Donna woke up when the kitchen door slammed shut and Hunter's thunderous voice shot through the air. She uncurled herself and hopped from the rocking chair, still in yesterday's clothes, and ran downstairs to the living room as fast as her foggy head and leaden feet would go. But it wasn't Hunter she saw first.
“Samee!”
Samee was shivering and had a blanket wrapped around her. A bruise was on her cheek. Hunter, Dante and Trent circled her. Donna rushed up to hug her - she was ice cold.
“Are you okay?” Donna asked.
“Mostly. I mean, I guess...yeah.” Samee nodded frantically.
Donna was confused. “How did you get home?”
“Stephen dropped me off - just now.” Samee seemed confused, too. Hunter stood behind her, a molten glare in his eyes, his breathing shallow and rapid. Dante put a hand on Hunter's shoulder which Hunter tried to shrug off, but Dante held it there until Hunter's breathing relaxed. “I'm not sure what happened,” Samee took a deep breath. “But I'll tell you guys everything I do remember.” She glanced at everybody in the room. Dark circles surrounded her eyes and her face looked almost as pale as Hunter's. “I was in the kitchen getting ready to fix a cheese and butter sandwich, then the kitchen door bashed open and a cop was there.”
“Was he a minion?” Donna asked.
Samee nodded. “He tried to grab me but I was holding a sharp knife, so I sliced his arm open, then I kicked him in the sack, exactly how you showed me.” She looked at Hunter. “That buckled him over.”
“I'm quite sure it did,” Trent mumbled.
“I ran toward the door but then he took out his gun and smacked me with the barrel of it, hard.” Samee pointed to her bruised cheek. “I tried to scream, but he held a rag over my nose and mouth. It had something on it that smelled like burning tires and it made me pass out. I woke up with a wicked headache and inside a dark building that smelled like car grease and mold. The walls were made out of concrete blocks and there were no windows and only one door. But it was blocked from outside.”
“Stephen's hideout,” Hunter snarled.
“I tried to find a way out, but it was hard to see. So I felt my way around.” Samee held up a hand to expose her fingers. The nails were scraped to nubs even smaller than the nubs on Donna's fingers. And all of Samee's fingertips were raw. “Finally, after what seemed like forever, there was a noise. Fumbling with keys, like that. Then the door smashed open and there he was. Even in the darkness, I recognized him instantly. I'll never forget the eyes of the monster that killed my family.” She brushed away a tear. “He told me to come with him but I told him, 'Go to hell, asshole.’” She looked at Hunter. “Sorry about the a-word.”
Hunter said he couldn't care less what words Samee used to describe Stephen.
“He dragged me out of the building and covered my eyes so I couldn't see anything. We stopped and he pushed open a door and ice cold air came out. He took his hand off my eyes and told me to enjoy the view then he pushed me inside and slammed the door shut. A light came on and it took me a minute to adjust my eyes before I realized where I was.” Another tear trickled down Samee's cheek. “Stephen had shoved me in the freezer where he stored the bodies of those missing girls. There was a dead guy in there, too. He was wearing a police uniform.”
“The deputy sheriff,” Donna mumbled, but she couldn't remember his name.
“I think he drained all their blood,” Samee shuddered. “I mean, they looked so pale…I thought Stephen had left me to freeze to death. But then he came back and pulled me out and pushed me in the back of a van that was next to the freezer. He came in after me. It had no windows, so I couldn’t see where we were going. A cop drove. He was different from the one who came to our house. This one had dark hair and the cop that took me from the kitchen was blond. I don't know how far we went, but I do know that it took more than an hour to get from there to here.” She looked from Hunter to Dante, to Trent, and then to Donna. “Does that help at all?”
Dante nodded. “It does love, thank you.”
Samee nodded sadly. “Stephen said, 'You are going to deliver a message to my bastard brother and his cute little whore. Tell them that unless they abort the baby I will do it myself and let Donna bleed out.' The van stopped. Stephen shoved me out, right at the end of our driveway. Then the van took off. It was a plain, white van but I didn’t see the license plate, so that probably doesn't help much, either. But it's dark outside and I couldn't see well.” Samee still shook, and it was hard to tell how much was from being cold. Hunter glanced at Dante and nodded once.
“May I heal you now, love?”
Samee nodded, her eyes heavy with the weight of her unwanted, recent experience. He put an arm around her and led her to his room.
After the door closed behind them, Donna collapsed in a sobbing heap on the couch. So this was it. Somehow, Stephen knew about her and Hunter’s baby – the miracle that shouldn't have happened, but did. And now, he intended to destroy it. The room spun. Donna's ears rang and her vision turned black. She fell away into nothingness.
Donna stirred then slowly awakened. It was sometime in the early hours of morning. Warm, silky, bed sheets enfolded her in spicy scent.
Hunter.
She opened her eyes. Dante stood over her, right next to Hunter.
“Is the baby okay?” she asked.
“That's why I'm here, love. May I check now?”
Donna nodded.
Dante placed his hands on her abdomen. Warmth quickly spread from his hands to Donna's tummy. Dante closed his eyes and whispered words she didn't understand. Something moved inside Donna's belly then the heat from Dante's touch faded.
“The baby's fine, love.” He looked over his shoulder at Hunter. “The baby didn't cause Donna's fainting.” Dante looked back to her. “But love, when did you and your baby last eat?”
“I...don't remember.”
“You must take care of yourself very well to carry this child, love. This is not a typical pregnancy.”
“I kind of figured that,” she mused.
“I'll fix you something to eat,” Dante turned to leave. It was then that Donna knew - if Sam had lived to grow up, he would have turned out just like Dante.
“Dante?” she stopped him. “Why am I so tired?”
He returned to her side and placed his hand against her cheek. “A pregnancy of this nature often takes its toll on the mortal host.”
Donna gasped. “I'm going to be like this for the entire nine months?”
“No,” he assured. “The worst will be over in a day or two.”
“Thank goodness,” Donna smiled at Hunter.
“And love - you're due in five months.”
Donna did the math. “February?”
“Now you understand the exhaustion,” he smiled compassionately. “Your body's preparing to metabolize at a rate that's humanly impossible.”
“If it's impossible, how can I do it?”
“The cravings will help.”
Donna scrunched up her nose. “Cravings?”
“Yes, love. They should start any moment now.” Dante quietly left the room.
Donna looked at Hunter. “Is Samee okay?”
Hunter nodded then stroked Donna's hair. Seconds later, Dante delivered the food: cheese toast with orange marmalade, apple slices with horseradish and honey drizzled over them, and oysters in strawberry pudding.
“Um,” Donna cleared her throat. “Samee explained how vampires are with mortal food, and I know you mean well Dante, but -”
“Just try it, please,” he handed her the fork. “I believe this is exactly what the baby wants.” Donna looked pleadingly at Hunter, who smiled back. Of course he would. According to him, the display on that plate probably made perfect sense.
The cheese toast with marmalade seemed the least disgusting combination, so Donna brought it to her mouth and slowly took a bite, then swallowed.
“Mmmm, not bad.” She took another bite. Before lon
g, Donna had soaked up the horseradish-honey with a forkful of oysters and pudding. Dante brought her more. “Thanks, Dante. You were right. This really hits the spot.”
“Finish everything then sleep,” he instructed. “By tomorrow, your energy should be restored.” His words lulled her. Donna finished her snack then fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
chapter twenty one