. Great, now she was making farm animal noises. “I’m sorry,” she replied sheepishly.

His strong arms wrapped around her. She breathed deep and took in the scents of crisp ocean, fabric softener and sin. She loved this man so much it almost hurt.

“No harm, no foul. But now that you’re able to tap into your powers, we need to refine them.”

As the wait dragged interminably on for word about Sarah, Analise couldn’t help but worry. Over an hour later, Big D came rushing into the waiting room calling her name.

“Analise, we need you,” he said frantically as he grabbed her arm, dragging her toward the back. Damian immediately put a stop to anyone manhandling his mate when he stepped in front of the doctor, his hard gaze as sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel. She felt the telltale warmth when Damian got angry and Big D’s hand let go of her immediately.

“Explain,” he growled, pulling Analise into his side.

“My apologies, my lord, but Sarah’s appendix burst and we took her immediately into surgery. During the operation, a vein was nicked, but it shouldn’t have caused this much bleeding. We finally got it under control, but she needs a blood transfusion to replace the significant amount she’s lost. The truth is, we just don’t know the full extent of everything that Xavier was pumping into her, but right now it’s irrelevant. Sarah needs blood and she has a rare blood type. When we cross matched her to the database, only three people came up as a match. Analise is one of them.”

They both gaped at him. How could she possibly be a match for Sarah’s blood type? Unless…

“Please, my lord. We have no time to waste.”

Damian looked at her questioningly and she knew what he was asking. Was
she
okay with it? “Yes. Yes, of course. Let’s go.” If she had the ability to save Sarah by giving a little of her own blood, that was a no brainer.

“I’m not leaving her side,” Damian demanded, challenging the doctor to deny him.

“Of course, my lord. This way.” He turned and led them in the back, down a series of hallways, every step taking them closer to Sarah. Analise and Damian exchanged knowing glances, neither of them voicing what they knew to be true. Analise was the only option for the only other two people that matched would be her other sister, Kate, and their sick, twisted father.