VA 2 - Blood Jewel (19 page)

“For me?” she asked as she
smiled.

“Yea, I wanted you to have your
own room as well,” I explained.

She wrinkled her forehead in
confusion at me. “Why would I possibly need my own room all to
myself?”

“Maybe you’ll take up knitting or
crocheting and need a quiet place to do it,” I laughed.

“Well, I love it and I love you,”
she said as she slipped her arms up around my shoulders and placed
a slow, seductive kiss on my mouth as she arched against me. Her
lips brushed along my jaw and hovered over my ear.

“They’re asleep for the day?” she
whispered.

“Doesn’t matter if they’re not
because there won’t be a sound to pass through these walls around
us,” I reassured her.

She reached for my T-shirt and
pushed it up over my head and I heard her ask, “So we don’t have to
hold back?” as she tossed my shirt to the floor.

I picked her up and tossed her over
my shoulder to carry her to our new bed. “As if you could hold
back, Mrs. Brennan,” I laughed.

15 Love It When A Plan Comes Together

It was incredible how easy it was
to fall asleep with Chansey pressed against me in our bed. Our
bed...I loved how that sounded.

When I woke up, I had no idea how
long we had been asleep, but it felt like it must have been a long
time because I felt incredibly rested. I turned to the clock to see
what time it was because the vampire in me was steadily losing its
natural ability to differentiate between daytime and nighttime.
Eight o’clock. That meant Sol and the fledgeling were up and
wondering where I was.

“Chansey,” I whispered and she
slightly stirred. “Chansey, Love, it’s eight o’clock. I have to go
see Sol and the fledgeling.”

She sat up in the bed with the
sheet tucked under her arms. “Give me a minute to get dressed and
I’ll come with you.” She gave me a quick kiss on my mouth and said,
“I want to meet my fledgeling,” Her fledgeling? Awesome.

She slid off of the bed and
gathered the clothes on the floor. She slipped on her black bra and
panties and then held up a pair of jeans too big for her. She
tossed them in my direction and said, “Not mine.” I reached for the
jeans that landed in front of me and put them on after my boxers. I
watched her put on her jeans and black blouse and I wondered how
watching her get dressed could be as sexy as watching her get
undressed. It was incredible.

“Give me a sec to freshen up in
the bathroom.”

After she disappeared behind the
door, I went in search of my shirt lost in the ruckus and found it
on the floor of Chansey’s sitting room. I pulled it over my head as
I stood in the middle of her room and looked around. It was really
a great room and I knew she was going to put it to good use for
something.

“I’m ready, Curry,” I heard her
call from our bedroom and I shut the door behind me as I
left.

We walked to the living room and
found Solomon sitting on the couch waiting for us. He got up to
give me a hug and said, “Finally! It’s about damn time you showed
your ugly mug.”

“I’m sorry,” I apologized. “We
fell asleep and just woke up. Jet lag,” I laughed.

I could see from his expression he
wasn’t buying, but I didn’t care. “Yeah, right. I don’t think that
you can blame jet lag when you never changed time
zones.”

I watched his expression completely
change when he looked at my wife and then he hugged her. He looked
so tender and loving, a Solomon I had never seen before. “I’m
sorry, Chansey. I really didn’t want to interrupt your honeymoon. I
debated about it and discussed it with Sebastian, but we couldn’t
find a solution without Curry’s help, so we were forced to
call.”

I took notice how Chansey was the
one to let go first. “I just thought of something. Curry never told
me the fledgeling’s name.”

“Her name is Jennifer Ferrand, but
she prefers to be called Jenn.”

“Jenn,” she repeated, as though
she was repeating it so she wouldn’t forget it later. “Where is
she?”

“She’s downstairs.” He finally
took his gaze from Chansey and looked at me. “A Blood Swan came
today, so I gave her plenty of blood to curb her appetite for this
meeting. Is it okay if I go ahead and bring her up to meet you?
”

I had to be certain of Chansey’s
safety. “She understands about Chansey?

“She does.”

“Then I’m okay with it,” I
consented. “But warn her again, just so she is clear.”

“Of course,” he agreed. “I’m not
going to put Chansey in danger.”

He left to go downstairs to get the
fledgeling and Chansey asked, “He’s going to tell her you’ll kill
her if she tries to come after me, isn’t he?”

I stood with my arms crossed as I
watched the door to the stairs. “After the way he looked at you
just now, I think he’s telling her that he’ll be the one to kill
her if she makes a move for you.”

“I can feel that you’re jealous,
but you shouldn’t be,” she whispered, as if that would keep Sol
from hearing her. “Solomon thinks of me the same way you think of
Gia and Lairah.”

She was right, but I didn’t have
time to agree with her because Sol came through the doorway with
Jenn, the fledgeling that would help bring my human wife one step
closer to becoming a vampire.

Sol and Jenn stopped a few steps
outside of the door and he was holding her hand. “Is the craving
too much for you?”

She shook her head and looked up to
smile at Sol. “No. I’m okay.”

She looked back at us and Sol
introduced, “Jenn, this is Curry Brennan and his wife,
Chansey.”

She looked so young, much younger
than Solomon and I were when we were turned. Her straight blonde
hair was cut into long layers that hung well past her shoulders and
her blue eyes were surrounded by black smokey eyeshadow.

Chansey stepped forward to offer
her hand because she was a nice Southern girl, but I quickly threw
my arm in front of her to act as a barrier. She looked up at me and
I shook my head to tell her it wasn’t a good idea.

When the introductions were
complete, we went into the living room to sit down and Sol
announced, “We all know why we’re here, but Jenn needs to explain
this situation from the beginning so there are no
misunderstandings.”

He turned to Jenn and said, “It’s
okay. Go ahead and tell them everything you told me about Vincent
and his coven.”

“My sister’s name is Avery
Ferrand. She and I went to a club here in Savannah to hear a band
play. The club was scary as hell, but it was one of Avery’s
favorite bands, so she begged me to take her. That’s where we met
Vincent Godfrey. I immediately went crazy over him because he was
so hot and I was ecstatic because he was interested in me, or so I
thought. Turns out he really wanted Avery, but she wasn’t
interested and man...he got really pissed, like furious, when she
told him she wouldn’t leave the club with him.

The place was so crowded that no
one noticed when he and his pal hauled us out the backdoor and
threw us into the back of a limo. They drove for about 20 minutes
and then he took us into his big mansion where the rest of the
coven was waiting.

Avery and I were terrified, but it
turned out that terrified was the way they wanted us because the
coven was made up of Blood Dopers.”

Chansey interrupted, “I’m sorry,
Jenn. I don’t mean to interrupt, but what is a Blood
Doper?”

I turned to Chansey and explained,
“They are vampires that feed off of humans under the influence of
drugs or alcohol.”

“So, they get a high from the
drugs in their victim’s bloodstream?” I asked.

“Exactly.”

Chansey turned her attention back
to Jenn. “I’m sorry. Please, continue.”

“These Blood Dopers were
different. They did all kinds of crazy vampire stuff to scare us
even more so we would have an adrenalin rush before they drank from
us because they like a natural adrenaline high better than a drug
induced high. The vampires that drank from me didn’t have any side
effects from my blood, but the ones that drank from Avery got an
intense high from her. That’s how they discovered she was
special.

They all said that her blood was
the best they’d ever had and they began to call her their Blood
Jewel because she was so rare. Now, they are all addicted to her
blood and Vincent uses it as a way of controlling them. He wants to
use her to bring in new members of the coven so he can gain control
over more vampires. He is going to present her in a Blood Jewel
ceremony this Saturday night to gain control over every vampire
that drinks from her.

He protects her because of her
precious blood, but I’m afraid of so many vampires being addicted
to her blood. They’re worse than meth addicts. When they don’t get
it, they go crazy. That’s how I was killed. One of them didn’t get
his fix and he drank me dry in front of Avery. She made a rash
decision and begged them to turn me because she didn’t want to lose
me. She told them she would find a way to kill herself if they
didn’t turn me. She did it out of love, but I would have chosen
death over this. Anyone that chooses this is crazy.”

Solomon looked at Jenn and I
recognized a look of empathy from him. They had that much in
common. He had been turned by his brother out of love, so he
understood exactly how Jenn was feeling at the moment. Although she
had not been turned by her sister directly, her existence as a
vampire was a result of her sibling.

“I had to get out of there because
they were going to make me drink from Avery at the ceremony. I
couldn't’ drink my own sister’s blood.” I watched a rigor come over
Jenn as she continued, “That’s messed up.”

“I’m just thinking out loud here.
Would you happen to know what blood type your sister is?” I
asked.

“Yes, she’s AB negative.
Why?”

That shouldn’t really play a
factor. I mean, we had all had AB negative blood at some point and
it didn’t result in any kind of high or addiction. “I was just
trying to come up with a theory about what makes her blood so
special. Is there anything special about your sister, like health
conditions or medications she takes that would differentiate her
from anyone else?”

She thought for a minute. “She’s
healthy as far as I know. I can’t think of anything that would set
her apart from me or anyone else for that matter.”

I looked to Sol. “We only have
tonight and tomorrow night to plan this rescue if The Blood Jewel
Ceremony is on Saturday night.”

“I have a plan, Curry. Sebastian
and I have discussed it and he agrees that it is a good plan if
you’re willing to take the lead.”

I looked at my wife and felt how
frightened she was. “Chansey...”

She crossed her arms and shook her
head at me. “No, I’m not leaving.”

“Love, I think you should,” I
suggested.

“I think I’m not,” she
argued.

I looked at Solomon and he gave me
a crooked smile and shrugged with a look that said, ‘Hey, she’s
yours to deal with, Pal.’

I conceded and said, “Okay, tell me
about the plan.”

“Jenn says that The Blood Jewel
Ceremony is all about bringing in new vampires for Vincent to
control, so I think we go in posing as potentials.”

“Sounding good so far. That gets
us in, but what are we going to do once we’re inside?”

“We’ll go in together so we can
stake the place out. I’ll have to leave before morning, but you’ll
wait in the house and take Avery once the sun has risen. I think
the protection of the sun is the only way to ensure this goes down
safely and you’re the only vampire I know that can walk in
sunlight. Lucky you.”

Sol watched my face for a reaction.
“Her rescue is solely dependent upon you, Curry. I understand that
things are different now that you have Chansey. It’s not just you
anymore and I understand if you don’t want to do it.”

I shook my head. “No, Chansey and I
discussed it and we made this decision together.” I turned to look
at my wife. “It’s a good plan and it doesn’t sound too
dangerous.”

Jenn spoke up. “This ceremony is
going to be all about getting you to drink Avery’s blood so you can
be controlled. If you drink from her, you will be instantly
addicted to her. No ifs, ands or buts about it. I’ve seen the
aftermath and you can’t drink from her no matter what or you’re a
goner for sure.”

“I wish we knew what was so
special about Avery’s blood,” Chansey asked.

Jenn turned to Chansey. “I don’t
think Vincent and his coven know why her blood is the way it is. I
think it was an accidental discovery. Whatever it is, it’s like
nothing they have ever experienced and they won’t be giving her up
without a fight.”

I felt Chansey’s anxiety growing
and Sol tried to soothe her fear. “Don’t worry, Chansey. Curry and
I have done things much more dangerous than this before. It’s safe
to take her during the day. Think about it. What could they really
do? They’ll be down for the day. They can’t come out into the
sunlight to chase us. They’ll never suspect Curry is a vampire that
can walk in sunlight. It’s perfect and if we thought we needed
reinforcements, we would have had our family to come and
help.”