Out of the Dark (Forbidden Love) (31 page)

    
I won’t leave you
, Brea responded.

     I can’t fight her and protect you too
, Angel argued. 
Get in and try to wake Sebastian.  Do it
now.

     Brea reluctantly did as he asked.  She watched as Angel and Rhiannon moved to a more open section of the parking lot. 
She was surprised that Rhiannon was alone.  She must really be mad, Brea thought.  But it didn’t mean that she meant to fight fair.  Although Brea had confidence in Angel’s ability to fight, she worried.  Brea shook Sebastian desperately.  He had to wake up.  Rhiannon was a sick, twisted, and very powerful vampire.  She knew in her heart that Angel was stronger, but she didn’t trust Rhiannon to fight fair to save her own hide.

     Angel lunged at Rhiannon.  Rhiannon darted away.  The pair moved in a dangerous dance
of lunge and miss, growls and snarls escaping into the night.  A few spectators had begun to form a circle around them, and Brea worried for their safety.  She knew Angel would never deliberately hurt innocent people, but Rhiannon would.  She held no regard for human life.

     Brea left the safety of the truck to join the spectators.  The few were quickly growing into a large crowd.  “Who is that?” someone asked.  “Isn’t that Angel Knight, the Clan Leader?” someone else said. 
“Angel Knight? The rock star?”  Cheers erupted when Angel hit Rhiannon so hard that her head snapped back and her body spun around.  She did not fall, though.  Instead, she fired back a punch of her own, and Brea heard the sickening crunch of Angel’s nose breaking.  While he was stunned by the blow, Rhiannon swiped her claw-like fingernails across his chest.  The slashes immediately started to bleed out.

     Brea growled, but knew not to interfere.  She was too aware of the growing crowd around her.  She watched helplessly as Angel staggered.  The crowd moved to allow him room to get his balance.  He leapt for Rhiannon and knocked her back.  His teeth connected with her shoulder and he ripped as much flesh as he could from her.  The crowd cheered.

     Rhiannon shoved her hand forward and Angel went deathly still, then his body jerked and his muscles began to spasm out of control.  He fought it, but his knees buckled underneath him.

     “That’s dirty!” someone from the crowd shouted.  “She used a stun gun!” someone else yelled.  “You can’t do that!
” , “Dirty bitch!”   The crowd was quickly turning into an angry mob.  “That’s Angel,
the
Angel Knight.  We can’t let that
thing
do this to him!”

     Rhiannon threw herself on top and Angel
and bared her fangs for the killing blow.  “No!” Brea shouted.  The angry mob would not stand for it.  Dozens of people fell on top of the dueling pair.  All Brea could see was a tangle of arms and legs, all she could hear was screaming and shouted curses.  A horrendous wail pierced the night air, and everything went quiet.

     People began to move away as Brea pushed her way into the crowd.  One by one they moved, finally leaving on Angel and what was left of Rhiannon on the ground.  Brea gasped.  Rhiannon was without arms, legs, or a head.  The mob had quite literally torn her apart.  Brea raced to Angel’s side and threw her arms around him.

      She inspected him for any sign of injury.  All she found was his broken nose and healing scratches on his chest.  The crowd had moved back to allow them room.  Brea could hear the whispers and hushed voices of concern.  She looked at them.  They were all watching with apprehension and trepidation.  They had helped Angel.  These humans had stood by a vampire’s side and protected him.  One man stepped toward Angel and Brea, away from the rest of the crowd.

     “Is he alright?” the man asked.

     “Yes,” Brea answered.  The man held out his hand, and Brea took it.  Once she was standing again, the man held his hand out to Angel.  Stunned, but no worse for the wear, Angel accepted the man’s assistance getting to his feet.

     “Why?” Angel asked.  “She could have killed all of you.”

     “We could not stand by and watch her fight dirty.  You are something of a hero to many people in LA.  You are a good man, and we know it,” the man said.  The people gathered nodded in agreement.  “You are one of us,” he said.  “And when someone messes with one of us, they mess with all of us.”  A roar of cheerful approval erupted and Angel felt the moisture in his eyes.  He had never been so accepted before.

     “What the hell?” Sebastian said, stomping to Angel’s side.  “I go to the
car, and next thing I now all this is going on!  What happened?” he said, pointing to the remains of Rhiannon.

     Angel laughed.  “I’ll fill you in on the way home,” he told his friend.  Angel thanked the human crowd excessively, and walked to the truck.  The crowd followed until Sebastian drove out of the parking lot and onto the highway.  People still ran behind the truck until it was out of sight.

    
ther," men.  "le belied his tone.
protect the baby, but the men had arrived.
s losses melted away and was repl

     Brea sat by the edge of the pool, reading her newest novel.  So much had happened in the last year that it was good to finally be able to relax.  The sun was just setting, and she could barely wait for Angel to join her.  If anyone had asked her when she first came to LA what she would be doing now, Brea did not know what she would have said.  It certainly wouldn’t have been that she would be the mate and wife to a vampire, much less a famous rock star and Clan Leader.  She would have never thought that her best friend would be a werewolf, or that friend would be dating the hottest human on Angel’s security team.
  And, she never thought she would be a mother.

     She liked being a mother, she thought.  Although her pregnancy had moved quickly, her daughter had been born healthy and strong.  For two months, Brea had to consume an insane amount of blood to feed her child’s thirst, but Angel had been more than willing to donate.  He rather enjoyed it.  It was the donated blood that Brea hadn’t cared for.  Angel could not donate enough without making himself weak, and then he would have to feed from Brea, which would make her weak.  It was a vicious cycle, and the only way to break it was to drink blood secured from a local blood bank.

     Brea smiled and shielded herself as Ricco tossed Keelie into the pool.  She could hear the rest of her family inside, preparing for the evening.  They were her family now, she thought.  All of them.  Ricco, Rebel, Antonio, Gage, Sebastian, and Jacque.  They were all brothers to her.  Brea had grown up an only child, and it did her heart good to have so many people that loved her as much as she loved them.

    
I think we have a problem
, Angel’s voice called to her in her mind.

    
What now?
Brea asked.

    
Jade has done it again
, he sighed.

     Brea dropped her book and went inside.  Frieda was in the kitchen, cussing a blue streak.  She had a towel wrapped around her wrist, and Brea had no problem deciding what had happened.  Angel stood beside Frieda, doing his best to console her.

     “You must control her!” Frieda snapped.

     “We will talk to her,” Angel said.

     “That child needs a swift pop on the butt, that’s what she needs.”  Brea rolled her eyes when Frieda said it.  She knew there was no way anyone would ever lay a hand on her daughter.  Angel would never allow it, and he would never do it himself.

     “Jade,” Brea called out to her daughter.  The child was hiding in one of the cabinets.  She opened the door a little,
peaked through the crack, then closed it back.  Even though she was merely six months old, her vampire half grew at an alarming rate.  She was the size of a three year old, and had the vocabulary of a six year old.  “Jade, come out right now,” Brea demanded in her best imitation of her own mother’s irritated voice.

     Jade reluctantly left the assumed safety of her cabinet, but not going very far.  She stood in front of the counter with
her hands clasped in front of her, chagrin on her pretty little face.  Her unruly red curls spiraled around her pale face and dark green eyes.  Brea did her best to hide her pride in her daughter,  knowing she was supposed to be angry.

     “Why did you bite Frieda again?”

     “I don’t know,” Jade replied in her trilling soprano voice.

     “What did we tell you about biting people?”

     “Never do it without permission,” the little one mumbled.

     “Did Frieda give you permission?”

     “No,” she admitted.

     “Don’t you have something to say?” Brea demanded.

     “I’m sorry, Frieda.  Please forgive me?”

     Frieda sighed.  “You must control the urge to bite, little one,” she chastised.  “It is because I love you so much that I will forgive you.  But do not do it again.  It hurts and I don’t like it.”

     “Ok,” Jade said with defeat.  “Can I go play now?”

     “Go,” Brea said.  She watched her daughter run from the room with such speed that it was undeniable that she was half vampire.  She had gained all the strengths from both parents.  She was fast as lightning,
smart as a tack, she could relay thoughts with her mind, and yet she could walk in the midday sun without worry or fear.  She could eat regular food, but had a thirst for blood that would rival her father’s.  It was proving to be a task to convince her that she couldn’t sink those sharp teeth into anyone she wanted whenever she wanted.  And she had inherited her mother’s attitude.

     “She is certainly something,” Angel said with an adoring smile.

     “Yes she is,” Brea agreed, throwing her arms around his neck.  “What will we do with her?”

     “Same as I do with you,” he answered.  “Love her.  Cherish her.  Adore her.  Do anything we can to make her happy.”

     “You want to make me happy?” Brea asked.

     Angel raised one eyebrow,
then lifted Brea into his arms.  “Watch Jade,” he commanded Sebastian as he ran up the stairs into his and Brea’s room.

     Angel kicked the door shut and tossed Brea onto the bed.   Brea kissed him with fervor, loving his taste on her tongue. 
He returned her kiss with as much passion.  In mere moments, the two were naked and lavishing affection on each other. 

     Brea was pleased that the passion they shared had not dwindled over time.  In fact, she thought it might have gotten stronger.  She gasped when Angel took her nipple into his mouth, but then he tossed her off the bed.  Brea found herself pinned against the wall. 

     Angel stood behind her, his body pressed against the length of hers.  He reached around her to the center of her body and dipped his fingers in.   Determining that she was ready, he pushed into her with one smooth stroke.  Brea cried out for him and he responded by going faster. 

     As they reached their peak together, Brea inwardly wondered how she could have gotten so lucky with Angel. 
He was everything to her, and she was everything to him.  She had found what she was looking for, even if it had been in the most unlikely place.  No one would ever come between them.  He was strong, protective, and he adored both Brea and their daughter.  He had given Brea strength and love.  He was her angel.  Her Dark Angel.