Tempted in the Night (28 page)

"Yep.
There were five who tried to stop him, but
Caine
killed them—I mean, really killed them. He stuck his hand through their chests like he was punching through dry-wall, and ripped out their hearts." The Prime shrugged. "After that, no one felt like going up against him."

"If
Caine
killed five of you—that would have left eleven," Harris pointed out. "Yet I count fifteen who were killed by the
chu
… creature."

The other Prime stared at him with surprise. "You seem to know more about this than we do," he said. Harris worried the Prime would start asking a lot of questions or draw attention to him, but he didn't.

"You're right. Not long ago,
Caine
caught another one of those creatures. He tortured it, trying to break its spirit so it would be easier to control. He used humans to tempt it, but once, when the creature killed a human and
Caine
saw the guy rise up again as a vampire, he decided to put the creature to use. He tracked down a couple of his escaped prison buddies and had the creature convert them. That's where the rest of the fifteen came from." He paused and gave Harris a serious look. "
Caine
and his buddies don't care who they kill. I tell you, I just don't know where it's going to end."

Harris wondered that, too. Until Brody was caught, John wouldn't consider leaving Jess unprotected, and Harris didn't think he could handle all these vampires by himself. He and John would have to deal with them later.

John and Jess returned to the cemetery through the woods with John leading the way and keeping a constant vigil for Brody. It made sense to him that the vampire would look for them here.

As soon as they reached the fence around the cemetery, John scanned the entire area, but saw no sign that Brody or any other vampire was nearby.

"Where do you want to set up?" he asked Jess when she came to stand next to him.

She had the flashlight and sent the beam all around as she seemed to look for something in particular. "Do you see her?" she finally asked.

"Who?"

"The pregnant female.
I can't see as well as you—do you see her anywhere?"

John searched the area again. "No, I don't," he finally admitted. "She probably found someplace to hide while she has her baby."

He felt Jess's disappointment and for reasons he didn't want to examine too closely, he wanted to make things right. Stretching out his mind, he sought the link with Diablo. When he had it, he formed an image of the pregnant female in his mind. Almost immediately, he received an image through Diablo's eyes of the female lying on the ground behind the large mausoleum.

"This way," he told Jess, taking her hand to keep her from tripping over anything as he led her to the large building.

The
odor
of damp earth and mildew hit him as he rounded the side of the structure to the more secluded space behind it. There on the ground, as she had appeared in the image, lay the pregnant
chupacabra
. One look at her and John knew there was something wrong. Her transformation from stone to flesh was not complete.

"What's wrong with her legs," Jess breathed beside him as she played the beam over the
chupacabra
. "Oh, my God," she gasped, when the beam hit the juncture of the creature's legs where a small stone
chupacabra
head could be seen. "She must have gone into
labor
shortly before dawn and the sun came up before she could finish."

John stared at the sight. "You'd think Mother Nature would have this worked out a little better, wouldn't you?" He moved a little closer and noticed that the edges of the transformation were slowly moving down the body as more of the creature turned to flesh.

"I have a feeling there's more to this than we know," he said. "She looks exhausted; like she's been in
labor
for days instead of hours. She doesn't even have the energy to change back to her living form. See how long it's taking?"

Jess moved forward and John put out a hand to stop her when she would have continued right up to the creature. "Careful," he said. "This isn't the family pet we're dealing with."

"She's not going to hurt me," Jess told him, pulling from his grasp. "She's in too much pain, aren't you, girl?" Her voice took on a gentle soothing tone as she addressed the creature and slowly moved forward. "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you."

When she was close enough, she stooped next to the female and ran her hand across her shoulder. "Does the position of the baby's head look funny to you?" she asked him after a second.

He wanted to laugh, because everything about this situation looked unusual to him. "Yes. No. I don't know, Jess. What the hell is it supposed to look like?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "I don't suppose there's a collective memory on this psychic link you have with Diablo, is there? Something you could tap into to see if this is a typical birth or not?"

"Tell me you're kidding." He looked at her again and saw that she was serious.

"Well?" she asked him a minute later.

"Quiet," he told her. "This isn't as easy as making a phone call, you know. I'm working with a primitive system of communication."

The female was panting harder, and Jess knew she was having a hard time catching her breath. It seemed the more she came alive, the more pain she was in.

Jess laid a hand on the creature's shoulder, hoping to offer comfort.

"Okay," John said finally. "As near as I can tell, the baby should be facedown, not up. That's probably what's causing the problem."

"We have to turn it."

"Excuse me?" John stared at her like she was crazy.

"As soon as the transformation to flesh is complete, the baby needs to be turned. You don't have to do it, I will."

At that moment, the female heaved a huge shudder and Jess saw that it was time. Thankfully, the baby had also come to life and now made a series of small mewling noises as it squirmed. The mother raised herself up as much as she could to peer at her baby before turning pleading eyes on Jess.

Jess sidled down until she was at the female's hip. Then, giving John a final look, she reached out her hand and placed it on the baby
chupacabra's
head. It squirmed at her touch and let out a pathetic sound. It was all the encouragement Jess needed.

She ran her hand up along the baby's body and then slowly tried to work her hand inside the mother. She immediately discovered the problem. "The mother's pelvis—if that's what it's called in this case—is too narrow. The baby's stuck."

She pulled her hand away and wiped it on her clothes, uncaring if she ruined them. Her thoughts were focused solely on saving the baby.

A noise penetrated her concentration and she looked up at John in alarm, afraid it might be Brody, but John seemed unconcerned. "It's okay. It's only Diablo."

The big male stepped around the corner and walked over to stand by the female. Jess could have sworn that she saw concern in his eyes as the female let her head drop to the ground, unable to hold it up any longer.

Jess swore under her breath. The mother was dying, and if she died before they got the baby delivered, it would die, too. And for all Jess knew, they were working with seconds, not minutes.

"We have to do something," she told John urgently.

She saw him look up and lock gazes with the alpha male. There was some form of communication taking place and John clenched his jaw more tightly. When he turned back to Jess, his expression was grave.

"What is it?"

"Diablo wants to end her suffering," he told her.

"No! What about her baby?"

He shook his head. "I don't think there's anything we can do for it." He glanced down at the small creature only half delivered. "When the mother dies and turns to stone, the baby will, too."

"No. We need to deliver it.
Now."
She heard the edge of hysteria in her voice and tried to bring her emotions under control.

"Jess, honey.
Mother Nature has decided that this birth shouldn't happen. It's survival of the fittest."

Jess looked at the small creature, struggling to get out on its own. Her heart ached for it. "Look at him, John. He's a fighter. He wants to live. If he can't make it on his own, then I'll take care of him."

John's head jerked up. "What?"

"You heard me. I'll take care of him."

"You don't know what you're suggesting."

"John, please. I'm begging you." She turned to look at him, silently pleading with him to understand.

It seemed like he studied her face forever. Then he swore quietly and turned to look at Diablo. "Okay," he said after several seconds. "Let's see if we can deliver this baby."

She gave him a grateful smile. "Thank you—but how?"

John gave her a sad smile. "There's only one way." Then everything happened at once. The alpha male swooped down and clamped his mouth around the female's neck, holding her in place as her body
spasmed
briefly and then grew still. In that second, John grabbed the sword and in a movement so precise it could only have been executed by a changeling, he split open the female's abdomen.

Suddenly, the baby
chupacabra
burst free and Jessica fell back with the wet, warm, squirming baby landing on her chest. She looked at it and found it staring down at her, its small eyes blinking, no doubt trying to bring this strange new world into focus.

Jessica knew she'd never experienced anything like this before. As she gazed upon the small alien-looking head with its tiny front fangs barely large enough to be seen and small wings that looked like a couple of badly folded umbrellas stuck to its back, a wave of maternal protectiveness welled up inside her.

"Hey," she protested when John plucked the baby off her. "What are you doing?"

"I'm letting his mother see him," he replied tersely, "before she dies."

Instantly regretting her tone, Jess got to her feet. The mother hadn't moved, but other
chupacabras
were appearing, gathering around, just as they had the other night for the hurt male. Jess even recognized Harris's
chupacabra
standing nearby.