Birth of Jaiden (26 page)

She decided it was
probably best not to say anything. A series of thumps shook their
vehicle harshly and it began to rock back and forth dangerously.
She closed her eyes again and concentrated on searching the minds
of her army, which surrounded them.

Vincent, Vincent, its
Levine.

Miss Levine?

Yes, it’s me. Tell the
soldiers to back off.

But, Miss Levine, Malcolm
told us to fight until they were dead and we had the
child.

Call them off,
Vincent.

But, Miss Levine, Malcolm
told us...

She could feel her anger
beginning to surface.
I will get the child. Now you and your men get the
hell out of here! I don’t want to hear it! Vincent, you know who is
giving you orders. Now do it!

Yes, Miss
Levine.

She pictured Vincent
telling the soldiers to retreat. She could see their confusion and
disappointment that they would not be able to take the famous and
well known Great Council who tried to rule the entire
earth.

“
Look. Look! They’re
leaving.” The redhead pointed out of the window.

“
Whoa,” Jeremiah breathed.
“They are.”

Their hummer had stopped
rocking and swerving.

“
What’s going on?” Deanna
wondered aloud.

“
I don’t know,” Damion
said. “But, it doesn’t seem right.”

“
They’re gone now,” Levine
stated with Stewart’s voice. Then, silence suddenly fogged the air
inside the vehicle.

None of them have a
clue
, Levine
smugly thought to herself.
This just might work
.

They all watched the truck
in front of them. The slayers waited until they were sure it was
safe and then shut the backs of the trucks. The caravan drove for a
while longer before they exited off into a small town with a truck
stop and a hotel.

Oh yes, you better get your
precious vampires inside before they are threatened by the
sunlight
.

Once all the vehicles were
parked by the hotel, Levine grinned to herself when she saw how
many of the occupants jumped out and practically kissed the
cement.

The slayers stayed hidden
inside of their trucks. She stayed in the car and watched the
council members talking. Then, finally, she saw the baby.
There she is, my
little princess
. A young blond woman who she had never seen before was
lifting the baby carrier out of the black hummer.

One more night of driving with
those idiots and she would be there, yet after the short time in
confined conditions with them, she wasn’t sure if she could take a
whole night.
Maybe they will just leave me alone next
time
.

“
Come on, Stewart.” Damion
had opened the back and was lifting bags out of the car. “It’s time
to go to our room.”

Smiling, Levine got out of the
hummer.
Malcolm will be so happy with me when I bring the baby to
him. I just need to wait, have patience and wait until the right
moment
.

She joined Damion by the
back of the hummer and grabbed some luggage. A quick glance at the
trucks told her the slayers intended to sleep in them, if they
slept at all. Quickly, she followed everyone as they all separated
into various rooms until dusk the next evening.

28

“
It was so weird. They
just flew away,” Damion told Alex and Danielle, who were sitting at
a small table in the hotel lounge with him.

After a day of sleep, Alex
felt much better, but knowing there was another night of driving
ahead made him weary.

“
I wonder why they left
like that, so suddenly,” Danielle said.

Damion nodded. “And
then
Stewart started
freaking out on us too.”

“
What do you mean by
freaking out?” Alex’s curiosity was sparked.

Damion told them about the
gasping and shaking in the hummer. “And then, when everyone was
sleeping, he lay there with his eyes closed, but after about twenty
minutes they shot open really wide. I went over and looked at him,
to see if he was ok, and there was no iris in his eyes, only white.
It was really gross.”

Alex decided to give
Stewart the benefit of the doubt that time; he owed him that much.
“Maybe the trauma of the attack was too much for him.”

“
Maybe,” Danielle
answered. “But, I still think we need to keep a close eye on
him.”

Damion shut his eyes and
dramatically placed his fingertips to his forehead. “Ugh, I just
can’t get those nasty looking eyeballs out of my mind.”

Alex threw an amused look
at Danielle.

“
I saw that, Alex, don’t
knock it because you would be grossed out if you saw it
too.”

“
I probably would but
maybe that’s just how he sleeps.”

“
I highly doubt that,”
Damion said.

Alex couldn’t help but laugh
out loud at how Damion, a dark angel from
hell
, could be so disgusted by a pair of eyes.
“Well, we’re going to be there by morning so you won’t have to deal
with it anymore.”

“
Yes, I will; we still
have to stay at Corrine’s and get home again.”

Alex chuckled. “That’s
true. And we should go; we’re wasting the night.”

They met again out at the
hummers. The slayers’ trucks were still parked and Alex could see
Deanna leaning against one, talking to Michael.

He could also see Chris
standing beside his hummer staring at them.

Oh great, more
drama
, he
thought.

Isabella was already in
the hummer with Jaiden.

“
Hey, are you two ready?”
he asked as he jumped into his seat.

“
I guess,” Isabella
answered flatly.

“
Are you ok?”

“
Yeah, just stressed, I think. I
knew this was going to be dangerous but I have never,
ever
been through
something like that.”

Alex sighed. He hated
having to be the bad guy, especially with Isabella. “I’m sorry it
has to be like this but if you’re going to stay, you’re going to
have to get used to it; Jaiden is always going to be in
danger.”

“
Yeah, I know that. Just give me
a little time to get used to this,
all righ
t.” The defensiveness he had heard when
she had spoken about her family resurfaced.

The caravan pressed on.
They needed two pit stops to change and feed Jaiden, which made the
night feel quite long, but eventually, a few hours before the
sunrise, they reached their destination.

“
How on earth are the
trucks going to get up this road?” Isabella asked. She was looking
out of the window at the tiny dirt road full of humps and
holes.

“
I don’t know but I’m sure
they can.”

Alex slowly followed the
other hummers up the winding little road and the trucks, with the
tress scraping the tops and sides of them, carefully
followed.

“
It’s beautiful here,”
Isabella commented.

Alex nodded. “Yes, it is,
and I’m sure it is even more so in the daylight.”

“
Oh, Alex, I guess you
really do miss out on a lot.”

He shrugged. “It’s ok.
After this long, I have learned to live with it.”

He watched her turn away.
“Oh look, that must be her house.”

Alex sighed. It had been
years since he had been to see Corrine and the place had not
changed at all. The large, two story home was made of logs and sat
practically hidden in the pine trees, up against a hillside. The
immense lawn and landscaped yard always came as a surprise,
considering her house was in the middle of a forest.

“
Yes.” He parked the
hummer in the circular drive along with the other vehicles and then
quickly got out and stretched. “I’m so glad the driving is over for
now.”

“
Me too,” she said, also
stretching.

Alex watched everyone else
get out of their vehicles and look around them. The slayers stayed
hidden in their trucks, as they had done at the hotel, except for
Michael who jumped down from his passenger seat and jogged over to
where Deanna stood by her hummer.

Suddenly, Corrine, with
two huge golden retrievers at her feet, came rushing out of her
front door. “I’ve been waiting for you guys!” She threw her arms
up. “Welcome, everyone!”

Alex could not believe how
lovely she looked. Her hair, which was almost the same color as her
dogs, flowed down past her behind and her large green eyes sparkled
with happiness. She wore jeans and an old sweatshirt. It was hard
to believe he was looking at a lady over a hundred years
old.

At the sound of Corrine’s
voice, Deanna immediately stopped conversing with Michael and ran
toward her.

“
How’s my girl?” Corrine
demanded, catching Deanna up into a hug.

“
I’m great, now,” Deanna
replied enthusiastically.

The dogs wagged their
tails and, so it seemed to Alex, were trying hard not to jump up
and demand attention from all the new people.

Corrine released
Deanna.

“
Come in, everyone, let’s
eat,” she called out.

Alex turned to see
Isabella getting the carrier out of the back seat.

“
Here, let me get that.”
He rushed over and took the handle of the carrier from her. Jaiden
was awake and quiet. He watched her big black eyes focus on him
intently.

“
Thanks.”

“
No problem.” He looked at
the sky. “Let’s get inside.”

As everyone entered the
house, the dogs sniffed and rubbed up against their legs. Alex bent
down to pet their heads with his free hand.

“
Good doggies,” he told
them. Behind him, the dogs rushed toward Stewart, who was standing
beside Isabella and Jaiden.

“
Whoa, what’s the matter?”
Stewart took a few steps backward. The dogs placed themselves
between Stewart and his path to the doorway. “Stop it,” he told the
dogs. “Look, it’s ok.” He held out his hand to them, and then
quickly pulled it back when the larger one snapped at
it.

Alex, along with everyone
else, watched the interaction with interest.

“
What’s going on here?”
Corrine had come back out of the house. “Oh my goodness.” She
rushed toward her dogs. “Stop it, you two,” she chided. She grabbed
their collars and pulled them away from Stewart.

To Alex’s surprise, they
didn’t try to resist her. She led them out to a large penned in
area at the side of the house.

“
Alright.” She wiped her
hands on her jeans. “Now, we can eat.”

She gave Stewart a
thoughtful glance and went into the house.

“
Stupid dogs,” Stewart
muttered and followed them in.

Corrine was busy directing
everyone to the dining room.

“
Come on, there is room for
everyone.” She waved her arms in the right direction. “Alex, it’s
been too long. Oh, and
this
must be Jaiden.” She leaned over the carrier so
she could look at Jaiden and took Jaiden’s tiny hand in her
fingers. “I can feel her power already.” She looked up at
Alex.

He smiled. “It’s good to
see you too, Corrine.”

Corrine straightened. “And
I take it this is Isabella?”

“
Yes.” Isabella offered
her hand. Corrine took and shook it. “Your power is very strong as
well, my dear.”

Isabella smiled. “Thank
you.”

“
Seriously, I have a
feeling you underestimate yourself.”

Isabella kept her smile.
“Thank you again.”

“
Go on now, you two, sit
down. You must be starving.” She stood on tip toe and whispered in
Alex’s ear, “There is something else for you and Chris
downstairs.”

Alex nodded and whispered
back, “Thanks.”

When he entered the dining
room shortly after Isabella, he saw Corrine had prepared a great
feast in expectation of their arrival. The long table held huge
platters full of sausage, bacon, pancakes, eggs and toast. Crystal
goblets filled with orange juice were beside each plate and a
massive bowl of fresh fruit dominated the center of the
table.

Amazed, Alex thought,
This is probably
the best breakfast I have ever seen
.

He found his way to
Isabella through all the people who were milling about trying to
find chairs. He set Jaiden’s carrier down beside her. “I’m going to
take Chris downstairs for a few. Will you be all right?”

“
Of course I will.” She
began unbuckling the straps which confined Jaiden into the
carrier.

“
Ok then, I’ll be back
soon.” He strode over to Chris and told him where they were going.
As they were leaving, Alex could swear he saw Stewart staring at
Jaiden.