Bound (The Grandor Descendant Series Book 3) (13 page)

“That doesn’t mean that you should-” Ari started. 

“-Ari, you aren’t a waere. You don’t understand. Always on the run, hiding from vamps and wraiths, having to keep your true identity a secret,” Riley explained, taking a meaningful look at Natalie. “I was at the clinic in town because I hadn’t been well. We thought maybe the illness had affected my powers, but that’s definitely not it. I’m pregnant.”

“Riley don’t; Clyde wouldn’t-” Ari started to warn.

“-Clyde?” asked Natalie, cutting Ari off.

“The baby’s father,” explained Riley.

“And this Clyde, he’s not a waere, is he?” said Natalie.

Ari took in a deep breath and raised her hands, ready to freeze time. She was terrified Riley would admit that Clyde was a vampire. Ari may not be able to freeze Riley right now, but her powers would work on Natalie, as long as she was in her human form. But Riley simply shook her head; at least Riley hadn’t completely lost her senses.

“Well, that’s why you can’t shift,” explained Natalie. “Unless both parents are waeres, you won’t be able to. The baby has to have the full waere gene compliment for you to transition while you are carrying it to term.” 

“But, but does that mean that the baby won’t be a waere?” Ari asked, before she could stop herself.

“No,” Riley and Natalie said together. “My mother wasn’t a waere,” Riley reminded Ari.

Just then there was a loud snapping noise from the forest, the sound of twigs and dried leaves under foot, and all three girls spun to peer into the dark depths beyond.

“Were you followed?” asked Ari, inching towards the woods nervously, as she scanned for any signs of movement. “Riley we have to get out of here. Clyde would kill me if he knew we were here.”

Natalie’s eyes narrowed as she surveyed the forest, then her pupils became vertical and she let out a short scream and fell to the floor. Ari watched as the coat she had given the girl tore from her body, just as Natalie began to convulse and writhe. Again there was a snapping and ripping sound, then Natalie turned back into a black panther.

“Come on,” said Ari, grabbing Riley’s wrist as she pulled her back towards the path that would take them up to Delta halls.

Riley nodded, until another noise came from the forest, this one a scream. Then, before either could react, something moved towards them, blacking out parts of the dark green woods as it advanced. Both girls stood completely still, only allowing their eyes to search for the cause of the disturbance. Ari didn’t realise that she was holding her breathe until she felt light headed. At the exact moment she took in a large breath, something moved impossibly fast from the forest, and before Ari had a chance to respond or even see her attacker, she had been thrown to the muddy floor.

“Get away from her!” she heard Riley yell, then Ari felt warm hands pressed against her cheek and Riley asked, “Ari, are you ok?”

She wanted to reply but her mind was blank, and her eyes were starry and unable to focus on her surrounds.

“Ah!” Riley screamed.

Ari felt Riley being ripped away from her, just as the girl’s manic scream resonated through the air. Ari forced herself to roll over, her eyes trying desperately to pull the scene into focus. She willed her hands to move so that she could stop time, but she was too winded to do anything. Then a growl erupted around them and Ari saw as though through a veil, the silhouette of a woman fighting against an enormous black cat. There was something frighteningly familiar about the woman, but Ari ignored this nagging feeling; she had to find Riley.

Rolling along the forest floor, her hands brushed against something warm and still.

“No,” she screamed, realising that she had found Riley.

When Ari looked up again, she found that something was hovering over Riley protectively, a panther, its shiny black coat only punctuated by a small sliver necklace. Still gathering her strength, Ari stood, her hands flinging in the air to freeze time but it was too late; who ever had attacked them was gone.  

“Who was that?” Riley asked, her hand touching her stomach tentatively. “Thanks Natalie,” she added, locking eyes with the panther in front of her.

The giant cat’s vertical eyes stared at Riley then it nodded its head, and raced back into the woods. Riley watched Natalie disappear with a worried look on her face, and then all colour drained from her cheeks and she fell to her knees.

“Riley,” Ari screamed, racing to her side.

“The baby!” said Riley, reaching her hand down to her stomach and then pulling it away, her fingertips stained red with blood.

Before Ari knew what she was doing, she had found her phone, her numb fingers pressing the buttons until she was calling Clyde. She had barely told him where they were and that there was something wrong with Riley, before he had hung up on her. A second later and Clyde arrived. He was on his knees, his hands hurriedly feeling for Riley’s pulse when she sat up. Slowly her hand reached for her belly and Clyde mirrored her action.  

“What happened?” asked Clyde, speaking through thin lips as he ground his teeth.

“Someone attacked us,” said Ari.

“Is Natalie ok?” Riley asked suddenly, her head propping up as she looked around.

“What were you doing out here?” Clyde asked angrily, “Who is Natalie?”     

Chapter 6- Good Vs Evil

After that Clyde had driven at break neck speed to the hospital. He had waited in the car, not wanting to go inside with them, just in case anyone of the vampires stationed at the Pasteur Hospital recognised him. Ari sat with Riley while the doctors fussed over her, occasionally shooting worried glances at each other or else scribbling on a chart. Finally, after holding Riley’s hand for at least two hours and receiving a hell of a lot worried texts and calls from Clyde, the doctors told them that Riley must have a resilient little baby and that it was healthy.

“You are very lucky miss,” said the doctor, leaning close to Ari and touching a hand to her shoulder. “But you need to be more careful. Fortunately, babies over the sixteen week mark are much more resilient than newly attached foetuses.”

“But,” Riley said, looking at him in confusion. “We had an ultrasound scan last week, and the doc told me that I was thirteen weeks pregnant.”

“Yes, well, sometimes the times can be misinterpreted. I performed your scan when you came in. You are definitely sixteen weeks pregnant.”

Riley’s mouth fell open and Ari looked up at the doctor in bewilderment. Was it really an error, or was the baby inside Riley growing faster than normal? Reaching for her phone, Ari texted Clyde to let him know that everything was alright.

‘Everything is ok! The baby is fine and Riley is fine… I’m sorry.
’

Ari knew that saying sorry at the end of the message did not make up for what had happened that morning, but she couldn’t think of what else to say. All they had done was go for a walk. There was no way that anyone could have known they were going to be attacked. And who was it who had attacked them and why? Ari knew from the force of their attacker that it must be a vampire, but she hadn’t been able to see who it was. All she knew for certain was that it was female and that there was something familiar about the tall silhouette of the woman. Even worse was the worry of what the vampire had seen or perhaps heard. Did they see Natalie shift into a panther? Did they hear Riley say that she was pregnant and that Clyde was the father?

Clyde didn’t talk as he drove Ari and Riley back to the Pasteur Institute. Rather he kept to the speed limit, allowing him a full twenty minutes of glaring at Ari from the rear view mirror, while she purposefully tried to avoid his glance. When the trio got back to Ari’s room in Omega Halls, the entire coven, all except for Ragon, was waiting for them.

“Well,” said Riley, breaking the silence, “Everything is alright. The baby is fine.”

“More than fine,” Ari added.

“Huh?” asked Clyde.

“The doctor told Riley that she is sixteen weeks pregnant and-” Ari started to say, but Clyde but in.

“-you mean fourteen weeks pregnant?” he said quickly.

“No, sixteen weeks,” Riley corrected. “The doctor said that my ultrasonographer got the times wrong, but I don’t think so. I think, I think that the baby is growing faster than normal. I mean, look at my stomach. Last week you couldn’t even tell that I was pregnant, now there is definitely a bump there,” she added, pulling up her shirt and revealing her tanned stomach to the group.

“Well,” said Clyde, trying to hide the smile which was plain on his face, as his hands came to rest on Riley’s belly, “that means that you can’t get any more scans at the hospital. If the baby is growing faster than normal, the docs are going to notice.”

“Where’s Ragon?” asked Ari, looking around and realising that he wasn’t there.

“He had to stay back and organise his thesis presentation with Bridget,” Patrick explained. “It’s tonight.”

“Oh,” said Ari; she had entirely forgotten that Ragon was presenting his research at midnight. She had only spoken to him about it briefly; at the time he had invited her to watch him. “Do you know if I am still allowed to go?”

“I guess so,” said Patrick. “It’s pretty common for vamps to have their sources there. In fact, it might look strange if you weren’t. A lot of vamps get the nerves when they talk and a nice fresh blood meal can help to take the edge off.”

“Who cares about that now? What happened sugar?” Sandra asked, moving towards Riley and pulling her so that she was sitting in the chair by Ari’s desk.

Ari felt her face fall. She had been waiting for someone to ask about the attack. Well, she might as well get it over with. No sense in putting off the inevitable.  

“We just went for a walk and, and we were attacked,” Ari stammered, not looking at Clyde.

“And you decided the Three Prong Trek would be a nice place for stroll?” spat Clyde, glaring at Riley’s wrist.

“That was my idea,” Riley admitted, looking down at her wrist and quickly pulling the hospital I.D tag off. “It’s my fault, not Ari’s.”

“Who attacked you?” asked Ryder.

“I don’t know,” said Ari, “defiantly a vampire.”

“But how did you get away? Did you freeze it?” asked Sandra.

“Natalie saved us,” said Ari; she had been waiting until she and Clyde were in a room full of witnesses before admitting this. She knew how angry he’d be when he found out that another waere had been involved, especially after expressly forbidding Riley to be in contact with other waeres. 

“What?” Clyde hissed. “And Natalie is…”

“Natalie,” said Riley, trying to sit up straight, “is a waere. We were just going for a walk and then she appeared. She told me the reason why I can’t shift is because I am pregnant and the father isn’t a waere.”

Clyde clutched his hands to his hair and tugged. He looked ragged, his face lined with tiny wrinkles, which Ari was sure she had never seen before.  

“Please Riley, tell me you didn’t say that I was the father,” said Clyde, a manic expression on his face.

“Oh Riley you didn’t?” said Sandra, also sounding worried.

“She only told Natalie your name,” said Ari, immediately jumping to Riley’s defence, which won her a small smile from Riley.

“Besides,” said Riley, “I trust Natalie. She is a waere, just like me. She wouldn’t betray me. That’s not what we are like. We’ve both been through the same stuff and, even though I know you didn’t want me to talk to any waeres, she was helpful.”

“Riley, honey,” said Sandra, her southern accent sounding strained, “I know that you want to trust your friend, but you can’t tell anyone that Clyde is the father. What do you think would happen if the wrong people found out about you? Not just that you are a waere, but that you are carrying the baby of a vampire?”

A tense silence followed this statement, and then the door to Ari’s room flung open and Ragon walked in. He looked once at Ari, apparently relieved that she was ok and then his strained eyes fell on Clyde.  

“I think,” he said, and Ari noticed just how retched and worried he look, “that we might be about to find out exactly what would happen if anyone knew about waeres.”

He held up a small piece of paper, which the entire group read in silence:

‘Attention all vampires studying at the Pasteur Institute,

This morning there was an incident involving a vampire and what is believed to be a waere. We are unable as of yet to confirm the existence of waeres, however we will be conducting surveillance of the campus and surrounding forest immediately. All vampires staying at Cruor halls are required to attend a summons this afternoon at 2pm, where they will be assigned a rotation so as to monitor this threat. Please be punctual.

Regards

Gwen Harper

Senior Resident of Cruor Halls’

“Oh Jesus,” said Clyde, sitting down on the floor as his head fell in his hands.  

“This is my fault,” said Riley, “the vampire, whoever attacked us, she must have seen Natalie transform. We have to warn her! Natalie will probably still be in the forest, and soon there will be a swarm of vampires searching for her.”

“That is not-” Clyde started to say, but Ari cut him off.

“-but how did they find out so fast?” asked Ari; she knew that the attack had happened hours ago, but this summons felt so organised.

“This is the first possible sighting of a waere in centuries,” said Ragon, “it is bound to stir up drama. Besides, Gwen has been petitioning for the position of replacement Vice Chancellor. She probably thinks that the discovery of a known enemy of the Ancients will win her favour.”

Just before 2pm that afternoon the coven left to meet with Gwen at Cruor halls. Riley remained in Ari’s room, resting on her bed, while Ari tried valiantly to preoccupy her mind with study notes. It was hard work. She kept flashing back to the sequence of events from the morning, trying to work out if there was any way that the vampire who had attacked them might have heard their earlier conversation. She didn’t think so; she had not heard anything in the forest, not until she had been hit, but there was a chance that whoever had seen Natalie shift might have been listening for long enough to hear what they had been talking about. If that was the case, then whoever it was would know that Riley was a waere and that she was pregnant. More importantly, they would know that Clyde was the father.

Ari shook her head determinedly. No! If Gwen knew that then she would have called Clyde to summons, not the entire Cruor halls. Still, Ari couldn’t shake off the feeling that she knew the vampire who had attacked them.

“Hello,” a voice said from outside, and both Riley and Ari looked up to see Chris entering the room.

“Hey,” said Ari, beaming up at him, then her face fell as he wiggled a set of keys at her. “Oh I forgot, we were supposed to go for that driving lesson.”

When Ragon had told her that he’d booked her in for a driving exam, Ari had asked Chris to take her for a couple of lessons, just so that she could get used to driving here. She hadn’t told Ragon about this, mainly because she knew it would make him jealous. But Ari couldn’t imagine practicing to drive here with Ragon. He would distract her too much.       

“Supposed to? What do you mean, supposed to?” asked Chris. Then he spotted Riley in the bed and added, “Hey, are you ok?”

Riley nodded and said, “Just pregnant.”

“What!” Chris exclaimed, while Riley laughed.

Like Chris, Ari’s mouth was open in surprise. Though Ari trusted Chris with her life and had no problem what so ever with him knowing that Riley was pregnant and that Clyde was the father, she knew that Clyde would not think the same way. Was Riley going out of her way to get Clyde to be angry at her, first with the forbidden walk and now by telling a wraith about her
condition
?

“Yep,” Riley said, rubbing her stomach, “Clyde and I are having a miracle baby.”

“WHAT!” Chris exclaimed, moving further into Ari’s room and closing the door behind him. “Are you being serious? Is it the first of April? Are you pulling my leg? Am I dream-”

“-Chris!” yelled Riley, cutting off his ramblings. “Enough. I am pregnant. I promise I wouldn’t lie about that.”