Expecting Eternity (Vamp Life #2) (12 page)

Marcus is going to be pissed about his widescreen, I randomly thought amongst the chaos.

Foolishly, she turned toward the direction of the sound blasting from the TV.  Without hesitation I crept closer and I swung, smashing her in the back of the skull with the wooden weapon.  There was a loud crack.  I saw her body collapse to floor in an unconscious heap.  I didn’t know if she was dead or not, but I dared to hope.   

“Eve…you’re bleeding….badly….” 
Fate’s voice was filled with panic.  Her face was red and there was a small cut underneath her eye from Taya’s ring.

I followed
her gaze as she spoke.   My ears were ringing.  When I bowed my head down to look, everything went dark and I fell to my knees in a pool of both mine and Taya’s blood.  This time, I was gone.

Fate struggled with her bindings, but to no avail.  She was forced to sit there, watching me bleed to death.  Luck would have it, Marcus and Antonio arrived shortly.   Both men raced inside the house when they heard the screams for help from Fate. 

Unknown to me, Antonio had left the house to pick Marc up from jail. 
“The Warden” had managed to have all charges dropped against him.  Poor Christophe’s body had disappeared and all records of his existence wiped.  No funeral or recognition for the deceased vampire.  It was sad, but there was nothing left to accuse my husband of doing.  It made me never want to get on the Society’s bad side.  When they erased you, they did it well.

The police officer assigned to keep an eye on the premises was later found dead in his car, throat slit from ear to ear.  The only reason Antonio had left us alone was because of the cop, but he had been no match for Taya.  A beat up VW was parked behind the police cruiser.

“No…oh no…”  Marcus rushed to my side, sitting in the
floor beside me, my head cradled gently in his hands.  “Don’t leave me, baby.  You’ll be okay.”

Antonio called 911 before walking over to
Taya’s body.  He knew instantly she wasn’t dead.  She was alive, albeit briefly.  He was enraged, the smell of blood pushing him to the brink of insanity, his anger uncontrolled. 

“Close your eyes, love.”  He told Fate and she listened, turning her head to the side.
  She peeked only once and the horrific sight of Antonio with extended fangs terrified her into clenching her eyes closed tightly.

“
Tonio…I love you.”  Taya croaked weakly, her eyes half open.

He reached down, grabbing
Taya by the hair of the head.  There was a gruesome sound of ripping flesh as his fangs tore into the skin of her neck.  After he’d drained her of most of her blood, he put his hands on either side of her head and ripped it off the body.  Despite my raw hatred of the woman, I’m glad I didn’t have to witness it.  Afterward, he calmly pulled out his phone once more, calling for another kind of help.  Vampires were on their way to prevent another media fiasco.  The crew of vampires did the job of cleaning up mistakes.

Marc was in tears and so was Fate.  Antonio kept his composure, walking into the kitchen and washing
Taya’s blood off his hands.  He then released Fate from her bindings.  She ran to my side.

“I can’t lose her or the baby.  I just can’t.” 
Marcus looked to Fate, hoping she could tell him I was going to be okay.

“The baby is fine
so far, I can sense his life force is strong.”  Fate told Marc.  “Eve is fading fast.  The flicker of life is going out.  We….”  It was hard for her to speak as she cried.  “We may need to say our goodbyes.”

“No, no way.  It’s not over yet.”

All Fate could do was nod at my distraught husband.  Words were no use in comforting him.

“Can’t you feed her blood or something, Tony?”  He begged.

“I’m afraid of making things worse.  Her best chance will be the medical professionals.”  In that moment of panic and distress, the difference in the aged vampire and his young human companions became disturbingly evident to everyone in the room.

Sirens were
within hearing distance.  The ambulance was almost there.  “I love you, Evey.  You hear me.  Stay strong!  I mean it!”  He backed away reluctantly as the medics went to work.  “I still need to watch
Casablanca
for you….  I promise I won’t fall asleep.”  He whispered softly.

Vampires with hypnosis skills took care of the police and b
ystanders in the neighborhood.  I later learned there were many vampires trained to use psychological weapons.  I wish I could have seen it, but what I was experiencing was even more magical.

I saw the light.  It was warm, all enveloping, and it numbed the pain.  Every bit of my being seemed to be urging me toward it and I was going willingly.  The time was at hand.  I’d lived more lifetimes than I probably deserved.  I had seen the perils of war, the wonders of technology, found joy in the simplest moments.  My heart had been broken, put back together, and I’d loved completely once more.  What was left but to go?

A small sound broke
through the calm quiet of the light.  I hesitated briefly before continuing on.  Then it happened again.  It was a cry.  Were the angels crying for me?  No.  Surely angels didn’t weep for one soul.  I stopped once more.  I’d never heard it before and yet it was somehow familiar. 

Vincent.  The name was a
whisper in my mind.  My baby.  I turned my back on the light with the dawning realization.  I was not done living yet.  I was still needed.  Someone took my hand, leading me away from the glow.  It was Ashley.  I couldn’t see her face for some reason, but I knew who was helping me.

Disorientation and fear consumed me when I awoke.  Had I died?  I was struggling to open my eyes, the lids heavy.  Finally, I opened them and they stayed.  Medical equipment filled my vision.  An I.V. was in my arm.  It was all surreal.  In my entire lifetime, I’d never been admitted to a hospital.  It had never been necessary.  Vampires rarely benefited from conventional medicine. 

Marcus was sitting in a nearby chair, looking d
own at something in his hands.  His attention was focused on it, but I couldn’t see what
it
was.  My throat was dry and my voice came out low and harsh.  What had happened to me? 

The sound caught Marc
’s attention and he stood up slowly.  That’s when I finally saw what he was so enamored with.  The baby was eating aggressively from a bottle…filled with milk. 
Thank god he’s drinking milk
.  It was my first coherent thought.

“Hey,
Evey.  How are you feeling?”  Marcus said in a soft whisper.

I looked from the baby back up to Marc and tried to sit up higher in the bed.  My mind was cloudy, but it was clearing with each passing moment.  I put my hands
delicately on my stomach.  The last thing I remembered was hitting Taya with the bat and hearing Fate’s voice.  I didn’t remember giving birth.

“I…I don’t know.  I think I’m alright.  Weak.”  I bit down on my lip when it started to tremble.

He offered me the child and I extended my arms.  Little Vincent Hart opened his eyes and looked up at me when the bottle was taken away.  I expected him to cry, but he just stared at me with innocent blue eyes.  The hair on his head was like blonde peach fuzz.  There was no question about who his father was now.  Not with those eyes.  Every one of Marc’s sisters and his mom all had blonde hair, too.  My mother did as well, though a darker shade.

“All that worrying was for nothing, huh?”  Marcus lightly stroked my hair as he watched us
, seemingly reading my mind.  “He’s doing great and you’ll be fine soon.”

I didn’t cry
.  Happiness rarely made me weep.  I had always thought it made me weird.  “He’s not a vampire or anything?”  I shook my head in disbelief of the perfection of the tiny creature.

Marc sat carefully on the side of the bed.  “No.  Then again, it seems that his momma isn’t either.”

“What?”  It certainly made sense considering how I was feeling.  But me?  A mortal?  I couldn’t fathom it.  “How?”

“Some vamp friends of Antonio stopped by.  They took some of your blood while you were recovering. 
They wanted to take Vincent’s, but I wouldn’t let them near him.  Anyway, from what they understand so far, your body had begun developing antibodies to the virus.  You know, because you fed from Tony and Dante.  There was some sort of incompatibility. The blood transfusion only quickened the process.”  He smirked crookedly at me.  “Whatever all that shit means.”

It was a lot to take in.  I lightly touched Vincent’s tiny
fingers as I thought about it.  “Why did I need a transfusion?”  Then I recalled the blood before I collapsed.  “Oh….”

My husband frowned slightly and I could see a glimpse of the fear he’d faced.  “We almost lost you, babe.  Fate could sense how close you were to dying.  It was real bad.”

“Is everyone else okay?  What happened to Taya?” 

“
Taya is dead…Tony made sure of that in a graphic manner.  Real horror movie vamp murder.  Fate’s alright, though I’m not sure she’ll ever get extensions again.  She says her mom helped save you.  I think she’s a bit crazy.”  He laughed and shrugged.  “But I’m starting to believe anything is possible.”

“Fate’s telling the truth.  Ashley did help us.” 
My baby was breathing softly and contently, having gone to sleep.  “What do we do now?  I haven’t been a normal human in so long.”

The answer seemed simple when Marc leaned down and kissed my lips.  “We love and we live…like normal married couples. 
Until a ripe old age.”

After centuries of not aging, I thought I’d be scared.  The truth was I had never felt more alive.  Every moment had suddenly taken on a new meaning and i
mportance.  I smiled.  “That is one thing I never thought I would do…grow old.” 

There was a brief knock on the door.  Then, a nurse walked in.  “Ah, so we’re awake!”  She told me in a friendly tone.

“I’ll go tell our friends you’re up.”  He gave me a kiss on the cheek and Vincent a soft peck on the top of his head before leaving the room.

The first thing I asked the nurse was, “When can I go home?”

Fate wandered into my room first.  She lifte
d her hand in a cautious wave as she walked closer.  Her being there meant a great deal to me.  I knew how much she hated hospitals. Also, she had to deal with the shock of Taya’s words about my son’s potential father.  Antonio moved in behind her, but leaned against the wall near the doorway without saying anything.

“How are you feeling?”  She asked.

“Tired…and different.
  Cautiously happy.”  I smiled a little.  “How about you?  I’m sorry you had to go through something so terrible again.”

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment.  I could tell she was trying to reign in her emotions.  “I’m okay.  A bit overwhelmed.  It was scary.  I thought I was going to die, you were going to die,
the baby was going to die….”

All I could do was let her get it all out, so I just nodded and waited for her to continue. 
  I stole a glance at Antonio.  He seemed as regretful as I did for what she’d endured.

“Mom helping us, saving us….  It helps to know she’s still watching out.  An
yway, I’ll let you rest.  You know you’re my best friend.  That stuff that chick said…I don’t care about it.” 

“Thanks, Fate.  I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

She reached out and gave my hand a squeeze before walking to the door.  For a moment, she paused in front of Antonio.

His tone was monotonous when he spoke.  “I’ll be down in a minute to take you home.”

After giving a small nod, she stood up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek.  Then, she gave me another wave before exiting the room.

Antonio
hesitated, not looking at me, before finally walking over to my bedside.  He looked from the baby up to me.  His expression seemed neutral, but I could sense him repressing some feeling.  I didn’t have to be a vampire to know he was wrestling with inner turmoil.

“Talk to me about it.” 

He let out a deep sigh, sitting down heavily.  Both his hands rubbed over his face.  “I don’t think now is a good time to spill my concerns onto you, Evelina.  It is a great day in your life, despite all that transpired.”

I echoed the sigh.  “Come on, Antonio.  We unde
rstand each other pretty well.  Our history has made sure of that.  Go on.”

“For a while, I
selfishly wished your child would end up being mine.  Later, as I fell for Fate and accepted you and Marcus were meant to be, I wished the opposite.  Now, I’m just lost on what I should do with my life at all.”  He reached out toward my son and Vincent attempted to put his small hand around Antonio’s finger.

His
raw confession caught me somewhat off guard.  “What would make you happy in life?  Surely, this association with the Society and running our maker’s business isn’t what you want.”

A small smile formed on his face just briefly as he watched my child.  “It’s not that simple.  I have responsibilities and obligations to many people
, our people.”  I wasn’t one of his people anymore and the thought must have shown on my face.  “You’ll always be the Queen to many of them.”  He said.