Love's Challenge (Pearl Vampire Chronicles #5) (21 page)

“You were in pain.  I helped relieve that.”

“But I told you not to.”

“You’re carrying my child, your body needed release.  The pain you were
feeling, the offspring can feel it too.  I didn’t want him to be in pain.”

“He was in pain because I was in pain?”

“Yes.”

“And my orgasm helps relieve that pain?

“Yes.”

“You didn’t tell me that.”

“Well, now I did.  Now that you know, will you let me do that again if
you are in pain?”  

Really, I thought?  How am I supposed to say yes to that – when I have
Matt, and now Carlos, waiting at home for me – and how am I supposed to say no
– when it meant that a baby would be in pain?  In the end, the baby won out as
I sadly shook my head then closed my eyes and fell into the best sleep I’d had
for weeks.

A few weeks later. 
‘Sarah?’
Carlos thought.

‘Now’s not really a good time, hun,’
I thought, as I tried not to cry
out.  I was on my side, curled up, and I was in agony.  I glanced up at the
wall behind me: Fifty-eight tics, two days left.  He did another flip inside me
and I couldn’t help it.  I groaned.

‘I heard that, missy.  Tell me what I can do to help?’

‘Tell me more about your last trip.  Where did you look that
time?  Tell me about the sites.’

‘Sarah, I’m not exactly being a tourist on these, you know. 
I’m searching, that’s all.  And these searches are becoming more and more
desperate.  I’m leaving again tomorrow.’

‘What?  Tomorrow?  But you just got back yesterday.  You need
time to rest and regroup, damn it.  You exhausted yourself on the last trip. 
And you need to spend some time with Matt, please?   Wait a week.  Visit with
Matt.  Figure out where you’re going to look next.  Don’t just head out blindly
like you did last time.  Stop making me worry.  Please, Carlos,”
I thought as I clenched my teeth and
tried to get the baby to stop moving by rubbing my belly.  Aquila looked
concerned.  He came over and placed his hand on my stomach. 

“It’s time.” he said.

‘It’s time???  Time for what??  Jesus, Sarah.  Fucking time
for what?’

I nodded at Aquila then held up one finger.
 ‘Please relax.  It’s time
for me to feed, that’s all.  He regulates these things.  I’m going to eat and
then try to grab a nap.  Are you going to wait, Carlos?’

‘Four days, Sarah.  Not a week.  I’m out of here in four
days, come hell or high water.  And this time I will find you.  I was close
last time.  I even picked up your scent at one point, but then lost the trail. 
I’m going to find you and bring you home.  I promise.  I’ll check in with you
tomorrow.  I love you, kiddo.’

‘I love you too, Carlos.  I’m just sorry I fought that for so
long.  And I’m sorry I can’t give you more.’

‘Why are you doing that, Sarah?  You’re acting like I’m never
going to see you again.  What is it that you’re not telling me, baby?’

‘No, it’s not like that, hun.  I’m just scared and I’m
missing both of you desperately.  This is a lot to ask, but please tell Matt
that I love him and miss him too.’

‘You’re sure there’s nothing else?’

‘Positive.  I’ll talk to you tomorrow.  I love you.’

Silence.  Crap.  Please say something. 
‘I love you too.  I’m going to
go look at the map.  I’ll talk to you tomorrow.’ 
And he left, and it was
just in time too.  A blinding pain seized me and I screamed.  Aquila jumped up and
picked me up.  He ran us over to the pool and climbed in. 

“Oh my God.  You lied to me, you bastard!  He’s trying to break his way
out.  He’s going to kill me,” I screamed as another sharp pain shoved its way
through my body. 

“No, he’s trying to position himself for you to deliver.  He’s trying to
save you, female.  Now hold onto the side of the pool and try to relax the rest
of your body,” he said as he began massaging my belly. 

“Are you fucking kidding me?  How am I supposed to relax with this pain?”
I cried. 

He handed me two pints of blood.  “See if this helps,” he said as he
started pushing down on the top of my belly. 

I nearly spit out the blood that was in my mouth.  “Shit!  What are you doing? 
Stop!  Stop!  Please!” I cried.

“I can’t.  I’m trying to show him where he needs to go.  He’s
frightened.  He’s afraid you’re going to hurt him.  You need to calm him and
show him that you’re going to do this right, female.  Rub like I’m doing and
start pushing.  Show him you’re strong enough for this.  He’s ready to come out
now and if you don’t show him you can do this, he is going to tear his way out
of your belly.”

“Well, you could have warned me about this ahead of time, Aquila.”

“I’m sorry.  Sometimes I forget that you’re not like me.  But you’ve done
this before, yes?”

“I was human then.  Things were different.  I was different.”

“Yes.  You were weaker then.  You can do this.  Now push!”

“But in the water?  Are you sure?”

“Yes.  The warm water soothes him.  And it will help you to relax.”

I nodded my head, took a deep breath, and pushed with all of my might. 

“That’s it?  That’s all you’ve got?” Aquila said.

“Sorry.  It’s been a while.  I don’t go to the bathroom like you do.  I
haven’t had to push like this since I became a vampire.  Give me a few tries. 
It’ll come back to me.”  I clenched my teeth and pushed again, crying out as I
felt him move lower. 

Aquila nodded his head.  “Better.  Again.” 

“It hurts my back against the rock,” I said.  Aquila nodded and moved
around behind me, his huge body creating a pillow behind mine.  He slid his
arms underneath mine and rested his hands on my belly.  I gripped his granite
forearms and pushed again.

“That’s more like it.  More.”  

I pushed again, and cried out as I felt my hips shift.  “He’s too big. 
He’s going to break my pelvis.”

“No, he’s not.  He’s working his way through very carefully.  Trust me.”

I was gasping for air, I felt like I was hyperventilating.  And I was
terrified.  I pushed again and saw a swirl of blood in the water. 

“Oh shit.  He’s coming,” I groaned. 

“Feed again, female,” he said as he reached over and pulled the basket
toward me.  It had at least ten pints in it.  I grabbed one and drank, then
grunted and pushed again. 

“Ahhhhhhhh!” I cried as I felt his head as it tried to work its way out. 
I pushed again and felt his head between my legs.  “His, his, his head’s out,”
I moaned.

“You have to grab him when he comes out.  Grab him and hand him to me,”
he said.

I nodded my head and squeezed my eyes shut.  I didn’t want to see him, at
all.  It would hurt too much.  I took another deep breath and pushed as hard as
I could.  I felt one shoulder come out, then another.  “The wings!  His wings
are stuck!”

“No, they’re not.  He’s facing down.  Reach down and push him down a little
when you push.”

I did as I forced my exhausted body to give one final push.  I screamed
as I felt like I was being ripped apart.  And then I felt something in my
hands.  I didn’t look, I couldn’t.  I pulled him up and handed him over my
shoulder to Aquila.  Once he was behind me, I opened my eyes and moved as far
as the umbilical cord would let me, but I gasped when I looked down and saw
that the water wasn’t clear anymore.  It looked like it was a pool of blood. 
That was when the dizziness hit.  My eyes rolled back in my head and that was
the last thing I remember.

There were voices.  Were they voices in my dream?  Voices in my head?  I
couldn’t tell, but I definitely heard voices, or a voice anyway.  A calm,
soothing voice.  The voice of a father bonding with his son.  My eyes fluttered
a few times then finally stayed open.  I watched Aquila’s back as he talked to
his son.  It took a few minutes, but he finally looked around and saw that my
eyes were open.  He smiled at me and shifted to his left, bringing the child
into his arms.  The child was watching his father, listening to him then he
turned his head toward me.  I gasped.  I cried out and I clutched my heart when
I saw his eyes; they were my eyes, they were my son, Scotty’s eyes.  My
beautiful son who was gone so soon, killed in that car accident with my husband
almost ten years before and yet the pain of the loss still felt like it was
yesterday.  Those eyes were staring back at me now and it was too much for my
broken heart to take.  I gladly embraced the darkness this time.

Chapter
Sixteen

Bahiti walked into Matt’s office, where Carlos was studying the map and
writing down notes.  “Carlos,” she softly said.  “Why are you still doing
this?”

“That is a stupid question, Bahiti.  Why do you think I’m still doing
this?  I have to save her while there’s still time.  You told her seventy-five
days.  That means I still have ten days to find her and bring her home.  I’m
not going to sleep until I do.”

“She told you I said seventy-five days?”

Carlos felt his heart begin to break as he whispered, “Yes.”

Bahiti squeezed her eyes shut.  She opened them and placed her hand on
Carlos’ forearm.  “I didn’t tell her that, my friend.  I’m sorry, but I didn’t
tell her that.”

“Then what did you tell her.  Damn it Bahiti, how long do I have?”

She shook her head.  “I’m so sorry, Carlos.  The gestation of a seraphim
is sixty days.  It happened five days ago.”

Carlos took four steps backward then collapsed onto the floor.  He
started wailing as he clutched his chest.  Bahiti knelt next to him and waited
for him to cry himself out.  After a few minutes he shoved her arm away from
him.  “No, my Sarah is not dead.  I’d know if she were dead, Bahiti.  I’m
telling you, she’s not dead.”

“How long has it been since you’ve been able to reach her?”

“Don’t ask me that, Bahiti.  He might be moving her around or something. 
He knocks her out when he does that.”

“How long, Carlos?”

“About a week,” he mumbled then he jumped up.  “NO!  SHE IS NOT DEAD!  I
have to go find her!” He took off running, out the door and through the halls,
toward the courtyard doors, ignoring Bahiti’s pleas of “Carlos, wait, please
come back!”

He was halfway down the hall when the alarms went off.

Everyone in the courtyard started running for cover as soon as they saw
Aquila lowering himself into the center of the courtyard.  He was cradling his
infant son in one arm and my semi-conscious, bleeding, naked body in the
other.  As he touched down, he gently set me in the grass at the same moment
that Carlos burst through the doors.  Their eyes locked and they were both too
shocked to move for a moment.  Finally, Aquila said, “She is alive, but weak
and needs medical attention.  You will see that she gets it?”

Carlos was too stunned to speak.  His mouth hung open as he slowly nodded
his head.  He gasped as his eyes moved to the infant, and he saw my eyes in the
child’s face looking back at him.  Aquila nodded and took off with his child
cradled in his arms.  He was gone within seconds. 

A crowd started to move toward me.  “Stop.  Don’t touch her,” Carlos
yelled as he ran towards me.  “Keith, give me your shirt,” he said as he also pulled
off his own.  He draped his across my chest and wrapped Keith’s around my lower
half as he scooped me up in his arms.  I moaned and my head fell back. 
Suddenly the scent of humans hit me.  My eyes flew open.  My teeth were down,
they had been for weeks.  I couldn’t really see him, but I could smell my best
friend. 

“Get me away from people, Carlos.   For God’s sake, keep me away from
them,” I whispered.

“Shit, Sarah.  He’s got you hooked?  That fucking son of a bitch raped you,
impregnated you AND he got you strung out?  I’m going to rip him apart,” he
growled.

“Carlos, I’m going to tear you a new one if you don’t focus here.  I can
smell them.  They’re everywhere, Carlos.  They’re just outside the gate,
they’re in the courtyard, they’re in the clinic.  I know where every fucking
one is.  Take me to your room and stay with me.  Stay with me and keep me from
getting out, because I’m gonna try, fucker.  I’m gonna try to get past you to
get to them.  Understand?”

He nodded, then turned and ran full speed through the doors, down the
halls and into his room.  He slammed the door to his bedroom and set me gently
onto his bed.  He picked up his cell phone and dialed Cameron’s office.  “Doc,
my room, quick.  It’s Sarah,” he said then he hung up the phone and tossed it
onto the floor.  He crawled into bed and wrapped his arms around me.  “Jesus,
Sarah.  I thought you were dead.  For a minute, I thought you were dead.”

I groaned and rolled onto my side.  “I’m going to need to feed soon,
Carlos.  Do not give me good blood.  No matter what I say or how much I beg, do
not give it to me, got it?”