Hunting My Vampire (Immortal Vampire #3)

Chapter 29

Kaya

It was a freezing cold winter.

I couldn’t get warm, even though there were huge fires in the fireplaces. The doctors could not explain it. Jack had brought in every specialist to look at me but still he was stumped.

My stomach wound had healed but some kind of poison had leaked into my blood and the infection kept spreading. I was vaguely aware of the conversations going on around me. I could see the worried faces and was aware of people coming to visit. I saw Pearl and Princess, even Josie had come by.

I knew I was at the castle in Jack’s quarters.

In moments of lucidity he told me about how the world had changed all because of me. The fall of Da Salle had led to all kinds of investigations and tribunals, uncovering infiltration of the highest level of government. The president had been impeached and the vice-president had been sworn into power. She had ordered an overhaul of the whole political system.

“She?”

“We have a female president,” Jack laughed and held my hand.

He was worried though. I could see new lines on his face, even his hair was going gray, which I hadn’t known was possible.

One evening as I woke up from a slumber, I heard one of the doctors talking to Jack and it was his voice that caught my attention.

“No! I will hear no more on this! I will not talk to her about it! That is the last time we’ll talk of this!”

I asked him about it later.

“What don’t you want to talk to me about?”

He tried to laugh it off and I saw the desperation in his face.

“I’m not getting better, is that it?”

He couldn’t lie to me.

“The doctors worry because your infection count keeps rising. We bring it under control but then it goes up again.”

It was a kind of blood infection and the blood infusions I was getting were only bringing temporary relief.

“What did the doctor suggest?” I asked

Jack didn’t want to tell me.

“It’s a procedure but it’s too dangerous.”

“What is it?”

He shook his head.

“Jack!”

“If you… turned into a vampire…” he turned away unable to finish his sentence.

“Then… I’d live?”

He nodded.

“But you would no longer be human. Do you understand? That part of your life would be over.”

“But we would be together until the end?”

He nodded and I could see it in his eyes, his secret wish for us never to be parted.

Since coming back, he’d been by my side every day.

He’d resigned as CEO of the company, handing over control to Max who knew the business inside out anyway. He was still a shareholder but he had lost interest in the running of the company. He told me he could not think of anything else. That he wanted to be with me as much as possible, for as long as possible.

He didn’t say it but he meant until the end. It seemed that wasn’t far off at this point. I could feel the life draining away from me and I didn’t like it.

I had liked feeling strong and powerful. The kind of woman who could take down a monster like Da Salle. After his death, a special inquiry had found that there were several like him in positions of power, not only here, but in the rest of the world. The new president had asked Jack to help in identifying and monitoring individual behaviors to ensure nobody, vampire or otherwise, was able to rise to such power again.

I could see Jack wanted to become more involved at this political level of government. The new president had talked about a special seat, perhaps a cabinet role for him. This was what Jack was born to do, to be a part of the new world order and I wanted to be by his side.

I had seen myself there in visions that had taken over my dreams at night, in which we had children, our own offspring. I wanted to continue my mother’s line and I had a dream of a little girl, very much like myself, who had the sho’qa’i blood. Because even though Da Salle had been defeated, we didn’t know if there were any others like him. It seemed likely, even probable.

One day, when Jack was out, I went looking for the one doctor I liked best. I said I wanted to speak to him and told him of my wish to become pregnant.

He shook his head.

“I don’t know if I’d recommend that at this time. Your body is very weak and a pregnancy could be life threatening.”

I told him I wanted to conceive naturally and try to carry the child as long as possible. Hopefully, giving birth, before becoming a vampire.

He seemed intrigued. “We would have to have plenty of blood stores to keep you going.”

Jack was not crazy about the idea either.

“What if you die in the process? Then I lose both you and the child?”

“I am dying, anyway,” I said. “But this way, at least we try for a child. Wouldn’t that be something?”

Of course it would.

I knew he wouldn’t deny me this.

We waited for my body to grow a bit stronger, then monitored my cycle and on the best possible night for fertilization, I had our bedroom turned into a romantic haven.

We’d not had sex since I’d been shot, not because I didn’t want to but I had been too ill. But I was feeling stronger, possibly because I was excited about what could happen. I dressed myself carefully and combed out my hair. I had roses and candles set up in the room.

Jack came in, longing and want in his eyes.

“This will be different,” I said. “But it can still be wonderful, which is how it’s always been, right?”

He nodded and I knew he was thinking that this could be the last time we made love. I didn’t want to think about that though. I lifted the night dress over my head and reveled in the look of desire I saw in his eyes. He touched me gently, caressing my skin.

“Don’t,” I warned him. “I’m not dead yet.” I put my arms around his neck and pulled him close, kissing him and he responded even though I could feel him holding back. I bit his lip, hard enough to draw blood. He pulled back, confused.

“Don’t you dare be gentle with me!” I said, slapping his cheek, just sharply enough to wake him up. “I want you to fuck me the way you used to.”

I could see him responding to my words, the way I was talking to him.

“I don’t want gentle lovemaking. I want you to ride me, to spread me open, to put your seed deep, deep inside of me, where it can grow and flower.”

A cry of desire escaped from him as he kissed me then, his tongue seeking mine as he pushed me against the wall. It had the urgency and the passion of our earlier couplings. It felt the way we used to be with each other. He lifted me up onto a table and I wrapped my legs around his waist. His hands cupped my breasts, rough and hard, his thumbs rubbing my nipples, sending ripples of agonizing delight through my body.

“Yes, yes, yes!” I cried out as his hands slid over my skin and he kissed my neck and shoulders, moving down my body, his hands slipping up my thighs, opening me up like a flower. He kissed the inside of my thighs, licking and biting, tickling me until he found my pearl of desire, pulsating in eager anticipation of his touch. He licked and sucked, flicking my clitoris with his tongue as I writhed in agony, loving the pleasure that was building inside of me, wanting it to last as long as possible. He slid up against me, pressing soft kisses on my belly then sucking on my breasts until the nipples were hard as little pebbles. He continued kissing me slowly as he entered me, his cock mirroring his tongue, probing deeper and deeper as I was riding the waves of pleasure, until, cresting at the top with a moan of bliss, I came and he moved with me, climaxing at the same time.

“Oh, my God!” I said and he looked at me, anxiously.

“You all right?”

“That was…wonderful,” I said, feeling sated and content. He carried me to the bed and crept in next to me, holding me.

“Not too much?”

“Oh, Jack, too much is never enough.”

We laughed and I didn’t even notice when I fell asleep.

It was only later that I heard that my blood pressure fell during the night and I almost slipped into a coma. I was given several units of blood that night and a drip had to be inserted as well.

But a couple of weeks later the pregnancy was confirmed.

It had taken.

The next few months were difficult. Growing a new life was more strenuous than I’d realized it would be. I felt weak most days and was too weak to get up. Towards the second trimester, I was getting daily infusions of blood.

Jack was anxious, desperate for me to receive the vampire blood. He felt my life was more important than the baby’s but I would not, could not, let go of my belief in the child.

The last few weeks, I was hardly conscious, unable to eat.

The baby was growing though. Her heartbeat was strong and she was thriving. She was taking all of me to live and, in a way, I thought that was right. I could have died to let her live and I would have but I couldn’t do that to Jack.

The doctors wanted to wait as long as possible but Jack had a neo-natal station installed in the room next to mine and when the time came, I was induced and the baby was born. I knew little about it, regrettably. By this time I had almost no energy left.

I saw them lift the tiny body and place her in the glass cage. I heard the beeping and the medical devices and then Jack’s face came closer.

“Are you ready?” he asked me. “Are you sure?”

I couldn’t respond except to squeeze his hand as hard as possible as I felt him lying down next to me, kissing my neck. Then I felt the cold, sharp edge of his fangs as they touched my skin.

I must have passed out then because when I woke up next, I felt completely different. I blinked my eyes and Jack was there in the room, rushing towards me.

“Kaya?”

“Where is she? Where is my baby?”

I couldn’t think of anything else. “Is she okay?”

The doctor appeared behind Jack with our little girl, beautifully wrapped in the softest baby blanket.

“She’s perfect,” Jack said, placing her in my arms.

Our baby looked up at me with beautiful brown eyes, the same as my mother’s and I knew I was going to give her the same name. Jack sat down on the bed and looked at both of us with a look of adoration and love.

“It worked then?” I asked him.

He nodded. “As all your plans do, my darling. I don’t think I will ever doubt you, ever again.”

He kissed me and I felt a rush of enthusiasm for our new life, together, the three of us. I felt the strength in my new body, the energy that was flowing through me, like light. I was stronger and I felt more alive than ever before. This was what I had been meant to be all along, I thought. I no longer felt broken or sad about my family and what had happened to me.

I had been transformed from that sad little girl into this, a mother and a lover, my best self. I had finally become what I was meant to be all along.

Happy.