So, I'm actually nowhere near ready to start posting, as I'm still on chapter three. But, I'm about to write the scene that has been blocking me and I think after that It will be quicker. I hope anyway. I'm also posting now because I think if I know you guys are waiting for me, I'll be more motivated.
I've been struggling a LOT and I don't really know why. I'm hoping with the return of warmer weather, I'll be in a better headspace.
I have missed you guys and I've missed posting and I WILL get this series done.
To those that might be new here, please don't start with this book. It's the last of the series. Also, if you are new here, these are unedited. As raw as raw can be. I try to make sure things aren't a complete train-wreck, but if your looking for polished, perfect work, this isn't that, unless I specifically say something has been edited. Even then, there are bound to be mistakes and I appreciate it when things get pointed out. As long as a series is, I can forget things I have previously written and create plot holes by doing such. I'm not perfect and I do appreciate feedback.
Anyway, on with the show!
~~~
"So, she lives. Her and the infant."
"Yes sir."
"Have you managed to locate them?"
"Ah, no. Not yet. She had help and from the last image on the outside camera, an unknown man took the infant and left. That same camera showed her being taken from the facility, though she was almost lifeless. The children would have helped keep her alive. And due to that, we believe she may have returned home."
The chair turned and the man fought a shiver at the coldness in the ice blue eyes that met his.
"It seems to me that everyone, including myself, has underestimated this woman at every turn. That is something we can no longer afford. Begin searching for her, but first, send Hodges to me. While you are looking for her, I want him to begin looking for a replacement. My patience has grown thin. When, not if, you find her, call me. I want her here. I have plans for her."
"Yes sir."
"That will be all."
The older man watched the young soldier salute before turning on his heel and leaving the room.
So easy to recruit these men. All of them wanted power and killing 'innocents' didn't bother them. A quality that he needed when he began this campaign. A quality that only made itself more useful as the woman proved herself adept at getting away from him and his colleagues. Ah, Anne. To think she believed she could take her on her own. Take Nyx, with herself and a few more of the more rebellious recruits. That little insurrection went as well as expected. But through her actions, she basically screamed their plans to the future vessel.
The element of surprise would have been much more favorable than this long drawn out game of cat and mouse.
But then, who could have expected the bitch to find help with the very creatures they were trying to control.
The man took a deep breath. Fury would get him nowhere.
Cold calm rational was what he needed as he reached for the phone. Punching in a number in the secure set, he watched as Hodges came in.
"Turner here." The deep voice came from the line.
"Turner, this is Commander Burnett. I need you to find us new real estate. We've been compromised."
"Yes, Commander."
"Turner..." Burnett stopped. There was something about that figure he had seen taking the infant. The large man wasn't a man at all, Burnett suspected. And he wasn't part of the local population. Faint traces of his voice came back to Burnett. That stings a bit. "Turner, I'm thinking Russia and the colder the better."
"Yes sir."
Commander Burnett sat back in the chair after cradling the receiver. He felt the smile and let it stay. There had been very little to be happy about but, this...This felt right.
"Hodges, thank you for coming. I need for you and your team to look for another vessel. Our list has been taken, however, if you move quickly, you should be able to take one before the children move to protect them." While Russia felt right, he wanted back-up for this. No more failures. Get the original woman. Get a back up. Locate the child and take her. With the new vessel and the child, he could let himself give in to the rage that filled him when he thought about the time spent hunting for the black-haired bitch. Slowly he loosened his grip on the arms of the leather chair, letting the image of her throat in his grasp vanish.
"Yes sir."
"And Hodges?" A deep exhale brought a moment of clarity. "You have a month. Do not fail me."
The man nodded, saluted, then left and finally Burnett was alone.
Alone with a raging erection and lost in visions of the bloody hell that awaited Chevonne.
~
Chevonne leaned against Kian, watching Trey feed Nadia. Such an impossible sight. Their child.
Another thing she would have to thank the people after them for, before they died. Through their actions, she had more love than most would ever experience, once they figured out what was going on with her, they could have their forever, and now, her... their child.
Though Nadia had been premature, the following weeks had been amazing to watch. Her skin wasn't as translucent as it was when Chevonne had seen her laying alone and crying in that lab. She was slowly gaining weight and she was loved. And already in the process of being spoiled. Someone was always holding her, the most surprising volunteer being Draven. He would watch her with his tri-colored eyes and the soft curve up his lips never failed to bring warmth to her heart.
He had come so far on their journey together. A journey that began with a single step, a harsh breath, and a racing heart. So much fear, she could have drowned in it.
She was human at the moment, so there was no way for him to read her thoughts, but he still reached for her hand, running his thumb over her knuckles. She couldn't stop the smile as she looked at him and found him watching Nadia.
"Do you think that you will sometimes care for her?"
Chevonne asked and he smiled, bringing her hand to his lips. "Perhaps by sometimes, you mean always. That answer is 'of course'."
A noise came from their host and Chevonne glanced at Ilya.
"Formidable," he said, brown eyes meeting hers.
"Lucky," she countered and Ilya laughed even as Draven's fingers tightened.
Silence settled around them, a comfortable one, but within that, Chevonne began to grow drowsy. Something that was happening more and more often. She wasn't sure if it was because of sometimes humanity, or if it was a change in sleeping patterns, but she couldn't deny that she was worried. Things that didn't bother her before her change now terrified her because she didn't know what was going on. If she sneezed, she feared for her life. If she craved water or wine or whiskey, she would sometimes give into the tears. She had grown comfortable in her vampiric body. She had adjusted. Learned to hunt. And then she let it get taken from her.
But then, none of them knew what would happen with a newborn.
Everyday she wished for Jaylen's friend to call. The one who had the vial. Someone to tell them what was going on with her. Why couldn't she be converted once again? Of course that answer wouldn't be coming because Liz knew nothing of the vampires. But something, anything could help them to figure out how to change her back.
Nadia shifted, and her tiny fingers curled around Trey's pinky and he gave a soft laugh, looking up and meeting Chevonne's eyes.
"She's incredible."
Chevonne smiled. "She's half you so she was going to be."
"I'm pretty sure the incredibleness comes from your side."
She laughed before yawning. "I think she takes after us both," she said after a long blink.
"Are you alright?" Elliot asked, standing behind the couch. He put his hands on her shoulders and she looked up at him.
"I'm tired. That's all."
"We are going to figure this out," he said, leaning over her and kissing her forehead.
"I know." She closed her eyes at the tenderness of his touch.
Since that night, out in the desert, they were all gentle with her. They all said the scars didn't bother them, but they still treated her as if she would scream if they touched her. When it first happened, she would have. But she no longer hurt. She just had to live with the slight silvery lines that drew patterns across her flesh. Her hair was growing back out and she didn't look to be the monster that she once believed she favored. Time and vampire blood heals all wounds.
Trey spoke. "Do you want to hold her before you fall asleep?"
She sat up straight and met bright green eyes. The same green eyes of her daughter, only these belonged to a man she loved. "Always."
He smiled before bringing Nadia to her. Her weight was a comfort now, not something so ruthlessly outlandish as to be terrifying and her heart swelled within her chest.
"My sweet Nadia. My sweet hope," Chevonne murmured to the infant who began to close her eyes. "No matter what I have to do, I will make this world safe for you. I swear this on my own life."
~
Days passed in the desolate cold, but Chevonne never felt the sting of the wind or the bite of the snow. Not as caught up as she was in the warmth of her child. She didn't realize how much time was passing as she learned her daughter. The slight hitch in her cry that told her she was crying out of hunger. The softness of the jet black hair. The soft rhythmic breathing as she slept, safe under the constant vigilance of those that surrounded her.
The vampires made their beds in the cold hard ground and while Chevonne could join them sometimes, there was the fear of waking, choking, desperate for air, and that could destroy one of her loves. As it was, she and Josh shared the two bedroom cabin and as much as it hurt not being able to fall asleep with those she loved, they all knew this was what Chevonne wanted and needed.
Only twice did the creeping edge of sunlight touch her skin in a way that hurt. Instant agony, but she was able to hide. Josh helped, making sure she was covered before caring for Nadia. Those painful spells never lasted long and with the last one, she came out from under the blanket, drying her eyes from selfish tears. Selfish because she couldn't sleep with her lovers. Selfish because she suddenly couldn't hold her daughter. She had the world and if it tilted sometimes, then that was a small price to pay. Why should she be selfish?
The world...
Even though she was mostly human now, she rarely received dreams from Nyx.
Just the feeling of winds whipping across her body. The feeling of time tick-tocking away. But...
What was she supposed to do?
She no longer had the strength that she paid for and while she knew where the other two compounds were located, there was a very good chance that they moved. That the incoming personnel would have figured out by the explosion that something went... sideways. Would they have stayed? She had reason to doubt it.
And all she wanted was some time. Just a little. It was a ridiculous want. A stupid wish. But really all she wanted was for her daughter to remember her should the worst happen and she not make it back. That was time she knew she didn't have. No time, as of yet, to be sure she could see the first step. Hear the first word. To see recognition in those brilliant green eyes.
"Do you dream of her anymore?"
Chevonne looked up and found Josh watching her, brown eyes soft in the waning light.
"Not exactly," she said. "It's more like almost memories."
A reminder as to how everything started. The almost dreams. The smoke that wasn't and the fire that was simply torches. Simply. As if there was innocence to them. But it was so much more than that now. So much more than Anne and a band of religious insane cultist. The memory of black eyes on canvas and how she would have given so much to get that painting back.
She took a breath. "Which, in theory, means I've done something wrong. Her strength is tied to me and now, she's almost gone." A tiny hand waved in the air and Chevonne captured it and held it to her lips. "I don't know what to do or where to start and I try to hide it, but I won't lie to you," she said before looking back to Josh. "I'm afraid. She told me I needed strength and I got it. Then, I lost it and what do I do?"
"You've tried to go back to the vampire world?" he asked.
"We did. It almost killed me. In order to create a vampire, one has to drain nearly all the blood from the human. The human then drinks and the vampiric blood takes over and that should do it. It failed and once again, I nearly died."
"I'm sorry this is happening to you."
"It's not just to me, its going to happen to the world. To Nadia. They won't stop looking for a replacement. And without Nadia or myself, I don't know who they will be going after. I have no way of knowing how many like me are out there, much less where to find them. I've done everything asked of me and I just want it to end. With humanity still intact."
"How do you suppose they find those like you?"
"Like us, you mean," she said, reminding him that while his lineage wasn't as strong as Chevonne's, he too was a descendant of Nyx. "I'm not certain. But Elliot was able to download much of what they had stored on the servers in California. He said something about a list. At the time I was healing from the burns and I'll be honest, I didn't pay that much attention." She took a breath before looking back at her daughter. "One thing I feel certain of is that none of the names have the purity of blood as this little one." She looked back at Josh. "They will want her at all costs."
"Do you think they suspect that she still lives?"
"I won't rule it out. I didn't notice cameras around the building, but I'm going to assume that they were there. If they saw Ilya carry her away..."
"It's unlikely they would know where we are. Even if they were to somehow figure out he is Russian, it's a mighty big place."
"I know." Chevonne smiled. "But they seem to have a lot of resources we don't know about. We can't stay here forever, unfortunately, but when we leave, I want you two to be extremely careful. Pulling you into the nightmare of my life was not my intention and I don't want anything to happen to you."
"I think it was meant to be," he said, surprising her.
"Why do you say that?"
"When we met, I told you I was finishing my residency to become a surgeon. But I didn't tell you what my specialty was."
"What is it?"
He sat back in his chair. "I had believed that my purpose was to help you, you know, since you're stuck in limbo. It wasn't until Ilya came through the flames that I realized I was wrong. My specialty is in pediatrics."
~~~
Two nights later, Chevonne was sitting between Draven and Jaylen, once again watching as Trey bonded with his daughter. Ilya threw another log on the fireplace and Chevonne leaned her head against her detective. The silence was comfortable and the warmth was making her sleepy. A drowsiness that vanished as Draven's phone made a noise.
Her breathing quickened as Jaylen squeezed her hand. No one knew where they were. It was okay.
She tried to force herself to calm down even as Draven frowned at his phone. Nigel's name lit up the screen. Draven touched it and a bloody face appeared.
"What happened?" Draven asked.
The image moved as a gravely voice spoke. A voice she had heard before. Do ya see us sleepin or are ya blind? The old man's face appeared on the screen. The one that emptied a syringe in Elliot's back. The one that broke her cheek.
"If you touch him again, you will die," Draven's voice was cold and it reminded her of when she first met him. How afraid she was.
"I don't need to touch him, vampire." The weathered face turned away and from a distance, Chevonne watched him raise his arm and before she knew what happened, a sharp crack came from the phone. Nigel's head flew back and gore painted the wall behind him.
She let out a short scream and Jaylen had his arms around her as Draven jumped to his feet.
"Come back. I'm tired of looking for you."
The screen went blank.
"What—" Chevonne started to ask something, say something, something to rid her mind of the suddenness in which Nigel lost his life. But what could she say?
"I'm going." Draven said, turning and looking out into the cold darkness.
"Draven, no!"
"Chevonne, yes. I must. Had I killed him that night..."
"You and Ilya couldn't take him out, Draven. What are you going to do alone?"
"I'm not a fool, cuore mio. I won't go after him alone. But things have changed." He turned to her and while she knew he was learning to feel again, the depth of the anger in his tri-colored eyes took her breath. "He killed a human. In cold blood. They did something to you. Something we don't understand nor know how to fix. He wants me. I want answers. He's going to get me and I will get my answers."
"Draven—"
"You will not win this, Chevonne."
"Then I go with you."
"We all go," Elliot said and Draven's eyes left hers and looked past her shoulder.
"Why would you put yourself in danger for me?"
There was genuine curiosity in his voice and it hurt her heart because he didn't see. But, Elliot's next words made it clear.
"We don't let friends wonder off to get themselves killed. And though you may not consider us friends, we consider you ours."
Draven was silent, quietly watching her first love.
"I thank you," he said at long last.
Chevonne took a breath, turning to Ilya and Josh. "I know you have done so much already, but would—"
"We will continue to look after her, little one. We will protect her," Ilya glanced at Draven. "I'll also secure you safe passage from here."
"Thank you, Ilya," Chevonne said, trying to smile at the mountain of a man who treated her daughter as if she were a gossamer egg. "For everything."
"Stay alive. That will be thanks enough." He smiled at her. "Let me go make a call. You hold tight to your hope."
He left the room and she sat beside Trey, taking the bundle from his arms and as she breathed her scent deep into her lungs, she tried to forget the last vision of Nigel.
~
The next evening found them waiting to board a private jet when once again Draven's phone chirruped.
He looked at it touching the screen.
"This will continue until you return."
There was a soft feminine cry that grew louder and more frantic until a sharp crack silenced it. Chevonne didn't see the video, but she recognized the sound of fear because she had heard it before. Samantha. A woman who had bled for her. Who thanked her for trying to be gentle. Tears filled her eyes as she covered her face.
"He will pay, sweetheart." Caleb's arms surrounded her and she let his chest cover her sobs.
"I'm coming home. Stop killing people that know me."
"I'll stop when I see you. Thomas is next before I move on to Jason."
Not Jason.
"No," she whispered, turning to look at the black screen. "He can't have him. He can't kill him. Draven..."
"We will get him, bella. We will save him."
They spent the next few minutes boarding the jet and after what felt like an eternity, they were air-born. Chevonne stared out at the dark sky, thinking about the man who made her heart beat again. Her first human after her transition. His story ran through her mind over and over and didn't he deserve to be happy? Not hunted down because he happened to know a vampire.
"Breathe, Chevonne." Draven sat in front of her. "He will be safe."
"How do you know?" she asked, unable to pull her eyes from the stars.
Kian sat beside her and held her hand tight. Finally she was able to look at those she loved.
"He said Thomas was next. That individual is already dead, so, he will waste time trying to find a man who no longer exists. We will be back in the city in nine hours. We will save him, bella."
"Wait, how do you know that Thomas is dead?" Kian asked.
"Because I killed him. He attempted to take my life after one of our... meetings. He failed. I didn't."
"I'm glad he failed," Chevonne said softly before leaning her head back against the seat. She hadn't been awake long, but she was already so damned tired. Perhaps Draven was right. If he couldn't get the man to tell him what they did to her, then no one could. As of that moment, Draven was the best hope she had to heal. To get her life back. To keep the world safe. To keep her daughter safe.
"I find I am as well, cuore mio." He leaned forward and took her hand, pressing his lips to her skin. "This flight is long. You should sleep."
Kian adjusted her seat and she managed a smile. "Excellent advice."