Blood Jewel

  “You’ll have Avery to tell,” I suggested. “Seems like the two of you are close.”

  “We are close. It’s nice having another human around, but I wish she wasn’t so frightened by Sol. We know he isn’t going to do anything to her, but she can’t get past whatever happened between them at Vincent’s.” She hesitated and asked, “How much longer will Jenn and Avery be at the compound with us?”

  “I’m not sure. Jenn is doing great, but she needs a little longer to be sure she doesn’t relapse.” I debated if I should tell Chansey about Sol’s plan to leave because of Avery and decided she had the right to know. “Sol is going to leave the Savannah compound.”

  “Why? He can’t leave. Savannah is his to run.” She shook her head and added, “No. I’m sorry, but he’s not doing that. We have babies on the way and judging by their record growth, they’re not going to wait until April.”

  “I think I know when they’ll be born.”

  “How could you know that?”

  Chansey’s birth during the eclipse could have been a coincidence, but I doubted it and since it seems that at least one of these babies was conceived during an eclipse, it was predictable to expect them to be born during one. “I looked to see when the next eclipse is predicted. It’s very slight, but there will be a lunar in early January. Since the babies are growing so rapidly, it seems likely that is when it will happen.”

  “January babies.”

  “That’s my guess.”

  “What are we going to do about seeing the specialist?”

  “I want the babies to be healthy, but it feels like it’s too big of a risk. Dr. Knight wasn’t handling what she found very well. This isn’t a natural pregnancy and they’re going to find something unnatural about it. What do we do when that happens?” She looked out the window and said, “I need a vampire that delivered babies before he was turned,” she laughed.

  She was kidding when she said it, but that is exactly what she needed. Why had I not thought of that already? “You’re right. That’s a brilliant idea.”

  I saw her in my peripheral vision turn to stare at me. “I was kidding.”

  “I know, but it is exactly what you need. It might take a little digging, but I know we can find one out there somewhere. It’s better than taking the risk with a human doctor that will ask too many questions.”

  I think reality was beginning to set in for Chansey because I felt a twinge of fear take lead of her emotions as she considered the possibility. “Do you think Sebastian will know one?”

  “I bet that if he doesn’t know one, he can find one. He was once a council member on the board of census.”

  Chansey started laughing. “Say it isn’t so. A census record is kept for vampires?”

  I felt her mood shift to something a little less stressed. “Yeah. Why is that so funny?”

  “I don’t know. I guess it’s because a census is such a mundane thing to do.”

  “We did it before humans started doing it,” I informed her. “They stole the idea from us.”

  “Is that so?” she laughed and it was beautiful to hear after the stressful morning we had.

  We reached the drive to the compound and I said, “It’s true, no joke,” as I pulled to the keypad and entered the passcode.

  I pulled through the opened gates and Chansey said, “I’m not going to tell Avery right now. I want everyone to know at the same time because I’m afraid Gia and Lairah will be hurt if I tell Avery before them.”

  “I think that is a wonderful idea, but will you let me talk with Sebastian before the announcement?”

  “So he can be thinking about a doctor for us?”

  “Yes,” I said as I tried to convince myself that that was my reasoning so Chansey wouldn’t see through my deception.

  28 Fear Of The Unknown

  The minute Sebastian was up; I was knocking on his door.

  I heard him from the other side of the door, “You may enter, Curry.”

  He saw the flustered look on my face and immediately asked, “What has happened? Is Chansey and the baby alright?”

  “May I speak with you in the office?” I asked.

  “Of course,” he replied as he got up from the bed.

  We entered the office and Sebastian shut the soundproof door behind him. “What’s wrong, Curry?”

  “As you know, Chansey had a doctor’s appointment this morning and Dr. Knight found some unusual things about her pregnancy. The growth is very rapid, but I wasn’t surprised by that considering the way I can see changes in Chansey’s body from one day to the next. The shocker was that the doctor found a second baby that wasn’t there when she had her ultrasound a month ago.”

  Sebastian reached for his face and ran his hand across the stubble on his chin, but said nothing.

  “Could this second baby be a Fylgia?” I asked.

  “I suppose it’s possible, which would explain its sudden appearance, but we know this isn’t a regular human pregnancy. Perhaps the second baby was there a month ago and its growth was delayed and now it’s catching up with its twin. Maybe it’s possible that they weren’t conceived at the same time and that explains the sudden appearance, but it doesn’t explain why they are the same size now.” Sebastian shrugged and said, “Who knows? Anything is possible.

  I wanted to hear that it wasn’t a possibility, but that wasn’t the case. “If one of the babies is a Fylgia, then that means the other is a girl and she is an Agápe.” I slammed my fist on the desk and caved it in. “I won’t hand my daughter over to a vampire. That’s not the life I want for her.”

  “Curry, we don’t know anything for certain,” he reassured. “You could have two beautiful, healthy babies with neither of them being an Agápe or a Fylgia.”

  “I need to tell Chansey about your Fylgia theory. I have to prepare her.” I ran my hands through my hair. “She has to know that one could be an Agápe and we could lose the other one so it isn’t so devastating if it happens.”

  “My theory doesn’t hold much water if you don’t tell her about Ella, so I’m guessing you asked me in here so you could get my consent to tell Chansey about my Agápe.”

  “I am. I would never ask if I didn’t feel it was necessary,” I pleaded.

  “You may tell Chansey about Ella,” he consented. “I think I may tell the others as well.”

  That wasn’t necessary. “You don’t have to do that. Chansey will keep your secret.”

  “I’ve been thinking about it for a while and I’ve decided that I don’t want to keep Ella a secret any longer. I want to talk about her. I want to share her with my family. I think it will help me to heal from the pain of losing her.”

  “I think you’re right,” I agreed. “You’ll be glad you did it.”

  “I think so, too.” He nodded and his face became solemn. “I don’t envy what you are about to do.”

  God, it was going to be terrible. “I know. Chansey is so happy about this second baby and she isn’t going to take this news well, but I don’t feel like I have a choice. I’m obligated to tell her.”

  “You’re right. You don’t have a choice.”

  “Chansey said something in passing and I think it’s worth a try. Do you know of a vampire that would have been a doctor or Obstetrician prior to being turned? We think we would like to pursue that avenue because Dr. Knight wants Chansey to see a specialist about the pregnancy because of her bizarre findings. We don’t think that’s a good idea. They wouldn’t be able to treat any complications, so it’s just asking for trouble.”

  “I agree. She can no longer see a human doctor. Let me check with the council and I’ll see what I can come up with.”

  I left that office with the deepest sinking feeling in my gut. I was about to give my wife the most devastating news she would ever receive and I wasn’t sure how I was going to do it.

  I walked into our quarters and she was in her sitting room that she now referred to as the nursery. Who knew a pregnancy would end up being the re
ason for that nagging suspicion I had about her needing her own room within our quarters?

  “What are you doing?” I asked from where I stood in the doorway.

  “I’m thinking about how to make two cribs work in here. How are we going to decorate? We don’t know if we have boys, girls or one of each.”

  “We need to talk, Chansey. I have something I need to tell you.”

  She stood with her hands on her hips and she refused to look at me. She felt something horrible coming. “I don’t know why I’m asking you about decorating the nursery. I need Lairah and Gia to help me make these decisions.” She walked over to the built in cabinets. “I think I’ll put fabric lined baskets on these shelves to hold the diapers and supplies.”

  I sat on the couch and patted the cushion next to me. “Love, come sit with me. We have something we have to discuss and it can’t be avoided.”

  She looked at me like she rather run from the room, but she hesitantly walked over and sat next to me. Before I uttered a word, she had tears welling in her eyes.

  “I’m going to start from the beginning because that’s all I know to do.”

  I started by telling her about Sebastian and Ella’s Agápe relationship. She stared at me with wide eyes as I explained about Ella’s twin that died at birth and her lifetime of reappearances through Ella’s dreams with the occasional corporeal appearance. I explained Sebastian’s Fylgia theory to her and I didn’t have to point out the similarities between her and Ella, but I could clearly see in her eyes that our babies had not entered into that equation in her mind.

  “There is no easy way to say this, Love.” She stared at me with wide eyes and my heart felt like someone was squeezing it as I uttered the words, “I think our babies could be an Agápe and a Fylgia.”

  She shook her head. “No, that can’t be true because that would mean one of our babies will...” Die. She couldn’t force herself to say the word.

  I pulled her into my arms and held her close to my heart as we grieved the potential loss of our child. She didn’t speak again and neither did I as we sat motionless on the couch.

  I had no idea how long we stayed that way, but it was long enough for Sebastian to search us out. He lightly tapped on the opened door to the room where we sat and said, “I wanted to check on you and see if you needed anything. I brought you something to drink.”

  Chansey sat up to take the drink from him. “Thank you, Sebastian. That was very thoughtful of you.”

  “Would you like something to eat?” he asked softly. “Avery has cooked some kind of pasta dish for you. It smells wonderful.”

  “I don’t think I can eat right now,” she declined.

  I stroked her shoulder. “Love, I wish you would try to eat something. For the babies. You haven’t had anything since early this morning and that’s been over twelve hours,” I encouraged.

  “I probably should at least try,” She sighed.

  We got up from the couch and Sebastian asked, “Would you like to join the others in the dining room or would you prefer I bring a tray to your room?”

  I looked to Chansey for her answer and she said, “I want to join everyone in the dining room. I need to be with family right now.”

  We walked the hall toward the dining room and Chansey looked up at me. “Would you tell the family what is happening? I want them to know, but I don’t think I can say the words without completely losing it.”

  I put my arm around her and pulled her close to kiss her forehead. “Of course, I will.”

  Sebastian stopped walking and asked, “May I tell them about Ella first? It will make sense for them to know where all of this is coming from.”

  I looked at Chansey and she slowly nodded. “I think it’s necessary for them to understand the history behind Ella and me if they are going to understand what we suspect about the babies.”

  We sat at the dining room table with the entire family staring at us, but Sol interrupted the silence and said, “Join hands. We, the Coven of Landra, give our humblest gratitude in recognition of the Blood Swan, Michelle, for her selfless gift of sustenance.”

  In unison, the family said, “Thank you, Michelle, for your gift of The Life, which sustains our existence and gives us strength to do the needed tasks before us.”

  After the Sacrament, everyone sat in silence because they knew something was going on. Chansey’s eyes were red and swollen, the tell-tale signs that she had cried for the majority of the afternoon.

  Finally, Sebastian spoke up, “Curry and Chansey received some news this morning that they would like to share with all of you, but there are some things you must hear about my past if you are to understand what could possibly be going on with Chansey’s pregnancy. It begins with me...and my Agápe, Ella.”

  There was silence and Sebastian began to weave the tale of his life with Ella as the family listened intently. When he concluded, he said, “Now, that brings us to Chansey and her pregnancy.”

  I heard my cue and I picked up with explaining about Emelyn and then the news we received from Dr. Knight. I saw the excitement on everyone’s faces until I began to explain what we suspected about the babies.

  Lairah set her goblet down and laid her arms crisscrossed on the table as she leaned forward. “If these babies are an Agápe and Fylgia, then that means the living child will always be protected by Anteros through the Fylgia, so you don’t really lose the Fylgia child. She will always be with your Agápe child and protect her from harm. Maybe you could think of it like this...She was never intended to be your child because she was created by Anteros to be your daughter’s protector.”

  Chansey and I looked at one another. This was something only a parent could feel and I knew she was too upset to answer Lairah. “I understand what you’re saying and if it comes to pass then that is how we will have to look at it, but right now that doesn’t help with the grief we feel. To us, it’s like we’re losing a child, but we won’t know for sure until these babies are born. I believe in my heart that they will come during the eclipse in early January, but Chansey can’t see a human doctor anymore. We’re going to need to find a vampire that was once a doctor or Obstetrician to deliver the babies when the time comes.”

  “That’s a specific order to fill. How are you going to find a vampire with those credentials?” Avery asked.

  “I’m going to start with searching the Vampire Census Registry,” Sebastian said. “It’s voluntary so it isn’t a complete list of all vampires because some think of the registration as a tracking device, but it’s a good place to start because it does list prior and current profession and skills. I’ll start with the computerized records because we’d want someone with current medical knowledge and I’ll work my way backwards.”

  Avery wrinkled her forehead in deep concentration and said, “Obviously, Chansey is still human and it would be much safer for her to deliver the babies in a hospital in the event of an emergency. Twins are higher risk, so there’s a lot that could happen. It wouldn’t be that difficult to pull off if her physician was a supporter of the vampire community, like a Black Swan or Blood Swan. They could alter records to reflect a normal medical states and if there was a problem with any of the hospital staff, Curry would simply persuade them to forget. Voila!”

  Sebastian appeared impressed with Avery’s idea, as was I. “I think you have an idea there, Avery. All Swans must be registered with a background check and all of those records are computerized so they can be accessed from any where at anytime. Sol, would you mind taking at look on your computer after dinner?”

  “Certainly, Sebastian,” he said as he stared at Avery over his goblet.

  “What about you, Avery?” Sebastian asked. “Would you like to help Sol search through the records since it was your idea?”

  Avery turned to assess Sol carefully before she answered, “I would love that, Sebastian. Thank you for your kind offer.”

  I saw a look exchanged between Sol and Avery that resembled some sort of a challenge, so I kn
ew there still had been no truce formed between them, but that was their problem. I had bigger things on my plate at the moment.

  ≈ ≈ ≈

  Sol and Avery were in the office for over an hour and I was becoming nervous about their lack of a report, so I decided to check on their progress with the Swan records. I knocked on Sol’s office door, but didn’t hear an invitation to enter because it was soundproof, so I turned the knob and found it to be locked.

  Avery was with Sol behind a locked door. That was not a good sign. I began to bang my hand against the door as hard as I could and Sol swung it open, looking at me like I was crazy. “What?”

  “The door was locked,” I said questioningly, careful to not accuse him of anything as I scanned the room for Avery.

  “So?” he casually asked.

  I saw that Avery was safe and sound and I knew I looked stupid. “I knew that Avery was in there with you and I jumped to conclusions when I found the door to be locked. I’m sorry.”

  He shrugged. “No problem. I must have locked it out of habit,”

  “Any luck so far?” I asked, hoping to hear some good news.

  “Not yet, but I didn’t know the name of Chansey’s doctor, so I haven’t tried him yet. We could get lucky.” Sol strolled back to sit in his chair behind the desk and Avery took her position behind him as onlooker. It was good to see that they could at least stand to be in the same room with one another. That was a change.

  “Chansey’s doctor is a her,” I corrected. “Michaela Knight.”

  Sol keyed in her name. “Michaela Knight. Here she is and she’s a real looker.”

  “You’re kidding me,” I said, as I walked around the desk to look at the photo on her profile. “Wow! It is her. I can’t believe it.”

  “Damn! I can’t believe this. Take a look at the profile below her,” Sebastian said.

  I looked one row down at the black and white photo staring back at me. Anna Knowles. Blood Swan Service dates: March 1963- September 1965. Current Status: Black Swan. Oh, shit! It was Chansey’s grandmother.