Vampires and Vixens (Psy-Vamp) (15 page)

“I like the word vampires,” Drew added.

“Vampire is a vulgar term,” Nathaniel’s
father scoffed.

“But it’s totally badass,” Drew argued.

She let out one of those laughs that was
more madness than amusement. When Nathaniel’s hand reached out to her again,
she tried to take a step back but she was trapped between Nathaniel and his
cousins. “Don’t touch me!”

Her hand shot out to slap him, but his
father caught her arm and twisted it down to her side. She cringed in pain. She
had no idea how he had moved so quickly.

Drew grabbed her arms, and held them
behind her back. She didn’t struggle. The touch of Nathaniel’s father had
paralyzed her with fear.

Nathaniel smiled, and kissed her on the
cheek. He caressed her face with his index finger. As she sobbed, Nathaniel
continued to caress her cheek and run his fingers through her hair. “Once
you’ve had time to think, you will realize how lucky you are.”

A sudden thought occurred to him. “Maybe
we
should
bring Caitlin here now. It would be nice for you to have a
friend.”

“You have no right to just kidnap my
friends,” Hannah argued.

They ignored her. Nathaniel’s father
spoke. “The idea does have merit. It might make the transition easier for them
both. Of course, the decision is Justin’s.”

“I already said no,” Justin replied
irritably.

Nathaniel stepped away from her, and
turned his attention to Justin and Drew. “Take her to her room, and have some
lunch brought up to her.”

Without another word, he walked away.

His father pointed to Dominic. “I want
him out of the country today. We will all dine together this evening.” He
looked directly at Justin. “That includes your brother.”

“I don’t think that would be-”

When Nathaniel’s father raised his hand,
Justin fell silent. “He will be there.” On that proclamation he walked off
without another word.

“Get your hands off of me,” Hannah said
calmly to Drew. “I can walk on my own.”

He released her and chuckled. “You are
going to be so much fun to have around.”

They walked in silence to a bedroom
suite that she had never seen before. It was decorated in shades of jade green
and gold. As far as prisons went, it was nice but it was still a prison.

Justin opened the closet which was full
of clothing. “You should have everything you need. Someone will bring up some
food for you soon.” He sounded tired, and his voice held very little emotion.
Of course, that was not too unusual for Justin. “I put some prenatal vitamins
in the bathroom. If they upset your stomach you can take them at bedtime. There
is also an iron supplement. It is very important that you take the iron pill
three times a day. Tell me immediately if you can’t keep that down.”

“Why would I tell you?” she didn’t look
up at him.

“I’m your doctor,” he explained
patiently.

“You aren’t even in medical school yet,”
she reminded him.

Drew, who lay stretched out on her bed,
laughed. “Justin is over two-hundred years old. He’s been through medical
school more than once.”

“Come on,” Justin urged Drew. “We don’t
want to piss Nathaniel off today.”

“You’re right about that,” Drew agreed,
as he stood up. “I’ve grown fond of breathing.”

He leaned close to Hannah, and she could
feel his breath against her face. She refused to look at him. His voice was
quiet. “Don’t worry, sweet little Hannah, we’ll have plenty of quality time
together. When Nathaniel gets bored with you, and he will, I’ll be here to keep
you company.”

She could hear the door lock behind them.
After a few minutes she walked to the door and tried to open it, but it was
locked. She then tried the window but it wouldn’t open either. Hannah took her
shoe off and threw it against the window with all of her strength, but it
bounced back.

It was all just too much. She collapsed
onto the bed, and cried.

Hannah didn’t know how long she laid on
the bed. She felt more alone than she had in her entire life. Almost everyone
she trusted had lied to her. For the first time she actually wondered if she
would have been better off marrying Scott. They may not have loved each other,
but at least he wasn’t a freakin’ vampire.

The doorknob turned, and she sat up. Her
heart raced in an odd mixture of fear and rage, as the door opened slowly. Noah
entered alone, looking uneasy. His eyes wouldn’t meet hers.

When he sat on the edge of the bed, he
finally looked up at her. His tortured expression was not what she expected to
see, and it almost made her reach out to him. Then she remembered his deceit
and she turned away, unable to stand the sight of him.

“Hannah, I didn't know. Nathaniel told
me that he would tell you everything before things got this far. I wouldn't
have let him hurt you. I swear to you that I would have told you if I thought
he was trying to manipulate you.”

She looked down at her hands. “You lied
to me.” Her voice was hoarse from crying. “I trusted you more than anyone, but
you’re one of them. I wish I’d never met any of you.”

Her pain was so intense she thought she
would die from it.

He cringed. “I'm not like them.” There
was a pause, and he dropped his head. “Not anymore at least. Yes, we have the
same DNA, but it’s Nathaniel’s father who made him this way, not his genetics.
I really believed that he was going to be honest with you. You have to know
that he couldn’t tell you right away. It would have put us all at risk, but he
should have told you before you had sex.”

Without looking up, she replied coldly.
“You don’t need to make excuses for your brother. I’ve already been told that
it doesn’t matter if I forgive him. Apparently, I have to stay with him
regardless of how I feel.
You
are a different story. Give me one good
reason why I should ever speak to you again.”

“I want to help you, Hannah.”

She looked up at him, her eyes still
full of scorn. “Why should I trust you, Noah? You knew what they were capable
of, and you didn't try to warn me. Dominic almost killed Lydia, or so I’ve been
told. Why I should believe anything you say?”

The harshness of her tone made him
flinch again. He wanted to look away, but he continued to meet her gaze. “I'm
the only person who can get you out of here. I will betray my brother to help
you. I owe you at least that much.”

Her face lit up with hope. “You’re going
to help me get away from him?”

He went to take her hand but stopped
himself, uncertain of how she would react. “I will protect you and your child
with my life.” He rose from the bed, and kicked the toe of his shoe against the
floor. “I was so stupid. I wanted you both to be happy. I ignored the warning
signs. You have every right to blame me for what happened; I let you down.”

She examined his face carefully, and saw
the genuine sincerity in his eyes. “Can we go now?”

He shook his head. “Not yet.”

The prospect of spending another second
with Nathaniel disgusted her. “I have to get out of this place, Noah.”
Curiosity hit her, and she found herself staring at his mouth.

For a moment Noah seemed confused. “Are
you looking for fangs?” he asked.

She nodded.

He opened his mouth to reveal a perfect
set of teeth then gave her an uneasy smile. “I guess that doesn’t really prove
anything. They’re retractable, but mine were surgically removed. Most of the
Draksel family has had them removed. I think most of the other families have
done the same, but we don’t socialize with the other families often. The fangs
aren’t necessary anymore.”

“How many are there?” she asked.

“Fangs?”

“Families,” she clarified.

“Oh, there are only about a dozen
families that I know of. There were more at one time, but a lot of them were
killed off.”

“Will my baby be a monster?” Her voice
trembled slightly.

“Just like humans, we can be monsters.”
He paused to consider his words. “We look like humans, but we’re not. The males
have never been human. The energy, that most consider a human’s life-force,
can be used to extend our lives and our youth indefinitely. I look older
because I no longer feed on energy. It’s hard to give up, because our survival
instincts are strong. I stopped when I realized that I had completely lost
touch with humanity. My own father was human, but I had stopped feeling any
connection to the humans around me.”

“Do I have to take people’s energy?”
Hannah asked hesitantly.

Noah shook his head. “You can, and it
will extend your life, but you won’t crave it the way someone born into this
existence does.” His mouth opened to speak, but he looked away and ran his
fingers through his hair.

“What are you leaving out?” Hannah
asked.

“Nathaniel could force the energy into
you. It would be his energy, but he would have to feed more to give you energy
as well. Even without it, you won’t age very quickly. I’m not sure what your
lifespan would be without feeding. Apparently, I’m the first to try to die of
old age.”

“How do you get the energy out of
people?” she asked.

“The simple answer is we touch them,” he
said, “but there’s more to it than that. We can sense the energy in others, and
in ourselves. When we make physical contact with a human we can gather bits of
that energy together and pull it out. It just comes naturally. We have enough
control over our own energy to prevent others from taking it, but we can give
it freely. Does that make sense?”

She took a moment to process what he had
said. “Yes, I understand what you’re saying. No, it doesn’t make sense. It
shouldn’t be possible. Do you have special powers? I mean, can you fly, or turn
into bats?”

He laughed. “I don’t think it’s possible
to fly or turn into a bat. We can control most human minds. It’s stronger in
some of us. Nathaniel is the most powerful in that area. He can also understand
any language, even if he can’t speak it. Justin has a knack for knowing what‘s
wrong with a person, and it’s why he became a doctor. Roman can feel the energy
that everyone has without touching them. He doesn’t need physical contact to feed.
We are all stronger physically. I’m not saying I could lift a car, well not a
large one, but you get my point.”

“What is your special talent?” she
asked.

He seemed a little embarrassed. “My mind
processes equations like a calculator. It’s not exactly a coveted skill.”

That thought made her smile. “So you’re
a human calculator?”

He shook his head. “Not human.”

Her smile disappeared with that
reminder.

“I need time to make some arrangements.
For now, you must make Nathaniel trust you again. I can’t get you out if he’s
treating you like a prisoner of war. As it stands now you’re locked in with a
guard just down the hall.”

Her eyes closed tightly, and she
shuddered. The mere thought of being close to Nathaniel sickened her. “I'll
try,” she reluctantly agreed, “but I don’t know if I can pull it off.”

Noah moved to the edge of the bed again,
and sat beside her. This time he took her hand. When she didn’t jerk her hand
away, he visibly relaxed. “It’s the only way.”

She closed her eyes, and nodded. “Drew
said Justin is more than two-hundred years old, is that true?”

Noah nodded.

“How old are you and the others?

“I’m not exactly sure. We aren’t good at
keeping track of years. I know that I’m younger than Justin, but not by much.
Nathaniel is a few years older than Justin. Isaiah was born a few years after
me. Drew is only twenty-one. His mother insists on birthday parties so
none of us can forget his age. Roman, Nathaniel’s father, is more than five-hundred
years old but I’m not sure how much more. Dominic is around three-hundred
years old, I think.”

“What really happened to my cousin?”
Hannah asked. Part of her didn’t want to know the answer, but she had to know
the truth.

“Do you remember how you felt the night
that Aiden attacked you?”

She nodded.

“He fed on your energy, but Nathaniel
interrupted the process before it was complete. That is what Dominic was doing
to Lydia.”

This explained a lot to Hannah. “That’s
why Lydia was so drained the next morning, and I felt fine.”

Noah shook his head. “There’s more to it.
You shouldn’t have regained your energy so quickly. Only a select group of
humans can do that. You can also resist compulsions.”

Hannah’s eyes lit with understanding. “I
remember that I kept feeling like Aiden was trying to put thoughts into my
head. I thought I was going crazy. He tried at the college first, and it’s why
I was trying to avoid him the night of the party.”

“That’s probably why he went after you.
He wanted to claim you before anyone else figured it out. We can’t breed with
just any human. They used to believe that it was only a select few humans that
were strong enough to carry our babies. Some still do, but Justin did a lot of
research that proves that we just can’t mate with the average human. That makes
it very hard to find someone to settle down with. Aiden lost both of his
parents a couple of years ago, and he has no brothers. He was very close to his
parents, but no one else. I think he hoped you were the end to his loneliness.
I’m not trying to justify his actions, just make you understand why he went a
little crazy. It was pretty out of character for him.”

He took a deep breath. “Now here is the
part where it gets a little strange.”

Hannah actually laughed. “Are you saying
it wasn’t strange before now?”

He smiled. “Not for me, but I guess it’s
all strange for you.”

“So what was strange for you in all of
this?” she asked.

“Lydia is not a normal human either.
She’s like you.”

Hannah looked confused. “Then why was
she so drained the next day?”

“Dominic obviously took way more energy
than he needed. It’s very strange that he would feed on her, knowing her
potential as a mate.”

“Aiden fed on me,” Hannah pointed out.

“True,” Noah conceded, “but I think he
just wanted to weaken you. He didn’t want anyone else to find out about you. My
guess is that Aiden was planning to take you somewhere away from the rest of
the family.”

“Maybe Dominic didn’t try to use a
compulsion so he didn’t know that Lydia could resist them.”

Noah shook his head. “He would have
known when he fed. Her energy would have felt different. He even took her
blood. There is no way he could have missed it. Instead of protecting her after
he realized it, he fed on her so often that he nearly killed her. None of it
makes any sense at all. Roman, Nathaniel’s father, is sending Dominic out of
the country because he’s afraid of what Dominic might do to Lydia.”

“How did you know Lydia was different?”
Hannah asked.

“I gave Lydia some of my energy last
night at the hospital. It was a crazy idea, and I had no reason to think it
would work, but I had to try something.”

Her eyes widened. “You saved her life.”

“I tried something that I was pretty
sure wouldn’t work, and got lucky. I’m not the only one who gave her energy.
Justin, Nathaniel, and Roman all donated. Justin isn’t sure if it will be
enough,” he admitted so she wouldn’t get her hopes up. “She’s still in a coma.”

“Thank you,” she said, and threw her
arms around him. His arms wrapped around her, and she felt safe for a short
time. It wasn’t easy to pull away from Noah, but she did.

“What now?” she finally asked after a
long silence.

“You do what I told you, and trust me to
take care of the rest.”

Her head dropped, and she found herself
staring at Noah’s hand which was resting on hers. “I'm trying to trust you, but
I just don't know what to believe anymore.” She was struggling for the words to
describe her feelings. Finally, she looked up and met his gaze. “My whole life
was stolen from me in the last twenty-four hours. I’m confused, but
mostly I’m mad. I don’t know if I can pull it off. I can’t handle Nathaniel
putting his hands on me.” She cringed at the thought of his touch.

“I’ll think of something, but for now
just tell him you feel sick.”

She nodded. “I won’t have to lie about
that. I still can’t believe I’m pregnant, but at least I have almost eight
months to get used to the idea.”

“About that,” Noah hesitated. “For our
kind pregnancy only lasts about five months.” He squeezed her hand. “I’ll tell
Nathaniel that I've calmed you down, and you’re extremely sorry for
overreacting. Whatever you do, avoid the rest of the family as much as
possible.”

That was a warning that she didn’t need
after her earlier encounter with Drew.

He knocked, and waited. Nathaniel opened
the door, looked at him and then at Hannah. She forced herself to give him the
most loving smile that she could manage, hoping it didn’t end up looking like a
sneer.