Bound (The Grandor Descendant Series Book 3) (14 page)

“I, I didn’t realise…” Chris muttered, “I just didn’t think that-”

“-that vamps could be parents?” suggested Riley, “Nope. Me either. I’m thinking of nominating Clyde for father of the year.”

“Wow,” Chris whistled, sitting down on the floor as he stared at Riley in disbelief.

“Yea,” said Ari, “so I probably can’t go out driving today.”

“Because Riley is pregnant?” asked Chris in confusion.

“Not entirely. You remember that waere girl who we took to the hospital?” said Ari.

“Yea,” said Chris. “We did almost fail our first clinical rotation because of her.”

“Well, we ran into her again,” said Ari, and she lapsed into the story of seeing Natalie at the hospital and then again in the woods when they were attacked, culminating with the fact that all the vampires at Cruor halls had been called to council by Gwen because of it.

When Ari had finished, Chris’s face resembled the colour of sour milk. They continued to talk in whispered conversation about the possibility of the vampires discovering about waeres and Riley’s impending pregnancy, until it was dark, at which point Chris’s groaning stomach made both Riley and Ari insist he go up to dinner.       

Not long afterwards the coven’s meeting ended, and everyone came back over to Ari’s room to tell them what had happened. Clyde moved to sit by Riley on the bed and immediately began recanting the events of the entire meeting.

“So,” Clyde said, “they haven’t got any physical evidence of waeres, but they have started a patrol of the forest beginning tonight.”

“I think if Gwen had any real proof she would have gone straight to the Ancients,” Ragon explained. “Still, she will try damn hard to find some evidence.”

“You should have seen me Riley,” Ryder added proudly, “I played the dumbstruck vampire so well. My mouth fell open when she told us; I even think I drooled a little.”

“Yea,” Patrick added, smiling at Ryder as he shook his head, “we all did. Well, not the drooling part. Thomas and Sandra were so convincing, they even offered to patrol the woods tonight.”

“But who attacked us?” asked Ari, “I thought I recognised her. Did Gwen tell you who the witness was?”

At these words both Clyde and Ragon looked tense.

“We don’t know,” Ragon said, finally. “A few times we asked who had seen the waere, but Bridget just told us that it was an impeachable witness.”

“So Sandra and Thomas are in the woods right now?” Riley asked.  

“Should we tell them that there is a waere here? It might make their search a little easier,” said Ari, who along with Ryder laughed loudly, before looking over at Clyde. “Too soon?”

“I want to go too,” said Riley, gingerly attempting to lift herself out of the bed.  

“What is this, bad joke day?” Clyde snapped.

“I’m not joking,” said Riley. “Natalie is out there right now, and she… she saved me, and not just me, Ari too. We owe her. We can’t just let her get captured by vampires! Besides, this isn’t just about her. What if they do get proof of waeres existing? Then the rest of us will be in danger too.”

“You’re not leaving this room,” Clyde said authoritatively, as if the matter was no longer up for discussion.

“You can’t tell me what-” Riley started to say, but Clyde cut her off mid-sentence.

“-you honestly expect me to let you go out there,” he said. “You’re a waere. I can’t let anything happen to you… either of you,” he added in a whisper, looking down at her stomach.    

“I can’t shift,” said Riley, pressing her hand against her stomach, almost in anger. “There is no chance of them finding out what I am.”

“Darling, Clyde’s right,” said Ryder, and though Ari knew it would break Riley’s heart, she nodded also in agreement.

“But what about Natalie?” said Riley, “She saved my life and now she is being hunted; that’s my fault!”

“It’s not our fight,” said Clyde.

“No, it’s not your fight,” Riley spat, her face now red and blotchy. “You don’t understand. I spent my whole life running. Hiding from vampires, scared of wraiths. We could never be seen, never heard… my whole life. It’s like we don’t exist. There’s no one to look out for us except other waeres.”

“Riley,” said Clyde, moving over to her and taking her hand in his. “You exist to me; if you didn’t, I would have no purpose. If I lose you, then, then I lose everything.”

Riley let out a loud sob; soon she was crying openly, only pausing to stammer, “I’m sorry; it’s these stupid hormones.”

“It’s ok, love,” Clyde whispered, touching his hand to her face and wiping away the tears. “Sandra and Thomas are out there now. They aren’t going to bring Natalie in. That’s the whole reason we wanted the coven to be involved in the patrols. We will keep your secret safe. I promise. No one is going to find out about you, or any other waeres.”

One by one the coven left Ari’s room, until only Ari, Ragon, Clyde and Riley remained.  

“Clyde,” said Riley, looking up at him adoringly, her face still glistening with tears, “would you mind going to the shops and getting me something to eat. I’m starving and I don’t feel like going up to the cafeteria. I think I just need to rest for a bit.”

“What do you feel like?” he asked, his face lightening.

“Um, maybe some fried chicken, a few pickles, a noodle salad and some ice-cream?” said Riley. “Preferably mint, but I would also accept choc-chip.”

“Anything else?” asked Ragon, laughing.

Riley shook her head and Clyde moved over to the door.

“Actually,” Ragon said, moving to follow him, “I have to meet with Bridget now. We’re supposed to be going over our thesis presentation.”

“That’s still going ahead?” Ari asked, surprised, “I just thought, what with everything going on, that it might have been cancelled?”

“Nope,” said Ragon. “I don’t think anything would be able to stop Bridget. She’s kind of like a freight train, and not in a good way.”

“Is it still alright if I go?” asked Ari.

Clyde and Ragon both looked at Ari surreptitiously.   

“I think she will have to,” Clyde said finally, when it was apparent that Ragon wasn’t going to answer. “It will look suspicious if she doesn’t. Most vamps have their sources around for things like that.”

Ragon nodded stiffly.  

“Ok, so, I will stay here with Riley and then when Clyde comes back, I’ll meet you at Cruor halls for your presentation,” suggested Ari, looking at Ragon. “You never know,” she added, winking, “you might need some delicious blood to help you with your nerves.”

“Ari,” said Ragon, sighing as opened the door, “don’t tease me.”

The moment the door closed, Riley sat bolt upright in bed, the tears no longer staining her face.

“I need you to get a message to Natalie,” she said.

“What? We’re you… we’re you just faking everything you said to Clyde?” 

“I have to warn her,” said Riley, searching Ari’s face for any trace of understanding.

“Weren’t you here for Clyde’s ranting? Didn’t you hear him? And you want me to defy him?”

“Leave Clyde to me; besides, I’m the one who is defying him. You’re simply doing me a favour,” Riley said, smiling innocently.

“I don’t think Clyde will see it that way. In fact, I’m pretty sure he would kill me, like actually kill me, if he even knew that we were talking about this. What about asking Sandra and Thomas to warn her if they see her? ’m supposed to be watching Ragon’s thesis presentation tonight.”

“Natalie barely trusts us, and that was with me being a waere and after you saved her life,” said Riley. “Please Ari.  You just need to pop into the forest and warn her. It won’t take long. You will still have plenty of time to make it to Ragon’s presentation tonight without him or Clyde be any the wiser.”

A long silence followed this, during which Ari tried desperately to ignore the pleading look on Riley’s face. 

“Please Ari,” Riley added, “It’s my fault that she is being hunted. Every vampire on the campus will be looking for her, wanting to prove there are waeres and God knows what they will do if they catch her. No one can know that we still exist. I don’t know why we were prosecuted all those centuries ago by the Ancients, but if they learn that just one waere is alive, they won’t stop until we are all dead. This isn’t just about Natalie. This is about saving an entire species. I wouldn’t ask you to do this if it weren’t important.”

“But what am I supposed to do? We have no way of contacting her!”

“She’ll probably still be in the Three Prong Trek,” said Riley, “that’s where we saw her last. And Sandra and Thomas are on waere-watch anyway, so it’s not like you have to worry about a vampire seeing you in the forest. We just need to tall Natalie what happened and that she has to get out of here.”

“I really don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Ok,” said Riley, her voice suddenly distant and cold.

Slowly Riley tried to pull herself out of bed.

“What do you think you’re doing?” asked Ari.

“Well, if you won’t help Natalie then I will.”

Ari hung her head, burying her face in her hands as she gave in and said, “Alright; I’ll do it. Geez, you and guilt trips! I can’t believe Clyde fell for it before, and what’s worse, I can’t believe I am falling for it now.”  

Clyde returned half an hour later, laden with food. The moment he appeared, Ari jumped to her feet and bolted for the door. She was afraid that if she remained too long, he might somehow manage to discover what she and Riley were planning, as if her guilt might be etched in the expression on her face.

“Have to get to the cafeteria before it closes,” she lied, not chancing a glance back at him.

As she dashed down the hallway, Ari heard Riley say, “That darn cafeteria food… down right addictive.”

The moment Ari had agreed to look for Riley, she texted Chris and Lea to meet her in Lea’s room on the first level of Omega Halls. She may have been foolish enough to have been guilt tripped by Riley, but she wasn’t stupid enough to go into the forest by herself. True, she hadn’t told them why she wanted to see them; just that she needed to talk to them about something. Hopefully they would both be in a daredevil mood.

When she reached Lea’s room, she knocked quickly and entered. Chris was already there and Ari was pleasantly surprised to see that the witch and wraith were not only talking to each other caudally, but were deep in discussion about something. Ari almost felt awkward as she filed into the small room, waiting for a gap in their conversation so as to ask for their help with Riley’s request.