Chapter Thirty-Nine
The Moon-Riders were kept in the community hospital for eleven days, not as prisoners, but as convalescing patients, and also to give the chiefs of the town time to arrange the next steps.
Nicolae assumed these “next steps” would involve setting plans in motion to send the Moon-Riders back to Transylvania, but this morning they were gathered for a meeting in the hospital cafeteria—much smaller than the cafeteria on Grey’s Anatomy—and Dr. Parthen invited them to stay.
Nicolae’s jaw dropped nearly to the floor.
They were one people, Dr. Parthen had said, one race. Vârcolac belonged with Vârcolac. And even though their beginning together had been inauspicious—Nicolae didn’t know what “inauspicious” meant but figured it had to do with them being bad men toward Son of Nichita—the Moon-Riders would be welcomed into the community in a spirit of forgiveness. The past would be forgotten. None of them would be judged by anything they’d once done, only by how they conducted themselves from this day forth in Ţărână.
Nicolae nearly toppled out of his chair. It was exactly the way he’d always wanted to live—by actions, not ancestry.
He was first in line to take a tour of Ţărână.
It was a town unlike anything he’d ever expected to see.
In all his life, he’d never been outside of the Carpathian Mountains. He only knew of small villages and the forest—the trees and land, hunting and food gathering, and the habits of small creatures—and of the single, very large manor house in the vampires’ warded lands that saw to all their needs: cooking, sleeping, convalescing, schooling, work.
He was familiar with other towns only through television. Ţărână’s primary street called “Main” somewhat resembled the small towns on those shows—colorful, lit-up shops with signs hanging on their fronts—but in most ways Ţărână was very different.
First off, it was underground.
The place gave Nicolae a damp, closed-in feeling, and he didn’t see how the people here lived apart from the moon so much. He’d been itching for its beauty and power for the past ten days. But even as foreign and claustrophobic as Ţărână sometimes felt, it was clear it was a friendly, happy place. A place to find contentment.
As their small tour group—led by a bouncy young Vârcolac named Cleeve—turned right through a tunnel, they came out into a very appealing area. There were many houses painted different, vibrant shades, with white fences in front of them. Nicolae didn’t understand the fences. They were too low to the ground to contain cattle effectively, but they were as neat and well-made as everything else.
Nicolae’s heart squeezed when he saw children running and playing in front of the homes. Children! How amazing was it that these Vârcolac were able to breed? And if the Moon-Riders stayed, they could possibly have families too. Dr. Parthen had promised them the chance, saying the community would teach them things like English and etiquette and sex education.
Nicolae paused in his translation to ask, “What is this? Sex education?”
“We don’t believe you Moon-Riders have fully realized this side of yourselves,” Dr. Parthen explained. “We’ll help you to understand sex fully and to achieve a level of functioning that will allow you to have children…should you find a mate here.”
Nicolae’s jaw dropped again. There was more to sex than kissing. He’d suspected as much, but the mechanics of it had always puzzled him, ever since Miodrag—poor Miodrag, killed years ago by vampire hunters—had reported on a conversation he overhead between two regulars. The act of sex consisted of, apparently, a man fitting his penis inside a woman’s vagina.
The group of them exchanged troubled glances. Miodrag must have misheard. Such a thing wasn’t feasible. A vagina looked to be suctioned almost completely shut like an anus—Nicolae had seen the un-woman Vika bent over a stream taking a bath once—and a penis sagged and flopped. Impossible to fit one inside the other, unless… Did the vagina swallow the penis down it like a throat? Did it vacuum it inside there?
The idea seemed so absurd and uncomfortable, Nicolae had set it aside. But now he’d experienced the strange pulsing pressure in his penis whenever Hadley was nearby, and he’d changed his mind. Whatever occurred between a penis and a vagina wasn’t absurd. It was good, and he wanted to have sex. Very much.
Across the way from their tour group on the far side of this neighborhood, Nicolae spotted Devid Nichita’s woman—the woman Dev had fed on in the garage right after he was carried off the bus. She was strolling along with a small girl-child, the baby walking unsteadily on young legs.
The warmth in Nicolae’s chest deepened. It was nearly impossible to imagine having babies of his own one day. He’d lived too many years with only extinction in his future—they all had. There was no guarantee, of course, that he would win a mate. He would have to earn one, like every other man here, and there was a great deal of competition in town. But he’d have no chance at all if he went back to Transylvania.
He turned to his brother, who was walking beside him. “<What do you think about staying here?>”
Vasile scowled at the sky…where there was no sky. “<Without a moon, we will lose our power.>”
“<We haven’t so far.>” Nicolae just felt like his power ran through him at a lower idle.
“<You would miss it,>” Vasile predicted grimly.
Maybe. The moon, his mountains…yes, probably. “<What I won’t miss,>” he countered, “<is living constantly on the verge of attack and death from our enemies in the Patru Puternic.>” He angled toward his brother, walking a little sideways. “<Another thing I definitely won’t miss is being bossed around by Chief. This town doesn’t follow the old rules of monarchy, Vasile. No more Octav Rázóczi to lay down uncontested law. Here, there is a Council and a court to give us a voice.>”
Vasile grunted. “<So Dr. Parthen said.>”
“<You don’t believe it?>”
“<I would be a fool to believe it.>”
The man was stubborn as a plugged-up mule. “<The people in this town have been nice to us. Tell me that hasn’t meant something to you.>”
Vasile swatted Nicolae’s words aside with an abrupt gesture. “<You want to become one of them? Go ahead, Nicolae. It will work fine, since they plan to warp us into their kind, at any rate.>”
“<Where in the heavens did you get that idea?>”
“<From your translation of this morning’s meeting.>”
Now Nicolae made a swat-aside gesture. “<Dr. Parthen only promised to help us adjust to our new life. You’re being contrary.>”
Vasile aimed his glower forward and didn’t answer.
Nicolae focused forward too.
Devid Nichita’s woman was now chatting with a female wearing a red shirt. The girl-child explored a bit ahead of her mother.
“<And what about the chance to bond with a mate?>” Nicolae pointed out. “<To have children? We never thought such a thing was possible before.>”
“<I still don’t. Who are we to catch the interest of a woman?>”
“<In this town, us being part-human means nothing.>” But Nicolae reddened. The hell if I’m teaching this penis-head anything. Let another donor take him on. And then there’d been the way Hadley regarded him, with fear and disgust.
“<Women are a trial,>” Vasile pronounced gruffly.
Maybe. But Nicolae was beginning to think, maybe not. “<We can finally live as the men we want to be,>” he continued to argue, “<as the men Father always strove for us to be able to become.>” He was really talking himself into this place.
The red-shirted woman left Nichita’s mate, waving a friendly goodbye, and a new female entered the neighborhood from another path. This female had very curly blond hair. She’d been in the garage, too, on the day the Moon-Riders arrived—Breen’s woman. This curly-haired one also waved at Nichita’s woman. She started to call out something, then stopped.
Her expression fell into a look of horror.
Nicolae snapped his attention over to see what she was looking at.
The girl-child had wandered over to a yellow ribbon stretched across an entrance to a different part of the cave, and—Ungodly hell! The rock floor was crumbling away beneath her tiny feet.
The baby tottered crazily, fell onto her padded bum, and started to cry.
Nichita’s woman hurried forward, then saw what was actually happening—a developing crevasse was opening beneath her daughter. She screamed and ran.
The curly-haired woman tore into a full-out sprint.
“Fir-ar să fie!” Nicolae swore, running too, Vasile fast at his side.
Men poured from the surrounding homes—the screams had called them to the trouble—and also shouted.
Up ahead, the curly-haired woman was running faster than Nicolae had ever seen a human go, her sleekly muscled legs stretching out, her arms pumping, knife-hands slicing the air. Her focus was locked onto that little girl with what seemed like mad fear.
Dev Nichita shot past Vasile and Nicolae, his speed powered by parental terror, although…
As swiftly as Dev was moving, he wasn’t going to make it in time.
No.
None of them were.
Nicolae gulped down his heart as the chasm crumbled away and swallowed up that poor little girl.
The baby’s mother shrieked as, in vain, the curly-haired woman threw herself at the crevasse, skidding on her stomach and knees, one arm reaching for the child.
Dev howled.
In a huffing, hollering clamor, the rest of them pounded up to the hole: the tour group, other Vârcolac males, and—
“Stop,” the curly-haired woman panted, her arm thrust down into the dark cavity. “Don’t come any closer. There are fissures everywhere. You’ll make the hole grow bigger.”
The baby’s frightened screams echoed up from just below the lip of the chasm.
“Holy fuck, you got her!” Dev was wild-eyed. “You got her, Charlize!”
Weeping hysterically, Nichita’s woman clasped her hands over her mouth. “Please, don’t let go. God, please!”
Veins stuck out all over Charlize’s forehead, pounding violently. “I’ll go down that hole myself before I let go, Marissa.”
Breen’s jaw clamped tight enough to damage teeth, and his eyes lit into a gold like fire.
“I’m trying to bring her up.” Charlize grated. “But I’m lying at an awkward angle.”
Dev went into a fighter’s crouch, like he wanted so much to spring at the dark hole, but didn’t dare.
“<There aren’t rock fractures surrounding the woman’s body.>” Vasile moved swiftly toward Charlize, circling in from behind her. <She’s in a safe area.>”
Nicolae hurriedly pointed at Charlize. “No cracks, her. Pull female. Baby come up too.”
Breen cut in front of Vasile. “Good idea, Vasile. But I’ll do this.” Breen grabbed Charlize around the waist and eased her backward.
The baby’s shrieks grew louder.
Dev knelt beside Charlize, his panic-darkened gaze aimed at the cavern. Sweat slicked his face and beaded in his beard.
As two hands emerged from the hole—Charlize’s clutched around the baby’s—Dev leaned forward as far as he could without compromising the unstable edges of the crevasse and wrapped his own large hand around both of theirs.
A final heave brought up the crying baby, covered in dust and with blood smeared across her little thigh.
The mother was right there, scooping the child into her arms and hugging her daughter desperately close.
Dev sank back on his heels and clutched the hair at his temples. “Good God,” he croaked.
Nicolae swept the area with a swift glance, confirming that everyone else was safe. His heart wouldn’t slow down.
Dev powered to his feet, looking again like a man in command, except when he said, “To the hospital,” his voice was still croaky.
Nobody moved right away. Nicolae couldn’t speak for the others, but his legs still felt like they were mid-buckle. Dev didn’t, either. He stared down at Charlize, who was collapsed back against Breen.
“I…” Dev’s jaw convulsed. “I…” He drew a forearm across his sweaty brow. “Your knee is bleeding.”
Charlize nodded. Her complexion was waxy, and she was struggling to breathe.
“It’s a…it’s a good gash.” Dev’s Adam’s apple jumped. “You probably need stitches.”
“Go, Dev,” Charlize rasped. “Take Maylie to the hospital. Breen and I will meet you there.”
Dev nodded. Turned. Turned back around. “I don’t have the words right now, Charlize. But I will.”
Nicolae and Vasile were swept up in the noisy tide of people hurrying to the hospital, ending up back in the building they’d been so eager to leave earlier today. But they’d been a part of the near-disaster, and it didn’t seem right not to keep trying to help wherever they could.
The moment they all burst in the door, the hospital staff leapt into action. Dr. Jess bustled forward, assigning the patients to exam rooms and asking a lot of questions. Mekhel—who’d taken Nicolae’s blood many times over the last weeks—readied supplies. Nurse Shaston helped Charlize off with her shoes while Breen supported his woman against his side.
Nicolae stood immobile in the whirl of it all, watching it all, awe-struck. He’d never seen people unite so quickly to help each other, or with such passion. These people obviously cared deeply for one another.
More good feelings washed over him about this place.
A door slammed, jerking Nicolae’s attention to the end of a hallway.
Dr. Parthen was charging down the corridor, the edges of her white coat flapping. Rock Jaw Jacken was keeping pace at her side, while Donree scurried after the two of them.
“I want to know what happened,” Dr. Parthen blazed. “Ţărână’s engineers were supposed to be monitoring that area.” She cut a gesture behind her. “Get Vlad and his crew out to the scene right away.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Donree put a cell phone to her ear.
“I’m heading over too,” Jacken clipped out, hard and perfunctory. “I’m evacuating the neighborhood until I confirm for sure that the whole fucking place isn’t about to come down.”
“Good idea.” Dr. Parthen nodded shortly.
Jacken strode ahead of her by a couple of paces, then turned around, still walking, but backward. “You don’t take a single step in that direction.” He pointed a finger at her, his focus aimed at her belly. “Not until you’ve received an all-clear from me.”
One side of her mouth edged up. “I won’t.”
Jacken plowed forward, and Nicolae quickly sidestepped into a patient room to move out of his way.
Nichita’s woman—Marissa—was inside with her girl-child, both of them sitting on a table with a white paper sheet on it, the baby on the mother’s lap. Marissa had stopped crying, though her cheeks were still wet, but the baby was whimpering. The mother brushed at her daughter to clean the dust off—which seemed silly to Nicolae. The task was impossible.
“Daddy is going to be right here with Buddy Bear,” Marissa consoled her child.
Nicolae pulled his brows down briefly. A bear?
Someone entered the room behind him, and he stumbled aside, as much from hurrying to get out of the way as from the scent that kicked in his knee joints and grabbed him by the testicles.
He sucked in a bottomless breath.
Hadley.
She hurried to the white paper table, and even though she was rushing, she moved like someone whose body was naturally competent or…attractive…her hips swaying, her shoulders shifting in a graceful way, her buttock muscles gently flexing.
It was a new experience for Nicolae, watching this woman move. Pleasure tingles speared into his groin.
“Oh, my God, Marissa!” Hadley seized the mother’s hand. “How are you?”
Marissa teared up again. “I think I’ve had several heart attacks in the last few minutes.”
Nicolae knew the feeling. He might be having one now, peering at the soft chick down on Hadley’s nape. Her hair was bundled up on top of her head in a messy clump, exposing her neck. Here was another sight that made Nicolae’s penis very excited. And his fangs. Saliva rushed into his mouth, and he suddenly had the oddest urge to build a house for this woman with his own hands then lay a slain deer across the threshold at her feet.
Hold her. Protect her. Taste her.
“Well, everyone’s safe now.” Hadley lightly chucked the baby under the chin. “And we’re going to take great care of you.”
Hadley was good with the little one. Nicolae shifted his gaze down to her belly.
Mount her. Claim her. Mate her.
“Would you mind handing me some of those gauze pads, please?”
Nicolae startled. Hadley was talking to him.
She was holding a hand out in his general direction, not even looking at him. Which was probably good. Had she recognized him, she’d probably treat him to one of her fake-friendly smiles. Those weren’t pleasurable.
He scanned the cart next to him and picked up what Hadley wanted. Stepping forward, he put the gauze in her hand, his fingers brushing hers, and… His fangs sprang out and locked down while a heavy throb slammed into the area between his legs.
By darkest night. This woman was…she was…
“Thank you,” she said.
His heart banged. “Yes.”
Hadley went to work cleaning the baby’s cut thigh.
Nicolae melted out of the patient room. Once he was back in the hallway, he inhaled two bracing breaths. His hip bones felt strapped too tightly to his body. He closed his eyes for a long moment. We’ll help you to understand sex fully and to achieve a level of functioning that will allow you to have children, should you find a mate here.
He opened his eyes and hunted for Vasile.
His brother was standing with his back against the corridor wall, carefully watching the activity hubbubbing around him.
Nicolae walked over and came to a stop right in front of him.
Vasile frowned at his mouth. “<Why are your fangs out?>”
“<I’m staying.>”
Vasile gave him a cheerless, resigned look.
He knew.
Nicolae amended his statement, anyway. “<We’re staying.>”