Talons (40 page)

~~~~

Jericho put the phone down in the
conference room and regarded Eli with a sad expression. “Derek
confirmed it was Ryken they found dead. Ty is on his way down there
to claim the body.”

Eli was grim as he heard the news,
wondering if he should tell Jericho their kind could still die in
their sleep. He was doing his own experiments. He wanted no worry
of Ryken coming back to finish what he started here.

His people needed to heal. They needed
to decide for themselves what it was they wanted from the future,
without any leader to decide it for them. His son was quite pleased
with himself. The smug little braggart hadn’t quit tooting his own
horn since he woke up in his mother’s arms after the mass funeral
service.

Eli felt it prudent to keep this newest
discovery to himself and didn’t even tell his wife. Their people
would only fear Vivvie and his children and see them as a threat if
they knew those three alone had the power to kill them all, even if
they were immortal as Jericho had proven.

“
Then it’s over at last,”
Eli said sadly, a note of finality in his voice. “Did Derek say how
he died?”

Jericho eyed him sadly. “He didn’t
say.”

“
Maybe the coroner will turn
up something at the compound,” Eli said as he rose from his chair
and left the conference room, feeling Jericho’s questioning stare
in his back.

He arrived back at his suite to find
his wife bathing his son in a small plastic tub on the bathroom
floor. His daughter slept in her bassinet. She smiled when she saw
him. His eyes traced her features lovingly as he sat on the floor
with her.

“
We haven’t had this
honeymoon I read about, wife,” Eli remarked as he took the small
sponge out of her hand, his blue eyes glowing as they met hers. “I
just realized it. I was looking at Australia. What do you
think?”

Vivvie smiled. “Why Australia, that’s
off the beaten path?”

“
Good diving there and I
always wanted to eat a kangaroo,” he said softly as he kissed her
lingeringly. “So, are you up for it?”

“
Diving or eating a
kangaroo?”

“
Both.”

“
I don’t see how we can just
leave right now,” Vivvie said and he kissed her again, cutting off
her protests.

“
I do. I already made the
reservations.”

“
Without asking me as
usual,” she pointed out. She was dismayed her husband still took it
upon himself to do whatever he wished without consulting her. Some
things changed, and some never would. Eli was too set in his ways
for the give and take she pushed upon him daily.

“
We need to get away,
Vivvie,” Eli said and started washing up his son.

“
When do we leave?” she
asked, her eyes glowing with excitement at the prospect of a
honeymoon.

“
The day after tomorrow, so
we need to pack,” Eli replied. “Jericho and Gideon can handle
things without me for a while. My company runs itself. We need
this.”

Vivvie knew her husband needed this
more than he let on. She had never been anywhere but Minnesota in
her whole life. The prospect of going to another country won
out.

“
If you eat a Koala bear,
I’ll kill you,” she warned. “No endangered species! I mean
it!”

Eli grinned and handed his dripping son
off to his mother who wrapped him in a fuzzy blue towel. “Yes
dear.”

~~~~

Jericho was up to his ears in compound
matters when the nurse found him. She approached nervously, her
expression alarmed.

“
What is it, Mary?” Jericho
asked as he shuffled papers in front of him, longing to rebuild the
alternator on his car instead of doing expense reports for the
compound.

The nurse smiled nervously and Jericho
sensed her alarm. “She has woken up!”

Jericho dropped everything and broke
into a dead run, the nurse on his heels. He pushed open the door,
his eyes taking in the sight of her sitting up in bed with shock.
She was comatose for forty years. She turned her head and her
golden eyes met his warmly.

“
Jericho, where is Elijah
and Gideon?” she asked, a smile playing about her lips. “I have
made my decision finally.”

Jericho approached the bed where the
dark haired beauty sat with a look of unease. Tania appeared to not
realize she was asleep so long. The last time she was awake, Eli
told her she had to choose between the three of them. She’d flown
into a rage and locked herself into her apartments. Jericho was the
one to find her in her state.

“
Tania, it’s good to see you
up,” he said quietly as his eyes drank in the sight of her. “You
have been asleep a long time, my love.”

“
I know. I don’t usually
sleep this late,” Tania said with a wide happy smile. “I was having
a wonderful dream.”

Jericho was getting more and more
uneasy by the minute. “What do you recall in your dream? Do you
remember?”

Tania frowned, her pretty face
saddened. “That’s the funniest thing, I can’t remember anything.
Isn’t that strange? I never forget my dreams.”

Jericho sat at her bedside, wondering
what he would tell her. “Gideon is not here. He is away buying new
weapons. He won’t be home for another week.”

“
Where is my Elijah?” Tania
asked eagerly, her golden eyes lighting up. “I know he is upset
with me, but my news should please him. I have chosen him as my
mate, Jericho. I know I have hurt you all these years with my
indecision, but its Elijah I love. I know that now.”

Jericho took the news like a punch to
the stomach. He believed Tania would choose him, but she chose Eli.
Now Eli was away on his honeymoon with Vivvie, oblivious Tania had
awoken finally. With Gideon away, it was left for him to tell
her.

“
Tania, you have been asleep
for forty years,” he said and saw her pale.

“
No! It was just last night
we had our disagreement,” Tania said with her lips quivering. “It
can’t be true! Where is Eli?”

Jericho felt his heart break anew to
see her pain. “He has taken another mate, Tania. They’re on a
trip.”

Tania’s eyes filled with tears. “Who
has he chosen? Don’t tell me it was Lydia?”

Jericho excused the nurse, feeling the
girl had enough gossip to spread around the compound as it was.
“No, she is a Newbreed who your brother brought here. He is quite
happy, Tania. I’m sorry.”

Tania’s golden eyes glowed in fury. “He
just takes another for his mate while I was asleep? How dare he do
this to me?”

“
You slept for the last
forty years, Tania,” Jericho snapped, overwhelmed with her
selfishness to expect them all to stop living too. “We never
thought you would wake up. Gideon has taken another mate as
well.”

Tania bristled to know two out of three
of her suitors abandoned her while she slept, so much so, she
didn’t realize her reaction finally caused Jericho to see her as
she was. He stood up and looked down at her without
sympathy.

“
I waited for you thinking
you would choose me,” he said stiffly, his yellow green gaze filled
with anger. “I waited and I prayed for you to come back to me, and
you planned to choose Eli all along! I’m glad you have run out of
choices now Tania, because I won’t have you by default!”

Tania watched in surprise as Jericho
stomped away, slamming the door behind him. She knew he was hurting
and refused to run after him. To wake and learn the man she loved
above all the others married another was enough to enrage her once
more. Golden eyes narrowed. She was awake now. Elijah would learn
he made a mistake upon his return and rectify it at once. She would
forgive him for taking another in her stead. This Newbreed didn’t
stand a chance once Eli learned she was awake.

Tania smiled as she swung her long legs
out of the bed, stretching and marveling how it seemed like just
yesterday she went to bed to sleep on the matter of her choice.
Even if it took forty years to reach it; Eli belonged to her. She
would have him back.