Night's Mistress (Children of the Night) (18 page)

 

Mara looked up from the magazine she had been reading, and frowned. “Kyle, you’re staring at me again.”

“Am I? I’m sorry, I can’t seem to stop.”

“Is something wrong?” she asked, laying the magazine aside. It was a silly question, she thought. She was pregnant. She had no friends, no doctor, and, in spite of the books she’d read, no idea how to take care of the infant once it arrived.

“What could be wrong?” Kyle asked with a wry grin. “You’re expecting a baby any day now and the only help you’ve got is me.”

She tried to think of something reassuring to say, but nothing came to mind. Hadn’t she just been thinking the same thing? The baby would be here soon, she thought. She had been having contractions for the last couple of days. Braxton Hicks, her doctor had called them. She had gone online and looked up Braxton Hicks. The contractions had been named after an English doctor, John Braxton Hicks, back in 1872. Most of the time, the contractions were uncomfortable, but not painful. According to an article online, if she had more than four contractions in an hour, and if the pain escalated, it was probably time to call the doctor. She hadn’t mentioned the contractions to Kyle. He was worried enough.

Kyle drummed his fingers on the arm of the sofa. Too worried to sit still any longer, he began to pace the floor. He didn’t know a damn thing about childbirth, and neither did she. What if something went wrong? What if the baby was breach? What if Mara hemorrhaged? He swore softly. There were a hundred things that could go wrong during labor and delivery and he wasn’t equipped to handle any of them. He was an artist, not a damned doctor.

“Go pack a bag,” he said. “We’re leaving.”

“Where are we going?”

“To Porterville.” He held up a hand to still her protest. “I know you don’t want to go, but I don’t care. We can’t do this alone. There are just too many things that could go wrong. And since you’re dead set against going to a hospital, Porterville’s the only other option we’ve got.”

“I don’t want to . . .”

“Hey! We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. The easy way, you pack a bag and we go. The hard way, I stuff you into a bag and we go. It’s your choice.”

“Kyle . . .”

“I’m not kidding, sweetie. I can handle McDonald if she shows up. But what about that doctor? He’s a frickin’ vampire. If he comes looking for you, neither one of us stands a chance against him, and you know it.”

In the end, that was the argument that swayed Mara.

Forty minutes later, their bags were packed and in the trunk of Kyle’s car and they were on the road to Porterville.

 

Rane blew out a sigh of relief when he opened the door and saw Mara standing on the porch. He had been thinking about her, worrying about her, ever since he’d returned from Reno. He glanced at the man beside her, startled to see Kyle Bowden instead of Logan. Rane grunted softly, thinking that Kyle Bowden must have done some mighty fast talking to get back into Mara’s good graces. As a vampire, she hadn’t been really big on forgive and forget.

“It’s good to see you,” Rane said, opening the door wider. “You, too, Kyle. Come on in. So,” Rane said when the three of them were seated in the living room, “what brings you up this way?”

“We need your help,” Kyle said. “As you can see, Mara’s pregnant.”

“I hope you don’t expect me to deliver the baby,” Rane muttered.

“No,” Kyle said, “but I think her life might be in danger. She’s lost her powers . . .”

Rane looked at Mara, his senses probing the air around her. “You’re human again,” he murmured. He supposed that explained why Rafe hadn’t been able to find her since they saw her in Nevada, and yet, it didn’t, not really. Mara had shared blood with him and his brother. She had brought his father across. They should have been able to locate her no matter where she went. “How could it have happened? I mean, no one’s ever heard of a vampire reverting. It’s . . .” He shook his head. “Hell, I don’t know what it is.”

“I don’t know how it happened.” Mara folded her arms over her stomach. “No one knows.”

Rane swore softly. She had told him she was changing, but this was one change he hadn’t considered. Human again. It was impossible, unthinkable.

“Hi, Mara, Kyle,” Savanah said, coming into the room.

“Hello, Savanah,” Mara said, forcing a smile.

Kyle nodded at Rane’s wife.

Savanah sat on the arm of Rane’s chair. “Kyle, did I hear you say Mara’s life is in danger?” Savanah asked.

“We’re not really sure,” Kyle replied, “but Mara says she doesn’t trust her doctor, even though he’s a vampire . . .”

“Ramsden?” Rane asked.

Kyle nodded.

“Pregnant women get a lot of funny ideas as their due date approaches,” Savanah remarked. “Maybe there’s nothing to worry about.”

“Better safe than sorry. Anyway,” Kyle said, looking sheepish, “she’s not just in danger from the doctor. When I couldn’t find her, I hired a vampire hunter . . .”

“You did what?” Rane exclaimed.

“Yeah, I know, it was a dumb thing to do, but I didn’t know how else to find her. I told the hunter I didn’t want Mara hurt in any way, I just wanted to know where she was, and it worked. Only now . . .”

“Who was the hunter?” Rane asked, his voice grim.

“Lou McDonald.”

“Damn! She’s as hard as flint, that one. And her sister’s not much better.”

“Sister?” Kyle muttered, frowning. “She never mentioned a sister.”

“Cindy Meloni.”

“There was a Cindy working for Ramsden,” Mara said. “Do you think that’s her?”

“Could be. The McDonald sisters have made quite a name for themselves in the last few years,” Rane said. “They’ve racked up an impressive body count between them, although I don’t think Meloni does much killing.” Rane scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “You were right to bring Mara here. We’ll take good care of her. I’ll call Rafe and the old man and let them know what’s going on.”

“Hey, I didn’t come here to drop her off,” Kyle said, slipping his arm around Mara’s shoulders. “We’re in this together.” He looked at Mara and smiled. “The three of us.”

Rane looked at Mara. It was easy to see that Kyle was deeply in love with her. Who could blame him? Vampire or not, she was an incredibly beautiful woman, and softer, sweeter, somehow, now that she was mortal. He was less certain of Mara’s feelings for Kyle. Had she really forgiven the man for the way he had behaved when she’d told him she was a vampire? Of course, now that she was human, Kyle’s feelings on whether she was a vampire or not didn’t really matter.

“The two of you are welcome to stay here, with us, of course,” Rane said. “We’ve got plenty of room.”

“Who’s going to deliver the baby?” Savanah asked.

Mara shook her head. “I don’t know. I don’t want to go to a hospital where they might do tests. I don’t know if the baby will be normal or not, human or not . . .”

“Well, you came to the right place,” Savanah said with a smile. “I’ve taken the Lamaze classes.”

Rane snorted softly. “Fat lot of good they did.”

Savanah made a face at him. “Okay, so I didn’t use the technique during the actual birth, but I still know what to do, and I think that, between myself and Cara, we’ve got enough experience to deliver a baby. And there’s a hospital in town if anything goes wrong.”

Later, while Kyle was getting their bags and Rane was calling his brother and his father, Savanah took Mara upstairs to see Abbey, who was sleeping peacefully in her crib.

“She’s beautiful,” Mara said.

“Thank you.”

“Why did you take the Lamaze classes and then not use what you learned?”

“It hurt too much. I used Rane instead.”

“What do you mean?”

“He talked me through it.” Savanah laid her hand on Mara’s arm. “This must be so difficult for you.”

“You have no idea.”

“I hope you don’t think this is rude, but I can’t help wondering . . . how do you feel about being human again?” Savanah asked.

“I hated it at first, but now”—Mara placed her hand on her belly—“it’s not so bad. I hope I have a little boy who’ll be as handsome as your Abbey is pretty. Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“What’s it like for you, being the only mortal in a family of vampires?”

“To tell you the truth, it was a little strange at first, even a little scary, but Rane’s been wonderfully supportive. And I love the rest of his family, although Roshan can be a little intimidating at times.”

“Yes, Roshan,” Mara said thoughtfully. He was less than five hundred years old, and yet, even before she had given him her blood, he had been a powerful vampire. She wondered who had made him. Odd that she had never thought to ask. Of course, it didn’t matter now.

Savanah bent over the crib to stroke her daughter’s downy cheek, then turned and led the way back downstairs.

Rafe, Kathy, Cara, and Vince were sitting in the living room with Rane and Kyle. Rafe gained his feet and gave Mara a hug; then, holding her at arm’s length, he said, “It is good to see you.”

“It’s good to see you, too.”

“Are you all right?” He glanced at her swollen belly and smiled. “This will take some getting used to.”

“Don’t tease her, Rafe,” Cara said. “The last few weeks of any pregnancy are uncomfortable, at best.”

“I am not teasing.” Keeping hold of Mara’s hand, Rafe led her to the sofa and gently drew her down beside him, so that she was sitting between himself and his wife.

“When’s the baby due?” Kathy asked.

“Soon, I think. I’ve been having contractions all day.”

“All day?” Kyle exclaimed. “Why didn’t you say something sooner?”

“I didn’t want to worry you. Besides, I’ve been having them for weeks. The doctor said they were just Braxton Hicks. Nothing to worry about.” Mara bit down on her lower lip. “But they’re coming harder now, and closer together.” She groaned softly. “I think I’m in labor.” She had no sooner spoken the words than she doubled over as a sharp pain threatened to cut her in two.

“Mara!” Kyle darted across the room and dropped to his knees in front of her. “What should I do?”

“Make it stop!”

“No!” Kyle shook his head in vigorous denial. “You can’t be in labor. It’s too early!”

Mara groaned as another contraction took her unawares. “Tell that to the baby.”

“Maybe it’s false labor,” Cara suggested.

“I don’t think so,” Kathy said, coming up behind her mother-in-law. “Her water just broke.”

“All right, everyone, just calm down,” Savanah said, quickly taking charge. “Kyle, carry Mara into the guest room, last door on the left at the end of the hall. Kathy, find some clean towels. Cara, we’ll need some hot water. Rane, you’d better call your grandparents. They might want to cut their vacation to Italy short. Rafe, we’ll need something to cut the cord, and one of Abbey’s blankets to wrap the baby in.” She glanced around the room. “Now, people! Move!”

Mara groaned as Kyle picked her up and carried her down the hall.

“It’ll be all right,” he said. “I’ll be right here beside you.”

Savanah slipped into the guest room behind Kyle. She turned on the light and folded back the covers on the bed. “The contractions are coming pretty fast,” she said. “I don’t think this will be a long labor.”

“It’s already too long,” Mara said, gasping. “It hurts!”

“It’s supposed to hurt,” Savanah said with a rueful smile.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Kyle reached for Mara’s hand, wincing as her fingers closed tightly around his.

Mara groaned again. The pains came hard and fast, more painful than anything she had imagined or expected, worse than anything she had ever known. She remembered staying out too late soon after Dendar had turned her. She had barely outrun the rising of the sun. She recalled the pain that had consumed her when the sun’s light had touched her flesh. Even that hadn’t been as bad as this. She choked back a cry, unable to imagine how any woman in her right mind, having endured the agony of childbirth once, would willingly go through it all again.

She clung to Kyle’s hand as the contractions came, one hard upon the heels of the other. Was it always like this, she wondered. Maybe something was wrong . . . She groaned as another contraction threatened to split her in half.

“Try to breathe through the pain, like this,” Savanah said, demonstrating the technique she had been taught in her Lamaze classes.

“Forget Lamaze,” Rane said curtly. “Mara, look at me.”

She followed the sound of Rane’s voice and saw that he was standing beside the bed.

“That’s right.” He took a step closer. “Stay focused on me. Only me.”

Nodding, Mara gazed into his eyes, eyes that burned with a dark inner fire.

“You can do this,” Rane said, his voice low, hypnotic. “You don’t feel the pain anymore, just the urge to push. Listen to your body and push when you need to.”