Wild Ones (8 page)

I said nothing,
digesting this new information. I looked at its source and wondered
if he was telling the truth. It sounded plausible to me.

"And there are
those of us who will always try to be less of a monster," he added,
smiling ruefully.

There was a
knock on the door then, and Annie opened it slightly and stuck her
head around it.

"Sorry to
interrupt, Dad, but breakfast is ready, and it's going to get cold
if Millie doesn't eat it soon."

"Thanks,
Annie," Titus smiled at her, affection in his eyes.

"Should I come
with you?" I asked her, suddenly hungry.

"No, honey,
I'll bring it here."

"Why don't you
and Steph come and join us?" Titus suggested.

"OK, I'll need
to get her off the computer. She's shopping online for baby
clothes."

"Steph likes to
shop," Titus whispered to me as if he were imparting a great and
significant secret, and he winked. I grinned back at him in spite
of myself.

Annie returned
shortly with bacon and eggs and toast, and Steph came bounding into
the room like an excited puppy behind her. She stopped talking as
soon as she saw me, and looked nervous, as if she'd been caught
doing something naughty. I shook my head at her and gave her a
tight smile, and she squealed in delight, and started describing
all her numerous online purchases. Titus leaned back in his chair
and watched her, an indulgent smile curling his lips.

I zoned her out
while I ate breakfast, refusing the coffee that Annie offered. For
some reason it turned my stomach. I watched as the two women
interacted with the vampire, marvelling at the informality of their
conversation. After a while I felt my eyelids start to droop.

"Annie, I think
Millie is falling asleep," I heard Titus' deep voice saying
softly.

"I'll tuck her
in bed," I heard Annie whisper. "It's the pregnancy, isn't it?"

"Yes. Your
mother was the same when she carried the boys, even from very early
on. She'll feel a lot better this afternoon." He paused for a few
moments. "If you run into Atticus, let me know. I need to talk to
him."

Annie came over
to me and gently helped me to my feet. I felt so tired, as if my
whole body just wanted to sink into the ground and take me with it.
I stumbled along behind her, barely conscious. I stood swaying, my
eyes already closed, as she helped me out of my jeans, and guided
me in the direction of the bed. I was asleep before my head hit the
pillow.

I dreamt I was
stuck in a sinkhole with my arms trapped at my sides. There was
only enough room to breathe. Eventually I heard two voices above
me, but also from far away, the way it is in dreams that never make
any sense. I tried to call out to them to help me, but the rocks
that gripped me tightened every time I tried to take a deep enough
breath to be able to shout out. I gave up eventually and just
allowed myself to exist, suspended in that rocky fist while the
voices hummed above.

"You're going
to need to be careful with this one. She has fire in her. She
reminds me of your mother. If you don't treat her well, Atticus,
you could end up losing her too."

"What happened,
Father? You always refused to tell us."

"I was too
ashamed. I still am, and it's unbelievably difficult for me to
speak to anyone of this, to admit my guilt, but I am worried that
if I don't warn you history could repeat itself." There was the
briefest of pauses.

"Your mother
killed herself when she realised she couldn't escape me. First she
tried to kill me, but as you know that is an almost impossible
achievement for a human. It was a stark warning, but I disregarded
it, and assumed it was the hormones generated by her pregnancy that
had caused her to take such drastic action. She was carrying our
third child, a child that I had forced upon her in my relentless
pursuit of sons."

"How did she
die?"

"She
stabbed herself in her lower belly, over and over again. By the
time we discovered what she had done, she was beyond the help of
even such a fine surgeon as Andronicus. The last thing she said to
me was
I could have loved you
.
I held her in my arms as the life left her and I cried, not for my
unborn son, but for the beautiful woman I had killed."

"I
realised just how much I had lost when she died. And I knew that it
was my fault. Instead of jealously guarding her, and bullying her,
and raping her, I should have given her a measure of freedom. But I
was so obsessed with her and her body and her smell and her
femaleness
. Don't do that, son. You
did what you had to do to get that child in her belly, and you will
help your brother do the same with the new woman, but don't do it
again. Let her say no to you, and she might love you for
it."

The voices
faded then, and the rocks opened up, creating a warm cave with
little plump chickens dancing on the walls. I woke up then, and
looked around me at the empty bedroom, and wondered if the dream
had been just that, a dream, or if it had been something more real.
Definitely not the chickens, I giggled to myself, and hauled myself
out of bed and into the bathroom, where I combed out the rats nest
that my hair had formed itself into, and washed my face. I looked
at myself in the mirror and got a nasty shock. My skin was paler
than usual, and I had dark circles under my eyes despite all the
sleeping I'd been doing. Pregnancy must not agree with me, I
thought, for the first time admitting that it might be true. I
could be pregnant, and growing a child. A baby vampire. Jesus.

I carefully
considered everything that Titus had told me earlier. It certainly
put a new spin on things, but for me it wasn't enough. I would
continue to make the best of the situation I found myself in,
because that's who I was. But this had all been forced on me, and I
knew without a doubt that if I got the chance, I would leave.

In a
heartbeat.

My stomach
growled, and I realised that I was hungry. That explained the
chickens, then. I found my jeans draped over the back of a chair in
Atticus' bedroom and pulled them on. Then I made for the door, and
tried the handle, feeling absurdly pleased when I found that it was
unlocked. There was a beautifully furnished sitting room on the
other side of the door, with a huge leather couch that just cried
out to be bounced on. I resisted with some difficulty and made my
way to the door on the opposite side of the room, which also opened
under my hand.

There was a
stone walled passage beyond this, and I could smell cooking and
hear voices so I made my way towards them, noting the beauty of the
house and the well appointed furniture. It all looked incredibly
old, but tasteful and well cared for.

I found Annie
and another woman in the kitchen, preparing dinner. Annie smiled
when she saw me, and indicated a wooden bench that ran the length
of a blocky kitchen table. I sat, and the woman with her introduced
herself as "Mary the housekeeper" and proceeded to offer me a cup
of tea and some chicken curry, which was currently simmering in a
pot on the stove. I said a grateful yes to both, and spent the next
twenty minutes eating an early dinner and drinking three cups of
tea, which they dispensed from an enormous old teapot. When I'd
finished the entire plate, Annie offered to give me a tour of the
house. I eagerly accepted, and she dragged through passages and
massive rooms and hallways, explaining the history of the place as
she went. I listened with half an ear while I tried to get my
bearings in what seemed like a complete and utter rabbit warren. I
was just standing in a large hall trying to figure out where any of
the rooms were in relation to this one, when a large door at one
end of the room burst open, and Julius and Atticus strode in.

Julius carried
a limp body wrapped in a large leather coat, naked legs poking out
one end of the coat and loads of red hair out the other. Atticus
walked behind him, his expression harsh and stony. He wore a black
leather coat similar to the one ensconcing the redhead, and carried
two large pump action shotguns. There was a large rip in the front
of the coat, revealing a bloodstained shirt.

He saw us and
smiled grimly.

"We may need
Andronicus, Annie."

"I'll get hold
of him," she said, and disappeared through a seemingly random
door.

"She's starting
to wake up," said Julius as he passed me.

"Do you need
some help? I've done loads of first aid courses, and she might feel
a bit better if I'm there when she wakes up," I suggested. I felt
awful for this poor woman, who had been dragged, kicking and
screaming from the looks of things, into this nightmare. Reluctant
as I was to get involved, I still felt that I owed it to her to
help in any way I could.

Atticus looked
at me, surprised, and then he grinned.

"Thanks,
Millie, we would really appreciate that." I smiled back briefly,
and followed them down a passage to a familiar looking metal door.
Atticus leaned past Julius and activated the security pad, and the
metal door opened automatically. I hesitated briefly, unsure if I
wanted to voluntarily step into that basement again, but the
thought of the terror the woman would probably feel when she woke
up hardened my resolve. The door closed behind us.

Julius strode
straight to the bedroom and lay his burden gently on the bed. She
stirred slightly and one side of the coat fell open. She was
completely naked beneath it, and blood spattered her skin. Julius
stood back and watched her, frowning heavily. He had a large tear
in the front of his shirt, and an ugly looking wound beneath that
still oozed blood.

I went and sat
next to the woman on the bed, and took one of her hands in my own.
She stirred again, but her eyes remained closed.

"What
happened?" I asked in a low voice, glancing up at Atticus, who
stood next to Julius with his hand on his shoulder.

"She'd already
been taken by the Arnold clan. They had her in one of their safe
houses, naked and bound to a bed. When we arrived, they were just
about to start." A muscle twitched in Julius' cheek and he clenched
his teeth. Atticus patted his shoulder. "She's safe now, Julius. We
got to her in time."

"And we shot
ten kinds of crap out of those bastards," Julius said, his voice
low and harsh and quivering with rage.

"That we did,
brother." Atticus grinned wickedly. "Gave them a bit of a nasty
shock, actually."

I watched the
woman's eyes flutter and smiled grimly to myself. Serve them right,
I thought. I wished someone had done the same for me.

"What's her
name?"

"Jen," said
Julius shortly, not moving his gaze from the woman on the bed.

As if she had
heard him say her name, her eyes opened and she half sat up. I
watched her expression change from confused to terrified, as she
recalled the events of the past few hours. I tightened my grip on
her hand, and stared intently into her eyes.

"Jen," I said
urgently. "Look at me." Her eyes fluttered around the room but
settled on my face. "You're safe now," I told her, gripping her
hand even more tightly, anchoring her to the reality of the here
and now. My mother had always been prone to panic attacks, and I
had learned early on how to help her cope with them.

Jen
stared at me for a few seconds and then looked behind me to Atticus
and Julius, and then she clutched my hand back and burst into
tears, huge racking sobs jerking through her body. I leaned forward
and put my other arm around her shoulders, holding her tightly
against me in a hug. She cried and cried, tears running down her
face and staining the front of my shirt. I half turned at one stage
and waved Atticus and Julius out, mouthing
Annie
and hoping they'd figure out what I
wanted.

After a while
the sobs subsided. Jen lifted her head from my chest and tried to
smile. I smiled back.

"Right," I
said, in my best business-like tone. "Hot shower. Cup of tea. TV.
In that order. Let's go."

I stood and
pulled her to her feet. The coat fell away from her, and she looked
down at her nakedness and almost started crying again.

"We're not
thinking about that now," I told her firmly. "We can dwell on the
what-almost-happened later, but right now we need to get you
cleaned up and fed and calm, so when Julius and Atticus bring your
little girl here, you can reassure her and be her mom. 'Kay?"

"OK," she
whispered, but she stood up straight and let me lead her to the
shower. I turned the taps on and waited until the water was nice
and hot, and then I pushed her under it. She shivered as the heat
hit her skin, and then she sighed, opened her eyes, and started
soaping herself down. I left her to go and remove the coat and try
and strip the top layer of bedding from the bed, but Annie had
beaten me to it. I was really quite grateful to see her.

"They need to
fetch her daughter," I said in a low voice.

"The boys have
left to do that already."

"Gosh," I said.
"I hope they changed first." Annie chuckled.

"They did. Do
you need anything else?"

"Tea, and lots
of it. Two chicken curry dinners."

"Two?" she
asked, grinning.

"Yes, two," I
sighed. "I'm still hungry." Annie chuckled again, and finished
making up the bed.

I went back to
the bathroom, where Jen had finished her shower and was drying
herself. I hauled out a terrycloth robe from the cupboard in the
corner, and handed it to her wordlessly. She slipped her arms into
the sleeves and fastened it around her waist, and then she curled a
towel around her wet hair.