VA 2 - Blood Jewel (17 page)

This sounded like a bad case of
Blood Doll gone wrong. Humans thought it was all fun and games
until they got drained and turned when it wasn’t what they wanted.
“Okay, I get that she was turned against her will, but that’s not
the first time that has ever happened, so I still don’t understand
the problem.”

“Although she needs help during
her transition, that isn’t why she came to us. This coven still has
her sister, her human sister, whom they call Blood Jewel. She is
going to be presented to the vampire community at some kind of
Blood Jewel ceremony this weekend.”

Okay, I got it, now. This
completely changed things. “I understand your concerns.”

“Chansey is sitting right there,
isn’t she?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Well, the problems don’t end
there. There’s so much more to this mess, but I think it’s better
for Jennifer to give you the whole story from the beginning so
there is no confusion.”

I turned to look at the clock. “The
sun will be up soon, but I can’t give you an answer without talking
it over with Chansey first. She and I need to make this decision
together. I’ll call you and leave a message with our
decision.”

“Of course. I completely
understand.”

When we finished talking, I hit the
end button and laid my phone back on the nightstand before I
twisted around to face Chansey.

“What has happened?”

“A very recently turned fledgeling
has come to the compound.”

A look of confusion came over her
face. “I feel your worry, so I know he wasn’t calling for a simple
update about business at the compound.”

“No, Sol’s call has nothing to do
with a status update. This fledgeling was being held captive by a
vampire coven in Atlanta and they still have her human sister. She
has asked The Coven of Landra to rescue her sister.”

I waited a minute for some type of
reaction from Chansey, but she didn’t say anything, so I scooted
toward the headboard of the bed and pulled her to sit between my
legs. She rested her bare back against my chest as I stroked my
hands up and down her arms and I kissed her temple. “I feel your
worry, but tell me what you’re thinking.”

She tilted her head upward and
said, “I want to know if going into the coven to save this girl
would be dangerous for you.”

I was used to danger, but Chansey
wasn’t and I didn’t think she would feel even a little bit okay
with me walking headfirst into it. “I don’t know all of the details
yet, but I wouldn’t expect it to be a walk in the park.”

She put her index finger on my leg
and began drawing circles. “Is that your way of telling me that it
would be dangerous for you and Solomon?”

I wished I could tell her it
wouldn’t be, but that would be a lie. “It could be
dangerous.”

She stopped drawing imaginary
circles and placed her whole hand on my leg. “Do you want to do
it?”

I gathered my words carefully
before I answered her. “I want to help this girl because I believe
we are her only hope, but the decision isn’t mine alone. You and I
are a team now and I won’t do it if you tell me that you don’t want
me to.”

Her emotions were very intense, so
I could clearly feel her indecision between keeping me safe and
saving the fledgeling’s sister. “I don’t want you to put yourself
in danger, but I remember how scared I was when Julian kidnapped me
and then again when Sully took me. I think about what that poor
girl must be going through and there’s no way I can tell you to not
help her.”

I wrapped my arms around her and
pulled her tightly to my chest. “Thank you for being so
understanding. I know that was a difficult decision for you, but I
was hoping that’s what you would say.”

She sighed and asked, “So, when do
we leave this little piece of heaven?”

“I’ll call and see about booking a
flight first thing in the morning so we can have one more day
here.”

She began to twirl a twig of her
hair around her finger. “So we have all day and all night left on
our honeymoon. Can we spend today on the beach?”

“We’ll do anything you want, Love,
but I’m more interested in how you want to spend our last
night.”

She lifted my hand to her lips and
kissed my palm before she said, “I’m a traditional kind of girl and
so I want to spend tonight the same way we have spent the last four
nights. Since I like repetition, I suppose it’s the same way we’ll
spend every night after we get home.”

She suddenly sat straight up,
taking the sheet with her and said, “Oh, my goodness. I just
remembered...we aren’t going to be sleeping in our new quarters in
New Orleans.”

I laughed at her sudden
realization. “No, we’re not.”

She squeezed her eyes shut and
scrunched her face. “What about Solomon hearing everything? Oh, it
will be so...awkward.”

I tugged on her shoulders to
encourage her to lean against me again. “My sisters took care of
that for us. You know Gia and Lairah are all about the romantic
thing. They went over to Savannah before the wedding and met with a
contractor and interior designer. We’re all set.”

She laughed in amazement. “How do
vampires get things done so quickly and efficiently?”

“The almighty dollar speaks
loudly,” I informed her.

She sighed out of relief. “I don’t
know how I’ll ever be able to repay Gia and Lairah for all they
have done for us.”

It warmed my heart how well Chansey
got along with Gia and Lairah, especially after the rocky beginning
they had. “Gia and Lairah already love you enough to do anything
for you. I’m pretty sure they love you more than they do me, so
don’t be surprised if they figure out some way to come live at
Savannah with us. They are going to miss having you around, even if
they didn’t have their new sister for very long.”

“Oh, I would love it if Gia and
Lairah came to live with us.”

“Don’t be giving them any ideas. I
need a break from their bickering with Solomon,” I informed
her.

“I guess I don’t understand the
whole vampire mating thing, but why would Solomon not consider one
of them as a mate?” she asked.

I wasn’t sure I understood the
vampire mating thing either. “I think of Gia and Lairah like
sisters. I don’t know how Sol feels about them. We’ve never
discussed them like that, but they fight like brothers and sisters
so I’m guessing he feels the same way I do.”

“But it hasn’t always been like
that,” she argued. “I’m sure you didn’t consider them sisters when
you first met.”

“When they came, there was no time
to think about things like mates. They arrived at the compound to
be trained as mentors.”

“Gia and Thatcher seem
close.”

So, I wasn’t the only one that
noticed their closeness. I’d been having suspicions about Gia and
Thatcher for years. “I think they have a little something going on
between them. They hide it very well, but I occasionally catch a
look passing between them that makes me think they are in love or
something.”

“Why wouldn’t they openly admit
their love for one another?” she asked. “No one would judge or
criticize them. I think it would be sweet.”

She was asking the wrong person. “I
don’t know, Love. You’d have to ask Gia and Thatcher that
question.”

“Gia and I have become close, so I
might just do that. It just seems so sad. Gia seems like she wants
to be in love so badly. Lairah, too. Maybe an Agápe will come along
for them. Do you think that’s a possibility?”

It was something I had not given
much thought to. “I’m not certain, but I’ve never heard of male
Agápes.”

She huffed, “Well, that’s
completely unfair for the female vampire population.”

Yes. Leave it to Chansey to want to
fight for female vampire equality. “After finding you, I place
absolutely no limits on what is possible. Maybe you should lead the
protest for equal rights.”

≈ ≈ ≈

We stayed in bed exploring our bond
all morning as we waited for the sun to rise completely and then we
ordered room service for breakfast instead of getting ready and
going out.

Chansey pushed her food around on
her plate trying to make me think she was eating, but I could feel
her anxiety and I wanted to talk to her about it. “You’re not
hungry, Love?”

She realized she wasn’t fooling me
and she laid her fork down on her plate. “I guess not.”

“Do you feel sick?”

She shook her head as she stared at
her plate. “No, I’m not sick. I think it’s just a nervous stomach
because I can’t stop thinking about what you and Solomon are going
to do when we get to Savannah. We won’t even be settled in before
you are off on some type of dangerous rescue mission.”

“Come here.” I pushed away from
the table and patted my leg for her to sit in my lap. “I don’t want
to spend the rest of our honeymoon dwelling on this. I want to have
a good time.”

She draped her arm across my
shoulders and placed her head against mine. “I thought we were
having a good time. Was I wrong?”

I gently squeezed her leg. “No, you
are not wrong, Love. We have had a wonderful time and I’m sad to
see it end so suddenly. Maybe we can come back again since we are
cutting this trip short. What about our anniversary? Would you like
that?” I suggested, although I knew she didn’t intend on being
human a year from now.

“Maybe,” she answered, giving me
the surprise of my life because I had expected to hear her tell me
how it wouldn’t be a possibility.

“Really? Maybe?” I asked, wanting
her to expand on her surprising consideration.

She lifted her head from mine to
look at me. “Don’t read too much into it, Curry. Maybe just means
maybe,” she said.

“Maybe is way more than I
expected,” I said, still shocked by her reply.

She reached for my leg and ran her
hand up and down my thigh slowly. “What can I say? I like the way
this is going.”

“I sort of like the way this is
going, too, but if you keep stroking my leg like that, we’re going
back to bed instead of the beach,” I threatened. “Don’t get me
wrong...that’s fine by me, but you said you wanted beach time
today.”

“That’s right. I want to enjoy my
last day of white sand and blue water with a bright sun over my
head.”

I pushed her up from my lap and
tapped her bottom. “Then, what are you waiting on? Quit wasting
time and get your swimsuit on so we can hit the beach.”

Chansey came out of the bathroom
wearing a bikini I had not seen this week. It was white and left
very little to the imagination. “Oh, hell, no! You’re not wearing
that out there.”

She took her angry Chansey stance
with her hands on her hips. “Why? What’s wrong with my
swimsuit?”

“There’s nothing wrong with it
except you’re wearing dental floss. You’re saving that one for the
pool at home, so put on a different one for the beach. I don’t want
to spend the day pissed because every guy on the beach is ogling
you in hopes you’ll bend over just right.”

“Curry!”

“It’s true. Now, I understand what
human men are thinking about every two seconds.” She looked at me
like I was exaggerating and I shrugged. “Hey, I’m just being
honest.”

She stuck her tongue out at me
before she went into the bathroom to change and she returned
wearing a much tamer red bikini. I could have said something about
the color attracting unwanted attention, but in truth, it wasn’t
the swimsuit that would captivate men. It was all Chansey because
she was so breathtakingly beautiful and she was
mine...Always.

14
Sweet Dreams

We sat in the airport the next
morning waiting to hear the boarding call for our flight and I
noticed Chansey smiling as she watched two little girls playing in
the aisle of the seating area. Her mood felt so similar to
yesterday morning’s while she was dreaming and my curiosity got the
better of me. “What were you dreaming yesterday morning before
Solomon called?’

She shrugged her shoulders and
wrinkled her forehead as she squinted her eyes. “What?”

“I know it’s a strange question,
but there is a reason I’m asking. Consider it an experiment of
sorts...about our bond,” I mysteriously said because I wanted to
peak her curiosity enough to tell me about her dream.

She cocked her head. “What kind of
experiment?”

“If I told you, then it might
alter your answer and the experiment would be null and
void.”

“Okay. Give me a minute,” she said
and she began to laugh. “Oh, yeah, the bizarre one.”

“Bizarre?”

She giggled like a teenage girl.
“Yeah. I feel a little weird telling you about it.”

“Why? Were we being
naughty?”

“No, we were not being naughty,
Pervert.” She shrugged her shoulders and added, “It’s just awkward
to talk about it.”

“I was hoping you were having some
kind of sexy dream I could think about while we were in the
sky.”