The Dark Vampire: Last True Vampire 3 (46 page)

A knot twisted and then unfurled in Jenner’s gut. He was glad that, at least once, Fairchild had seen fit to run away from familial obligations.

Bria crossed the grounds back to the main house. So much had changed in her life over the course of a few short weeks. She had trouble wrapping her mind around it all. She’d be glad to put the whirlwind of change behind her
and settle into a rhythm. Jenner had given her the opportunity for a life she never thought she’d have. Such a magnificent male. Bria had never loved anyone more than she did him.

A presence to her right drew Bria’s attention and she started. A male stepped from the shadows. His bright smile stood in stark contrast to his dark skin and even darker eyes. The wicked points of his fangs came down over his bottom lip to nip the skin before he licked the blood away. His gaze burned with curiosity, one brow arched as he regarded her.

“You’re Jenner’s mate.” His midnight voice shivered over her, almost sinister. “I smell him on you.”

What a completely creepy way to greet someone. Bria didn’t know who this male was, but she sensed he could be dangerous when he wanted to be. Vampires seemed to be coming out of the woodwork tonight. How many more, she wondered, would she encounter before sunrise?

“I am.” She wanted to follow that up with,
And he’ll rip your arms off if you try anything shady
.

He flashed a deadly smile. For a moment he studied her before recognition lit in his eyes. “I know who you are,” the male said. “You belong to Thomas Fairchild’s coven. You’re his niece, if I’m not mistaken.”

“Yes.”

Low laughter rumbled in his chest. “Your transition must have been quite a blow to him. I’ve seen your father.” His words gave Bria pause. Her heart rate increased as a manic light shone in the male’s eyes. “In the Collective. So many vampires. So many memories that whisper to me.”

Bria didn’t bother responding. Whoever he was, she didn’t like the wild glint in his gaze. “I need to get back to the house,” she said. “Mikhail and Jenner are waiting.”

He bent low and swept his hand out in front of him. “May the rest of the night treat you well.”

Bria cast him one last furtive look before she hustled back to the house.

A wave of relief washed over Bria when she entered Mikhail’s study. Jenner’s relief. He turned to face her and his hard expression softened the moment he laid eyes on her. She smiled and crossed the room toward him, allowing herself to be wrapped in his embrace.

“Do I even want to hear the sordid details?” Ronan asked.

“First, you
all
worry too much.” Jenner’s grip around her torso tightened and she bit back a grin. “Chelle isn’t half as volatile as you all make her out to be. She’s been shut up in that tiny house for the gods know how long and she’s going stir-crazy. I think she’s been more than accommodating by staying put, but there’s no reason why she has to remain locked up like an animal that hasn’t been housebroken.”

Ronan and Mikhail dropped their gazes. Though Bria couldn’t see Jenner behind her, she hoped that he was just as ashamed as the other two. She shook her head.
High-handed males
.

“You’re right, Bria,” Mikhail said. “We’ve been unfair with Chelle. I’ll be sure to apologize to her.”

Score a point for ladies!
Bria tried not to feel too smug, since she was going to follow up her championing of Chelle with a ding to her control. “She claims that she turned Lucas on accident. That she became . . . overzealous.”

Ronan let out a chuff of breath. “Not volatile? Jesus fucking Christ.”

Bria expected Ronan to be hard on his sister. She wasn’t going to let it slide, though. “Aside from throwing dhampirs to her like fresh meat to tigers at the zoo, what have any of you done to help her learn to exercise control?” She turned to look up at Jenner and then Mikhail, pinning
each of them with her accusing gaze. “It doesn’t surprise me that something like this has happened. I hope you don’t intend to cut the other male loose in the same way.” When no one responded she said, “The one I met on the back of the property. The male with the dark skin and eyes.”

“Saeed?” Jenner asked. He tipped Bria’s face up to his before looking to Mikhail. “He shouldn’t be wandering the property.”

“No,” Mikhail agreed. “He shouldn’t.”

So that was Saeed. Bria wondered at their worry. Though, with Claire’s pregnancy and Vanessa running around the house, she could see cause for a certain level of caution.

“You can deal with him later,” she said. “Lucas is going to need guidance as well. I don’t think that Chelle is going to be able to give that to him, since she’s had very little herself. I admit that I don’t know enough about my own nature; I’m still adjusting, too. But if you want someone to help them, to act as an envoy between the coven Chelle will inevitably form and your own, I’d like to volunteer.” Jenner took a big breath, but she cut him off before he could protest. “Of course, I don’t want you to make a decision right now. This is something that should be discussed between Claire, Mikhail, and of course the king’s counsel.” Bria squeezed Jenner’s hand in her own. “I just ask that you consider my request. In fact . . .” Was she ready to offer herself up for this responsibility?
Yes
. This was exactly what she needed to start living her life. “I’d like to act as an envoy between you and all of the covens, Mikhail. I can help those who are newly turned. Sort of like community outreach. A new-vampire guidance counselor.”

Mikhail regarded her with narrowed eyes, his lips pursed. “Once again, it’s been pointed out to me that the
way I’ve gone about replenishing the race might be a bit misguided.”

“Not misguided.” Bria dropped her gaze in a show of respect to her maker and her king. “You had to start somewhere. I think everyone is doing the best they can.”

“But
we
can do better,” Mikhail emphasized. “Tell me, Bria, how did Saeed seem to you?”

Her uncle had always spoken of the male with fear. Obviously formidable. He was famed for his temper but also for his sharp wit and fighting prowess. She’d never met him until tonight. Hell, she hadn’t met any dhampirs from outside of her coven before the day the slayers came.

“He was . . .” She searched for the right words. “Under control. I didn’t sense that his thirst mastered him. His mind was not so clear, though. I found him wistful and perhaps disoriented.”

Mikhail swore under his breath. “He didn’t resist the pull of the Collective after his turning,” Mikhail said. “Instead, he dove willingly into the memories.”

“So he’ll need some coaching,” Bria suggested.

“And Lucas?” Mikhail asked.

“His mind is very clear,” Bria replied. “But I suspect there’s no Collective memory besides his and Chelle’s.” Bria thought of Chelle, the way she sensed things, heard Bria’s thoughts. She kept that information to herself for now. She didn’t want to plant a kernel of fear if there was no need. Plus, she’d promised to keep Chelle’s secrets. “Lucas admitted to me that his thirst is not under control and Chelle told me that she wouldn’t take him out into the city until his thirst was mastered.”

“Do you really think Chelle accidentally turned him?”

Bria had sensed no lie from Chelle. Still . . . she wondered if Chella’s “accident” had more to do with her loneliness than anything else. Had she seen in Lucas a chance for camaraderie? Perhaps a replacement for the brother
she felt disconnected from? “I don’t think there was any malice in her actions,” Bria responded. She turned to Ronan and said, “You should visit her more often, though. She’s lonely.”

“Yeah,” he said. “You’re right. There’s just been so gods-damned much going on since—”

“Holy shit!” Claire’s shout echoed through the house. “Oh my god! Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!
Miiikkkaaiil!
”

The king shot from his desk and then left his study in a blur of motion. Bria, with Jenner and Ronan, was close behind. They followed the sounds of Claire’s startled shouts to the kitchen. She stood in the middle of the tiled floor, legs spread slightly as she clutched her stomach. Mikhail was at her side, his arms around her, concern and fear etched on every line of his face.

“What is it, love? What’s wrong?”

She brought her gaze to his. “My water just broke.”

Bria
sat in the living room with Vanessa. Mikhail refused to take Claire from the protection of the house, and his private doctor—a dhampir who’d been tasked with Claire’s prenatal care—had rushed over with a small team of assistants to perform the delivery.

Bria marveled at the way everyone had come together to prepare for the birth. Though it had happened ahead of schedule, Ronan had taken Saeed and his companions back to their coven with a not-so-gentle reminder that what they’d seen and heard at Mikhail’s house tonight was not to be shared with
anyone
. Jenner had gone to Chelle’s and advised her of the situation and asked her to keep a low profile for a couple of days as well. Bria hadn’t found that necessary, but she knew that when it came to protecting their mates vampire males were relentless. Mikhail would soon have a mate and a child to look after. It was a wonder the property wasn’t surrounded by electric fences and razor wire.

Alex had come over as well. She wasn’t sure what the human’s responsibilities entailed, but whatever tasks
Mikhail had set out for him, he completed them discreetly. In fact, he’d been so quiet that Bria nearly forgot he was there.

“The baby’s a boy, you know.” Vanessa didn’t turn to Bria; she merely kept her eyes glued to the TV. “His name’s going to be Braeden.”

“That’s a good name,” Bria replied. “Did Claire pick it out?”

“Claire doesn’t know,” Vanessa said without guile. “She wants to name him Andrew and Mikhail wants to name him Dimitri. But they’re going to call him Braeden instead.”

A tingle danced down Bria’s spine. Everyone knew that Vanessa was unusual, but her words were far too confident for a child making fanciful guesses. “How do you know that, Vanessa?”

“I dreamed about it.” Again, the words came out so matter-of-fact. “He’s going to have lots of dark hair and blue eyes like Mikhail.” She turned to Bria and smiled. “So cute. I can’t wait to cuddle him.”

“Do you have dreams like that often, Vanessa?”

She shrugged her little shoulders. “Sometimes.”

“Do all of your dreams come true?”

She shook her head and the end of her ponytail swung. “No. I know the difference between a sleep dream and an awake dream.”

Bria’s brow furrowed. “What’s an awake dream?”

“I don’t know,” Vanessa said. She obviously had as much trouble articulating her visions as Bria did understanding them. “Sort of like a daydream, I guess. Like a movie I see in my head.”

“So you’re not asleep in bed when you have awake dreams?”

“Nope.”

“Have you always had awake dreams?”

Vanessa was quite for a moment. “No. I just started having them. Maybe six . . . or three weeks ago.”

Bria bit back her amusement at Vanessa’s perception of time. It was clear that the visions had started only recently, though.
Interesting
. Bria couldn’t help but wonder what had triggered the onset. Vanessa’s confidence and absolute lack of guile made Bria believe that the visions were real. She supposed when the baby was born and named would be the true test to what Vanessa proclaimed.

“Do you tell Claire about your awake dreams?”

“No,” Vanessa answered. “She’s got enough to worry about.”

Bria let their discussion trail off. She didn’t want to pry, and even if she did she wasn’t sure what good coaxing this information from Vanessa would do. They remained on the couch and watched TV for another half hour before Vanessa spoke again.

“What’s a mage?”

An odd question. One Bria wasn’t sure she could answer. “A magic user, I think. Sort of like a witch, but different. Why?”

“Tristan is a mage.”

Another anxious chill settled over Bria’s skin. “Who’s Tristan?”

“I don’t know,” Vanessa said. “But Mikhail is going to take me to meet him.”

“Another awake dream?” Bria ventured.

“Uh-huh.”

Before Bria could question Vanessa more about her visions, Jenner walked into the living room. For some reason the child had seen fit to confide in Bria, and she didn’t want to betray that confidence. At least, not unless it became absolutely necessary.

“You hungry?” Bria shifted so that Vanessa no longer rested against her shoulder and she pushed herself up from
the couch. “Alex made pasta and chicken, and I’m pretty sure there’s a pizza in the oven.”

“Pizza!” Vanessa exclaimed. “Can I have root beer, too?”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

Bria headed for the kitchen and Jenner followed her. Her heartbeat kicked into overdrive as the thrill of pursuit raced through her veins. The heat from Jenner’s body overwhelmed her and his breath brushed the back of her neck as he stopped her at the counter and swept her hair over one shoulder. His mouth came down on her bare flesh, wet and scorching. She shivered.

“I don’t want to be here,” he murmured against her flesh. “I want to be home. In bed with you. Naked.”

A secretive smile curved Bria’s lips. “Mmmm. That sounds perfect.” His tongue flicked out at the sensitive skin near her pulse point and Bria’s stomach clenched. Want rose within her and ribbons of heat unfurled inside of her. “I have to keep an eye on Vanessa, though.”

Jenner reached around and cupped her breasts through the thin fabric of her T-shirt. Bria arched into his touch, hungry for the contact. Her nipples pearled in anticipation and her breath raced in her chest. “Maybe we could slip into one of the bedrooms later?”

Her suggestion was met with a growl of agreement. Jenner’s fangs scraped against her skin. His fingertips played with the waistband of her jeans as though he was contemplating plunging his hand inside.

The oven timer put an end to their play and Jenner pulled away. Empty disappointment settled in Bria’s gut. She didn’t mind watching Vanessa, especially with Claire in labor, but yearned to be alone with Jenner in their home.
Theirs
. The thought seemed so foreign, the changes in her life still so sudden that her head swam. She was ready for it all, though. Never had she been so happy for the blow
of the slayer’s blade. Her almost death had brought her here. And though Mikhail had given her this new life, it was through Jenner that she’d been reborn.