Night's Mistress (Children of the Night) (11 page)

“Of course not,” Logan replied.

“How did this happen?” Rane asked, unable to hide his astonishment.

“The usual way,” Mara replied dryly.

“But . . .”

“I don’t know how it happened. The doctor doesn’t know. It just”—she made a vague gesture with her hand—“happened.”

Rane looked thoughtful for a moment, then said, “It’s Kyle’s, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but he doesn’t know, and I don’t want him to.”

“Don’t you think he has a right to know?” Rane asked.

“I’m not sure what went wrong between the two of you, but he’s been here a couple of times trying to find you. I think he still loves you.”

“He thinks I’m a monster.”

“Well, you’re not anymore,” Rane pointed out.

“I don’t want to talk about Kyle,” Mara said flatly. “He has no part of this.”

“Why don’t you keep the baby?” Savanah asked, hugging her daughter closer.

Mara shook her head. “I don’t know how to be a mother.”

“No one does, until it happens,” Savanah said, smiling. “You should at least give it a try.”

“I don’t know.” Mara’s gaze settled on Abbey. She had never wanted children, never thought to have any of her own. Just then, her baby gave a lusty kick. Placing her hand over her abdomen, Mara felt the first stirring of love for the child she carried. Maybe she could be a good mother. And she didn’t have to stay mortal forever. Once her baby was grown, she could ask Logan or one of the Cordova men to make her a vampire again.

“If you decide motherhood isn’t for you, Rane and I will be happy to raise your child, won’t we, Rane?”

“Sure.” He smiled at his wife and daughter and then returned his attention to Mara. “I think Savanah’s right. You should at least give it a try before you decide. Have you told anyone else?”

“No.”

“All right, then,” Rane said, “we’ll keep it that way if it’s what you want.”

“I suppose you can tell Rafe and the rest of your family, but no one else.”

“A baby,” Savanah said, smiling. “I think it’s wonderful. Oh, we’ll have to give you a shower! I’ll talk to Kathy . . .”

Mara stared at Savanah. “No. I don’t think . . .”

“Just for our immediate family,” Savanah said. “It’ll be fun. Maybe we’ll even let the guys come and we’ll make a party out of it. What do you say?”

“I don’t know. I’ll have to think about it.”

Later that night, back at Logan’s house, Mara weighed the pros and cons of keeping the baby while she lingered in the bathtub. The more she thought about it, the more excited she became. Maybe keeping the baby wouldn’t be such a bad thing. She had spent most of her life alone, afraid to trust anyone, afraid to let anyone get too close. But the baby,
her
baby, would be a living, breathing part of her, someone she could love unconditionally. Someone who would love her in return. Someone who would need her day and night for years to come. Years ago, she had asked Roshan what it had been like, raising a human child. He had thought about it for a moment, and then said, “Interesting.”

Mara grinned as she reached for the soap. Right now, interesting sounded pretty darn good.

 

 

Mara grew more and more dependent on Logan as the days went by. She had no mortal friends and even though she had known Roshan and Brenna for years and considered them and their descendants as family, she couldn’t help feeling inferior, and even embarrassed, when she was with them. She knew it was foolish, but she couldn’t help it. Strangely, she didn’t feel that way with Logan, probably because she had known him for so long, or maybe because he made her feel safe, protected. Loved.

Mara thought of Kyle from time to time. Too bad she hadn’t met him now, when she was mortal. The cad. He had said he loved her, but it had been a lie. Far better to be loved than to love, she mused. It certainly hurt less.

She shook his image from her mind. She would not think of him now.

Earlier, Logan had dropped her off at the mall to shop while he went hunting. She had bought some much-needed maternity clothes and then wandered through the baby section of a department store. She hadn’t meant to buy anything, but the blankets were so soft and pretty, the sleepers so cute, the booties so tiny, she just couldn’t resist, and before she knew it, she had spent over three hundred dollars.

Logan whistled softly when he picked her up half an hour later. “What’d you do, buy out the store? How many maternity outfits can one woman wear?”

“It’s not all for me, silly. I bought a few things for the baby.”

“A few!” he exclaimed as he stowed her bags in the trunk of the car. “Looks like you’ve got enough junk here for a dozen kids.”

“I couldn’t help it. Everything was so cute and”—she shrugged—“I never did have any willpower when it came to shopping.”

“I found a place for us in Nevada,” Logan informed her on the way home. “It’s in a little town called Tyler, about ten minutes from Ramsden’s office. It’s not as big as my place, but it’ll do for a few months. We can move in anytime you’re ready.”

 

 

They moved into the house in Nevada the first week in September. Located at the end of a quiet, tree-lined street, it was probably the last place anyone would think to look for her. Not that there was anything wrong with the house. It was just so ordinary, from the bland beige walls and carpets to the unremarkable furnishings, but these days she didn’t take much interest in her surroundings. Logan had offered to redecorate the place, but she lacked both the desire and the energy.

Logan had been the soul of patience since they had moved. He put up with her moods and her bad temper, rubbed her aching back and her feet, held her when she cried, and assured her that everything would be all right.

One Friday night in late September he decided she needed to get out of the house. Turning a deaf ear to her protests, he gathered her close to his side and transported them to Reno. The arch over Virginia Street proclaimed Reno to be “the biggest little city in the world.”

Mara frowned at him as they materialized at the end of the town. “What are we doing here?”

“I thought we could both use a change of scene. Come on.” Taking her by the hand, he led her down the street.

Reno, which was named for Union officer Major Jesse L. Reno, had started life as a mining community back in the 1800s. Mara recalled spending a few days in the town back in the 1930s. At that time, the city had been famous for its liberal divorce laws and legalized gambling, both of which had helped to create its economic boom. At one time, it had been the gambling capital of the country, but that had changed with the growth of Las Vegas and casinos owned by Native American tribes. Still, it was an exciting place.

The city had certainly changed since the last time she had seen it. The casinos she had once visited, like the Nevada Club, Harold’s Club, and the Palace were gone; the Comstock, the Sundowner, and the Virginian, were closed. Some had been turned into condos. Now, there were newer, larger, grander hotel/casinos like the Atlantis and the Peppermill. Even without her preternatural senses, she could hear the excited cries of gamblers hitting the jackpot as she passed by one of the smaller casinos.

“Care to try your luck?” Logan asked.

Mara shrugged. “Sure, why not?”

They decided on the El Dorado Casino, simply because Mara liked the name. Hand in hand, they walked through the casino, trying to decide which game to play.

Logan’s hand tightened on hers as they passed a blackjack table. She looked up at him and then, following his narrowed-eyed gaze, felt a shock of recognition when she locked gazes with the dealer. Ed Rogen. She hadn’t seen him in over a hundred and fifty years, but there was no mistaking him for anyone else.

Rogen recognized her, as well. Hatred flared in the depths of his pale blue eyes. Leaning forward, he whispered something to a voluptuous red-haired woman sitting at the end of the table. The woman glanced over her shoulder, looked Mara up and down, and then said something to Rogen.

“Is he someone you know?” Logan asked quietly.

“Yes.”

“Not a friend, I take it.”

“No.” She tugged on Logan’s arm. “Let’s go.”

Out on the sidewalk, her heart pounding, Mara took several deep breaths. Ed Rogen. The last thing he had ever said to her was that, one day, he would destroy her. Judging by the ominous glint in his eyes, he hadn’t changed his mind.

“What the hell did you do to him?” Logan asked, and then answered his own question. “You turned him against his will, didn’t you?”

“Yes.” Looking back, she realized how thoughtlessly cruel and heartless she had been. She had never asked any of her fledglings if they
wanted
the Dark Gift. She had bestowed it upon those she cared for and when she tired of them, she had severed her connection to them and moved on. How many of them still existed? As a vampire, facing her enemies hadn’t been a matter of concern. Confident and uncaring, she could have easily destroyed them all. It hadn’t mattered how many were left; now, stripped of her powers, she had no way of knowing which ones still existed. In the way of vampires, they would have changed their names through the centuries. She was the only one, of all the vampires she had known, who had stubbornly and arrogantly refused to change her name. She had been Mara, Queen of the Vampires. Back then, it had been a name to be reckoned with. Now, for the first time, she wondered if she should take on a new identity.

“You’re trembling,” Logan said. “Are you cold?”

“No.” Not cold, she thought, only afraid. Not for her own life, but for that of her unborn child.

“Come on,” Logan said, “let’s go get a room.”

After registering at the Peppermill, Logan settled Mara into a hot bath, hoping it would relax her. He had been a fool to bring her here. This close to the baby’s birth, he should have known better. She tired easily these days. He could have just taken her to a movie, but no, he had wanted to take her out and show her off. Pregnant or not, she was the most beautiful woman in the world, and he was proud to be seen with her. One thing he had never expected was to run into one of her fledglings. He had seen the hatred in the other vampire’s eyes, smelled it on his skin.

Logan swore softly. He could understand the other vampire’s hostility. It was a terrible thing, to be turned against one’s will, to lose everything you knew, everything you loved, to a woman’s whim. He, himself, might have hated Mara if the circumstances had been different, if he’d had a decent life, a home, a family. But even as the thought crossed his mind, he knew it wasn’t true. It wouldn’t have mattered. Even knowing how quickly she would tire of him, he would gladly have given up anything, everything, to be with Mara. It had been true then; it was true now.

He would order her something to eat and then take her home, where she belonged.

 

Mara reclined in the tub, her eyes closed. She didn’t think she would ever get over the shock of seeing Rogen, or forget the hatred smoldering in the depths of his eyes. The last time she had seen him, he had been mining for gold in Virginia City. Back then, Reno had been nothing but a small community that had grown up alongside a toll bridge that connected Virginia City and the California Trail. The bridge had been built by Charles Fuller in 1859. Two years later, Fuller sold the bridge to Myron Lake, who added a kiln, a grist mill, and a livery stable. When he wasn’t mining for gold, Rogen had worked at the stable.

Mara recalled deciding to take a moonlight ride late one summer night. She had cajoled Ed into lending her a horse, and then invited him to come along. She’d had her eye on him for weeks, admiring the flex of his muscles as he curried the horses or mucked the stalls, wondering what it would be like to feel his strong, work-roughened hands moving over her flesh.

Like all men, he had been powerless to resist her once she had decided she wanted him.

They had ridden out under the stars. Later, they had stopped alongside the river and there, in the lush grass in the light of a full moon, she had let him seduce her. He had been boyish and charming and completely smitten with her, totally unaware that it was she who was doing the seducing.

One night, when she was bored and hungry, she had brought him across. When he rose the next night, he had been confused by what had happened, and then furious. Overcome with rage and a hunger he couldn’t control, he had vented his anger on the town, leaving Mara to clean up the mess he left in his wake. When his temper was again under control, she had tried to appease him and when he refused to listen, she had turned her back on him, as she had so many others.

Thinking of it now filled her with guilt. How could she have been so callous? With a sigh, she stepped out of the tub and reached for a towel. Would he listen to her now? Would he accept her apology? Recalling the animosity she had seen in his eyes, she thought it unlikely.