Forbidden Days (The Firsts) (28 page)

“This looks interesting,” she said and sat down on a bench near the front of the room.   Bas could barely breathe now.  She kept her knees together and drew the handle of the knife across her stomach, then dipped it between her legs, drawing it back and forth, back and forth, until she opened her legs, giving him the perfect view of its journey as she moved it, dipping into the folds as well, her breathing heavier and quicker now too.

He couldn’t take it anymore.  Bas shot across the room and pitched the knife so hard the head embedded into the wall.  He pushed her back on the bench and mounted her, keeping his eyes on her wet lips.  Had he ever been so turned on in three centuries?

Carefully, he slowed himself down, aware of the child growing within, so he moved with controlled precision until they both suddenly crescendoed, his hands pushing against the wall beside the bench to support his weight as his body shuddered to an intense release.  He heard Park call out beneath him, and then collapsed beside her.   He wondered if they could make it to his quarters to do this again.

144

Chapter Nineteen

Shanks was laughing his ass off.  Bas would know he was.  He’d pulled it off.  Alvin had told him it was a ridiculous plan…it would gain them nothing.  It gained them a lot.  They had footage of Bas and his primary vampire forces, the weapons, where they emerged from to meet the fight, and Bas himself, glorious in his rage, realizing he’d killed innocents.   Yeah, that footage was worth the faux attack.  Once he looked through the footage, he thought it would              give him a better landscape for the attacks as well.  Shanks sucked down his fourth beer and wiped his face with the back of his hand, a habit he kept from his human days.  Yeah, he was brilliant.  That weasel was lucky to have him.  And he was about sick of that ferret face giving him orders.  This attack was going down Shanks’s way.

“Here bitchie, bitchie, bitchie!  Get me some freaking food!  You get ten minutes to get me something ass kicking on this table, or I eat you!”  He continued to call the old lady cook a bitch because Alvin didn’t like it.  Well, Shanks did.

Park was enjoying the breakfast-at-night routine so much right now.  Bas and his crew had finished and went down to continue setting plans for the imminent attacks.  She was sliding down the fluffiest scrambled eggs she’d ever seen, seasoned perfectly with a Mexican spice and pepper jack cheese.  Bernie and Zach were still with her and they were laughing about their last training session.  Park looked at the faces around her table who had become unlikely friends.  She was having a child with a supernatural being who had a brutal background and yet was the kindest, gentlest person she’d ever known.  The two people on her sides scarfing down massive amounts of bacon, eggs, and biscuits, had been viciously attacked and ripped from their lives, because of her involvement in them, however brief.  And yet she felt closer to these people than she ever thought   would be possible, given her detachment from relationships.  She was well and truly happy.  Her hand fingered the medallion that hung between her breasts.  It hummed at the contact, surging warmth and energy into her body and mind.  This was life, the turns and twists, the good and the bad, the path you travel…you never know where it may lead.  She shook her head, the smile on her lips deep and profound.  This was her destiny, she knew it more than she’d ever known anything in her life. 

Bernie screeched because Zach lifted a stack of sausage from her plate.

“Asshole!  That’s the last of it!”

He grinned and squeezed it between his teeth, his mouth open to punctuate the action.  “Mine, all mine,” he said, barely understandable with such a mouthful.

Bernie stole his entire plate and started shoveling the remaining gravy and biscuits into her own mouth while he tried to steal it back.

Park sat back, laughing so hard she pressed a hand to her chest.

“I think they’re right when they call you baby vamps…you’re such brats!  Bernie, you have gravy all over your chin.”

The breakfast was nearly finished.  Bernie cleared her mouth and reached for a napkin.

“Listen.  I’m changing my name.  Bernie…it’s too lame for a vampire.  Vaz calls me Bern all the time, so I’m going with that.  Only spelled B-U-R-N-E, like a flame, with an e.  It’s catchy, don’t you think?  Anyway, I love it, so from now on, I’m just Burne.”

Zach nodded.  “I like it.  I agree.  New life…new name.  I might do the same.  What do you think, Park?”

“You guys don’t know this, but my real birth name was Punk.  Well, mother is a psychotic, at least to me, so you already know I changed my name from that.  I think we should be able to take names that suit us once we become our selves, so, hell yes!  Although, I do like Zach.  I always have.  It’s one reason I agreed to the date.”  When she realized what that meant, she pulled back.  “Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean…”

“No, I…I think I’ll keep it.  Park, I think my life’s going to be much cooler now.  I don’t blame you and I’m not sorry.”

Bernie leaned over and took Park’s hand.

“Me either, sweetie.”

Park felt the tweak of tears.  This was her family now and she loved them with all her heart.

Bas had a small landing strip behind the property, surrounded by trees so that from the ground, no one would know it was there.  Philippe was very accustomed to coming and going from challenging landscapes, so he brought the little jet down easily, his passengers undisturbed.

The plane was met by a large group of men and women, well- armed, and cautious.  They did not know who they were escorting, but they knew Hamid, from a visit two years earlier.  He was the first to leave the plane, followed by an Asian woman who looked like she might have defined the word beautiful.   Her classic blue-black hair was long, pulled up into a high tight ponytail, and still it cascaded to her waist.  It swung elegantly as she nearly floated down the ramp, handing her small satchel to Hamid, who slightly bowed his head in acceptance and stepped aside to let her pass.

“Bas is not here?” she inquired, her voice as elegant and lovely as she was, her words pronounced with a soft French accent.

The tallest man in the lot stepped forward and bowed, slightly, much like Hamid.  He knew this woman was very important in the vampire world and he had been warned to be very compliant, deferent, and respectful. 

“He sends his regrets, but it couldn’t be avoided.  He will meet you as soon as you arrive in the household.”

“That won’t do.  There are no other priorities when it comes to me.  Take me to him immediately.”

“Do you wish to freshen up, ma’am?”

Eillia walked up to him, close, her eyes almost mesmerized him.  She was a good foot shorter than him, and yet she still commanded his attention.  When she spoke it was staccato and commanding.  “Tell me, do I
look
like I need to freshen up?”

He was terrified he’d offended her.  “Ma’am, no, never.  You look lovely.  Unmatched, I’d say.”

She stared him down, no blinks, stone cold silent.  He thought if he was capable of shivering he would be doing so.

Suddenly, she pushed him, hard, knocking him off balance.

Then her stunning face lit up with a brilliant smile.  “Lighten up, soldier.  I’m kidding!  Although that shit still should have been here to meet me.”

She started toward the house, Hamid right on her heels, a smirk on his lips, the young vampire sentry recovering from the image of his own body chained and wasting away in the beautiful woman’s dungeon somewhere no one would ever find him.  He quickly caught up to them and led his group to surround her for security.  He kept his earpiece on, listening to Tim’s running commentary on any possible incursion.  But their walk to the house was uneventful.

The sentry was happy to hand her over to Jake to take to Bas, who was still in the situation room.  He walked away with relief, and although he knew this old female vampire was teasing him, he also knew she was capable of tearing him into enough pieces they’d never find them all.  She was easily one of the most beautiful women he’d ever seen, and easily the most terrifying.  He headed for the galley where Eugene kept high calorie snacks for them to graze on any time of the night.

Bas was furious.  Not at his team that had been working overtime to prepare for this. 
All
of them had thought they had some time before they faced an attack.  They had been wrong.  Sort of.  But the one that came, the attack that caught them with their pants down, had only served to compromise their security and kill a lot of innocent people.

“I hate that motherfucker.  Whoever the fuck he is, I swear I’ll tear his head off with my bare hands,” he said, as they finished their session. He owed the dead-vampire-walking for what he did to Maggie anyway.  “I have to go meet Eillia.  So, take some time off, get yourselves something to eat, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He was rounding the corner from the room when Eillia tripped him.  Thanks to fast reflexes, he recovered before he took a fall.  He turned to face her.  “Really?”

She yawned.  “Well, you should have met me.”

“We were attacked last night, so I had to shore up defenses since you were due to arrive.  So if you want to be pissy about it, I was defending
your
gorgeous ass.  Hey, Hamid.  You still taking the crap from this one?  Six centuries isn’t long enough?”

Hamid grinned.  “Too frightened of her to leave her.”

Eillia rolled her eyes.  But she gave Bas a hug.  “My old friend, are you all okay?”

“Mostly.  The attack was actually a tactic.  I think it was Shanks, my blood-bond that our enemy changed.  I think it was his maneuver.  He forced me to kill some innocent humans, and he knows how I feel about that.  He wired them with cameras, so it worked, he got some intel and a fucking laugh at our expense.  I plan to cram the cameras down his throat while I slit it.  Otherwise, we’re peachy, my darling.  Come with me to the kitchen.  Eugene has prepared your favorite.”

“Sweet potato casserole?  Oh, yes, let us hurry.  Such a wonderful American dish.  My chef tried it and destroyed it.  He thought the mushy orange potato was gauche.  He’s doing laundry now.”

Bas took her arm.  “I’ve missed you old friend.  Forty years now?  We may be immortal, but that is too many years between visits.”

Hamid followed behind them, no jealousy.  He’d known Bas as long as he had Eillia and they were all good friends.    That Eillia was older than any of them really knew, that was what drew them together.  She was so much more powerful than even the two combined.  Her skills were in the realm of supernatural or even magic.  Which is why Hamid was very curious to meet Bas’s woman.  He’d heard she was from first blood too.

“I’d like to tell you some new developments with Park before I introduce you.  Things have gotten very interesting.”

“Well, then, tell me over sweet potato casserole.   So, Bas, you have no idea who is attacking us?”

“I don’t.  We’re working on intel now.  This attack was an annoyance, mostly, but forcing me to murder so many innocents, that made it significant.  This vampire, when I find him, I intend he die painfully, if I have time, brutally, if I don’t.”

“I’m sorry.  This has never happened in all the years I’ve lived. Which are quite a few, as you know.  However, I’ll send for the European militia, if you want.  You won’t have any trouble then, they’re a pernicious bunch.  I’ve never seen them lose.”

“I’ll let you know.  I’m sure he’ll hit us with as large a vampire force as he takes time to build.   But they’ll be babes.  And blood-bonds.  More compels too.  So I don’t know what the final attack will entail.  I know he’s serious.  He’s killed three vampires and many blood-bonds.  The blood-bonds just to make his point.  The vampires, they were alone.  This will be his biggest attempt yet with so many older vampires in residence.  We’ve been careful not to go out alone to give him any easier targets.     And then of course, there’s our potential houseguest.  Park’s father.  When I asked you about him, you told me you would come here and we would discuss it.  Well?”

“At the table.  I want to sit and discuss this situation…that’s why I flew here.  It’s important, Bas.  Ah, here we are.  Eugene, darling, I can’t wait to taste your fare again.  It’s been too long.”

Eugene bowed in deference to who she was.  He’d always loved her.  She had been his vampire mistress’s Sire.  They’d had many wonderful years together before the event that changed their lives forever.  He would do anything for her.  Especially please her with food he knew she loved.  He’d made it all.

They took seats and allowed Eugene to serve them.  It was what Eillia was accustomed to.  She smiled widely at the platter he sat in front of her.  “Bas, I’m stealing Eugene back!”

“Okay, but you are the one allowed him to go when…well, check with him.”

Her smile softened.  “No.  I know it is too painful for him in France.  I understood then, and I still do.”  She dug in and smiled for the next thirty minutes.

After they had all overindulged, she turned to Bas and stared into his eyes, capturing his complete attention.

“My old friend, you have a massive problem.  Your female…you can’t keep her.”

Bas tried to keep his expression neutral.  He failed.

“Really?  What makes you say this?”  His smile was tight, his face stone.

“She is the child of a first blood.  I know him.  The father.”

That shocked Bas.  She’d never mentioned in all the years that she knew
of
the first vampires of legend, let alone that she not only
knew
they existed, but that she was personally acquainted with one.

“Do tell.”

“Bas, I can see how upset you are.  I’m going to tell you something that will remain between us.”  Only Bas, Eugene, and Eillia were in the room.  Eillia waved toward Eugene as Bas’s eyes went to him.