The First Spell Weaver of Airendell: Book Two of the Airendell Chronicles (28 page)

“Damn woman!”  Luca mutters as he runs after her.  He’s not even sure where she is heading.  He starts tracking her scent and follows her to their suite.  He finds her sitting in the tub naked, running hot water and crying.  Luca comes to her and tilts her face up to meet his.  “Morna, what can I do?”

“How the hell do you do it, Luca?  I got a good whiff of Micah’s blood and I desperately wanted to tear his jugular out and drink every drop of blood in his body.  I love that boy as though he were one of my own children, and I wanted to kill him.  Even standing near Breena made me a little nuts.  How the hell have you done it for five hundred and seventy-seven years?”  Morna reaches out and strokes his face, her love and admiration for him are clearly written in her eyes.  “How baby?”

Luca lifts her up out of the tub and sets her on his lap and holds her tenderly.  “Just like you did.  I just don’t do what my biology compels me to do.  You are still doing it.  You came here to try to relax in a hot bath rather than going hunting.”  Luca holds her in silence for a few moments before saying, “But you will have to have the blood.  The baby needs it and you need it.  You will have to give in at some point.  I am sorry, but that’s your reality now.  I pray it is only temporary, during the pregnancy, but your situation is so unique, who knows.”  He says softly.

“Don’t apologize.  This isn’t your fault.  Think of all the times over the years I begged you to change me so that I didn’t have to lose you, so that I didn’t have to torture you every day just by being what I was.  And when I was exposed, I begged you to love me that way.  I knew the risk.  I know how hard it is for you to deny me when I ask for, and really want something.  I was selfish, and I am sorry for that.  But I am not sorry for what happened.  I meant what I said when I realized my hair doesn’t grow any more.  Being able to have another baby with you, being able to love you freely, being able to understand you better, all of that is so worth what I am dealing with now.”  Morna says sincerely and then she kisses him tenderly, gently.

Luca finally breaks off the kiss and says, “I will hunt for you, bring the blood to you like you did when you held me in the binding spell right after my conversion.  You don’t have to hunt.”

“Luca, it is not the hunting animals part of it that scares me, I am just fine with that.  If I was sure I would never try to feed on a human, I would be perfectly fine with this whole situation.  But we both know that I do not have the same amount of self-control that you do.”  Morna says quietly.

Luca chuckles wryly.  “Morna, you are one of the most disciplined warriors I have ever seen.  You just have to approach this like you do when you are training, or in combat.  Use that iron will that you have to see your duty done and to push your body farther and farther to accomplish your goals.  Use that iron will to control yourself.  You are definitely up to this challenge, my love.” Luca assures her with full confidence.

Morna kisses him again and crawls off his lap into the tub, and starts undoing the buttons on his shirt.  “Yeah, like I have control when it comes to reining in my passion for you?  That iron will?”  She eagerly rains kisses on his perfect chest, and then looks back up to his beloved face.

“Baby, I am your husband, your one true mate.  You don’t have to control yourself in that regard and you know it.  Because you have every right to have me anytime, anywhere that you want.  That’s why you are so passionate about me.  That is completely different.”  He unbuckles his belt and quickly peels out of his clothes and joins her in the tub.  “You are comparing apples to oranges.”  He leans down and takes a breast into his mouth.

Morna moans and holds his head to her breast as he suckles.  Then suddenly she giggles and asks, “Is this an apple or an orange?”

Luca pulls back and looks at her and smiles her favorite lopsided grin and says, “Neither.  I think it’s a grapefruit.”  They laugh together at his silly joke, and then he gently pulls her face to his and kisses her passionately as he draws her body over his own and guides her onto his erection.  They both moan in pleasure as she slowly slides down the length of his shaft and back up again very, very slowly.  She pulls away from the kiss and reaches behind him to shut the water off and giggles happily when he nips her breast that swings in front of his face as she does this.  “I love you Morna Glynn Michaels”

“I love you Lucian Invictus Bellona Michaels, now and forever.”  She vows as she stares into his eyes.  “Whatever comes, we face it together.”

“Together.”  He assures her as he takes her hips and starts moving her up and down on his erection.  They slowly take their pleasure in each other’s bodies.

When they are finished they dress and set out for Heimdall’s park to hunt.  Morna stops him in the hallway and says, “Please check on our children for me before we go.  I don’t trust myself to do it.”

“Morna, I will do it for you.  But I promise you that you would not hurt those children.  You wouldn’t hurt any child, much less your own. There is just no way you would do it.”  He says solemnly, and kisses her lips tenderly, reassuringly. 

When he comes back out of the last bedroom he says, “Nora and Aiden are sleeping soundly.  I guess Kyle is still hanging out with the Spell Weavers.  I am glad.  It is good for him to get to know his people better.”

“I agree.  Let’s go, maybe we can get back before he goes to bed.” Morna says somewhat urgently because her craving for blood is mounting in intensity at an alarming speed.  “I assume we should get Heimdall to clear the park?  I don’t want any sentient beings in there while I am hunting.”

“Yes, that would be best.” Luca agrees and they take off running for Heimdall’s hall.  They meet George and Brigid out for a walk a few miles from Morna’s hall. 

When they stop to say hello to their friends George is watching Morna speculatively, and standing slightly between Brigid and the other couple.  Morna watches George and says, “I guess Micah told you about my, uh, cravings?”

“He did.  But Maria and I suspected it would happen anyway.  You aren’t the first human to give birth to a vamp’s child that Stone Breakers have encountered.  You okay with all of this?”  George asks curiously.

“As long as I can control myself around humans, I don’t have a problem with it.  How about you, my brother?  Do you have a problem with it?  Do you have a problem with me?”  Morna says as she meets her friend’s eyes.

“Hell no, Morna!  I know you will control yourself.  Your mission is to protect humanity.  You wouldn’t ever cross that line.”  Asserts George fervently.

“I appreciate your confidence, but I need to go try my hand at hunting.  This craving is getting pretty intense.”  Morna admits aversely.  “Brigid, will you two be ready to go back to Chicago with us tomorrow?  I am eager to see what you can do for Aiden.”

“I am ready Morna.  Just don’t get your hopes up too much.  We may not be able to fix everything for him.  Cerebral Palsy can be tricky.  There is usually a lot of damage to the brain at birth.  It can be very hard to heal.  I am very encouraged that Luca will be with us.  His precision with his spells will be very helpful.”  Brigid says honestly.  “Aideen is awesome at what she does, but she doesn’t specialize in the brain, nor is she an orthopedic surgeon.  I wish we had one in our little group.”

“Well, hopefully tomorrow will bring good news,” offers Luca hopefully.  He is secretly wishing that he knew more about CP.  “I need to get this one fed and in bed.  She needs rest.  She hasn’t slept well in a while.  We will see you both at breakfast, in the main hall?”

“Sounds good Brother!” says George as he extends his hand to shake.  He turns to Morna and starts to hug her when she shakes her head no, and very quickly backs up a step. George chuckles and Brigid smiles her goodnight before Morna and Luca take off running again.

When they arrive at Heimdall’s they are shown into Heimdall’s private sitting room.  The very one where they had discussed Aideen’s recovery a few days earlier.  Rinda comes in first and heads directly for Morna.  Luca stops her less than a foot from her dear friend.  Morna hisses, and bares her teeth.  Then she tells Rinda between clenched teeth.  “Back up, sweetie.  Please!”

“What the hell is wrong?” Asks Rinda, looking from Luca to Morna.

“I’m craving blood, it’s sort of a side effect of the pregnancy.  And you smell particularly appetizing to me.” Morna hisses again.  “Please love, please keep your distance!”  Morna begs reluctantly with a pained groan.

“Well you wouldn’t attack me!” Rinda asserts as she tries to take another step toward Morna.  “You are not a vampire!”

“No, I wouldn’t mean to.  But being this close to you right now is very painful.”  Morna confesses.  “And Rinda, I am not venomous like a vampire, but I do have the teeth to feed with.  Please stay back, just until I feed, at least.  Please, love.”

Heimdall joins them and says, “Morna, I suspected this was happening.  I have already cleared the park of all sentient beings.  You have free reign, Baby Girl.”

Morna looks at Heimdall, “Godfather, you seem to be very accepting of this new development.”

“Gullveig and I have discussed the vampire/human conceptions and births before.  It was an obsession of hers for years to see that the hapless human females survived their encounters with vampire males.  Those females, of course, did not hunt.  But you are not a typical human female.  But Gullveig did not expect the cravings to hit you so soon.”  Heimdall admits.

“I have been craving for days, I just didn’t realize what it was that I was craving.  Besides, I was dealing with other, more important matters.”  Morna says stiffly.

“Of course,” Heimdall says thoughtfully.  “Well, dear girl, I do appreciate the courtesy call, but it wasn’t really necessary.  Feel free to hunt any time.  I have already given Luca and Damian permission.  It certainly applies to you.”

Morna hugs her godfather and steps back quickly as she says, “Damn, you smell good too.  But nothing like Rinda does, she smells so good!”  She groans like she is in pain, as she looks at her friend and says “Sorry love.”  Finally she turns to her mate; “Shall we?”  And she follows him to the park.

Luca takes her hand when they get to the entrance of the park and says, “Love, you don’t have to do this.  I will bring you enough blood to satisfy any requirements you might have.”

Morna takes his face in her hands and kisses him and then she quietly asks, “Why are you so reluctant for me to do this?  Will it change me in your eyes somehow?”

“Never Morna.  But it may change how you see me.” Says Luca quietly.

“Darling, it will only give me a deeper understanding of you, a deeper connection to you.  I am oddly looking forward to that part.” Admits Morna softly.  “How do I do this?”

“For me Morna, instinct took over my first time.  And I saw how you hunted on the Spirit Plane when you went after the NA’YU’NUWI, it is much the same in this situation. You have superior senses to your prey, and superior speed and strength, you will do fine.  Just turn yourself over to your instincts.”  Luca instructs.  “I suggest you go after a wild boar or a stag.  Richer blood, much more satisfying.  Just please weave the iron-lion spell to protect your body.  You heal fast, but there is no sense in challenging your already stressed, pregnant body.”

“Luca, I already have.  I won’t take unnecessary chances with our son.”  Morna says somewhat defensively.

“I was not implying that Morna.”  He kisses her lips tenderly.  “I simply did not realize you had already woven the spell.  I cannot feel your defensive or offensive magic when you use it.  It’s too seamless, too perfect for me to detect.”  Luca says admiringly.  “When we get back to Middle-world, I will take you hunting for mountain lion or bear.  They are much more to my liking, but they are more dangerous, so let’s see how tonight goes.”  Luca says as he kisses his wife.  “One more thing, we tend to have to be very careful when we hunt together.  You know, to stay out of each other’s way.  The instinct to protect our prey from other predators is strong, so don’t be surprised if you snarl at me because I will be trailing you.”

“I don’t like the sound of that.  I mean me feeling the need to snarl at you.” Morna says unhappily.  “But I am very eager to get on with it.  I can smell some deer already.  Their blood, I mean.  Now, my throat really is burning!”

“Let’s go my love,” Luca says and indicates that she should lead the way. Morna takes off sprinting in the direction of the scent of the deer and then she remembers what Luca said about wild boar being more satisfying, and she veers off of that course in search for scent of wild boar.  She isn’t tracking long when she picks up the scent.  The sense of urgency is building in her and she has to stop and take a deep breath to calm her racing heart.  She hears Luca whisper from about 100 feet behind her, “Good girl.  Keep a calm head.”

Morna nods at her mate’s encouragement and returns her concentration to her prey.  The scent is growing stronger.  Morna is amazed at how silently she is running through the deep brush.  Her instincts and ability to move stealthily are quite remarkable to her.  Suddenly she cannot only smell the boar’s blood, but she can hear its heartbeat, and hear the blood being pushed through its body as it digs up roots to eat.  It has not caught her scent yet, so she stops for a millisecond to make sure that she is upwind from her prey and then resumes the hunt.  She sees it through the brush, it is very large, at least six hundred pounds, and vicious looking.  Morna decides to drop down on it from a tree.  She silently climbs the tree in about two seconds and positions herself above the boar.