Forbidden Days (The Firsts) (29 page)

“Oh, he knows.  He’ll take it to his grave.  You will too.  Bas, I am a first blood.  We don’t let it known, because we would be targets for too much.  So we live as normally, as quietly, as we can.”  She paused for a moment, then continued.  “Park’s father.  I remember when there was a woman who he was able to breed with.  We were all very excited.  But then she disappeared.  We assumed, long ago, that the child had either miscarried or been terminated.  We are able to read each other you see, to track another first by blood.  But he could never find her.  The human could never cloak the child’s existence, so we finally assumed the baby was gone.  Imagine my shock when you called and let me know you’d found her.”

Bas thought his jaw would break, his teeth were so tightly clenched.  “So.  Did you tell
him
?”

“No, Bas, I would not betray you.  But he will eventually find out if she’s living in the vampire community.  Bas, I need to let him know.  This is too important. 
She
is too important.”

He drew a long deep breath.  “Well, that isn’t going to happen.  She stays with me.  I will fight for her.”

Eillia sat back, nibbling on a fat soft pretzel stick.  “Ah, Bas.  You will lose.  He
will
kill you.  I don’t want that to happen.  Please.  Be reasonable.  Park does not belong here.   She’s first blood.  Her power will continue to grow as her years do.”

That answered a question for Bas.

“So she
is
immortal?”

“Sweetie, she is first blood.  She gives immortality.  She
is
immortality.  You have no idea what she is capable of.  Neither do we.  Each first blood is unique.  I am very excited to meet her.  I’m kind of her aunt.”

“Are you here to take her to him?”

“I’d like to.  But I won’t.  Why don’t I talk with her, see what she thinks?”

“I don’t want you trying to convince her she needs to go.  Promise me you won’t do that.”

“Bas, if she wants to stay, I won’t mention it.  But I do need you all to understand the danger.  Park’s father will be relentless in taking her if he comes here.”

“Even if she carries my child?”

That stunned Eillia.  “What?”

“She carries my child.  So, I think she will want to stay with me, here in what has become home to her.”

Eillia still processed the news.  She killed another soft pretzel stick, covered in honey mustard.

“Well, okay, then.  I need to meet your woman.  And yes, that changes things.”

Gods in all the heavens help protect this household
, she thought. 
Things are
going to get rough
.

Park was on the floor, leaning against a coffee table that held four laptops, with a four way game of some online video game.  She was yelling intensely at Tim as Bas entered with his two guests.

She glanced up briefly when she saw him.  “Hey, there.  Can’t talk, slaying a dragon.”  She returned to the game while Bas and Eillia watched the four totally immersed players pounding the keyboards, then looked at each other.

Eillia said, “Bas, she’s lovely.  I knew she would be, but…he’s going to be so pleased.”

The reference to Park’s father made his blood run cold.  This wasn’t going to end well.

Bernie let out a shrill yell as something she didn’t like happened, and she punched Zach in the arm because he was the closest.

Bas didn’t know how long this would last, but he couldn’t keep Eillia waiting.

“I’m sorry, guys, but the game is over.  I need to talk with Park.  You can finish tomorrow night.  If you want something before rest tonight, Eugene still has a nice layout ready in the kitchen.”

Bernie and Zach got up and headed out, Tim along with them.  With his strong blood-bond, he was starting to hang with the new vampires.  Park stood up, her eyes shooting to the stunning woman near Bas.

She smiled.  “Hello.”   Her greeting held an inquiry.

“Park, this is Eillia.  She wanted to meet you.  It turns out that she is also a first vampire, and that she knows your father.”

Parks smile slipped.  Bas closed the door for privacy and led Park to a large cushioned chair, then sat on the arm next to her.  Hamid and Eillia sat across from them on the matching divan.

“Park, I am not here to expose you to your father.  Bas called me because I am the oldest vampire he knows.  He did not realize that, I, too, like your father, am first blood.  So are you.”

“I know.  I know what I am now.  So are you here to help us?”

“As much as I can.  I have known and loved Bas for centuries.  He is a good man, and I am on his side.  Your side, too.  I just hope they’re the same one.  I understand there is a child?”

Automatically, Park’s hand went to her belly.  “Yes.  Which is why we are so worried.  He says you know my father.  Can you intercede on our behalf?  Make sure he understands we are together?”

“This is the hard part, Park.  He isn’t entirely easy to deal with.  He’s…intense.  But I will do all I can.  If he comes.  The baby will make a difference, I hope.  Park, you are so beautiful.  You remind me of your father.  The huge green eyes.  He looked for you a long time.  We eventually assumed you must not have survived.  He couldn’t feel you.  He should have been able to.”

“I don’t know why he couldn’t.  I didn’t do anything.  My mother couldn’t have.”

“Hmmm.  Well, maybe we’ll never know.  I would like to know if any of your powers have manifested.”

Park looked at Bas.

“You can trust her,” he said.

Park nodded.  “I am empathic.  More so now that I have the amulet.”

Eillia sat still.  “Ah.”  She hesitated, looked at Hamid, then said, “Amulet?”

“Yes, the amulet my mother had.  I finally got it, and when I put it on, it merged with me.  The spirit amulet.   You don’t know about it?”

“I know about it.  It’s extremely powerful.  How did you get it?”

“Well, my mother took it before she left.  She’s had it all along.  Recently, Bas brought it back to me.  When I put it on, that’s when I realized it was mine.  Who I was.  I’m stronger.  I had a difficult childhood, but even that has faded, because of the spirit amulet.  Do all the first have one of these?”

“They do.”  She unzipped her top, exposing full breasts seated comfortably in a black leather bra.  Her skin was flawless.  There was no medallion around her neck.

“These amulets are a part of us.  We receive them after birth and they grow with us.  This is why your father could not find you.  It protected you.  It should not have blocked him, but for whatever reason, it did.  We do not advertise their power and worth to us.  We keep them hidden.”  She waved her hand across her cleavage, and a medallion almost identical to Parks appeared.  “They are never removed.   Not unless death occurs.”  The one around her neck glowed slightly, like Parks had when she first held it.  “May I see yours?”

Park nodded and did the same, but hers was immediately visible as soon as she unbuttoned her blouse.  Eillia moved her fingers to touch it and it brightened, the glow intensifying.

“It recognizes me as first.  It will let me touch it, but others may not.  It is a part of you, Park, don’t ever let anyone take it.”

“I don’t intend to.  And I think I have enough power now, they won’t be able to.  Eillia, am I as powerful as I think I am?  I mean, there’s a feeling in my gut that I have not tapped into what I am capable of yet.  Am I wrong?”

“You are not wrong, my dear.  First blood is very, very powerful.   And you merged with your spirit amulet right at the fulcrum of your abilities.  Once you learn your talents, master your power, you will be amazed at what you can do.  But now, you’re still raw.  It doesn’t mean the power is not there, it means you haven’t learned to control it yet.  But I am here now.  I will guide you.  Your father, he must not know yet that you are alive or he would be here.  You are still blocking him?”

“If I am, I don’t know that I am.  Cherise…she’s the woman here who told me what I am, that I was pregnant.  She’s a seer.  She said that he would know where I was because of the baby, who would also have first blood.”

“A seer.  Huh.  That’s interesting.  Well, normally, she would be right.  But, after merging with your amulet, you may be able to continue your protective block.  I don’t really know…this is unprecedented.  Well, dawn arrives, I should let you all hit your rooms.  Bas, show us to ours.  I’ll see you tonight Park.  It is wonderful to meet you.  I’ll see you after rest.”

Hamid followed the gorgeous woman and Park thought how he must have been on her heels for a very long time. She thought how, if she were a man in Eillia’s orbit, she would too.  She turned to Bas.

“It’s going to be alright, isn’t it?”  She needed his assurance.

He nodded.  “Absolutely.  I feel it.  We won’t be separated.”

The faux attack had been a success, in Shank’s mind, a great compromise on Bas’s compound.   They’d converted eight more vampires, and although they were young, they still provided a stronger force than those who were only human.  He’d decided his strategy for the real attack based on his previous knowledge of Bas, and that recent video from the attack.  He hoped they had enough.  If they didn’t, it would be a bloodbath, and they would never get a chance again.  Alvin would die in this attempt if it wasn’t successful.  Shanks had no problem with that.  He’d be watching it remotely;  he was no idiot.  He knew odds were
way
not in their favor.

“Shanks!  Where are you?”  Alvin’s voice interrupted his reverie.  As usual.  Well, it wouldn’t be for much longer.

“Sir, yes, sir!”   he answered, always the smartass.

Alvin came down the stairs vampire fast.  “Where is my woman?  Bas’s girl.  Where is she?”

Shanks rolled his eyes.  “I told you already…she’s too well protected.  We’re going to have to wait until we invade the compound.”

“I told
you
that wasn’t good enough.”

Yeah, that was it.  Shanks stood up, a good eight inches
taller than Alvin.  “Then you better get going.  If anyone can get her out before that, it’s going to have to be our oldest, strongest vampire.  That’d be you.   Need directions?”

Alvin was livid.

“Shanks, I
made
you.  Do
not
take that tone with me!”

“Then fucking listen to me!  They got the place tightened down, especially after the attack.”

“See.  I told you it was a mistake.”

Shanks drew a deep breath.  “Alvin.  I’m going to have breakfast and then I’m training the new vampire lot in combat.  You need me more than I need you, remember that.  If you want her,
you
go get her.”  He walked out.  Alvin was upset enough to snap his neck.  But Shanks was right.  He did need him.  This was fucking going to hell in a hand basket.

Over the next week, Eillia had settled in, met Zach and Burne, and spent time with Park.  Park had already learned a lot from her about her heritage, some new hand to hand techniques, and how to zone in on an individual with her mind.  It was late one night when Eillia asked Park if she would mind if they could have a bonding session.

Park took a seat on the divan in the room where she’d first met Eillia.  “Uh, I…sure, I guess.  What does it entail?” 

Eillia took a seat opposite her, pulling her legs up under her.  “It’s very intimate, Park.  More so than even sex.   Because it’s a blending of minds, of lives, of experiences.  It will bond us as family, but also as individuals.   I will see into you, and you will see into me.  You must be comfortable with this…this closeness.”

“You’ll see my past?  How I was as a child?”

“I will.  I missed your youth, I would love to see that with you.”

Park was quiet.  Her eyes flickered away from Eillia.  “What cautions you, child?”

“I…I had a pretty horrible life until I left my mother.  I don’t think you want to see it.”

“To see where you come from, it will help me to know you more.”

“Since coming here, since merging with my amulet, I’ve been able to move past those days.  They do not impact me anymore.”

“I’m grateful.  Those moments are still powerful.  They still made you who you are today.  I will not invade those memories if you are not comfortable with it.  The bonding is meant to bring clarity, closeness…joy.  I would not have you unhappy.”

Within the silence of the room, Park considered the lovely woman casually seated across from her.  It was bizarre to know she had been alive almost as long as the history of man.  She wondered about the lives she’d led and times she’d lived through.  It had to be amazing.  More than that, in the past week, Park had felt her warmth, her heart.  She felt she was already bonded to her.

“No, I want to.  I want you to know me, and I want to know you.  So, tell me what to do.”

“You’re sure?”

Soul deep dark eyes met deep ocean green.  “I do,” Park said, and somewhere was aware that was a common phrase when taking another into your life.  It seemed appropriate.

“Okay, then.  Slide closer.”

Park pulled her legs up under her, like Eillia had done.  She moved up until their knees touched, then Eillia took her hands.  “Close your eyes and let your mind clear.  I’ve locked the door and put an aura around it so no one will disturb us.  It is just you, just me, in all the world.  Empty your thoughts…I’ll guide you.  Do you see the brightness?”

“Yes, it’s scattering through my thoughts.”

“Give it freedom.  It is the mind’s eye.”

Eillia was quiet, and suddenly Park felt her with her together in their minds.  Like they walked as one.  She felt herself drawn backward, backward, the moments of her own life…in apartments all over the country with her mother, the yelling, anger, spitting.  Her mother laughing as she and her friends smacked around the little red haired girl in drunken attacks.  The sexual attention that, usually thank god, ended with her mother taking care of the person herself.  The days without food, weeks without her mother even speaking to her.   Days alone at a time with only a gallon of bottled water and boxes of dry cereal.  Cruel taunts.  Even crueler neglect.  Flashes of moments when the little girl found solace in books her mother hadn’t taken away and burned before her eyes.  The beginning of her power, a startled and ashamed little girl sure she was a very, very bad person.  Because her mother always told her so.  And through all that, the golden spirit of that child, who knew someday she would not be that unfortunate child, but free to live as she wished.  It had been her only dream.  That, and having someone hold her.