Talons (31 page)

Her eyes widened in outrage. “Happy?
You think this makes me happy? I’m having kids with a guy who turns
into a cat, has twenty-one other kids, and is four hundred years
older than me! I’m just overjoyed!”

“
So what is your beef
exactly?”

“
My beef?” she squeaked in
horror. He failed to see the problem at all. She was leaving when
her business was concluded with Ryken. The children complicated
matters. “Tell me you didn’t just refer to my issue here as a
beef?”

Eli sat back and looked at her with
that inscrutable look she detested. “You scare them when you talk
like that, Vivvie. Remember, they’re just babies.”

Vivvie wanted to hit him then. “You
have known for how long?”

Eli scratched his head, a smile tugging
at his handsome lips. “A few hours after conception, I think.
Talkative little things, just like their mommy.”

“
Or just like their daddy!
They have your gift! Did you plan that too, just to have your new
leader for the tribe?” she demanded, glaring at him in anger and
hurt. “You did this to try and keep me here, knowing I have every
intention to leave when Ryken is dead!”

“
Vivvie, if you think that,
you don’t know me at all,” Eli snapped harshly as he stood up, eyes
glowing fiercely. “I stupidly thought they would make you change
your mind about wanting to leave. Obviously even they can’t make
you accept what you are.”

Vivvie watched Eli stomp into their
bedroom and several minutes later, he appeared changed out of his
business suit into jeans and a t-shirt, and was on his way
out.

“
Where are you going?” she
demanded as she came off the couch, eyes filled with unrelieved
anger.

“
Somewhere where I’m
appreciated,” he said harshly and she cringed at his words. He
slammed the door behind him.

Vivvie felt miserable at the
accusations she threw at Eli, even if she suspected he deserved
some of them. He knew better to avoid her the last two weeks and
hadn’t. He wanted her to stay, that much was true.

Her feelings were bruised. She couldn’t
even bear to look at herself, knowing what he said was justified.
When she found out she was pregnant, the first thing she thought of
was that it complicated her leaving.

That was the worst of it. She regarded
them without any thought that they were even hers, tiny beings that
mattered, and not an inconvenience at all. Tears filled her gaze to
have been so selfish. Regardless of what they were, they were hers.
Eli had a right to his anger now. Her selfish determination to go
home only put the tribe at risk. Tears of anguish filled her gaze
to realize she could never go home now.

~~~~

Eli sat upon the rock ledge, brooding
over Vivvie’s reaction to having his children. He stared up at the
accursed moon, feeling damned to have been given a few weeks of
happiness, only to have it yanked away.

These last weeks with Vivvie gave him
hope he could be happy at last. Her reaction of disgust to be
having his children was a blow he wouldn’t soon recover from. The
concerned chatter of his children to hear her anger broke his
heart. They knew they were as unwanted as he was in her
life.

All she thought about was going home,
not considering for a minute she was better off with him. She
didn’t trust what was between them would last. That was his fault.
He didn’t speak of anything deeper between them. He was all
business as usual, same man, different woman. He hadn’t told her
how he felt.

After four hundred years, one would
think telling a woman that you cared for her would be easier. It
wasn’t. After Tania’s rejection of him for Jericho years ago, he
ceased to open himself up to being hurt.

Why should Vivvie want to stay with
him? He acted as he appeared; a manipulative control freak that put
the tribe before everything else. Not once had he given Vivvie any
indication of anything more permanent between them. He ran her life
from the moment Ty refused to choose her over his new
assignment.

In truth, he’d known Ty wouldn’t share
that last soul left to him. Making the ultimatum sent her running
straight into Eli’s arms. He felt no guilt for having cheated to
win her. As hung up as she'd been on Ty; he wouldn’t have stood a
chance.

The ends always justified the means. He
knew what was best for Vivvie, just as he knew the names,
birthdates, and special gifts of every member of his tribe. He made
it a priority to know such things, such details.

Vivvie needed him, whether she wanted
to believe it or not. Times were changing faster than his people
could keep up. They were being challenged by the outside world more
than ever now. Ryken’s flight only encouraged more to revolt. They
would all have to leave here one day. He already made plans for it,
thanks to Ty’s future predictions.

~~~~

The web cam image of Ty was appreciated
right about now. Vivvie could see the weeks in Florida gave him a
tan and he appeared happy and healthy. She still felt a pang at his
leaving her, but understood his reasons now. She wasn’t the one for
him. It hurt, but she believed in such things, even if Ty no longer
did. If he loved her, he would have never left.

Pregnancy brought out all her
suppressed emotions lately. She felt like a blubbering idiot as she
sat in front of the computer, knowing Ty could see her
anguish.

“
Vivian, what is it?” he
asked tensely, his golden eyes fierce. “Has Eli hurt
you?”

“
No, Ty, I’m pregnant,” she
said softly, seeing his grim look.

“
How do you feel about it?”
was his stiff reply.

“
I’m freaking out!” she
said, eyes filled with tears. “It’s happening too fast,
Ty.”

“
Vivian, I warned you to
stay away from everyone when you’re in your time,” he said sadly.
“What does Eli say of it?”

“
That it was to be
expected,” she said angrily. “What did you think he would
say?”

“
I’m sorry Vivian, but I did
warn you away from Eli too.”

“
Yes, well, it appears I’m
trapped here now,” she said bitterly. “I’ll never be able to
leave.”

“
Do you still want to?” Ty
asked, raising an eyebrow doubtfully. “Vivian, you would never be
allowed to take them with you.”

“
Yes, I know that,” she said
tearfully and wiped her eyes. “They both have his gift
too.”

Ty looked relieved to hear that, happy
even. It annoyed her everyone was happy about her condition except
for her.

“
That’s wonderful news! It
should put Eli’s mind at ease now. He worried having no one to take
over.”

“
What about my mind?” Vivian
snapped in outrage. “Did it occur to anyone that I’m having
kittens? This is a bit much for me to take, having just turned into
a damn cat myself, Ty!”

“
Vivian, they come out
looking like any other baby you have ever seen, and need you just
as much,” Ty told her, smiling at her words. “They will shift
before they talk. You will have more control over yours because
they can communicate as Eli does. You’re blessed. Most new mothers
don’t have that kind of control.”

“
I’m not at all ready for
this, Ty,” she said with a plaintive catch in her voice. “It’s too
much, all of it. I can’t get a handle on one thing, without another
cropping up.”

“
I don’t know how to make
you feel better about it, Vivian,” Ty said sadly, his golden eyes
staring into the web cam in compassion. “I’ll tell you what I do
know. I know your future changed when I took you from Florida, and
I know why now. It’s obvious.”

“
What do you mean?” she
asked in confusion. “You said you never saw my future,
Ty.”

“
That wasn’t quite true. I
didn’t want to scare you,” Ty explained. “When I first started
watching over you, I saw you die horribly at Ryken’s hands, Vivian.
I saw him rape and kill you in your bedroom. It would have happened
the night we left had I not taken you away. I couldn’t let it.
After I took you from Florida; I have seen nothing. I think we both
know why.”

Vivvie looked confused until she
recalled Ty couldn’t see Eli’s future. Her future with Eli kept
hers from being seen by Ty. It gave her hope, even a fragile
one.

“
What does it
mean?”

“
It tells me you’re where
you belong,” Ty said quietly and looked away uncomfortably. “And it
tells me who you belong with. It’s the only reason I took this
assignment, Vivian. You belong with Eli. I should have told you,
but sometimes it’s better not to know such things.”

“
Thank you for telling me
this, Ty.”

He smiled, his golden eyes filled with
regret. “I’m almost sorry I didn’t give him a run for his money,
Vivian, but we both know you would have ended up with him. I don’t
ever question my gift.”

Vivvie said goodbye and shut down the
computer, wondering if Ty was right. Was the reason he could never
see her future was because it was intermingled with Eli’s? She felt
the stirring of hope and refused to give into it.

Eli never talked about love. He talked
about the tribe and his goals, about sex, about food, and about sex
again, but never love. She waited for him to come back as night
started to fall, knowing he sat upon the rock ledge without
her.

~~~~

Vivvie fell asleep waiting for Eli to
return. He didn’t. She fell into a troubled sleep, shocked to see
the veils of her dreams unfold into a room. The door to the house
was open. She went inside. She saw the man seated upon the couch in
the living room, dozing while a TV blared. Empty food containers
were everywhere, garbage and newspapers covered the floor at his
booted feet.

The room was sparsely furnished and she
cringed to see roaches scurrying across the floor. Vivvie’s shock
turned to excitement to see Ryken dozing there and made her take a
step backward. Eli warned her not to wake him now. It would get all
very real then. She knew to imagine her weapon in her hand, as Eli
taught her. The 9mm pistol appeared suddenly. Her hand shook and
grew sweaty. She stared at the man who turned her life upside down,
finding it satisfying to point the gun at him now. Eli warned her
not to hesitate one second or it could mean one of her
souls.

Knowing she carried Eli’s children made
her hands shake as she approached him from behind. She walked up as
silent as any assassin. She put the gun to the back of his head and
he turned before she could squeeze the trigger.

She met his gaze and fear filled her
eyes as he grinned and got up, his yellow green eyes filled with
amusement.

“
So we meet again, Vivvie,”
he said softly, his eyes filled with menace as he stalked her,
eyeing the gun without fear. “We both know you won’t use that. Put
it down.”

“
You killed my friends!” she
said coldly, backing away from him, her hand shaking.

“
Actually, I killed Rachel.
She was a tramp, Vivvie. Dean killed Dina,” Ryken confessed. “They
served their purpose. Dina wasn’t any better of a mother than she
was a roommate, unfortunately. Dean killed her after she refused to
nurse his young.”

“
You won’t get away with
this, Ryken,” Vivvie said harshly, gun still trained upon him. “Eli
will find you.”

Ryken laughed at that. “Do you think
I’m scared, Vivvie? Eli’s days are numbered, or haven’t you heard?
You have been at the compound long enough to know it’s just a
matter of time before they all turn upon him. We want our freedom.
You’re one of us now. Do you like Eli controlling your
life?”

“
That doesn’t excuse what
you’re doing to innocent women!” Vivvie cried, realizing she erred
in not pulling the trigger as soon as she had the chance. “I give
you no sympathy because of how you go about it.”

Ryken took that opportunity to lunge
then, diving into her, knocking her to the floor. He pinned her
down, the gun between them. He laughed as he looked down at
her.

“
It’s a pity you’re not
really here, but this will still be fun,” he said as he reached
down and ripped away at her nightgown, his intent obvious as he
undid his pants.

Vivvie twisted to get away and flailed
in his arms, knowing she seriously goofed as he reached for the gun
and yanked it from her hand. She looked at her empty hand,
imagining another weapon. A stun gun appeared in her hand then, and
this time she didn’t hesitate to use it. She laid it on Ryken’s
neck with satisfaction, seeing his expression as the electricity
went through him, stunning him enough for her to slide away. This
time she wasted no time, changing it into a gun.

She pointed it at his heart with a grim
look as she stood over him. “Goodbye Ryken, I’m just not that into
you,” and she squeezed the trigger.

Vivvie sat straight up in bed, eyes
wide with fear. Eli wasn’t back yet. She had to tell someone she’d
gotten in undetected the first time. Ryken wouldn’t know what hit
him.

Vivvie scurried out of bed, her only
thought to get to Eli.

~~~~