Night's Touch

Cara went home two days later, and the babies went home two days after that.



Cara still couldn't believe that Vince had let a vampire she had never met name their children. She might have argued about it, only the names Mara had chosen seemed perfect.



The reality of being a mother didn't quite measure up to the way Cara had imagined it. She wasn't prepared for mountains of dirty diapers and T-shirts stained with spit-up milk, or for colicky babies who cried for hours no matter how you tried to comfort them.



At times, she felt totally inadequate as a mother. Perhaps if she'd had younger brothers or sisters, she would have known what to expect. One thing for certain, she gained a new respect for her own mother.



It was Brenna who did the first diaper change after they brought the babies home from the hospital, Brenna who rocked one baby while Cara nursed the other, and Brenna who helped her interview nannies.



The nanny they all agreed on was named Mrs. McPike. She was a middle-aged woman who had raised nine children of her own, and who agreed to come Monday through Friday and to do light housekeeping, as well as help with the babies.



After a week of motherhood, Cara wondered if she was going to survive.



After two weeks, she was certain she would never again have any time to herself. It seemed as though she spent all her time with one baby or another at her breast. Fortunately, she had plenty of milk. She was certain there were cows with less!



After three weeks, she felt as if she had been a mother all her life.



During this time, Vince was her rock. He held her when she needed holding, listened to her secret fears, rubbed her back, ran errands in the middle of the night, changed diapers when necessary, brought her flowers for no reason at all, and assured her that things would get better when the babies were a little older.



"How do you know?" she asked. "You've never had kids before."



"Ah, but I have nieces and nephews, and I babysat for all of them," he said with a wink. "You're doing a great job."



She basked in his praise.



As he said, the time came when the babies ate less and finally slept through the night.



Cara spent hours on the phone with Bethy, exchanging recipes and bragging about how smart their children were.



Roshan and Brenna came to visit several times a week, but tonight, Cara had wanted to get out of the house and they had gone to visit her parents.



About nine o'clock, the babies fell asleep on her parents' bed.



"Honestly," Brenna said, glancing from one sleeping child to the other, "they just get more beautiful all the time."



"More handsome," Roshan said. "Boys are handsome."



"Ordinary boys are handsome," Brenna said. "Our boys are beautiful. Come now, let's let them sleep,"



she said. "They'll be awake again soon enough."



Downstairs, Roshan picked up the remote and turned on the TV. He was flipping through the channels when the image of a vampire appeared on the screen.



"Not that old thing," Cara said.



"What's the matter?" Vince asked, tweaking her nose. "Don't you like vampires?"



"Not old black-and-white ones. That movie's older than dirt."



"But always good for a laugh," her father said.



Resigned, Cara settled back on the sofa. She laughed in spite of herself as her father and Vince made jokes about the campy settings and the stilted dialogue. She was about to go into the kitchen for a soda when her parents and Vince went suddenly still.



"What is it?" Cara asked. "Are the babies crying?"



Vince looked at Roshan. "Do you feel that?"



Roshan nodded.



"I do, too," Brenna said. "There's black Magick in the air."



Vince went to the door, but when he turned the knob, nothing happened.



"What's going on?" Cara looked at her father, then at Vince, and felt their tension communicate itself to her.



She watched in growing horror as Vince and her father went from room to room, trying all the windows and doors.



"They won't open," Vince said, his voice hard and flat. "None of them."



"It's a spell of some kind, meant to seal us in," Brenna said. "I can almost taste it."



Cara started to ask who would do such a thing, but she knew.



They all knew.



"Why would Anton want to seal us inside?" Cara asked.



"I don't understand..." She broke off as the smell of smoke teased her nostrils, shrieked when the carpet beneath her feet burst into flame.



"My babies!" she cried, and ran up the stairs to her parents' room, her heart pounding. The house was on fire and there was no way out!



Vince looked at Roshan and Brenna and knew they were thinking the same thing. One sure way to destroy the Undead was by fire, and this was no ordinary fire. As he followed Brenna and Roshan upstairs, he noticed that the fire didn't touch the walls; only the contents inside the house were burning.



Pausing on the landing, he watched the sofa explode into flames. Thick smoke rose in the air, and with it the stink of brimstone. Anton had summoned hellfire.



He thought of Cara and his sons. If he couldn't find away to get them out of here, they would soon suffocate, which might be a blessing, he thought morbidly, and wondered if the smoke would render him unconscious, as well, or if all the vampires in the house would be cognizant when the flames found them.



In minutes, the living room was a sheet of flames.



"We're running out of time," Roshan said. "Brenna, can't you counteract the spell?"



"Maybe, if I knew what kind of spell it was."



Vince muttered an oath. Dissolving into mist, he floated up the fireplace chimney, thinking perhaps they could get out that way. No such luck. Bouchard, the bastard, had thought of everything.



Materializing again, Vince paced the floor, his mind racing. There had to be a way out!



The smoke was getting thicker now. The floor beneath his feet grew hot, hotter.



Roshan picked up a chair and threw it against the window. The window shook but didn't break.



"Let's try ramming it together," Vince said. "On three. One, two, three!"



Together, Vince and Roshan slammed their shoulders against the window. Again, nothing happened.



Vince swore softly. For the first time since becoming a vampire, he felt totally helpless. He looked at Cara and his children. Would the smoke render his family unconscious before the flames reached them?



He knew the end would be quick for himself and Cara's parents. The flames would destroy them in an instant. But Cara, and his sons... In his mind's eye, he saw them in flames, heard their anguished screams as the fire licked their skin, their hair.



He looked at Roshan and knew that his father-in-law was thinking the same thing.



"Do what you have to do," Roshan said quietly; and then, squaring his shoulders, Roshan went to Brenna.



Murmuring, "I'm afraid I won't be able to save you from the flames this time," he drew her into his embrace.



She looked up at him, her expression serene, her eyes filled with love. "We've had a good life together. I have no regrets."



Vince returned to Cara's side. She stood in a corner away from the door and the windows, a crying infant cradled in each arm.



She looked up at him, her face pale and scared. "What are we going to do?"



"I won't let you suffer," he said. "I won't let the flames take you or our sons."



She stared at him, her eyes growing wide as she understood what he was saying, and she nodded.



Wrapping his arms around his wife and children, he murmured, "Whatever happens, remember that I will always love you, whether in this life or the next."



Anton stood across the street. He stared unblinking at the DeLongpre house, his whole being focused on maintaining the spell that would destroy the people who had killed his father and his mother.



It was Dark Magick at its most powerful. If only his mother could see him now, he thought. She would be so proud of him. Only a few wizards in all the world had mastered hellfire, and now he was one of them.



Sweat beaded his brow and dripped down his back. Only a few more minutes and it would be over. His parents would be avenged. He could get on with his life.



No smoke escaped the house to alert the neighbors. Even if someone called the fire department, it wouldn't matter. They couldn't get in. No one could get in-and no one could get out.



Only a few more minutes and the whole inside of the house would be in flames. When that happened, the house would explode.



Only a few more minutes.



He heard a noise to his right, felt his concentration waver as it came again.



He blinked when a woman stepped in front of him.



"Nice night for a fire," she said. "Too bad I didn't bring any marshmallows."



When she smiled, her fangs were very white.



He didn't have time to scream as she sank them into his throat.



His spell died with him.



The fires went out as quickly as they had started. Cara clutched her babies closer. Had she imagined the whole awful incident?



She looked up at Vince. "What happened?"



"I don't know," he said, "but I think maybe the cavalry is here."



She stared at him askance as he took Raphael from her arms and then followed Roshan and Brenna out of the bedroom. They stopped on the landing.



The staircase was gone. Nothing remained of the first floor but the walls, the fireplace, and the foundation.



Brenna took Rane, Roshan took Raphael, Vince swung Cara into his arms, and they all floated down to the first floor. The cement was surprisingly cool beneath their feet.



Moments later, the front door opened seemingly of its own accord.



Cara stared at the woman who entered the house. She knew, somehow, that it was the vampire who had named her children. Vince confirmed it when he greeted the woman.



"Thanks, Mara," he said fervently. "I thought we were goners."



"I couldn't let anything happen to my godsons, now could I?"



"No," Vince said, remembering how she had tasted the blood of his sons so she would know where and how they were. "I guess not."



"I brought you a present," she said. "I left it in the back yard. You might want to dispose of it before anyone sees it."



Roshan stepped forward and bowed over Mara's hand. "If there's ever anything we can do for you..."



Mara dismissed his thanks with a wave of her hand. "Just take good care of my boys," she said, her gaze lingering on Vince's face. "All of them."



Gliding across the room, she kissed each baby in turn, and then she smiled at Vince. "I'll be around," she said, and vanished from sight.



Cara looked at Vince. "How did she know we were in trouble?"



"I'll explain it to you later," he promised.



"Mom, Dad, I'm so sorry about your house," Cara said. "You can stay with us while you rebuild."



"I don't think we will rebuild," her father said. "We've stayed here too long as it is. We should have moved a long time ago."



"Move?" Cara exclaimed. "You're going to move?"



"Not far," Roshan assured her. "Just to the next town, where no one knows us."



"But what about this house?"



"We'll tear it down and sell the land."



Cara shook her head. "But where will you spend the day tomorrow?"



"Don't worry about us," Brenna said with a wink. "We'll find a place. Here, take Rane."



Cara took Rane from her mother and Vince took Raphael from Roshan. "But..." Cara shook her head.



Everything was happening so fast!



"Ready, love?" Roshan asked, taking Brenna by the hand.



"Ready." Brenna smiled at her daughter. "Don't worry about us," she repeated. "We'll see you tomorrow night."



Cara nodded as she watched her parents dissolve into mist and drift away. There were some things she didn't think she would ever get used to.



"I still don't understand how Mara knew we were in trouble," Cara remarked.



"Like I said, I'll explain it all to you later," Vince said. "But for now, let's go home."