I managed to get the location of the black vampires, something they’d been able to keep secret since the black king’s return. Drake and Jeremiah were meticulous about recording everything I told them. When I’d said all I could and was so exhausted I couldn’t hold the connection with Jack anymore, they made ready for their rescue mission.
Not long after that I was nestled in Jack’s bed with Marigold administering some of her wonderful tea to help me rest. I didn’t think I needed it. I was exhausted and wanted to sleep until Drake returned with Jack, but I took the tea anyway, since she claimed it also had healing properties to keep the baby well and happy.
Vicki volunteered to sit with me and a guard was posted outside. We chatted about fashion and giggled about men and sex until the tea took hold and I drifted off to sleep. It seemed as if I’d just settled into a deep state of relaxation when I hea
When Vicki returned to a more normal looking vampire, she shoved a gag in the man’s mouth and bound his wrists and ankle in a way that made it impossible for him to even fidget, let alone move. She tossed his big bulk over her petite shoulder with surprising ease, held her finger to her lips to let me know I needed to keep quiet, and tip toed out of the door Sara passed through not long ago.I was amazingly light footed as I hurried behind Vicki. We made our way to the dungeon below. We slipped into alcoves and behind doors to avoid meeting up with an occasional vampire. Fortunately, the majority of the black king’s subjects eagerly left to join in on the ambush, leaving us with only a skeleton group to deal with.At one point, Vicki stopped to take more nourishment from the bundle over her shoulder. I watched the robust color I knew to be her natural state finally return. That last feeding brought a resurgence of power to her
“I’m sorry it’s come to this Jess. I know you were given no choice but it’s the only thing I know to save you. I knew the minute I set eyes on you that we would be lifelong friends. I can’t bear the thought of losing you either,” Vicki explained while I sucked greedily on her arm.I could feel the power of her blood flow through my veins. My baby responded immediately. Once again I felt the surge of adrenaline and energy fill my body. Although she said nothing, I could see that I was very close to taking more blood than was safe for Vicki. I forced myself to stop. It had to be one of the hardest things I’d ever done.Vicki stepped away and stumbled a little. I reached out to steady her.“Now look who’s caring for whom,” she said weekly.“I took too much,” I said with concern. “Why didn’t you stop me?”“You’
Marigold had the staff hustling and bustling about as they made Jack’s room more suitable for mother and baby. She fussed about the fact that the castle had over one-thousand rooms, yet I was being cramped into his quarters with him. We heard all about how it was done in the old days with mild amusement. Marigold’s outrageous ranting were just the ticket to take our minds off what we’d just been through. For Vicki and me, it was the trauma of giving blood and losing blood and then birthing a vampire child and, for Jack, it was being drained of blood and then almost killing me by drinking my blood and then joining Drake in a difficult battle followed by discovering my situation and what followed.All this within a twenty-four-hour period!Drake stuck to me like glue, refusing to leave even with all of Marigold’s scolding and carrying on. She finally settled for him sitting at the far side of the room with his b
Vicki managed to rustle up a gown that was suitable for a blushing bride to wear on her wedding day. I was barely able to squeeze into it, but it was the best we could do without Dresser’s help, so I shrugged and told her not to worry. Since the ceremony was to be kept hush, hush, only the castle chaplain and our two witnesses were in attendance; the witnesses being Vicki and Drake of course.If I said I’d never fantasized about a big white wedding while growing up, I’d be lying. Even so, the ceremony was so lovely, so touching, and so meaningful that I felt I’d forfeited very little for the sake of my son. Since it was late and we’d all had an incredibly unbelievable few days, we were in unified agreement that the celebration could wait.Vicki and Drake gave their heartfelt congratulations and said their good nights. Jack had a snifter of brandy to help ease him into a restful sleep while I partook in the tea Marig
The more I listened to Sara’s attempts to convince Jack that she’d done the right thing, the angrier I got. I kept myself connected to Vicki so that I could know their progress in finding Joshua. They found the entrance to the underworld and were heading in there. She warned me that it would be more difficult to keep connection since the surface world dealt with the third dimension and the inner world was ruled more by the second dimension. Crossing dimensions when you’re a novice can be tricky.I explained to Vicki that I was building up a type of rage toward Sara with every passing moment and wanted to snap her neck like I’d done with Mark and his men, even though Joshua was no longer inside me. She said that was the vampire blood taking over. When a new vampire is made, all emotions and senses are heightened to maximum and the energy level is intense. She assured me it would level off as time passed, but warned me
The sun brought in yet another day before Jack, Drake, and a very exhausted army returned to us. They not only managed to infiltrate the castle, but they’d killed the Black King. Those in the Black King’s army who weren’t killed or didn’t escape were given the opportunity to become Jack’s subjects once again. Most of them readily agreed. The few that didn’t were taken to the castle dungeon. Of course, although they were being locked up out of necessity to assure safety for Jack’s kingdom, they were more fortunate than he was when he was their prisoner. Jack didn’t believe in torture.We went to our rooms to see what became of Sara. I had half hoped she’d revived and run away so we wouldn’t have to deal with her.We weren’t that lucky.The power behind my shove was far greater than I’d realized. Sara was still unconscious. Jack seized the opport
The harsh shrill of the quarter hour whistle brought me back to reality like a crisp slap across my face. I was still in that horrid room with those horrid creatures awaiting a fate too horrid to imagine.Horrid… was that the best I could do? This place was beyond horrid. It was so bad there was no description for how bad it was.My mind was fuzzy.I needed to focus.Those creatures, what were they? They went beyond horrid to look at, horrid to be around, horrid to interact with. My brain would not function properly. I could come up with no word to equal what they were. I gave up. Horrid would have to suffice.I smiled to myself. What did it matter what word I used to describe what was happening? Was it really that important? In the not too distant future I would become a nothing, a thing of the past. What I thought and the words I enunciated with would mean less than they already d
When I finally roused enough to force myself free from the sweetest slumber I can recall in my twenty-four years of life, it took a bit of struggling to remember where I was. I sat up on the bed and swung my feet over its edge. They barely touched the floor. I didn’t recall being so small in it before, but then, I’d been pretty messed up with drugs and injuries.Injuries.I remembered my ribs and felt for the bandage beneath my tunic. It was gone. I pulled the tunic up to inspect more closely. Searching the cave interior with my eyes, I was disappointed to find no mirror. I checked myself out as best I could without it. There was no sign of any damage that I could see, nor was there any pain! How had I managed to heal so quickly? It had been quickly, hadn’t it? I couldn’t tell, since I’d lost all concept of time.I made note that my rescue was the second miracle to happen since I’d bee
The sun brought in yet another day before Jack, Drake, and a very exhausted army returned to us. They not only managed to infiltrate the castle, but they’d killed the Black King. Those in the Black King’s army who weren’t killed or didn’t escape were given the opportunity to become Jack’s subjects once again. Most of them readily agreed. The few that didn’t were taken to the castle dungeon. Of course, although they were being locked up out of necessity to assure safety for Jack’s kingdom, they were more fortunate than he was when he was their prisoner. Jack didn’t believe in torture.We went to our rooms to see what became of Sara. I had half hoped she’d revived and run away so we wouldn’t have to deal with her.We weren’t that lucky.The power behind my shove was far greater than I’d realized. Sara was still unconscious. Jack seized the opport
The more I listened to Sara’s attempts to convince Jack that she’d done the right thing, the angrier I got. I kept myself connected to Vicki so that I could know their progress in finding Joshua. They found the entrance to the underworld and were heading in there. She warned me that it would be more difficult to keep connection since the surface world dealt with the third dimension and the inner world was ruled more by the second dimension. Crossing dimensions when you’re a novice can be tricky.I explained to Vicki that I was building up a type of rage toward Sara with every passing moment and wanted to snap her neck like I’d done with Mark and his men, even though Joshua was no longer inside me. She said that was the vampire blood taking over. When a new vampire is made, all emotions and senses are heightened to maximum and the energy level is intense. She assured me it would level off as time passed, but warned me
Vicki managed to rustle up a gown that was suitable for a blushing bride to wear on her wedding day. I was barely able to squeeze into it, but it was the best we could do without Dresser’s help, so I shrugged and told her not to worry. Since the ceremony was to be kept hush, hush, only the castle chaplain and our two witnesses were in attendance; the witnesses being Vicki and Drake of course.If I said I’d never fantasized about a big white wedding while growing up, I’d be lying. Even so, the ceremony was so lovely, so touching, and so meaningful that I felt I’d forfeited very little for the sake of my son. Since it was late and we’d all had an incredibly unbelievable few days, we were in unified agreement that the celebration could wait.Vicki and Drake gave their heartfelt congratulations and said their good nights. Jack had a snifter of brandy to help ease him into a restful sleep while I partook in the tea Marig
Marigold had the staff hustling and bustling about as they made Jack’s room more suitable for mother and baby. She fussed about the fact that the castle had over one-thousand rooms, yet I was being cramped into his quarters with him. We heard all about how it was done in the old days with mild amusement. Marigold’s outrageous ranting were just the ticket to take our minds off what we’d just been through. For Vicki and me, it was the trauma of giving blood and losing blood and then birthing a vampire child and, for Jack, it was being drained of blood and then almost killing me by drinking my blood and then joining Drake in a difficult battle followed by discovering my situation and what followed.All this within a twenty-four-hour period!Drake stuck to me like glue, refusing to leave even with all of Marigold’s scolding and carrying on. She finally settled for him sitting at the far side of the room with his b
“I’m sorry it’s come to this Jess. I know you were given no choice but it’s the only thing I know to save you. I knew the minute I set eyes on you that we would be lifelong friends. I can’t bear the thought of losing you either,” Vicki explained while I sucked greedily on her arm.I could feel the power of her blood flow through my veins. My baby responded immediately. Once again I felt the surge of adrenaline and energy fill my body. Although she said nothing, I could see that I was very close to taking more blood than was safe for Vicki. I forced myself to stop. It had to be one of the hardest things I’d ever done.Vicki stepped away and stumbled a little. I reached out to steady her.“Now look who’s caring for whom,” she said weekly.“I took too much,” I said with concern. “Why didn’t you stop me?”“You’
When Vicki returned to a more normal looking vampire, she shoved a gag in the man’s mouth and bound his wrists and ankle in a way that made it impossible for him to even fidget, let alone move. She tossed his big bulk over her petite shoulder with surprising ease, held her finger to her lips to let me know I needed to keep quiet, and tip toed out of the door Sara passed through not long ago.I was amazingly light footed as I hurried behind Vicki. We made our way to the dungeon below. We slipped into alcoves and behind doors to avoid meeting up with an occasional vampire. Fortunately, the majority of the black king’s subjects eagerly left to join in on the ambush, leaving us with only a skeleton group to deal with.At one point, Vicki stopped to take more nourishment from the bundle over her shoulder. I watched the robust color I knew to be her natural state finally return. That last feeding brought a resurgence of power to her
I managed to get the location of the black vampires, something they’d been able to keep secret since the black king’s return. Drake and Jeremiah were meticulous about recording everything I told them. When I’d said all I could and was so exhausted I couldn’t hold the connection with Jack anymore, they made ready for their rescue mission.Not long after that I was nestled in Jack’s bed with Marigold administering some of her wonderful tea to help me rest. I didn’t think I needed it. I was exhausted and wanted to sleep until Drake returned with Jack, but I took the tea anyway, since she claimed it also had healing properties to keep the baby well and happy.Vicki volunteered to sit with me and a guard was posted outside. We chatted about fashion and giggled about men and sex until the tea took hold and I drifted off to sleep. It seemed as if I’d just settled into a deep state of relaxation when I hea
When afternoon came around and there was still no sign of Jack, the entire castle was in an uproar. Since I was the last to see him, the sergeant at arms interviewed me extensively. Unfortunately, I was of little help.As the day wore on, I heard whispers from a few disgruntled residents blaming me for Jack’s disappearance. They pointed out that I’d only been there a few days and already they’d had more upheaval than they’d had in the last century. I felt horrible.Drake heard the whispering as well and decided to stick to me like he was stuck with glue. Short of going to the toilet, I was not allowed to be alone. He sat in a chair while I napped and offered me his arm when I went downstairs to dinner. I could have stayed in my room to eat my meal. I think a few of my dinner companions would have preferred it, but I wanted to be there to hear any news of Jack, should it come in.Light conversation
We lay in each other’s arms for several hours while Jack grabbed some much needed sleep. I was wide awake, but had no desire to leave his bed. His slow rhythmic breathing stabilized and comforted my nerves. I felt safe, secure, and at peace.“Marigold’s a witch doctor?” I asked with concern when he finally showed signs of rousing.“Is that a problem?” he asked sleepily.“I thought she was a regular doctor,” I explained.“Trust me. You want a witch doctor in a situation like this,” he assured me. “I’ve heard vampire pregnancies require magic as well as regular care.”“Why?” I asked suspiciously.He shrugged his shoulders with genuine innocence, “It’s a girl thing, I’m sure.”A soft knock on the door roused my lover. He pulled on his robe and sauntered to the door. He looked so sexy with his hair muss