A Hunt Among Vampires (The Angel Series) (18 page)

“My businesses make me enough money to keep you comfortable in the lifestyle you have become accustomed to if that is what you are wondering.” He says with a grin on his face.

I frown. “Although that is good to know, that’s not why I am asking.” Standing up, I turn towards the door, suddenly upset for wanting to learn more about him.

Christien stops me before I reach the door. “Wait! Do not leave. I did not mean to upset you,
chatte
. I was only being playful.” He confesses, wrapping his arms around my waist.

“No, you aren’t! You think I’m some gold digger after your money.” I remove his arms and push away from him.

“I have never thought you wanted to be with me because of my money. It has always been something more between us. You know that.” He pauses. “Does this have anything to do with your nightmare?”

“I just wanted to learn more about you. If you don’t want to tell me more about yourself, that’s fine. Don’t try to turn it around on me. Just tell me you don’t want to talk.” I respond defensively.

“I apologize. I misunderstood. I thought you were testing me because you have never asked about my businesses before now.”

“We hardly know each other. Maybe, if we were more to each other than lovers, I would expect you to spend time with me. We really should learn more about each other. That is what people that are dating do. I am going upstairs. I’m tired and I want to lie down.”

Leaving the room in a rush, I head upstairs.

I wait a few minutes to make sure Christien does not follow me up. After a few minutes, I realize he is going to stay downstairs so I decide to try taking the pregnancy tests again.

Shiiit!
I curse to myself. I look at the stick and pick up the box again, verifying the results.
Two pink lines, pregnant.

I throw the stick in the wastebasket and rip open another pregnancy test box.

This cannot be happening. I must be doing something wrong.

Picking up the box, I carefully read the instructions for the fifth time.

Remove the cap, pee on the stick, replace cap, lay on flat surface and wait three minutes. One line means the test is negative. Two lines means the test is positive.

After guzzling down a couple large bottles of water, I retake the pregnancy test. My head is hurting and I am beginning to feel a little queasy.

Okay, just relax. The last four tests could have been wrong. I am only a couple of weeks late. I promise I will stop sleeping with Christien if the test comes back negative. Well, I will try to stop sleeping with him. We will be more careful, that I can be sure.
I promise myself, but hope someone is listening.

The stop clock on my watch beeps, making me jump in alarm.

Time is up. This one is the last one. I will accept the results this time.

I slowly step to the sink with my eyes closed.

Please, please, please be negative.

My eyes open and I look down at the test.

I don’t believe this. I can’t believe I am pregnant by a vampire. I swore this would never happen to me.

The room begins to spin and I put my hands out in front of me to break my fall. I am unconscious before I hit the floor.

Waking up to, the muffled sounds of the song, “Dead or Alive” by Bon Jovi playing on my cell phone stuffed in my pocket, I open my eyes to see that I am laying on the bathroom floor, face down. Face still plastered on to the cold floor, I roll over far enough to fish my cell phone out of my pants pocket.

Flipping it open, I mumble into the phone. “Hello?”

“Hey Jess. Were you sleeping? It is almost four in the afternoon there. You are usually up by now.” Roman jokes teasingly.

“Yeah, I know. I was just… did you call for a reason? You aren’t coming back are you?” I reply with hesitation. Sitting up, I look around the bathroom. Seeing all of the pregnancy tests and boxes piled in the wastebasket, I cringe.

My mind wanders while Roman is talking.
It was not a nightmare. Oh my God! I really am pregnant! What am I going to do? I can’t have a baby right now, or at all. I am really, not the mothering type. I don’t even have pets because of my lack of commitment. I would have no time…

“Jess!” Roman yells through the phone.

It is then that I realize Roman was talking to me while I was in the middle of my panic attack. “What? I am sorry Roman. I didn’t hear what you said. What did you say?”

“Ugh! What has gotten into you? It is as if something is on your mind. Is there anything bothering you?” He asks, clearly frustrated in my lack of attention.

“Forget about it.” I tell him while picking myself up off the floor. I make my way into the bedroom and lie down on the bed with my eyes closed.

“What’s gotten into you?” Roman asks again.

“You know I just woke up. I already said I am sorry for not paying attention. What do you want? If you don’t answer me this time, I’m hanging up on you.”

“Has Christien mentioned anything about the trip to Europe?” Roman asks.

“No. We have not really talked about it recently other than that we will be leaving soon. Should I know something?” I ask, suddenly worried.

“Not much. Kayle should have mentioned something about whom Hassan has allied with.” He replies.

“Kayle mentioned that Hassan has teamed up with two vampires named Lenair and Devan. He sent Kayle to talk to them and find out where Hassan is hiding. That is all the information I have.” I inform Roman, recalling a previous conversation with Christien.

“Yes, all of that is true. What you may not know is that Devan and Lenair are old and powerful vamps. Hassan didn’t team up with strong masters. They are both heads of their bloodlines. These two vamps are not good vamps either. The female vampire, Lenair, like to bathe in the blood of her victims after she has her fill. She thinks it keeps her skin soft. There are other rumors about her, but I think that is bad enough.”

I cover my mouth to keep from losing my breakfast on the bed. Rolling off the bed quickly, I run back into the bathroom. Barely making it to the toilet, the contents of my stomach decides to leave me violently. I try to cover the phone the best I can to prevent Roman from hearing me gag. As soon as I regain my composure, I return to the phone. “Sorry about that Rome. That is horrible! Why does the Vampire Council allow these crazy vampires to roam unchecked? What could they possibly get out of keeping sadistic vampires around? Why would they allow them to sire even more sadistic vampires?” My voice breaks when I finish my rant and I begin to cry.

Roman listens quietly as I sob into the phone. When my sobs begin to subside, Roman speaks in a patient tone. “Do you need me to come home? I can be there in 12 hours or so.”

Touched by Roman’s insight, I pull myself together. “You don’t need to come home. I will see you soon enough, right? I do miss you but I should be able to deal with you being gone for only a few weeks.”

“Is it the job?” He asks, knowing me well enough to know that I am holding something back from him.

“No. I don’t have any more contracts before we leave for France. I set an away message on my email so everyone should know I am unavailable.” I reply, putting strength in my voice.

“You don’t have to be brave for me Jess. I can tell something is bothering you. You are never queasy just talking about bad situations.” Roman says softly.

I beg him, returning to the room to lie down on the bed. “Please don’t mention it again.”

“Want to talk about it now or do you want to wait until you get here? Is something going on with you and Christien?” He asks, fishing for what may be bothering me.

I walk into the bathroom, clean up my mess from earlier, hiding the wastebasket from view and brush my teeth before re-entering the bedroom.

“We seem to have problems communicating with each other. I do not wish to fight with you and I do not want you angry with me. I am sorry for whatever I have done to upset you.” Christien’s eyes soften, as does his voice, when he apologizes.

I melt and go to him, straddling his thighs. “I only ask you to listen to me. You don’t have to agree or question everything that I want to talk to you about.”

He kisses my nose and agrees to try harder to listen to me before offering to take me to dinner this evening to celebrate our understanding. On the way out the door, I empty the wastebasket in the trash downstairs while no one is watching. At dinner, Christien informs me that we will be leaving for France in the morning.

We finish dinner, drive home and climb into bed. Even though I slept for hours earlier in the day, I still fall asleep within minutes.

Chapter 14

The next morning I wake up in Christien’s arms. The feeling I receive is good and comforting.

Christien must sense that I am awake. “Good morning,
ma petite chatte
.”

I nod in understanding, get up and walk to the bathroom. Locking the door for privacy, I turn on the shower to cover up the noise from my morning sickness. I take a hot shower, brush my teeth and hair, and then get dressed before joining Christien in the dining room for breakfast. I nibble on my food, doing my best to eat and keep it down.

Christien offers me coffee.

Knowing coffee is not good for a baby, regardless of how bad I want it, I decline his offer, requesting milk instead.

Christien looks at me in disbelief and suspicion. He has never seen me decline coffee and immediately believes there is something wrong with me.

Smiling reassuringly, I try to evade his suspicion. “My stomach is bothering me a little. I think I am just a little nervous about flying. I don’t want to make it worse with coffee, that’s all.”

His eyes narrow on me as if he wonders if he should believe what I am saying. Thinking about our conversation last night, no doubt, he wisely lets it go without questioning me further.

The flight to France on Christien’s private jet is uneventful. Other than some mild turbulence, the flight is calm and smooth. Even though the flight is nice, my stomach continues to flip and flop. I do my best to control the nausea during the flight. The landing really seemed to turn me inside out though. Once we were on the ground, my stomach gurgles and I do everything I can, not to lose everything right then. The plane door opens and I run down the stairs, barely making it to the tarmac before throwing up on the asphalt. Christien runs to my side and holds my hair until I finish. He hands me a handkerchief. Cleaning up as fast as possible, I allow Christien to guide me to the waiting limo. As we weave through the city to his countryside estate, I fall asleep from exhaustion.

By the time we arrive at Christien’s estate, I am deep asleep and unable to wake easily. Christien carries me inside and takes me to his bedroom. He lays me on the bed and tucks me in.

Several hours must have passed because when I wake up, I am in a beautiful bedroom with an Asian-looking woman staring at me with a murderous look on her face. Immediately drawing a stake from my hair, I point it at her while putting my back against the headboard.

“Great!” She jumps up and opens the door to see Kayle standing in the doorway. She frowns then says, “
Elle a dit que je pourrais aller
.”

“She may have given you permission to leave, but our master did not. He pushes the woman back into the room.” Kayle bows to me and I nod back. “May I enter?”

“Of course you may, Kayle.” I climb off the bed and stand beside him. For some reason, I find security by his side. “Kayle, do you know her?”

“No! There is no need to call him. I am just still feeling the effects of the plane ride, that’s all.” I rinse out my mouth and brush my teeth with the toiletries I recognize as my own on the countertop.

Kayle returns to the bedroom and sits on the couch in the corner of the room. Phedora is leaning her back against the bedpost when I come back into the room.

“Kayle, why is
she
in the room while I am sleeping?”