Tempest of Vengeance (41 page)

He saw the look in my eyes. “Please tell me I
didn’t cry,” Lash hissed with repugnance. “Anything but that.”

“You didn’t cry,” I said honestly.

“Tell me what I said to you, all of it,” Lash
said staunchly. “I need to know what I said, especially if I made
you any promises.”

So I told him all of it, though I minimized
what he had said about thinking I had healed and not telling me,
because it would only make him feel guilty, and it didn’t matter
anyway. After, Lash and I lay together unmoving, just holding each
other.

“We don't have to talk about it further,” I
ventured finally. “I—”

“I’d rather not talk about it,” Lash said in
relief. “Except to tell you that everything I said to you was true,
Sar. None of it was a lie.”

“I never thought it was,” I assured, hugging
him close.

“I heard you that day, you know,” Lash said,
changing the subject. “That day you were talking in the kitchen
with Serena. She’d asked you if you were afraid of me, if I’d been
bad in bed.”

“She said there was no one listening,” I
said, blushing furiously.

“No, she said she heard no one nearby,” Lash
corrected, smiling faintly. “I was there, holding completely still,
because I wanted to know what you would tell her. I was angry about
having to give up being with Cin, and I thought if I told Devlin
that you abhorred me, that maybe he would assign a bear to guard
you instead. I was sure you were going to say how much I repulsed
you, that it had been awful with me, how much you detested what
we’d done. But when you told her I was good, I was shocked. I knew
it was a lie, and that intrigued me, that you would lie out of
kindness for me when you didn’t even like me, when there was no one
who would even know of the lie except her.” Lash gripped my body to
his, squeezing me in his arms. “It didn’t take me long to start
falling for you. And when you came and told me you couldn’t bear to
let me die, that was it. I was lost.”

I kissed him tenderly, and then drew back
from him. “When is your birthday?”

“In the summer, in June,” Lash said, looking
at me in confusion. “Why?”

“I wanted to know if I’d missed it,” I said,
hugging him. “I’m glad it’s coming up soon.”

“Does that mean I can’t have a present now,”
he teased, kissing his way down my shoulders.

“No,” I responded throatily, reaching for
him. “Come here.”

* * * *

New Year’s Eve was a pleasant affair. We all
overindulged, and had a great time in the process at a loud party
in the ballroom. Most everyone was there, save Theo and Jenny, of
course, and Sundown, who was feeling nauseous and stayed home. But
Terian came for a brief while, and T, Rip, Titus, Leri, Serena, the
bears and their mates and girlfriends, and even Elle and Danial. It
was time for a big celebration, now that Ulysses was finally dead,
and Danial was awake, even if he was still not his old self. Devlin
had a good time playing both his piano and host, and I enjoyed my
first time playing hostess at his side. Lash did security for the
party, but he told me ahead of time that he would celebrate with me
the next day, if I felt up to it. I assured him that I would. As
the New Year began, I gave Devlin a kiss, hugged Venus in my arms,
and thought that life was good indeed.

* * * *

The next day, Titus and Devlin gathered with
me in the Silver room, and Devlin gave Diana a kiss. Before she
stirred, and fully awoke, Titus teleported her and I to Africa,
where a waiting Nineva was there to take custody of her.

“What do I tell her?” he said quietly,
looking with unease at Titus, who pointedly ignored him, his
attention on Diana in his arms.

“Tell her that she had cholera, that she has
been sick for a long time,” I said, gazing at Diana as she began
blinking her eyes. “Tell her that she graduated.” I handed him a
folder. “Here are the papers to prove it. Tell her that she’s a
nurse, and arrange for her to get to this Peace Corps camp. They
are expecting her.”

“Why are you doing this?” Nineva said in a
low rumbling tone that was too close to Theo’s for my liking.
“She’s the sister of the man who caused you terrible
suffering.”

“Because she never wanted any of that,” I
replied, stepping back from him. “She only wanted to help people.
She has a good life in front of her, if she can only forget the
past.”

“Something happened to Elle, didn’t it?”
Nineva asked.

I shot him a look, but didn’t answer.

“It’s in your voice, Sar. Tell me.”

“Yes,” I said in a brittle tone. “I have to
go now. Please see she gets there?”

“You know that Zane may come after her
anyway,” Nineva said, looking at me out of the corner of his eye as
he took her from Titus. “He’ll not draw the distinction you did,
that she’s innocent.”

“She has a chance to live, where she wouldn’t
have before,” I said with finality. “This was the life she wanted.
That’s all I can give her.”

Nineva just looked at me sadly. I knew he was
going to say something, and I didn’t want to hear it, especially if
it was about how a woman’s duty was to become were if her husband
asked her to. And I didn’t want to hear about his harem, either.
“Thanks for your help. Take care.”

“You’re welcome,” Nineva said, his tone
suddenly aloof.

He’s been talking to Theo.
Or maybe
he’d seen my ring finger was bare. Either way, it didn’t matter. I
nodded to him, then Titus and I teleported home.

Chapter
Fourteen

Lash and I were sitting at the kitchen table
one Saturday morning in silence, later that same week.

I’d been having dreams of Devon the last few
nights, which was causing me to lose sleep. As much as I liked
waking up with Lash and Dev, dreams of my lost son kept leading me
to the expectation of waking up in my old bed, Theo in my arms, and
Devon beside us in his little bed.

God, what I’d give to wake up just once
and see little Devon curled up twitching in his sleep...Leave it,
Sar. There’s no use remembering what’s ashes and dust.
I rubbed
my eyes, then felt Lash’s hand on my arm.

I looked over at him, my expression haggard.
“Do you want to talk about it with me?” he hissed softly. “I see
your eyes when you first wake, and I can guess what you’ve been
dreaming these last few nights. I can feel how much you miss what
you’ve lost.”

“Not really,” I replied tiredly, trying to
manage a smile and failing. “It’s not that I don’t want to share it
with you, it’s just—”

“I understand,” Lash hissed, his tone low and
rough. “It was the same for me, when I lost my loved ones. I didn’t
talk about it for years.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, putting my hand over
his.

“It was a long time ago,” Lash said heavily,
glancing away from me. “But it still hurts bad, when I remember how
much I loved them.”

I wanted to know then what had happened to
Lash’s family, a story he had never told me. But I didn’t feel
comfortable asking him about it, when I wasn’t willing to talk
about my own pain. “You’re right that I’ll feel better, as time
goes by,” I said hollowly. “I know that on some level. Right now it
just feels raw.”

“I know you lost your first mate, too, Sar.
Your first husband,” Lash added quietly.

I nodded, waiting for him to elaborate.

“I want you to know, you aren’t going to lose
me like you lost him,” Lash hissed staunchly, pulling me gently
into his arms. “I gave you my word, Sar. I won’t ever break it. And
even if I began to fail like before, I won’t die without a fight
like I almost did last time. I’ll do whatever I have to, even if
it’s as horrible as before, so I can stay here with you, and
protect you.”

“I know you will,” I assured, embracing him.
“And you aren’t going to lose me, either.”

“Are you going back to bed, after breakfast?
Devlin said you might stay up today.”

“Probably not,” I answered, yawning. “I want
to spend some time with Venus, until her lessons in the afternoon.
And I’m caught up on the e-mail work for T, finally.”

“Would you want to go out for lunch with me
later, then?” Lash offered. “I have a busy morning, but my
afternoon in free.”

“Sounds good to me,” I said, finally locating
a smile, and giving it to him. “Say meet back here about noon?”

“That’s doable,” Lash affirmed, nodding.
“Maybe we can catch an early movie, or something.”

“Okay,” I agreed, nodding. “It’s a plan.”

Lash gave me a quick kiss, and then he was
out the door, putting his dishes in the sink on his way out. I
loaded the dishwasher, and went back upstairs. Devlin was sleeping
soundly, so I left him there, and went and showered. When I got
out, I kissed him awake. He finally opened his golden eyes on the
fourth one, lifting his head to kiss me back gently.

“Where are you off to?” he said, looking at
my clothes. I was wearing the outfit Lash preferred, the tan
leather duster and the dark brown top, with my tight jeans. “Must
be somewhere with Lash, with the colors you’re wearing.”

“I’m spending the morning with Venus, and
then going out to lunch with Lash. He mentioned a possible movie
afterwards.”

I wondered if Devlin would be jealous, but he
just gave me a soft look, and a gentle hug.

“Have a good time with him,” he said, looking
searchingly into my eyes. “I’ll see you a little after dusk. I have
conference calls for later in the evening, but we can have dinner
with V before that.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask,” I ventured
sexily, leaning in and kissing his throat lightly. “When can we do
again what we did that night the three of us went out to celebrate
our Oathing? It felt incredible, that time with you in the
car.”

Devlin groaned, when I bit him lightly, then
pushed me back gently. “Stop it, Love,” he said lustily, “or you
won’t be leaving at all.” He regarded me thoughtfully for a moment,
before he answered. “I’d say we could do it once a month or so,” he
said finally. “Typically, I’d do it only once with a woman, to
complete the turn from human to vampire, the first and last blood
I’d give her.”

“I thought it might be something like that.
You enjoyed it a lot, I noticed.”

“Very much,” Devlin grinned, his eyes melting
hot gold just thinking of it. “Clinically, it’s the virus in my
blood, wanting to replicate itself. It’s like sex, that there is
that same orgasmic rush, both when I bite down fully into flesh and
taste blood, and when I’m bitten lightly by a human, and feel their
teeth get sharper and sharper as they began to bite harder and
harder...” Devlin shuddered deliciously, and then stretched
languidly. “But with you being resistant, we could do it once a
month, if I didn’t take much from you at other times, or give you
any blood outside of that. But we’d have to be careful, Sar.
Truthfully, I’d not have risked it with you, if I had drunk like I
usually do from you at all in the last few months.”

“Wouldn’t it be safe?” I persisted. “I didn’t
get sharp teeth this time.”

“You did, just very briefly,” Devlin remarked
with an uneasy smile. “I felt them, as you bit me, and it felt so
good I had to scream. A few seconds later when you kissed me, they
were normal again. But still, it will be at least a month,
Love.”

“All right,” I agreed. “I’ll look forward to
it.”

“As will I,” Devlin proclaimed with longing.
“Now kiss me, My Love, before you go.”

I nodded, and with a last kiss for him, I
went to go find Venus. She was playing with Serena in the ballroom.
She seemed to love that room best, for some reason. When she saw me
coming toward her, she ran to me. “Mommy!” she said in her high yet
perfect voice. “Have you come to play with me?”

“Yes,” I said, smiling down at her. “What are
you playing, V?”

“Vampire Barbie,” Serena said, trying hard to
keep a straight face. “We’re having a Hallows party. I’m sure
you’re dying to come.”

“Will you make me some more doll clothes,
Mom?” Venus said charmingly. “I need some more ball gowns.”

“Sure,” I said, taking her hand, and walking
with her back to Serena. “Come with me later to my sewing room, and
tell me what colors and material.”

“Silver and gold,” Venus said, as if that was
the only choice there could be.

I couldn’t help smiling down at her. She was
so much like Devlin, so sure of herself. “Silver and gold it is,” I
said.

For the next few hours, Serena and I helped
Princess Venus hold court at the party she had thrown. She had all
of Devlin’s arrogance, and she was exacting, as she made her guests
toe the line. But I was glad to see she wasn’t treating her
underling dolls that Serena and I were giving voice to like they
were only servants, she was treating them as friends, too. It was a
start, anyway. I’d take what I could get.

The morning passed swiftly, and soon it was
time for Venus to go to her tutor. Unlike Bill, who’d been human,
this was a supernatural tutor, some faerie relative of Leri’s. She
seemed nice enough, though I’d told Devlin I wanted to see her
credentials, at some point, even if they were in some language I
couldn’t read.

“Have a good rest of the day,” I said, giving
my little daughter a kiss and hug goodbye. “I’ll see you tonight,
to have dinner and read you a story.”

“I love you, Mom,” she said softly, looking
at me with her beautiful golden eyes.

“I love you too, V,” I said. I watched her
go, deciding then and there to try my best to let go of what I’d
lost. Thinking of Devon all the time wasn’t going to bring him back
to me. I had a child right here who needed me, who wouldn’t be a
child for much longer.
A few years, if I’m lucky.
Cursing
Theo wasn’t going to make things better with him, or make him be
more permissive with Elle spending time with me. Everything was
better this way, anyway. He had someone that was his, and only his.
He could spend every night with her, in her arms. And Elle and I
were finding time to get together now, even if it wasn’t as often
as I’d have liked.