Ten
He felt cradled, loved, held…whole.
Not knowing where he was or how he got where he was, he felt cocooned within the Mother’s bosom. Sparks of electricity, here and there, fingers, gut, ears, toes, eyes, heart; not pain, just tingles of sensations, pleasant, energizing. He wanted to open his eyes to see where he was, but he couldn’t. Somehow, he realized that they had to remain closed.
The sparks of energy increased, and focused, began at his head, heat infusion in his brain growing so exponentially, he wondered if it would explode. Down into his face, eyes twitching now, nose, mouth, ears, tried to do what they were meant to do, but couldn’t.
He needed to breathe, didn’t he? Drawing breath was where life began, and yet strangely, he knew he didn’t and yet didn’t need to. Not now. When had he stopped?
You are within me, child. I carry you now. All you must do is accept the magics that make you well again. Take what I give you, mind, body, spirit…rebirth.
Where am I? What happened to me?
Child of mine, you rest within me for a little while. Your journey was interrupted, but it is not over. You will go from here soon and not return for several cycles of the moon. Once healed, once remade, you will be unique to the world you come back to.
How did I get here? I can’t move my arms or legs. I don’t think I’m breathing.
Your mortal ties were cut, which gave you back to me so that I may prepare you for your destined life.
So it was true that I had a destiny all along?
It was always true. Rest now, my son. You are not yet well enough to proceed on your journey. Sleep again, and when you wake, I will show you the world through new eyes.
Will trusted the voice implicitly, but as he fell back into the sleep to wait for his promised future, he wondered if Olivia was okay and if she knew where he was.
Mid-afternoon, outside of Boston
Mies woke abruptly, breathing hard, and pushed from his bed, his eyes on Sarah, who slept peacefully. He rushed into the outer room of their suite, but didn’t turn on the lights.
A message…from the spirit world? He hadn’t been contacted, hadn’t been bothered, for a century. To his knowledge, although he’d been brought forward from his resting place a millennia ago, he’d figured he was like any normal first blood now, his life his own to live as any vampire would.
It appeared he was wrong.
What was that? A mission? For the living planet?
What the hell? Lying back on a cushy recliner, he closed his eyes and, for the first time in over a hundred years, let himself journey back into the spirit world to the strange place he’d first discovered that he would be granted life again.
The disembodied voice that spoke in feelings and not words, began to reveal its goal.
Someone needed his guidance, someone who had passed beyond the mortal veil to heal and live again.
This man was not vampire.
“Humans are not immortal,” he reminded the voice. “How does he live again?”
Mies laughed, the answer should not have been unexpected. This time, the words from the spirit world were clear.
The way that you do, vampire. You lost your immortal life forever, and yet here you live. This man lost his mortal life, and lives again. You know that rules don’t always apply.
“It gets confusing though. All right, tell me what I need to do.”
Two weeks later, high in the Himalayan Mountains
Small steps, small steps, small steps…
Will had been here for only eight hours, in yet another cave, and while this one wasn’t buried deep under the ground, in some ways, it was, because even though he’d entered through a slit in the rock with the vampire he knew of as Mies, it was carved into the mountainside thousands of feet below the summit of the highest mountain on earth.
It was where much of the earth’s magics lay. It was where he knew he had been brought to complete healing.
After helping Will settle into a corner of the cave, Mies proceeded to set up camp. Fire now blazing, he’d placed a pot over it to heat water for coffee, and pulled out two heavy sleeping bags to spread over the dry ground near the fire.
“Do you want to try to eat again?”
Will didn’t know what he was. His first meal in…he didn’t know how long it had been…which Mies had given him several hours earlier, had come back up. Was he hungry? Was that need still there? The answer blasted back to him. Yes!
“I would, but do you have something simple? Like crackers?”
“Yes, I do. I remember how difficult it was to begin to eat when I was brought back. Of course, in my case it had been considerably longer, but I think you’re experiencing the same thing. Here, try these.”
Mies handed him a small pack of thin wafers, and, carefully, Will bit the tip off of one. It had an enticing flavor and proved that he was indeed hungry, so he slowly began nibbling on each until the pack of 4 was gone.
“Things staying down?”
“So far. Thank you. For everything.” Will took a moment to scan the huge vampire who had apparently gotten the detail to help Will get to this remote cave in Asia. The man seemed to perform every task with supreme control, calm, measured, assured. He’d commented about being brought back too.
“You were dead, like I was?”
“For thousands of years. I was gone forever, until I wasn’t. Suffice it to say, nothing is ever lost in the universe, and when you realize that everyone ends up in the spiritual plane somewhere, you understand that, technically, people aren’t really gone so much as moved on to the next level of existence. It is rare, though, for ones such as you and I to return. My life was ended much shorter than it should have been, so it’s been a gift to be allowed to have the chance. It is true for you too.”
Mies lifted the heated pot. “How are you feeling?”
“The food seems to be staying down now.”
“Good. Let’s add some weak tea with a combination of energy supplements. Then I think you need to rest. This is your first time up since, uh, dying, right?”
“Right. It’s been several weeks, I’m not sure how many. Mies, do you know if the people in Brazil know that I’m alive.”
“No. I mean, no, I don’t know, but it’s doubtful. You are here for a reason, and if the people you cared about knew, they would be here instead of me, yeah? Look, I’m the one put here to help you because I’ve lived this resurrection thing too. What I can tell you is, take your time, let your mind, body, and soul reconnect and heal as one. In death, they are separated. We’ll do this slowly, integrate your magics, which are powerful indeed, and I’ll guide you to the best of my ability into adapting to whatever you are now. Will, you are not just a human man anymore, you get that?”
“I’m muddled, but I know that I’ve changed. I had changed before the death, but now, I don’t feel quite the same. Except for…”
“I bet I can guess the except for part. Someone special who is even now grieving for you.”
“I think so. It isn’t fair to her.”
“It never is. Hasn’t anyone told you? Fair has nothing to do with life. We struggle because we’re made to do so, and somehow, hope we come out stronger and okay on the other side. Let’s get you well, trained, and back to your life, deal?”
“Huh. Yeah, deal.”
“Now try this tea.”
In Las Vegas
“No. No, don’t make me do it.”
“You will. I tried to charm the bitch, but she’s un-charmable. She’s a whore, is what she is. My plan was perfect. So now, we’re going to try the same thing with you and that weird vampire from Corsica she took in recently. Obviously, he knows what’s going on. Give me your best work, Thalasia, and I’ll convert you, I promise. Otherwise, I’m so pissed, I’m likely to kill a lot of people just to feel better. Do you want that?”
“No, Frederick, I don’t. Fine, you don’t even have to use control, I’ll do it.”
“You bet you will. One thing I know, you cunts have strong survival instincts. You don’t have the luxury of failing this assignment, so get your hottest fuck-me dress and heels and get to it. For your sake, I hope he likes women and not men.”
Sick to her stomach, but relieved that he actually didn’t use compulsion, Thalasia went to her room and leaned against the wall to calm her shaking nerves. She fully believed he would kill her. He would kill anyone he just felt the itch to kill. It was past time to change her alliances.
So, when she went to Gio, one of Olivia’s newest vampire contacts, she would do her best to seduce him, as ordered. In the end, her intention was to protect herself, fuck yeah, just like Frederick said she would, but by asking to see Olivia and telling her everything. It was time to do the right thing, and finish Frederick Villioth’s dangerous obsession.
Across the city, Olivia prepared to go to bed after a non-stop busy day. Corri had already gone in even though daylight was two hours away. They were both exhausted.
The nursery was finished, a corner of her suite now repurposed with cute animated animals and pale blues mixed with yellow. And too many ribbons, but she loved the effect. Her baby boy would be here in less than four months. Gods, she couldn’t wait!
Her flat belly noticeably rounded, Olivia chose her clothes carefully to hide the shape. Vampires who worked for her, other than the few who knew about first bloods, would eventually be told that she’d adopted a human child. Since the baby would essentially be human until he changed one day, it wasn’t an unrealistic stretch; he would read entirely human to them.
It would ensure the time-honored tradition of keeping first bloods existence unknown, even from the general vampire community. Most felt it always would be the only way to stay safe.
To protect the coming child, security in the apartment and on the entire floor had been re-assessed by the best in the world. Bas’s IT guy, Tim, who had been with him over a hundred and thirty years, vampire now for the past 120, had always stayed current with any technology. It would be nearly impossible for anyone, including first bloods, to get into Olivia’s apartments now without authorization, a 6-pronged system of redundancies.
The recent threat that had taken Will’s life still existed. The bodies of the four men found in the wreckage with him had remained unidentified; the plane untraced to an owner or rental agency.
Now, daylight on its way, Olivia wandered through her apartment, smiling to herself. Happy and satisfied with her life like she’d never been before, she’d gone through so much pain and soul searching to arrive here, beyond grateful for this unexpected part of her journey.
Wandering to the rearmost bedroom suite, she opened the door that was usually kept closed. Smiling wider, she entered, a hand out to slide along smooth polished chrome, then along well-tended black leather.
“This was your father’s prized possession, my son. It will be yours someday, but not until you’re vampire and I know that you will be safe riding it. How he would have loved to have taught you.”
With a final loving gaze at Will’s vintage Harley-Davidson motorcycle, Olivia closed the door behind her as she walked back through the apartment, ordered a big chocolate milkshake, which had become a nightly habit, and returned to her room.
When she visited the motorcycle, she felt closer to the man she’d loved, and to the child they’d made.
“Less than four months, Biker, and your son will be here.” Olivia whispered to Will’s memory, and hoped that maybe somewhere in the cosmos, he might hear her. Her belly wiggled, excited. Her son had.
Late that following night
Gio wandered through the club, watching the partiers, some extreme, as they ate, drank, danced, and nearly fucked in the main entertainment room. He’d been working security for Persistence, the new club, since Corri assigned it to him, grateful for the opportunity to feel like a functioning member of the world again. She’d set him up with a nice vampire-protected apartment three stories below her own, right next to Rochelle, and given him a community of friends again.
Smiling, he watched an underdressed young woman trying out one of the erotic moves on the visitor’s pole as she laughed hysterically when she slid right back down to crash into the platform. He liked the harmless play here in what he had nicknamed, “Sexworld,” because it gave people a clean, safe place to live out sexual fantasies. The club strived to make sure that no one felt judged or shamed for their appearance or needs, and as long as no one got hurt or abused, physically or mentally, it would be business as usual.
While most of the clients were human, a small clientele of vampires visited late at night for consensual paid sex or blood meals.
Olivia had filled a need and the people had embraced the club. Gio was proud to be in charge of protecting what she had built. He’d known from the first moment he met Corri that somehow, she would change his life. Those awful psychotic days with Rocky were long over, and even if he thought of those times now, it was easy to make the memories fade away and remember where he was now.
Near the back of the club, a gorgeous human woman had been ordering drinks and a few appetizer trays all evening, but she’d yet to interact with any of the entertainment or other guests. Once in a while, he saw her lift her eyes and search the room.
As he moved through his rounds, he noticed her watching him, but when their eyes met the first time, she looked away. After that, she kept her gaze locked on his.
Beautiful woman, intriguing, but he used the services of the paid professionals here. It wasn’t wise to get involved with the patrons and at this point in his new life, he wasn’t looking for a relationship.
He gave her a friendly professional smile and went on with his job.
“Gio.”
He turned to Rochelle, who managed the Pleasure Center.
“Yes, Roach?”
“Pig.”
They still played with some of the ridiculous nicknames from their time with Rocky’s cadre. The insults had become endearments.
“Gio, there’s a guy in 8 that has me concerned. I don’t usually like to access the feeds, but in his case, I think we need to. I think he’s abusive, but Marli won’t admit it.”
“You think she’s scared of him?”
“I do.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
Each service room, elegantly decorated for a pleasant experience, also had security feeds; never used unless there was a safety issue. Gio trusted Rochelle’s instincts without question.
Signing in with his biocode, he watched for only a few moments when he saw the man place his thumbs on Marli’s throat and press down using all his weight. Marli couldn’t even release a sound of distress, but the panic in her body and eyes was clear. The man was choking her to death.
Inside the room before the client could blink, Gio had him pinned to the wall. The punishment for this type of behavior was banishment and instant behavioral modification. The man stared defiantly at him, struggling against vampire strength he wouldn’t break.
“Stop. You will never come here to this building again. Before you leave, you will give this woman a thousand dollar tip, and from now forward, sex will be of no interest to you at all. You will never harm another living thing. The thought of it will make you violently ill. Now get out of here.”
Gio turned to Marli, naked on the bed, terrified. “No, Gio. He told me last time he was here that if I let you know how he hurt me, he’d kill me and my daughter. Gio…”
“Look at me, Marli. You are fine, you feel great, that man never hurt you and he’ll never be back. You do not fear him. Go get dressed and report to Rochelle.”
Marli’s tears stopped at once, she reached for a satin robe, smiled to Gio, and rose. “Gio, what are you doing in here? Did you want serviced? I am always happy to take care of you.”
“Not right now, Marli. Go talk to Rochelle.”
“Okay, but, just remember me when you’re ready. You are my favorite client.”
Gone soon after, Gio left the room, walked into the entertainment lounge, saw the woman who’d caught his eye all night, and went out the front doors for some fresh night air. Leaning against the alley, his eyes closed to the traffic and people, he let his mind clear. These brief moments of meditation always helped him to relax.
“Hi.”
A throaty, sexy voice interrupted and his eyes popped open to the face of the woman he’d walked away from in the lounge.
“Hi. Uh, weren’t you enjoying the lounge?”
“I was. You might have noticed I’m alone at my table, but I like to take it easy and watch everyone else have a good time. I’m, um, kind of shy that way.”
“I wouldn’t have taken you for shy.”
“You caught my eye. I must say, I couldn’t stop watching you. Is there any chance I could buy you a drink? Somewhere else, sometime else, of course.”
“That’s a nice invitation, but we don’t date our guests.”
“Oh, good. I wasn’t planning to come back. That solves the conflict. Are you involved with someone, or don’t I appeal to you?”
His eyes moving over her, from the smooth dark skin to huge expressive eyes, a mouth made for kisses, to a heavenly feminine body wrapped in a tight dress pushing against a firm curvy shape topped with full, and what appeared to be natural, breasts, down to long legs that ended in sexy feet seated in high-heeled slides. Never mind that her smile had grabbed his attention from the first moment.
“You appeal,” he said, self-conscious, and aware he’d given her an opening.
“Good. My name is Thalasia. Meet me here, Friday night, at midnight. Please. I’ll wait for you for twenty minutes, but not a minute more.”
A white card with the name of a streetside café, Tosh, slipped into his hand and she was gone.
Shit. Was he going to do it?
Yeah, he was.
Around the corner of Serenity Tower, Thalasia leaned against a wall just as she’d found Gio doing moments earlier. He was so sweet, so handsome, so perfect…how could she betray him like Villioth wanted her to? The answer was clear. She couldn’t. How to deal with it was up to her.
In the Himalayan Mountains
“I miss you, Sarah. Soon, though, I think I’ll be able to come home to you. Sleep well. Kisses and hugs from the other side of the world.”
Mies rung off his call and glanced at his companion of two months. Will had filled out and strengthened. Mies, as the oldest living vampire, his body huge, magnificent, felt like he was looking into a mirror. Yes, he and Will had grown close over the months together, but it was more than that. The shared history, the support of being chosen by the universe for a special mission, and given a second chance after the finality of death. Mies had been convinced that no one else in existence had experienced what he had, and while Will’s story differed quite a lot, the similarities remained that created a brotherhood between them.
“Your mate doing okay?”
“She’s fine. We miss each other, but I think you can relate. We’re nearly finished here. Look at you, you’re as big as me. And the shit you can do, I can’t even touch your magics.”
“It’s daunting. I know I’m not what I was, but I don’t have any idea what I am. I’m not vampire, I don’t read as supernatural, do I?”
Mies shook his head. “No, you don’t.”
Will shook his head. “And yet I’m not fully human.”
“You’ll understand why this has happened, I guarantee it. The universe reveals its secrets slowly, but eventually, it does reveal them. My journey was difficult, Will, but worth every second of pain and heartache. For Sarah, for Crezia, I crossed time, came back to life to fall in love and then die again to lose it all. Yet here I humbly stand and thank the powers that rule the universe for giving me the chance to love and find a home. Everything worthwhile has a price, Will.”
Will’s arms folded now over muscles he was finally getting used to. “But I don’t think Olivia is in this deal. I haven’t been able to touch her.”
“You’re shielded, I think. Wait until you’re free and see where the next part of your journey sends you.”
“I can’t go back to them, can I? The people I loved have buried me, have grieved for me, and moved on. How can I put Olivia through this again if I’m not meant to stay? I truly have no idea why I’ve been brought back and transformed into this strange hybrid supernatural thing.”
Placing a heavy hand on Will’s shoulder, Mies moved close. “Trust, my friend, the universe has a plan. It’s protecting life, and in this case, this world. You are here for a reason, and when you know what it is, you’ll be grateful that you are. Don’t count out life with the woman you love. I did, thinking that I’d done the noble thing and sacrificed, yet here I am, a century of love with the one woman I know was meant to be with me. Now, let’s finish off that honeyed bacon that the Sherpas brought to us.”
“I’ll start the fire.”
“You bet you will.”
Grinning, because he always started the fire now, Will turned to the firewood neatly stacked in their makeshift fire-ring, and lifted a hand to draw the fire from the air. Swirls of yellow, then orange, twisted above the firewood and dropped lower to ignite the wood.
“Done,” Will announced.
“You are a handy man to have around.” Mies brought a pack of meat forward and placed a few dozen pieces on a rack. It took a lot to feed them, Mies as first blood vampire, and recently, with his size and metabolic changes, Will ate just as much.
Seated in front of the fire, Mies kept his eyes on Will.
“You know we are nearly done.”
“The magics are complete, and I’m changed. You’ve guided me on the history of magics from those days so long ago. Yes, I think we’ll be going back down the mountain tomorrow.”
“Whoa, that soon? You already have a timeframe?”
“Not mine. The magics have made it clear. What the fuck I will be doing, I still don’t know.”
“Will, would you like to come back to Boston with me? Sarah would be thrilled to meet you.”
“I really don’t have a direction yet. Maybe. Thank you for the invitation. I would love to meet her someday.”
Later, ready to rest on his cot, Will admitted...he did have a direction, and it was back to Vegas. He was certain Mies knew it too.
Serenity Tower
“Brigitte, you brought too much!”
Olivia looked over the huge selection of baby gifts Brigitte had brought with her from Zambia.
“Not possible. Listen, this boy is going to be a big strong macho man like his father someday, so I brought him everything he needs to achieve that. Like, in this box, I have spirit masks. African totems, symbols of masculinity. This one is the king of beasts. Lions are said to be able to call down thunder and lightning with a roar.”
She held up the mentioned items with a grin. “Then there’s the freaking cute baby clothes and toys. Who knew there were so many adorable things for babies?”
Olivia hadn’t, not before, and she was sure that the world of baby stuff was just as alien to Brigitte. “Thank you, but he’s first blood, so becoming a huge uber-macho male is a given.”
“Ah, true. I just kind of wanted to leave something of me with him. I included rattles carved from natural materials that our blood-bonds make for local children.”
When Olivia had first revealed that she was going to have Will’s child, a stab of pain had shot through Brigitte.
Will and Olivia had been together…and while she assumed that they had, the pregnancy seemed like a cruel reminder. It wasn’t long before she accepted that this boy was an extraordinary gift, part of Will they could keep in their lives.
Laying the rattle down, Olivia took Brigitte’s hands in hers. “Bridge, everything is fabulous, but you don’t have to bring gifts to be a part of him. You are a part of Jasper’s life.”
“Jasper? You chose his name.”
“Last night, after first meal, I just knew who he was. Will’s name was Willoughby Jasper, and it fit that his son should carry part of it into the future. When I decided on Jasper,” Olivia touched her belly, “He approved.”
“It’s perfect.” Brigitte dropped onto her knees and put her lips to the growing baby mound. “Hi, Jasper, it’s your aunt Brigitte.”
Suddenly silent, Brigitte closed her eyes and laid her head against Olivia. When she looked up several moments later, tears glistened in her dark eyes.
“I feel him. He let me know that he’s going to come soon and wants me to hold him. Olivia…”
“Fifth generation first blood, my dear. The boy already blows me away. Come, let’s share a ridiculous dessert, and then go through these gifts.”