Cured By Blood: A Vampire Pregnancy Romance (16 page)

“Norway?”

“Yes, where my mother and father live.”

Tara’s mouth dropped as she searched for any signs of him kidding, though she knew that he was telling the truth.

“Do they know about the boys?”

“No, not yet. I didn’t want to risk trying to tell them. I figured in a week or two I would send them something cryptic and when they invited us, we could go stay. But I think we need to leave, especially the United States. The government will get involved again and everything is just too messy here. Where I am from, things are a bit old fashioned. My parents sort of have run of an entire region.”

“Wow, you haven’t said anything about them.”

“Well, old fashioned is the catch here. We need to be married before we leave. I put in the paperwork, but we have to stage some photos or something. They are the kind of people that, rare natural grandkids or not, they will not be as accepting if we were not together legitimately before conception.”

“Ok, so we try to do some photography sessions and get everything in order and start getting things packed up here?”

“Well, not really. We need to do the photos in the next day and be ready to go in less than 24 hours.” Dru saw the apprehension on Tara’s face, “Look, the vampire behind this is going to know something is up when her people don’t return. And if any of this somehow got the attention of anybody, we are going to have a lot of explaining to do. I had another group come in and help clean up for tonight. Everyone is getting a hefty paycheck this week. But we need to be gone soon before either more vamps or the government is on our doorstep again. I can’t risk you or them to that.”

Tara nodded. As much as she agreed, the idea of leaving this home, where she died and was reborn and where she gave birth, was heart wrenching. The gardens and library, Dru’s museum stuff, all of that would be a hard thing to leave behind. She wanted to ask if they could send it, but figured that wouldn’t work well either.

“What about the stuff up in the museum room that you have? Or your secret memory room?”

Dru’s eyes looked sad at first and then he died laughing at the second half. Tara glared at him.

“My secret memory room. Would you like to see it?”

He was still laughing as Tara followed him with narrowed eyes. Dru cradled Viktor’s head in his hand, smiling at Tara and shaking his head as she followed him with Sebastian. Her curiosity was nearing bursting as they drew closer to the door. Dru turned the knob, it wasn’t even locked. As he stepped in, his laughter gained ground, causing Viktor to blink his white-blue eyes open and glare at his father.

“Oh my god.” Tara started chuckling herself as she looked around the room.

Dru seemed to have a secret obsession with movie vampires. He had posters, DVDs, figurines, and even shirts with different vampires from movies, TV shows, books, and whatever else. It wasn’t a secret collection of old memories, it was a secret collection of a ridiculous subject matter. The humor was almost too much. They both found themselves in giggles, trying not to be too loud in case they woke the babies. Nevertheless, eventually both were blinking around in confusion at the laughing vampires.

“Well, I think we should watch some of them.”

Dru refused at first but after the night they had, staying up watching cheesy vampire movies and shows with the boys sounded fun and relaxing.  They even made sure to get a bottle of the good wine and mixed it with some O positive. Tara couldn’t remember the last time she laughed that hard, and felt so much better as they eventually drifted off to sleep.

The next evening was spent divided among getting specific things in some of the rooms sent to a special storage facility and posing for the fake wedding pictures. They decided not to go too far with the deception and made it a small event. They had the vampires who worked as guards bring any female friends and stage a few scenes. Tara felt awful that they were faking something that she actually enjoyed, and in some aspects, had wanted.

Dru promised her many more occasions that she could wear something as fancy as the beautiful gown he rented for the event. With his parents’ position, he told her that it wouldn’t take long before she would be sick of dressing up and being in pictures. Since vampires no longer had to hide, they had become rather obsessed with pictures. There was no longer a fear of being immortalized on something as proving as a photograph.

Dru spent a large portion of his time in the office speaking in a foreign language. The words seemed different, nothing like Spanish or French. She thought it sounded like a mixture of Swedish and German but older. After an hour, Dru found Tara in the atrium with the boys. Both were swinging a steady rhythm in their double chair swing. Tara was laying on the larger swing next to them, rocking them with her foot as she read one of his books. He wasn’t surprised that she went for his basic manuals on the older Norwegian and Welsh languages.

“Well, I have spoken to my parents. To say they were stunned is an understatement. Good news is, they are more than happy for us to come to Norway. Not as great news, they are flying their jet in tomorrow and will be here to take us back with them. They insisted on the escort.”

Tara stared at Dru in uncertainty. She knew she would be meeting them, that was par for the course with moving, but she thought she would have a few more days before having to worry about it.

The idea of not only meeting Dru’s parents and her sons’ grandparents, but from what Dru said, they were about 900 years old and tended to live half of their lives with present technology and the other half with feudal era beliefs.

Tara wasn’t sure she was ready for the tension and possible head butting. What if they don’t like how she was taking care of the children, or if they tried to butt in to her and Dru’s life? She didn’t know if she would be able to tolerate that. For the first time, human systems and beliefs were a sincere concern. She never thought being a vampire would result in a family and the dynamics and expectations that went along with that.

“Okay..” Tara picked up Viktor and Sebastian and put them on one side of her on the larger swing, watching as they sunk back and were nestled into the cushions.

“I know I made it sound like they were assholes about old ways, but I promise they will be so thrilled with you and the kids that they are going to be much more lenient than I have ever even known them to be.” Dru smiled reassuringly before heading off to the kitchen to start preparing the boys bottles.

Tara had started making a mix of breast milk and vampire blood for them since their teeth were already growing in and causing quite a pain for her. They discussed ideas with Salvador and he suggested the vamp blood and milk mixture. Both he and Ardo had gone back to their respective homes the day after the babies were born, with plans to return in a week and a half, to give Dru and Tara time alone with their children. Dru had to inform them that he was going back to his childhood home and that they would have to contact that location when they wanted to come see the babies or check in.

Tara held one child in each arm and headed to the kitchen, she sighed as one of the workers walked by carrying a wooden crate with “fragile” written on the side. At least they wouldn’t lose all of Dru’s treasures, though it may be a while before they saw them again. Tara tried not to think about it as she and Dru fed the babies before having their own dinner out of the warm bags of blood. Dru told her that in Norway she would have to learn to take from the source, that his parent’s home had people hired specifically for “nutrient purposes.”

As the evening progressed on, Tara could feel the beginning tensions of what all they had to do. As she prepped the boys for bed, she heard a buzz from the intercom on the wall.

“Extraction team trying to get in through the front gates. Two enemies neutralized, possibly four more on foot and several more breaching surrounding walls. Request family evacuation.”

The message was repeated two more times as Tara grabbed several of the babies’ diapers, clothing, and bottles, shoving what she could into the diaper bags and grabbing both babies, one in each arm. As she exited the room, she nearly ran into Dru. He grabbed Sebastian and they ran downstairs and through the back door to the garage.

Dru was on his cell phone calling a nearby airfield and requesting a charter flight using codes Tara had not heard before. As they approached the garage, they could hear shots being fired sporadically around the yard. The garage door lifted and a large SUV backed out. The rear doors opened and two men jumped out.

Tara had a split second to almost start swinging and kicking when they suddenly stood to the side, scanning the surrounding yard while Dru helped get the infants in the back. Tara was pushed in and Dru jumped into the passenger seat. The two men opened the rear hatch and jumped in the back. The driver backed up and took off down the drive. The gate was open, a white van slammed into one side of it, the windows shot out. Men were yelling, shooting, and some were even grappling.

“We have a plane waiting for us at the airfield. I will call ahead to my parents and let them know the change of plans. We have to get out of here right now, no exceptions. When we get to the airfield, grab the babies and run for the plane. It will be dark blue with a white lily on the side. Hurry towards it, don’t turn around and do not stop. Ok?”

“Yes, yes, okay!” Tara nodded. Once again she found herself torn between anger and fear.

As they drove down the street, Tara couldn’t help but glance out the windows and listen for vehicles following them. She kept a hand on each child, though they needed no comforting. The intelligence already shining from their vivid eyes gave her great comfort. They would be amazing men one day, she would make sure of it. She just had to get them to safety first.

The trip seemed to be taking forever until Tara saw the sign for the field. The driver smashed into the gate and kept going. He slammed on breaks with the back door lined up to the steps of the plane. Tara grabbed a son in each hand and flew out the door and up into the plane. Dru was right behind her. As they climbed in, Dru went to the front to check with the pilot. He came back to the cabin, his face unreadable.

“Take them to the back, keep as quiet as possible.” Dru walked up to her and kissed her and then placed a kiss on each of his sons’ foreheads, “I love you, Tara.”

“I love you too, but why does this sound like a goodbye?”

“It’s not, just a precaution.”

Dru turned and left before Tara could say anything else. He closed the divider to the cabin, but Tara could still here the noise coming from the front of the plane. She could hear the murmurs of hushed voices and the sound of flesh being slammed into flesh. The plane shook and she heard a scream out the window. Tara looked through one of the side portal windows and saw a woman splayed on her back, her face screwed into a fierce snarl, her teeth elongated and exposed. She ran back toward the plane as the door began to go up. Dru shouted for Tara. She glanced at the boys and then hurried to the front.

“Don’t let her in, I’m going to get the plane going.”

“Where’s the…”

“Just don’t let her in!”

Dru went into the cabin and started pulling levers and switches, he was shaking his head in frustration. Tara saw the woman run and jump at the door, as she reached out to grab the edge, Tara was tossed forward at the impact. She pulled the door open with her hands, roaring and screaming in a rage.

“Who the hell are you?” Tara yelled as she swung, hitting the woman in the side of the head, even though she barely flinched.

“I’m the woman who wants your baby, I’m the woman who lost her protégé to you! I’m the one who will kill you.”

Tara grimaced at the dramatics. She had been wearing the dagger since the second time she met Blaine in the woods. Her hand wrapped around the handle and she pulled it out quickly, as she had practiced. She swung her arm out, slicing through the front of the woman’s neck. Tara lunged at her and sliced again, a little deeper. As the woman backed up, Tara spun around and kicked as hard as she could, knocking the woman off of the stairs and onto the tarmac. Tara jumped down the stairs and stood over the woman as she bled out.

“Who are you?”

The woman tried to speak and only could gurgle around her injuries. Tara shook her head and ran back up into the plane, pulling the stairs up behind her. Dru had his phone in his hand and was speaking to someone from the field office.

“Ok,” he hung up and looked at Tara, “Is she going to be an issue?”

“No.”

“Well, the pilot is on his way. Our driver went to get him. He wasn’t out here yet because that bitch took the transport shuttle.”

“When?”

“Anytime...there he is,” Dru hurried to the side door and lowered it again.

Tara was expecting to see the woman still bleeding out, but the blood had stopped and she looked like a dried out mummy. The pilots jumped out of the SUV and ran to the plane. Apologizing for not being on time, they headed straight to the cockpit and started the plane. As the engines roared to life and Dru pulled the stairs back up, Tara watched as the turbines blew the ash pile away.

“What happened?”

“She was old. I have heard about her before. She collects vampire children. She is credited with more than twenty kidnappings, which is pretty significant for our species.”