Claiming Emerald (17 page)

Tears formed in Mia’s eyes.

Salt wasn’t sure if the child was overjoyed or there was something wrong. “Why are you crying, Mia?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean?” asked Em.

“Every time I think of your marriage, I get sad. I don’t know why, though. I can’t get a vision.”

Salt took Em’s hand and gave it a squeeze. She was staring at the child with saucerlike eyes. He wanted to say that it was probably nothing. He wanted to dismiss the feelings of unhappiness, but there was no doing that with Mia’s feelings. “Will you let us know if you think or get something more definite?”

“I will, Salt. Be careful, Em. I think someone is coming here. He knows and he doesn’t like it.”

“Do you know when, Mia?”

“Soon.”

Em turned to Salt. “Fuck New Year’s Eve. We get married tomorrow night.”

Em was close to having a panic attack because the sun was almost up and Rory and Russell were not back yet. The humans had worked busily though the night to finish the flowers and decorate the hall. Later in the day they would start gathering in the hall to cook the food and finish the preparations.

Salt was rubbing her back, trying to calm her down.

“Where the fuck are they, Salt?”

“I don’t know. Hopefully they are on their way back. They probably just had to go further than they expected to find meat. Rory is smart enough to find shelter if he has to.”

Em shivered, her mind racing with thoughts that weren’t helping anything. “It’s not shelter that I’m worried about. It’s Vidar.”

“Why?”

“Salt if he is mad enough that I’m getting married, he may have sent someone to watch the fortress. Rory and Russell are outside the gates. They won’t be easy prey, but it doesn’t mean Vidar’s minions couldn’t take them down. I’m worried they may have been taken as a way to get to me, or they may have been killed. I don’t trust Vidar. What Mia said made me very nervous. I want to know how he found out.”

“Did you ask Dennis?”

“Yes, and he swears that he didn’t call the caves. I believe him. The problem is that it leaves me to wonder. I asked him if his radio could be accessed when he wasn’t in the room and he said no. That means someone else has a radio and they aren’t telling us about it.” She needed to get up and move. Em appreciated that Salt was rubbing her back, but it wasn’t helping much. “Can you let me up, please?”

Salt backed off. “It could be anyone, Em. It could be any of the new humans or one of the new vampires.”

She remembered Vidar mentioning the new three as they were called occasionally. She didn’t think it was them. Vidar had said that they weren’t aware they had been controlled by Vidar. There was only one way to find out. Em grabbed her shirt and strode to the door. Salt was on her heels a moment later. “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to chat.” Em walked down the hall and knocked on Adrial’s door.

He opened it, appearing surprised. “Em, what’s up?”

“I want to know if any of you have a radio and if you have been talking to the governors’ caves about this fortress?”

Adrial frowned deeply. “What?”

“I have been led to believe that someone has notified Vidar at the governors’ caves about our upcoming wedding. I was wondering if it was you, Holden, or Jace. Vidar told me that he suggested you come here.”

“He made the suggestion because he wanted us out of his caves. The three of us made friends with the werewolves and we were trying to make things better for the humans. We thought it was wrong that the humans do all the work while the vampires enjoy all the luxuries. There was a revolt when the governors tried to put us in containment cells below. To save face and avoid inner anarchy, he let us go with a promise to never return. We honestly figured that he would come after us, but so far he hasn’t.”

His story was in agreement with what Rory had told her about the caves. She was also surprised that Vidar had not sent anyone to hunt them down and kill them. Em had no indication that he was lying to her. “Do you have any idea of who could have a radio besides Dennis?”

“I don’t know, but it wouldn’t be hard to find out. All we have to do is say that we are checking the houses for compatibility with the windmills. While we are there, we can look around. What makes you think that Vidar knows?”

“Something Mia said.”

“Okay. We will go look around tomorrow night. Everyone will be getting ready for your wedding and it shouldn’t be a problem. We can make a general announcement and if anyone protests they are our most likely candidate.”

It did make sense. “Okay. I guess that sounds good. How bad are things at the caves? I didn’t see any indication of what you are talking about. The humans I saw all seemed happy and lived in well furnished caves.”

“Those are the governor’s elite. They feed the ten high governors. There are twenty couples and one spare in case they want to treat someone to an extra meal. The rest of the humans, unless they are specifically owned by an upper vampire, are little more than slaves. They are fed upon whenever someone has a whim to do so. The less desirable ones are kept as servants and cleaning crews. The more attractive ones are usually kept as sex slaves.”

“What about the humans that I saw on the upper levels. They were all hanging out in the lounge.”

“They were either personally owned or freeriders.”

“What is a freerider?”

“It is a woman or man who pimps themselves to avoid the alternatives. They are available for whatever pleasure is required of them.”

“Prostitutes?”

He nodded. “Exactly, but the governors dislike that word.”

Em reconsidered what she had seen. Some of the humans had been dressed rather skimpily. She had figured that it was probably the style adopted by some of the humans. If she looked at it differently, the clothing was advertisement. Something odd struck her. “Do they wear anything to let others know what they are?”

“It is actually a small community that hangs out in the center lounge. They are all newer vampires without the ethics of the older ones. The freeriders usually wear revealing clothing and always have a blue, red, or green twine around their necks.”

She had seen it and thought it simply fashion. “What do the colors mean?”

“Red if for those who like to be fed from. Blue is someone who prefers straighter sex. The green means anything goes.”

The conversation was not distracting her from the feel of the sun getting closer. It was more that the earth was spinning to meet the sun, but that wasn’t how it felt. It was as if feeling a warm vibration of a large creature running toward her. The hotter and more concrete the feeling became, the closer the sun. Sunrise was marked by a blast of goose bumps that ran up her spine. It was an internal warming that she should not go outside. When she was first turned, it was followed by an undeniable urge to sleep. That was before Rory had given her his blood. Now the sleep could be controlled, but not the sensation that the sun would be up in the ten or fifteen minutes.

“Thank you, Adrial. I appreciate your help.”

“You’re welcome. Be careful of Vidar. He isn’t known for being a liar, but he often skirts around the truth like a lizard.”

“So I have been told. Go get some sleep.”

He smiled. “I plan to.” With a gracious nod, Adrial shut the door.

Em turned to Salt and they headed back to their room. She was more nervous than she was before, the area feeling claustrophobic. Em knew that she no longer needed to breathe, but had the odd feeling that she couldn’t and wanted to.

Salt stroked her cheek. “Are you okay?”

“No. I’m on the verge of freaking out. What Adrial said was helpful, but it didn’t make me feel any better.”

“I know. I’m worried, too. Do you want to go out in the main hall and wait?”

“No. It’s too dangerous with the humans walking in and out. I don’t relish the idea of getting fried again.”

He nodded thoughtfully. “Em. You would know if something happened, right?”

“I think so. So far it is just an uneasy feeling because they aren’t back yet.”

“Okay.” He dragged her into his arms, holding her tightly. Em felt tears welling in her eyes, her chest tightening as she fought to hold back her emotions. She was scared. Her only consolation was that she was not mourning as if someone died.

* * * *

Rory shut the outer door quietly. “Em is probably freaking out by now.”

“I know.” Russell grimaced, gritting his teeth as he crinkled his nose. “You did push it a little.”

“I know when the sun is gonna come up. If you ran a little faster we would have been back sooner.”

“I’m not the one who decided to go to the mall hauling a two-hundred-pound deer. I’m not dead enough to run faster.”

“Ha, ha. That could be arranged, Russell.”

Russell chuckled and Rory couldn’t help but smile. They had been bantering back and forth all night. What Russell lacked in speed, he made up for in hunting skills. They had bagged the huge deer after Russell had turned into a cheetah and had pushed the large beast directly to Rory. Once he had it in his sights, he had little trouble taking it down. The deer was now in the kitchen being butchered for the feast that was presumably ahead of schedule.

“Why do you think she changed the wedding to tonight? I thought we agreed on New Year’s Eve.”

“I thought so, also. Something must have changed.”

“Only one way to find out. She is going to be a hysterical bitch. The sun is now full up.”

Russell grinned. “Then you go first.”

“Thanks.”

Rory barely got the door open Em leapt off the bed and ran at him, throwing herself into his arms. The force of her act caused him to grab her around the waist and spin with her rather than fall back into Russell. Russell hopped back to avoid Em’s bare feet.

Em hugged Rory tightly and then leaned back to look at him. “Are you okay?”

“Fine.”

“Then why are you so late? I didn’t know if Vidar took you.”

Rory frowned. “What? Since when? Vidar is here?”

Em sagged and he saw the tears still glimmering in her eyes. “Okay. What happened since we left?”

“Mia.”

She said the name with such desperation in her voice it stunned him. “What did Mia say?”

“She said that someone was on his way here and he was mad.”

Rory suddenly understood why she was so upset. He knew she would be worried, but had no idea of the added stress of the situation. “I’m sorry. We took a little detour on the way home. The deer is in the kitchen. Is that why you changed the wedding date?”

Em nodded. “I won’t let him stop us.”

“We got you a present.”

“You are my present. You’re alive and you’re here.”

Russell stepped into the room and handed her a bag.

“You went to the fucking mall. I’ve been worried sick about you and you went shopping?”

Rory grimaced. “It was my idea. Don’t get mad at Russell. Open the damn bag.”

Em glared at him, her tears drying. She shook her head, rolling her eyes in disgust and then took the bag to the sofa. Em tugged it open and her mouth dropped just as he had hoped. The anger morphed from her expression to be replaced by awe. Em pulled the dress from the bag, standing up to look at it. “It’s beautiful. It’s still perfect. How?”

“It was in a Plexiglas case in the center of the store. I remembered seeing it one night while we were there. I hope it fits.”

Em dropped the dress on the sofa and leapt back into his arms. He twirled her around again just for the drama of the moment. This time instead of getting angry, she kissed him greedily.

Russell shut the door and walked past them. “I guess she likes the dress.”

Salt chuckled in agreement. “I can’t wait to see her in it so we can rip it off.”

Em immediately pulled back to glare at him. “You will do no such thing. This will become a prized possession for anyone who cares to get married in it. I will be the first. Then it will be donated to the clothing pool.”

Salt held up his hands defensively. “Sorry… It will be removed with great care. You had better have something underneath that we can rip off.”

“Deal.”

Rory set her to the floor. “Wanna play? I’m revved up on deer blood.”

“I’m revved up on emotions. I would love to. Anyone else in?”

Salt hopped to his feet and then Russell got up and began to strip. Em watched him with interest. The activities of the night had left his counterpart’s body taut with muscle. Rory was taller than Russell, but Russell was more thickly built. For overall body size, he was actually in the middle of them. Salt was the smallest in every way. He was also wirier and Em loved it when he flashed his hips during sex. Rory preferred to take things slower. Em tilted her head to look up at him. “Whatcha thinkin?”

Her adorably childish question made him smile. “I was making a mental comparison. Russell’s body gets pumped from exertion, mine no longer does.”

She peeled his shirt back from his chest and then slid it over his shoulders. “You are always pumped. You must have been that way when you were turned.”

“I was chained to a wall when I was turned.”

Em grimaced and he stroked her cheek. “I no longer feel anything when I think of my makers. I used to hate them, now I don’t. Without them, I couldn’t be with you.”

“I know. I just can’t imagine being turned like that. You were shackled up in a cave, wanting only to die after your wife and daughter were killed. Then to find out that you would live forever. That must have been so hard.”

“It was, but I have gotten over it.”

* * * *

Em saw the glimmer in Rory’s eyes and knew that he was telling the truth. Had her love really changed him as much as everyone kept telling her? She couldn’t really imagine him mourning so deeply as to go looking for death. Of course he would probably do it again if she died. Em had no intention of dying. She would do whatever it took to make Vidar happy and be rid of him.

For this day, she wanted to enjoy her men and then bond to them in marriage. It was more than a ceremony. It was a statement to all other vampires that they were together for eternity.