Eight
Corri opened the door to Olivia’s bedroom suite, sliding up the lights just enough to create a pale rose hue over everything. It was meant to be soothing and pleasant to her as she woke to begin her night.
Olivia liked things nice.
Swiping moisture from her eyes, she sat on the side of Olivia’s bed and reached across the wide expanse to shake her gently.
“Liv? Liv, you have to wake up.” A few seconds later, a heartier shake, and a louder voice. “Olivia.”
“Ummm….”
Olivia rolled over, cracked her eyelids, glanced to her side to see Corri, and smiled. “Hey, friendly face. Damn, how much did we drink last night? You’re getting really good at designing alcohol that’s effective for vampires. I think I have a hangover.”
“Olivia, you need to sit up.”
Crawling upright, Olivia pushed two of her fat pillows up behind her and leaned into them. “So stern. What’s the deal? Oh, by the way, are you going to hold me to that promise to get dogs?”
“I need to tell you something, and this isn’t easy.”
Somber now, Olivia felt her skin cool. “What is it?”
“Something happened in Brazil today. Liv, there’s no easy way to tell you this, but…” Corri drew a deep breath.
“Will was killed today.”
Olivia just stared at Corri, unsure of what to say. She couldn’t have heard what she thought she heard; it wasn’t possible.
Trying to process the words didn’t seem to help either.
Will was killed today.
Finally she was able to respond. “No, he wasn’t. Will and I have such a close connection, if something had happened to him, I would have known. Even in my sleep, his spirit would have come to me.”
A sudden memory came to her, a dream, in her sleep, lying with Will in a sun-filled meadow. But that was just a lovely dream, that’s all.
Corri took Olivia’s hand and intertwined their fingers.
“It’s true, Liv, I’m sorry. They found him. He died in a plane crash.”
Olivia shot up, balancing on the soft mattress, laughing, her hair flying around her head. “See, that proves it. Will would never get into a plane. Never! It’s some kind of bizarre mistake.”
“Brigitte is on her way here to see you. She’s hurting, and she knows you’ll be too. Livie, why don’t you come out into the galley and I’ll make you a hot tea?”
A black cloud descended over Olivia’s spirit as suddenly she realized, had to admit, had to understand, to accept, that Corri would never say something so horrible to her if it wasn’t true. If she didn’t know it was true. And Brigitte? She wouldn’t come here if something hadn’t happened to make her come.
Collapsing on the bed, her legs out to her side, her hands in her lap, her heart breaking, Olivia lifted wet eyes to Corri. “Tell me.”
Forty minutes later, Corri finally convinced Olivia to come from her bedroom into the living space. She set a hot tea filled with honey and whisky in front of Olivia, who sat stone-still on the sofa and looked at the mug in front of her. They waited for Brigitte to arrive, but Olivia had already told Corri to prepare her jet and put her pilot on standby.
“I have to see him.”
“It isn’t…”
“It doesn’t matter. You don’t know this yet, Corri, you haven’t been alive long enough, but when you’ve been around for centuries, when awful things happen to rip you apart, the only way to make peace with it, to try somehow to go on, is to face whatever it is and find a way to accept that nothing you say, nothing you do, no prayers, no deals, no begging, is going to change the truth. I have to see him to accept that he’s gone.”
Hands shaking, Olivia lifted the mug and tried unsuccessfully to take a sip. She held it in her hands for a while until she could hold it steadily. “I have to say goodbye.”
“Oh, Liv, my darling, I understand. Can I go with you?”
The mug began to tremble again, and Corri lifted it to place it back on the table.
“I wish you would,” Olivia finally was able to answer.
“Do you want to lie back down until Brigitte gets here?”
“I want to go out onto the balcony.”
“That’s a good idea. It’s a lovely warm night and the breeze is perfect.”
“It’ll never be a perfect night again.”
“Oh, sweetheart…”
Corri wrapped her arms around Olivia and they stood there in the center of the room, weeping into each other, Olivia crying for Will, Corri crying for both of them.
She’d heard Vaz’s pain after losing the first love of his life, and now, to watch her dearest friend facing an even more tragic loss, because they hadn’t even had a chance to really find each other in all this mess of a life.
When the door chimed, she softly accepted the visitor, and looked up to see a stunning woman approach, tears welling up immediately when she saw Olivia, and knew it had to be Brigitte.
“Hi,” the woman said softly, and turned to Olivia.
“He’s gone,” she whispered, and the two women dropped to the floor, embracing, weeping openly, as Corri stepped back and wondered how anyone ever survived something like this.
At Ife’s compound the following night
Olivia sat expressionless as the discussion continued. Brigitte hadn’t moved far from her side since they had lost it in Olivia’s apartment, and flown back to confront one of the worst moments of their lives…putting Will’s body to rest for the final time. She’d been sitting here in Ife’s lounge for less than an hour and she couldn’t take another minute.
When they told her how he’d come to be in the plane, that someone had tried to abduct him and Dani, she’d walked out of the building and dropped against the earth to ask how the planet could let him die over some piece of shit that was stalking her. She knew it was the person or persons who sought information about her, and now, no matter how long it took, no matter what the sacrifice, she would find the ones responsible, and they would die.
Now, all that remained, all she could do for him, was to give him a proper burial.
Brigitte would accompany her shortly to the little spirit room at the back of the building to see him.
She’d been warned. He had been burned over thirty percent of his body, but otherwise, he barely looked injured by the impact and fire. Brigitte had said it was the magics and Olivia knew it was so.
Still, the moment was near when she would hold him one last time.
“We could bury him in the new flower fields,” Ife suggested.
“No.”
Everyone looked up at Olivia. “In the cave. We have to lay him to rest in the cave. There’s nowhere else Will should be than at the heart of his spirit, where his magics were born. We have to give him back to the earth.”
“She’s right,” Brigitte agreed. “We have to take him to the new cave and let him return to the Mother Earth.”
“You’re right, of course. Olivia, once you say goodbye, we’ll do a procession and take Will home.”
Olivia couldn’t have spoken for anything at that moment. She just nodded and stood when Brigitte motioned for her to do so.
“Come, let’s go see him.”
As they passed Dani, Olivia saw her drop her head and look away.
Stopping, she lifted Dani’s head and looked into her eyes. Olivia kissed her cheeks, one, then the other, her lips, her nose, and each eyelid. “Will saved you, don’t throw away his gift. He’s a beautiful man, we’ll remember him with joy and love. Dani, don’t grieve too long and don’t carry the burden of blame. There is none for you.”
“But…”
“Will adored you, I know that. Adore him back by embracing the life he protected for you.”
Dani held onto Olivia’s hand until she continued behind Brigitte down a long hallway, past the dining room and a gaming room, through a music room, and finally into a room separated by a white iron door. Intricate lacework detail covered the door in pale blues, reminiscent of clouds moving through a blue sky.
Brigitte paused with her hand on the old-fashioned door handle. “Are you ready?”
Again, no words would come, so Olivia nodded and followed her into a candlelight filled room. Near the back of the room, on a satin covered bench, lay a dark form. Olivia stopped. It couldn’t be Will, it just couldn’t. She shook her head.
“I’m not sure I can.”
“You can. I’m going to leave now and let you do this in your own time, in your own way. Olivia, he’ll wait until you’re ready.”
The door closed behind Brigitte, leaving Olivia standing where she’d stopped, unable to go forward or back. Fluttering in her belly overwhelmed her suddenly, and she put her hands to it, amazed that calmness replaced the pain and she stepped forward.
Closer, closer, until she stood in front of Will, and yes, it was him, and yes, he was gone.
He looked like he was sleeping, at peace, like he could open his eyes and smile at her. That face that she’d never forgotten after that first night, that she never would, looked untouched, and for him to go through what he had, it was a miracle. Someone had dressed him in a long white robe, which seemed right, aware that it probably hid the damage from the fire.
She slid down to lean against the bench and touched his cool lips with a fingertip.
“Will, what am I going to do with you? I leave and look what happens.” It amazed her that she could smile, but seeing him, knowing it would be the last moment with him, was all that she would ever get again. “I’ll miss you forever, my beautiful man. My mate. You are my first and only love. I had such plans for us, but…”
Her voice cracked and faded, but she couldn’t take her eyes off him. How was she going to face the rest of her life without this man who she was convinced had been her destiny?
When she could speak again, her volume was low but she knew he could hear her. “I waited for you for centuries, Biker. How dare you leave so soon? You’re Shoazan, you’re supposed to be invincible. I guess that’s only if you’re pregnant. You aren’t are you?”
He didn’t answer her pained smile. “Seriously, what am I going to do without you?” she repeated.
Olivia stayed with him for a long time until the door opened and Brigitte spoke.
“Liv, stay as long as you need, but when you’re ready, we’re going to take him to the cave and have a small service there.”
Waiting for a few seconds for a response, Brigitte realized that Olivia couldn’t answer, and quietly closed the door.
Her hand on her belly again, as it pitched and rolled, as movement inside felt odd and yet comforting at the same time, Olivia stayed another period of time, how much she did not know, then finally stood. Kissing his lips, her fingers scored Will’s face, along the cheekline, the strong chin, across closed eyes, she kissed a trail and ended once more on his lips for a final kiss.
“Until we meet again beyond the veil, past all these earthly concerns, I hope you find joy in the spirit world. Never forget that I wait to join you. I love you, Biker.”
Sorrow broke her as she walked from the little room out into the brighter light of the corridor, where, thankfully, she was alone and dropped down against the wall to weep uncontrollably, both hands now on her belly again. Why did that give her such comfort? How could anything?
When it felt like there were no other tears left, she pushed up shakily, and, one last glance toward the door, she walked back to the lounge, nodded to Ife and Brigitte, who waited, and continued to the room they’d assigned to her so that she could splash cold water on her face before they left to take Will to his grave.
“Livie.”
Olivia whirled and hurried into Dez’s arms, grateful to collapse against her, more grateful yet when Zach’s arms went around both of them. They stood together, wrapped in warmth and family until Brigitte’s voice interrupted.
“We’ve taken him to the cart. Whenever you guys are ready.”
Twenty minutes later, a group of Will’s closet friends followed a cart carrying Will’s body covered with local flowers, only his face exposed, as the small procession made its way to the cavern of crystals. Lowering him down on a rope pulley designed by Torin, Will was going home forever.
Stepping back into the hole in the earth where she and Will had made love for the first and last time, Olivia nearly lost it again until, from the pit of her spirit, memories invaded; warmth and joy infused her mind and heart. This was not a place for sorrow. Reaching for Brigitte, the two led the group toward a deep hole dug into the corner of the space beneath a wall densely packed with diamond-like crystals. His grave.
“He should be here, he would like this,” Brigitte mused.
“No he wouldn’t.” Olivia closed her eyes as Torin and Scottie lowered Will’s body into the grave with only the white robe and a shroud of the same material wrapped around his face, so that the dirt wouldn’t intrude on those features they loved.
Tears slipped without notice down cheeks, voices cracked, stories told, and it was time.
Torin looked up into Olivia’s eyes, his nearly as wet.
“I know you were in love with him. It’s okay.”
None of that mattered to her anymore, the messed up sexual alliances that were never going to last, the memories sweet, but only that, sweet moments to fade away with the setting sun. What she had with Will had been solid, perfect, and would have spanned millennia.
Brigitte touched her hand and she nodded. None of this was Torin’s fault. He just got caught up in her wake.
Reaching for him, she slid a hand into his to let him know that he was right, everything was okay.
Words were spoken, goodbyes said, final kisses bestowed, and as easily as that, or as hard as that, Will was placed in the ground, covered, a sprinkle of the crystals scattered over the spot from each who attended, and it was done.
Will had lived his life, and left it, leaving those who loved him behind to go about their days and wish he could be with them still.
Vampires accepted these truths, these losses, or they could never survive the pain of such long lives. Having been fortunate, Olivia had never lost anyone who meant so much to her, and although she was a pragmatic woman, she already knew that this one would take a very long time to move past.
Dez took her hand. “Let’s go home, my child.”
“Okay. But Dez, I’m going home to Vegas. I can’t be here.”
“You’ll stay the day at least?”
“No, Dez, my jet is UV protected so I can fly safely and I really don’t want to be here. Not now. Please understand.”
Dez folded her granddaughter into her arms and held her. They both knew that this kind of hurt stayed and buried itself in the living spirit. She knew that Olivia would be okay, but that would be sometime in the future, not today, and not tomorrow.
“We’ll take you to it, then.”
Zach reached for Brigitte, a hand on her forearm.
“Do you need a lift?”
“No. My sister is coming to be with me here. Right now, I agree with Liv. Go away, lick the wounds, and live to love another day.” Her eyes landed on Dani, in the corner of the cave, a hand in the little pond. “I’m going to see how Dani is doing.”
She turned to Corri, who waited nearby. “Take care of her.” Corri nodded.
Brigitte turned to Olivia and captured her face in her hands. “Liv.” She paused, her smile sweet. “I know he loved you. He was going to tell me that night when I woke, I know he was. I’m sorry you didn’t get a chance to find each other and be together. I’ll miss him, every day, so if you need to talk with someone who understands, let me know and I’ll come to you.”
The two women hugged so long, it appeared they didn’t want to let go, and for those moments, Olivia didn’t. When they finally stepped away from each other, she watched Brigitte disappear beyond the light before she took Dez and Corri’s hands.
“I’m through here too. Take me out.”
And like that, climbing from the dark hole in the earth, she left behind her future.
Walking away, she stopped and grabbed Dez’s arm.
“Does anyone have any photos of Will? Anything to remember his face when time and distance make him fade away?”
Zach slid a hand along the top of her head. “I do. We’ve taken a lot of candid shots of him along with everyone else who comes to the club. Don’t worry, Liv, you’ll get them.”
“Thank you. You always think everything is going to be all right, that you’ll have a chance to fix things, and it just isn’t true. No, I have to go home and figure out how to live without him. Right now, the future looks bleak.”
In Las Vegas
Frederick Villioth picked up a leaded vase and hurled it across the room, enraged.
“What the fuck did you say?”
“Um, sir, the plane carrying your hostages and the team that captured them, it, uh, went down. No survivors.”
Shocked, pissed, he gathered his thoughts, calmed down, and turned to his blood-bond.
“Can you give me any more details? Why did the plane crash? Who discovered it? Where are my men? What the fuck happened?”
“I have very little knowledge. We’re, uh, in fact-finding now, but I knew you were waiting for them to arrive, and I thought it prudent to let you know that, uh, they weren’t going to.”
“Wise thinking. Never keep me out of the loop. So tell me what you do know.”
“We monitor the news feeds in any country where we have a presence, but this afternoon, we heard a broadcast announce that a hyperjet went down in the old-growth part of the Amazon. Five bodies were recovered.”
“Five? Five? Your math doesn’t add up. There should have been my extraction team, that’s three, the pilot, that’s four, plus two hostages, a man and a woman. You’ve confirmed it’s mine?”
“Yes, sir. The authorities haven’t been able to identify its origins, and any other, they would, so it’s gotta be yours.”
“Handle it. Make sure nothing can be traced back to me. I imagine Olivia’s vampire community will be investigating the incident if the two on board were as close as I believe they were to them. I sure the fuck don’t want them on my doorstep.”
“I have two vampires on it, sir.”
“Good. It seems you have everything in hand. Fuck! When you find out why the plane went down, I want to know.”
“At once. I’ll go see how things are going.”
The bearer of bad news gone now, Frederick punched a heavily tufted pillow. What could have caused that new plane to crash? The hostages fought back? Maybe, but if that were the case, then he’d hired incompetents to secure them, and Locktite was no incompetent.
“Once again, nothing feels right here.”
Entering the room, Thalasia, dressed in a short white top, shorter pants, and knee high white boots, had been listening to the conversation.
“You have had a lot of trouble trying to get that vampire’s shit. Maybe it’s best to let it go. Some things aren’t meant to be.”
“When I want your opinion, sex doll, I’ll let you know. For now, go see if you can find out anything at Olivia’s new club. Someone on her staff might know what’s going on, and you, my dear gal, blend in there amongst the human trash.”
“Whoa. Trash? What the hell?” Thalasia walked toward the door. “You’re a pig, Frederick Villioth.”
“As long as I get what I want, and, oh, yes, your opinion doesn’t matter at all. Find out what you can and come right back to me. Don’t linger.”
Posed, her nearly exposed ass pointing at Frederick Villioth, Thalasia watched him. He’d used compulsion to make her do what he asked, so, against her will, she sauntered out the door, heading to Serenity Tower to betray people who were a whole hell of a lot better than she was, than the piece of shit she fucked and worked for. It was time to get away from him, but that wasn’t likely to happen. He’d kill her long before he’d let her go, and she had no illusions that he wouldn’t also kill her long before he made her vampire.
Half an hour later, Thalasia was seated in Serenity’s newest club, cozied up, half-drunk, with one of the bouncers, trying to convince him to let her give him a blowjob. Nothing made a man happier to tell everything he knew than when he was under the spell of a good blow.
“So I love your boss. She’s just such a classy lady. She here tonight?”
“No. Had an emergency and took off for South America. Second trip there in the past few weeks.”
“Wow. Somethin’ wrong?”
“I don’t know about that. Corri, she’s the one who’s hands-on here, is really worried about her. She’s really sad right now, and that isn’t typical for her.”
“Aw. Well, hope it isn’t anything too tragic.”
“Me too. Did you want a refill on that?”
Thalasia handed him her glass. “Yeah, I do. Say, Joey, would you like me to, uh, show you how athletic my tongue is?” That would loosen him up.
“I can’t fraternize that closely with the guests, sorry. It’s a nice offer, but if you’d like to visit our guest services in the back of the club, you’ll find everything you need there to leave with great memories.”
Fuck! “Nah, I just like you and thought I could give you a good time. I’m very, very skilled.”
“I’m sure you are, but, I like this job and can’t partake of your kind offer.”
“Kind? You think all this is kind?” Moving her hands up and down her body, Thalasia was ashamed of herself. Joey was a good, hardworking, honest man and here she was trying to force him to risk his job.
Compulsion sucked, but luckily, since he refused her, she couldn’t do anything else to convince him, so she left unsatisfied in her mission, but personally pleased to have failed.
After she returned to the vast warehouse building that Villioth had purchased two years ago, Thalasia entered his private rooms, well aware he would want an update.
“Well?” he barked as soon as she arrived.
“Sorry, but he wasn’t interested. His job would have been on the line and he has scruples and a strong sense of self-preservation.”
“Or you’re losing your appeal.”
Pissed, sick of her life, Thalasia dropped her clothing on the floor, presenting a body she knew was excellent, and walked up to Frederick Villioth, grabbed his cock, which was hardening under her fingers, then moved away from him. “Not.”
“Did you discover anything about Olivia?”
“She’s gone. Personal tragedy. I guess we know what. It appears that you’ve lost your leverage. I’m exhausted, I’m going to bed.”
Gone quickly, Thalasia closed the door behind her, leaving Frederick pissed off, but distracted.
For a moment, he considered Thalasia’s suggestion to forget about this desire to understand the mystery of what these vampires were, but seconds later, he recommitted.
“You are something special, and I will know what it is.”
In Serenity Tower
“You’re sure you don’t want me to stay? I could crawl into bed beside you and we could talk all night.”
“Corri, you’re wonderful, thank you, but I just need to sleep. Daylight is a few hours yet, but I’m drained.”
Corri pushed Olivia’s hair back and held her face.
“If you need me, no matter when, call me. You do look tired, but after what you’ve been through, I’d be surprised if you didn’t. You’re sure you’re okay?”
“I will be. I’m going to have some bad times, but I have you to help me get through it. Getting back to work will help, but I think I need a few more days to get my head on straight.”
Olivia paused, her eyes closed. “I already miss him so much, when I think about him, I can’t breathe.”
“Oh, honey.” Corri held her friend for long moments before Olivia gently pushed her back.
“Go see your mate. I’m going to swallow a gallon of whisky and fall into my bed. Don’t let anyone disturb me until I let you know. Honestly, I just want to be alone for a while.”
“I understand. Just, please, let me know if you need me anytime, okay? Promise.”
“I promise. Now, scoot, go see Vaz.”
Corri hesitated a moment longer, and when she finally left, Olivia turned to her AI.
“No messages, no visitors, no interruptions until I let you know.”
Affirmative, the AI said in the soft feminine voice Olivia preferred.
Her stomach rolled again, and she placed her hands over the offensive area for the twentieth time in the past few days. What the hell was wrong with her? This wasn’t typical. It must be the stress and loss tearing her apart, physically as well as emotionally.
Almost by muscle memory, she moved into the galley and stopped in front of the FP.
“Chamomile tea, fifty percent whisky.”
Twenty seconds later, the big mug in her hands, Olivia headed into her bedroom.
“Close up for sleep.”
The AI activated the UV shields, lowered the lights for rest, and secured the doors.
Crawling into her bed, Olivia set the mug on the nightstand, and looked around the room. Her life was so much more beautiful than it had been before she met her true family a century ago. This tower she’d named Serenity, because it was that to her, held friends and family, a business of clubs and restaurants that she loved, and this home, this entire floor of the tower, always peaceful, always safe, always home.
She would never get to share it with Will, and that made it hurt for now. Closing her eyes, she imagined him in her bed, laughing at some silliness, naked, hovering over her, his hair hanging loose, the beautiful body coming down on top of her; his eyes, serious, in love, as he entered her, pushed deep, where he belonged, filled her in every way. When he moved, she lifted up to force him deeper…
The vision was vivid, seemed so real, that lying alone now, she lifted her body up to him, lifted her core to receive him...except…
He was not there, he would never be there.
Hands on her belly again, she traced circles around it, and cried. Sleep wrapped around her, consciousness sliding away, as Olivia entered the world of dreams.
Would he be here, she wondered, as she walked along a beach lit by early morning sun. No, she didn’t see him, and more than that, she didn’t sense him.
Pushing her toes into the wet sand, Olivia turned to watch the sun move up the bright blue sky pushing away the rose and orange-tones, breathtaking, the lost pleasure of a sunrise. The spirit world gave truth and hope, often needed by first bloods, and she did, but Will wasn’t here, so why was she?
A voice interrupted her thoughts.
Because you need to know about me.
Not words, but she understood the meaning.
Olivia lifted her dream-self up from the beach and turned in place, searching around her. “Who are you?”
I will call you mother.
Olivia couldn’t move at first as the words that were not spoken and yet heard, the meaning of the words, came to her. I will call you mother.
Mother.
Warmth like a hot light filled her belly as her hands curved over the place where she hoped, prayed, that what she thought was true. A child in her…Will’s child in her.
True, yes, she could feel it now, the baby; present, new, reaching for the mother it would know someday soon. A fatherless child who would be cherished beyond measure by a grateful and loving mother.
Of course! It had to be; that first time she’d walked into the spirit world to see if Will was who she sought, she’d known that he was Shoazan, capable of bringing life. The idea had spooked her, not ready at that moment to even consider a lifelong mate, let alone a child.
“Oh, precious, precious baby,” Olivia whispered, and understood now why she’d had that odd predilection for the past few days to keep her hands on her belly. Will’s baby had been there since that night in the cave, and now, even though he was gone, she carried part of him with her.
“Will, look what we’ve done.”
It would be okay because she had a child to raise, to introduce to this world she loved so much, to teach to love it as well.
“Yes, little one, I needed to know about you. Thank you.”
Her world would change once again, only this time, a life would come to make hers complete.
“The open window…”
Olivia felt the spirit world fade and finally succumbed to grateful sleep.