Hard Days Night (The Firsts Book 8) (4 page)

Chapter 3

The ocean waves were gentle tonight, the sea calm
, providing the perfect backdrop for Ahmose as he stood on the balcony of Windari’s beach house, sipping a local wine that wasn’t anywhere nearly as good as the wines back home.

But it would do.
  He was on the third glass as he leaned against the railing watching the three-quarters waning moon, strangely elegant in its asymmetrical phase, as it reflected off of the sparkling water.  It was something that he rarely got to see.  As a child of the moon from southern Africa, his village sat on the edge of the magnificent Victoria Falls, but it was too far from the sea.  The view made him feel calm on this first night he’d chosen to take a sabbatical from his village. He needed the rest, the disconnection, the quiet, just for a little while. 

This past year had been crazy. It had seen the arrival of a woman
with whom he knew he was destined to love and bring forth the next generation of first blood vampire children to the world. Then, destiny threw him a curve.  Yes, the beautiful vampire that came to his village was meant to bear his children, but not to be his lover and mate.  That revelation had broken his heart, yet brought a brother into his life that he’d learned to love against all odds. 

H
is son had been born, a beautiful boy who would champion the Mother Earth someday in the future.  It was clear from the beginning that the child was exponentially more powerful than previous generations, and that he was a protector.  Ahmose couldn’t love Eras more, the child was his heart and soul. 

S
o was his lovely mother, the newly-made vampire Starla, mated now to Jacob.  Now the three of them, Ahmose, Starla and Jacob, were accepted equally by Eras as parents.  It still shocked Ahmose how well it worked.  Male vampires were, by their very natures, jealous of another male near their women.  But Jacob tolerated Ahmose’s close relationship with his mate that required them to parent together, and although she was inseminated to begin the children, it was still an intimate relationship.

He was happy. 
Now, Starla was pregnant with the second of the three children prophesied by an empath who had helped guide them to this future. 
Another miracle
.

But he was here, across the globe, away from his people and land, away from his child and the one who would arrive soon, looking at the moon from the other side of the world.  He was happy, yes, ecstatically so…but he needed this respite.  Tonight was the first time he’d been alone for centuries, and, by the grace of the Mother, it felt good.

He upturned the glass and let the sparkling wine pour down his throat.  The soft buzz he’d been working on had calmed his tense body.  Relaxed, he looked back up at the moon and saw two women passing by, obviously out for a moonlight stroll on the warm sand.

Tipping his head in acknowledgement, he watched their appreciative smiles as they waved, their eyes locked on him.  He glanced down.  Ah, yes, he was naked
, and it wasn’t a completely accepted cultural norm here in America.  It was warm tonight and he had no reason to put clothes on, and didn’t want to, so he just smiled back and let them look.  As a first blood, and the leader of the children of the moon, he knew his body was spectacular. Just for them, he dropped a hand and ran it gently along his cock, which was partially filled. 

The women’s smiles widened.  So did Ahmose’s.  Looking down, he smoothed his fingers over the tip.  His body was fit and hard, and so was his cock
right now.

A lot of good that did
him
, since he had no one to share it with.  Pouring a fourth glass of wine, he watched the women as they moved past the beach house, still looking back, and admonished himself for such thoughts.

He was the luckiest man on Mother Earth and it was unacceptable that he should ask for more.  It was just that Starla and Jacob’s love was flaming, like a meteor, and it was hard to watch. 

Because he was ready to be in love
. 
He was ready for
a mate
.  A lot of long centuries had passed, and as leader of the children of the moon and a child of the Mother Earth, he’d been dedicated and content with his journey, but he’d always felt the absence of someone beside him to share the journey
with
him. 

As he looked back up at the moon, he asked its forbearance.  “Please allow this ungrateful son a moment of weakness.  I have been lonely but not alone.  Here, now, alone, finally, I can access my feelings and work through my troubles.  My children are everything to me, and I have no right to ask for m
ore.  Forgive me while I let myself ruminate for just a little while.  Then I will return home to welcome my new daughter.”

With a bowed head, he released his guilt and let himself enjoy the beauty of this beach cottage
outside of Los Angeles that had belonged to a lost sister of the moon, who was now gone forever.  It had been prepared for a vampire, so there was a safe place for daylight, and a large refrigerator so he could fill it with good food and wine and just stay here on the beach for a week.  He could breathe.

A sudden chirp interrupted his calm night, and he glanced down to see that Jacob was calling.  Ahmose picked up the phone and just stared at it for a few moments, then his thumb hovered over the button for
another  few moments before he hit it and held the phone to his ear.

“Jacob,” he said, his voice graveled from speaking so little for the past 24 hours.

“Ahmose, are you okay?  Starla is worried.  Koen told us you’ve lost Lamont’s trail, so we expected you to come home. But he told us not to expect you for a while.  He said, and I find this hard to believe, that you are on
vacation
.  You don’t
take
vacations, right?”

“I never have. 
The word doesn’t even have a place in my world.  But I find that at this time, I need some breathing room. I will be home shortly. Please assure my little Shoazan that I am well and she must not worry.  Our daughter must feel safe and loved at all times.”

“Well, she’s going to.  Ahmose, what’s wrong?  This isn’t like you.”

Ahmose sighed and turned his back on his beautiful moonlit scene.  He drew a long breath. 

“Jacob, I just wanted time to myself.  For the first time, I just want to have nothing and no one depending on me, needing me, wanting something.  I just need a break.”

Now Jacob was silent.  Then he said, “I get that. More than you know.  Take all the time you need, my friend.  We’re good here.  Starla is tired, but she’s well, and our daughter is in good spirits.  Everyone needs a mental day off.  Yours has been a long time coming.  Be well, and drink a lot of wine.”

Ahmose smiled.  “I will.  Don’t let our little mother worry.”

“I’ll keep her occupied.  Be safe.”

Jacob rang off and Ahmose dropped the phone onto a wicker chair.  He wouldn’t answer it for anyone now.   Officially, he was on
vacation
.

“God, these nights are long!” Luka moaned.  “I have always hated stake-outs.”

Mal snorted as she laughed.

“Like I don’t know that.  They’re even longer with you complaining about it all night.  Here, have another hot dog.”

Luka groaned, but he took the hot dog that was anything but hot anymore.  He shoved it into his mouth,
took a huge bite, and let his eyes wander back to the dimly lit dock.

“Nothing again.
  Let’s just get the fuck…”

That was the
first thing he remembered when Luka finally woke up sometime later.
The damned hot dog
. His eyes landed on the green-lit clock on the dashboard and he couldn’t seem to process it.  He knew what it was, but it didn’t make any sense.  Something had happened. 
What was it?

It took a moment to realize he was slumped over in
Mal’s car, something red oozed all around his leg. 
Shit
,
was he shot?

Carefully scooping the stuff onto a finger, he realized the blood looked odd. He held it closer,
then touched it to his tongue.  He let out a coarse laugh.

“Ketchup,” he whispered. 

But something had happened to him.  He wasn’t right.  He looked over to the driver’s seat, but it was empty, the driver’s side door wide open.  A sound had been intruding since he woke up and he realized it was the alarm dinging that the key was still in the ignition.

Where was Mal?

Pushing against the dashboard, Luka shoved himself out of the car and nearly hit the pavement. 
Oh, God! 
Shooting up to his temples, his hands wrapped around his skull and pressed hard against the pain.

His head hurt like a motherfucker.  Someone had hit him, and that was why he hurt so badly and had lost consciousness. 
But where was Mal?

Panic set in,
which felt odd, because Luka prided himself on always remaining calm.  He never panicked.  But he couldn’t find Mal, and nothing terrified Luka more than the idea of something happening to
her.

“Mal,” he tried to call out, but his volume was strangled by the pain in his head.

“Mal,” he tried to yell again, a little louder this time, scanning the area.  She wasn’t anywhere around at all.

Luka knew something had happened to her.  She would never have left him alone without help, and if she were nearby, she’d have answered.  He reached back into the car and grabbed his cell.

“Officer down,” he called into it. “I’ve been attacked and my partner is missing.  We’re at the South Port Docks in front of Gate 16.”

“We’re en route.  What
happened Luka?”

“I don’t know.  Someone attacked me. 
They knocked me out, and I just woke up a moment ago. Mal’s gone.”

“We’ll be there soon.  Do you need an ambulance?”

“Fuck. No. I’m gonna try her phone.  Thanks, Geraldo.”

Luka autodialed her number and heard her ringtone. 
God, her phone was still here.  The sound came from the driver’s side, so he rounded the front of the car, and he found it easily, kicked on the ground underneath the car. No doubt at all.  She’d been taken.

T
hey were wise enough to bind her before they took her from the site of the stake-out.  If they hadn’t, as soon as she was certain they couldn’t hurt Luka, she’d have gone ballistic on them.  She’d have taken them down so hard they would never have gotten up again. 

That
was the only reason they got her.  Mal had only agreed to come with them without trouble if they didn’t kill Luka.  It was her only option when she’d gotten the drop on one of them and held her gun on him to look up and see a second man holding his gun to the temple of an unconscious Luka.

“Someone wants to see you.  You come with us, he lives.  You don’t, I take him out right now,” the man holding on Luka said.

She’d dropped her weapon without delay.

Her hands bound tightly behind her, and blindfolded, Mal
knew that she was led into an elevator, based on the familiar pings and sounds, and the unexpected motion that made it clear they were going up.

“So, who’s requested the audience?” she asked.

“Shut up.  You’ll find out soon.”

Mal knew their voices already, and this was the one she wanted most, the asshole who
drew down on Luka.  He was going to be the first one she took out.

“
Uh,
you’re
the one escorting
me.
”  She was being a smart-ass, and she didn’t care. Luka was out of danger and that was all that mattered now.  “I think I’ve got a right to know.”

“I just want to smash her mouth.”

That was the other guy, the one who’d gotten the drop on
her
. 

“Shut the fuck up.  He doesn’t want her hurt.” 

Hmmm, that was interesting.  Whatever shit-face they were taking her to didn’t want her hurt?  Why?  Who the hell could it be? 

The floor bumped and stopped and she heard the doors swish open. 
Looks like she was going to find out soon.

Mal felt a hand firmly on her back, pushing her forward until it disappeared to yank the blindfold from her eyes.

On alert immediately, she scanned the one-eighty in front of her.  A big room, large windows, but blacked out with paint so she couldn’t see out of them.  An ancient desk made of metal so badly scarred she couldn’t tell what color it was.

A hand pulled her backward
s and she fell into a chair so hard that it nearly tipped over.