Love's Challenge (Pearl Vampire Chronicles #5) (13 page)

I braced myself for the face I would see as I stepped toward the corner.

Chapter
Ten

I gingerly stepped around the corner and met his gaze.  I watched him as
I walked the last six feet to the waiting chair.  Matt and Carlos deliberately
stood in front of me so he couldn’t see me wince as I sat down.  Carlos set the
laptop on my thighs then they both stepped to either side of the chair.  “Abyssus
Aquila (Hello, Aquila),” I said.

He dipped his head to me but didn’t respond.  He was watching me,
though.  He was watching me, well, like an eagle.  “Vos es non vigorous
etiamnunc,” he said.  I typed it into the laptop.  “Crap, he knows I’m not
healed.  Fere (not quite).  May EGO scisco vos nonnulus questions?  I just
asked him if I can ask him some questions.”

He dipped his head again and waited.  “Quare don’t vos materia per vestri
females?  I just asked him why they don’t mate with their females.”

“Quoniam they es sterilis.  They es unable gero a parvulus.”

“I was afraid of that.  Their females are sterile.  They can’t carry a
child.  Tamen vos mos run ex females amo mihi.  But you will run out of females
like me.”

He shook his head.  “Abbas est opus in an alternate incubator.”

I stared for a second.  “Sarah?” Matt said.

“Ummmm, he says his father is working on an alternate incubator.  What? 
Like test tube babies or something?  Whoa.”  I started typing another question
into the computer, but he spoke first, “Meus verto.”

“He says it’s his turn.” I said then I waited.

“Vos have vindico pro.  EGO could voluntas ut in vos. Ut planto vos
validus.  Meus parvulus would non vulnero vos.  Liberi tantum vulnero pallens. 
Mos vos gero meus spawn?”

I typed as fast as I could then tilted my head to the side as I stared at
the screen.  “What the hell was all that, Sarah?” Carlos said.

“Well, he said he could tell that I’ve delivered a child before.  He says
that makes me stronger.  He says their young only harm the weak when they are
delivered.  He said it wouldn’t harm me.  And then he asked me if I would bear
his spawn.”

“Gee, well, isn’t that a tempting offer?” Carlos mumbled.

I smiled as I typed.  “Quare operor vos futures?  I just asked him why he
exists.”

“Vos did non refero meus question,” he snapped.

“He’s angry that I didn’t answer his question.  Ummm, Meus pectus
pectoris eram infractus ut meus primoris parvulus died.  EGO could non gero
habeo alius.”

Aquila nodded his head at me as I translated for Matt and Carlos, “I told
him my heart was broken when my child died and that I couldn’t bear to have
another.”

“Couldn’t a simple ‘no’ have sufficed, Sarah?” Matt said.

I rolled my eyes at Matt.  “I don’t think you say no to him, do you?”

“EGO sum hic protego abbas,” Aquila said.

“He says he’s here to protect his father.  Quis si vestri abbas est
effectus nefas?  I just asked him what if his father is doing wrong.”

“Meus abbas can operor haud nefas,” he bellowed.

“He says his father can do no wrong.  Marvelous.  Guess there’s no
reasoning with him there.  Si EGO scisco vos ut subsisto vulnero meus pius, mos
vos?  I just asked him if he would stop hurting my kind.”

“Potissimum vestri pius operor non mereo mereor ut futurus,” he growled.

“Gee, that’s nice.  He says most of my kind do not deserve to exist.  Vos
es nefas.  Nos totus mereo mereor ut futurus.  I just told him he’s wrong and
that we all deserve to exist.”

“Vos certus.  Tamen vestri materia es pallens per suum affectus vobis.”

“Christ, does everybody fucking know?” I mumbled.

“Know what, Sarah?  What did he say?” Matt said.

“He says that I deserve to exist, but that my mates are weak with their
emotions for me.”

“Oh.  Well I suppose he’s right about that,” Carlos mumbled.

“They es validus quod mereo mereor futurus.  I told him you are strong
and deserve to be here.”

“Vestri somes esurio habeo alius parvulus.  EGO can tribuo ut vobis. Non
lemma,” he said.

I silently stared at the translation on the laptop then I quietly folded it
closed.  “I’m done for now.  I want to go back to my room.”

“Sarah.  What did he say?” Matt whispered.

“Not now, please?  Just help me up,” I mumbled.  Matt and Carlos looked
at each other.  Carlos knelt down in front of me and forced me to look in his
eyes.  Shit, seriously, do not look at me that way.  “Not here, in front of him
and the others, please?  I’ll tell you in the hall where it’s more private.”

Carlos nodded and grabbed the laptop.  He stood in front of me, blocking
Aquila’s view, as Matt helped me up from behind.  I held tight to both their
hands as I made my way back around the corner to the wheelchair.  I was
exhausted, but I knew it wasn’t just from the walking.  It was emotional too. 
Aquila had struck a chord that was for damn sure.  Matt pushed me around two
corners and then stopped.  The two of them came and squatted in front of me,
waiting.  I winced as I tried to take a deep breath.  “He said that my body
yearns to have another child.  He said he can give that to me and you two
can’t.  It just hurt a little, that’s all.” 

Matt squeezed his eyes shut and started muttering, “I never should have
turned you.  I should have left you alone.  I never should have turned you.”

I took his chin in my hand and waited for him to open his eyes and look
at me.  “Don’t be stupid.  We’ve been over this before.  I couldn’t possibly be
any happier than I am with who I am now.  The longing for a child was always
going to be a part of me, human or vampire, but it doesn’t mean that I actually
want to
have
one.  I love my life the way it is now, Matt.  And as
complicated as our lives are, it wouldn’t be the right place to have a child. 
But just because I can’t have one and just because I shouldn’t, doesn’t make it
hurt any less when someone recognizes that yearning.  Does that make sense?”

He nodded and kissed my cheek.  Carlos squeezed my hand.  Complicated? 
Yeah, I’d say my life was just a little complicated right now.  Suddenly we
heard Cameron coming down the hall.  “I give you an inch and you take a mile. 
Sarah, you need to get back to bed right now, damn it.  This has been too long,
way too long, for you to be sitting up.  One of you go get her four pints,
please.  Now.”

“On my way,” Carlos said as Cameron took over pushing duties and Matt
moved to my side.  “Cameron, relax.  I’m fine,” I said as I winced while trying
to shift slightly in the chair. 

“Yeah, you look fine, Sarah.  Totally fine.”

“Oh, shut up,” I mumbled.  He pulled the chair up by the bed and the two
of them helped me up and gently laid me down.  “Ouch.”

“Yeah, ouch.  Of course ouch.  This is probably going to push you back a
day, Sarah.”

“Cameron.  We need to get to Romania.  Soon.” I said.

“Romania!  What the hell for?”

“That’s where we think they are, Cameron.” I said.

“And of course you have to go.  You always have to go.  No traveling for
at least two days, Sarah.  Preferably three.  I’m putting my foot down here. 
I’ll lock you in this damn room if I have to, got it?”

I brought my arm up and saluted him, “Yes, sir.”  I smiled as Cameron
shook his head and walked out the door.  Carlos came in a few seconds later
with my meal.  “Okay,” I said after I’d eaten, “what’s the plan now?”

“Well, now, you finish healing,” Matt said then he cringed as I gave him
one of those looks.  “Okay, okay.  I’ll start making travel arrangements.  But,
Sarah, we don’t know how to fight these things.  What are we going to do if we
find them?”

“First of all, we’re going to use stealth to try to rescue as many
vampires as we can before they see us.  Then, I’m thinking fire would be our
best bet.  Carlos?  What do you think?”

“Me?  Oh, that sounds like a good idea.  But how many are we going in
with?  I mean, is this more of a reconnaissance mission this first time or is
it a search and rescue?”

“I’m thinking reconnaissance this time.  So maybe fifteen or twenty,
tops,” Matt said.

“That’s sounds good to me.  Are we leaving the day after tomorrow?” I
said.

“Sarah, Cameron said you might need three days,” Carlos said.

“Yeah, but the flight over there is really long.  So, if we leave in two
days and add on the flight time, it’s more like three.”

Matt stood up, “I need to go figure out who’s coming with us and then
make flight arrangements.”

“Will you be back later?” I whispered.

He leaned down and gave me a long, lingering, very loving kiss.  “Of
course I will, baby.  I don’t think Carlos could hold you down by himself if
you had another nightmare.  He’s kind of a wimp.”

I saw Carlos grin.  “Gee, thanks,” he said.

“No problem,” Matt said as he walked out the door.

Carlos moved up near my head, leaned down and gave me a kiss.  “Sorry,
had to do that,” he said as his lips finally parted from mine.

I smiled.  “Don’t be sorry.  I’m glad you did.  But I need to talk to
you.  He can’t be okay with this, Carlos.  He seems like he’s okay, but he
can’t be.  He hasn’t really gotten angry, other than punching you once. 
Something’s gotta give.  He’s gonna blow, soon.  He can’t be that okay with
this.”

“I know.  I’m not that okay with this, so I know that he can’t be. 
You’re right Sarah, and I’m trying to be ready.”

“But what if we’re in the middle of a fight with those things when he
freaks out about this?  What if you need his help and he freezes?”

Carlos shook his head.  “Nope, never happen.  I don’t care how mad he is
at me for boinking you or anything else, Sarah.  He will always be there for me
in a fight.  Always.”

“You’re sure?”

“Positive.  Now.  Can you please shut up for a minute so I can sneak in
one more kiss?”

I did, and he did, until he had me breathing too heavy and I had to stop
because it hurt my ribs.

Chapter
Eleven

Matt squeezed my hand tighter as we settled into our plane seats.  We
were in the two seats in the front row.  Carlos and Troy were behind us. 
Everyone else was spread out on the plane.  We were at the beginning of thirty hours-worth
of flights; first Lima to San Francisco; then San Francisco to Budapest,
Hungary, with stops in Minneapolis and Amsterdam.  From Budapest we would
travel by train to Romania.  Then we would activate the tracking device we had
with us to try to find Bahiti.

I shifted a little in my seat.  It hurt a little and I tried not to
wince, but Matt still noticed.  He notices everything.  “Are you sure you’re up
for this trip, Sarah?”  I smiled and patted the back of his hand.

“Relax.  I’m fine.  I’m just getting comfortable.  I’ll be much better
once we’re in the air and I can put my seat back.”

“Do you want me to get you a pillow, Sarah?  A blanket?” Carlos said from
behind me.  I turned my head and smiled at him. 

“No, that’s okay.  I’m fine, really.”  I leaned my head on Matt’s
shoulder and closed my eyes.  It was the best way to make the boring flight go
faster. 

“Sarah?  Wake up sweetheart.  We’re in San Fran.  It’s time to change
planes,” Matt whispered. 

“I slept that entire time?  Shit, now I won’t be able to sleep for the
rest of the flight.  Did you sleep at all?”

He shook his head.  “No.  I was working out strategy with Troy and
Carlos.  And studying the map for possible places they could be.”

“Matt, why didn’t you wake me?  I need to go over that stuff with you
too, you know.”

He kissed my forehead.  “There’s plenty of time for that.  We can do that
on the train in Hungary.  Right now, your body is healing and it needs more
sleep.  Now, we have two hours before our next flight.  Kevin is waiting for us
in a van to take us in groups on the loop around the airport so we can feed.”

I raised my eyebrows at him.  “Seriously?  There’s a van full of blood? 
Right out front?  And he’s going to just drive around the airport while we
feed?  That sounds so creepy.  Awesome, cause I’m starving, but creepy.”

He grinned at me, from his smile to his eyes, he really grinned at me. 
God, that felt good.  “What’s so funny?” I asked.

“Nothing.  I just forget sometimes how young you are.  Obviously you and
I haven’t traveled much since you’ve been turned.  This is what we have to do. 
We have to make feeding arrangements along the way.  It’s either that or we
have to hunt, and I didn’t think that was an option for you.”

“It’s not.  And thanks.”