Melted By The Vampires: A Paranormal Menage Romance (16 page)

Although I knew Abbott didn’t want my pity, looking at him across from me on the couch, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. Or maybe the feeling was just one of profound sadness. Warm track lighting in the living room revealed the faintest of dark circles beneath his coal-gray eyes, something I’d never seen before. I thought about how he probably hadn’t even been able to get his half-hour of rest a night considering all he had to worry about and think about. Not to mention the fact that I was sure he was still dealing with hurt over Dan’s betrayal.

After looking into his eyes for a moment, I took one of Abbott’s hands. “I’m so sorry that Dan did this to you. I know you must have trusted him completely at some point, and then he went and shattered that trust. It’s really horrible.”

Abbott just shrugged, giving me the faintest hint of a smile. “I’d be lying if I said that a small part of me won’t always be wounded. Dan and I were like brothers for a while. But at this point, I’ve really gotten over the majority of the hurt and shock I felt when I discovered Dan’s plan. Now I just want him destroyed. He’s too dangerous to let live, and he doesn’t deserve it, considering that I know for a fact that he’d snuff out your life without thinking if he were to find out that you tried to tell me the truth about who you really are, before I told you that I already know. Which
Dan
doesn’t know, if you follow.”

“I think I do, but about that... about Dan killing me if he found out that I’d tried to come clean with you.
Why
would he kill me, exactly?”

“Well, first let me explain that Dedrick, working with Dan, clumsily dropped you right on our doorstep in an attempt to have
you
do their dirty work and assassinate me for them, so they wouldn't have to lift a finger in the takeover. I’m guessing Dedrick probably would have done it fairly soon anyway, being that he’s been trying to take over the Darkness Coven without success for centuries and seemed to be getting a little desperate before all this came to a head.

“But, back to your question, once you were thawed and it became clear that you’d lost your powers, that’s when I think Dedrick and Dan had to go to their plan B, more or less forgetting about your role in the whole thing. Originally, Dan thought that, considering his increased strength, you’d only be able to kill
me
, and then he’d immediately kill you. But then when it became clear that your powers were gone, because surely you’d have tried to use them right away if you’d had them, I think he just kind of metaphorically shrugged. But, were he to find out that you’d tried to confess to me, potentially blowing his and Dedrick’s new plan, I’m sure he’d have no mercy. I think he likes the idea of keeping you around indefinitely for a plaything, but that would certainly change if he knew. I also think that right now, he guesses that you’re just having a little fun with us both while still plotting and planning to kill us while you wait to see if your powers return, and that’s exactly what we want him to think.”

“So, Dan found out all about me from Dedrick, but how did
you
find out all about me, my past, and what I was frozen to do?”

Caressing the back of my hand with his thumb, Abbott shrugged. “I learned bits and pieces from my spies in Saint Dedrick, who’ve been working for me, knowing what Dan’s been up to. So, when you showed up in your tank still frozen, I knew exactly who you were. Of course, not wanting Dan to know that I knew, I had to play like I suspected you were a gift from Cormack Blackthorn, and Dan hopped right on board with this, assuring me that my thinking was surely correct.”

“So... in all the bits and pieces you learned about me from what your spies were able to gather in Saint Dedrick... well, I’m sure you know about how everyone in my witch coven was murdered. And at first, I thought for sure that you and Dan had done it, or had at least allowed it, just because that’s what I was told, but now I feel like a fool for thinking that, about you, anyway. Because now I know in my heart that you could have never had anything to do with it. But for some reason, I just need to hear you say it. You didn’t have anything to do with the murders of my coven members, did you?”

Abbott’s expression became one of such clear pain and sympathy that my question was answered right then.

“No. I had nothing to do with the murders of your coven members. And neither did Dan. Those murders were the work of The Saints, and only done in an attempt to manipulate you. From what I’ve been able to gather, your boyfriend Clark had an idea to try to get you to kill Dan and me, but he knew you’d never do it without a reason. So, he convinced you that Dan and I had done the murders, but then, of course, the wheels fell off that plan when Clark himself was killed. Then, Dedrick decided that he’d only use you as some last-ditch resort, only after many years had passed without him being successful in killing me and Dan.”

I couldn’t help but feel like a fool for the second time.

“So, Clark just took advantage of my trust in him. I was an idiot to trust him in the first place.”

Abbott gave my hand a light squeeze. “It seems like we both have trusted people we shouldn’t have, but that doesn’t make us idiots. It just makes us humans with hearts that aren’t black like Clark’s, Dedrick’s, and Dan’s.” Pausing, Abbott winced slightly. “I hope that if you
have
already become pregnant, it isn’t with Dan’s child. Though if this is the case... we’ll just deal with it. Of course, even if a child’s father has a dark heart, that doesn’t mean the child will have one, too.”

Suddenly, I was miles beyond confused. Since Dan was working with Dedrick and The Saints, he
had
to know I was infertile, so now, his laughing fit of days earlier made a little more sense. He’d probably just become hysterical thinking of how ridiculous it was that two men were trying to impregnate an infertile woman, or at least
acting
like they were trying to, and only acting for the benefit of the other. Now it seemed clear that Dan had probably only said what he had about his ‘swimmers’ being faster to throw Abbott off the trail that he, Dan, knew the truth that I could never become pregnant.

But what was remarkable, and alarming, and downright perplexing to me was that it was now clear that in spite of all the information he had been able to gather about me, Abbott had no clue about my infertility. Maybe his spies just hadn’t gathered that little part, like maybe they weren’t around when Dedrick had told Dan.

Abbott gave my hand another gentle squeeze. “If you
are
already pregnant, I want you to be pregnant with
my
child, simply because I’ve fallen in love with you, and I think it would be a beautiful thing.” Frowning a bit, he paused, seeming to be hesitating, maybe trying to phrase what he wanted to say next. “But I’d be lying if I said that I’m not hoping to gain increased strength from impregnating you. And, in fact, I’m somewhat banking on that I already have, or soon will. If I can gain increased strength, which a vampire father does not very long at all after conception, then I’ll be able to deal with Dan and Dedrick quickly, freeing us to begin a life together. Though if it’s Dan who gets you pregnant...” Abbott exhaled in a rush. “Me trying to thwart their takeover is going to get a whole lot harder. With Dan already being physically stronger than me right now, him gaining an increase in strength is something I hardly want to think about. But even if that happens... even if that worst-case scenario has
already
happened and we just don’t know it yet... Please believe me, Harper, I will find a way to kill Dedrick, Dan, and The Saints. If they attack sooner than I’d like, maybe the love I feel for you will help me to gain strength all by itself; I don’t know. But I promise you I won’t be killed, and I promise you I’ll do what I need to do to ensure that we can start a happy life together.”

I didn’t know what to say, or rather, I did, but I just didn’t know
how
to say it. But I knew I needed to tell Abbott the truth about my infertility.

Forcing myself to remain looking into his eyes, I cleared my throat. “I need to tell you something. I would love to have a baby with you, and family is so, so crucially important to me, since I never had much of one growing up. But honesty is important to me, too. So—”

“I
am
being honest with you... about everything I’ve said. I don’t care if you become pregnant with my child or Dan’s first. I hope to God it’s mine, but either way, we’ll make things work. Either way, we’ll be a family. Just have faith that we’ll get through this together. Please just believe in me. Whether I gain strength and attack Dedrick and Dan, or whether they attack me first, this will all be over soon, and then our family life can begin. If I can organize things in a way where there’s minimal risk of people in the city being hurt, like if I can get Dan and Dedrick outside of the city at the same time, I may even lead all my fighters in an attack against them and all The Saints at once. But no matter what happens, just know that I’m not going to leave you. I’m not going to allow myself to be killed.”

“But... Abbott, I have to tell you something really important.”

I took a deep breath, deciding just to blurt it out.

CHAPTER 12

Before I could say two simple words,
I’m
and
infertile
, Abbott’s phone began going off, and he yanked it out of his pocket.

“Sorry. One second. This could be Noah wanting to keep me posted about Dan’s whereabouts.” Abbott answered the call, had a brief conversation, only saying a few words, one of them being
dammit
, and then hung up. “That
was
Noah. Dan is still occupied hunting around for a Saint that was never really even spotted, having to play the part of a leader that is actually trying to keep them out instead of working with them, but now we have a real Saints problem. Three of them were seen lurking around the home of one of our council members, right inside city limits, but they were able to escape. Another was found inside a warehouse west of downtown and was captured. I’ll want to interrogate him without Dan knowing, and this is going to take some work. So, I need to go right away, but I’ll be back to visit you alone, as soon as I’m able.” After rising from the couch, Abbott took my face in his hands and gave me a hasty kiss. “Try to get some sleep.”

He was flying out of my living room before I could say a word.

Getting some sleep proved near-impossible that night. I just tossed and turned, trying to digest everything Abbott had told me in between fits of anxiety and guilt over the fact that he thought I was actually capable of giving him a child. By morning, all my fretting was manifesting in tears, and I took a shower, sniffling all the while. It was only afterward, when I’d dressed in jeans and a cozy, oversize sweatshirt, that I began to feel more tired than wired, so I got back into bed and slept until noon.

After what Abbott had told me, I expected some calamitous fight to break out in the city at any second, but strangely, the next week or so passed completely uneventfully. Dan came to visit me alone once, just to talk, he said, but he was called away by Abbott within a minute of arriving at my apartment. Two nights later, pretty much the same thing happened, only with Abbott showing up at my place alone, only to be called away by Dan, who claimed there was some sort of an emergency with a captured spy getting free.

But before Abbott left, I managed to ask him something that had occurred to me that day. I wanted to know why Dan hadn’t told me of his plans and his involvement with Dedrick and The Saints. Because after all, he apparently still thought I was still working for them, too.

Abbott said he wasn’t sure, but that it was probably just because he simply hadn’t gotten around to it yet, or just hadn’t had the chance to, being that Dan and I had so infrequently been alone. I supposed this made sense, realizing that maybe Dan had been leading up to it the night he’d brought me the chicken sandwich and Abbott had come in before things could go any further.

Just moments after I’d asked Abbott this question, when he was called away, I regretted even having wasted my precious seconds with him on something fairly unimportant, because that was time I could have used to tell him the truth about my infertility.

Later that day, he sent me a long text.
I think Dan knows that I know something, and I don’t think it’ll be long before he and Dedrick attempt some sort of an attack. It’s occurred to me that Dan could even attempt to attack me the next time the three of us are in the bedroom together, but I don’t think he will. He’ll want the whole city to see him take me down, but I won’t let him. I WILL defeat him and Dedrick somehow, Harper, so that you and I can be happy together. Please continue to have faith. Also, please delete this text immediately.

Deleting his text was easy, of course, but continuing to have faith was a little harder. I did believe in him, though, and no matter how much longer things continued on the way they were, I was determined not to lose hope. The hope that he would eventually kill Dan and Dedrick, anyway. But the hope of our happiness together once I finally revealed my infertility to him was a little harder to muster.

The day after Abbott sent me the text, he and Dan joined me at my apartment for a bedroom session. It took every ounce of my strength to act “normal” and not show any sign of disgust toward Dan, but I managed to do it. Knowing for sure that he at least hadn’t been responsible for the murders of my coven members helped. As did the fact that now more than ever, he and Abbott seemed to be competing to see who could bring me to the most powerful climax.

Over the course of that week, Maria asked me multiple times what Abbott and I had discussed the night we’d had our long discussion, but I kept feeling like it wasn’t safe to tell her. If she slipped up just once, just for a second, and told someone else, even completely on accident, and if that someone happened to be one of the few vampires in town loyal to Dan, I knew that could put her in serious danger. I had no doubt Dan would try to have her killed immediately. For another thing, Noah obviously hadn’t clued her in yet as to what was going on, and I figured he must have had a good reason for it, maybe the same one as mine. So, I just kept putting her off, and eventually she stopped asking, though at times, she seemed a bit miffed. I figured this was a small price to pay when it came to keeping her safe.

A few more days passed. Another bedroom visit from Abbott and Dan together. Dan had become far less jokey and decidedly more serious, and this night was no exception. After he’d brought us both to a climax, he just sat on the floor by the bed, seemingly off in his own little world, while Abbott made love to me from behind, making me moan with each one of his thrusts. I wondered if Dan was having second thoughts about his plan to kill Abbott, maybe even an actual attack of conscience, if he even had one. But then again, it seemed more likely that his and Dedrick’s planned takeover was becoming imminent, and he was just preoccupied with details.

Two days before Christmas, Maria called me unusually early, being that she tended to sleep in. I asked her what was up, and she hesitated before saying just a single word, drawing out the vowel.

“So...”

“‘So’ what?”

Again, she hesitated. “So... maybe we should meet up in person to talk. How about breakfast at the cafe? Sylvia’s draping strands of jewels over the back of one of my kitchen chairs as we speak, so I could meet you in the building lobby in five.”

For some reason, I suddenly just knew that Maria
knew
. Everything. But it wasn’t just what she’d said about wanting to meet up in person, it was something about the tone of her voice, too. I told her I’d meet her down in the lobby in three.

When I arrived, I found her already there, waiting by a large potted fern, and we began making our way out of the building, past small clusters of people waiting at the different elevator bays, other clusters of people milling about the lobby, talking to each other with foam cups of coffee in their hands.

Once we were outside in the brisk, wintry air, I spoke to Maria in a low voice, even though there wasn’t anyone immediately nearby. “I think there are too many listening ears at the cafe. Let’s get in your car and take a drive to the Christmas angels or something.”

We did just that, arriving within minutes, and it was only then, after Maria had parked the car in the little lot adjacent to the light display, that she finally let loose with her characteristic rapid free-flow of words.

“So... well. So, you’ve been keeping quite a few big secrets. And not that I blame you at all. I’m still just trying to wrap my brain around all this. That you were at first kind of working for The Saints, and that you were actually going to kill Abbott and Dan, and that Dan would have absolutely deserved it, but not for the reason that you would have been killing him for. Obviously, he would have deserved it for what he’s planning to do to Abbott, which... my mind is really still spinning. Noah only told me all this just about an hour ago, after making me swear on my life not to discuss everything with anyone but you. And I get that you both have probably just been trying to protect me, but honestly, you both could have told me sooner. Like I’m really just going to blurt out in one of the shops or the cafe, ‘Hey, everyone? Did you all know that Dan and The Saints are actually working together?’”

I sighed, unbuckling my seat belt and turning toward her. “Well, I didn’t think you’d be
that
careless about it. But everyone makes mistakes and slips up sometimes. Lord knows I almost gave myself away a few times when I initially met Abbott and Dan. Though... well, I guess it wouldn’t
really
have been giving myself away, since they both knew who I really was all along. They just didn’t know that each other knew, and hopefully that’s still the case with Dan. Abbott thinks he has a few clues about everything, though, and that he and Dedrick are probably going to attack soon.”

“Well, if and when they do, Noah and so many of the strongest vampires in the city are going to be right behind Abbott, no matter what happens. Our vampires may not be as physically strong as The Saints, but we make up for that in numbers, which will help. I even wish I could help myself.”

“Me, too. I’d do anything to help Abbott. I really love him. I had a dream last night that he was holding me, and I had the strongest sense... this deep-down knowing... that he’s the man I’m supposed to be with for the rest of my life.”

It was true, and the dream had been even more powerful and vivid than I was able to describe.

“I’ll do anything to stop him from getting killed, or to help him fight Dan, Dedrick, and The Saints.”

“Well, Noah said something about you being a witch or something before you were frozen. Don’t you have some kind of powers you can use if there’s a fight?”

With a rush of embarrassment, I realized that my powers, or the lack of them, had hardly crossed my mind in weeks. I supposed that when they initially hadn’t returned, and then I’d started to think that Dan and Abbott hadn’t been behind the murder of my coven, I’d sort of just given up on my magic, even though I hadn’t made a conscious decision to.

“Well, I
had
powers, in the past, but they don’t seem to have survived my freezing and thawing for some reason.”

“Well, have you been trying to get them back? I mean... I don’t even know exactly
how
a person would try to get magical powers back, but have you been? I’m sure there’s at least
something
you can do to try to get them back.”

Turning my gaze to the lighted angel display in front of us, I sighed. “Not really. Basically all I can do is just this...” I extended a palm toward the windshield. “And then nothing happens.”

Except that this time, something actually did happen. Not a second after I’d said the word
happens
, a thin stream of silvery light shot from my palm, seemed to go right through the windshield, leaving a tiny hole, and then struck one of the lighted angels, instantly seeming to short-circuit it, making all the tiny light bulbs go dark.

After gasping along with Maria, I just stared at the angel for a second. “I guess my powers just came back.”

“And apparently, they’re strong enough to kill an angel.”

We soon left the park when another car pulled into the lot. We didn’t want the occupants to notice that the angel I’d struck was smoldering a bit and somehow connect that to the little hole in Maria’s windshield.

For the rest of the morning, we drove around the city, talking about everything and trying to find a suitable private place for me to practice my power. We didn’t really find anything, though, and with both of us having missed breakfast, by eleven we were both starving. We ducked into a tiny, dimly-lit, four-table restaurant on the south-side of the city, instantly ceasing our conversation about Dan and The Saints when we saw that three of the tables were occupied.

Over grilled ham-and-cheese sandwiches and steaming bowls of vegetable soup, we discussed “safe” things to talk about in public, such as Claire and her new front tooth, what Noah and Maria were giving her for Christmas, and a new outdoor ice skating rink that was going to be opened in January, just a few blocks from the café. But Maria seemed distracted, and I could tell she was still trying to think of places where I could practice my magic and shake the rust out without anyone seeing us. I was a bit distracted by this thought myself.

When we left the restaurant, Maria suggested that we just go back to our building. “Not like you’ll be able to practice your power inside either of our apartments, because I imagine a beam of bright light shooting out the side of a building might be visible to people even on the ground below, but maybe we can try the basement. It’s all solid brick and steel, but even if you manage to shoot through that, it’s nothing but dirt on the other side.”

The basement, which was completely empty of people and nearly empty of things except for various ducts and pipes, turned out to be the perfect place to get back in the swing of doing my light beam trick. By early afternoon, I was shooting beams just as easily as I ever had, and they were just as bright as they’d ever been. A few of them actually did go right through the brick-and-steel walls, leaving tiny little holes that looked like bullet holes.

As we rode the elevator back up to the lobby, Maria said she was sure I could help in a fight with The Saints. “Not that I’m entirely okay with the idea of you being close to danger or anything, but maybe you could shoot your magic at The Saints from a fairly safe distance or something.”