VA 2 - Blood Jewel (37 page)

Sol was angry with me, very angry.
I didn’t understand why, but I was going to get to the bottom of
it. “Why is it so important for you to know? I know that you love
Chansey like a sister, but it is my job to take care of
her.”

“I’m not worried for Chansey
because I know you’ll always take care of her. It’s Avery. I need
to know for her.”

He felt obligated to protect her.
“Is it because of Jenn? You want to protect Avery for
Jenn?”

He laughed as he shook his head,
almost as though he was laughing at himself.“No, I wish that was
the case because it would be a lot easier.”

“You’re going to have to spell it
out for me, cause I’m not catching on, Sol.”

“It’s me. I want to protect Avery
for me...because I love her,” he whispered.

≈ ≈ ≈

When I came back from searching for
cleaning supplies, Sol was gone with Marsala’s body, along with his
explanation for what he meant when he said that he loved Avery.
This had to be another example of him acting out like he did with
Shelby and I was going to have to help him get straight.

When I walked into the room where I
killed Marsala, Emelyn and the baby had disappeared. The room
appeared perfect, as though nothing had occurred and I knew it was
all an act of Anteros.

After I went to the nursery window
to look at the babies again, I went to Chansey’s room and waited.
It wasn’t long before I looked up to see her being wheeled in by a
couple of nurses.

“She’s been asking for you, Mr.
Brennan. A lot. She’s been really groggy from the anesthesia, so we
didn’t tell her about the babies. We thought you might want to do
that when she wakes up a little better.”

“Thank you. I would love to be the
one to tell her.”

I sat at her bedside and held her
hand as I waited for her to come around enough to ask about the
babies. The nurse came in and checked on her a couple of times, so
I guess it was close to an hour before she opened her eyes to look
at me.

When her eyes met mine, she said,
“Good or bad, tell me. I have to know.”

Before I could answer her, there
was a knock at the door and the babies were being brought into the
room. “Why don’t I introduce you instead of telling you about
them?”

I felt relief flood her. “Them?”
she uttered as a single tear spilled over from each of her eyes and
she pushed the button to raise the head of her bed for a better
look.

“May I introduce you to our son,
Baby Boy Brennan?” I said as I handed him to her. She took him in
her arms and looked at his face for a moment before I said, “And
our daughter, Miss Baby Girl Brennan,” as I laid her in Chansey’s
other arm.

“A boy and a girl. I can’t believe
it. It doesn’t feel real,” she uttered through a huge
smile.

“Well, they’re very real, so real
that we have to come up with names for these little rascals. I
can’t believe we never talked about it. I guess we were scared to
jinx the whole thing.”

“I don’t think we have to discuss
his name. I think we both agree that it should be James after you
and your father. I would really like James Grady.”

I laughed and she said, “No? You
don’t like it?”

“I love it. Now, what about the
little lady? I’d like to contribute Grace.”

“After your mother?”

“A little, but not wholly. Grace
is when you receive something you don’t deserve and I want to
always be reminded of the gift given to me when she came into my
life.”

“What about Anna Grace and we can
call her Grace since it has a special meaning for you?”

“I love Anna Grace. What do you
think of calling her by both names?”

“I think they’re both perfect.
They both get names with special meanings from each of
us.”

“Okay, then it’s decided. This is
James Grady Brennan and this is Anna Grace Brennan.

I felt her happiness, but also her
fear and I knew where our conversation was about to go. “Curry, I
couldn’t be happier than I am in this moment. but...”

She stopped speaking when I put my
finger to her lips. “Ssh...Don’t say it. A lot has happened in the
last couple of hours, but I don’t want to ruin this perfect moment
with my beautiful family. We’ll talk about it later, but you can
relax because that monster will never hurt us again.”

I felt her question and I nodded in
acknowledgment, giving her the peace of mind she needed in knowing
Marsala was dead, but there were other issues at hand to cause her
angst. I wasn’t ready to go there. Not on a perfect day like today.
The Blood Jewel conversation would have to wait until another
day.

Until another day
arrives...

Coming Soon

Blood Doll, The Vampire Agápe Series
Book 3

Anticipated Release in January
2013

Official Blood Jewel
Playlist

Memories-Within
Temptation

Marsala thinking of Curry in
Prologue

Together
Again-Evanescence

Marsala’s thoughts of coming for
Curry

Marry Me-Train

Curry tries to convince Chansey to
marry him sooner

Steal My Heart Away-Van
Morrison

Dancing in Club Infinity

Sleep Alone-Bat for
Lashes

Marsala reaches Curry through Black
Magic in Club Infinity

Nasty Naughty Boy-Christina
Aguilera

Chansey’s Striptease
Dance

The Moon-The Swell
Season

Wedding Night at Bed &
Breakfast

Changing-The Airborne Toxic
Event

Chansey’s insistence on being
changed

The First Time Ever I Saw Your
Face-Leona Lewis

Curry works on painting of Chansey,
intimate moment

For the Heart I Once
Had-Nightwish

Marsala standing over Curry and
Chansey while they slept

And Then You-Greg
Laswell

Chansey relaxes in tub

Blessed-Elton John

Curry hears lub-dub & on his
knees to kiss Chansey’s belly

In My Arms-Plumb

Chansey’s thoughts during
ultrasound

With Arms Wide
Open-Creed

Curry’s thoughts during
ultrasound

Hurricane-30 Seconds to
Mars

Fight with Marsala

Now I Know-Fisher

Seeing babies together for first
time

Life Is Beautiful-Vega 4

The Happy Ending Song

About Georgia Cates

Georgia resides in rural
Mississippi with her wonderful husband, Jeff,

and their two beautiful daughters.
She spent thirteen years as a labor and delivery nurse before she
decided to pursue her dream of becoming an author.

Blood of Anteros, Book One in The
Vampire Agápe Series, was her first novel

and it was released in September
2011. She decided to briefly step away from the

paranormal genre to try her hand at
a young adult romance and she loved it.

It was so much fun, she plans to do
it again in the near future.

Connect with Georgia

For the latest updates from Georgia
Cates, stay connected with her at:

Georgia
Cates’ Blog

Facebook

Twitter

goodreads

It has been such a pleasure
corresponding with some of you via

Facebook, Twitter, goodreads, email
and by my blog.

I love being in touch with my
readers so don’t hesitate to contact me at any time.

I Love You All and Thank You for
your Support through this journey.

Love,

Georgia

Books by Georgia Cates

Blood of Anteros

The Vampire Agápe Series Book
1

Released September 2011

Blood Jewel

The Vampire Agápe Series Book
2

Released May 2012

Blood Doll

The Vampire Agápe Series Book
3

Anticipated Release Date January
2013

Going Under

Released March 2012

Shallow

(A Going Under Novel #2)

Anticipated Release Date September
2012

Please enjoy this excerpt
from

MADLY

by Young Adult Author M.
Leighton

CHAPTER ONE

I looked out the classroom window,
wishing I was outdoors enjoying the ambient conditions of Slumber,
conditions that I’d come to love in a relatively short amount of
time.  If I closed my eyes, I could almost feel the humid sea
breeze ruffling my hair, the hot sun shining down on my face. 
I could almost smell the sweet hint of jasmine in the air,
too.

Sighing, I turned my attention to
the back of Aidan’s sandy head.  My lazy musings coupled with
the soft drone of Mr. Laraby’s voice provided the perfect
background noise to lull me into a semi-comatose
state. 

Aidan turned around and winked at
me.  Whether he’d known I was watching him or he was just
being his fun-loving self, I didn’t know.  With Aidan, you
could never tell what went on behind his warm hazel eyes, but
either way he made me smile.  He was constantly teasing me or
doing something funny to make me laugh.

When he turned back toward the
front of the class, I sighed.  I couldn’t wait for our mating
tie to materialize, for the time when the mere sight of him would
make me swoon.  That’s what happened between all fated mates
and, since I was to be betrothed to Aidan in nine more months, I
fully expected it would happen with us.  But right now, he
just felt like my big brother.

Tingling fingers of unease lifted
the roots of my waist length blonde hair away from my scalp,
startling me from my stupor.  I sat up in my seat and looked
around.  Just as I was about to reassure myself that it had
only been my imagination, the shiny, gilded cuff around my wrist
began to heat against my skin.

I looked down at my bracelet, the
wide gold band that had adorned my arm practically since
birth.  It held a charm tight against the skin on the inside
of my wrist, where it continually leached power straight into my
bloodstream. 

The charm itself was a blue-green
hoop that looked like a delicate, water-filled doughnut.  All
of us had a similar charm that we wore somewhere against our
skin.  It was the source of our magic on dry land.  But
at the empty center of mine was a single silvery pearl.  Upon
casual inspection, it seemed to be part of the circle, but it was
not.  It wasn’t attached to anything, held in place by nothing
more than the potent enchantment that marked my family, my entire
race.

Like a bolt of lightning, pain
suddenly shot from my wrist straight up my arm and into my
head.  My sharp inhalation alerted Aidan and Jersey, my two
best friends, both of whom sat in front of me.  I saw them
turn toward me right before my vision blurred with
tears.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I bit my
lip to keep the scream on my tongue from finding its way out. 
Electricity held my arm stiff as the current began to flow through
the rest of my body.  My hair felt like it was on fire and my
toes twitched inside my loafers.  Lips that felt like they
were melting off my face could no longer hold the cry inside, but
when it escaped, it didn’t sound like my voice.  It sounded
like the high-pitched call of a siren.

Then, as quickly as it had come
upon me, it was over.  I felt my body go limp in my seat and I
slumped forward over my desk.  I didn’t need to open my eyes
to know that every face in class was turned curiously in my
direction.  Despite the shock of what had just happened, I
felt the burn of embarrassment sting my cheeks.

“Madly, what is it?”

Jersey’s concerned voice was near
my right ear, concern I knew would be mirrored in her sea foam
eyes.

“Hey, James, quit
trying to scare us,” Aidan whispered into the other ear. 
Though his comment was meant to sound casual, I could hear the
genuine fear in his voice. 

I lifted my head and opened my eyes
to Aidan’s.  I knew by the frown that appeared on his smooth
brow that he knew something was seriously wrong.