Life's Blood (The Cordelia Chronicles) (9 page)

That’s when I saw a dark shadow dancing in the kitchen, and my heart stopped. Someone else was in the house, and the raised hairs on the back of my head told me just who it was. I gasped when the tall, dark, brick-wall of a man entered the room.

“Balthazar,” Chaseyn hissed before I could manage to regain my breath.

“Chaseyn, good to see you, son,” Balthazar said, extending his hand. Chaseyn put his own hands in his pockets and turned away.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“I couldn’t stand to be apart from Mina over the holidays, so when she said she was returning to Colorado for a few days, I had to come with her.”

“You were with her in Romania?” Chaseyn growled. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want to upset you, sweetheart,” she replied. “Perhaps we can talk about this another time--when we’re alone, maybe?”

“Fine. Later then.”

I grabbed Chaseyn by the arm and pulled him into the kitchen. He needed a moment to decompress. My mom, Kevin, and Addie were still in the dark about Chaseyn’s
true
nature, and Christmas day was not the time for them to learn the truth.

“Did you know about this?” he barked at me when we were out of earshot of the others. Except for Mina and Balthazar--a perk to being vampires meant they had supersensitive senses. They could hear even a pin drop in the next room.

“Of course not,” I replied, hurt he thought I’d kept such a big secret from him. “I knew Mina was coming home for the holidays, but I had to idea she had removed the stake from Balthazar’s heart. I thought he was still paralyzed.”

“I can’t believe she did that. He’s nothing but a monster,” Chaseyn muttered almost inaudibly, but I heard him. So had Balthazar, because he entered the room then.

“Everything alright in here?” he asked as he rounded the corner.

“Don’t play nice with me,” Chaseyn snapped.

“I understand that you’re upset with me. We have some obstacles to get over,” Balthazar replied.

“Some obstacles. That’s what you call trying to kill us?” Chaseyn spit the words as though they were acid on his tongue. He took a step toward the mountain of a man and poked his finger into Balthazar’s chest. “I don’t know what kind of hold you have on my mother, but I can’t forgive and forget that easily.”

“Chaseyn, what are you doing?” Mina questioned quietly as she entered the room. “Stop that right now.”

Mina looked quickly over her shoulder to be sure no one else had noticed the situation unfolding in the kitchen. Everyone else was too busy engaging in friendly conversation to pay any attention to us. I was sure my grandmother and Eli had a hand in that.

“Since when is letting the man who tried to kill your only son into your bed a suitable punishment?” Chaseyn chided. I inhaled sharply--his words were harsh. Too harsh.

“It’s not like that,” Mina retorted.

“Isn’t it?”

“Balthazar is a good man,” she replied. “After I removed the stake, Balthazar and I talked--a lot.”

“I love your mother, Chaseyn, and I am truly sorry for what I did to you and Lia,” Balthazar interjected. “Let me make it up to you.”

I was eager to learn what Balthazar thought he could do to get Chaseyn and I to forgive him, but my mother walked into the room at that moment, breaking the tension.

“Lia, honey, make sure everyone has a drink--there’s eggnog in the fridge if you’d like,” she chimed.

The last thing I wanted to do was upset my mother on Christmas day. She was so happy, she literally glowed, and her belly had grown full and round over the past few months. In just eight weeks, I’d have a sibling, words I’d never thought I would say.

I pulled Chaseyn to my side and watched as Mina busied herself getting drinking glasses from the cupboard. She was every bit as at home in our kitchen as she was in her own, and despite whatever differences we faced at this moment, I knew we would find a way to overcome them. Mina was a warm, caring woman who would do anything for her only child. I had to believe she had Chaseyn’s best interests at heart and that her judgment hadn’t been clouded by Balthazar’s good looks and charming personality.

“We’ll catch up with you guys later,” I said cheerily, wrapping my arm through Chaseyn’s and dragging him into the living room.

We joined in the conversation Eli and Addie were having with my grandmother and Hank about the French Riviera. Well, actually the conversation was being dominated by Addie, who was explaining how she had driven her parents to the airport prior to arriving at my mom’s house. They would be spending the next two weeks in Nice, and while they had invited Addie to join them, she couldn’t bear the thought of being apart from Eli another minute, and they weren’t ready to have him join them just yet. They had struggled with her broken engagement to Rob. He was the perfect match for their baby girl--well bred and from a wealthy family. They had accepted Addie was in a new relationship with a nice boy from a modest family, but it was no secret they hoped it was nothing more than a college fling.

Eventually, Mina returned with a tray full of eggnog and hot cider. We each took a drink and returned to our conversation as she went back into the kitchen to relieve my mother of her duties. I only knew that because I could hear my mother’s vain attempts to dismiss Mina’s offer, but in the end, she conceded. My mother sank into the seat on the couch next to me, while Kevin teetered awkwardly on the armrest next to her. She wrapped her arm around my shoulder, and I snuggled against her chest, her belly poking into my ribs.

For the next hour, we all took turns talking about what we had been doing since the last time we’d all been together. Addie and Eli showed us pictures of their apartment in Indiana. I was surprised by its small size and modest furnishings--not at all what I had expected from Addie. I knew Eli had insisted on sharing the rent and other expenses, so their monthly budget was very limited. Addie was used to having the best of everything, so this experience had been a huge departure for her, and I hoped their relationship could stand this test.

“It’s not much, but it’s home for now,” she sighed, and while at first I had mistaken the sound for one of despair, I quickly changed my mind when I saw how she looked at Eli with such love and adoration. I could tell she was truly content. She would go to the end of the earth to make Eli happy--it was clear in the way she smiled with pride as she bragged about the various flea-market finds that decorated their home.

“You should see how these two are living,” Eli quipped as he pointed at me and Chaseyn. “It’s like something out of a Norman Rockwell painting.”

“Well, someday when you’re a famous football star, we’ll be able to get a place ten times as nice as theirs,” Addie replied, and she winked at me and Chaseyn. “No offense.”

“None taken,” I said, waving my hand in dismissal.

“Would y’all mind if I stole our girl away for a few minutes?” Addie asked.

“I might mind if you keep saying words like y’all,” I joked.

“It’s my fault,” Eli laughed.

“He’s right. I’ve picked up some of his Texas slang, I’m afraid,” she added. Then, she grabbed my arm and dragged me up the stairs to my old room.

It was weird being there without my things--all of my posters were still on the walls, but the closet and dresser drawers were empty, and the bed was perfectly made--something it had never been when I had lived there.

“What’s up?” I asked, flopping down on the mattress.

“Do I need a reason to spend a few minutes alone with my best friend?” she replied. “It’s been ages since we’ve been together, and I just want to hang with you awhile.”

“We talk all the time.”

“Yeah, but the boys are always around, so certain topics are off limits,” she explained.

“Like what?”

“Like…I don’t know…”

“Spit it out, Addie. What’s on your mind?”

“Well, I was just wondering--how’s Chaseyn in bed?”

“Addie,” I gasped.

It wasn’t that I was entirely shocked by her question. In fact, I was surprised she hadn’t asked earlier. My main concern at the moment was that, while Addie thought we were having a private conversation in the sanctity of my bedroom, I knew the immortals in our midst could hear every word we were saying.

“Well?” she urged, but I remained tight lipped. “That boy is super sexy--you have to give me at least a few details.”

“There’s nothing to tell,” I said.

“You don’t expect me to believe you guys haven’t done it yet? You’ve been living together for months, and he put a ring on your finger.”

“It’s true.”

“What are you waiting for?”

“Honestly? I’m not sure. I just know I’m not ready yet,” I explained.

“Well you better get ready soon,” she replied. “Because a boy that fine is not going to wait forever.”

I was silent for a minute as I contemplated her words. She’d hit a nerve. I knew Chaseyn adored me, but given his past, I couldn’t deny the thought hadn’t crossed my mind once or twice before. Addie could tell she’d upset me--she’d always been extremely candid, but she’d overstepped her boundaries this time, and she knew it.

“Now, tell me about your new best friend--she better not be trying to replace me.” Addie asked.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “No one could ever fill your shoes, but she is pretty great.”

And just like that we were back to normal.

***

An hour or so later, Addie and I rejoined the group. Soon after, Mina called Chaseyn to the kitchen to help her carry the dishes to the table, and that’s when I realized I hadn’t seen Balthazar since our earlier confrontation. I caught Chaseyn alone on his way to the dining area with platefuls of food and asked him to explain Balthazar’s sudden disappearance.

“Mina said something came up that he had to take care of at home,” he explained.

I didn’t buy it for one minute. Mina had done the right thing and sent Balthazar away--she’d chosen Chaseyn over him, and my faith in her was restored with that one act of love. I didn’t understand what she had been thinking bringing him here without an explanation in the first place, and while I was more than willing to hear her out, this was not the time or place. The wounds Balthazar had created ran too deep to pretend they didn’t exist--not even for one night.

“She did the right thing,” I said, giving his arm a squeeze. “Go easy on her--she came all this way.”

“What is she doing in Romania, anyway?” he asked.

“She’s looking for the final piece of the puzzle,” I explained. “I think I know all of the ingredients for the elixir, but we need to find Alexei’s maker, Vlad. She’s trying to find him for me.”

“That’s why she’s pretending to be interested in Balthazar,” he said, slapping his head in realization. “Of course.”

“I’m sure he’s been helping her. He’s much more entrenched in the ‘culture’ so I’m sure he can help put her on the trail of some credible leads,” I suggested. “But I’m not so sure she’s pretending to be interested in him.”

I knew the words would sting, but I also knew deep down Chaseyn understood the love his mother had for that man. We had that same kind of love, and he wouldn’t deny her that right. I couldn’t think about how I would feel if someone tried to keep us apart. The thought actually made me shudder.

“I love you,” Chaseyn whispered, snaking his arm around my waist and pulling me close.

“Back at you,” I giggled.

As I walked into the kitchen to grab the last of the hot dishes Mina had plated, she mouthed the words “thank you.” I simply shrugged in response. Chaseyn would know she had heard every word of our conversation, which was his way of apologizing for his earlier attack on Balthazar. He was just skeptical, and I couldn’t blame him--I’d seen what the man was capable of as well, but I had to believe he wouldn’t do it again. He seemed to truly love Mina, after all.

Chaseyn grabbed a pitcher of water from the fridge, and as he turned to walk away, Mina blocked his path. Without a word, she held open her arms, and Chaseyn melted into her embrace.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” she whispered so low I had to strain to hear her voice. “I should have told you about Balthazar instead of springing it on you like this.”

“It’s okay, mom,” he replied. “I know what it’s like to love someone so much you would risk anything to be with that person.”

His words gave me shivers. I was frozen in place, watching as the two of them exchanged apologies and absorbed each other’s adoration. They’d been through so much together, and I was envious of their unspoken connection. Mina quickly explained herself--she only had a moment before the others realized dinner was on the table--but she chose her words carefully and conveyed everything she needed to say in just a few short sentences. In essence, she confirmed what I had told Chaseyn earlier. She knew Balthazar’s connections in Europe would be of value in her search for Alexei’s maker. When she first removed the stake from his heart, she had planned to take the information from him that she needed and immediately replace the stake. But, one look in Balthazar’s eyes told her everything she needed to know--that he was truly remorseful for the pain he’d caused her family and that he would never do anything like that again. Not if it meant losing her. She couldn’t stand the thought of being apart from him ever again.