Desire by Blood (30 page)

“She didn’t,” Nico admitted.

“She didn’t what?”

“Alex was sending her nothing to live on. You saw the state
of the house once she had been gone a few days.” Cordelia had done quite well
for herself considering her options.

“So, what did she do?”

This would be the hard part for Nico to admit. “She was a
reporter.”

Malik looked at him as if he had grown a second head.
“What?”

“She was a reporter for one of those gossip papers, and I
was her assignment.”

“She was investigating you?” Malik sounded incredulous.

Nico grinned. “Yes. It seems people wonder how I made all my
money.”

“Ah,” Malik said, but he didn’t return the smile.

“What’s the problem?”

“You don’t think she would expose us?” Nico could see the
apprehension in Malik’s eyes.

“Well, as soon as I accused her of that, she said no one
would believe her. And she is right.”

Malik nodded, but Nico could still tell his friend was
worried.

Before he could ease his fears more, something caught
Malik’s attention. Nico followed his line of vision and found his wife standing
at the door.

He forgot how to speak.

She was dressed in deep blue, so deep that it looked almost
black. It wasn’t a revealing dress, but it hugged her curves. She was stunning.

After a few moments, Malik cleared his throat. It brought
Nico out of his daze.

He walked to her and took her hand. “You look beautiful,
Cordelia.”

The smile she gave him had his heart beating harder. He
found it difficult to breath, and for a moment, he wanted to take her back
upstairs.

“I think we better go,” Malik said.

“Yes. Your parents are accompanying Diana, so I want to get
there soon.”

“Lady Diana is coming to the dinner?” Malik asked. “No one
told me.”

She shared a smile with Nico. “I did not know that we were
to gain approval from you for the guest list.”

Malik said nothing else, and they were on their way.

*
 
*
 
*
 
*

Cordelia took a deep breath as the doors to Gray’s home
opened. She had been to a few functions, but nothing that was a vampire
gathering. She knew she would be judged tonight as she had never been judged
before. Nico was not royalty in the human world, but from the little she had
learned, they were considered that in the vampire world.

“Why are you so worried?” Nico said just loud enough for her
to hear.

“Just—I don’t want to embarrass you or your family.”

“Cordelia.” He waited until she looked at him. “You would
never be able to embarrass me.”

For a moment, the noise of the crowd faded away, and it was as
if they were in their own little world.

“Are you sure?”

He nodded without taking his gaze from her.

“Blackburn,” Gray said, interrupting the moment. “And Lady
Cordelia.”

She looked around and realized most of the people had been
watching. She straightened her spine and smiled at Gray, who suddenly looked
stunned.

“Good evening,” she said, her smile growing stiffer the
longer he stared at her.

“Gray,” Nico said.

Gray shook himself and pulled his attention away from her.
“Yes, of course, please, come. Your parents and Lady Diana are already here.”

Nico worked his way through the crowd. So many people
stopped him to chat that it was quite some time before they were finally on
their way. “What was wrong with Gray?” she asked.

“Nothing.”

She didn’t believe that for a minute. “Nico, he was staring
at me like I had something wrong with me.”

He sighed. “You’re mated now and you sort of…glow.”

“What?”

“Glow. A mated Carrier had a very powerful pull.”

Before she could ask him more, they reached his parents and
her sister.

“You look lovely, Cordelia,” her sister said. “The dress is
a perfect color for you.”

She felt heat rise in her cheeks. She wasn’t accustomed to
so much attention.

“I believe we can say all the women in our family are quite
stunning,” Samuel said.

“Don’t you men have something you can go do?” Adelaide
asked.

“Your mother is trying to get rid of us, Nico,” his father
said with a laugh. “We might as well leave now.”

“Behave while I am gone,” he said, giving her a kiss on the
cheek.

“What does he think I will do?” she asked Adelaide and
Diana.

“Oh, never mind him. Men are always trying to exert their
dominance over us. It is just part of their makeup. The smart women just ignore
it,” Adelaide said. “Your father is here.”

“Mrs. Blackburn,” Diana said in horror. “Not so loud.”

“First, I told you to call me Adelaide. Second, no one can
hear.” She turned to Cordelia. “I made sure he will be seated across the table
from you.”

All of the sudden her heart started to gallop. “I am not
sure I am ready for this.”

“You are,” Adelaide said. “And Diana, I made sure you were
sitting by Malik.”

“What?” Diana practically yelled.

“Diana, really. People are staring,” Adelaide said. “Come, I
want to introduce you to Countess Featherstone. She has been dying to meet you,
Cordelia.”

She glanced at her sister. “As I said, it is just better to
follow along.”

“I think you may be right.”

*
 
*
 
*
 
*

“Your mother wanted to be sure I invited Gavin MacDonald
tonight,” Gray said to Nico.

He frowned. “MacDonald?”

“Yes, I have an idea she thinks that MacDonald might be
Cordelia’s father,” Gray said happily.

“What?” Nico was stunned by this news.

“He might be her father. You were interested in finding out
at one time before you married her,” Malik said.

“He’s right, you know,” Gray added cheerfully.

“Yes, I have been a little busy trying to find Neal.” Nico
hadn’t given the question of Cordelia’s parentage a second thought.

Gray’s jovial mood dissolved. “Of course.”

“I think we should go out again tonight.”

“I don’t think this is going to work,” Gray said. “I think
we need something else to draw him out.”

“I have been thinking of that, and that is why I want to go
out tonight.” Nico had a plan.

His father studied Nico’s expression then nodded. “It is a
good plan.”

“Risky.” Nico admitted as much.

His father gave him an encouraging smile. “Yes, but you can
do it. It won’t be a problem.”

“What the bloody hell are you two talking about?” Gray
asked.

He knew that it was going to put him in danger, but it was
the only way. The only reason that Neal was making vampires was to get his
attention and draw him out.

“I am going to set myself up as bait.”

Cordelia had to fight the urge to dry her hands on the skirt
of her gown. Dinner had been excruciating. The excitement of meeting her father
had made it very difficult to eat. Having her father sit across the table from
her had been just too hard to ignore. It had taken all her courage to talk to
him. Thankfully, Nico took pity on her and asked for a private moment with the
Scottish laird after dinner.

She was clasping and unclasping her hands over and over,
trying to calm her racing heart.

"You don't need to worry, Cordelia."

She looked at her husband. "How did you know I was
worrying?"

"Your nervous energy is flowing off you."

"I—"

There was a knock at the library door.

"Come," Nico said.

Cordelia rose slowly from the sofa. Not for the first time,
she felt her stomach roll over.

Her father walked in. Nico stood next to her and said only
loud enough for her to hear, "Breathe."

She let loose a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"Laird MacDonald," Nico said.

"Blackburn," he said, his voice stern. When he
turned his attention to her, his facial features soften. "Lady
Cordelia."

"Please have a seat, MacDonald. Would you like a brandy?"

He nodded and took one of the two chairs opposite of the
sofa. Cordelia followed suit.

"You are newly married?" he asked.

A nervous laugh tried to bubble up, but she fought it off.

"Yes, just over a month now," she said, watching
Nico hand her father the brandy.

"I understand it was hastily planned." He glanced
at Nico with an evil look.

"Once I met Cordelia, I had to marry her. I knew she
was my mate."

He said it so convincingly that she almost believed the
story.

"Ah," MacDonald said as he nodded and took a sip
of his brandy. "Your sister was in attendance?"

"Yes," she said. "She came into town just in
time for the wedding."

"Did her husband attend?"

She glanced at Nico and wondered where her father was going
with the questioning. "No. Her husband died several years ago."

"Ah.” MacDonald swirled the liquid in his glass. “I
guess you know I knew your mother. You look very much like her."

She smiled. "That is nice to know. My mother died in
childbirth, so I never knew what she looked like."

"She knew, you know."

"She knew what?" Cordelia forced herself to keep
her hands in her lap.

"That she was a Carrier."

She felt her eyes widen. "She did? My sisters did not
know, and I know my fa—" she cleared her throat. "The earl did not
know."

"So your sister is moving through a room filled with
vampires and she has no idea that she is a Carrier?" MacDonald seemed
disturbed by the thought.

She nodded.

He tossed an angry look in Nico's direction. "You
allowed this to happen?" His accent now made it almost impossible to
understand him.

"She is a widow, MacDonald. I cannot tell her to do
anything. And you know in our society the women go about however they like.
Being that she is seen as a widow in human society makes it even more
difficult."

"I will have to have a talk with her brother."

"No," she said in a near shout. Her father gave
her an odd look.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Please, don't contact Alex. Their relationship is very
strained." It was the only way she could describe it. MacDonald might be
her birth father, but there was no reason to let the man know just how horrible
their brother was.

“Of course.”

The conversation stopped there and the silence stretched out
embarrassingly long. She shifted on the sofa.

MacDonald swallowed down the last of his brandy. “I am sure
that you have many people to talk to tonight, so I do not want to monopolize
your time.”

He was leaving. Panic swelled up. She had finally found him,
and he was leaving.

“Laird,” she said, then swallowed her nerves and steadied
her voice. “I would very much appreciate it if you could find time tomorrow
afternoon to stop by for tea.”

For a moment, she was not sure if she stepped over the line.
In the rules of etiquette, it was just not done. But she could not take a
chance that he would return to Scotland and she might never see him again.

Then he smiled. “I would love to do that, Lady Cordelia.”

When he left them alone, she breathed easier.

“Are you feeling all right?”

She nodded and tried to fight down the nausea that returned.
“Yes. I am feeling a little…off.”

“All the excitement is not good for you.” Nico took her
hand.

She frowned at him. “I am not weak.”

“I did not say that.”

Irritation had her stomach roiling. “Yes, you did.”

He gave her an exasperated glare. ‘Come. Things should be
settling down. People should be leaving.”

She was not sure if he was lying or not, but she did not
want to fight anymore. She just wanted to go home.

*
 
*
 
*
 
*

Nico was worried about Cordelia. Once they arrived home, she
had not protested when he said he needed to go out.

She had been fast asleep by the time he left less than
thirty minutes later.

"You need to quit grinding your teeth. If you needed to
feed you should have done it before we left," Malik said.

He glanced at his friend and watched the passing gas lanterns
cast shadows on his face.

"I do not need to feed." But the moment he said
it, memories of sinking his teeth into Cordelia's neck, drawing the blood from
her veins, rose up. He could feel his body respond. His teeth ached. "I
can wait."

"You are waiting too long, my friend. Although, I
understand your reluctance."

"You do?"

"Yes. Bonding with a woman who is a reporter is not the
thing I would want to do."

Nico felt the need to defend his wife. "Was a reporter.
Now my wife."

"You hope."

Nico sighed. "It isn't that. According to Saint she is
already carrying our first child."

"That's good news." The worry in Malik’s voice was
evident.

"It doesn't sound like you think it is."

"It is just a bad time,” Malik said. “Lots of
turmoil."

Nico nodded. "She was asleep almost before she got into
bed. I am worried."

"You know that is normal. How does she feel about
it?"

Nico crossed his arms. "I am not sure she knows."

"You didn't tell her?" Malik tsked.

"How do you tell a woman she's breeding?"

"Don't look at me, old man.” Malik chuckled. “I do not
mate for that reason."

Vampires, both Made and Born, could have intercourse without
mating, but instead Malik had abstained for centuries. Nico knew Malik felt
tainted by his Maker and he did not want to even take the chance of fathering a
child.