Surrendering: A Regent Vampire Lords Novel, Book #1 (37 page)

C
hapter 62

Kate

It had been over a month since Dev rescued her from Xavier’s clutches, who still remained alive unfortunately. They never did understand why Xavier threw her across the room after he bit her, but she recalled him hissing, like he was hurt. Big D had enlisted the help of the scientists they’d recovered to help figure it out. They were also trying to determine why Xavier’s powers didn’t appear to work on either her or Dev. None of them had ever run across this before. Whatever the reason, they were grateful or there may have been a very different ending.

She was devastated to learn of Leo’s death, but thankfully everyone else had returned safely, albeit a little worse for the wear. Ren and Thane had completely recovered from their injuries within a couple of days.

Giselle, on the other hand, had been in very bad shape and it was touch and go for a week. So while she’d finally recovered physically, she was still recovering emotionally. She wouldn’t speak of what was done to her in the short time she was in captivity. She’d been very withdrawn.

Giselle and Detective Thatcher had apparently gotten close in the weeks before holy hell erupted, but now Giselle wouldn’t even speak to him. He called her constantly, even trying to get Dev to intervene, but nothing would sway her. Kate felt sorry for the detective. He seemed like a nice guy. She actually found herself wishing the ice queen would reappear. At least that would mean she was getting back to normal.

She’d talked to Erin by phone a few times in the last month. The only thing she could tell her was that she’d met someone and was spending all of her free time with him. She knew eventually she would have to end their friendship, as she couldn’t reveal anything about her new life. That saddened her. Her one consolation was that Kate and Olivia had become quite close. She’d also talked to her parents several times by phone and because Xavier was still loose, Dev had put some protective detail on them, for which she was grateful.

After their ordeal, Kate talked to Dev about her desire to offer a women’s shelter to the women they had rescued, so they could acclimate back into society before returning to their homes, if they chose. He supported her one hundred percent and they devoted a whole wing of their new estate to the venture. Even thought she wouldn’t technically need a license or anything to provide counseling, given the vampire world was different than the human world, she’d still submitted her final dissertation paper and waited on comments. She hoped to defend next month and graduate with her Psychology PhD at the end of this spring semester. She’d come so far and put in so much effort, quitting so close to the goal line didn’t feel right, whether she needed those little three letters after her name or not.

She walked down the halls of the shelter, checking on the girls, as she’d done daily since they’d been brought here.

“How are you doing today?” Kate asked Sarah softly.

“Better. Each day gets a little better.”

Kate had been thoroughly confused when Sarah had told her she hadn’t been raped. When they talked about what Kate had seen, Sarah said some powerful looking vampire walked into the room right before anything happened and shooed everyone else out, telling them he had the privilege that day. And then he simply unstrapped her, covered her in clean ratty clothes and carried her back to her room. Untouched. Unharmed. And that’s where Sarah stayed until her rescue. Why would a bloodthirsty rogue protect a woman they’d kidnapped to be a baby breeder? And why weren’t the other women that lucky, because none of them were. It didn’t make sense.

Kate rubbed her shoulder tenderly. “I’m glad.”

“Can we work on the dreams again today?”

“If you think you’ll be up to it. I don’t want to push you.”

“I want to. It’s the only thing that makes me feel like I have some semblance of control,” Sarah replied, tears in her eyes. Even though Sarah hadn’t suffered the same physical fate as the other girls, she’d still been significantly traumatized.

Sarah had confided in Kate that she’d dreamed of a very elusive man, whom she’d dubbed her knight in shining armor and he helped her escape, at least in her mind, when she was held captive. Kate knew what it was like to dream of gorgeous men, so of course she wanted to help Sarah hold on to anything that would help her heal. And giving her control over something—
anything
—would help.

“Of course we can work on them, Sarah. I’ll be back after I check on the other girls, okay?”

Sarah hugged her tightly and held on for dear life. Tears sprung into Kate’s eyes. She’d formed a strong bond with a few of the other girls after the ordeal, but particularly with Sarah. She was almost like the sister she never had. One other girl was also very dear, but Kate had a very difficult time not letting the guilt eat away at her. She pulled away from Sarah. “I’ll be back in a bit.”

She walked down the hallway cheerfully greeting the girls who had their doors open. Instead of the dingy, dirty filth they had lived in for weeks, months and even years in a couple cases, their accommodations were plush, homey, safe.

In all, they’d rescued fifteen of the twenty-nine missing girls. They guessed the others were kept at another one of Xavier’s hidden locations and while it killed her to know there were still girls out there suffering the same fate as the ones they had just rescued, she had to be content for now that she could at least help a few of them. She was confident they would find the others soon. It had become an all-out obsession of all the Lords.

When she reached the last door on the left, she knocked softly.

No answer.

“Jamie, it’s Kate. Can I come in?”

No answer.

Kate could have easily gotten into the room if she wanted to, but that wasn’t the point. These women needed control back in their lives and if they wanted to remain locked in their rooms they had that choice. Of course they tried to coax them out daily, if for nothing else but to eat. Jamie would only allow food to be brought to her. She hadn’t left her room and hadn’t talked to anyone since her rescue, but that didn’t stop Kate from trying. Every day.

Several minutes went by. She knew Jamie was at the door, afraid to open it. They’d been through this routine daily since the girls had been rescued. Jamie Hallow, the girl presumed dead eleven years ago, all the while a captive of Xavier’s, was among the fifteen girls rescued. Jamie had a very long road of recovery ahead of her and had yet to talk about any of the things that happened. Kate was particularly surprised to discover Detective Thatcher and Jamie had been dating at the time of her disappearance. Jamie had refused to talk to him as well and he wasn’t taking it well. Between Giselle and Jamie, the detective was a mess. He was such a nice guy, she felt for him.

She provided soft words of support and comfort to Jamie through the door, same as she did every day. She hoped at some point, she would trust Kate enough to at least open the door and have a face-to-face conversation with her and that eventually Kate might get her into the on-site counseling they provided. She wouldn’t give up.

It was 7:00 p.m. before she left the shelter and she was exhausted as she joined Dev for dinner. She hadn’t been herself for weeks, dealing with nausea and fatigue, and yesterday she asked Big D to take some blood and run a few tests. She saw him daily now that he worked with her at the shelter. Her stomach turned at the food sitting in front of her and she finally knew why, but she still couldn’t believe it. She was thrilled, but scared shitless.

“Any word on Esmeralda?” Kate knew Dev was upset with himself for leaving her at Xavier’s compound, but obviously his only thought had been of her rescue. They hadn’t seen her since. Had she been captured? Had she just run away, knowing how furious Dev was with her? Not that Kate was too happy with the bitch either. Trying to get her killed so she could have her mate. If she ever laid eyes on this witch, she wouldn’t be held responsible for what she’d do. Kate insisted the next witch Dev partnered with be an old hag. And she was—
smile
—complete with a huge wart on the tip of her nose.

“No. Nothing.” He paused, adding, “I don’t want to talk about her. How was your day, love? You look exhausted.”

She beamed at her wonderful, sexy mate. Ever concerned about her wellbeing. “I’m great. Had a very productive day with a couple of the girls. No progress yet with Jamie, but I hope she’ll come along soon.”

“Good to hear. Don’t think I didn’t notice you’re not eating again. You really need to talk to Big D, Kate. I’m getting worried about you.”

This was it. How would be react? He never talked about wanting kids. She looked at her plate as she spoke. “I did, actually.”

Dev dropped his fork, leaping across the table to pull her into his arms. He was so overprotective.

“Something’s wrong. What’s wrong? I can tell something’s wrong.”

She couldn’t help but laugh. “Wow. Pessimist much? Nothing is wrong, Dev. Everything is…wonderful actually.”

“Wonderful? You’re sick all the time. You barely eat. You barely have enough energy for making love. That is not fine. That is not normal.”

“Actually…in my condition, it is.” She watched his face carefully to see if he understood what she was telling him.

“What do you mean, your condition? Vampires don’t get sick, love.”

She pulled away. Men were idiots sometimes. “Oh my God, you are so dense! I’m not sick, Dev. I’m…I’m…” She took a deep breath and spit it out. “I’m pregnant.”

His face would have been funny if she wasn’t scared he was going into shock, so she rushed to explain.

“I know we didn’t talk about kids, but I’m happy about this, Dev. I think it’s a blessing. Big D said it was probably because I was never blooded, but he didn’t know for sure. I don’t really care how it happened anyway. Say some—”

She squealed as he picked her up and spun her around the room. “You’re pregnant? You’re pregnant! Holy fuck, I can’t believe this. I’m going to be a father. How is this possible?”

“It’s a miracle,” she mumbled into his chest. “Dev, you’re making me dizzy. Put me down, please.” He mumbled “sorry” and set her down but didn’t let go.

“Are you happy?” She hated how insecure she sounded. Instead of answering, he kissed her senseless.

When he finally broke free, he looked lovingly into her face and spoke the sweetest words she’d ever heard, causing tears to sting her eyes.

“Happy? Oh, my love…words haven’t been invented yet to describe how I feel. You have stirred up emotions in me I never knew I possessed. I’ve never known true love, until you. I never knew true fear of losing something, until you. I never knew what making love was, until you.”

Tears now streamed freely down Kate’s face as her mate poured his heart out. He gently cupped her cheeks before continuing.

“I’d long dreamed of my Moira, Kate, but my vision paled in comparison to the real you. You’ve made me wish for things I never imagined possible, including a family. This baby is a miracle and I don’t care how it happened; only that it did. You are my entire life, heart and soul, and I don’t know what I did to deserve you or this gift you are giving me, but I’ll not question it. I love you so much, Katherine Marjorie Fallinsworth.”

She had no words, so she settled for something simple, but powerful. “I’m glad I surrendered my heart to you, my lord.”

She squealed as once again she was swept into his arms and he swiftly carried her to their bedroom, her back landing on the plush bedding.
 

“I’ve told you repeatedly not to call me
my lord
, love. Bad girls don’t go unpunished, you know.” He began undressing her quickly.

“Good. That’s what I was hoping for,” she taunted.

As Dev began a most pleasurable form of punishment, Kate couldn’t stop the tears of joy stinging her eyes. After trying to push away the best thing that had ever sauntered into her life, she now had everything she never knew she wanted and then some. A mate, a baby on the way, a whole new family.

Surrendering her heart to Devon Fallinsworth was the single best decision she’d ever made.

E
pilogue

Three months later…

Damian

“I can’t thank you enough for doing this, Damian. I really appreciate it.”

“It’s not all on me. Rom is helping out as well. But no problem, Dev. I’m happy to be of assistance.”

While Damian tended to be more on the selfish side, he actually meant it. Dev and his new mate, Kate, were in desperate need of a vacation. He was happy to keep watch over Dev’s Regent while they took their delayed honeymoon. While there was a distinct separation of duties in their Regents, when Damian became Lord of the East Regent a century ago, the three lords agreed collaboration made them a stronger, more united front. This was the first time a need had risen for one lord to temporarily take over for another, so Damian, Dev, and Rom spent quite a bit of time strategizing to ensure Dev’s absence wouldn’t put any of their Regents in jeopardy.

“Have a great time in Europe, Dev.”

“One more favor to ask, though, if I may.”

“That sounds ominous.”

Dev’s short laugh bellowed through the phone, before he quieted, affirming the seriousness of his request.

“Leave your shit with Giselle at the door. I don’t know what happened between you two and I’m not asking, but she clearly went through something traumatic when Xavier had her and she’s just starting to make a bit of progress. I don’t need you setting her back.”