Every sound in the room stopped, or maybe, I just stopped listening. Either way, I could have suddenly been in space for all the silence in the room. My pain was suddenly gone now too, like my body had shut off all other sensations to focus solely on my vision, more specifically on the oddity that was my mouth, and that, I could not stop staring at.
I ran a finger down a canine and felt the long tooth that dropped down to a sharp point. It was coated with a slight twinge of red which rubbed off with my finger, leaving a shiny, white surface underneath. It looked new, slightly brighter than the teeth around it and I had no idea if my old canines had fallen out, to be replaced with these ones, or if these were in fact my old ones, just somehow sharper and noticeably longer. When I got to the end of it, I experimented, pressing the pad of my finger against it. I broke the surface easily, a dot of fresh blood welling on the tip of my index finger.
Something inside of me wanted to bite down harder, to make more fresh blood ooze from the wound, and I quickly pulled my hand back. Startled at my own reaction, my eyes instinctually locked gazes with myself in the mirror. My eyes were a warm, brown color that normally were bright and alive with whatever underlying emotion I was feeling. If I was happy, I was told that they seemed lighter, the flecks of gold in them overpowering the darker shade. If I were angry, well, one ex-boyfriend had confessed that my eyes darkened to rival the pits of Hell. I really didn't like that comparison, or the boy who'd said it. As I stared at my eyes today, the color was the shade of darkly stained oak, sort of in the middle of the two spectrums. But the whites of my eyes were huge, as the shock I felt was evident, even to me.
"Emma?"
Teren's voice brought all sound rushing back in on me. It was a sudden cacophony assaulting my ears. The rustle of everyone moving. Jack and Alanna whispering worried words back and forth to each other. Imogen rushing out the door as she went to get me more coffee, although, by the color of my tongue, I had a horrid feeling that the world's best coffee wasn't what I'd been enjoying. Hot Ben stumbling noisily near the door, his hand reaching out to brace himself on the frame; the sudden movement sounded like a jackhammer in my brain.
It was all too much and I wanted to cry, I could even feel tears well up. A cool palm rested on my flushed face. "Hey, relax. I'm here, Emma." Teren's deep voice pushed away all the other sounds as I focused on it. I drug my eyes back to him, watching his lips move as he spoke more soothing phrases.
"It's too loud," I whispered.
He nodded and glanced up at his mother. She had heard me as well and ushered Jack to the door. He hadn't heard me or understood, but he followed his wife's lead unerringly, as if he was aware that a vampire had spoken to her from somewhere. I suppose he was just used to not being in on all of the conversations. Halina, the only one who been stone silent (she wasn't even breathing as she studied me) nodded at Teren and turned to leave the room, grabbing a clumsy looking Ben by the arm on her way out the door. I heard him fall and curse on the other side of it, then heard Halina laugh and pick him up, much to his loud dismay. Not used to hearing so much, so quickly, I closed my eyes to try and shut the sound off again.
Teren's lips were cool on my forehead and cheeks as he leaned over me, comforting me and whispering apologies. His lips brushed mine and I stiffened, not ready for that sort of contact. He sighed, but didn't press the issue, instead sitting back down on his space on the bed, his hand removing the mirror from mine before clasping it.
"You changed me?" I whispered, now understanding why my mouth felt so odd. I was speaking around fangs. I had no idea how to retract them.
I opened my eyes and watched him cringe and give me an apologetic smile. "It would seem so, although, I have no idea why your heart is still beating." He shrugged and shook his head. "I've been waiting for days for it to stop."
His eyes glanced down to my stomach when he said that and his face seemingly aged right before me. I suddenly understood his real fear. He'd thought he'd converted me. While a conversion would be okay for me, in the long run, it most certainly would not be for the two lives dependant on my survival. I put a hand on my stomach and one of the twins kicked me, almost as if to let me know they were still there. "You've been waiting around for me to die? For them to die?"
He looked back up at my eyes, tears in them again. "Yes," he whispered. "I was so scared."
Now I was scared. Just because I hadn't died yet, that didn't mean I wouldn't. After all, I knew from experience that the human side could only take the strain of vampire blood for so long. Did my twenty-six year stop watch start now, or was I already ticking away, only having the couple months until my birthday, before I literally became, just like Teren. "Am I going to die?"
I was pretty sure I knew the answer to that, as well as Teren did, but he shrugged and shook his head. "I don't know, Emma."
Fear made my anger resurface. "You don't know?"
He cringed under my tone and shook his head again. "We've never changed anyone, Emma. We just don't know what will happen to you, or even really, what did happen to you." A tear dropped from his eyes as he whispered, "We don't even know if you will convert...if my mixed blood is enough to complete the change, or...if you'll just...die. We just don't know, Emma."
My eyes narrowed at his lack of information. What I needed right now was information and, even though a part of me knew I shouldn't blame him for his ignorance, I didn't have anyone else to blame at the moment. "How could you have done that to me, without knowing what would happen? To me, or to them?"
His face saddened and he looked away from me, like that was something he'd repeatedly asked himself too. He hung his head and merely said, "You were dying..."
I had no response to that and only continued to unfairly glare at him. He didn't look at me, his own guilt keeping his head down and his eyes firmly fixed on my stomach, the real question in this whole equation. If it were my time, then it was my time...I guess, but them...
Just as a new wave of anger hit me, Alanna quietly stepped into the room. Well, I'm sure to most it was quiet. To my new hearing, that I could only partially get a handle on, when she opened the door and my attention focused on it, every sound muffled behind it became crystal clear. Jack was asking Imogen what would happen to me. Imogen replied that she didn't know. Halina was hoping the children could be spared before I died, sounding much less concerned over my fate, than that of the twins, and Hot Ben was throwing up in one of the bathrooms.
Alanna closed the door and apologized for the intrusion. Teren didn't look up at her. I stopped glaring and tried to fix my face into impassiveness as she approached me and handed me another cup of steaming coffee. I sniffed it this time. My senses could distinguish every delightful thing about it, the headiness, the tangy sweetness, but nothing in it smelled as awful as what I suspected it was. Hoping I was wrong, I stuck my finger in the black looking liquid inside the black thermos. Teren sighed as I pulled my finger back. And of course, my entire finger was as darkly red as the one dot that had been on it earlier.
"You gave me blood?" I focused my disgust solely on Teren, even though Alanna had technically given me the mugs.
He cringed again and looked up at me. "Your body needs it now. It will help you heal, Emma." His hand slightly lifted to point at the wound on my neck. "You even said it was helping."
Not feeling any better about any of this, I yelled, "You gave me blood!"
Alanna reached a hand out and started saying my name at the same time that he did. Feeling overwhelmed and tired and on the verge of an emotional breakdown, I did the only thing that seemed sensible in the heat of the moment. Stubbornly raising my arm to the door, I pointed at it and snapped, "Get out!"
Teren cocked his head and furrowed his brows, probably wondering if I was seriously kicking him out of his family's home. I was. "Get...out," I repeated, my tone seething, as fear and anger and sadness swirled within me.
His jaw dropped and he looked like I'd just told him I never wanted to see him again. Biting back my guilt at making that look appear on his face, I pointed to the door again. He finally stood and walked over to it, giving his mom a sad look. Before he opened it, his eyes came back to mine briefly. "I love you, Emma," he whispered, and then he opened the door.
Like before, the sounds hit me as my concentration shifted with the opening and shutting door. Before the physical barrier redirected my attention to just inside the room, I heard Imogen proclaim, "Did she really just kick him out? Are they through?" Halina answered her by complaining that she couldn't wipe me now, since I had vampire blood in me. Jack insisted that things would be fine once I cooled down, and somewhere in the house, Hot Ben threw up again.
On the other side of the door, Teren sighed softly, told me he loved me again, and then sped out of the house. I heard one of the doors shut behind him and a sob broke out of me, finally.
Alanna sat down in the spot he'd just left, her thick denim jeans rustling as she adjusted herself beside me. She placed a cool hand over my arm as I silently cried. "You should go easy on him, dear. What he did...was very difficult for him."
I looked up at her, her loose, black hair hazy in my watery vision. I scrunched my brow, not sure what she meant. She smiled softly and brought a knuckle up to brush aside my tears which were thankfully slowing. Her hand came down to rub my stomach reassuringly as she continued. "He feels horrible about what he's done to you."
As if to emphasize what he'd done to me, I lifted the mug and made myself take a drink. I knew from all the previous cups I'd had, that it would taste good, but my stomach still churned at the thought of chugging it down. As the thick, warmth passed my lips, I resisted the urge to both purr in pleasure and vomit in disgust. Alanna watched me with fascination as I took a few large swallows. "He should. He's dead and I'm about to kill him again," I said after my Mary-less Bloody Mary.
She tilted her head and sighed, her pale eyes exactly matching her son's. Watching her was like watching a feminine version of him. It hurt my heart, knowing that I'd hurt him with my angry words. "Emma, he only wanted to save you, you and the children. You mean everything to him."
I paused in my drink as I felt more tears roll down my cheek. As I focused on them, I swear I could hear them slithering down my skin. It was all so overwhelming. Anger was the only thing keeping me sane and I tried to hold onto it. Peeking up at her, I heatedly said, "But what am I now? What will happen to me, to them?"
Alanna looked down, taking her hand from my belly and placing it in her lap. Her eyes fixated on her still hands as she answered me. "I'm sorry, Emma, but we don't have those answers for you." She looked up at my stomach and shook her head, pink tears in her eyes falling to her cheeks. Her hand came up and rested on the bulge of the twins again and she closed her eyes and tilted her head, listening to them. "This is all new for us too, dear." She opened her eyes, her wet ones meeting my wet ones. "We just don't know."
I nodded and tried to accept that I couldn't force answers from people who didn't have them. My hand went down to rest over hers on my stomach, my hot skin starting to warm her chill. She smiled at me, her youthful face still sad. Wiping tears off of her own cheeks, she spoke lowly, but my enhanced hearing easily picked it up. "What he did wasn't easy for him. It goes against everything we believe." She raised her eyebrows and gave me a serious look. "We don't changeover anyone - not even our own spouses. We don't have Halina bring people into this life that way, as purebloods, forcing them into the shadows for eternity, like she has to." Her look softened as her face saddened. "No matter what they mean to us."
I took a long drink of my healing blood as I thought about that. I knew Imogen had watched her beloved husband sicken and die, never changing him, and knew Alanna was watching Jack age every year, and didn't seem to be inclined to change him either. I'd known going into this that immortality wasn't my end game, and I'd been fine with that. Really, it was Teren who had to deal with the loss. I'd have a full, happy, natural life with him; he was the one that would have to mourn me for an unnaturally long time. Thinking of his pain had kept me up at night sometimes. I didn't know if I would have the strength, if our roles were reversed. But that was the way of things, the way things were supposed to go down. This was never part of the plan.
Alanna sighed softly as she seemed to read the emotions on my face. "Teren and I have had several lengthy conversations on how we'd deal with our loved ones dying." I watched her face as she turned her head and looked down through the floor. Following her gaze, I could hear Jack speaking to Ben, making sure he was alright. She spoke as we both listened to her husband. "It's a tricky thing, knowing that you're going to live so much longer than the person who holds your heart, the person you want beside you forever."
I swallowed harshly at the wave of emotions that sent through me, barely containing my need to release those emotions in either a sob, or a temper tantrum. Alanna shifted her gaze back to mine. "It's even more difficult for Teren and me, knowing that we could possibly save them from that death with our mixed blood." She sighed and shook her head. "And it is only a possibility. We really don't know what our blood does to humans. So we resist the temptation. We let them die naturally, as we're all meant to." She gave me a wry smile. "Immortality isn't all it's cracked up to be anyway."
A small smile lit my lips and she grinned wider at seeing it. I suppose that was the whole point of her comment. Her smile dropped as she shook her head again. "But you..." She sighed and looked down for a moment before lifting her gaze to mine again. "He wasn't prepared...to lose you so fast. He thought he'd get a lifetime, and he reacted purely on instinct...and love." She put a hand on my cheek as my tears fell freely. "Don't fault him for that, Emma. What would you have done?"
I closed my eyes, squeezing out the last few tears welling. I know exactly what I would have done for him. The fact was, I'd done much worse for him already. I'd taken a life to save his. He'd only given me a chance at another, when mine had been ripped away. Sure, this new life may not stick, and either me or the twins, or all three of us, may die anyway, but then again...we were going to die anyway. He had, at the very least, given us a slim chance at survival. Even if today was all I got, at least I'd get to say goodbye.
No, on the grand scale of things, what Teren had done to save me was nothing compared to what I'd done to spare him. What I'd do again to spare him. I'd move heaven and earth to keep him, and I had to believe he would do the same for me.
As my fear and anger started dissipating, guilt flooded in. I'd had no right to snap at him, he'd done nothing wrong. He'd given me a chance, and without him, I'd be lying in a morgue somewhere, instead of a plush ranch resort, sipping on what could arguably be the best cocktail on earth.
I sighed and opened my eyes to find Alanna watching me intently. "I should talk to him. Where did he go?"
She tilted her head at me, curious. "Can't you feel him?"
My brows scrunched. "No. Why would I-"
I stopped speaking as a nagging sense in my head shouted at me to listen. I focused on that and instinctually, I knew where he was. It wasn't like I could see him in my head, I couldn't. But if you'd blindfolded me and told me to point him out, my finger would just unerringly go to exactly where he was. In fact, I could sense the location of every vampire in the house that way. The way that some people just always know where north is, no matter how many times they're twisted around, I knew where every Adams vamp was. Every single one of them was my true north.
My eyes widened and my mouth dropped at this new, odd feeling. "He's in the east pasture, about a quarter mile away." My eyes fixed on hers, startled beyond belief. "How do I know he's a quarter mile away from me?"
Alanna smiled warmly, her suspicions confirmed apparently. Her hand turned one of mine over and traced the line of one of my veins from wrist to elbow. "Our family blood now runs through these veins. You'll be able to sense all of us, just as we can sense you. You're connected to our family now, Emma. It's in your blood." She smiled broadly and then reached over to hug me.
I was so startled at this, I hugged her back loosely, more out of instinct than anything else. I'd already been low jacked, thanks to the twins, but now he was low jacked as well. And this connection we shared wouldn't leave when the twins left me. I'd been connected to the hive, so to speak, and we were blood-bonded for life now, however long that life may be.
Alanna left me still reeling over this new development as she went to go talk to Teren. He'd been too far away to hear any of that conversation and wasn't yet aware that my anger had faded. I got a little nervous waiting for him to come back; I hadn't exactly been real nice to him, and he had saved my life, even if it was only a temporary patch. A slice of fear ran though me at that thought, but I pushed it back. I felt fine right now, well, aside from the slight throb of my neck and the overall odd feeling of my newly enhanced body. At any rate, I was fairly certain I wasn't dying today.
Oh boy, don't I sound exactly like Teren used to now.
Actually letting a small laugh escape me, I settled in to finish my drink and let my ears and eyes open. My eyes were picking out dings in the furniture that I'd never noticed before. A gouge missing in the vanity leg, a slight crack in the mirror on one of the corners of the frame, faint spider-line breaks in the plaster on the ceiling. As my eyes took in the faint threads of blue running through the gold and cream colored quilt over my body, words floated into my head nonstop.
"Oh good, she wants to talk to him, I'm sure they'll work it out now...oh god, I still feel sick...yes, they can't ever seem to be apart for long...drink some water for a change, you'll be fine...and Teren would be so lonely without her...no, don't pass out by the toilet...right, he'd have to find someone else to scream his name when he-"
I sat up straight in bed, my neck irritated at me for that. "Halina! You know I can hear you now, right?" I felt my entire body flush with heat over the comment that I knew without a doubt came from her sultry voice.
I heard her laugh huskily and reply with, "Yes, I'm aware of that... and?"
I floundered for a snappy comeback, but couldn't manage to come up with anything other than 'shut it'. Not wanting to sound like a bratty teenager, I kept my mouth shut and fumed silently instead, setting my empty cup down on the nightstand. Even with the contents of the cup gone, and the mug itself a good foot and a half away from me, I could still smell the blood. The air in the room was so heavy with the lingering scent of it, that it nearly felt palpable on my skin. I tried to pull my fangs back, but I may as well have tried to retract my fingernails. Nothing happened.
Then I felt every sense in my body focus on one location - Teren was coming back to the house. There was something about his presence getting closer to me that my body reacted to. I didn't know if it was because of our earlier spat, or if it was because he was directly responsible for changing me, but I was more attuned to him than the others. I felt a slight tingling sensation in the very core of my bones. I relaxed back on the cushions and inhaled a deep cleansing breath, the smell of blood mixing with the scent of antiseptic and lilacs. Letting it out slowly, I could feel him approaching me. Just the act of him drawing nearer gave me goose bumps and my body surged with energy; I felt like I was vibrating.
He paused at the door and I stared at the stupid obstacle, wishing I could see through it. I didn't know why he stopped; I couldn't sense his intentions, only his location. It was frustrating me that I didn't know if he felt this energy too, or if he was just nervous to be near me. Wanting him to enter either way, I whispered, "Please come in. I need to see you."
He twisted the knob and I focused solely on the sounds coming from him, to block out the rest of the house. Even though I could still make out Jack helping Ben into a bed, Alanna and Imogen have a tearful sounding conversation, and Halina tossing out suggestive one-liners, Teren's slight noises pushed them all back into a dull buzz in a corner of my head. The sound of his strong hand twisting the brass knob, the creak of the wood frame as he pushed the door in, the rustle of his jeans as he stepped forward, the slow, deep breaths that he didn't need to take, but faked so often that he did it as unconsciously as any living person, and my name, whispered off his tongue as he came into view.
The energy in my body almost came to a sharp point and I gasped when I saw him. It was an odd sort of feeling, like how I'd imagine lovers reuniting in an airport terminal after months, or maybe even years of separation must feel. I had no idea if my physical reaction to him was just because of the emotional day and everything we'd gone through already, the rekindling in the air as I waited to tell him that he did nothing wrong and I wasn't angry, or if maybe, we did have a unique bond now and we'd feel this...electricity every time we were together.
Tears stung my eyes as the emotion in the room and the energy in my body mixed. Teren's face had the same sort of surprised and emotional look on it that mine did. He softly closed the door and then closed his eyes and inhaled deep, almost like he was savoring the tension of reunion in the air, savoring the smell of us. I could sense it too. Even with all the other smells lingering in the room, like notes of a specific fragrance, I could pick out his. It was unexplainable. It was just a smell uniquely his own. Nothing on this earth compared. Nothing on this earth smelled as good, not even blood.
I was bristling with the need to touch him by the time he opened his eyes. Nearly ready to jump out of this luxurious-to-the-touch bed, I tossed back the covers at the same time that he blurred to my side. He scooted into the spot I'd just opened up for him, his hands instantly on my face, his lips instantly on my mouth.
The energy between us culminated as we connected: fiery, needy, unrestrained. Our heated kisses tapered, as the feeling between us finally subsided to a dull roar in the background. Returned to the more normal level of intense love we always felt for each other. His lips slowed on mine and it was only then that I noticed that his hand had drifted down my body to curl my leg around his hip, my fingers were locked tightly in his hair, and somewhere along the way, I'd managed to pull my teeth up.
We pulled apart slightly to look at each other and from down in the kitchen, I heard Halina's throaty chuckle. Swallowing, I tried to steady my too fast breath. His was fast as well as his eyes searched my face, drifting over to the wound on my neck, a wound that until he looked at it, I hadn't even felt. I felt it now and rolled onto my back, my leg sliding away from his hip.
He propped up unto an elbow and leaned over me, his brow creased. "I'm sorry, I just needed...to do that."
A chuckle escaped me and I sucked in a quick breath as my neck throbbed. He laid a cool hand over the wound and I sighed as his touch calmed the area. Meeting eyes with him, I gave him a small smile. "Don't be...I needed that too."
He smiled in return and leaned down to kiss my forehead. "I'm so sorry, Emma. Please believe me."
I sighed and cupped his face as he pulled back, his eyes down. Feeling those tears again, I carefully shook my head. "No, I'm sorry. You did what you had to, to save us. It may or may not have worked, but you had to try." I gripped his face harder, making him raise his eyes to mine. "I love you so much, for fighting for us." I reached up and grabbed his hand from my neck, placing our fingers over my stomach. The twins reacted to our joint touch and we both smiled. "I love you so much, for fighting...for them."
He sighed, his smile not leaving him and I left his hand on my stomach to stroke his cheek again. "This may not have been the path I expected, but, I want us to be in this together, not pushing each other away." The tears in my eyes fell freely as the uncertainty of my future loomed ahead of me. "I don't know how much time I have, Teren. I don't want to spend it fighting. I love you too much, for that to be how we end."
The tears in his eyes fell too as his hand reached up to clasp over mine on his cheek. Leaning over me he whispered, "I won't let anything happen to you, Emma. You or them." His voice quavered as the emotion behind it threatened to crush him. "If we don't have answers, then we'll find those who do." His mouth set in a firm line as determination filled him.
I scrunched my brow, feeling like I was a step behind. "What? Who would know about this? Who would know if I'll be okay?"
"Other mixed." He nodded as he stated that, like it was really just as simple as that.
I blinked at him. Mixed? Up until that maniac had taken us, the Adams hadn't even known other mixed vampires existed; they'd thought they were the only ones. His revelation that they weren't, had been quite a shock to them, and their existence was a shock to full vampires, as that bastard who'd created this mess had pointed out. He'd obviously never seen anything like Teren. But somehow...we were supposed to find these secretive vamps in time to save the children's lives and mine, if they even could or would?
Teren's face didn't lose any of his determination as he watched my reaction. This was his hope. This is what he'd cling to, to save himself from despair. I swallowed. I wouldn't snatch that hope away. Wouldn't tell him he was grasping at straws. He needed this. "Okay," I said quietly. "What do we do?"
He relaxed back and even smiled softly. I think he'd been prepared to have to convince me that this was a completely doable and realistic goal that he'd set for himself. He grabbed my fingers and interlaced them, stroking his thumb against me excitedly as he talked. "That man that killed me, Great-Gran kept all of his journals. She wanted to make sure he was working alone and that no one would come searching for him." My eyes widened at that; I hadn't realized they'd looked into his life. Teren shook his head. "We can't find anything that says he wasn't, so we're pretty sure now, that he was on his own." I nodded and swallowed again.
Teren put his hand back on my neck automatically and I realized I must have flinched when I'd nodded. He kept up his plan, obviously having done quite a bit of thinking about this in the past few days, when he'd been waiting around for me to die. "Great-Gran also wanted to know what he'd dosed me with, so she kept anything that looked like research." His eyes brightened along with his smile. "I think I can use his notes to find others." He shook his head, his eyes swimming with hope. "There has to be someone out there, like us, who's tried to turn a human." He shook his head. "There just has to be." He nodded, his jaw set. "And I'll find them."
I put my hand on that jaw, trying to ease the tension I felt there. "We'll find them, Teren. Together, remember?"
He looked away briefly and then looked back. "No, Emma. I'm sorry, but you have to stay here now."
I laughed, and then realized he was serious and stopped."What? No, I want to go with you. I want us to do this together."
He sighed and ran a hand down my hair. "Emma, baby, it's too dangerous. We don't know...what sort of people we'll find." He looked down. "I'm not risking your life like that. Not when I'm trying to save it."
I grabbed his arm as he pulled his hand away. "Then I don't want you to go. If it's dangerous..." My throat closed up on me and I couldn't finish that thought.
He sighed again as he looked over my face. I could see the strain of the last few days in his countenance and hated everything that had happened to our merry family, changing it completely. I suddenly wished our biggest problem was the ex who remembered too much of him.
Finally, he softly said, "What choice do I have, Emma. I can't just sit back...and not try and save you." I looked about to protest again and he held up his hand, cutting me off. "I won't go alone. I'll take someone with me." From downstairs I heard a flood of Russian and Teren chuckled softly. I hadn't caught the comment (I guess magically knowing Russian wasn't something passed along with his blood, darn), and Teren smiled softly as he explained. "Great-Gran just volunteered her services."
I relaxed back into the pillows a bit with that news. Halina was strong, stronger than Teren, and as driven to save my children as we were. Plus she'd fight tooth and nail to keep Teren safe. As far as bodyguards go, she was a pretty good one.
Seeing my silent acceptance of that, his face brightened for a moment. I smiled at seeing the hope there. It didn't ease the strain I saw underneath it, but it lightened the edges of it considerably. I wanted to let myself believe that he'd find our answers, that everything would be okay, but even with the madman's help, finding others like Teren seemed impossible to me. At least finding them in time seemed impossible.
Exhaling in an attempt to distract my mind from my pessimistic thoughts, I felt my teeth stubbornly drop back down. They slid into my lower lip and popped right through the tender skin. "Ow," I muttered, as I carefully sucked on my lip.
Teren gave me an odd, knowing grin and pushed back a corner of my mouth to look at my tooth. He didn't seem at all weirded out at seeing fangs on me, now that I was aware they were there, but I felt a little weirded out by him examining me. He dropped my lip and brought his hand back to my stomach. "You need to be careful, those things are sharp."
I gave him as much of a lopsided grin as I could with my still overly large feeling mouth. "Well, I didn't exactly mean to do that. I suppose I'll get used to them. I hope I do okay at work with them." I sighed and looked over his suddenly perfectly still shape lying beside me, still propped up on his elbow. "What day is it anyway, Teren? How much work have I missed?"
Watching his reaction carefully, I wondered how angry Clarice was at me for missing even more work. I seriously hoped she didn't take it out on me by inundating me with records room work. My feet were starting to swell in the afternoons and the thought of standing on them all day made them ache already.
Teren sniffed and looked down, speaking more into the sheets than at me. "It's Sunday. You only missed Friday."
I sighed at that, relieved. The attack was on a Thursday night. If I somehow got through this with only one day missed, she may not can me. Feeling the dull ache at my neck return, I started to wonder how I'd explain that. I hadn't looked at it yet, but I was positive the wound was much more than two tiny fang pricks that a turtleneck would easily cover. I'm pretty sure that bastard had used every chomper he had, and my skin looked like a pit-bull had mauled me. Swell.
Teren still wasn't looking at me, and I thought some of his earlier guilt had crept back into his features. A bit of the ice crept back into my stomach too. "Teren, please tell me you called in for me on Friday?"
He peeked up at me from the corner of his eye. "I did."
I exhaled again. "Oh, good. I wouldn't want to get fired." I chuckled, but he didn't laugh with me. He bit his lip; that worried me a little. "What did you tell them? What's my story?" I was fairly certain he didn't tell them a creature of the night bit me.
He sighed and looked down again. I had the sudden image of a large hammer slowly lowering through the air. I wasn't sure why, but I was pretty sure I wasn't going to like what he was about to say. He sighed, confirming my suspicions. "I told them you were in a car crash."
I heard a gasp escape my lips as he looked up at me. Car crash seemed a little extreme for a neck wound. I suppose he was under a lot of strain at the time that he'd come up with it though, and I suppose I could hide my neck with a brace. Not exactly flattering, but, effective. He looked over my face and continued with, "I told them the crash put you into premature labor and the doctors were barely able to stop it." My eyes widened even farther as the tale he'd spun grew. I didn't see why he'd felt the need to expand on the lie. Wasn't simpler, better? He swallowed and finished his cover story. "I told them...the doctors put you on bed rest until the babies are born."
I felt that imagined hammer land squarely on my head.
"You what!" I yelled that, and my ears started ringing. Teren flinched and I'm sure his ears were ringing too. I guess I didn't need to be so loud now, but some things can't be helped. "They don't think I'm coming back? Why would you tell them that?" I managed in a more level tone, and from where the vamps were still chit-chatting in the kitchen, I heard Halina mutter, 'Here we go'.
Teren sighed and put a hand on my cheek. "Because you can't go back, Emma. You have to stay here...at the ranch."
His eyes looked sadly sympathetic. He knew I'd liked my job and had goals of moving up in the company. Being kept from there for months? Well, I wasn't even sure I'd have a job to go back to, at least, not the same one I'd left. Clarice would most likely replace me. I'd have to start over, in the mail room or something.
Feeling stubborn and childlike, I whispered, "You don't get to decide that for me."
He looked away for a second, thoughtfulness on his face, and then twisted his head back to me. "I didn't, you did."
Confused, I stared up at the ceiling. I didn't remember anything over the past few days, but surely I'd remember basically throwing my career away. "I've barely been conscious. When did I agree to that?"
He smiled and a cool finger traced the edge of my cheek before twisting to grab a long piece of my dark hair. With a half-smile he said, "When you told me I was foolish for staying in San Francisco, around all those innocent people." I blinked at him and was about to start some sort of response when he lost his small smile and shook his head. "The fact is, Emma, we don't know what's going to happen to you." He gave me a pointed look. "If you convert," he looked down, away from me, "which is what I'm hoping happens, if your body can't handle..."
He didn't finish that thought and looked back up at me. "You'll awake just as hungry as I did. You'll attack anything that moves." His small, wry smile returned as he twirled the lock of hair in his fingers. "And you are the one that convinced me that the safest place for a creature about to go through that kind of transformation, was here, at the ranch." His eyes looked over the room, as if he were taking in the land outside. "Surrounded by yummy cattle," he murmured.
I sighed softly, not really having an argument for that, since it was sort of my argument in the first place. Me and my big mouth. I never once imagined when I'd first said that, that I'd be referring to my own situation later on down the road. Yeah, the shoe on the other foot thing? Don't like it.
His smile grew at my silence and his fingers trailed down the strand of hair in his fingers before he let it drop. I could hear the individual fibers sliding over his skin. He sighed and his fingers shifted to my face, a light scent of grass on the tips, like he'd been plucking it outside. "I know, I didn't like it either, but you were right and here is the safest place for you."
Knowing I'd sound foolish objecting, I tried to anyway. "But...I have doctor's appointments to keep and the hospital is so far away now." I knew I was spouting improbabilities. The odds of me surviving until my due date probably weren't that great, but still, I was first and foremost a first time Mom, and I was a little worried about the whole "exiting" process. Doctors in white coats, with sterile equipment and vials full of drugs, were a very soothing thought. "I know you drive fast but-"
He tilted his head at me, his brow scrunched. "You...can't see doctors anymore, Emma. I'm sorry, I thought you'd see that right away. Your blood is mixed now, like mine, and it's just too risky. We can't let them examine you too closely. And really...a hospital birth was never going to happen. They would test the children's blood. I'm sorry, I thought you'd see that."
Truthfully, I had made that connection, but I'd pushed it out of my head almost immediately. Denial was a strong thing. And so was fear. "Can't see doctors? Can't go to a hospital? I'm about to have babies, Teren. How do you expect me to do that without doctors?" And loads of pain meds.
He smiled softly and ran his hand down my hair again in a soothing fashion, like he thought I was on the verge of hyperventilating or something. I heard supportive encouragement coming from both Alanna and Imogen, but blocked it out, focusing on the stubbly jaw of the man who, quite rightly, was keeping me from my building full of well trained professionals. "You can do it, sweetheart." His grin turned a little wry. "And you'll do it the same way women have done it for thousands of years."
I was about to roll my eyes and tell him he couldn't possibly understand the turmoil that I was feeling over this new consequence to the events of a few nights ago, but he leaned down to kiss me softly and my objection died. "Besides, all the women here have experience in baby delivery. You'll get all the help you need, right here."
I heard Alanna and Imogen agreeing with him, telling me that they'd take the very best care of me. Even Halina, said everything would be fine. Of course, her concern was more on the infants, than my pain level. Thinking about having a child in my luxuriously rich bed, the satin sheets feeling like liquid along my skin, I felt my chest tighten in anticipation. I was not a "natural" birth sort of girl.
"Can my mom be here? She wanted to be with me for the birth." Not that I was agreeing to any of this yet.
He looked down and then slid his elbow down the silky sheet to rest his head on his arm, his face directly in front of mine as I looked over at him. "Emma, I don't know about that. She can visit as often as she wants, of course, but the actual birth, may be...too much for her." I nodded, tears sprinting into my eyes. Being like I was now, I had no idea what to expect from childbirth, assuming I even made it that far. I guess I really was stuck with vampire midwives.
He kissed my nose. "I haven't called her yet. If I told her you were in an accident, she'd rush right out here, and you needed time to...adjust before you saw her."
I sighed and looked down at his chest. "Oh." I looked back up. "Ashley?"
He nodded. "Ashley knows, I told her the truth. She is dying to come see you, but I asked her to stay away until you called her." I raised my eyebrow at that. He shook his head. "I didn't mention to her that you may...not have made it." He smiled sadly. "I painted it in the best light that I could for her."
I wondered briefly how he'd painted being attacked by a vampire in a good light. He was either very vague or underplayed things a lot. "Does she know you gave me your blood?" I said softly.
He sighed and shook his head. "I only told her I saved you, I didn't go into details." He raised an eyebrow at me. "She didn't ask either, so, I'm pretty sure she figured it out." He sighed and kissed me again.
I swallowed a painful lump, thinking my sister was probably going out of her mind and I should call her right away. I wondered if she'd talked to Tracey for me, explained about me missing work. Maybe she even told her that Hot Ben had been there and had been surprisingly very heroic. Maybe in the story, he pulled me from the wreckage or something. Either way, Tracey was probably waiting for a phone call too.
I closed my eyes, overwhelmed by all the lies I'd have to tell soon, and heard words around the house drifting to me. Hot Ben was snoring, sleeping it off. Jack was watching TV while Alanna and Imogen started making dinner. Imogen and Halina started talking about eating outside tonight and my mouth started watering at the detailed conversation. I felt my teeth get longer and heard my own heartbeat quicken in anticipation.
Teren's hand came up to my cheek, bringing me back to this room, with him. I opened my eyes, surprised to find my breath faster. He was smiling softly at me, his eyes sympathetic. "You'll get used to it," he whispered.
I sighed and nodded, surprised and grossed out over how much my body wanted even more blood. Apparently my pregnancy hunger had shifted to this kind of nourishment as well. I suppose staying out of the city was a good idea after all. I didn't plan on biting anyone, ever, but the cravings in my body might try and convince me otherwise.
Shutting out as many of my enhanced senses as I could, I focused on Teren's calming, sky blue eyes. I could see flecks of gray in them that I'd never noticed before. As my heart and breathing returned to normal, I started relaxing. Feeling calm, I found I could will my teeth to retract. They moved slowly, and in my awkward mouth, I could hear the canines sliding against my gums and against the teeth next to them. I smiled when they were pulled in as far as I could get them and ignored how my jaw ached from creating space for the new, longer teeth to disappear into. Teren grinned at my normal looking smile and kissed me softly.
Softly at first anyway. Our kiss started picking up a little bit and I heard Halina's chuckle before she and Imogen left the house. As his tongue swept along mine, and I reveled that some things felt exactly the same, a stray thought pricked my brain. Pulling back, I playfully said, "So, are you sort of my father now? Do I call you Sire?" He grinned and I leaned in for a deep kiss. "Because that makes this a little creepy," I muttered between our lips.
He laughed and gently angled me to kiss me even deeper, his cool palms resting on my neck, soothingly. "Husband will be fine," he chuckled.
One of his hands staying on my wound, the other started trailing down my body and his leg started coming up over one of mine. I sighed and pulled him over, so the top half of him was over the top half of me; the bottom half just had too much belly in the way for him to lie on. His hand still came down to cup my backside though as he pulled my leg back over his hip. My fingers tangled back in his hair and that earlier connection we'd shared started burning under the surface. I wondered again if that bond was unique to us, or just a remnant of our terrible experience. His hand traveled over my stomach while I thought about that.
One of the twins reacted strongly to Teren's caress and kicked him so hard we both looked down. He laughed and rested his palm over them, feeling them squirm to get near him. I found I could hear their movements too. I closed my eyes and concentrated, tuning out every other sense I had. It took a minute, but then I heard it, the faint, fluttery heartbeats, the same as at the doctor's office. I could hear them without any special equipment. I could hear the life flowing through their veins. It warmed my heart and tears were in my eyes when I opened them.
Teren was watching me, his hand still on my stomach. "I can hear them," I whispered, a huge smile on my face. Thinking of what Teren's blood may have done to them, I frowned. "What do you think happened to them in all this? Do you think your blood...altered them in any way?"
Teren's hand rubbed my stomach and he shrugged, his face thoughtful. "I obviously don't know for sure...but I don't see why it would. Unlike you...and Grandma, really, when Great-Gran was turned, they were never entirely human in the first place. My blood was already in their veins..."
I nodded, smiling again, feeling relieved by that. He smiled in kind and leaned down to kiss me again. Before his lips touched mine, I whispered, "Take them." He pulled back, confusion clear on his face. "Whatever happens to me, if I die and convert, or die and just...die, take them."
He tilted his head, concern now clear too. "What?"
I reached up and cupped his cheek, a calm peace flowing through me as I did. "Take them out of me, and do whatever you can to save them."
He shook his head, his hand from my stomach coming up to cover my hand on his cheek. "Emma, it's too early. They won't survive and we can't take them to a hospital, not with their blood."
I searched his eyes, seeing that he clearly didn't want to think about this yet. I needed him too. We needed every possibility covered, and the chances that I wouldn't make it full term, were too great to ignore. "I know I'm asking you to do something terrifying, something that you know nothing about, and, I know it's an exposure risk, for them and for you, if take them to get help, so all I can ask from you, is that you and your family try and save them. I trust whatever you all decide is best, but promise me, that no matter what happens, you'll take them out of me. Promise me that you'll at least try. That's my deathbed request." I took our hands from his face and put them back on my stomach. "Don't let them die inside of me, Teren. Give them a chance...please."
He looked down at our hands resting over the bulge of our children. His eyes were wet when he looked back up at me. "I will, I promise. I love you, wife."
I smiled, knowing that it may not make any difference, they may not make it anyway, none of us might, but at least he would try and save them. "And I love you, husband."