The Kingdom of the Nine; The Vampire Legacy IV (17 page)

“I've done nothing wrong!” She pleaded with
him. “Please, leave me alone!”

“Wrong, Child, you are evil.” He scolded.
“And, therefore will be punished.”

From his hand came a bolt of lightning that
struck the girl in the chest. She flew backwards into the water,
unable to move as her body slowly sank into its dark depths.

Once the girl was out of my sight, the
memories changed, flashing quickly at each death by Klamara's
hands. He had placed a curse on this family line that they would
all parish by his hands, and now I understood exactly why Larado
had told Julian the prophecy.

Klamara was coming for me.

14

My eyes flew open and I sat up, quickly, as I
looked around the room. I was no longer in the small room I had
been in before but was, instead, in Julian's bedroom, on the third
floor of the house.

“Julian?” I whispered, climbing out of bed. I
looked down at the night shirt that I was wearing as I walked to
the door and peeked out into the hallway. I listened closely to the
water that was running close by, and slowly I made my way down the
hall towards the only bathroom on this floor.

“Julian?” I asked, again, as I opened the
door, quietly, and peeked in. I saw almost nothing through the
steam, until I got close enough to the shower and watched the
curtain drawback, and then Julian stepped out.

I watched the water glisten off him, as he
stood there, naked, toweling off his hair.

* * * * *

“Maybe, we should skip to the next part.”
Michael, suddenly, suggested. I opened my eyes and looked at the
others, who were staring at me in shock, then I looked at Julian,
who was looking away, trying not to smile, but I watched as the
corners of his mouth turned up.

“Um, excuse me.” I said, softly, feeling my
face heat up with embarrassment. “I need some air.”

“But,” I heard Lauren say as I walked towards
the direction of the East Garden. “You're already outside.”

As I sat down on the steps of the garden,
near the statue of the Cherubs, where Nick had instructed me to go
the night we met, I closed my eyes, letting the visions flow once
again.

* * * * *

He didn't notice me right away, and that gave
me the opportunity to watch him for a few minutes. It amazed me to
look him over and remember that he looked the same way he did
before. I knew now, why it had been so hard to resist him the first
time, as he proceeded to dry off the rest of his body.

His arms and chest were well defined and his
abs rippled into what people called a “six-pack”. His butt was
tight and shapely, just the right size, and his thighs and calves
looked as though they had been molded from clay, just perfect and
that was the only way I could describe him if anyone had asked.

It was then that he looked up and over my
way, which made me shrink back into the corner as he slowly made
his way over.

“Caitlyn?” He whispered as he rounded the
corner and looked down at me. My eyes, even though I tried
desperately not to look, scanned down his entire body, then back up
to those smiling eyes. “What are you doing in here?”

“I was looking for you.” I replied, quietly,
and then glanced down again. “Just not like this.”

Slowly, he moved closer to me, which made me
fidget with my shirt and he smiled as he leaned down close to my
face. I was trapped in his eyes when I looked up, and all
expression in them turned to want. One hand was on the wall beside
my head, and the other came up to my neck, where it rested gently,
as his lips came closer to mine.

“Maybe, this isn't such a good idea.” I
whispered, reaching up to hold him at bay, but when I placed his
hands on his bare chest, I knew exactly what I wanted.

“I'm sure it's not.” He answered and kissed
my cheek softly. I closed my eyes as I felt the hand from the wall
come down to hug my waist.

“Is this going to hurt us?” I questioned,
letting him kiss my neck as I wrapped my arms around him.

“I won't let it.” He replied and captured my
lips with his; fire seemed to ignite within me as our kisses became
more passionate.

Not long after, in a haze of love and lust, I
vaguely recalled stepping back into the shower with him, both of us
naked, and wanting the other's affection, to the point where we
could have gotten totally lost in it.

We made love, slowly, against the wall of the
shower, letting ourselves drown in each other until the hot water
ran cold, and as I shivered violently, Julian wrapped a towel
around me and carried me back to his room.

“Can I ask you a question?” I whispered as he
lay me down on the bed, where I slid over and under the covers.
Julian smiled, as he walked over and started a fire, then came back
to me.

He towered over me, as I lay flat on the bed,
and smiled again.

“No more questions, Cait.” He answered.

“Just one.” I insisted. He nodded as he
slipped under the covers with me and wrapped his arms around my
body, pulling me close. “Were we supposed to be together like
this?”

“I don't know.” He whispered, against my
shoulder as he moved his lips over my skin. “Is it a problem?” He
laughed, glancing up at me. “Do you want me to stop this now?”

“No, but I wonder if Larado had this in mind
when he told you the prophecy.” I giggled. Julian rolled his eyes
and leaned in closer once again. “There's something else.”

“No.” He said, sternly, his lips only inches
from mine. “No more questions, no more wondering, just you and me,
and right now.”

“Okay.” I replied and nodded, slightly, as
his lips met mine.

My eyes opened and I looked down as arms
circled my waist. I turned a bit and looked at Julian, who was
sitting right behind me, one leg on either side of mine, and he
kissed my cheek softly.

“Do you think this is a good idea?” I
asked.

“Do I care?” He responded.

“You should, she's your “girlfriend”.” I
mocked then turned and faced the statue again. “I was
thinking...”

“I know; I could feel you.” He replied,
smartly, giving me a playful grin. He raised his eyebrows and
licked his lips.

“I was thinking about the baby.” I
finished.

“Oh.” Julian said and sobered up, as he
looked away. “What about it?”

“Do you think it will be safe, from this,
from our connection?” I asked, softly.

“Do you want it to be?” He whispered in my
ear as I looked up at the night sky.

“I want it to be safe. Damien is already part
of something so much stronger than I think I can handle. I don't
know if I can deal with two of them being that way.” I got up
holding on to his hands until I was too far away to continue to
grip them, then I let them go. “He knows. Damien knows about you,
and me, and the others and what you are. He has the sight.”

“I know.”

“How? How could he be so much like me when I
tried so hard to protect him?”

“I told you why, Caitlyn.” Julian whispered.
“Don't you remember, that morning, when you told me what you had
learned, I told you what I had done, to you, for Damien's
sake.”

“What the hell did you do?” Ashley's voice
interrupted us, and Julian and I both looked up at her, quickly, as
she stood at the stop of the entrance to the garden, with her arms
crossed. “Tell me, Julian. Tell me what you did with her and that
child.”

I looked back towards Julian, who looked at
me, then looked down. This was going to be a bit hard to
explain.

“You have to hear what I learned before
Julian can tell you what happened.” I said quickly, and then
watched as Julian caught my eyes and shook his head. “She wanted to
hear the rest, so she had to hear everything before she learns
anything else.”

“Who are you to tell me what I need or don't
need to hear?” Ashley said coming down the steps. She stood right
in front of me, staring me down. “I'm the queen of this so called
race.”

“And, who do you think made you that way?” I
asked.

“Caitlyn, stop.” Julian said, standing
up.

“What are you talking about?” She questioned
me. I shook my head, not telling anything until I felt like it.

“Fine.” She snarled, and then stamped her
foot. “Tell your damn story, and then you, Julian and I are going
to set some things straight.”

I watched her step back, then turn and walk
away. I sighed, lowering my guard, and then I turned and looked at
Julian.

“She's letting that whole “queen” thing go to
her head, isn't she?” I asked, crossing my arms as I looked in the
direction she had gone. “What a royal pain in my ass.”

“Come on.” Julian whispered, as his fingers
wrapped around mine. He held my hand protectively. “Let's go and
get this over with.”

Julian stood by me as we stood in front of
the others once again, and I folded my arms over my chest as I
looked down at my feet, then I looked up at the people around me
and smiled, but when I looked at Ashley, the smile faded. I took a
deep breath, let it out, and then stepped away from the wall.

“Early that morning, after I had learned
enough about the people in the past, I decided that I had to let
Julian, and Nick in on my thoughts.”

* * * * *

“It's a curse.” I told them, facing the
window as both Nick and Julian sat on the chairs behind me. I
turned towards them and then I stepped over to the chair across
from them. Julian sat with his legs crossed, leaning on his left
hand, which was propped up by his elbow and Nick looked as though
he was ready to bolt at any moment, but they both stared at me,
waiting for me to continue. “Before Larado was born, a long, long
time before he was even thought of, there was a man named Klamara.
His wife was being held hostage by this witch and her vampires, and
the only way he could get her back was to do what the witch
asked.

“He convinced a village that he could protect
them from the vampire attacks, so, they didn't need the fires or
the garlic or lights to keep them away because he had set something
up, some sort of perimeter so they couldn't pass.

“He went back to the witch, told her to give
his wife back, but she denied him because he didn't bring her a
child to sacrifice. So, he told her to basically go to hell, and
give him back his wife. She told him that she could never leave
because now his wife was a vampire.” I sat down in the chair,
pulled my knees up to my chest, and closed my eyes. “She was also
pregnant.”

“Oh, God.” Nick sighed, shaking his head. I
glanced over at him and shrugged.

“He cursed the child and anything it
produced, which means any children the baby had all the way down to
line. To Larado,” I whispered and looked over at Julian, “to me,
and now, to Damien.”

“Damien is not at risk.” Julian whispered,
looking away from me.

“He is, because he's my son.” I added.

“Something else protects him.”

“I know about the Kingdom of the Nine, Jules,
and I don't think that his part in it is strong enough to protect
him from Klamara if I should happen to fail.” I said, shaking my
head. “The man that confronted Larado was Klamara. The red clouds
in my memories, the man who raised his hand and struck me with such
force, was Klamara, and now, after three years of total memory
loss, I know why he's coming after me again. Because, I am what he
desires, and even though he didn't start off this way, he's killed
thousands of innocent people because of his cause, which makes him
evil.”

“Damien is mine.” Julian whispered. I looked
at him quickly, after being thrown completely off guard by this
comment and I listened to Nick sigh, loudly. Julian looked up at me
and then stood. He moved, slowly, across the floor and knelt there;
staring into my eyes. “He's mine and yours.”

“Don't do this to me, Jules.” I begged and
got up, then shook my head as I moved away from him. Slowly, I
turned and looked back at him. “What did you do to me, to him?”

“I know you had gotten pregnant by Robert. I
was still your protector, whether you remembered me or not.” He
started, then sighed and looked up at me. “Remember when you were
four months pregnant, you were in an accident, one that put you in
the hospital?”

“I remember.” I said, softly, and closed my
eyes. “I almost lost him. A car hit mine and I was bleeding, but
they didn't understand from where, so, they kept me overnight for
observation.”

“The next morning, the bleeding had stopped
and the baby was fine. Even an ultrasound determined there was
nothing wrong with him.” Julian answered.

“You gave me your blood, didn't you?” I
asked, calmly, glancing over at him. Julian shook his head, but it
seemed to only be a slight movement. “So, what does that mean? Why
didn't you tell me about this then? Why didn't you show yourself to
me, let me know about our connection? Maybe, we could have ended
this sooner.”

“There's something else.” He whispered.

“Oh, God, what now?” I said, rolling my
eyes.

“I'm not so sure Robert was the one who got
you pregnant.” He replied, looking away.

“Oh, please tell me you’re joking!” I closed
my eyes, putting my hands to my face.

“Remember that first night you came back
here? How you made the comment about me being the one in your
fantasies?” I nodded, not looking up at him. “Think about the first
time I showed up in your dreams.”

I sighed, sat back and moved my hands, but I
held my eyes tightly closed.

“It was just before I became pregnant, about
two weeks before I took the test. I replied, opening my eyes.

“I didn't give you blood at the hospital. He
healed himself.” I looked up at Julian, my eyes felt hot, like they
were on fire, as the tears started to flow. I stood up and walked
over to him, and then slapped him, squarely, across the face.
Julian closed his eyes; his head had whipped to the side.