Broken Heart 05 Over My Dead Body (25 page)

The General stood about a foot away, letting me soak in the situation. I knew he wanted me to suffer and fret and mire myself in guilt. Then he would kill my kid. And me. Then probably go have a bowl of Wheaties.

Where the hell were Dr. Merrick and Flet?

Then . . . blink, blink . . . they appeared. In the middle of the room. Flet zipped to Glory, hovering anxiously above her. Dr. Merrick looked around calmly, like no one was in actual jeopardy of losing their lives.

“How do we get them out of here?” I asked frantically.

“You don’t,” said the General. If he seemed surprised by the sudden appearance of a Fate and a pixie, he hid it very well.

“You have no power here, mortal,” said Dr. Merrick. The Fate pointed one hand at each of the children. They disappeared. Just . . . gone. The General actually had a moment of surprise before he pressed a tiny button on his collar and called in additional men.

Four black-garbed soldiers rushed into the rooms with guns pointed at us.

Dr. Merrick reached for my hand. Her fingertips grazed mine as several beams of blue light issued from the guns. It was as if someone had flipped off the light.

There was no sparkling, no dizziness, no weirdness. The Fate had some serious juju in the power department.

Blink. Dark.

Blink. Light.

Good thing we ended back at the hospital. I don’t know who held me or where I was being taken. My shoulder, chest, and stomach burned like hell, like someone was dripping acid in ever-widening circles.

“Simone.” Brady’s voice. But how? He was being Turned. “Why aren’t the wounds healing?”

“I don’t know,” said Dr. Merrick. “Those weapons are obviously designed to work against paranormal beings, even vampires. I had the same problem with George and Elaine when they were shot.”

“Well, do for her what you did for them!”

Vampires weren’t big on temperatures. Once your body shuts down, hot and cold don’t mean much. All the same, I was feeling as though my insides were icing over. My teeth started to chatter.

“She has too many wounds,” said Dr. Merrick. “A blood transfusion saved George, and Elaine was Turned.”

I could barely make out the two faces above mine. Dr. Merrick. And yes, Brady. He was okay. Relief flooded through me.

I was lying on something soft. A hospital bed. Damn, the room was so cold.

“Glory,” I whispered.

“She’s all right,” soothed Dr. Merrick. “She’s with Elaine.”

“Brady.”

“I’m here, sweetheart,” he said.

“I think I love you,” I said. “Even though we haven’t had our second date.”

“Oh, baby.” He kissed me. “I love you, too.”

My vision was graying on the edges. The voices continued talking, but were fading in and out. So was I.

I knew that something was very, very wrong.

“Save her!”

“I’m sorry, Brady.” Dr. Merrick’s voice got softer, fuzzier. “I don’t know how.”

I woke up and realized two things. First, I was not in my bed. And second, I was not alone.

I turned to face my companion and found myself gazing into the blue eyes of Brady.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey.” I licked my dry lips. “What happened?”

“My debt is paid,” piped a voice above me. I looked up and saw the gold sparkle that was Flet. “I saved your life as you saved mine.”

“Thank you,” I said sincerely. “But you know if you wanted to hang around . . .”

Flet nodded. “I’ll keep Glory company. She’s doin’ just fine.”

He popped out of sight before I could respond.

“Glory is okay?”

Brady nodded. “And Adaulfo. And the queen. The whole bomb incident started her labor. She had her triplets last night: two boys and a girl.”

“Wow,” I said. “Are they . . . human?”

He laughed. “They’re loup de sang. But lycans are typically born in human form.”

“And ETAC? Did we kick their butts?”

“From what I understand, yes, we did. Although a few got away, including the General.”

Well, that news sucked. A lot. But we’d get the Invisi-shield working again, and even if ETAC or the General tried to come back, they wouldn’t be able to breach the borders.

“Zerina gave me an idea,” I said. “I think we should combine our technology with magic. Otherwise, ETAC might find a way to breach the Invisi-shield. It’s not like they don’t have the same kind of devices.”

“Good idea.” He kissed me.

I really loved it when he did that.

“I really want to see my daughter.”

“She’s resting in a room down the hall.” Brady stroked my hair away from my face. “Your grandmother’s with her.”

That reassurance made me feel better. But still I wanted to hug her and kiss her and make sure she was all right.

“How did Ruadan Turn you so quickly?”

Brady shook his head. “He’s Ruadan. And the nanobytes probably had something to do with it.”

“I’m just glad you’re okay.” I kissed him. “Everyone else is safe?”

He grimaced. “All but Reiner.”

Of course, I had already known that. What I would never know is if Reiner meant to sacrifice himself or if he’d just made a mistake. I think I’d rather believe he did it to make up for all the bad he’d done.

Brady helped me sit up, and I was relieved to see that I was wearing a pair of my own pajamas. “C’mon,” he said. “Let’s go see our girl.”

When we arrived in Glory’s room, Gran stopped reading the storybook. She put it down, gave us both a hug, and left, promising to return later.

Glory lay in her bed, looking wide awake and happy to see us. Her grin made my mommy heart thud in relief. I hugged until she protested with a loud grunt.

Then Brady hugged her, and she squealed.

“I love you,” I said, showering her face with kisses. “I love, love, love you.”

She kissed my cheek, then patted it, her eyes showing what her voice could not say. I wondered whether this latest trauma had hurt her emotional healing even more. Would she drift away again into that awful place where no one could reach her?

Then she turned to Brady and tapped his hand. She cocked her head and smiled. “Wanna play Candyland?”

I stared at Glory. Oh, my God. My baby was talking. She had the sweetest little girl voice.

Brady couldn’t speak for a minute; I saw his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed. Softly he said, “Yes, honey. I’d love to play Candyland.”

Gran had brought the game along with some of Glory’s books. So we took out the board and played. And Glory talked to us like she’d done so all her life.

I felt such love and hope. Was this a God-given miracle? I didn’t know. But maybe whatever good there was in the universe had touched us.

And so I said a little prayer of thanks.

We promised to bring Glory some ice cream from the cafeteria, but on the way we decided to search out Dr. Merrick. I wanted to thank her for all that she’d done for us.

Instead, we found Ruadan. He stood in the hallway a couple doors down from Glory’s room. He leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, watching us approach.

“Have you seen Dr. Merrick?” I asked. “I wanted to thank her for all that she did for us.”

“She’s gone.”

“When will she be back?”

Ruadan shook his head. “She’s not coming back,” he said. “She broke faith with the one who holds her life.”

“I don’t understand. Who holds her life?”

He smiled bitterly. “My grandmother, Morrigu. An’ believe me, she’s not the kind of woman you cross—not ever.”

I knew a little about Morrigu; it was her dark blood that had Turned Ruadan. She was one of the oldest goddesses in the world. And apparently, one of the scariest.

“Couldn’t you save her?”

“Before I was vampire, before I was married and fathered my sons, I met Ion. I was the son of a goddess and she was a Fate, but the heart does not care about such matters. Never have I loved one like I loved her.

“When the gods revoked the lives of the other Fates, Ion was among those saved. Y’see, I went to Morrigu and begged for her life. And my grandmother agreed, so long as Ion gave up her soul—and her love for me.”

I was horrified. “But why?”

“She’s called the queen of chaos for a reason, you know.” He shook his head, as if to clear away his resentments. “Ion dedicated her life to healing others, but it was not her only purpose. The pact she made included the condition that she never use her powers as a Fate to help or hinder humans.”

Oh, no. “Is she . . . dead?”

“There is no death for one such as her.”

“And we got her in trouble? Because she used her powers to help us?”

Ruadan smiled wearily. “No.” He turned and opened the door next to him. He gestured for us to look. Brady and I took a peek.

Marissa Clark lay asleep in the hospital bed. Holy hell. I glanced at Ruadan. “She’s alive?”

“Ion used her powers to draw the child’s spirit back from the veil. Then she healed her body. Changing the course of a human’s life that dramatically is a no-no.”

“Is . . . Ion gone for good?” I asked. I was truly sorry that Dr. Merrick would no longer be among us. Fate or not, she had been a good person. She deserved mercy from Morrigu. And I hope she got it.

“Who’s to say?” asked Ruadan. “No one can ever know the mind of Morrigu.” He looked again at the child. “Darlene’s ashes were found in her house. We’ve made arrangements to deliver Marissa to her human father.”

I was sad that Darlene was dead. She was ditzy and often self-centered, but those qualities shouldn’t merit the death penalty.

I laid my hand on Ruadan’s arm. “I’m sorry.”

He seemed to understand my sympathy even as I wondered why I felt like he needed any. Still, he flashed another smile, though there was no joy in it. I had a feeling there was more to the story of Ruadan and Ion than he was willing to share.

I thought about all the sacrifices others had made so that we could live.

Now, more than ever, we needed to adhere to vision of the Consortium and our queen. Once the Invisi-shield was operational, everyone who lived here would be safe.

I vowed, right then, that Broken Heart would offer sanctuary to all who needed it—just as it had done so for me as human and as vampire.

“C’mon,” said Brady. “Glory wants ice cream.” He leaned down and nipped my ear. “And I want you.”

“You missed the opportunity to make a lewd comment about licking me.”

He chuckled. “I’ll save that for date number ten.”

Three months later

“Are you sure that ninety-two dates is enough?” asked Brady.

We stood in my bedroom, toe-to-toe. Lit candles lined my dresser and the nightstands, casting a romantic glow against the silver sheen of the walls.

“Honestly, I think one date was plenty. But I had to make you work for it.”

Brady laughed; then he looped one finger under my spaghetti strap and lowered it off my shoulder. “You look beautiful in this dress.”

“And yet you’re trying to take it off.”

“You know that look that Jessica gets when she unwraps one of her truffles?” he asked.

“Like she fell into a pool of chocolate with Keanu Reeves and Hugh Jackman swimming toward her?”

He looked at me, his lips quirking. “Have that fantasy often?”

Heh. Who, me?

“Nope. Why would I, when I have you?”

“Nice recovery.” He kissed my shoulder, and lust bloomed in my stomach. “Anyway, that’s how I feel about getting you out of this dress.”

We were alone in the house. Ever since Glory decided to start talking, she never stopped. I had the pleasure of being annoyed by her questions and worn out by her storytelling. I loved every minute of it.

I had asked her about her visits to the creek. She said she went down there to talk to Mary, who lived in the water. Doc Michaels seemed to think Mary was an imaginary friend. He seemed to think that Glory would let go of her imaginary friend as she started socializing with real kids. She was in school now, and it was true: Her visits to the creek had lessened over the months.

Damian had taken on the role of raising Adaulfo, a hard task for a boy who still mourned his father. At least Adaulfo had a more normal (well, for this town) childhood. School. Friends. Freedom.

Earlier, in the front yard of the house, we’d had a good old-fashioned wedding. Phoebe Allen, who now had a booming business for the Old Sass Café, thanks to Flet’s wish, catered the meal. She’d made our wedding cake with devil’s food—a little joke about her own demon powers.

Sometimes I wondered about that girl.

Ruadan presided as our preacher, and he did a fine job. Binding was three steps: the word giving, the claiming, and the woo-woo. Brady and I had done the first two steps.

Now, we were at step three.

Brady unlooped my other strap, and I wiggled out of it. The dress fell and pooled at my feet. I stepped away from the material.

“Wow,” he murmured as he looked over my white lace bra and matching panties. I wasn’t a fancy-lingerie kind of girl, but I had to give Victoria’s Secret some props. The money spent on my wedding underclothing was worth it when it put that look in a man’s eyes.

Brady was still in his tuxedo, though he’d taken off the tie. I unbuttoned the white dress shirt and slid my hand along his muscled chest. Yowzer.

I made short work of his clothing, though I was slightly (okay, overwhelmingly) nervous about seeing his you-know-what.

I’d been with one man my whole life. Even though Brady and I had gotten hot and heavy during our courtship, we’d never gone this far. I felt like I was a virgin all over again.

I’ll be gentle.

Hey! No fair, mister!

As one of the few men on the planet who can literally read the mind of his wife, you better believe I’m taking advantage of it.

I grinned. Then I cocked an eyebrow and focused on a particularly naughty thought.

His smile was all wicked.

As he slid off those boxer shorts, my undead heart went boom, boom, BOOM.

Then . . . whoa. Wow.

Brady was broad and muscled, with curly hair on his chest and legs. His shaft was already hard. Okay. In for a penny, in for a pound.