Haeven (28 page)

It was well past lunchtime when I woke. I
felt completely refreshed and ravenously hungry. Penny hadn’t made
it home yet and I wasn’t sure when I should expect her so I decided
to make something for myself rather than wait. As I was rifling
through the refrigerator a sudden smile brightened my face. I had
the uncanny sense that Herrik was nearby and when the doorbell rang
I hurried to answer it. My suspicions were confirmed as soon as I
opened the door.

He was turned away from me looking over his
shoulder at a bird that flitted by with its beak full of some
treasure or other it had collected for lining its nest. “I knew it
was you!” I threw my arms around him.

“Well who else would it have been? Is there
someone trying to woo you away from me? Who is he? And does he
bring you these?” he pulled out a bouquet of wildflowers that he
must have gathered during his walk to my apartment.

“Oh, they’re beautiful!” I reached out to
take them from him.

“Uh, uh! Not until you tell me who he is,”
Herrik teased.

“Aww, you know there’s no one else!”

Herrik’s playful expression slipped for a
moment. He handed me the flowers and took my chin. I thought he was
going to kiss me but instead he peered into my eyes and tilted my
face this way and that. My heart skipped a beat as he looked at me.
He absolutely took my breath away.

“Have you been anywhere today? Had any
company?”

“Hmm? No. I just came home and took a nap
why?”

Herrik shook his head as though he was
trying to clear it. His brilliant smile returned, “You just look a
little...it’s nothing. Probably just some residual cloudiness from
this morning. Are you going to invite me in or should I just scoop
you up and let myself in?”

I grinned but never had a chance to answer,
he swept me and my flowers off my feet and carried me inside
kicking the door closed with the back of his foot. He finally
kissed me before carefully setting me back down.

“Oh, I’ve missed you!” He buried his face in
my hair.

“Have you? It’s only been a few hours.”

He looked saddened by my lack of empathy,
“Haven’t you missed me?”

His hands were on my hips and my arms around
his neck. I stood on my toes and pressed my lips to his, I opened
my mind so he could see exactly how much I had missed him and how
happy I was to have him there with me.

“That’s better,” he whispered against my
kiss.

As I pulled back my stomach let out a loud
rumble reacquainting me with my hunger.

“I thought you were going to have lunch with
Penny.”

“I was but I fell asleep and she mustn’t
have wanted to wait,” he followed me to the kitchen where I filled
a vase and placed his flowers in it.

“Well that’s good actually, because I wanted
to invite you to dinner.”

“Oh, I didn’t think you’d want to go out
again so soon and after all that’s happened.”

“I didn’t plan on taking you out. I planned
on
making
dinner for you.”

My eyes went wide with surprise, “Really?” I
remembered the last time he had cooked for me and my stomach
growled again with anticipation.

“If you can control that beast in your belly
for an hour or so, yes!”

I cocked my head at him, “Challenge
accepted!”

Herrik smiled and reached for my hand,
“Let’s be on our way then.”

“Should I grab anything?”

“I’ll do the grabbing,” he playfully whirled
me around and drew me close then kissed me again.

“Do unto others…”

Herrik took my hand before I could follow
through, “Dinner first,” he chided.

“Fine,” I rolled my eyes and dutifully
followed him to the door. “Let me just write a note to Penny so
she’ll know not to expect me.” We stopped at the console in the
foyer and I scribbled a few lines before we headed out.

We walked hand in hand through the garden,
slowly, taking our time and enjoying the serenity of the scenery.
Herrik glanced at me from time to time alight with happiness. I
wondered how he could remain so calm and confident under the
circumstances. I both envied and idolized him for his strength and
surety. I hoped that he wasn’t being careless and that he had
considered all the possibilities and taken the necessary
precautions to protect himself.

When we got to his apartment we went
straight to the kitchen. He had obviously anticipated that I
wouldn’t reject his offer for dinner and had a number of things
prepped and waiting for whatever he had in mind.

“So what are we making?” I asked as I
studied the various ingredients.

“We? Me,” Herrik corrected. “You will sit,”
he tucked me up onto the kitchen island, “right here and keep me
company while I work.”

After giving me a quick peck Herrik uncorked
a bottle of wine and poured a glass for me. As I took a small sip
he slipped an apron on and got started on my meal. It didn’t seem
fair to be sitting sipping wine while he put so much effort into
making a dinner he wouldn’t be able to enjoy but Herrik reminded me
how much he liked to cook and his expression completely confirmed
his assertion.

“So how did everything go today after I
left?” I asked curious to know what kind of resolutions he and
Artur, Carah and Avery had come up with.

Herrik took a deep breath as he dipped his
fingertips into a dish of seasonings he had sifted together and
began rubbing it into a thick filet he had on the cutting
board.

“Well, we are going to start with the people
Jesse was closest to. Carah and Avery have contacts on the upper
levels that they will discretely use as eyes and ears to learn
whatever they can. If they uncover anything suspicious they will
bring them to Artur. He oversees everyone’s work assignments so he
can study them under the pretense of job assessments and
satisfaction. Other than that we really don’t have any plans – just
watch and wait.”

“Watch and wait? That doesn’t sound very
expedient,” I sipped my wine again and tried not to sound quite as
concerned as I was.

“We can’t be too aggressive, Emily. If we do
whoever was behind this might just realize that we are aware of
them. We don’t want to make anyone nervous enough to escape without
justice. Who knows what kind of havoc they might wreak if they
thought they were in danger of discovery. Exposure is the last
thing we want right now.”

“I understand,” I shook my head, “but I’m
still worried for you.”

Herrik brushed my temple with a kiss, “I
know. But we’re here and we’re together and that is the last thing
I want you to be thinking about under such favorable circumstances.
He laid his hand on my cheek reassuringly then turned away and went
to the stove.

“May I ask you something?”

“Of course. Anything!” Herrik replied eager
to change the subject.

“How old are you?”

He paused what he was doing and looked at me
with a quirky little grin, “Why? Would it change the way you feel
about me if you knew?”

“Maybe,” I teased.

“Well, then I’m 29, you know that,” he
turned back to the stove. I thought I could still see a hint of a
smile playing on his profile.

“I’m sure I could figure it out if I
wanted.”

“Could you?”

“Hmm…let’s see,” I tapped my chin with my
fingertip and shifted my gaze. “If you were 29 when…and Daemon was
about 24 when…Oh, my!” I laughed out loud. “You must be over
60!”

Herrik sighed and seemed to be dismayed by
my deductions.

“Oh,” I quickly apologized. “Please,” I
begged, “I didn’t mean anything by it. I…I love you. Herrik,” I
hopped off the counter, “I love you,” I covered him with
kisses.

“It’s not that,” he took my face in my
hands. “I know you love me. I know how much you love me,” I felt
him sifting through my thoughts and willing let him see how right
he was.

“Then what’s wrong?”

Herrik turned off the stove and covered the
skillet he was using to keep the steak warm. “Carah suggested
something and I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind.”

I couldn’t imagine what he might have meant
and how his age had anything to do with it.

“That it might have been Daemon who put
Jesse up to this.”

“Daemon?”

Herrik nodded, “Mmm hmm.”

I shook my head, “But how and why? You said
it couldn’t have been a vampire; that they are all pledged to
you.”

“Daemon never was. I wouldn’t let him. He is
my son. My flesh and blood. I trusted him completely,
absolutely.”

I wasn’t sure what to say. My mind was a
flurry of thoughts. Herrik took his apron off and laid it on the
counter. He was quiet and solemn as he began arranging my plate,
placing everything he had made for me just so. He refilled my wine
glass and handed it to me then gathering up my dinner led me to the
dining room.

He helped me with my chair and took a seat
right next to me at the head of the table. I felt like I had lost
my appetite after the turn of our conversation.

“Please,” he encouraged me, “eat. Eat!” and
when I didn’t immediately respond he began cutting my meat up for
me.

“OK, OK, I’ll eat!” I took the fork from him
and laid the knife down. I took his right hand in my left and my
fork in my right then took my first bite.

“Oh,” I rolled my eyes, “it’s
delicious!”

“Thank you. And thank you for sharing,” he
ran his fingers across mine.

After eating a few bites I felt like I could
pick-up the topic of Daemon again. “I’m sure it wasn’t him. I
remember when…he seemed like a good man, Herrik. He…he’s just like
you. I know he is. It couldn’t have been him,” I shook my head in
emphasis.

“I hope you’re right.”

“I am! I know I am!”

He smiled, happy with my assertion.

“May I ask you something else?”

This time Herrik wasn’t as quick to reply
and hesitated a long moment before he answered “Yes, but I cannot
promise I will answer if I don’t like your question.”

His expression made me reluctant but I
couldn’t stop myself from wanting to know the answer, “How did
Daemon become like you? Vampires aren’t born…and besides you
weren’t a vampire when he was conceived.”

Herrik’s jaw clenched and he tightened his
grip on my fingers. For a moment I didn’t think he was going to
answer and when he opened his mouth to speak I was sure he was
going to change the topic.

“I don’t know. He couldn’t remember and when
I tried to find it in his thoughts there was nothing there.
Whatever happened, however it came about, was wiped away.”

“Why would anyone do that? Just change him
and then leave him without any memories of what they had done,” I
wondered out loud.

“I don’t know. It’s forbidden here,
embracing humans, unless…well…for life partners it can be approved
by the council.”

The statement surprised me. I don’t know why
Herrik never told me but it seemed like a terribly important thing
for me to know.

“I never told you because I don’t want you
to consider it. You promised me already that when the time
comes.”

I looked away, “I know,” and rather than
confront him I turned my focus back to Daemon.

“How did you find him? Or did he find
you?”

“I’ve always watched over him. The same way
I watch over your family, though no system is infallible. There
must have been some unguarded moment somewhere and
somehow…Thankfully Carah found him and brought him to me. It was
one of the saddest days of my life…but one of the happiest, too,”
Herrik’s eyes were pools of emotion. “I finally had the chance to
meet my son, to know my son and for him to know me.”

I reached out and touched his cheek, “It
must have been very hard.”

“At first. But he adjusted and so did I.
Penny had a lot to do with it.”

“Penny?”

“Yes, she came to us when she was about the
age you were when Carah brought you here,” Herrik eyed my plate and
didn’t start speaking again until I picked up my fork. “Her
family…every one of them…wiped out. It was like an execution. No
one knows why but it was obviously done by a vampire. For some
reason when he came to her, when it was her time to…he couldn’t do
it. He left her there untouched while her mother, father, brothers
and sister…”

“Artur is ever on the watch for these types
of anomalies. She was in the news for days. Everyone thought she
was insane. They put her in a hospital where she was soon forgotten
– the crazy girl whose family was murdered by a vampire. Artur
insisted we could give her a better life, that we owed it to her to
try so he sent Avery and he brought her here to us.”

“She grew up here, much like you did. Then
Daemon came. By then they were about the same age and in their
minds they were both outsiders. They didn’t feel like they belonged
here but when they met…everything changed. They just…blossomed. I
think that hearing her talk about her life with us and learning all
that he learned from her about how we lived. It convinced Daemon
more than anything else could. And his love for her did very much
the same – made Penny realize that she could belong, that their two
worlds could coexist and that anything was possible even after all
that she had been through.”

“So why did he run away? What happened that
could have changed all that?”

“They went to the council and petitioned
them to let Penny become one of us.”

“And they were denied,” I said realizing
that was the only possibility.

“It was a split decision…it was the only
choice I could make.”

My face fell, “Oh…you…”

Herrik lowered his gaze.

“They tried to run away but Avery or Carah,
one of them learned of their plans and caught Daemon trying
to…to…”

“It’s OK,” I understand.

“They brought him before the council and…I…I
just couldn’t be there so I sent Artur in my place…they sentenced
Daemon…there is only one punishment for unlawfully embracing a
human…”