The Billionaire's Baby (Key to My Heart Book 3) (11 page)

She continued pacing the outline of the cave, taking her time at each space to cause tiny potato plants to sprout, lining his dirt walls with white and purple blossoms.

It would make him really happy, she was positive, to see such beautiful buds. Not to mention the hidden potatoes in the earth.

By the time she had finished and checked the door, she could no longer see any tiny hints of light spilling inside, so she walked over to the sleeping vampire, poking him hard in the back.

He jumped, giving a yawn and casting a slight glare over his shoulder at the girl, "You could've been more gentle than that, you know."

She shrugged, suddenly silent and very self-conscious of what he would think of what she'd done to his home and what he'd think of her gift.

He sat up, eyes narrowing suspiciously as he glanced around, "Did you do somethin'?"

With the clear mistrust in his tone Nia could tell that he was second guessing his decision to sleep and not keep a closer tab on her.

She nodded, twirling the end of her braid around her fingers again, "Yeah…I kind of…well, I-"

"You filled my home with flowers?" Ellis interrupted in disgust.

He stood, stretching his tired bones and going to the nearest wall to inspect them with a revolted snort. Honestly, flowers, of all things.

Nia's mouth dropped open in slight distress, upset rather than angry at his reaction, after all the time she'd put into his present.

He glared over his shoulder at her, rolling his eyes at her pout and yanking out one of the small leafy plants from his wall. It was only when two or three potatoes popped out of the wall with the blossoms did he stop complaining, whirling abruptly to face Nia.

His mouth gaped like a goldfish, holding the plant upwards in the air. His gaze shifted from the dirt covered plant to Nia, then back again.

"You planted a bunch of potatoes?" He whispered in shock.

Nia was suddenly worried he'd burst into tears the way he stared at her, eyes shimmering and grateful. He rapidly advanced on her and wrapped his arms around her in a tight, suffocating hug.

He broke away grinned brightly, "Thanks, lamb chop." He said, a genuine smile on his thin lips.

She blushed and shrugged, "You promised to take me home, so I thought…"

He sighed, glancing around at the potatoes lining his wall, "You're not making it easy to let you go." He muttered, laughing and pinching one of her cheeks. "Well, a promise is a promise."

She nodded, glancing up at the door high above their heads, "How do we get out?"

He grabbed her, tossing her lightly over her shoulder.

"Can't you give me a warning before you do that or something?" She cried in frustration

"Warning." Her responded, as he bent slightly, eyes focused on the wooden door above their heads.

His feet slid outwards on the ground so they were out a bit farther than his shoulders, before he sprung up abruptly, bursting through the wooden door out of the cave-like home, careful not to bump her too much or too hard on the walls of the hall.

Once back on the forest floor he gently set her on her feet, aiding her as she tried to brush dirt from her face and hair.

"Alright, kid, where's your village?" He asked, tossing a potato upwards in his hand before taking a big chomp out of it.

"East." She responded, not even bothering to yell at him for his annoying nickname, at least he was taking her home.

“…why do you like those things so much?” She asked, unable to ignore the curiosity any longer, “You’re a vampire. Not a vegetarian.”

He shrugged, inspecting the pale flesh of the plant, “It’s a texture thing. I can’t taste it, but it’s crunchy and moist…it reminds of me human food back in the day.” He couldn’t even remember what his favorite meal had been back then, "Come on, let's get you back."

He released her arm and lightly patted her on the head again like a child, laughing as she glared at him. He turned his back to her, walking swiftly towards the trees, the soft padding of her feet crunching the dry leaves under her following quickly.

"You know, kid, I'm really doing you a huge favor escorting you home personally." He said lightly, trying to make conversation. He slowed his steps, listening for her answer.

She made a strange noise in response, and he paused, upset that she hadn't come worshipping his feet.

He sneered at the trees in front of him, haughtily muttering, "Fine then, if you really want to stay with me so bad…"

He smirked, waiting tensely for a plant to trip him or her to shove him, but it never came. She didn't even make a noise. After a moment, it became clear to him that she was no longer even walking.

He stopped his slow walking, agitatedly glancing over his shoulder, his mouth opening to say some kind of insulting remark most likely dealing with her small stature.

Those words, which had risen in rude heat up his throat, fell cold on slightly parted lips, eyes instantly widening to the size of huge saucers.

"Nia…" He whispered, the name which he so little actually said sounding foreign rolling off his tongue.

Chapter Three

The redheaded girl stood a yard or so behind him, body rigid and tense, jade eyes locked vacantly on his face.

One of her hands was slightly extended, as though she'd been reaching for him, and stayed that way for several moments before slowly falling down to her side, hanging limply like it weighed more than she could lift.

It was not this strange behavior that worried Ellis.

Nor was it was the man standing intimidatingly behind her, one hand resting on her shoulder.

Instead, it was the long, silver sword that had been ruthlessly pierced through her stomach, slightly off center and glinting a strange mix of crimson-silver in the moonlight.

Ellis found himself immobile as well, unable to convince his stunned body to move as the air around him suddenly became thick and suffocating. He had to remind himself quickly how to breathe.

He slowly lowered onyx gaze to her stomach as blood slowly began to trickle from the wound. It was slow at first, simple blots of crimson red staining her light colored shirt, then it blossomed out from the wound, a liquid, ruby red rose covering nearly half of her shirt.

If only he'd been paying more attention…

"I missed." The man said lightly, orange colored bangs with black tips shadowing his face as he peered over Nia's shoulder at his handiwork, "I guess it'll have to do."

"Missed?" The vampire managed to wheeze through seemingly collapsed lungs, afraid if he eventually did manage to move closer that Nia would be hurt even more.

There was a gaping hole in her stomach, what could he possibly have missed?

"I didn't hit anything instantly fatal. She’ll suffer." The man swished shoulder length orange hair over his shoulder as he straightened, white streaks and black tips catching Ellis's attention briefly.

Ellis had never seen anyone with tricolored hair, what kind of fashion statement was this strange weirdo making? This guy really needed someone to fix his patchy colored hair for him.

Had the mood been any lighter, Ellis would have joked and laughed. But now Ellis's stomach felt hollow and empty, his heart weighed a thousand pounds, and his arms and legs were made of lead.

Laughter didn't exist.

Nia teetered again on her feet, gaze slowly dropping from the vampire who didn't come to her aid to the blade, one of her hands inching sluggishly towards it, as though she could somehow manage to remove it. In the end, she simply stared at it, apple green eyes uncharacteristically flat and unable to register what had happened.

She didn't cry, she didn't scream, she didn’t make any noise at all.

Unfortunately, Ellis quickly recognized that expression from a good percentage of his victims that he'd sucked dry. He knew all too well what happened when people made that face – death was soon to follow, Nia was losing too much blood.

"Humans who play with vampires are as disgusting as vampires themselves." The strange haired man said, clucking his tongue in pity at the dying girl.

Nia was quickly paling as the blood continued spilling freely onto the ground before her, leaving ugly red streaks down her pants and shirt, pooling around her feet as her skin faded from copper to a sick, disgusting yellow pallor. Ellis could tell she was struggling to stay conscious and on her feet, a slight whimper finding its way out of her parted lips.

Still, Ellis didn't move. He couldn't move. His body wouldn't respond no matter how much he screamed in his brain to help her. He wanted to help her, he honestly did, but he was stuck in shock.

When was the last time he’d gotten attached to someone? When was the last time he’d watched someone he cared about, even slightly, get mortally injured? It was too much, too shocking.

The man sighed, shaking his head and grabbing the back of Nia's head, hand bunching painfully tight in her red hair. He then looked up at Ellis, whose eyes had widened just a tiniest bit, fists clenching at his sides.

The vampire took a halting step forward, just as the man, who Ellis thought was about to shove Nia off the sword to the ground, yanked her backwards instead, so her back was forced against the hilt. She gasped then gagged, spots of blood appearing on the corners of her mouth.

The vampire desperately lunged to the pair, quickly in front of Nia, reaching out to yank her off the sword and away from the man and run for it.

The man, it seemed, had other things in mind.

Quickly, he plunged the sword further forward as soon as Ellis was in front of him, spinning them slightly as he pierced through Ellis's own stomach and pinned him to a tree right behind him.

"Dammit!" Ellis grunted, teeth gritting in pain as he caught Nia, now trapped between the thick hilt of the sword and Ellis, in a tight grasp to keep her from sagging against the sharp blade.

He felt her mortal body go rigid in pain, though she made no noise, head eventually falling forward limply against his chest.

He couldn't believe he'd fallen into such an easy trap to spot. They were basically shish kabobs now, strung out on the silver blade and waiting to die.

"I had intended to kill her quickly." The man said apologetically, shoving the sword harder so it now went all the way through the tree, trapping Ellis and Nia.

The pain flashed hot and white behind Ellis's eyes, jaw still gritted tightly. The only thing that could possibly hurt him worse was the ragged groan that Nia gave, and how her limp hands clutched onto him in anguish.

Ellis was an immortal vampire, blessed with strength and wit, he should have been able to save her…what good was he?

"Why?" His voice, which the man had expected to be angry and violent was instead calm. They both knew he was not asking about himself, it was all about the girl clinging to life.

"Do you remember the late Corsentil Prince whom you came across about seventy or so years ago?" The hunter asked, inspecting the bloodied hilt of his sword.

Ellis had been in the northern country of Corsentil so long ago. So, so long ago.

He'd been stupid then, new to the life of a vampire, and made many mistakes. When he finally realized his wrongs, he'd come crawling into Landrian, the country neighboring the much more violent Corsentil, and had brought the warring nation's wrath as well.

Many villages had been attacked in their hunt of Ellis, though Ellis did think the hunt was a bit strangely obsessive. He was just one vampire out of many who had attacked royalty. And one of the few who'd really done it on accident. He couldn't understand why Corsentil sent a whole army after him.

Ellis flinched, slowly opening his mouth to answer when Nia convulsed slightly in his arms, bringing his attention back to her. Blood was slowly trickling down over her lips from the corners of her mouth. She wasn't going to last much longer. His sensitive ears could hear each tiny drop of blood splatter against her neck. Drip, drip, drip all the way down till it disappeared into the collar of her shirt.

He was old enough to control his bloodlust, at least for now. He couldn’t be sure how much longer he would be able to resist the sweet scent of the crimson liquid, "She had nothing to do with that incident! You didn't need to hurt her!"

"She was part of my trap. As the General of the Corsentil army, we're trained in matters like these. It was fairly easy to tell that you would try to save her. I simply positioned myself near a tree and let you do all the work." He sneered, then added with a snicker and a slight glance over of the redhead, "Not much of a waste though, don't you agree?"

Ellis trembled, squeezing her closer against him, as though he could protect her from the blade piercing her stomach.

"Besides, vampire, you're running low on blood as well…doesn't hers look so tempting?"

What the man said was true, Ellis bitterly accepted. He tried not to look down, where he knew her crimson blood was mixing with his own darker, more burgundy blood. The more he lost the more he needed, and the more he needed the more his instincts would take control.

He knew it was part of the General's plan, to torture them both as they died. It was horrible and disgusting, and so very like Corsentil.

"Nia?" He whispered pleadingly when he felt her body begin to go limp, "Kid…" He swallowed, sucked in his pride, and made his voice almost sweet and tender, "Sweetie, can you hear me?"

If these were the last words she heard she deserved to hear him being nice, at least. It was his fault that she was like this after all.

She shuddered and slowly tilted her head back, staring glazedly up at him through slitted eyes. The once burning emerald of her eyes was flat and muted. There was no life in them, she had mere minutes.

"Princess, talk to me." He cooed, ignoring as best as possible the blood trickling down her neck.

He could feel it though, swelling inside of him urgently, his instincts calling for him to taste it. He knew she'd taste wonderful. She had so much soul and fire and just…life inside of her, all the ingredients for tasty blood.

'
Just a tiny bit…'
 His instincts whispered, begging in desperation at each new, tiny rivulet of blood crossed her lips, '
It's being wasted…'

The General was approaching again, his hand slowly grasping the hilt of the sword.

The tiny movements of his touch on the blade made Nia flinch, grasping the vampire tighter. The General abruptly twisted the blade just a few degrees, smirking as Nia involuntarily gave a shrill, ragged cry that shocked birds out of their nests.

More blood, if possible, spilled down the sides of her mouth. Ellis, whose mouth had opened to cry in pain as well, clamped it shut tightly to keep from breathing in the scent, glaring over her head at the man. He grabbed Nia, a bit rougher than he had intended, practically shoving her face into his chest, anything he could do to keep from looking at the blood – which he so wanted to taste.

"Stop!" Ellis snapped, but the sickening scent of blood filled his nose and mouth, and it took all of his power not to attack the helpless girl.

"It’s cold…" Nia whispered painfully into his chest, face planted over his heart where it would normally be so warm. But now it was almost icy and his heart beat so slowly.

He was descending, losing it. All he could see, taste, smell, think about was her blood. The crimson liquid life which was so dear to her and which he knew he would eventually steal. His body was kicking into survival mode without consent

Then, before he knew it, he had Nia's hair in his hands, ignoring her pleading whimper, and yanked her head further back while his lips attacked the girl's jaw, holding her face still so he could get better at the sweet blood.

Ellis been correct about the taste. He clutched her harder, trying on one hand to lap as much as possible from her skin, and on the other not to lose total control.

She whimpered again, and he trembled, nearly pulling back when he felt it reverberate against his mouth through her throat, but continuing in the end, half groaning against the warm liquid.

"I knew you were nothing but a monster." The man said snidely, watching with a crinkled nose as the vampire blindly gulped at the blood on her neck and the corners of her mouth and her jaw, squeezing the girl's shoulders so tight he bruised her tanned skin.

"Nia," He whispered raspily in her ear, so quiet he could hardly hear himself, "I know you can hear me, you know what to do.”

He trembled visibly in his attempt to keep from lapping up her free flowing blood like some perverted animal, and he knew he was going to bite her soon if they didn't find a way out of this mess.

At first, the girl didn't respond, but eventually she gave a weak tremor, and off between the trees something crashed loudly, followed by a few young men's cries.

Both Ellis and the man jerked back to attention in surprise, staring towards the noise.

"Sir!" Ellis heard someone far off shout urgently, "Remmy....Remmy just ...a big g-green thing...came out of the ground?!"

The man gave a short, suspicious glare at the two, but after a moment's hesitation and deciding they were safely bound to the tree, he ran off to help his comrades.

"Good girl." Ellis whispered in praise, successfully distracted.

He gently supported her with one arm while the other went around her to grasp the hilt of the sword, "This is going to hurt a little, ok? Just stay with me a bit longer."

She didn't answer, body limp against his own, head rolling just slightly with his movements. The vampire took a deep breath and then in one swift yank managed to jerk the sword free of the pair, though he lost his grip from the awkward angle and the sword went flying, landing with a loud crash against a tree.

Their time to escape was limited now; no doubt the General had heard the clamor.

Both Ellis and Nia collapsed briefly against the ground before Ellis clambered up to his feet again, carrying the tiny girl awkwardly in one arm, the other grasping the tree they had once been pinned to which was stained with dark blood.

He could feel his strength leaving him ounce by ounce – he had lost too much blood.

If this continued he would be too weak to even move until he got more. His body had already almost finished healing itself, the gaping hole once echoing in his stomach was nothing but a tiny, almost invisible scratch.