Until the Sun Falls from the Sky (56 page)

Hello, my pet,
he called to her.

Hello, darling,
she replied.

She meant it, calling him
darling.

He smiled back.

Avery came through the door.

“A moment, Lucien.”

Lucien stopped, his eyes going to Avery, his control on his patience slipping.

“I’ll just head outside,” Kate murmured, slid past Avery and Lucien and out the door, closing it behind her.

Lucien leveled his gaze on Avery, warning, “I have very little time and less patience.”

“Only a moment,” Avery replied quickly.

“Then take your moment,” Lucien allowed.

“Gregor requests a meeting.”

Lucien held his eyes but didn’t expose his reaction.

Gregor was a member of The Council. Lucien had known him for years but, even so, he didn’t know him at all. He could be ally, he could be enemy.

Centuries ago, Gregor had shocked all vampires by denouncing his mortal mate during The Hunt. He was the only vampire to do this. Many didn’t understand Gregor’s actions, however Lucien did. If Maggie had lived, for her, he would have considered it. It was fortunately unfortunate that this decision never needed to be made.

Lucien, having had a mortal mate himself, could believe Gregor denounced his mate to give her a longer mortal life, even if they had to live the sudden brevity without each other.

This could mean that all these years, Gregor was holding resentment about the loss of his mate. This meaning he desired vampires to have their freedoms restored, to have what he lost, if only the taming. It could also mean that, having lost his, that resentment could have turned bitter and he wished no other vampire to mate with mortals, not even for a taming.

The only thing Lucien had to go on with Gregor was that he’d taken a young mortal into his care after her parents were assassinated. Lucien had never met the girl who now was a woman. However he had heard talk that Gregor was devoted to her in his way. The vampire was cold but Lucien sensed he wasn’t unfeeling. Further, Gregor’s son, Yuri was attached to his father’s ward, perhaps unhealthily. Or at least The Dominion would feel that way.

This could work in his favor if Gregor wished his son to be free to claim the mortal child he raised not only to keep her in the family but also to keep her alive for eternity.

“Arrange it,” he ordered Avery.

“With Stephanie and Cosmo,” Avery added and Lucien’s gaze sharpened on his face.

“Why would he wish Teffie and Cosmo to be there?”

“I’ve no idea. He just does.”

Lucien was silent a moment.

He didn’t like that Gregor wished to speak with him and his two closest friends who would be his two chief lieutenants should hostilities escalate. Further, having all of them there would mean he would be forced to leave Leah unprotected as, at that juncture, he did not feel he could trust another vampire enough to add to her security detail.

This could be a plot. It could also bode bad tidings. Or it could mean further inroads into The Council.

He wouldn’t know unless he took the chance and took the meeting.

His protection of Leah primarily involved his control of information shared with her, her interaction with vampires who might wish to frighten her into distrusting their culture, including Lucien, thus driving her emotionally away from him and, most importantly, her sleep.

Edwina and Leah herself would see to it that she did not slumber while he was absent.

Leah was not immune to fear but she’d demonstrated more than once that she trusted him and she further admitted, gratifyingly, that she felt safe with him. If vampires were to approach with the intent to scare her, she might get frightened but she’d await him to explain and make her feel safe.

Lucien did not fear for her experiencing bodily harm. Being Lucien, no vampire alive would be foolish enough to harm her physically. Except Katrina and his ex-mate only had the courage to act when pushed by emotion she was too weak in the heat of the moment to control. Further, Katrina had made it clear through copious communications with anyone who would listen that her emotion had shifted from anger irrationally directed at Leah to anger at Lucien. She was no longer a threat.

But it would be Lucien who told her, eventually, of the differences of their Arrangement. It would be he, perhaps, who would share with her about Maggie. And it was unlikely she would be approached by another vampire who wished to drive a wedge between them in the time it would take to have this meeting.

Making his decision, he repeated, “Arrange it.”

Avery nodded.

Lucien dismissed him by moving his gaze to Leah.

He wanted no further delays. The sooner the meeting with his family was conducted, the sooner he could get them on their way.

Therefore, he called,
Tell your family good-bye, sweetling, and come to me.

It was an order but not mind control. And he was pleased to see Leah turn her head to look at him, tip it to the side then give him a small smile. Then he watched as she did as she was told.

Lucien returned Avery’s farewell and Leah passed Avery on her way in, stopping to get up on her toes to brush her lips to his cheek. Then she came through the door, the small smile still on her face.

“Is everything okay?” she asked as she arrived at him.

Not even close,
he thought, studying her.

She was beautiful. Even more beautiful than Maggie. And like Maggie, Leah’s beauty had depth. It was in the inquisitiveness of her eyes that didn’t hide the warmth, a warmth she felt upon seeing him. It was in the hint of concern she also didn’t hide. Concern because she knew he was not pleased his family had arrived unannounced but further he’d also taken her away without explanation before she could encounter a single one of them. It was in her bearing. The way she wore her clothes. The way she felt about her family. It was his knowledge that she could and would say or do practically anything and most of it he would find interesting or amusing. And none of it he would ever find boring.

Until the sun falls from the sky.

The words of the Ancient Claiming Ceremony hit his brain.

Any immortal would seek these things in his mate. Beauty, depth, warmth, concern but more. Eternity was just that and that was a very long time. Any man would wish his mate to surprise him, amuse him, interest him and never, ever bore him.

If they had five years or five hundred, Leah would never bore him.

He knew this in that instant right to the depths of his soul.

Until the sun falls from the sky.

“Lucien?” she called softly, her voice warm too, inquisitive, concerned. She moved into him and laid a hand light on his chest. “Is everything okay?”

Until the sun falls from the sky.

Yes. Kate was correct. He needed to discuss things with Leah as a priority.

Finally, he answered, “They will be, pet. We’re going home now to have lunch with my family. However, I need to speak with you before we return.”

“Okay.” She was still talking softly and getting closer. When she did, his arms slid around her.

She relaxed into him.

Yes. He had her. All of her. His.

Finally.

Until the sun falls from the sky.

“So, uh…” she broke into his thoughts when he didn’t speak, “are we actually going to
speak?
Or are we going to stand here staring at each other?”

Lucien relaxed then grinned and told her, “I could stand here and stare at you for some time, sweetling, but I suppose we should speak.”

At his grin, she relaxed deeper into him. At his words, even deeper and her face went soft.

He liked that. All of it.

And all of it was his. Only his.

Until the sun falls from the sky.

He drew in breath and addressed the matter at hand.

“At home are my children, Julian and Isobel. My mother, Magdalene. My father, Etienne. And Julian’s mother, Cressida.”

She looked into his eyes with interest until the last. When he mentioned Cressida he saw something cut through her features before she wiped her face blank. And what he saw cutting through features he did not like. He did not like that she felt it and he did not like that her feeling it meant he felt it as well.

“Leah, sweetheart, what we had was a very long time ago,” he assured her and this was true, for mortals. For vampires, seeing as he ended the physical side of his relationship with Cressida only fifty years ago, it was not.

“Okay,” she said quietly.

“There is nothing there,” he told her.

“Then why is she at our house?”

Our
house.

Until the sun falls from the sky.

“I mean, um…” Leah went on, “I don’t know how vampires roll but the ex isn’t normally in on surprise family visits unless that family is a little bit weird.”

Lucien again grinned. “Vampires are the same way.”

“Well then?” she prompted.

“Cressida is…” he searched for a word, “unusual.”

Her eyes slid away and she muttered, “Great.”

His arms gave her a squeeze and he regained her gaze.

“It is your home, Leah,” he dipped his face closer to hers and stated, “
Our
home. She will respect me in it and I will make certain she respects you.”

He watched her brows draw together. “She wouldn’t?”

“Cressida is unpredictable.”

“Great part two,” she again muttered.

“I’ll need you to have patience with her, my pet. And I’ll need you be cautious around her. She will attempt to goad you. Take the high road.”

Leah stared up at him. Then she whispered, “Uh… something to know about me. I’m not very familiar with the high road.”

This time Lucien smiled. “I am aware of that but this time, you’ll need to embark on an adventure and discover it.”

She smiled back, humor lighting her eyes, making them luminescent, as she whispered, “Embark on an adventure.”

Lucien very much wanted to savor the amusement he gave to Leah but he didn’t have the time.

So he continued, “Cressida will be irritating. She will say things, perhaps even do things that might be maddening or even hurtful. Do your best to ignore her. I’ll deal with her and I promise to talk through with you anything you may have questions about after she leaves.” He waited for her nod, received it and went on, “My father is another matter.”

Her head tipped to the side. “Your father?”

“We do not share a close relationship,” he disclosed.

“Oh,” she whispered.

“Not even slightly,” he went on.

“Oh,” she repeated on a whisper.

“I do not like him. I do not respect him. And I do not trust him. He has reached out to Isobel and therefore she brought him to our home. I’ve had words with Bel. But I cannot know his intentions. He may be charming. He may be condescending. Either way, you must treat him with respect no matter what.”

“Okay.” She was still whispering.

Lucien’s arms gave her another squeeze. “No matter what, Leah. I’ll do my best to control him but, like Cressida, he’s uncontrollable and unpredictable. The only thing I can ask is that
you
control your reactions.”

“I’ll control my reactions, Lucien.”

After her immediate response, he studied her again. The inquisitiveness was gone. The warmth muted. The concern evident.

He did not like this but he nodded.

“I also ask you not to share anything about you and me,” he went on.

Leah blinked. Then she asked, “What?”

“Nothing about us, Leah. They know I live with you. They know you are my concubine. They know I hold deep regard for you. Any personal information is not theirs to have. Not your nightmares. None of your abilities. Not what you are to me.”

He felt her body stiffen and she asked quietly, “What I am to you?”

“That we’re lovers.”

Understandable confusion suffused her face and she started, “But –”

“It is none of their concern.”

“Of course not,” she replied. “But won’t they know that already?”

“They would make that assumption,” he lied. “I simply wish you to avoid any discussion about it. Any at all.”

Her head tipped to the side again and the confusion in her features increased. “Why would they discuss it?”

“Again, Cressida and my father are uncontrollable and unpredictable. They may bring it up to provoke you. Don’t be drawn in and if I ask you to leave the room, you do it. Immediately.”

She stared at him a moment before she admitted, “This is kind of freaking me out, Lucien.”

His arms gave her another squeeze and his neck bent so he could touch his mouth too briefly to hers. When he lifted his head, he held her eyes.