The Young Vampire Mate: The Airendell Chronicler Diaries - Book 1.5 (9 page)

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We spend the next three days in hell.  All of us, but especially Morna and Luca.  When a human is exposed to Stone Cold vampire venom it is extremely painful.  The changes the venom causes the human body are horrific and unquestionably permanent.  I have persuaded him to leave the room a few times to get ice to pack Morna’s body in when she was burning up from the Change.  And now he has finally left again to go steal some blood from a couple of blood banks.  Luca is terrified that Morna will wake up in a deep blood lust like he did.  He won’t take chance on her getting away from him and attacking some helpless person.  Morna kept him from committing such a horrible act by keeping him in a binding spell and hunting animals for him to drain their blood.  Luca will do everything in his power protect his beloved in the same way.

When I first arrived, I wanted to examine the bite wound and if a vampire could blush, my brother in law would have blushed bright red.  He exhales and looks me squarely in the eyes, “I was loving her with my mouth.” 

I blushed enough for both of us and mutter, “So you didn’t actually bite her, more like exposed her flesh to those sharp teeth?”  Lucian nods and gently mops perspiration from Morna’s brow as she moans and writhes on the bed.

“Regardless of my intent, I hurt her, Breena.  I have forced her to become the same kind of beast that I am.”  The pain I see in Luca’s eyes rocks me back on my ass, literally.  Shit! Love between true mates is truly a double edged sword.

“She’s going to be fine.  She certainly won’t blame you for this.  If I know my sister and her appetite for you, I suspect she was urging you on.”  Luca won’t look at me so I know it’s true.  We turn our attention to trying to make Morna comfortable.  Brigid showed up with strong drugs to help take the edge off the pain Morna experiences, but it has still been hell for my little sister.

By the third day I am absolutely exhausted from helping Luca care for Morna and from being inundated with her agony, her fear and the confusion of the nightmares.  Luca had told me about the nightmares he endured when he was changed and I hate to see my sister dealing with them.  Finally, Luca convinces me that the worst has past and I should go back to my suite to rest.  Before I leave I remember my encounter with George Welborn in the elevator.  I tell Luca about it and that he’s probably Brigid’s true mate.

Luca smiles, “Well, he’s certainly in no danger from me as long as he doesn’t try to hurt Morna.”

“I know, I just wanted to warn you.  Besides, I don’t think he would attack either one of you after I spoke to him.  I didn’t tell him that we are Spell Weavers, but I am hoping Brigid will do that for us.  He’s her mate so it’s her place to tell him.”  Luca never takes his eyes off of my sister when he nods.  I walk over to him and I slip my arms around his waist.  He wraps me in a comforting embrace before I whisper, “She’s fine, brother.  Probably better than fine.  Stop beating yourself, Lucian Michaels.”  I snicker when a bawdy thought occurs to me, “You don’t have to worry about hurting her during sex any longer.”  He looks down at me shakes his head before he gently slaps my backside and tells me to be good.  I just laugh and remind him how like my sister I am and that being good is not something either of us do well.

As I am leaving their bedroom I make a joke about not wanting to be in their shoes when they have to explain over and over how Morna came to be exposed to his venom.  I am shocked and pleased by my brother in law’s response.  “Fuck em.  What my mate and I do is no one’s business.”

I grin and say, “Morna has really had really good effect on you in this incarnation.”

He grins back at me before saying; “Breena, she’s always been an amazing woman, but now… She’s beautiful, funny, smart as hell, honest, caring, sexy as fuck, and so carnal and earthy she makes my blood boil.  I have never loved her more.”

“Well that’s good.”  I grin like a very happy idiot.  “This new Morna is good for you too.  You have changed for the better.  You no longer act like you have a giant stick up your ass,” I taunt before I scoot out of their bedroom.  I can hear him chuckling and feel his amusement mingle with his love, lust and admiration for my sister vie for dominance over his guilt over Changing her.

I go back to my room and shower and then fall into bed, buck naked and sleep like a dead person for almost twelve hours.

CHAPTER SEVEN

My dreams are again filled with my potential mate, but this one is different, more real.  I straddle his hard body and cover his throat and chest with eager kisses.  I am making my way down his body, I want to taste him.  To share my pleasure in touching him, tasting him…

I am rudely dragged away by my hair before I can taste him.  “Shit, Breena!  Wake your ass up, woman!  It’s me, Fionn MacLeod!”

That snaps me out of it.  I blink several times and realize I am straddled over my best friend’s body and we are both naked.  “What the hell are you doing here, Fionn?” I gasp.  “Shit, I almost…”

“Yeah, I know what you almost did.  Get off of me, baby.  Shit, I have never wanted anyone more than I want you right now.  Goddammit!  I need a cold shower!”  His voice is gruff and angry sounding and I scamper off of him quickly, pulling the sheet around my naked body.  I watch as my best friend quickly bolts for the bathroom and I hear the shower running.  He yelps, presumably when he gets under the spray of cold water.  I smirk. Been there, done that.

I take advantage of Fionn being out of the room to dress quickly and call Morna’s cell.  She’s up and around, and apparently not suffering from rampant blood lust.  Almeda and Ari are due to arrive at their suite shortly.  Luca and I are discussing Morna’s condition while she’s showering.

I suddenly realize I am no longer alone in the bedroom.  I turn to face Fionn and he’s looking more than a little freaked out.  “Luca, I better go.  Fionn showed up to see me and I think he overheard enough to be truly stressed.”

Fionn makes a bee line for me and wraps his arms around me, “Baby, stressed don’t even begin to cover it.  Morna Glynn is a vampire?  Has our whole fucking world gone crazy?”

I hug him back and mutter, “Not yet, but I got a feeling it’s going to before it’s all said and done.”

Fionn pulls back and looks at me, “You really okay, baby?  I’ve been sleeping beside you in the nude for almost six hundred years and you never, ever went all sexy seductress, love machine on me before… well, until lately.”

“Well, hell stud; you think it might have something to do with over eight hundred years of suppressed sexuality and being close to meeting my mate?  I was right in the middle of one those dreams and your hot body right there with me, all naked and luscious.”  I shiver and blush.  I’ve never hid the fact that I think Fionn is hot from him, but I have never been so forthright in describing his physical appeal to me.

Fionn chuckles and kisses my cheek, “Yeah that might do it.”

“What are you doing here, Fionn?”

“I was worried about you.  I been having some weird dreams about you and Morna.  Or at least I think it is Morna that I have been dreaming about.  Is she a big, beautiful Amazon-like woman in this incarnation?”

I smirk, “Yep that would describe my little sister.”

Fionn scratches his head, “Well, I guess the pain and torture you two have been enduring is her Changing into a goddamned vamp?”

I nod again.  What else is there to say?  That pretty much sums it up in a nutshell.  Leave it to Fionn MacLeod to cut through all of the crap and go to the heart of any matter.  That’s why I have always adored this man!  I look at him irritably though because I wish he had stayed away for a while.  His being here when my hormones are going crazy in anticipation of meeting Damian is really, really confusing me.

Fionn gets this hurt look on his face and says, “Goddammit, Bree!  You maybe found your mate and now you are wishing I would go away!  What the hell, woman?”

I can’t hide my shocked reaction.  “You reading my damned thoughts, Fionn MacLeod?” I demand angrily.

He blushes and says, “Yeah.  It’s a little talent that keeps getting stronger.  I haven’t told you about it because you usually tell me exactly what you are thinking about, so I haven’t seen the need in telling you.”

“Oh no, that’s not something you tell your best friend.  Being a fucking mind reader is no big deal at all,” I snort sarcastically. 

Fionn takes my hands and leads me over the sofa in my suite.  “Look, baby, I should have told you.  But I didn’t want you acting differently around me.  Even my Mom and my sister act differently around me since I told them.”

“Fionn MacLeod, you stupid son of a bitch!  I have told you everything about me my whole damned life!  Always!  How could you keep this from me?”

“I feel like a freak, baby.  I didn’t want you to see me that way.”

I pull Fionn to me and he nuzzles into my chest as I lovingly rub his shoulders.  “Fionn, I would never see you as a freak, caraid.”  I kiss the top of his head and he pulls me into his lap but remains nuzzled into my chest.

Fionn snorts.  “God, I hate this Damian bastard already.  He’s your damned true mate and I am left in the supporting role of caraid, just a fucking friend!  I am going to lose you completely when you two hook up.  You are my other half, Breena.  You have been for centuries.  And it won’t work after you become his other half.  You won’t need me like you do now, and he’s a vamp, he sure as hell isn’t going to put up with us, I mean the way we are with each other.  We have all of the intimacy of lovers without the sex.  There‘s no way in hell he will allow that.  Those bastards are crazy possessive and jealous when it comes to their mates.”                Fionn pulls back and looks me in the face.  “I was missing you so bad, and already mourning what I know I am losing with you.  So I wove a finding spell and came to you.  You were asleep, so crawled in bed with you.”  He kisses me cheek and mutters; “I never realized what a needy little fuck I have become until now.”

I laugh and kiss him back, chastely but enthusiastically.  “You aren’t a needy fuck!  At least not any more than I am.  And you’re right.  Things probably will change between us and I hate the thought of it too.  You have been my other half for so long.  We have filled a need in each other’s lives and it’s been wonderful.  But Fionn, don’t you ever want more?”

He smirks and raises an eyebrow at me as though to say; “Seriously?”  He cups my face and says; “Breena, I am a man.  A damned man-whore, in fact.  It’s been a perfect set up for me.  I can bed any woman I want and I always have you when I need my partner, my other half.  Someone who loves me no matter how stupid or insensitive I act.  Someone who needs me too.  But when you mate up with that damned vamp, I am going to lose you.”  He snorts and rolls his eyes.  “I am a selfish fuck.”

“No, you will never lose me, Fionn.  Our relationship will change, but we will always be important to each other.  We will always be there for each other, just maybe not in the same way.  For instance, the crawling in bed with me naked is definitely going to have to stop.”  I blush when I think about what I was doing earlier and what happened between us at my house in New Orleans.  “In fact, in light of what’s going on with me, it should probably stop now.”

Fionn nods, “Yeah, you are probably right.  If that happens again, I won’t be strong enough to stop you and you won’t forgive me if I make love to you while you are in the midst of some hormone frenzy over your potential mate.”  He smiles wickedly at me and says, “I’d love to taste your sweet pussy again, but I won’t risk losing you to do it.”

I giggle like a damned teenage girl for some reason.  “Asshole, of course I would forgive you, but it would really complicate our situation even more.  And it’s definitely the wise move for you to keep your face out of my pussy, sweet or not.”  We both laugh until we are near tears.  Finally, we are just holding each other tightly when Fionn breaks the peaceful silence between us.

“You know my inner man-whore is really pissed at me for taking the honorable high road in this situation.  That little stunt you pulled in bed just proved what I have always known; my Breena is one hot little sex kitten.  At least you will be when you finally decide to release that iron control you have kept yourself under for all of these centuries.”

I snort and get up off of his lap.  Talking about this is making me uncomfortable.  Bullshit! It’s making you horny and you don’t want to be tempted, Breena Glynn!

Fionn chuckles and I throw a pillow from the other sofa at him.  “Asshole, stay out of my head!”  I grin at my friend and say, “Get your boots on, stud.  We are going to get a steak.  A big assed steak and a few margaritas.”

“Kind of early for you isn’t it?”

I shrug.  “Maybe, but my internal clock is all messed up and Luca said Morna is fine, so I want to relax with my friend.”

“I want to see Morna,” Fionn says.  “I want to see for myself that she’s really okay.”

“She may not recognize you yet.  Sorry, bro, but I mentioned you in passing and there wasn’t even a flicker of recognition in her eyes.  There‘s really no rhyme or reason to how the memories come back to her, but she will remember you soon.”

Fionn shrugs.  “I am not too surprised she doesn‘t remember me yet.  I was always more like an annoying little brother to her or a good little soldier who followed her orders without fail on the battlefield.”

“You were a lot more to her than that.  Don’t take it personally.  She thought Aideen was some broad that Luca was fooling around with when she first saw her.” 

“Aideen only wishes,” Fionn snorts.  “Is Aideen still breathin?”

“Aideen is fine, but Morna’s going to have her hands full with her.”  I tell Fionn the whole story of Morna finding Aideen and Luca hugging in the hallway.  Morna had passed out at the sight but finally remembered Aideen and a great deal of other things from her past.  But the memories left Morna wracked with pain, physical and emotional.  I look at Fionn and ask, “What did you mean, ‘Aideen only wishes’?”

Fionn shrugs, “She’s always been way too attached to her Daddy and way too pissed off at her Mama.  But lately, something sick in goin on inside that girl’s head.  I think she has the hots for Luca.”

I nod, “Yeah, Brigid and I are worried about that too.  Something is definitely messed up there.”  Fionn agrees and we decide to distract ourselves with a good meal.

Fionn and I find a steakhouse nearby and I do enjoy three margaritas along with my porterhouse.  We are almost through eating and talking about what to do with ourselves when Morna pops into my head and asks me to come to her suite.  “Crap, that’s not comfortable,” growl when she breaks the connection.  “Now I have my sister and my best friend entering my head without my permission.”

Fionn is looking at me strangely, “That was wild!  I felt her pop into your head.  It was like a physical presence.  What the hell is happening to all of us, Breena?  Morna’s doing magic without spells… well, she’s always been able to do that, a little bit.  But now she’s connecting mentally with other people, and she’s a vamp!  I am reading minds, you are seeing the future, Brigid is finding tumors that are so tiny no spell weaver should be able to find em.  Bronwyn swears she’s becoming a little bit telekinetic.  Elias and Micah are getting stronger and weaving spells no one under seven hundred years old should be able to do.  This is getting spooky as hell.  Mom nailed it when she said things were going to get weird for the Spell Weavers of Airendell.”

I nod and ask Fionn if he wants to come with me.  “No thanks.  Morna basically said it was those Elves that summoned you.  You know my Shifter half hates being around those folks.”  I find it amazing how ancient animosities can run through the veins of folks that weren’t even alive when the battles raged between the Dragon kingdoms and the Elf and Fae kingdoms.

I look at Fionn in consternation, “But you are half Spell Weaver, you are descended from the Elves just like me.”

“True, but the Shifter half of me is dominant in most aspects of my personality and abilities.  Elves and Faeries make my skin crawl,” Fionn admits.  He reaches out and strokes my cheek with his fingertips.  “I am going to see Rinda.  She’s at Morna’s halfway house for those runaway girls.  She’s freakin out cause she thinks someone is stalking the girls.  Rinda isn’t one to see danger where there isn’t any, so I think I will go lend a hand.”  He chuckles and adds; “She’s got your potential honey helping her keep an eye on the girls.  I am going to help out because if there is any danger, I want someone around that Rinda can count on better than a newly reformed vampire.”

I feel anger at Fionn’s comment but keep my shut.  But it’s plain he read my thoughts anyway.  “Stay out of my head, asshole,” I growl.  I love Fionn, but this isn’t right.  I warn him that I will erect a barrier to keep him out if he doesn’t refrain from reading my thoughts.

Fionn suddenly starts laughing wickedly.  “Seems like I will get to check out your sweetheart before you do.”

“Don’t screw around with his head, Fionn.  If he’s my mate, I want him to accept you.  You are important to me.  I want you in my life as much as you want to be.”

Fionn starts laughing.  “Baby, if he’s your mate; you won’t want me in your life as much as I want to be there.  You’ve kept me from being your lover for centuries and that’s not likely to change after you hook up with your mate.”  He pulls me to him and kisses me, hotly.  Fuck!  Why does he do shit like this?  He knows how he affects me. 

Fionn pulls back and smirks.  “Sorry, baby, the male ego is a fragile thing.  It helps knowing you want me even if you won’t ever do anything about it.”

I give him a dirty look, but I also get the feeling there’s more to it than that.  I feel like he’s saying goodbye to me on one level.  We both know our relationship is changing.  And as much as I want to find my mate and claim him… part of me is so scared to let go of what I have with Fionn.  It’s familiar, it’s safe and it makes me feel so secure.