Claiming Emerald (14 page)

* * * *

Rory shook Russell and then leaned over his panther body and shook Salt. “Em is coming home. We should do something special for her.”

“When is she coming?”

“Now. Dennis just let me know. Wake the hell up!”

“Since when?” asked Salt.

“I don’t know. She came to me last night and said that Vidar was going to let her leave. The Dennis just knocked on the door to say that Em had taken to flight. She should be here in an hour or two. We need to do something to welcome her home.”

“Like what?”

“A party. It has been forever since we had a party here. We can get the humans together to celebrate. They all missed Em, also.”

Salt smiled. “Holy shit. Rory, what happened to you? I have never seen you this excited.”

“I have never been this excited. Now get your ass out of bed.”

Salt got up, running his fingers through his hair. Russell shifted back into a human and got up to put some clothes on. Together they walked out into the main hall. “Em is on her way home,” Rory called out to those gathered. “I think we should do something to let her know how much we missed her.”

“I think we should have a welcome home party,” suggested Ruth. “We need to make up a big banner and hang it inside the door.”

“Music!” exclaimed Jerry. “We have been trying to get a band together. Tonight would be the perfect night for us to play for everyone.” He received nods of agreement from some of the other men. They grabbed their coats and headed out the door into the snow.

Ruth walked up to Rory. “We can take care of this. Why don’t you go help Adrial and Holden finish putting the windmills together? It would be wonderful to have her see them in one piece.”

“I think that’s a perfect idea. We just need to go get our coats.” Rory turned to go back into their room and then stopped. He looked at Ruth. “Thank you so much.”

“We were all a little afraid she wouldn’t come back. It’s funny, because Mia said she would. Her powers of perception are completely amazing. Em adores her. I think if she could have a child, it would be Mia. Her mother is good with her, but… I don’t know, the child would benefit from a mother who was younger and paid more attention to her. She doesn’t even really have anyone to play with. Her intelligence is so advanced compared to the other children here.”

“Really. Where is Mia?”

“I don’t know.”

Mia tugged on the bottom of Rory’s shirt. “I’m right here. I thought you might be looking for me.”

The child freaked him out sometimes. He was the big bad vampire and she was the little girl, but some twist of nature had made her the creepy one. “I was just wondering where you were. I haven’t seen you in a few days.”

“I know. You were too sad to be around. You should make the most of Em’s return.”

“Why is that?”

“She needs to know how much everyone loves her. It will help her see through clearer eyes in days to come.”

Rory frowned. “Why do you say that, Mia?”

“Because it’s the truth.” She dug in her pocket and pulled out the bracelet with the red beads on it. Mia handed it to Rory. “I think she may need this again.”

Rory took the charm, the child’s words sending chills up his spine. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Mia turned and skipped off into the hall. What Em had said the night before was true. She didn’t trust Vidar and neither did he. The man’s sudden act of kindness was certainly part of a plan to accomplish his goal of conquering Em. Mia’s odd words were further verification of Rory’s fears. He could only hope that Em’s need for love wasn’t directly related to Vidar’s treatment of her. Vidar wouldn’t go as far as raping her, would he? All he could do was heed the child’s advice and remind Em how much she was loved and needed.

* * * *

Em gathered her things as they headed toward the ground. She unclipped her seatbelt and before Nelson even had a chance to land, she had the door open. “Thanks, Nelson.” She leapt from the cockpit, hitting flash speed within a few steps. Em sped toward the fortress.

She wanted to get home so badly. It had only been six nights, but it felt more like six years. The fortress came up fast and she slowed. The first thing that caught her eye was the shabby little greenhouses up on the roof. Two of them had crumbled under the weight of the snow and would need to be rebuilt in the spring. After seeing the greenhouse in the caves, she knew that they could do so much better. If only she could get her hands on some of that tinted, arched glass that was created in the lower levels of the caves. She hadn’t seen the lab or what Vidar called the construction area, but they were on the forth and fifth levels.

Em had meant to ask him about the intricately carved spiral staircase. Had the vampires gotten into lower caves through an opening in the surface? That was the only thing she could figure. Someone had carved from the bottom up, chiseling each stair until they had created an opening to the top. It left so many questions in her mind as to how the entire place had been created. Vidar’s room may have started as a cave, but it was now three perfectly oblong rooms. The bathroom had been magnificent. The tub was large enough for two people and it had running water through archlike fixtures. Obviously Vidar used it for making love rather than bathing. Vidar’s closet, which was in the room that he called his study, had ten times the clothing that any of them owned. He had collected quite a combination of colors and styles over the years. Em would love to see Rory in some of the flared-sleeve pirates’ shirts. Russell would look elegant in the suits that Vidar owned. Salt on the other hand had the thin frame that would be nicely accented by the wider cut cotton shirts with the lacing down the front.

Em sighed, her eyes looking over the roof one more time before she continued onward. She had forgotten about the sunlamps, but it didn’t matter. They were caked with ice and snow and hadn’t gone off. So much for their security system. It was something that she definitely needed to address. She hopped the fence, looking around the yard. The houses didn’t seem as magnificent as she remembered. It was probably just the dreariness of the moonless night.

The snow was piled up haphazardly to give the humans a place to walk. Em remembered running with Christian. There were only patches of snow and it had been quite a bit warmer. On that night, the moon had been full and bright and the stars had been glimmering in the sky.

Em wondered where everyone was. It really wasn’t late enough for them all to be in bed, but there was no sign of life. Not a single house had a light lit and there was only the dimmest glow of fire showing through the windows in the four larger living dorms. Had something happened while she was away? Had Vidar lied to her and taken down her fortress? Had no one bothered to radio ahead and say that she was coming? Maybe there was no one left to make a radio call to. Em frowned at the thought.

Her stomach flittered with nervousness as she put her hand to the door and pulled it open.

“Surprise!” The call went up from inside the hall. Rory, Salt, and Russell were standing at the bottom of the stairs, smiling like three Cheshire cats. There was a huge sign hanging from the ceiling that read
Welcome Home, Em.

Rory raced up the stairs, lifting her off her feet, and he hugged her. She dropped all of her things, hugging him back. Rory leapt down with her in his arms and set her to the floor. “You look fantastic. Your hair grew back.”

My hair that Vidar insisted he had to brush twice a night.
“Yes, it did. Look at you. You are all dressed up. Did you do that for me?” He was dressed in his best black leather pants that fit him ever so nicely. His black satin shirt was not fancy, but it was properly revealing. It clung in all the right places to accent his muscular chest and arms. “I like.”

“I’m glad because I wanted to be a sight worthy of coming home to. I missed you so much.”

Em stroked his cheek and Rory dragged her into a kiss. When he released her, Salt was standing with his hands tucked behind his ass. He was obviously trying to be patient. He had on the green sweater that accented his eyes and a pair of boot cut jeans. “You are completely adorable.”

“I figured I would dress in contrast to my personality.”

“What does that mean?”

“Good wholesome country boy, I am not.”

Em nodded in consideration. “That is a very astute point. Come here and kiss me, my little country boy.”

He strolled up to her, making each step dramatic. With a flash of his hands, he pulled her to his body and arched her back, kissing her lustily. “I didn’t get the pleasure of seeing you in dreams. I missed you. It seems like forever.”

“I was just thinking the same thing.”

Salt smiled and physically turned her around. Russell bowed his head. “Our Queen returns. Your subjects were lonely without you.”

“Since when are you my subjects? You are my kings.”

“Three kings and only one queen. What a kingdom this must be.”

Em giggled and walked closer, brushing back a stray strand of his beautiful platinum-blond hair. “Your hair is getting long.”

“Do you prefer that I cut it?”

“Not at all. Are you going to kiss me? Everyone is waiting patiently to say hello.”

Russell cupped her face with his palms and gave her a soft kiss. “I will make it more dramatic later.”

“I’ll take you up on that.”

Rory, Salt, and Russell took a place behind her as Em walked through the hall saying hello to everyone. A table had been laid out that was full of food and the entire atmosphere was extremely cheery. When the band began to play, Rory took her hand and led her into the center of the floor. The tables had been laid out in a large square to allow for dancing in the middle. Rory was an excellent dancer, but it was rare that Em had the pleasure of dancing with him. His eyes captured her, his beautiful sky blue eyes taking in her face. “I don’t want you to go back.”

“I left on a promise that I would go back. Breaking that promise would be bad.”

He nodded thoughtfully. “I know. If I remember Vidar correctly, he would come after you and you would have no choice. I guess it is better to stay on his good side. I still can’t believe that he let you leave.”

“He did.”

“Did you, Em?”

“Did I what? Fuck him? No. I thought you said it didn’t matter.”

“I was just curious. I didn’t think you were going to.” He twirled her around and then pulled her tight to his chest. “I guess I didn’t really want you to.”

“Then why did you sanction it?”

“Because I figured it was more important to have you home. The more I thought about you having sex with him, the more it bothered me. Do you still want to get married?”

The question was a complete shock. She had mentioned it a while back, but Rory and Salt had said it wasn’t important and the discussion had ended. “I thought you didn’t want to.”

“We were talking about it last night. A wedding is a bonding of souls and even with vampires it carries more credence.”

“So you want to marry me because it gives you more claim to me?”

Rory smiled. “I want to marry you because I love you. All three of us want to marry you. Although, Russell is still going to go out to mate.”

Em wasn’t sure if she still wanted to get married. She would never admit it to Rory now, but the more she got to know Vidar, the more she was tempted to sleep with him. If she had been kept around longer, the result might have been different. Of course, she would probably be safer with that kind of legal commitment. “I have to wonder if me being married would make me safer from Vidar or more of a challenge.”

“I don’t know. It could go either way. Hopefully it will make him realize how much we love each other.”

“That or it will make him realize that he has to kill you to ever get me.”

Em was giggling as they headed back to their rooms. The humans had finished off the food and had wandered off to bed over the course of the evening. Salt was playfully pinching her ass as she hurried down the hall and Rory had tacked him. Salt had been stunned when Rory lifted him in the air, throwing him over his shoulder and smacking his ass. Russell was watching the exchange with amusement.

Em flopped down on her bed. The room seemed slightly dreary compared to the flamboyant elegance of Vidar’s chamber. She really had to stop comparing her life to Vidar’s. Vidar had been around for hundreds of years. He had authority in the caves and they seemed to have far more resources than Em’s little fortress.

Russell sat beside her. He stroked back her hair, his amber eyes soft with question. “What are you thinking about?”

She was hesitant to answer. Em shrugged. “Nothing important. It’s really nice to be home with my men. That party was so sweet. You dance really well.”

“Avoiding my question, huh? I guess you’re entitled to a few private thoughts. As long as they aren’t bad ones.”

“They weren’t bad. They were just considering.” Em had no intention of telling him that she kept comparing her fortress to the governors’ caves. There was no comparison. Her fortress had hundreds less humans and many less vampires. What they had was small and comfortable. They were getting by. It was not luxurious, but it was home. That was what she needed to concentrate on. She was home where she was safe and loved. Love was fickle, and safety was an illusion.

* * * *

Russell could see something in her eyes, but she wasn’t exactly sure what. It had a wistful quality that he had never seen before. What things had Em seen while she was away? Was it something directly related to Vidar? Had she slept with him and now missed his company? She had said that she hadn’t, and she had never lied to them before. He wanted to push the subject, make her admit what was on her mind, but he knew it was a bad idea. They wanted to make her feel loved, not pressured. She was entitled to have a secret thought now and then. Maybe he was just overanalyzing what was on her mind. Maybe it was something simple. “So what did you think of our proposal?”