Night's Mistress (Children of the Night) (10 page)

 

Rane paused in the shadows, taking a moment to enjoy the quiet beauty of the night before he returned home. It was late. Savanah and the baby had been sleeping peacefully when he’d left the house to go hunting. His prey had been a woman in her mid-forties. He had found her walking aimlessly down a dark, deserted street, the picture of despair.

Her grief-stricken countenance and slumped shoulders had tugged at his heart. After mesmerizing her, he had eased his hunger, then escorted her into a bar where, after releasing her from his thrall, he had bought her a drink and listened to her tale of woe. She had recently lost her teenage daughter in a car accident. Her husband had left her for a younger woman. She was contemplating suicide. Though he rarely interfered in the lives of his prey, he had mesmerized her again; then, speaking to her mind, he had assured her that her life wasn’t over, that, in time, her pain would ease, that the day would come when she would be able to smile again when she thought of her daughter. He assured her that she was better off without her husband, that she would find love again. Searching his pockets, he had given her all the money he had, released her from his spell, and sent her on her way.

He was almost home when a ripple in the air told him he was about to have company; moments later his brother and his father materialized on the street beside him.

“Looking for me?” Rane asked.

“As a matter of fact, we were,” Rafe said. “It’s been a long time since the three of us spent any time together without our womenfolk.”

“So, what’s wrong?” Rane asked.

“I heard a rumor about Mara,” Vince said.

Rane glanced from his father to his brother and back again. “What kind of rumor?”

“That she’s no longer one of us,” Vince said.

Rane swore softly. “Where did you hear that?”

“A friend of mine heard it from a friend who heard it from someone in Nevada. I guess it’s supposed to be a secret, but you can’t keep a secret like that.”

“No longer Nosferatu,” Rafe muttered with a shake of his head. “How could that happen?”

“Beats me,” Rane said.

“You don’t suppose Edna and Pearl are working on another cure, do you?” Rafe asked, referring to a couple of elderly female vampire hunters. During the War, they had concocted a drug they had hoped would cure the werewolves and restore the vampires to their human state whether they wished it or not. He and his wife, Kathy, had been a part of those heinous experiments. They had escaped with their lives. Others hadn’t been so lucky. It had been in Rafe’s mind to kill them both when he found them, but he just couldn’t bring himself to kill two old ladies. Instead, he had forced the Dark Gift on Edna and Pearl. At the time he had thought of it as poetic justice.

“Hell and damnation, I hope not,” Vince said.

“Well, they weren’t happy when I brought them across,” Rafe said, remembering how they had struggled against him when they realized what he intended to do. “Could be they’ve come up with another cure. One that works.”

“Well, at the moment, that’s neither here nor there,” Vince said. He started walking, and Rafe and Rane fell in on either side of him. “We need to find out if the rumor about Mara is true.” He shook his head. “How could it have happened?”

“I don’t know how it happened,” Rane said. “And I don’t know if she’s human again, but she came to see me a few months ago.” He paused, knowing he was about to betray a confidence. “She told me she was changing, losing her powers. She was scared.”

“Mara, scared?” Rafe shook his head. “I don’t believe it.”

“And you didn’t think that little piece of news was important enough to share with the rest of the family?” Vince asked.

“She made me promise not to tell anyone.”

“Well, I can understand that,” Rafe said. “She must be feeling vulnerable as hell.”

Rane nodded. “She was supposed to keep in touch with me, but I haven’t heard from her since.”

“Have you tried calling her?” Vince asked.

“No.”

“Why the hell not?”

“He’s been busy, what with Savanah and the new baby and all,” Rafe said, coming to his brother’s defense.

Vince shook his head. Practically from the day they had been born, his sons had stood up for each other. Adulthood hadn’t changed that.

“I think the rumors must be true,” Rafe said. “I tried to find her not long ago, but the bond between us was gone like it never existed.”

Vince swore softly. “I only told you half of it. There’s more.”

Rane frowned. “What do you mean, more?”

“I also heard she’s pregnant. The idea is ludicrous and I dismissed it out of hand, but now . . .”

“If she’s human,” Rafe said, “she could be pregnant. Shoot, if it’s true, anything is possible.”

Vince nodded. “We need to find out, one way or the other. I’ll talk to my friend and see if he’s heard any more.”

Rafe grunted thoughtfully. “If it’s not just a rumor, I’ll bet Edna and Pearl would love to know how Mara regained her humanity.”

“I don’t think so,” Rane said. “Last I heard, they were both pretty happy about being vampires.”

“Really?” Rafe asked. If Kathy hadn’t been there at the time, he likely would have killed the two women when he’d had the chance. Bringing them across had seemed a fitting punishment for their crimes at the time. He hadn’t figured on their embracing the vampire lifestyle.

Rane shrugged. “It happens.”

“I guess it’s not surprising,” Rafe mused. “If I hadn’t brought them across, they’d most likely have died of old age by now.”

“We need to keep this business about Mara under wraps as best we can,” Vince said, getting back to the subject at hand. “Mara’s made some enemies in her time. If she’s lost her powers, this would be the perfect time for those who hate her to try to get even. If either of you hear anything, let me know.”

Rafe nodded. “Will do.”

Rane blew out a ragged breath. Why was nothing in life ever easy? Some days, he wished he could mutter a few magic words and make the rest of the world disappear.

 

Mara sat on the examining table while Dr. Ramsden listened to her heart, then took her blood pressure. Earlier, he had examined her and ordered more blood work.

“So, is everything all right?” She had intended to make future appointments with a human doctor, but Logan had talked her out of it. Even if she was fully human, he’d argued, the baby might be a vampire. No human doctor would be prepared for that. After thinking it over, she had agreed with him.

Ramsden nodded. “So far, so good. Your vital signs are normal.”

“For a mortal, you mean?”

He smiled sympathetically. “Yes, for a mortal.”

“And the baby?”

“Growing as expected.”

He glanced at her chart. “You, on the other hand, are growing a little more than you should,” he remarked, flipping through his notes. “You shouldn’t be gaining more than a couple of pounds a week.”

Mara shifted on the edge of the table. She had been eating way too many sweets, but she couldn’t seem to help it. Whenever she was worried or depressed, which was often, she reached for something covered in chocolate.

“What’s your diet like?” Ramsden asked.

She shrugged, too embarrassed to tell him that she favored chocolate over broccoli, and cheeseburgers and fries over salad.

He frowned thoughtfully. “Eating must be an interesting experience after so long.”

“Yes, it is.”

“I don’t even remember what food tasted like,” he mused. “Are cheeseburgers as good as they look?”

She nodded.

“Tell me, what it’s like, eating solid food again? My last meal as a human was black beans and brown bread. Hardly noteworthy.”

“It’s . . . I guess ‘interesting’ would be the best way to describe it. There’s so much to choose from, so many textures and flavors unheard of in my time, or yours.” You could spend thirty minutes in the store just trying to decide on what kind of bread to buy—white or whole wheat, potato or rye, cinnamon with raisins, or Hawaiian. Not to mention bagels and buns and muffins in mind-boggling varieties.

“I should have thought to recommend a book on nutrition.” Ramsden pulled his prescription pad from his coat pocket and jotted down the title of a well-known book on dieting and pregnancy. “You might want to pick up a copy of this on your way home, or look for it online. And try to get some exercise.” Tearing the sheet from the pad, he handed it to her. “I’ll want to see you again in six weeks.” He made a notation on her chart. “Have you given any thought to moving here, at least for the time being?”

“No, why?”

He lifted one brow. “Because your doctor is here.”

Of course. Why hadn’t she thought of that?

“You remember I told you it might be necessary to hospitalize you during the last trimester?”

She nodded, though spending three months in bed was the last thing she wanted. Of course, if she could spend it in bed with Logan, it wouldn’t be so bad. “Do you think that’s going to be necessary?”

“No, but I’d like you close by, just in case.” At her worried expression, he patted her arm reassuringly. “I don’t want to worry you unnecessarily, but you need to be prepared for . . .”

“For what?”

“For complications,” he said. “As far as I can tell, everything is as it should be, but due to your past, there could be problems. You understand?”

She placed her hand over her stomach, reassured when she felt the baby move.

“The way things look now, I don’t see any need for bed rest. Assuming nothing changes, I’d suggest you arrange to be here no later than the end of September. I’d like you close by during that last month. First babies often come early, and with your history”—he shrugged—“better safe than sorry.”

Mara nodded. She had hoped to find a doctor in Los Angeles, but qualified vampire doctors were few and far between; in case of an emergency, she wanted a doctor who knew about her preternatural background.

“So, how’d it go?” Logan asked when she entered the waiting room.

“He said everything’s fine.” She refused to think that something might go wrong. With every day that passed, the baby she carried became more real, more important. “How would you feel about moving to Nevada in a month or two?”

Logan frowned, then grunted softly. “I guess it would be a good idea, wouldn’t it? I’ll see about finding us a place to live.”

 

 

Mara stared at the date on the newspaper. July third. It was her birthday, an event she hadn’t thought of or celebrated since Dendar had brought her across all those centuries ago. Counting only her mortal life time, she was twenty-one years old today. Twenty-one, unmarried, and pregnant. It would have been a scandal in days gone by. She remembered when girls who had the misfortune to get pregnant out of wedlock were locked away, or sent out of town to stay with a relative until the baby was born. These days, it was no big deal. Girls went to school pregnant; they even took their babies to school with them. Morality seemed to have gotten lost somewhere along the way, along with so many other values that were now viewed as old-fashioned and out-of-date. All in all, she thought mankind had been more civilized back in the early twentieth century. Certainly human values today were not what they once had been.

Mara placed a hand on her swollen abdomen. What kind of world would her child grow up in? She had been excited the night she felt the baby’s first kick. She had gone to the bookstore and bought a dozen books on childbirth and child rearing and read them avidly, her excitement waning from one page to the next as the reality of what she was facing dampened her enthusiasm. Parenting was an awesome responsibility. She could barely take care of herself these days. How could she raise a child? She had never had a loving home, but she wanted one for her son or daughter. Perhaps Dr. Ramsden could help her find a suitable couple to adopt her child.

With a sigh, Mara gazed out the window. Her son or daughter would never know her. Perhaps she could write a letter to be given to her child when it was old enough to understand why she’d had to give it up. Or, better yet, perhaps she would write the story of her life. If it did nothing else, it would provide her with something to do until the baby was born.

Excited by the idea, she booted up the computer, then sat there, staring at the blank screen. How to begin? At the beginning, of course. The words flowed as she described her early years, the time she had spent as a slave in Pharaoh’s household, Dendar’s appearance in her cell, her awakening in the
per nefer
, the room where mummies were made.

Mara paused, wondering if she should describe the process used for making mummies. It was a rather grisly undertaking, one that took seventy days to complete. The chief embalmer, known as the
hery seshta,
wore a jackal mask to represent Anubis, the god of mummification. He had assistants known as the
wetyu.
After the organs were removed from the corpse and dried, they were placed in special containers called
canopic
jars. In the afterlife, the various parts of the body would come together again and the deceased would again be whole. Once all the organs were removed, the body was washed with wine and rubbed with spices and then it was left to dry for forty days. After the body was fully dried, it was adorned with jewelry and then wrapped in a linen shroud and bound with strips of linen.

After the mummy was wrapped, it was fitted with a mask fashioned in the likeness of the deceased so the
ka
, or spirit, would recognize itself in mummy form. The masks of kings had been made of gold; the masks of lesser mortals had been made of wood and painted gold. Slaves weren’t customarily mummified, but Shakir had been a wealthy man and he had wanted to take his slaves, all of them, into the afterlife with him. If it hadn’t been for Dendar, she would now be lying in Shakir’s tomb.

Mara glanced over her shoulder as Logan entered the room. He had fed recently. It showed in the lingering glow in his eyes, the added color in his cheeks.

He smiled when he saw her. “What are you doing there?” Coming up behind her, he placed his hands on her shoulders and looked over her head at the screen. “What is this?”

“I’m writing my life story. I thought I’d give it to whoever adopts my baby and . . .”

“You’ve decided not to keep it?”

“Yes. As I was saying, they can give it to him when he’s grown. Maybe it will help him understand who I was and why I had to give him away.”

“It might be a girl, you know.”

“No, it’s a boy. I’m sure of it. Do you think Dr. Ramsden could help me with the adoption?”

“Are you sure about this? I mean, it’s kind of sudden, isn’t it?”

“I think it would be best for the baby. Don’t you?”

“I don’t know, Mara. This has to be your decision, but if you’re sure it’s what you want, why not ask Rane and Savanah if they’d like to adopt him? That way you could see him—or her—whenever you want.”

“Of course,” Mara said, wondering why she hadn’t thought of it herself. She considered Rane and his kin as family. Who better to raise her child? Her son and Rane’s daughter would grow up as brother and sister. “I’ll go see him tomorrow night . . .” Her words trailed off. She could no longer will herself to Porterville. She looked up at Logan. “Will you drive me?”

“How about if I take you there, vampire-style?”

“I’d like that,” she said wistfully. She missed her preternatural powers more with every passing day, missed her old life and all that it had entailed.

“Tomorrow night, then,” Logan said. “Will it be a problem, my being there?”

“I don’t think so.” Vampires were notoriously territorial, but she was sure that, since Logan was her friend, he would be welcome in Cordova territory.

The thought of seeing Rane again filled her with excitement, but it was short-lived. She had always been the strong one, the Queen of the Vampires. How would Rane and his family feel about her when they learned her powers were gone? Would they look at her with pity, or with contempt?

Rising from the computer, she looked up at Logan. “I don’t think I can face them.”

“Why not?”

“Because I . . . because he’s . . . they’re . . .”

“Ah,” Logan murmured. “You’re embarrassed because you’re no longer one of them.” He stroked her cheek. “One of us.”

She nodded. “I was always the one in control. Now I’m . . . prey.”

Muttering an oath, Logan drew her into his arms. “Stop that! I’ve never met any of the Cordova vampires, but from what you’ve told me, they’re not going to feel any different about you. And I’ll be there to protect you, just in case I’m wrong.”

Mara wrapped her arms around his waist. “You’re so good to me, Logan, and so good for me,” she murmured, and wondered again why she had ever left him.

 

Logan and Mara left for Rane’s home just after dusk the following evening. For Mara, being whisked through the air while under someone else’s power was a new experience. As a vampire, it was exhilarating; as a human, it made her feel queasy and a little dizzy. She added it to the long list of things she didn’t like about being human.

When they arrived at Rane’s house, Mara took a deep breath, then knocked on the front door, wondering what Rane and Savanah would think when they saw her. The fact that she was pregnant was clearly evident now.

Rane smiled when he saw her standing on the porch. “Mara! This is a surprise,” he said enthusiastically.

Rane’s expression sobered when he saw Logan standing behind her and recognized him for what he was. Even without her preternatural senses, Mara was aware of the way the two men sized each other up, like two feral wolves meeting for the first time.

“This is my friend Logan,” Mara said quickly. “I hope you’ll make him welcome.”

Rane nodded. “Of course. I’m pleased to meet you. Come in.” Rane tried not to stare at Mara as she entered the house. It had been one thing to hear she might be pregnant, quite another to see the truth of it with his own eyes.

Mara preceded Logan and Rane into the living room. Savanah was sitting in a rocking chair with Abbey in her arms. The baby looked pink and perfect.

Rane introduced Logan to his wife and invited Mara and Logan to sit down. Mara didn’t have to be a mind reader to know that Rane and Savanah had both noticed she was pregnant but were too polite to mention it.

“So, Mara,” Rane asked, taking a seat across from the sofa, “what brings you here?”

Mara placed her hand over her stomach. “I need to ask you a favor,” she said, “a rather large favor.”

“Sure, anything,” he said. “You know that.”

“I’m going to have a baby at the end of October, and I’d like you and Savanah to adopt it.”

So, Rane thought. It was true. Frowning, he looked at Logan. “Are you . . . ?”