Tempest of Vengeance (30 page)

For a while, no one said anything—they just
drank, and looked irritated.

“Did she die?” I asked finally.

“No,” Lash hissed. “But she almost did.”

Titus continued, “When the potion hit her
system, she went into cardiac arrest, and she was dead for thirty
seconds. She recovered, under the ministrations of Samuel’s medical
team, and she’s stable now, but she hasn’t regained consciousness.
The babies are stable, and doing well. The good news is I think she
will eventually regain consciousness, with what we did for her.
We’ve bought her some time, at least. The bad news is that Samuel
accused me of trying to kill her, and I got us out of there only by
a hair’s breadth.”

“But the worst of it was I’d hoped to procure
some of Samuel’s blood for Danial, in return for saving her,”
Devlin said miserably. “I’d hoped he’d be grateful, if we helped
her, and give it to me. It would go a long way to making Danial
like he was—”

“Dev, Danial is not going to be like he was,
not ever,” Titus growled, finishing his wine and standing up. “The
sooner you realize that, the better off you’ll be—”

“Fucking shut your mouth,” Devlin hissed, his
eyes red. “Leave, Titus. Now.”

Titus snarled, showing his rows of fangs and
promptly disappeared.

I went to Devlin and hugged him, but said
nothing. There were no words of comfort I could give.

* * * *

That night went as well as could be expected.
My parents had showered presents on the three children, and T,
Elle, and Venus enjoyed themselves. My mother complimented me on
Venus’s dress, and was polite. But I could see she still didn’t
speak to Devlin, though he tried his best to be as polite as
possible to her. She did go overboard being nice to Lash though,
and I saw how ill at ease he was, wondering why she was doing it.
Finally, he pulled me aside in the upstairs hallway before we had
dinner, and asked me why she was fawning over him.

“I don’t know. I think she favors weres over
vampires. And she’s never liked Devlin.”

“I just want her to not pay so much attention
to me. Dev’s getting mad.”

I rolled my eyes. “Devlin knew this was how
it was going to be when he agreed to come.”

“Can’t you say something to her?”

My mother? Yeah, right
. “I could tell
her you are my lover, too, if you want. Then she’ll either treat
you like she’s treating Devlin, or she’ll outright scream at you
for sleeping with me.”

“So your plan makes me a leper, or a john.
That’s great, Sar.”

“It’s only for a little more, Lash,” I said,
giving him a hug. “Then we’ll go home.”

As I moved past him to go back to the party,
Lash grabbed hold of me, and kissed me. I knew he was nervous and
needed reassurance, so I kissed him back, then hugged him close,
finally drawing back to gaze into his dark worried eyes.
This is
our first Christmas together. I want him to relax, and enjoy
himself.
“I’m glad you’re here with me tonight, that you came
with us. I love you very much.”

“What the hell is this?” I turned to see my
stepfather looking at us from the bottom of the stairs. It was
obvious he’d heard me, from the expression on his face.

Ah shit.
“I...” I trailed off, not
sure what to say.

Lash slipped his arm around me possessively,
took a deep breath, and gave my stepfather a forced smile. “I’m
your daughter’s lover, as well as Devlin now. She means a lot to
me. She loves me, and I care for her. I’m not going to hurt her,
like Danial did, or leave her, like Theo did. I care for her
children as if they were mine. And I’ll protect her with my
life.”

My stepfather was looking at Lash with his
mouth open.

“Now that you know the truth, welcome me, or
tell me to leave,” Lash said quietly, not letting go of me. “I’ll
go right now, if you ask me to, and never darken your door again.
But she and I will be together as long as I live, or until she
dissolves us. And about that, you have no say.”

My stepfather looked at us a long moment, and
then he shifted his eyes to someone else. I looked over and flushed
to see my mother standing there, looking at us appraisingly.

“Are you the reason Theo left Sarelle?” my
mother asked flatly.

“Some of it,” Lash said flatly back. “But
mostly it was because he wanted Sar to become what he was, and she
refused.”

“Define ‘some of it’.”

“We were intimate one time, when we shouldn’t
have been. Theo forgave Sar that, but he couldn’t forgive her
caring about me, because he hated me. It drove a wedge between
them.”

“That’s all of it?”

“Pretty much,” Lash replied.

“About time someone told us the whole truth
for a change,” she said, her eyes flinty. “Theo gave us some
bullshit about irreconcilable differences. I like that you were
honest. Come back in, as it’s time to eat. You are welcome here,
Lash.”

“Thank you, Ma’am,” Lash drawled
respectfully, smiling for real this time.

Dinner was a good affair. Devlin had brought
a tiny bit of the potion with him, and he ate a little bit,
shocking my mother, though I knew it pleased her, that he had gone
to such trouble to be able to eat her cooking. When he complimented
her in glowing terms on her roast, she began to soften a little
towards him.

Venus opened a few presents afterward, but
she was the only one who did that night. T and Elle had opened
their presents the previous night, and of course, my parents had
not been expecting Lash. My parents had not gotten me anything this
year, it seemed. I didn’t know why, though I suspected it was
because my mother didn’t want to get Devlin anything. But I was
pleased to see they had already started sampling their coffee gift
basket.

Terian arrived at nine to collect Elle and T,
and with a last hug, they left. I was sad to see them go, but I
suspected that they were worn out. Two sets of holidays couldn’t be
easy to manage, especially with not only a new stepmother, but also
a new stepfather-to-be.

When they had left, and Venus was again
coloring on the floor, my stepfather brought me and my mother
another glass of wine, and some scotch for himself and the guys.
And we sat for a while and watched the flames flicker in their wood
stove. I felt a pang, seeing that. I missed my wood stove; it was
nothing but rusting metal now, and utterly useless.

“Are things safe yet?” my mother asked
bluntly. “Is that bad man dead?”

“No,” Devlin said, rolling his glass in his
hand. “But he will be by the end of this week. Next week I fight
him, and I’ll kill him.”

“What if you lose?” my mother said with
worry. “What about Sar, and V?”

“I don’t intend to lose,” Devlin said, fixing
her with his eyes. “I’ve defended myself against up-and-comers for
two hundred years, Tina. This is not my first fight. Don’t concern
yourself.”

“Sar will be with me,” Lash hissed in what I
suspected was supposed to be a comforting voice. “She’ll be safe,
and so will V, while the fight is taking place.”

“But are you any good?” my mother said
frankly, and Lash burst out laughing. He finished his scotch, and
then grinned at her.

“You know of Theo’s reputation? What he truly
does for Danial, that it is not security? That he is better known
for his body count in Danial’s service than for any other
reason?”

My mother went a little pale, but my
stepfather cut his eyes to Lash, and nodded.

“I saw that, on the Internet,” Chris
whispered. “Nothing proven, all conjecture, but there was a lot of
it, a lot of killings that were attributed to him, and to Danial,
though your brother, Devlin, he was only mentioned once in
passing.”

“Then you saw my name too, I’ll bet,” Lash
hissed with an evil looking grin. “Though Devlin pays well to see
there is no mention of him on the Internet that isn’t
favorable.”

“Yes, I saw that,” my stepfather said,
swallowing hard. “I wondered about that—”

“Lash,” Devlin hissed, his eyes tinted red.
“Don’t go into all this now.”

“They should know this,” Lash said with a
snarl, turning to Devlin. “They may need to live with us someday,
if there is danger. Better for them to find out now who we really
are, and take it seriously. The time for being polite and fake is
long over.”

Devlin shrugged, and sipped his wine. Lash
turned back to my parents. “Anyway, as I was saying, I do what Theo
does, but I’m better than he is at it. Your daughter and
granddaughter will be safe with me.”

“But what if Devlin loses?” my mother said a
little frantically.

“I’ll be there to make sure he doesn’t,” Lash
said, a cruel grin again on his face. “So will Titus. Don’t worry
about it.”

“But—”

“Drop this line of thought, Ma’am,” Lash
hissed. “Things may need to be done. Bad things. You don’t really
want to know this anyway. I hear that in your voice.”

“You are right, I don’t,” my mother said,
taking a long drink of wine. “I don’t.”

“We should go,” I said, looking at my watch.
“It’s late.”

“Before you do, your mother and I need to ask
you something,” my stepfather said uncomfortably. “We didn’t get
you any Christmas presents this year. We had planned, back when
your house burned, to chip in some money to help you rebuild,
instead of getting you and Theo presents this year, for your
birthdays, or for Christmas. But now that you’ve separated, it
looks like he’s living at Danial’s house with Theoron, and that you
plan on living with Devlin and Lash?”

“Yes,” Devlin said, reaching out to grip my
hand. “Lash, V, and Sarelle will live with me.”

“Will you sell the property?” my mother
asked. “Your barn?”

“I don’t know,” I said, shrugging. “I have
asked T about it, and he’s considering maybe building something
there again.”

“You shouldn’t sell it,” Lash said firmly,
and we all looked at him, a little shocked. He had never voiced any
opinion on this at all.

“Elle always liked to ride, and so did T,” he
continued. “So do you and Dev. Maybe you could keep horses there.
There’s a barn for it, even if you’ve never used it for that
purpose.”

“I never thought of that,” Devlin said
slowly. “Danial always liked to ride so much—”

“Is he dead?” my mother said quietly.

“No, but he’s still comatose,” Devlin
whispered. “His heart beats, but that is all.”

“I’m sorry,” my parents both said. Devlin
nodded, but said nothing.

I decided it was time to go, before Devlin’s
mood turned from introspective sadness to melancholy to anger,
which was the usual progression. I got to my feet, and so did
everyone else.

“We’ll wait then, until you decide,” my
parents said, hugging me, and then Venus. “You have most of the
winter yet.”

“Shh! I’m already thinking of spring,” Lash
said with a grin. “I’m looking forward to it!”

My mother hugged him, and though he seemed
surprised, he hugged her back. Then she released him, and turned to
Devlin. He looked at her hesitantly. She gave him a long-suffering
look, and beckoned him to come hug her. He gave her a radiant
smile, and picked her up off her feet as he hugged her.

“I still don’t really like you,” she said
with a grin. “But I love my granddaughter very much.”

“I love your daughter, Tina,” Devlin said
with a wide grin. “So consider the feeling mutual.”

My mother burst out laughing, and relief
washed over me.
Things aren’t going to turn out so bad after
all.

After we got home, I put Venus to bed, then
made my preparations.

* * * *

Devlin sat before me on his bed, waiting
naked under the covers, just the upper half of him revealed, his
golden chest hair shimmering in the candlelight. I stood before him
in the same gown I had worn for him the first time I had given him
my Oath. Lash was beside Dev, but he was leaning back on top of the
bed in his black jeans, his arms under his head, watching me with
his dark eyes. His chest was bare, his wiry muscles even at rest
looking ready for action in an instant.

“Repeat after me,” Devlin said commandingly.
“I, Sarelle O’Connor McGarran, promise you, Devlin Dalcon, and your
brother, Danial Racklan, that I shall be yours, and no other
vampire’s, under pain of death, until life should leave me, or both
of you should perish.”

I repeated what he had said.

“I shall share myself with no other man,
unless they are men you give permission for—”

Lash eyes darted over to Devlin, but he
remained silent.

“—
or Tristan Valeras, also known as
Lash, under pain of death.”

Lash relaxed considerably, as I repeated the
words.

“I give you my love, and authority over me,
understanding that I am given in return your love, your protection,
and your life’s blood, that is now my life’s blood.”

I repeated that, too.

“I promise that I shall not enter into any
separate bond with Lash, be neither married nor mated—”

“She can’t promise you that,” Lash hissed
angrily.

Devlin and I stopped talking, looking over at
him in confusion.

“She can and she will,” Devlin said simply.
“I’m not having another jealous husband in you, Lash.”

“By were law, she’s already my mate,” Lash
retorted flatly. “And I’m hers.”

Confusion evaporated in Devlin’s angry intake
of breath.
Get away from him, he’s going to lose it!

Before I could bolt, Devlin’s fist closed on
my hair. “You traitorous bitch!” he snarled at me, his eyes
bleeding to red. “You said nothing! When did you mate yourself to
him? After I let you be together as snakes—?” Devlin let out a
sudden pain-filled cry as he fell to his knees, the tip of Lash’s
knife poking out of his chest. I went with him to my own knees, as
he didn’t release me.