Chapter 14
My mind exploded into bits and pieces as her words echoed like a nightmare over and over. Pregnant? That was impossible! We hadn’t even had sex! Vampires aren’t humans, genius.
“That’s impossible.”
“He drank of you first?” She put a hand on my shoulder, her eyes glued on mine.
“Yes.”
“Then it is possible. He’s the vampire god. Why do you think drinking of each other is so personal?”
“I don’t know, because it’s intimate.”
“Why is it intimate, Iva, why? Where did that legend originate from?” She let go of my shoulder, pacing the room, glaring at me a few times.
“Claud is the only vampire on the planet who can create life in a vampire’s womb. The child inside of you is like Claud. It can also create life, because it carries his genes now.”
“Then why the hell does Claud have a werewolf brother?” I shot at her, my fingers curling into fists. My body was on fire with pain from the itch. It had reached my chest now.
“Because Claud isn’t fully dead. His family carries both genes in their DNA. He got his father and mother’s side. His brother inherited his father’s side. How do you not know the legends of Claud’s ancestors? Every vampire knows of the vampire god.” She looked at me like I was dense. I started hyperventilating, a growl of frustration escaping my lips.
“He knew!” My words came out like a beast; Claud was going to die. I was going to rip him apart. “He knew this would happen to me! This was why he suggested that, so that I’d be tied to him with a…child!” I spat the last word. I was really pregnant with Claud’s kid? Something between awe and sickness rose in my head. I’d be a mom?
“It is why so many will come for you, sweetheart, so many will want that child that is now in your womb. Once it is born, it will be sought after as much as Claud. But, some would seek to destroy the seed before it is born. They don’t want Claud’s power to spread.”
“He’s such a dick.” I was shaking now from the blood lust that was in my throat. My fangs lowered dripping venom in my mouth. Blood…blood. The thought began to roll in my head over and over on loop.
“Feed the beast in your belly, sweetheart. I can see it in your eyes.”
I burst out the front door of Sweet Bites, swearing and cursing Claud every name written under the stars of heaven. He was going to die for this—I was going to put my arms around his scrawny neck and strangle him to death. How could he make me pregnant? Why me? Why not some other vampire girl who threw themselves at his feet? It was broad daylight, and here I was running to feed on some poor human who wouldn’t see me coming. At this moment in time I didn’t give a damn. I just wanted blood and now. I grabbed a man on the way, running toward the woods on the edge of town, and drank until he was dry.
I stared at the corpse I’d created left in the dirt, and my dad’s face rose to my face. I fell to my knees and sobbed, pressing my hands against my face. I was pregnant with Claud’s baby. What was I going to do? I couldn’t kill it. I couldn’t do that to an innocent child—but now what? I had this thing in me that was part Claud?
Its part you too, Willow Butt. I felt like I heard my dad saying to me. First Claud takes out my friends, then my shop is neglected, now a kid? A fricking kid? I put my hands over my stomach. No wonder I’d been moody and irrational. I was preggo.
“I’m still going to kill that bastard,” I hissed under my breath, leaving the body of the poor guy behind me. I’d deal with my conscience later about that. Right now I was going to kick me some ancient vampire ass.
I stood before Claud’s giant mansion, fuming inwardly, and trying to figure out how I was going to tell the vampire ‘god’ off. He had deceived me for one. Had tricked me into being his little vampire baby mama without me knowing about it! How low could one person really go? His emotions were still circulating through me, so I know that he thought in his head that it was “love”, but I knew it wasn’t real love. It was obsession—I was the one vampire women who didn’t care to be around him. I was a prize to him. The hunt was what he really liked.
What a dick.
I finally worked up my nerve to go up to the gate of his stupid house. A man stared at me for a few seconds and then pushed the button to let me in. Claud must have my face so plastered around every square inch of his house that his guards and people knew who I was. I ran at the front door full hilt and kicked it down flat. It echoed with a BOOM as it hit the marble floor beneath me.
“CLAUD!” My entire body was roaring with emotions and not healthy ones either. The house shook with my bellow, rattling his fine China, and the other knickknacks he had hanging around the joint. A second later, Claud came around the corner, a smug smile on his annoying face.
“Hello, love, good to see you. I see that Clyde’s deal with you didn’t go unheard.”
“You bastard!” I ran at him, my hands wrapping around his throat, shoving him into the wall. The plaster caved, sprinkling down on both of us, the floor cracking beneath my feet into pieces. “You…you…” I couldn’t even say it!
“I suppose someone told you. Pity.” He looked at me with a complete calm expression. “I was hoping to throw a baby bash first.”
I was so angry I couldn’t even think of insults to spit at him, so I just let out a stream of horrible curse words, until his face turned furious. “Iva!” He shoved me back. He was strong—I forgot how strong he was. “Get control of yourself!” He brushed off the front of his suit, shaking off debris from his hair. “You are acting like a child. Any woman in the world would kiss my feet for the gift I gave you. I gave you the gift of life!”
“You deceived me!” I was pacing back and forth, back and forth, trying to figure out what to do with this slime ball.
“You tied yourself to me without my permission. Why do you even want me? Who am I to you?” I stopped pacing, because I wanted to hear his response clearly.
“Why do I want the most desirable woman on the Earth?” He stared at me in his doe-like way, his love, lust and desire filling his face. “Do you know what it’s like to have women chase you who only want one thing? Not love, Iva, never love!” He ran his fingers through his hair. “You were the one woman who didn’t even know! Who didn’t care! You didn’t want what I could give you—so it’s driven me mad. I wanted to give you the one gift—a gift—so precious that it would prove my love for you for good. I want you, Iva, I want you to be mine forever. Why? Because you aren’t seeking me for money, fame, or a child.”
“Why couldn’t you just give it to some girl who wanted it!” I was shaking, the itch starting up all over again. “And it’s damn hungry all the time!” I was crying now. Why was I crying?
“Oh, love, this was not meant to hurt you. I just wanted to prove my love once and for all to you. I wanted you to know that no matter what, I will always give you my very best. Always.”
“You are a sick, twisted, manipulative bastard. I will tell this child that you died!” I held my stomach, the blood lust getting strong again. I let out a screech. “What did you do to me?” I drew in a controlled breath, trying to not make myself into a bigger fool than I already felt I was doing.
“Iva,” he said softly, reaching out his hand. “Please, Iva.”
“Claud, you’ll never win me. Never. Not after this.” I pointed to my stomach. “Now give me some damn blood before I kill someone else.” I began to sob, dropping to my knees, feeling guilty about the body I’d left in the woods.
Silence stretched between us, but I heard Claud order a servant to bring a human in the room.
“Drink as long as you like. My humans offer freely.”
“I don’t want to kill anyone else,” I said softly as the human bent before me like a lamb going to the slaughter. I cried the entire time I drank, but I made sure I didn’t drink too much. The human got up a few seconds later, and another came to me. I drank of that one too, until my stomach was so full I wanted to pass out in a stupor.
“Enough. It’s enough.” I waved the next one away. Claud came over and tried to help me up, but I shoved him back. He slammed into the wall, again breaking pieces of the wall.
“Clean that up, give her whatever she wants.” Claud sounded defeated, and one tiny sliver of me felt bad for him. I was trying to see it through his eyes—this unhealthy obsession over me. He wanted to give me a gift—a child. I couldn’t seem to find myself at the moment; I was so confused by conflicting emotions that Claud had put in my head, as well as this baby growing inside of me.
“I’m staying here until this thing is born. Once it’s born, you are never going to see me or the baby again. Got it?”
Claud looked at me gravely and nodded.
“Okay.”
“I don’t want to hurt anyone else, and this thing eats like a pig. Make one of your people run Sweet Bites for me, I don’t want it neglected. And. And Moon, Blue, and Kitty get to live here too.”
“Moon and Blue, is that your pets?” he asked.
“Newborns and my dog. Go get them.” I scowled at him, dropping onto a sofa, my hand hitting the floor in exhaustion. How was I tired? Vampires didn’t get tired! Whatever was going on was freaking weird.
“Whatever you want, Iva, I’ll do it.” He told someone to do what I’d said.
Around an hour later, Moon, Blue, and Kitty were standing in Claud’s house. Moon and Blue were like two little kids who’d gotten to go to Disney World. They were bouncing around the house, Kitty chasing them, biting at their heels. After twenty minutes of that nonsense, Kitty came to me and put her nose on my stomach.
“Kitty, people suck.” She gave a soft nudge on my hand. “Sorry, Kitty, we gotta stay here for a while. Mama’s going to have a baby.” I growled the word baby, but it really wasn’t the baby’s fault that Claud had pulled a dick move. I don’t know what would happen next, but I knew one thing, Claud and I were not going to be the fairytale king and queen of the vampire world. I was NOT okay with that. This baby and I would leave after it was born, we’d find a nice place to settle down, and I’d go from there. I’d have Kitty and my two stupid friends to keep my company.
Claud could suck it.
The End