Longest Days (The Firsts) (20 page)

“Lucy,” he whispered from his cold spot on the fuselage floor.  “I’m coming to you soon.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The flight was smooth and uneventful.   Eillia slept the entire way, her head on Park’s lap.   Through the close physical contact with her, Park could feel her pain.   She imagined how she would feel if she could never be with Bas again, and her own heart skipped a beat.   She looked up at Bas, who was resting in another seat across from them.  His eyes had been closed, but he stirred and then opened them suddenly to see his wife’s deep green gaze on him.   He mouthed the words
I love you
, and waited for her to respond the same.  His eyes closed again, but a small smile curved his lips.

Park brushed Eillia’s hair from her forehead.  She was
so
loved.   An endless number of people would help her to rediscover the joy in her life, both at Koen’s villa and her own.   As passionate as Eillia was, Park knew it wouldn’t be long before she found another lover.   It would take her mind off Daniel.  She had to agree with Eillia that their history may be insurmountable.  His part in Hamid’s death was too fresh, too raw, too real.   Her own emotions were a little ragged, too.  Another dear friend of hers was lost in that attack, and very nearly everyone she loved.  Park wasn’t sure she could stand having Daniel around as a reminder of that loss either.  Harsh choices had to be made.  They would all be there for Eillia.  She’d be okay.

Everyone welcomed Eillia with tears and open arms.  A dozen of her closest friends had flown in to Koen’s villa to see her.  Members of her household were there to welcome home their mistress.  Bas had notified them of her survival, but let them know that she would spend some time in his home before she returned to hers.  They understood.

The greatest moment for Eillia was meeting Bas and Park’s child, one of the rarest people on earth…a first blood baby.  While “made” vampires were ordinarily barren, it was possible for them to breed with a first blood.  But it was extraordinarily rare.   Even some humans could produce a child with a first blood.  So to hold Cairine, a  perfect first blood child just short of a year old, made her tear.  And she knew it would all be alright.  This child was such a beautiful miracle.  Eillia held her often the first days she stayed with Koen.  Bas and Park had moved to France to be with her father just after the tragedy last year, staying with him in his huge villa on the Mediterranean until their own home was finished in a few more months.

For the next week, it was a nonstop celebration filled with food, drink, dancing, and raucous laughter. 

Eillia was grateful for her friends and their warm welcomes.   It showed how much she was loved.  Koen had spared no expense to celebrate her rebirth.

But she was desperate to be alone.  Just for a little while.  To clear her mind.  It was all so much.  One thing she did know, though.   She wanted to stay here for a while.  Her staff understood, and they eventually went home to care for her property and the various animals and pets who had waited all year to see their masters faces again.  Well, the one who would be coming home eventually.   Hamid’s dog would have to settle for her.

After the week ended and everyone said a reluctant goodbye, Eillia was able to find the solace she sought.  Park, her close friend Burne, and Eillia would just sit on the balconies and talk quietly, or walk on the beach together in gentle chats with large mugs of hot chocolate.   It was much nicer than the celebrations from her first week home.  Eillia needed this.  No responsibilities.  No choices to make.  No pressure at all for any reason.  Just an easy night with desperately needed good sleep. 

On one such lovely night, three weeks after Eillia’s homecoming, Park suggested they head into the city to shop.

“You are more than welcome to wear anything I have, my sister, but let’s go in and have a girls extravaganza.  Pick out some beautiful jewel tones to compliment your exotic coloring.  Get some pastries at
Ladurée.
  How about it?”

Eillia grimaced.   “Well, I’m not sure I’m up to it.  I’ve been having some nausea since I came back.  You haven’t noticed, but I’ve cut back some on food.  The past few days I’ve had mostly blood meals.  I’m sure it’s stress.”

Park and Burne exchanged glances. 

“Eillia,” Park said, “Have you ever been sick?”

“No.  But I’ve had such a lot of emotional pain this past year.  My body has suffered along with my heart.  For months, I barely ate anything, food
or
blood.  I’ll be fine eventually.”

Park crossed her arms and looked between Burne and Eillia.  “Honey, this sounds familiar.  When Cherise told me I was with child, I had the first nausea of my life.   And remember, I had a horrid childhood.  If anyone would have stress pains, it should have been me.”

“Yes, well, I’m not pregnant.  I’ve never conceived in over a thousand years.  I’m certain I’m not going to start now.   You know most of us are barren.  I am, too.  If I could have conceived, I would have before now.”

“Not if you weren’t with someone who could impregnate you.  Hamid was wonderful and you had a spectacular love affair, but maybe he couldn’t plant his seed in a first blood.”  Park paused.  “Maybe Daniel could.”

Eillia was speechless.  She’d already realized Daniel was someone she connected with on a spiritual level.  Could it be possible he was one of the extremely rare humans who could breed with a first blood?  Like Park’s mother, who bore this lovely daughter with Koen.  She shook her head.

“No, I think I’d know if I was with child.  I’d feel it.  I don’t.  It’s an incredible idea, I wish it were true, but it isn’t.   Maybe, though, I can make that shopping trip.  How about in two nights?”

“Okay.  But…”

“Park, honey, I wish it could be true.  There are so few first bloods.  I am
not
pregnant.  But I am a little hungry now for something sinful.  Do you have any of those American cookies?   The chocolate cookie double icing ones?”

Park let the subject drop.  But she had a call to make.

Later that night, Eillia stepped out of the villa alone and wandered into the surf.  The air was nippy and the water sloshed against the shore in a gentle cadence that calmed her splintered mind.  It was working, she realized, as she slipped her shoes off and waded into the receding tide.  It felt incredible to be here in southern France, and warm and safe again. 

She still wasn’t ready to go home to her villa outside Paris.  Reminders of her life with Hamid awaited her there.  And although she had worked through the worst of the pain of his loss, she wasn’t ready yet to see the pieces of their lives together.  The things he’d loved, abandoned now.  The bed they’d slept in together for centuries, the places they’d loved to go.  The ridiculous enormous television screen he’d insisted he must have two summers ago.  He’d loved that state of the art screen that was almost large enough for a movie theater.  And his dog.  That ugly bulldog Eillia had told him more than once she believed he loved more than he loved her.  Her butler assured her the staff had taken excellent care of him this past year. 

The time would come.  Just…not yet.

Koen and Park had been so gracious.  Everyone had.  It helped to feel loved and treasured.  Out of all her centuries of life, all of her experiences, it really all came down to that very thing.  To be needed and loved, and to love and need in return.  Family.  Friends who held the same place as family in the heart.  That was what made it all worth it.  That’s what mattered.

Eillia took a deep breath and allowed her spirit amulet to open her up to the universe.  It protected its wearer, but sometimes it was necessary to drop all barriers and just let everything in.  

The flood of feelings rushed in so quickly it felt like an assault.  But she lifted her face to the sky and watched the universe sparkle.  So much in their lives that was beyond amazing.  Just the gift to sit here on a still night and behold this sight was a treasure of immeasurable worth.  People were living out their lives, big and small, on this tiny world that spun through the darkness of distant glittering suns.  And although first blood vampires were very different physically, they were all in this great journey from birth to death.  First bloods may have a lot more time, but it didn’t mean their lives were any richer.  Mortal humans could have extraordinary lives in their brief time here.  Everyone has a chance to be hero in their own lives.  Each person has the chance to find love and be happy.  That was all this was.

Just three rules to a life.  Take care of each other. Do no harm.   And make love on the beach in moonlight.

Eillia moaned.  Oh, she wanted that again.  It struck her she and Hamid had never made love on the beach.  She wished on the stars to have him back, just for a few hours, so they could do that.  But the stars blinked steadily and said no. 
This time is for the living.  It is for you.

An old Zen saying came back to her. 
You must let
go, or be dragged.

Eillia nodded.  Yes, it was true.  All the hurt, all the logic told her that she couldn’t go forward because of the pain was wrong.  So she made a symbolic gesture.  Lifting both her hands to the sky, closed, as if they held something, she spoke quietly to the celestial witnesses.

“Hamid, I loved you.  We had the most wonderful years together and I will never forget you.  But I must let you go so that I may be free to move.  I’ve trapped myself in what was.  I must move forward to what will come.  Thank you for sharing your journey with me.”  She opened her right hand to let the pain of his loss escape.

She began again.  “Daniel.  You came to me shattered while I was shattered too.  We found each other because our spirits recognized we belonged together.  I couldn’t let myself believe we could ever move beyond who we were.  There is still a lot of healing to do.  It is very human of us.  But I see you.   And if someday I am ready, I will come for you.  Until then, I meant it when I said I wanted you to be happy.”

The left hand opened now and she reached to the heavens with both hands.  Receiving.

“I love my life and I am ready to move forward.  I am ready to be happy again, too.”  She let her hands wander down to rest on her belly.  Park.  Such a dreamer.  How wonderful if it had been possible that she was right and Eillia could have a child like the sweet little girl she’d held in her arms tonight.   Sadly, she knew it wouldn’t be.

Eillia drew a deep breath and filled her lungs with the cool sea air.  She was okay.  Everything was okay.  She knew her friends and family were inside enjoying a final meal before retiring for the day.   Scooping up her shoes, with a grateful glance at the shining moonlight, she headed back to the villa.  Suddenly, she was ravenous.

Bas and Koen were troubled.   The cell for Tamesine was finished, but they just didn’t believe it was one hundred percent reliable.    And it needed to be.  She’d been held at an old manor house in an isolated city in the mountains by three first bloods anxious to get her into the cell as soon as possible.  Park had kept her controlled much of that time, but they all knew she would find a way to overcome that eventually.  They couldn’t have anyone near her who could be compelled or controlled or she would escape.  So no humans or “made” vampires.  Only first bloods.  It made her lockdown challenging. 

Koen could see only one end to this circus.  Tamesine would have to be euthanized.  But he’d let his daughter and Eillia see what they could do for her.  He didn’t have any faith it would work.   He’d been there centuries ago when she’d first lost her mind.

Now that the holding cell was done, she would arrive within the hour.  Both Park and Eillia were here for back-up.  No one still had any true idea of the extent of her abilities, but Koen knew they were considerable.  He was really worried.

An armored car pulled up, and all three first bloods in residence went to meet it.  Bas remained back at the cell to close the door when they had their detainee settled inside.  It was triple locked with security codes that were next to impossible to break, along with keyed entries, and impenetrable bolting mechanisms that were not dependent on power.   In addition to all of that, all four walls were surrounded by rebar reinforced concrete, heavy titanium panels, also reinforced, and isolated from the rest of the research facility.  The only ones with access to the room were the three first bloods in the house.  He agreed with his father–in-law.  This was a bad idea.

They brought her in on a stretcher, unconscious.  Only Park, with Eillia’s aid, could do that to her.  The other first bloods, including Koen, could use their combined powers to handle her, but ultimately, this was going to fall to the strong mental control of the two women who held deep connections to each other.  Together, their minds formed an extraordinary power. 

Tamesine’s breathing was labored, like she was fighting the mind control.   Bas and Koen held M249’s, rapid fire rifles that would stop her long enough to behead her, should it become necessary.  They both felt their trigger fingers flex the entire time Park and Eillia were in the cell.

Once she was unbound, they all backed out of the cell and locked it down.  Park and Eillia exchanged glances and nodded to each other.  Hands touching, they sent the message to Tamesine to open her eyes.

They waited.  But she didn’t move.  Everyone looked at each other in surprise.

“Well,
we’re
not holding her now,” Park said.

Koen and Bas raised their weapons. 

“Yeah, I don’t trust anything about her,” Koen remarked, and walked slightly closer to get a look at her face.

With no notice, Tamesine shot upright and landed on her feet at the door of the enclosure.   She grabbed it and shook hard.   Koen was startled enough to step backward several paces, the barrel of the gun still aimed at her head.