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She stared astounded and looked like she might say something, but our boarding call was announced overhead. “That’s us.”
Her eyes grew large. “Nassau?”
“You’ve got it, Love. You said you wanted a tropical beach with clear blue water. This was the best I could do on such short notice.”
“It’s perfect. Just like you, just like last night, just like our lives are going to be...Always.
13 Disruption In Paradise
The next five days of our honeymoon in The Bahamas were the most wonderful days of my existence. Chansey and I were still exploring our newly discovered bond and learning so much about one another and the love we shared.
This week had been full of changes for both of us, my sleep cycle in particular. Our bond had it doing bizarre things, but when I woke up I kept my eyes closed in hopes of going back to sleep because it was probably still the middle of the night.
I could feel that Chansey was still asleep because she was dreaming about something that made her very happy. It made me curious to know what would make her feel that level of joy, so I decided I would quiz her about it later.
After a few minutes, I gave in and opened my eyes to see the time on the clock when I noticed the early morning light barely peaking through the blinds and realized that I had slept all night. I had grown accustomed over the last several nights to lay awake for hours listening to Chansey breathe, so it was a little shocking to have slept so long because that had not happened since I was human.
With the exception of my new supernatural bond with Chansey, my body was becoming more and more human with each passing day. I seemed to be in some type of quantum leap this week because I was constantly finding new mundane characteristics each day.
I cut myself shaving on our second day of our honeymoon and I was amazed when it didn’t heal instantly. It only took an hour, but it was still surprising. And yesterday...I got sunburned. I looked like a beet next to Chansey’s beautifully tanned body. Perfectly pale was better than fire engine red any day and luckily it only lasted half a day.
I peeked down and saw that Chansey was on her stomach with the sheet covering her from the waist down. Her bare back was exposed and I couldn’t see her completely without lifting my head, but I could feel that her arm and leg were thrown across me. Her face was nestled into my shoulder and I could feel her warm breath against my neck as she softly breathed against my skin.
I didn’t want to risk waking her, so I closed my eyes and decided to see if my increasingly human body would allow me to go back to sleep. I think I was close to successfully falling back to sleep and then I heard my phone vibrating on the nightstand.
My vampire agility allowed me to successfully slip out from under Chansey without waking her, but the soft sound of my voice woke her when I whispered, “I’m on my honeymoon. Leave me alone, Sol.”
I waited to hear his reason for bothering me so early in the morning. This had better be good.
“We have a problem, Curry.” His voice was serious and I knew in that moment that something was really wrong.
My heart began to race and I sat up on the edge of the bed, saying the first thing that popped in my mind without regard to how it would sound to Chansey. “It’s Marsala?”
Chansey immediately shot up in the bed with the sheet tucked under her arms.
“It’s not Marsala,” Sol replied. “A very recently turned fledgeling came to the Savannah compound last night.”
I didn’t understand. Sol could singlehandedly reform a fledgling. He had been doing that on his own for years. The older vampires with a taste for killing is where you ran into trouble. “Why is this fledgeling a problem? You can handle him by yourself.”
He was quick to correct me. “You mean her, but she’s not the problem. Where she came from is the problem.”
“The sire has never been an issue before.” Unless it was Marsala.
“Her name is Jennifer Ferrand and she was recently sired by a vampire named Vincent Godfrey. He is the leader, or rather the vampire dictator, of a sinister coven here in Savannah. Since she has only just begun her transition, she was able to escape from them early this morning after they were down for the day.”
This sounded like a bad case of Blood Doll gone wrong. Humans thought it was all fun and games until they got drained and turned when it wasn’t what they wanted. “Okay, I get that she was turned against her will, but that’s not the first time that has ever happened, so I still don’t understand the problem.”
“Although she needs help during her transition, that isn’t why she came to us. This coven still has her sister, her human sister, whom they call Blood Jewel. She is going to be presented to the vampire community at some kind of Blood Jewel ceremony this weekend.”
Okay, I got it, now. This completely changed things. “I understand your concerns.”
“Chansey is sitting right there, isn’t she?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Well, the problems don’t end there. There’s so much more to this mess, but I think it’s better for Jennifer to give you the whole story from the beginning so there is no confusion.”
I turned to look at the clock. “The sun will be up soon, but I can’t give you an answer without talking it over with Chansey first. She and I need to make this decision together. I’ll call you and leave a message with our decision.”
“Of course. I completely understand.”
When we finished talking, I hit the end button and laid my phone back on the nightstand before I twisted around to face Chansey.
“What has happened?”
“A very recently turned fledgeling has come to the compound.”
A look of confusion came over her face. “I feel your worry, so I know he wasn’t calling for a simple update about business at the compound.”
“No, Sol’s call has nothing to do with a status update. This fledgeling was being held captive by a vampire coven in Atlanta and they still have her human sister. She has asked The Coven of Landra to rescue her sister.”
I waited a minute for some type of reaction from Chansey, but she didn’t say anything, so I scooted toward the headboard of the bed and pulled her to sit between my legs. She rested her bare back against my chest as I stroked my hands up and down her arms and I kissed her temple. “I feel your worry, but tell me what you’re thinking.”
She tilted her head upward and said, “I want to know if going into the coven to save this girl would be dangerous for you.”
I was used to danger, but Chansey wasn’t and I didn’t think she would feel even a little bit okay with me walking headfirst into it. “I don’t know all of the details yet, but I wouldn’t expect it to be a walk in the park.”
She put her index finger on my leg and began drawing circles. “Is that your way of telling me that it would be dangerous for you and Solomon?”
I wished I could tell her it wouldn’t be, but that would be a lie. “It could be dangerous.”
She stopped drawing imaginary circles and placed her whole hand on my leg. “Do you want to do it?”
I gathered my words carefully before I answered her. “I want to help this girl because I believe we are her only hope, but the decision isn’t mine alone. You and I are a team now and I won’t do it if you tell me that you don’t want me to.”
Her emotions were very intense, so I could clearly feel her indecision between keeping me safe and saving the fledgeling’s sister. “I don’t want you to put yourself in danger, but I remember how scared I was when Julian kidnapped me and then again when Sully took me. I think about what that poor girl must be going through and there’s no way I can tell you to not help her.”
I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her tightly to my chest. “Thank you for being so understanding. I know that was a difficult decision for you, but I was hoping that’s what you would say.”
She sighed and asked, “So, when do we leave this little piece of heaven?”
“I’ll call and
see about booking a flight first thing in the morning so we can have one more day here.”
She began to twirl a twig of her hair around her finger. “So we have all day and all night left on our honeymoon. Can we spend today on the beach?”
“We’ll do anything you want, Love, but I’m more interested in how you want to spend our last night.”
She lifted my hand to her lips and kissed my palm before she said, “I’m a traditional kind of girl and so I want to spend tonight the same way we have spent the last four nights. Since I like repetition, I suppose it’s the same way we’ll spend every night after we get home.”
She suddenly sat straight up, taking the sheet with her and said, “Oh, my goodness. I just remembered...we aren’t going to be sleeping in our new quarters in New Orleans.”
I laughed at her sudden realization. “No, we’re not.”
She squeezed her eyes shut and scrunched her face. “What about Solomon hearing everything? Oh, it will be so...awkward.”
I tugged on her shoulders to encourage her to lean against me again. “My sisters took care of that for us. You know Gia and Lairah are all about the romantic thing. They went over to Savannah before the wedding and met with a contractor and interior designer. We’re all set.”
She laughed in amazement. “How do vampires get things done so quickly and efficiently?”
“The almighty dollar speaks loudly,” I informed her.
She sighed out of relief. “I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to repay Gia and Lairah for all they have done for us.”
It warmed my heart how well Chansey got along with Gia and Lairah, especially after the rocky beginning they had. “Gia and Lairah already love you enough to do anything for you. I’m pretty sure they love you more than they do me, so don’t be surprised if they figure out some way to come live at Savannah with us. They are going to miss having you around, even if they didn’t have their new sister for very long.”
“Oh, I would love it if Gia and Lairah came to live with us.”
