Valley of Dust (11 page)

T
HE DAY HAD finally arrived. I was outside with Carla when my water broke. Carla rushed me inside and called for Lucian and the midwife. I knew it was time; the contractions were a pain I had never dreamed I could feel. Even after following all those instructions and breathing techniques, I still felt like I couldn’t handle the pain. After twelve long and strenuous hours of screaming the most insane words imaginable, Marcus was born. He had stunning, platinum blonde hair and dark eyes looking up to me. The midwife, Susan, explained to me that his eyes would have a permanent color around nine months old, but then she said coldly that his eyes would most likely be brown. The thought of her tone didn’t cross my mind because he was so beautiful and the treasure of my life. He definitely had my nose and skin, but there were definite features of his father that I hoped would go unnoticed. Carla had told me it was best if I took some rest and assured me she would be with my child every second while I slept. I knew I could trust her; when the final push had come, she and Lucian were practically fighting on who would catch him. With that thought in my mind, I drifted peacefully to sleep.

“You think everything is perfect, don’t you?” the cryptic me spoke.
Shit,
I thought,
I was back in this dream world.
“Everything is perfect and you are wrong. I had a son,” I said. She laughed like I was the crazy woman here. “I only told you what you wanted to know, nothing more, nothing less,” she said. “Which is nothing,” I said. “Fine, you will be getting those wedding gifts from your grandparents soon. Look at them, you might find something interesting.” She smiled.

*****

Lucian fell in love with Baby Marcus at first sight. Cutting the umbilical cord and holding him in his arms was something he had been waiting a lifetime for. He had looked at Selene in those moments and fell more in love with her. Even if this child was not his, he sure felt like it was. When Carla had let Selene nap and she had brought Baby Marcus to the playroom, he recognized the midwife asking him to come talk with her. He had no idea why she would need to discuss anything since he knew Selene was fine. That’s when the midwife shocked him. “Lucian, sir, I do not want to cause problems, but this baby clearly does not look like yours. The dark eyes are not consistent with your and Selene’s eyes. Both of you have recessive blue, and this child will most likely have brown. I only say this because you are my employer and I want you to know this.” Lucian felt enraged at how she could go accusing so quickly in what should be a joyous celebration of life. Accusing Selene of something, regardless of whether it was true or not, was not what she was paid to do. She was paid to keep all matters private, and he hoped that meant drama free. Before he let her finish any more hate-filled gossip, he burst with anger at her. He made sure she left, and told her they did not need her services anymore. He knew at least that he definitely did not want to see this woman again. After the last month of her living with them, he would have never thought she would have the audacity to say such a thing. She was definitely not being professional, especially when there was only hearsay and no real paternity proof. The fact that she was spouting these things made him feel concerned for the baby and Selene’s welfare. He knew he would have to explain this later to Selene, but for now was happy that he had excused her of her services.

He decided he needed to take his mind off the anger he felt and lay next to Selene. He wanted to help her relax; he knew she did the biggest part in all of this. She had done wonderful and everything without pain medicine. Even he cringed at how painful the crowning had looked. As he lay next to Selene, he felt calmer and drifted to sleep.

A few weeks went by, and Baby Marcus was looking increasingly more like Anton. Lucian knew it would be impossible for the council to not see the resemblance. That night at the ball, Anton had told the council how she had slept with him and then went for Lucian. He had made her sound like someone seeking power. He hated the thought of how the council must have seen Selene that night. He knew she would be looked down upon for something that was never her intention. Selene’s emotions day by day were improving, and she could handle her power more at will. Soon he knew she could go outside without worry of scaring mortals around her. The only thing he worried for now was Baby Marcus. He was worried that someone from the council might see them and recognize the resemblance to Anton. He hated the thought of keeping them from the outside world, but he didn’t know what else to do. He had kept this secret of the baby’s father with her, and he didn’t want it to bite them when they least expected it.

Then the day had finally come; Lucian had a visitor waiting for him in the living room with Selene and Marcus. When Lucian had finally got to the living room, he saw it was Alexander. He looked worried, and this put Lucian on edge. That’s when Alexander spoke, “Tell me the truth, Lucian, I want to hear it from your mouth.” He looked disappointed at Lucian, and Lucian knew he had to tell him. “He is not mine, if that is what you are asking.”

“How could you lie to us, Lucian? The council knows you are not the father and it is not going well for you. Even James was shocked at the resemblance. You had Carla lie to my son.”

“I had to, Alexander, you know what my brother Anton is like. Selene and I made this decision on our own.” “You’re a fool, Lucian, this is exactly what Anton and Sebastian needed from you. You played into their hands, don’t you see? The council has voted to not offer protection to Selene or her child.” “So you would condemn this child to a life without love so he can be with that heartless brother of mine?” “Lucian, it was not your decision to make. You are now considered a loose cannon in the council’s eyes. They have even relinquished your leadership back to me. There is nothing I can do except tell you this.” “Alexander, why are you telling me this? Don’t you side with the council too? I saw how you looked at Marcus.” “You’re wrong, Lucian, I do not side with the council. My loyalty has always remained with you. You have always been like a son to me. I am protecting my family as best I can. This is all I can do. Please heed my warning: they are coming for you.” “What do you mean, Alexander? Why would they come for us? Don’t they know our power is too strong? How long do we have?” “The orders were given to Sebastian today. No one knows what they will do and how they will do it. I just know that the child has lost all protection from the council and has given Sebastian and Anton rights to claim him. Please be careful, my son.” Then Alexander was gone. He knew he needed to get Carla, Selene, and the child out of here, but how? That’s when he realized he would use the detective. He knew, if anything, that man could find them a safe house. Just explaining the details to him would be a little hard.

He ran upstairs to Selene’s room and told Carla to help pack everyone’s things without questions and to not inform James. That’s when he asked Selene something he never thought he would ask: to call Detective Michael Jones. It was surprising how quickly the detective to got the mansion. It was thanks to Selene’s thinking that he came in a flash and offered to help us. She had explained that Anton had killed those women and now he was after her child. The detective had almost wanted to involve his office, but Selene had told him she didn’t trust anyone else but him. He knew that she had won the detective over. He was a man who knew all too well about the job and how news can leak accidentally. Selene asked if there was a place they could hide that was farther away from their present location. That is when Michael offered his small fishing shack in Virginia. He had warned Lucian it was not what they were accustomed to, but he thought for sure it would be the last place for them to be found. Lucian hoped he was right about that.

It was decided at nightfall; everyone’s suitcases were packed and in the car. This would be a seven-hour drive, but it would get them out of North Carolina and somewhere safe. They needed to leave no paper trail, so Lucian had made sure to take twenty grand out of his safe. He was glad he had kept cash reserves on hand. Now it finally had come to some use, and he hoped they would be safe with that much. He also slipped Selene’s mail in her suitcase; maybe it was packages from her family members.

T
HE DRIVE WAS wonderful. My baby was fast asleep in the detective’s car, and I could see Lucian and Carla following behind us in her car. It looked difficult for Lucian to leave everything behind, but they had finally decided it was best for everyone to go into hiding somewhere else. It felt like someone had opened the door to my cage. I felt free, and I knew going to the detective’s lake house was going to be a big change for me no matter what the circumstances brought.

I worried for Marcus’s safety, but Lucian had assured me he would give his life in protecting our child.
Our child,
I thought,
if only he was then we wouldn’t be in this mess
. I wondered if hiding the fact that Anton was the father was the right thing to do. I knew deep down it was wrong, but after everything he had done to me, I didn’t want a man like that raising this child. My child deserved someone better, and I thought at least I had the right to decide. The council choosing sides was a shock to us all. I couldn’t believe Anton had someone like Sebastian that could win over so many people. James and Alexander were on our side but were being watched carefully by Anton and the council. We were vulnerable at Lucian’s mansion, and we all knew it.

I hoped that our being far from Lucian’s network of people would help hide us better, but how long could we truly hide? Would this be another cage for Marcus and me to live in? When we arrived at Michael’s lake house, I was amazed at how long the dirt road had taken us before we reached the house. It was definitely not somewhere you could imagine Lucian staying at. Even Carla’s face looked shocked at the sight of the place. Michael was right to call it a shack. The house looked as if it had not been well maintained and looked almost ancient. There was running water, but the only bathroom available was an outhouse. I prayed that the insects in the outhouse had eaten most of the waste. One thing that the shack had going for it was the acreage. He had over fifty acres of land; of course it was not developed land, but it was definitely large enough to keep away from strigoi eyes. Lucian had decided that we were all to remain here, and the only person allowed to leave was the detective. It was a brilliant idea; even Michael was shocked at how well Lucian had thought this through. Michael would go to work like usual, and for his days off he would bring supplies for us to the shack. There were no phones, and we hadn’t brought any cell phones, so we entrusted Michael to care for us. I was glad things were going so smoothly. Carla, Marcus, and I adjusted very easily to this new lifestyle, even though I could tell how much Carla missed James. Lucian, however, often looked out to the world saddened at where he was. I wished I hadn’t caused this for him and Carla. It was my choice after all, and I had brought people I loved into this chaos; but I knew they would not have changed anything, especially after Baby Marcus came into our lives.

The next day I was rummaging through my suitcase and found two manila envelopes in there addressed to me.
Shit
,
the dream me was right
,
I thought. I opened the one from my father’s side of the family. His was boringly simple; the whole family was Swedish. Nothing looked unusual from his side that came to my mind. Then I opened the envelope from my mother’s grandmother. There was something peculiar; my grandparents’ names were Martin, but my grandfather’s parents name was Martinov. This was curious. I was always so close to my grandfather. I remembered him always calling me special, but why did he never tell me he changed his family name? It was too late to ask him now since he was dead and we did not have Internet for safety purposes, so I decided to show Lucian this; maybe he would know. I brought the papers to Lucian and asked him why my grandfather’s name is different from his parents’ name. Lucian looked at the pages and looked dumbfounded. “What, Lucian, tell me?” “It’s Romanian. Gypsies would trade in their names for Americanized names to blend into society.” “So you’re saying I am one-fourth Romanian?” “What’s worse, Selene, is you have Gypsy blood, ancient, from one of the tribe chief’s people who cursed me.” I was shocked at this discovery. One of my ancestors took part in cursing Lucian. I didn’t know but I was sorry, and I left him with my family tree alone.

North Carolina seemed calm every time Michael brought us supplies and would inform us of any new case. Lucian still had not talked to me about my family history. I knew deep down my blood struck a nerve in him, and maybe also he now feared me. Everything was going somewhat normally until Michael came screaming into the house on his day off from work. There was a fire, and apparently it was fast moving. We didn’t have time to pack and get out because Michael did not know what direction the fire was coming and wanted to make sure we had enough time to get to the road before the fire blocked our path. I got in the car with Marcus and Michael. Carla and Lucian followed us. It was the first time I had been involved in a fire, especially one outdoors; it was quite nerve racking. Michael had just gotten out on the road when we were hit dead on by a car.

It happened so fast, but I could feel the car spiraling, and then we slammed right into the tree upside down. I regained control and checked to see if my child was okay. Marcus was screaming his lungs out. I had hoped he was truly immortal and that his screaming was a good sign, meaning he was somewhat undamaged. I unbuckled myself and fell to the top of the car. I could definitely feel the pain of the crash. I went to carefully get Marcus out of his seat. It was harder than I thought it would be to get to him out, but then I finally was able to free him from the mangled car. At first glance he looked unharmed, from what I could tell, and I was so relieved. When I pulled us out through the window of the car, I realized that Michael was still in there. His arm was hanging out of the window, and it was cut up extremely bad, but I could feel a pulse. I screamed for help, and I saw Lucian and Carla running for us. I was relieved that they were unharmed; maybe it was just a careless driver who just hit us accidentally. That’s when I saw a figure behind Lucian and Carla, and they went flying in the air. Lucian hit a tree first, and Carla was at his feet. Lucian was hanging from the tree from what looked like a branch going right through him. I gasped at the thought that Lucian could be dead, and then I saw Carla motionless on the ground near Lucian. It reminded me of Anton, seeing Carla like that. I immediately regained my sense and knew I had to protect my friends and family. I gathered it all, everything I remembered of Michael’s land. I felt it all and snatched it, and in that second I saw that figure of a man. I knew it was Sebastian. With a flicker of my eye he was ash, and I could feel I had more energy in me to continue on. Yet there was no one else coming. In that instance I focused on my friends and family and put my energy out there to heal them. I prayed it would work. I could feel Michael’s arm had gotten warmer, and with that I fell holding Marcus in my arms. I couldn’t black out, not now. I tried to stay focused to keep some energy for myself, but there was nothing for me to take. I had taken it all. As I lay on the ground curled up in a ball holding Marcus, I saw Anton with his long hair smiling as he approached me. “I’ll be taking my son,” he said as I passed out.

My face was suddenly slapped, and it was utterly painful. I opened my eyes and realized it was my cryptic self hitting me. I had ended up in the dream world. “I told you, didn’t I? You should have killed Anton that night.” She was screaming psychotically at me.
Damn, she was right,
I thought. Crying, I begged her, “What can I do? Help me please.” She looked a little calmer at me. “We are one-fourth Gypsy and a live strigoi. No one is a match for us. We are a plague to humans and strigoi alike. No one can defy us. If you want to destroy the world, keep draining it like your are doing, or you can be like me and find the elements that are all around us but invisible to the human eye.” “The air you mean,” I said. She looked and smiled wickedly at me, “Yes, we love the air, it is so much easier to hunt and kill our prey.”