Finding Grace: The Guardian Chronicles Book One

Chapter 70. All I Wanted*

"Hawk, I need to get Evan cleaned up. Do you think you could keep the baby for a little while?"

"Sure Emil. But Evan needs to hold her first."

Cursing myself for my oversight, I went to Hawk and gently took the precious bundle from him. Stepping over to Evan, I sat next to her as Xavier began to prop her up carefully. Evan was pale and drawn, but the smile that lit her face brought out her beauty.

"Here is your little girl Evan," I whispered as I laid the child in Evan's outstretched arms. Evan immediately pulled the towels away from her tiny body to inspect her. Peering closer, I took inventory of this little miracle as Evan ran her fingers over every inch of pearly pink skin.

Our daughter was staring at us intently with huge eyes. I was taken by them, as they were not Newborn blue, but already green, like Evan's. She had a shock of black hair on her head, curling from the debris of birth. I could see her heart beating away in her chest in the little flutter I could see through her skin, and she took rapid little breaths. It seemed she was alive. As if she was human.

"Emil...isn't she beautiful," Evan sighed, turning to look at me. She must have seen the uncertainty in my face, because she said, "She is yours. She has your black hair. And she feels like you."

"But she is alive, Evan. It's not possible."

"The human part is what was left of me," Evan insisted. "Not anyone else. I was human when she was conceived. That is it. And she sends the same energy to me that you do. Exactly the same."

Evan pulled the infant to her and sniffed her deeply. She held the baby to my face expectantly.

I obligingly took a deep draught of her scent. I smelled vampire. Like Arazel. I ran my nose along her belly, reveling in the unexpected pleasant fragrance, and was rewarded by an infant laugh. Drawing back in surprise, I looked at our daughter and was rewarded next with a darling grin, which revealed two tiny pointed teeth on her top gums.

"See, I told you she was yours," Evan said with a serene smile.

Relief filled me as I accepted that Matt Thomas was not the tiny girl's father. Playfully, I said to Evan, "That won't be the last time you will say 'I told you so' will it?"

She shook her head. "Thank you for getting here in time."

She did not have to say in time for what. I understood how close we had come to losing our child. I bent and kissed Evan's lips and pulled her and our daughter into an embrace. After a moment I pulled away and took the child from her.

When it seemed that Evan would argue, I said, "You need to be cleaned up. You have eternity with her. Let's have Uncle Hawk take her out to the others and I will help you get presentable for company."

"Company?"

"Marie is here. She survived, although she's a little worse for the wear. And I need you to put on some clothes before the others think you wouldn't mind being an exhibitionist."

It seemed as if it was the first time Evan realized she was covered only in towels and a tee shirt. She tried to reach for something else to cover herself, but only encountered bloody sheets. Xavier was decent enough to turn away from her when she seemed embarrassed. He rose from the side of the bed.

"I'll go keep an eye on her," Xavier offered. "Marie, I mean. She looks terrified out there."

"You think you'll make her feel safe?" I asked incredulously.

"What did I just tell you? I told you I can send feelings just as easily as I receive them."

"Oh...right. Good luck. Try to keep her sane. She really is a decent human," I replied.