Bitten By Regret (Just One Bite #2) (14 page)

Chapter Twenty-One

"No!" Diandra screamed from the base of the
stairs, nearly collapsing as she saw the bloody, broken body of her lover. She
gripped the newel post, fingers clenching about the top as she held on for dear
life. She didn't notice it splinter beneath her grip. "You son of a bitch,
what the fuck did you do?" Blinding fury was all that kept her on her feet
as she let go of the broken wood and moved towards Jonah. Madness glinted in
her lilac eyes, the darkness of the room and the tears making them shine like
midnight blue pools. She set RaeLynn on the floor and neither adult noticed her
crawling towards Lizbeth.

"Now Diandra," Jonah said soothingly, dropping the
pistol and raising his hands in placation. He took a step towards her but
stopped when she hissed like a wildcat in his direction, saliva glinting on her
exposed fangs.

Diandra licked her fangs, not even noticing when she nicked
her tongue on one razor-sharp tip. "You die for this, you stupid
motherfucker. Tonight you fucking die. You couldn't let us be happy, could you?
You arrogant prick, thinking if she was gone I would take you back." She
let out a bark of laughter and it chilled the room, raising all the fine hairs
on Jonah's body.

"It'll be okay now, baby. You and I can work through
our issues and raise our daughter together the way we were meant to. We'll move
away so no one knows I'm still alive. It'll all be fine again. I know you must
have missed me the way I missed you." Even as he tried to calm her he
backed up. She advanced on him and he turned slightly, circling away from the
doorway and heading for the still-open sliding door that led to the beach. The
waves crashed behind him, the smell of salt water mixing with the metallic tang
of blood in the air.

With a primal scream of anger and pain, Diandra launched
herself at the man. Eamon slipped in unnoticed and dove to RaeLynn's side,
pulling her and Lizbeth out of the way of the feuding vampires, lest they be
trampled during the fight. Jonah jumped back, trying to escape Diandra's clutches.
He realized too late the error of his ways as his body hit the glass door
behind him, shaking it in its tracks but not shattering it. She was on him in a
flash, her left hand gripping him by the throat. He gurgled, beating at her arm
with both hands as her fingers ripped into his throat and held him by his
spinal cord. If he were human he would already be dead, but he knew if he got
her off of him he could eventually heal this damage. It hurt like Hell but it
wouldn't kill him.

Putting her face close to his, Diandra whispered, "May
you suffer an eternity in Hell, and let it be just the beginning." She
pulled her right arm back as far as it would go and he braced himself for the
punch. He shut his eyes in preparation so he never saw how badly he misjudged
her. She released a throaty battle cry and plunged her fist into his chest,
ripping his heart out as she pulled free of his ribcage. She threw it to the
ground and stomped on it, crushing it with her bare foot as she sobbed, freeing
the heartache she'd kept inside during their confrontation.

She ran to Lizbeth's broken body, dropped down beside her
and, for the moment, ignored Eamon and RaeLynn. She felt for a pulse in the
side of Lizbeth's neck, crying out in relief when she found it. It was weak and
thready but still present. Drawing a deep breath, she released it and exposed
her fangs. She bent over her lover's body and prepared to sink her fangs into
the side of Lizzie's neck.

Eamon grabbed her arm and yanked her roughly back, causing
her to hiss in surprise and anger.
"Dia, no.
If
you do this the Council will hunt you as well. They've spoken to you and they
know you know the rules. You don't turn a human without permission and she
cannot give hers." He lowered his arm, grief evident in his eyes.
"I'm so sorry, Diandra."

"I don't care. Let them come for me. I won't lose her
like this." Tears welled up in Diandra's eyes and rolled down her face.
She leaned forward and was stopped once more. "I don't have time for this,
Eamon. She's still alive but fading fast. If I'm going to do this I have to do
it now."

Eamon shook his head, shaking loose the first tear so it ran
silently down his carved
 
cheekbone, down
the strong line of his jaw, and finally out of sight under the collar of his
sweatshirt. "No, Dia. I cannot let you. Do you really think this is what
she would want? Would she want to be brought back to raise Rae on her own?
Because that's exactly what would happen, honey. You'd be dead and Lizbeth
would be raising this child as an orphan." The words were cold but his
face was sincere.

Diandra opened her mouth to protest once more but shut it
without speaking. She let out a ragged sob and buried her face in Eamon's
shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her thick hair,
tears now running unchecked to turn clumps of it a burgundy shade instead of
its usual copper color.

Neither noticed RaeLynn's chubby baby fist open into a
caress, stroking Lizbeth's cheek gently. She ran a hand across Lizzie's ribcage
where the damage had begun before crawling lower to rub the broken femur. She
turned around once more, laying her head upon Lizzie's breast and placed a
gently hand on the gaping wound that marred the center of her chest.

Diandra and Eamon clung together, a tragic parody of a
lover's embrace, as they attempted to both give comfort and receive it. When
Lizbeth's gasping breath left her body they both tensed, sensing that she had
drawn her final breath while they were turned away. They pulled apart and
slowly turned to face her, afraid to look one last time at a woman they both
loved in very different ways.

Lizbeth lay on her back, eyes open, staring up at the
ceiling with her arms flung to the side. RaeLynn had curled up in the cradle of
one of those arms and fallen asleep there. Diandra leaned forward to bring her
baby close to her when Lizbeth's eyes focused on her. Dia let out a scream
echoed by Eamon's shout of fear. He started to back away but Diandra grabbed
his arm and pointed wordlessly. The large, bloody hole in Lizbeth's chest was
gone. The corresponding large, bloody hole in the nightshirt was still present
but the chest beneath was smooth and unmarked.

Slowly Lizbeth sat up, automatically adjusting her arms to
scoop up the sleeping infant. She looked around, her eyes wide and full of
horror. Jonah's body was still on the floor and the remains of his heart were
next to Lizbeth. She cringed away and licked her lips.

"Diandra," she said in a hoarse voice. "Why?
I don't want to be like you." She curled up on the floor once more,
tucking her body around RaeLynn's as she began to sob.

Eamon knelt carefully beside the crying woman.
"Lizzie, no.
She didn't turn you. You're still human. I
promise you, it'll be okay. You're still human and you're still alive."
She sniffled a bit before peering up at him through a tangle of her chestnut
brown hair. He nodded slowly, making sure to give her full eye contact so she
could tell he was being truthful.

"RaeLynn did it," Diandra said quietly. Her words
fell into the silence like a nuclear bomb and Eamon and Lizbeth turned to stare
at her. "She heals. She handed me a dead sand crab last week and when she
took it back she managed to bring it back. She cut her head the other day and
healed that as well. I didn't notice. Somehow I didn't notice what she'd been
doing. She must have healed you, too." She knelt down, placing a gentle
kiss on her daughter's hand before locking eyes with Lizbeth. "She healed
you."

Lizbeth climbed shakily to her feet. She drew a deep breath,
remembering the pain of broken ribs and a punctured lung. Nothing hurt now. She
stood on her left leg, lifting her right leg a bit and shaking it. Although she
knew his kick had done damage, her right leg felt whole and perfect. One arm
clutching the precious baby to her, she used the other hand to explore the
shallow dip between her two small breasts. Again, there was no pain, no damage,
just smooth skin under the torn material of her nightshirt. It made her think
back to the way RaeLynn had played with her sling the night before, and how
before she'd come downstairs she'd discovered her arm healed and fully
functional once more. She cradled RaeLynn gently and rained kisses over her
hair. She was alive, she was human, and it was all thanks to this precious
bundle she held in her arms.

Behind them, unseen, Jonah disintegrated into a pile of ash.
No one in the room noticed, and no one cared. A mystical wind swept through the
still-open sliding glass door, lifting the pile up until it was a small grey
funnel. As suddenly as the wind came, it drifted back out and carried the ashes
with it before depositing them in the sea. Finally, Jonah was no more.

Epilogue

Three weeks later the women sat out on the deck sipping
their coffee as they huddled for warmth under their blankets. Fall had come
with a vengeance, turning the breeze off of the water into a cold slap instead
of a warm caress. The trees they could see in the distance were dressed in
their autumn colors- gold, honey, red, rust, and a bright dandelion yellow
instead of their usual green shade.

They'd fallen into a new pattern of sorts since the attack
and it made Lizbeth antsy. Diandra watched her with cautious eyes as though
expecting Lizzie to turn into someone else. Other than having a new appreciation
for her life there was no change. Eamon came to the house daily to work with
Diandra and RaeLynn. He had contacted an immortal he trusted and the pair of
them developed some tests to see what else, if anything, the six-month old baby
could do now. As the testing had just begun, they hadn't discovered any new
skills yet, but that didn't mean the surprises were over.

Lizbeth had to give him major points for how well he did
with RaeLynn. He made sure all the tests were fun for her so it was more like
she had a playmate. He didn't want to treat her like a lab rat- he told them he
honestly wanted to know what she could do so that she didn't hurt herself or
anyone else as she got older. The sooner they knew what she was capable of, the
sooner they could help her learn to control it. The women agreed
wholeheartedly.

Lizbeth had taken one sick day to calm down and get over the
shock of being alive. The day after, however, she dressed as usual and, wincing
at the necessity, put her sling back on. She explained to Diandra that she
didn't want to arouse Alexar's suspicions. She'd even worn a nice fall sweater
and skipped the suit jacket so she didn't have to try and remove it without
disturbing the sling. The less Alexar knew at this point, she figured, the
better.

The only other change in their routine was looking for
someone new to care for their home. While visiting her sister, Margaret had
fallen down the stairs and broken a hip. She would be laid up for some time
while it healed, plus she had physical therapy in her future as well. Diandra
had assured her she understood her need to retire and promised they'd all come
visit when she was feeling better. She sent a very hefty bonus check with the
get-well card, knowing that her friend of ten years was better off enjoying her
twilight years instead of using them to take care of someone else's home.
Hopefully the check would be enough to keep her comfortable until her final
days.

A few applicants had been rejected immediately, and a few
others had had interviews that didn't go well. The women were fine maintaining
the house and their other needs by themselves for a while longer, but they
truly hoped to find someone who would mesh well with their lives. They could
hold out until that one special person answered the ad. They both agreed they
would know the right person when they saw her, or him.

In the meantime, life continued on. It was business as usual
for this family: two women in love- one a cop, one a charitable vamp- and the
baby that made each day an adventure. Diandra knew one thing for sure, she
thought as she reached for Lizbeth's hand and they watched the sun rise with
the baby playing on the deck between them. Life might be crazy, hectic, and
full of surprises, but at least their lives would never be dull.

*****

About The Author

Kay Glass has wanted to be a
writer for as long as she can remember. This is her second novel. Kay lives in
Delaware with her husband, her two children, and their menagerie of animals. In
her spare time she writes a blog and short stories, and reads whatever fiction
novel she can get her hands on.

Connect with me online!

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I love hearing from you, my readers! I'd love it if you'd
take the time to return to where you purchased your copy and leave a review.

And if you enjoyed Bitten
By
Regret, keep reading for an excerpt from Taste of Grief, the third installment
of the Just One Bite series.

~~~Kay~~~

The wind was brisk, carrying the briny smell of the nearby
water in its wake. The ocean was tempestuous, the waves rolling, ever
increasing in speed. The storm made the air feel electric, the small hairs on
the back of Diandra Malone's neck standing to attention. She stood on the rear
deck of her Bethany Beach home, hands clutching the railing, head thrown back
with her eyes closed, just taking in the wildness of the night. Storms had
always appealed to Diandra, and this one was definitely a wonder to behold. The
September night carried an unusual chill due to the wind coming off the water,
and even though her flesh was raised in goosebumps she reveled in it. A
moodiness that was very unlike her had struck her, and the thunder matched her
internal rolling anger. The lightning matched the screaming that went on inside
her head. The impending rain substituted the tears she refused to allow to
fall.