Spell Checked (27 page)

~~~***~~~

It was morning, Gemma could feel Nikola stirring beside her so she laid her arm and leg across his body hoping he would realize she was awake too.  She didn’t want him to get up just yet.  For now, she wanted to revel in what they had shared the previous night.

Nikola gave a small laugh, “My pet, this is no way to try and keep a vampire from leaving.”

Gemma threw the covers back and ran her tongue down the entire length of his torso, stopping at the inside of his thigh long enough to make a hickey. “Are you sure about that?” she purred.

“Okay, I could be mistaken,” he moaned as she grazed the tip of his shaft with her lips.  “Stop your teasing, woman, I have business to attend to and you are making me want to spend my time in bed instead of tending to what needs to be done.”  Nikola kissed the top of Gemma’s head before he crawled out from under her and headed to the bathroom.

Gemma followed Nikola to the bathroom.  They both stood in the doorway stunned at the amount of damage that was done.  “Oh my fucking God, Beck is going to kill us.”  All of the mirrors were broken; but thankfully they were also glued to their frames, keeping the glass contained.  The shower door was ripped off the hinges and broken on the cracked floor tiles.  Most of the fixtures were torn from the walls and sinks, and water leaked down the broken pipes on to the floor.  All of Beck’s decorative antiques were in pieces as were most of the light fixtures.  The whole mess was covered in enough blood to make it look like a slaughter house.

“Don’t worry about this mess, my sweet.  I will settle it with Beck.  Maybe we should use your bathroom, this one seems to be a little out of sorts.”  Nikola let out a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair.  It would not be the broken items that concerned Beck as much as the bloody mess.  It was not something he could send the housekeepers in to clean up.

They went to Gemma’s room and got ready to start their morning.  It would be her first day as a vampire and she had a lot to learn.  First thing on the list was self-control; she could not see spending the rest of her life destroying bathrooms.  Holding hands, they walked downstairs to the kitchen together.

Io stared out a large observation window, her eyes fixated on the single yellow star in front of her.  It glowed brighter as they approached the edge of the solar system.  She and Nilus had made this trip not so long ago, when they hid their only child.  They didn’t plan on return so soon, but after sensing their daughter’s confused panic and then utter silence, Io could not sit idly, doing nothing.  To Io, it was not a good sign.  It meant that the safety modifications they made to her brain at her birth had worn off and her guardians, evidently, were no longer able to put them back in place.  Their careful plans to keep her safe would fail if the Veshtu or Nauss ever became aware of her existence. She was living proof that the two races were more alike than either would ever admit and a testament of the love between herself, a Nauss, and Nilus, a Veshtu.  It was a pairing that was destined to cause much strife between the two races.

Nilus walked into the room and put his arm around Io, they both gazing out into space.  “It will be okay, my love.  From what I sense, she is very well at the moment and will soon be back with us.”  He squeezed Io’s shoulder to reassure her that all would be well.

Nilus had lived many lives during his existence.  He was once a beloved prince of his home world, then a revered scientist abandoned on a primitive planet, a god of gods, and even a father to a son whom he had to leave behind with his human mother.  Now he was known only as a renegade.  His crime?  Simply falling in love with the wrong person.  Among the Veshtu, marital unions were only made for power and/or prestige, not love.  Love had no place in their world of logic, nor any other emotion for that matter.

Everything in Nilus’ life had been determined by a calculated plan, programmed at his birth.  But his plan was sabotaged the day he met Io.  Not long after the Nauss first arrived on earth, Nilus met her at a banquet in honor of the leaders of her people.  She was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen and the daughter of the Nauss chieftain.  After their union was discovered, Zeus, the Veshtu’s leader and his wife Hera tried to dissolve the relationship, but it was too late.  So they ran away together.

Io looked up at Nilus and sighed, “I wish we’d never left her there.”

Nilus kissed her forehead, “It broke my heart too.  But, this is no way to raise a child, always running…never knowing if this day will be your last.”

She leaned against his chest, “I know we did the right thing, it doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

They had already spent more than six thousand earth years in hiding.  Their marriage was considered an abomination in the laws of both races and upon being discovered, a price was placed on their heads.  During the last millennia, the political climate of the two races had changed and a certain tolerance towards the intermixing of the races had prevailed.  Io and Nilus hoped they could finally live their lives in peace.  They were living the nomadic life of Io’s people, moving from planet to planet.  Although it made it easier for them to hide, it was not what Nilus’ chose, and he soon became restless.

Feeding off the blood of indigenous animals was unsatisfying and a far cry from what he was accustomed to; he longed to feed on something more human-like.  When they arrived on a planet that contained a primitive human population, he convinced Io to settle there permanently…or so they thought.  Before long and to their amazement, Io found herself with child.  They had become so blinded with joy that they never saw or even imagined the attack that was coming.  Even though the races, in general, had become more tolerant of their union, there were still some vocal members of the community who were not.  Hence, once again, they were relegated to searching for other planets to find their peace.

It was with heavy hearts that the decision was made to leave their daughter on earth.  She was entrusted to the hands of two friends who had grown weary of the Nauss’ nomadic ways and intended to settle on Earth.

Just then, the large vessel landed on the surface of Eris, a dwarf planet on the edge of the solar system.  Io and Nilus did not want to be detected by earth’s ever-alert scientist, so they switched to a smaller, less obvious craft for the remainder of their long journey.

~~~***~~~

In London, Saran LaPierre sat behind her massive desk, staring at the two men in front of her.  It had been a little over a month since Mozenrath’s unfortunate death, but all was still going as planned.  Soon, she would be voted into the Council and before long, she’d have the other Council members questioning Calcifer’s ability to remain head of the Witches Council.  Howard and Mozenrath had only been disposable pawns in her elaborate game to rid the Council of vampire sympathizers.  After witnessing the display of power by Nikola and his fellow vampire’s at the Council meeting, it would not be hard for her to sway the others to join her cause.

“John, have you made any progress in urging the Council to speed up the process of my election?” Saran asked, in a condescending manner.  She was annoyed with his obvious inability to move things along in a pace that suited her.

John Williams sat nervously in his seat.  His deliberate loss of Howard’s case had tarnished an already questionable reputation, leaving him nearly powerless when it came to swaying the Council members.  “It looks like the only hold-up is Calcifer.  He’s still trying to convince Aidan Fitz Thomas to take the seat.”

Saran banged her fist on the table in angry disgust.  To her, Aidan was the biggest traitor of them all.  He’d been led around by the balls all his life by a vampire, yet he was the one person capable of destroying her well planned strategy.  To make things worse, he held a strong influence on many of the Council members, especially Meredith Spencer.  Until recently, she had been little more than a minor Council member with no clout.  “I want you to put pressure on the other Council members to push that vote through,” Saran ordered, “We are losing time.  We need the Council to end Mr. Worthington’s research for political reasons.  It is obvious now that burning everything to ground and wiping his database clean did little more than annoy him.”

Charles Gordon leaned back in his chair, listening to Saran’s rant.  “Our problem is not the lab, but the subject of their experiments,” he was quick to point out.  Charles had a certain arrogance about him, something he learned after years of being a business man and it bothered him that Saran treated him as if her were nothing more than a hired thug.

Saran rolled her eyes at Charles, “Thank you Captain Obvious, for your grasp of the situation.  Perhaps I need to rephrase my question.  What plans have you in mind to take care of this little problem?”

Charles tightened his jaw, he didn’t like taking orders from Saran, much less being humiliated.  If not for the promise of a place on the Council after her election, as well as her expulsion of Calcifer from power, he would have walked right out of the room.  He had no quarrel with the vampire’s and to him, Saran was just a means to an end.  “Right now they are still barred in at Lough Currane.  Security is so tight, it would not only be impossible to get through, it’s suicidal.  Even the staff is screened every day on their way to work.  We’re simply going to have to wait for them to leave, before we can make another attempt.”

“Well, you better make sure you don’t botch the job this time,” she said sarcastically.  According to her, their first attempt should have been their last.  Mae’s survival was testament that her blood was too dangerous for either side to possess.  It upset the balance of power and would eventually cause worldwide over-population, a problem they had been trying to solve for years, most recently by introducing the AIDS virus.

“Saran you need to calm down and let things progress naturally.  If you keep interfering, you’re going to end up like Mozenrath.  We already have a mole in place at the new lab, preventing any progress from being made.  Another team is all ready to take out the target once they become more accessible.  For now you need to exercise patience,” Charles explained.  Of late, Saran had left his patience running pretty thin.  Suddenly, he stood up.  “So, if you’ll excuse me. I have much to do,” exiting the room, leaving Saran to vent her frustrations on poor John.

 Charles headed back to Killarney.  His team was already there keeping track of their target, waiting for the first opportunity to finish the job for which they were hired.  It was a dangerous game they played and being caught meant death, just as Howard and Mozenrath discovered.  Unlike Saran, Charles had all the patience in the world, and had no problem waiting for the right moment to arise.

~~~***~~~

“Beck can you hand me those wire cutters?” Mae yelled, pointing to the toolbox on the floor next to the ladder on which she perched.

Beck got up from his desk and peeked into the maintenance closet.  Mae was at it again for the third time this week, he’d found her working on the network.  Had it been broken, Beck would have applauded his wife’s effort, but she was rerouting everything out of boredom.  She needed something to do besides endless lessons, of which she had soon grown bored.  “Mae, I thought we agreed that the network was running fine.  You do not need to keep tweaking it.”

Mae looked down at Beck and stuck her hand out, waiting for him to place the strippers in her hand, completely ignoring his last statement.  “I’m almost done.  Just a couple more wires and the network should be running faster than it ever has,” she predicted with giddiness.

He handed her the strippers and waited at the bottom of the ladder with his arms folded across his chest.  As much as he tried to expect it, Mae’s stubbornness was starting to wear on him.  She turned out to be a far cry from the mousey girl he met just a few months earlier.  He was comfortable giving orders and having them followed, her persistent independence would take some adjusting.  “You should be kicking back and enjoying a life of leisure, not spending your day camped out in the maintenance cabinet.”

Mae rolled her eyes as she continued to crimp the ends of the newly stripped wires.  “I need something to do, Beck.  I’m going stir crazy just sitting around every day doing nothing.”  She plugged the wires into the switch and climbed down the ladder, tossing the strippers back into the toolbox.

“You are now the lady of the manor and running this place is your job,” he bellowed.

“I’d love to, but your estate manager already runs this place like a well-oiled machine.  I need to get out of here,” she sighed, squeezing her way past Beck and plopping into one of the beanbag chairs on the floor.

“I am sorry you feel so unhappy,” he did not know what else to say, sitting in a beanbag chair next to her.

She smiled at him, “I’m not unhappy, just feeling a bit useless,” she confided, clasping his hand, leaning over, and kissing him.

“Well Mrs. Worthington, you are far from useless.  I saw the garden you started, it looks wonderful.  I also noticed how well you dealt with the contractor on the bathroom repairs…Not to mention our wedding.  Which, by the way, was enchanting,” he reminded her.

She nuzzled next to him.  “I guess I was so busy before the wedding, I didn’t have time to think about anything else.  Now that the wedding is over, I feel like I have cabin fever.”

Beck brushed his hand over her hair.  “I hope that things will get back to normal soon.  I hate this as much as you do.”  He had been working out of his game room for the last two months.  He needed to go back to Dublin and at least show his employees that he was still in charge.

“I guess I should go spend some time with Gemma.  She told me she and Nikola were leaving in a couple of days.”  Mae said, getting up then helped Beck to his feet.

He sat back down behind his desk. “I have a few more things I have to do before I call it quits for the day.  I will meet you out back later and we can watch the sunset together.”

Mae gave him a quick kiss and left to find Gemma.  Before she could make it half-way down the hall, she ran into Meredith. “Are we doing lessons today?” she asked.

Meredith started to fidget, reluctant to answer.  “No, Gemma and I were headed to Waterville. She said she had a couple of things she wanted to pick up before she leaves.”

Mae began to feel miserable again; she knew Beck would not allow her to go with them because of the danger.  “Is Aidan around?”  Maybe she and Aidan could work on the lighting spell that had given her so much trouble this week.

“Beck has him doing recon today with Alexis, in Killarney.  I just hope he doesn’t come home in a foul mood this time.  He was unbearable to be around last time they spent the day doing recon.”

Mae laughed, “I have no doubt he was seeing the profound effect she has on him.”

Mae followed Meredith down the hall, up the stairs, and down another long hall, to Gemma’s room.  It was quite evident that she’d been packing and lucky for her, she and Nikola would be taking a private jet to China.  She already had a mountain of luggage and was still not finished packing.  “Has Nikola decided when you’re leaving yet?” Mae asked, sitting down on one on the ottomans.

Gemma looked at Mae as she packed the last of her shoes in a large Louis Vuitton trunk that Nikola had given her. “Day after tomorrow.  He has some personal business to take care of.  I would stay, but I fear we still have a certain attachment to one another and the separation would be too much for either of us.”  She could read the sadness on Mae’s face.  “Mere and I won’t be long; I just have a couple of things I need to get.  Why don’t we all have tea on the patio when we get back?  You know how much I love Chef’s finger sandwiches and scones,” she smiled, trying to lighten Mae’s mood.

Mae forced a smile, not wanting to guilt trip Gemma into staying on her account.  “Tea sounds great.  Maybe I can talk Chef into making those lovely sausage and cheese quiches again.”

“Mmmm…those were to die for, weren’t they?”  Gemma grabbed her purse then helped Mae from her seat before heading out the door.  “Is there anything you’d like me to get for you while I’m out?”

“If you can find any, could you please bring me back some RJ-45 connectors?  A hundred pack should do.”  Mae was hell-bent on finishing the wiring job she started; only now, she would have to do it behind Beck’s back.

Both Meredith and Gemma laughed at her.  “Good Lord Mae, you’re such a geek…I was thinking those sexy, red panties at the lingerie shop, not a trip to the computer store!” Gemma added as they made their way out the front door.

Mae stopped and thought for a second.  “Good idea, Gemma.  If I wear the red panties with a short skirt next time I’m on the ladder wiring, maybe Beck will forget I’m working on the network again.”

Gemma was laughing so hard, her eyes started to tear up.  “Stop it before you make my mascara run!  I’m sure Beck would appreciate the sight, but I don’t think it’ll make him any happier to catch you in the maintenance closet again.”  Gemma and Meredith climbed into Meredith’s black Prius.

Mae laughed back, “Have fun, I wish I could go with you.”

“We’ll be back soon.”  Meredith said driving off, leaving Mae alone once more.

True to their word, Gemma and Meredith were not long.  By the time she’d made arrangements with Chef and helped him make sandwiches and quiches for tea, Gemma and Meredith were back from Waterville.  They all sat at the table on the patio, enjoying what was left of the day.  Soon the sun would start to set and Gemma would be one day closer to leaving.  Beck and Nikola were walking back from the guest house and met the girls on the patio.

A month had passed since Nicola had turned Gemma.  He agreed to stay a while longer, training Gemma at Beck’s, mostly because it was getting harder for him to tell Gemma no, especially since Mae’s wedding.  For as much as Nikola enjoyed his seclusion, he had come to appreciate Gemma’s company.  The sun was setting, they all gathered at the patio table under the oak Mae had grown.  “Shouldn’t you two be on your honeymoon?” Nikola asked, pointing to Mae and Beck.

“Mae refuses to go anywhere, knowing that she only has a couple more days to spend with Gemma before you carry her off to China,” Beck replied.

Mae was thankful that Gemma had been so preoccupied with Nikola that she spent little time planning the wedding.  Consequently, she and Beck’s wedding was small and simple just how she wanted it  Only a handful of selected people from Beck’s work were invited and Alexis made sure security remained tight.  As soon as Mae signed the marriage certificate she became half owner of Beck’s wealth; which, according to his lawyer, was somewhere between eight and nine billion dollars.  Apparently, he’d been amassing his wealth since the time of the Trojan War and kept a place in Monaco where he enjoyed tax-free status.  It was not what Mae expected, but Beck insisted on it, so the deal was sealed.

“I promised him we could go as soon as you two leave.  Besides, I haven’t been feeling well the last couple of days; I think I have a stomach bug or something,” Mae said, still feeling queasy from the morning.

Nikola and Beck turned and stared at her. “Why are you two looking at me that way?” Mae asked, somewhat alarmed.

“Honey, we do not get sick like that unless we feed off someone who has Nauss blood and even then, it only lasts for a few hours.  But that should not affect you because half of your blood is Nauss blood,” Beck explained, sitting next to her.

Nikola put his hand on his chin as though he were deep in thought.  “Beck, I know Dr. Thomas has been keeping an eye on her since the shooting, but I think he still needs to run a few more tests because something is not right here.”

Beck got on his phone and called the guest house where Aaron was staying for the past couple of weeks.  It seemed, in his case, persistence does pay off.  Alexis finally caved and was now the proud owner of one doctor.  “Aaron, I need you at the main house.  We are sitting on the back patio and Mae is not feeling well.”

“I’ll be there in a couple of minutes.  Did she say what was wrong?”

“She is complaining of a stomach bug,” Beck mused cryptically, hoping the doctor would understand his meaning.

“I see…I will bring the necessary equipment to check her out.  By the way, thank you for the golf cart.  It makes going back and forth to the house with equipment so much easier.”

“You are welcome and we will see you in a minute.”  Beck hung up his phone and looked at Mae.  “He will be here in a minute.”

Mae sighed, “Beck, it’s no big deal. You didn’t have to call the doctor.  I’m fine, just a little under the weather.”  Since the shooting, Beck had become so overprotective it was driving her nuts.  For as beautiful as the house was, Mae saw it as a virtual prison.  If not for her friends and her love for Beck, she would have already planned her escape.

Beck could overhear her thoughts.  He hated keeping her locked up in her own house, but it was a necessary inconvenience and the only way he could keep her safe for now.  “Mae, as soon as Nikola and Gemma leave, I will take you somewhere to do a little shopping.”  He hoped his offer to leave the house would lighten her mood.

“What?  Are you going to take me to your computer room, so I can shop on line?” she said sarcastically, raising a brow in jest.

Beck laughed, “No, I promise wherever I take you, you will have the satisfaction of taking your purchases home with you immediately.  I know how much you hate waiting for packages.”

Gemma walked up to Mae and gave her a hug from behind.  “Nik promised if I trained hard, we would visit in a couple of months.  Maybe by then you’ll have a little more freedom.”

Dr. Thomas pulled up in a golf cart and unloaded his gear.  For the sake of privacy, he planned to examine her in the makeshift bedroom next to Beck’s computer room.  Mae lay on the bed while Aaron removed stuff from his bag.  “What seems to be bothering you?” he asked, checking her blood pressure.

“Besides being cooped up in this house?” she laughed.  “I seem to be in a perpetual state of nausea and if I let my stomach get empty I throw up.”

Next, he checked her ears, throat, and glands.  “That all seems to be fine; I want to draw some blood and do one last test.”

Beck sat nervously on the end of the bed as the doctor drew blood.  “Do you think it could have anything to do with the damage from the bullets?” Beck asked.

“I have one last quick test and if that’s negative, we will have to take her in for a head scan.”  He pulled a small machine with a screen on it out of the case; it had a long wand on a cord connected to it.  “Do you want Beck to stay in the room while I do this?” he asked Mae.

Mae looked at him, completely confused by what he meant.  “What exactly are we doing, that I would want my husband out of the room?”

“I’m sorry,” he laughed. “I should have explained.  I need to do an ultra sound and the best way would be vaginally.”

“Oh…I guess he can stay, it’s nothing he hasn’t seen already,” she laughed.  It was a very uncomfortable exam, but within minutes the doctor had his answer.

“Beck, come here!” Aaron said, enthusiastically.

 Beck walked to where Aaron was holding the screen. “What is it?” he asked, not able to discern one part of the picture from the other.

Aaron pointed to the screen, “Do you see that?” then moved the wand slightly “And that?” Aaron asked.

“Yes?” Beck was still a little confused as to what he was looking at.

Aaron smiled at Beck, “Those are your children,” he divulged, turning the screen for Mae to see and then removed the wand.

Beck felt his knees start to buckle, so he sat on the bed next to Mae.  He was getting worried because she had not said a word the whole time.  “Honey, are you okay?”

“He said children!” she squealed.  “Oh my God, we’re going to be parents.  I didn’t think this would happen so soon, Beck.  I know you didn’t want kids, but you would make such a good father!  I always wanted children, but when you said witches and vampire’s couldn’t have them, I kind of figured we could adopt later down the road…He said children!” Mae was rambling on so fast that Beck could hardly tell what she was saying.