NEWBORN: Book One of the Newborn Trilogy (38 page)

I shatter around him into a thousand pieces,
my flames bursting into embers and falling to the ground. Gabriel
comes at the same moment, keeling forward and gasping the night air
dry. Oh no! Oh no!

Lunging for his jade robes on the headboard,
Gabriel grabs his wand out of his pocket. “Inpregnatio!” he yells,
pointing his wand at me. This spell is visible. A blue wall of air
seems to engulf me for a second, expanding over my body. Then it’s
gone in the wind, swept off to the distant trees.

I’m staring at Gabriel in horror. “Did it
work?” He’s silent, staring back. “Did it work?” I shout at
him.

Turquoise eyes are wide. Scared. “I think
so,” he says quietly.

“You think so? What the hell does that
mean?”

Dropping his wand to the bed, Gabriel falls
back on the sheets and covers his eyes. “It means I don’t know,
Nora,” he sighs, his exhaustion evident. “I don’t know! You’re
supposed to do the spell before orgasm. Sometimes it works
afterwards. There’s no way of knowing, not yet.”

I can’t contain myself. “That’s not good
enough!”

“It has to be!” Gabriel shoots back angrily.
“Look at yourself, Nora! Have some fucking self awareness! I saw it
on your face earlier. You were upset you weren’t pregnant! Maybe
you are now! Be happy or sad – choose one or the other. Stop
confusing me with both all the time!”

A loathing tirade rises in me. For once, I
let it die. Instead, I collapse on the sheets beside my wizard. I
notice there’s no blood on the sheets this time. There’s an
improvement. I’ll take what I can get right now.

Fucking shitballs!

I can’t believe myself. I spent part of today
desperately worried I’m pregnant. No sooner is my pregnancy fear
discarded than I get pregnant! I almost had the perfect ending to a
miserable day. Now it’s all miserable.

We don’t talk for several moments. Gabriel
looks over at me, his head sliding on his pillow. I look at him,
our eyes meeting. The glassy sheen has evaporated from turquoise
eyes. Gabriel bursts out laughing.

“What?” I ask, annoyed. “What’s so
funny?”

“Nothing!” Gabriel says, his laughter dancing
across the waves and into the distance. “Nothing at all. I
swear!”

“You’re a liar,” I say, smiling despite
myself. Why is laughter so contagious? I decide to be proactive.
Allowing my hand to slide under the sheets, I find what I’m looking
for. “Tell me or I’ll squeeze your balls!”

This gets his attention. He remarks, “You’re
amazing.”

“How so?”

“The pregnancy thing,” Gabriel says, sighing.
“One minute yes. The next minute no. Then maybe. It’s funny, Nora –
you have to admit. It’s my fault, too – I had sex with you right
afterward. We must be crazy!”

“We must be,” I agree. “I suppose it’s kind
of funny…” A giggle escapes me, then another. Next thing I know
we’re laughing to the stars, unable to control ourselves. Geez, I
can only imagine my mom’s expression if she was here. Thank heaven
and sky she’s not! Small mercies. Well, not so small.

Gabriel gathers me into his strong arms. He
closes his eyes with a sigh of contentment. “I like the feeling of
you holding my balls,” he tells me, grinning with closed eyes.
“Makes me feel… at your mercy – heh – imagine it, Nora. Usually
it’s you at my mercy! But my wand is across the bed and you’ve got
me. I surrender,” he says, turquoise eyes opening as he grins at
me, boyish.

I give him the gentlest of squeezes. “I’ll be
nice if you will!”

Gabriel is gazing up at the stars. “I love
you,” he tells me. “I will always love you as long as I live.
Maybe, just maybe – once we’ve rid the Olympic Peninsula of
vampires – we can settle down together.”

I gasp the night air, unable to believe it.
My happiness is complete. Releasing his testicles, I hug his body
and plant a kiss on his warm cheek. “I would love that,” I say to
him. “And I love you, too, Gabriel. Who knows? Think about it… If I
am
pregnant, we’ve got a family. Imagine it!”

Turquoise eyes are wide. They narrow. “First
I have a job to do,” he reiterates. “I’m for settling down, Nora.
I’m for being a husband and a dad. But only after my job is done –
only after I’ve completed my assignment. I absolutely
must
kill the Newborn, Nora. You understand, don’t you?”

I kiss him on the lips. “Not really. But I’ll
try to.”

“If that’s the best you can do,” he begins,
“I suppose it has to be good enough for now. So open my new
Vampass!”

“Yay!” I exclaim. “I love new products!”

He says, “It’s in the pocket of my
robes.”

Going to the headboard, I find the cardboard
package.
Mr.
Gabriel White
, it says across the front.
Evergreen State College. 2700 Evergreen Parkway, NW, Olympia,
Washington. 98505
. Bouncing across the bed, I hand him the
package.

He’s confused. “I said
you
open
it.”

“Oh!” I say, “right!”

“We can test it out,” Gabriel murmurs beside
me as I tear into it. “See if there are any vampires nearby!”

I’m nearly through the package when the night
explodes in darkness. Gasping in fright, I fall back on the bed
with a thud. The package goes flying from my hands on impact. Oh
no! Come back!

“Gabriel! What’s happened?”

I hear chuckles beside me. “Nothing to worry
about. Here,” he says, searching for his wand. “Lumio!”

The scene is lit.

I’m stunned by the beauty of it. All around
us, thousands of smoke wreaths are rising into the air. They rise
higher and higher and disappear into the night. The moon is hiding
behind clouds, leaving Gabriel’s wand our only light. The smell of
smoke fills the air around us. I find myself loving it.

“Magnificent!” Gabriel is surveying the
night.

I nod dumbly, shock seizing my muscles.

Gabriel asks, “Where’s my Vampass?”

Oh fuck!

I gaze around hurriedly for it. It’s nowhere
in sight. “Gabriel – I! It was in my hands a second ago! I must
have dropped it. It’s somewhere on the beach. I’m so sorry! I don’t
know where it is!”

My wizard is searching for it, too. “No
trouble,” he says calmly. “Now the candles are burned out we don’t
have to worry about it being destroyed.” We both spot the Vampass
at exactly the same moment. “Actually,” Gabriel amends, “I think we
do
have to worry about it being destroyed.”

The package is lying about ten yards away. A
shiny, compass-look-alike instrument is protruding from its
wrappings. The waves – most unfortunately – are lapping over both.
Geez, that didn’t last long.

“Water destroys them,” Gabriel confirms. “Not
a chance – it’s gone. Took months of badgering to get it, and I had
good reason to get this one. They’ll laugh in my face if I ask
again. No replacement this time.”

Sighing, I kiss his cheek. “Sorry,” I tell
him, “my bad.”

You’re such a fuck up!
my alter ego
exclaims.
Now look what you’ve done!

Lay off
, I tell her.
I feel bad
enough already!

“Don’t worry about it,” Gabriel tells me. “It
would
have been useful for chasing the Newborn. But I’ve
still got Merrifeather, haven’t I? And you,” he adds
affectionately, kissing me back.

Massaging the marble of his chest, I find
myself daring to bring up a topic I shouldn’t. Locking onto
turquoise eyes, I take a deep breath. “Listen, Gabriel,” I say
quietly, allowing my fingers to run up and down his chest. “I want
an answer to a question you’ve been avoiding. Will you share it
with me?”

Turquoise eyes are wary. “What’s the
question?”

“I want to know why you hate vampires so
much.”

“I’ve told you!” he exclaims, “Because
they’re the most parasitical and –”

“Abominable species to ever walk this earth!”
I interrupt, finishing for him. “I know all that. Now what’s the
real reason? There has to be more to it – something you’re not
telling me. I’ve tried to ask in the past and you dodged it, saying
you’d tell me later. Well, it’s later! I want to know. Now!”

Gabriel swipes his blond hair to the side of
his forehead in agitation. Sighing, he leans back against his
pillow. “You
seriously
want to know?”

“Yes, Gabriel.” I’m leaning forward now. I
thought he’d refuse me, so this is a pleasant surprise. “I’ve
wanted to know since the first time we came to Eld Inlet. Months
ago, Gabriel! Please tell me!”

He rolls on his back to stare at the stars,
all the brighter now for the vanquished candles. “Lumio,” Gabriel
says, and his wand goes out. Now we’re in total darkness, for the
moon remains hidden. “I
will
tell you. Not the whole story,
because the whole story is too painful. Some of it I can
manage.”

I nod silently. I’m terrified he’s going to
freak out and not tell me, so I’m taking what I can get. One
seventeenth of the story would be more than he’s told me so far.
Some of it will suffice for now.

“A long way back,” Gabriel says, his eyes
gazing heavenward, “a vampire took something dear to me. The
dearest thing in my life, actually. Snatched away. Carelessly.
Completely. Without warning. I was a child when it happened. As an
adult I still can’t wrap my head around it…”

I’m staring at him as he determinably stares
upward. The stars smile down as waves lap against the shore nearby.
The surrounding trees are hidden in darkness now. Like Gabriel’s
unseen demons.

“What did the vampire take from you?” My
voice is a horrified whisper. “Tell me, Gabriel.” Even as I speak,
I know he won’t. I feel the truth in the tense, knotted, naked
chest under my touch.

He won’t tell me. Not yet.

Gabriel turns on his side. I sense his eyes
upon me even as no light is shared between us. “I’m ready, Nora,”
he tells me. His voice sounds excited now, as though the last few
seconds never happened.

As though I never asked.

So I ask, “Ready for what?”

“To go into the forest,” Gabriel breathes,
“to return to the vampire lair!”

A jolt of anticipation. Finally! I’ve been
waiting a month for this! “What’s changed?” I ask him, bewildered.
“You said you still needed to figure stuff out. You said you
couldn’t find the Newborn.”

The moon comes out of hiding, splashing the
bed and the nearby shore with light. Turquoise eyes are
illuminated. “I think I’ve found him!”

“Really!” I gasp. “Who is it?” I’m massaging
him as I speak. His body has relaxed, his tenseness gone. Now it’s
electricity I feel between my touch and his skin. Electricity
brought by fiery excitement.

“This vampire named Jack,” Gabriel answers.
“You’ve never met him, but he seems a likely candidate.”

“I did meet him!” I correct. “He’s the
vampire Wolf saved me from! When are we going?”

“Tomorrow?”

I think for a moment. “I have –” But I stop
myself. I picture Dr. Tuten boring me away with no Wolf around to
cheer me up. I picture Dr. Blakely trying so hard to no avail, for
he simply can’t get his students interested in American history.
“I’m free,” I amend, grinning. “Let’s go tomorrow!”

“Excellent!” My wizard is beaming.

“Wolf
is
coming,” I add menacingly,
“or else!” My hand finds his balls under the sheets. They’re warm
and ripe for squeezing. “You may be too busy recuperating to come,”
I finish, glaring daggers at him.

Luckily he’s not holding his wand. Instead,
Gabriel holds up his hands in surrender. “Fine – you win! The dog
can come, you nutcase!”

I have ulterior motives for bringing Wolf.
His presence will make Gabriel jealous, and jealousy will bring the
wizard around on the issue of wizard and Immag equality. All I have
to do is make him a little jealous… Hold on, who am I reminding
myself of?

The revelation hits.

Holy bejesus fuck!

I’m my mother!

“It will all be decided tomorrow,” Gabriel
murmurs, massaging my breasts. “If we get the Newborn, our life
together can begin. I will love you forever and ever till the end
of time because you are mine. We
will
live happily – child
or no child.” He kisses me, thrilling me with bliss. “How does that
sound, Nora White?”

* * *

I’m in my bathroom. The water is running and
my contacts are lying on the sink in their containers, filled to
the brim with solution. I’m staring at myself in the mirror. At a
girl who has become a woman in such a short space of time. It’s
almost hard to fathom. But I’m here. I’ve made it this far.

Today will decide everything.

It’s Tuesday morning. I’m supposed to be in
English 301: The Art of the Essay, later. I won’t be there. I’m
also supposed to be in History 145: The American Revolution, after
that. I won’t be attending that class, either. Why? Because I will
be busy hunting vampires with Gabriel and Wolf. That’s why.

I gaze into the mirror – into my curiously
bright eyes.

Am I pregnant? I don’t know. I could take a
pregnancy test, but taking a pregnancy test implies I may do away
with the child. Why else would I need to know so quickly? Besides,
I don’t think I could do that – have an abortion. Not when the
child was conceived passionately. With somebody I love.

One thing I do know. I cannot have my
thoughts everywhere today. They need to be together and
concentrated. Today could determine the rest of my life. Either we
find and kill the Newborn or we don’t. If we do, Gabriel and I can
begin our life together. Otherwise we go on hold. Indefinitely.

I don’t want to wait. I want to start now.
Child or no child. I’m more drawn to Gabriel than I can possibly
relate. I’m more drawn to magic than I can possibly relate. I love
the idea – the inkling, if you will – that maybe, just maybe, I can
someday learn it. Attend Magasant School of Magic.