The Young Vampire Mate: The Airendell Chronicler Diaries - Book 1.5 (18 page)

I roll over onto my back and look up at Damian.  “How?” I ask.

He shrugs.  “I don’t know.  I have always gotten vibes and feelings from people, but when you dream it’s vivid.  It’s like I am truly there, in your dream with you.”  I nod.  I am starting to think Damian has some very strong psychic skills.  That and his ability to recognize magic, and probably channel it make him a very unique individual.  He has the potential to become a very powerful Immortal.  Time will tell.

He leans down and kisses my forehead.  “Baby, how do you stand it?”  His question drags me from my musings and I guess I look a little confused.  “You live it and relive it over and over with them.  It’s like it happens to you.  That poor marine was wounded, captured and tortured for sixteen days before they rescued him.  And you shared it all with him.  You led him through the pain. It’s amazing and horrible at the same time.”

“It’s my thing.  Almost all Spell Weavers are healers or teachers.  Some are almost solely warriors like Fionn, Brian, Carrick and Bronwyn.  But most of us are healers.  Because of my empathy, I strive to heal the mind.” 

I move to sit up.  My body is protesting, but I want to go find Fionn, or go call Fintan myself and check on Jennings and his family.  I know they are in good hands, but I had only had two sessions with Jennings before I started receiving visions of Morna and dumped my caseload onto another therapist.  Guilt washes over me like a tidal wave.  Damian sits up and says, “You should rest.  They are fine.”

“How can you be so sure?” I demand.  “That man has been through hell and he just terrorized his own family because of the horrible scars that were inflicted on him.  I need to know they are okay.”

“That’s why Fionn is going to stay in touch with Fintan and Rinda.  He will come tell you as soon as he hears anything.”  He strokes my face and says; “Baby, trust your friends to do what they do.”

I nod and slowly lie back down.  I am worried about my sister too, I can still feel her pain, but I can also tell she is still sleeping.  Damian pulls me into the protection of his arms, before he nuzzles my neck and says, “Sleep, baby.”  I close my eyes and smile when he starts humming and then singing so softly I can barely hear him.  I smile when I recognize the song.  Sweet Dreams by the Eurhythmics.  Not what I would have thought of for a lullaby.  But oddly, it works and I find Damian’s voice beautiful.

The next time I wake up, Damian is not in bed with me, but I hear him singing softly in the corner of my room.  He’s sitting with my latest Jeaniene Frost novel.  I smile because now he’s softly singing Robert Palmer’s Simply Irresistible.  He looks up and smiles at me.  “Good morning, mon amour.”

I smirk at him, “Good morning, Mr. Sexy.  You take requests?”

He puts the novel back on the small table and comes to kiss me gently.  “If I know it, I’ll sing it for you.”

I grin, “Well, if you like Robert Palmer…”  I crack up when he starts belting out Addicted to Love.  I cover his lips and kiss him tenderly.  I like his singing, but I want to kiss him more than hear the song.  He kisses me back and then straightens up and scoops me up into his arms as he launches into Bad Case of Loving You.

I am laughing so hard so when he sets my feet on the floor and begins to dance with me, he’s doing a really good job of improvising some dance moves one might have seen on Dirty Dancing.  “Jeez, lover, you are a man of many talents,” I whisper, fully aware that his ability to turn me on seems to top his skills set.

When he stops singing and dancing, he kisses me.  Our kiss quickly turns very serious.  I pull away breathlessly and whimper, “I need the bathroom and then I need to check on my sister.”

He grins and says, “Morna’s still asleep.”  He kisses me, tenderly, chastely and says; “Go to the bathroom, mon cher.”

When I come out he’s singing Marvin Gaye’s I Want You.  I smile.  “I love your taste in music.  I was starting to think all you knew was Robert Palmer.” 

He raises an eyebrow, “Well, I found that song on a Robert Palmer album.  He did a cover of the Marvin Gaye song. 

I laugh.  “You favor music older than you are, leannan.”

“I could sing Addicted or S.E.X. for you.  That’s current, but you might slap my face.”

I blush.  I am a big fan of Saving Abel and Nickelback and know which songs he means and say, “Well, perhaps I should sing them for you.”  I laugh and say, “But I don’t sing as well as you.”

Damian chuckles before he releases me and walks back over to the table and picks up my novel, “Really, vampire love stories?”

I giggle, “Why not?  She’s a good writer and I love her characters.  They crack me up and break my heart by turns.”

“Why not, indeed,” He concedes with a grin.  And then he looks guilty.  “I was using your computer earlier…”  I blush and feel panicky.  “I read your book.  Or at least your latest one.  When do you have time to do all you do?”

I don’t sleep much,” I admit.  “Well, usually.  I read a lot, I write a lot.”  He looks contemplative.  “Damian, I don’t have a life.  I mean, I work and then I go home, unless some big baddie of the supernatural sort pings my radar or Fionn or one his Enforcer buddies needs a place to crash, I am usually alone.  I have mostly been alone for centuries.  I wrote some of those stories, years ago and updated them recently and started publishing them after a friend encouraged me to publish them.”

“Aren’t you afraid of making people believe that the preternatural world really exists? I mean you publish them under your own name.  Isn’t that risky?”

I laugh, “Baby, many already do believe it.  Others just get a kick reading about it.  Pure escapism.  And my books are so far from reality there’s no way I will tip anyone off to what’s really going on around the mortal world.”  I smile and add; “I am using my real name because I have change my name every few decades or so and create a new identity.  It’s a pain but that’s the lot of an Immortal who chooses to live among Mortals.”

We are both silent for several long moments until Damian puts the book down and goes to sit on my bed.  “I was afraid I really screwed up with you, but you are still tolerating me…”

I laugh softly, “Damian, you did screw up.  Pushing me like that.”  He looks crushed by my words.  “Lover, we both screwed up.  I let things move too fast and you scared the hell out of me.  I am a little unnerved by what I learned about your… tastes.  But I am not disgusted or frightened away.  I just need to go slow.”  He starts to speak and I put a finger over his lips to stop him.  “But, I know there’s something between us.  I know we have a lot to work out.”  He nods and I feel brave and push ahead, “Damian, I think you were trying to scare me.

“Maybe,” Damian runs his hands through his hair.  “I would do you a favor if I ran you off.  I am seriously screwed up and don’t deserve someone like you.”

“Maybe God brings people together who will bring the best out in each other.”  He looks doubtful.  “Look, I had given up on living when I started having visions of you.  I was feeling pretty hopeless.  Just surviving, but the visions of you gave something to look forward to.  You have already drawn me out of my fortress I had built around myself.  Renewed my sense of purpose.”

“You have done that for me.  In a big way, baby.  You have no idea what those visions of you calling to me did for me.  You saved me.  Saved me from myself, what I had been changed into.”

I can’t help it, I kiss him for that and he surprises me when he starts singing again.  I raise an eyebrow. 

“Theory of a Dead Man?”

“It’s apropos don’t you think?” He says with a seemingly careless shrug. 

“You aren‘t dead, Damian.”  He doesn‘t look convinced.  “You were changed, robbed of your human life, but given an immortal existence and you have chosen to live without hurting others.  You should be proud of yourself.  I’m proud of you.”

He wraps his arms around me even tighter and we just hold each other.  After a while I pick up his song lyrics, “…Babe, it’s you and I…” Damian’s voice joins mine and we sound good together.

I pull back and laugh, “See, I told you I couldn’t sing.  But you almost make me sound good.”  He grins.  “You like to sing, don’t you?”  He nods.  “Well, leannan, you do it well.”  I kiss him tenderly and say, “But I need to find some food and get an update on Lance Corporal Jennings.  Let me clean up and change, I will meet you in the Common room.”  I can tell he wants to stay, but after what happened between us before I just don’t trust myself around him.  I want him too bad and it’s too soon.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

I find Damian in the common room with Fionn, Fintan Dragomir and his mother, the head of their clan of Dream Walkers, Oksana Dragomir.  They are from a magical clan that live inside the Gateway in Timisoara, Romania.  Fintan is actually half Shifter and an enforcer for the MacGregor Clan.  I suspect that Oksana and the former Shifter Laird, Ian MacGregor had a long standing affair and Fintan is the product of that affair, but that’s just my opinion, I have never heard of old Ian publically acknowledging that Fintan is his son. 

I really like Fintan and his mother.  Fintan has stayed with me many times in the several decades.  He’s young, by Immortal standards anyway, being born in 1910, and has spent most of his adult life as an enforcer.  But he’s funny, lively and intelligent as hell.  I count him one of my best friends and always enjoy his company.  He’s the friend who encouraged me to publish my stories.  In fact, Damian is truly blown away when I tell him Fintan’s pen name.

“Hell, I thought it was an old dude that writes those books,” Damian says with a smirk.

Fintan just laughs, “Compared to you, I am old.  Compared to Zana, I am just a pup.” 

I laugh and squeeze Damian’s hand.  “What does Zana mean?”

“Fairy,” Fintan grins. 

I roll my eyes, “A lot of folks call me fairy or Pixie because I am short.”

Fintan grins.  “No, that is not why, Zana.  We call you that because you are tiny, lovely, delightful and magical.   He turns and looks at Damian intently.  “Not to mention, she is sneaky and dangerous as hell.  She has put down a lot of your kind, be glad she loves you.”

I smack my friend and tell him to shove off.  I can tell Damian really likes Fintan and Oksana, and I am relieved that they seem to like him as well.  Actually, I am relieved that Damian seems to be well accepted by most of my friends that he has met so far and seems to accept them well.  But I must admit I get tired of them telling him that I am some kind of Stone Cold destroyer.  I quickly move the conversation back to Jennings and his recovery. 

Oksana called a younger Dream Walker in to take over for me on the treatment of Jennings and my other really tough cases that I dumped to come be with my Clan members.  Rinda and Carlisle are setting Vera up with counseling credentials and a job where I work so she can step in and take up my slack for me.  And of course, my link with all of my patients will continue, no matter what dimension I am in.

All too soon they have to leave.  Oksana has to go before the UCI to help defend one her so called Renegade Dream Walkers, the poor guy fell in love with a woman whose dreams he entered to help her heal after a brutal rape.  They later married and the UCI started screaming that the Dream Walker abused his position and unduly influenced a mortal for romantic reasons. 

It’s a bunch of crap in my opinion, being mortal doesn’t preclude someone from being able to know if they truly love someone or not.  It really bothers me that so many Immortals treat Mortals like children.  They may not live as long as we do and certainly don’t have our abilities or advantages… but they are not lost, mindless souls that need our intervention either.  It’s an ancient debate, one I know will not be resolved any time soon so I return my attention to my friends.

I wish Oksana luck with the UCI and urge Fintan to give my regards to Ewan, his Laird and probable brother who lives in Oklahoma.  “Your Laird lives in Oklahoma?” Damian asks, his surprise obvious.

I laugh, “Baby, Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana are hub of preternatural activity.  Ewan is sticking close to his mate and their child.  It’s a long story, I will fill you in some time.”

Fintan surprises Damian by saying, “I am damn glad to have met you, vamp.  You seem to make my little sister smile.  I like to see her smile.”  I chuckle, hoping this isn’t a prelude to a pissing contest but Damian takes the comment in the spirit it was apparently offered.

Later, we are enjoying our breakfast with Aideen, Carrick, Enya, Fionn, Brigid, George and Maria when Rinda makes it back to the Gateway.  She quickly fills me on arrangements made for the Dream Walker who is filling in for me and assures me that Fintan and Oksana helped Jennings a great deal already.  The Dream Walkers severed the connection between myself and Jennings so I am having to rely on someone else’s judgment about the wellbeing of a client.  It’s a struggle for me. 

I inwardly smirk because I really, really have control issues.  Part of me wonders if I will actually be able to surrender total control to Damian in the sack like he needs.  I know I want to.  It would probably be a relief to not have any responsibilities in that area of our relationship because I have so many responsibilities in every other area of my life.  Newcomers draw me away from my musings.

Elias and Micah come to drag Damian off for Ancient Warfare 101 and I settle in to enjoy a cup of coffee with my niece.  When we feel a buffer spell go up and I quip, “Either she’s planning to kill him or love him. Fifty bucks on the latter.”  I instantly regret saying it when I feel intense hatred flare off of Aideen.  She quickly controls it and makes an excuse to move away from me. 

I am watching her, feeling very worried when Almeda joins me.  “I see you are worried about Aideen as well.”  All I can do is nod.  The conversation in the common room moves on to more innocuous subjects until Morna and Luca join us.  It doesn’t take Aideen long to latch onto her mother like a rabid pit bull and begin insulting her.  Apparently she is angry because she is going to Alfheim today with the Elves.  She quickly escalates to physical assault.

We are all rendered speechless and act like statues when Morna leaves the common room and Aideen follows.  For some reason that I will never understand, Morna places Luca in a binding spell before she runs out onto the plain.  Damian gives pursuit, fearing Aideen will kill her mother.  It’s obvious to all of us that Morna will not fight back and Damian takes his role as Morna’s protector very seriously.  Several others take off after them.

I am floored by the intensity of emotions that I felt from my sister and her daughter.  Morna was rife with guilt and shame, while Aideen was seething in jealous rage.  I try to lift Morna’s binding spell from Luca, but few can undo Morna’s magic.  She has always been much stronger than me and most other Spell Weavers.  The spell Morna used won’t even allow him to speak but I can plainly feel his frustration and worry over his mate and daughter.  I assure him that Damian won’t let Aideen hurt Morna and the others will make sure Damian isn’t too rough with Aideen.  I also assure him I will go to try to calm everyone down.

I weave a finding spell to take me to Aideen.  I am hoping I can make her snap out of whatever has a hold on her.  I am afraid that she is being controlled by someone.  I just can’t figure who or for what purpose, unless it is to hurt Morna and weaken us a unit.  If that’s the case, it is an effective tactic. 

When I join Aideen on the plain she has already beaten Morna very badly with wooden stave that had a damned metal hook on the end.  I know damned full well that Morna let her daughter beat her.  I have a sick feeling in my gut that Morna was hoping her daughter would kill her.  That doesn’t make any sense and I am worried that Morna is being controlled too. 

What the hell is going on?  Who is strong enough to do this? I recognize that it would take very ancient magic to do this type of thing.  Elves, so-called gods, Fae and Druids are the only ones who come to mind who are strong enough to attack Spell Weavers this way.

Damian’s anger and hatred for Aideen are only overshadowed by his fear for Morna’s wellbeing.  I am very proud of my love for controlling his anger and not harming Aideen even though she deserves to have her ass kicked for her. 

By now the emotions that I am reading from Aideen are more like her true self and I am more convinced than ever that someone is controlling her.  I stretch out my senses, seeking a malevolent force that seeking to do her harm.  I can faintly sense a power on another plane, but I can’t pin it down.  I know the person or persons behind this must be powerful to be able to shield themselves from my powerful empathic abilities.

Dammit Bree!  Think!  Who is strong enough to do this?  Who has something to gain from doing this?  I just can’t figure it out and frustration and helplessness gnaws at my gut because I feel ineffective at protecting those I love.

When my beloved forces Aideen to carry her mother back to the Gateway and heal her I am very impressed with Damian’s wisdom and self-control.  I can tell the other warriors in our group get it too.  It will make Aideen see what harm she has done.  But judging from the emotions I sense in my niece at this point, she is already full of remorse.  She is also very confused and frightened by her own actions.

Once Morna is stable the Elves take Aideen with them to Alfheim and Damian joins me in my room after he goes to hunt in an effort to deal with his anger.  I had heard Luca yell at Morna earlier and then I felt him leave Gateway.  I am very worried about those two, but at this moment, I am more worried about my own beloved. 

I wrap him in my arms and try to send soothing emotions to him but I am having little effect on my potential mate’s feelings.  “I wanted to kill her,” he whispers.  All I can do is hold him because I completely understand his reaction, but I am not willing to verbally assault my niece in her absence.