Page 54 of Death Dance

SIXTEEN

When he wanted, he radiated warmth.

As my father suspected, the girls suffered from a compulsion to follow through and stab a vampire—any vampire—with a stake. Fortunately for everyone involved, our plan went off better than expected.

My stakes calmed them, allowing me to coax them into giving me the faintest of pricks, which released them from the magic binding them. I used a sterile knife to expand the wound so they could drink, thus beginning the start of their eternal lives, and the rest of the turning process proceeded in peace. While neither seemed keen on drinking my blood, with some encouragement from their uncle, they did as needed. Emerick also donated, leaving us both weary.

My father, Robert, and my brothers donated the rest, with my father being the last in the line.

I could understand how his presence might soothe the children.

When he wanted, he radiated warmth.

Once they slept and we began the solemn vigil over them to see if they would awaken or face their burials, we carried them to the suite my father had arranged, put them to bed, and gave Robert as much space as we dared. Eugene opted to stay with him. I considered it, but after taking the time to think the idea through, I gave the distraught brood master my number, assured him he could call if he needed anything at all, and gave him room to breathe and simply be for a while.

Of us all, the youngest of my brothers was close in age to Robert, possessed similar tendencies, and would be able to provide support without embarrassment.

Once we returned to our suite, I checked on the kittens to discover they had decided to take over our pillows. Once everything blew over, once we had the vile evil dead and gone, I would fling myself onto the nearest bed and cry for everything lost.

I could accept what I couldn’t change.

I would spend each night hoping he would be foolish enough to dare come at my ship from the sea.

“Are you all right?” Emerick wrapped his arm around me and sighed. “Nights like this, I worry I might never be all right again.”

“I will be perfect as soon as Breckenan is eliminated and there is zero chance of him bothering anyone ever again. Until then, I’m going to be a tyrant on a mission to murder. But I’m a benevolent tyrant queen, so you can amuse yourself with how you will be rewarded after I have completed my task.”

“I can think of a few things we could be doing while naked and in our bed.”

“Then it’s settled. You are motivated, I am motivated and pissed off, and that’s that. Let’s talk strategy before we join the kittens for some sleep. I have one trick up my sleeve right now, and that’s stalking my prey and drinking them dry. I have zero desire to drink even a drop of that thing’s blood. As such, I need a viable new strategy.”

“Do everything you already do except drink,” Emerick advised, kissing my cheek before heading to where we stored my bottles of Wagyu. He retrieved two of them and offered them to me. “You need both bottles after donating to the girls. I’m pretty sure they took more than a pint each from you.”

“They needed it.”

“You also need blood in your body, and this is the fastest way to get it into you. I will not be upset if you drink three bottles.”

I sighed. “Fetch the third, and I shall make these disappear. Do you think they will rise?”

“They’ll rise. They’re going to rise as disconcertingly strong young vampires, too. I’m going to propose that they become the equivalent of your handmaidens while growing up. Robert’s brood lives close to us, so they can come over with ease. The brides are not equipped to handle children, and their current methodology will be too violent for what the girls need. You’re the only female vampire I can think of with similar enough background to really work with them. Your mother will be helpful, but her circumstances are far different.”

“While accidental, there was nothing malicious in her turning.”

My husband nodded. “Your mother grew to love vampires, and it is no surprise to me she had a genuine desire to become one herself. What happened to her is for the best for everyone. What happened to those girls is a tragedy. And before you, it would have been a tragedy that ended in death. We wouldn’t have known to increase the volume of blood, nor would we have even attempted to turn them. Robert would have been forced to watch them suffer and die.”

Hope showed up in the strangest of places, and I spent a few minutes considering the consequences of my life.

Because I had suffered, at least in some ways, two little girls would have a chance at a long and prosperous life. Because my parents had refused to give up on me, no matter the cost, vampires as a whole would have a brighter future.

They would still be cursed by the unrelenting wishes of a god brought to life through the power of belief, but should their children die, there would be options.

Not all options would be good ones, and some would still perish, but ones like me, with curable defects, could go on to live long and meaningful lives. I even held some hope they would have happier childhoods than mine. However, when I pulled back the curtains of my bias, I recognized the flashes of joy at an early age.

The delight in my father allowing me to steal his steak and his flamboyant way of presenting my favorite foods, made by his hand, were just the beginning of the little things both my parents had done.

My mother amazed me with her acting abilities, however.

Who was she really behind closed doors? What sort of woman hid behind the weave of lies created to give me a chance at a long life?