“Place blood inside the chamber for me this night, and then leave and stay away. Keep Marie and the child far from the chamber. It will not be safe for any of you until I replace the volume I have lost.” He said it tersely, his strength already waning. Alexandria was a small woman, and he had taken all the nourishment he safely could from her, then had placed her in the deep sleep of his people to keep her alive until he could replace her blood loss.
He allowed Stefan to assist him through the house. Marie came running, crying out when she saw him. He heard the boy’s feet on the hardwood floor. Aidan swung around, his golden eyes flaming with warning. “Keep the child away from me,” he snapped, beating down his voracious hunger.
Marie stopped in her tracks, one hand pressed to her throat. Aidan was covered in blood and dirt, Alexandria lifeless, cradled in his arms. Blood and soil littered the hardwood floor on a trail from the door. Aidan’s eyes were flaming red, his white teeth sharp and gleaming like a predator’s.
“Marie!” Stefan’s voice propelled her into action. She rushed to intercept Joshua before he could witness the horror of this night. Tears were pouring down her face as she caught the child up and began to run down the hallway toward the stairs.
Joshua touched the tears on her face. “Don’t cry, Marie. Did someone hurt your feelings?”
She made an effort to gain control of herself. The house would have to be cleaned before the boy could come downstairs, so somehow she had to get him to sleep. “It’s nothing, Joshua. I had a bad dream. Don’t you ever have bad dreams?”
“Alexandria says if you say a prayer and think about really good things, you know, things you like, you’ll have good dreams.” Joshua rubbed his cheek against hers. “It always works when she does it with me. I’ll say prayers with you like she does, and you won’t have bad dreams ever again.”
Marie found herself smiling at the simplicity and innocence in Joshua. She had three children, now grown, and Joshua brought back memories of the sweetness of childhood. She hugged him close. “Thank you, Joshua. Your sister is a very smart woman. You’re lucky to have her.” She stifled a sob. “And what are you doing out of bed at this time of night anyway? It’s nearly four in the morning. Shame on you, young man.”
“I thought Alexandria was in her bedroom, but she wasn’t. I was looking for her.” Joshua’s eyes betrayed his fear of losing his sister.
“Aidan had to take her to a special place of healing. She’s still sick, Joshua, so we have to have patience until he makes her better.”
“Will she be all right?” he asked anxiously.
“Of course. Aidan would never let anything happen to her. He’ll watch over her very closely. You know that.”
“Can I talk to her on the phone?”
Marie laid him in the bed, pulling the covers up to his chin. “Not for a while. She’s sleeping, just like you should be. I’ll stay with you until you’re sound asleep.”
He smiled, a sweet, angelic smile that put warmth back into Marie. “I can teach you the prayer.”
She pulled a chair up to the bed and took his hand, listening to his child’s voice saying soft, innocent things to God.
Stefan wrapped an arm around Aidan’s waist to support him. He could feel Aidan’s disturbance at his touch and knew it stemmed from his battle with the ever-present demon within him fighting for control.
Aidan’s enormous strength was drained, his hunger voracious, his need for blood so strong it ruled his every sense. It wrapped around his organs and crawled through his mind with burning need. “Hurry, Stefan, get out of here,” he said hoarsely, trying to push the older man away from him.
“I will get you to the chamber, Aidan,” Stefan said firmly. “You will not harm me. You hold your woman in your arms. She is your salvation. In any case, I have offered my life to you on more than one occasion. If it is your wish to take it at this time to save yourself and your woman, I have no objection.”
Aidan gritted his teeth and clamped down hard on his predatory instincts. The will to survive was strong, the need for fresh, hot blood paramount. He tried not to hear Stefan’s heart beating strong and steady, the pulse of blood surging through the body of this man he was so close to.
Once in the chamber, Stefan released him and backed away, knowing he was causing Aidan distress. He knew in his heart that Aidan would never harm him. He trusted the Carpathian far more than Aidan trusted himself. “I will bring the blood, Aidan.”
Aidan nodded curtly and placed Alexandria’s nearly lifeless body on the bed. He sagged down beside her, his hand curling around the thick braid of her hair. She had saved him, assuming she would die in the process. She had willingly, freely, offered her life for his. Their bond was much stronger than he had realized. She would never have survived his death. They were linked for all eternity, true lifemates. He had uttered the ancient words binding their souls together. Two halves of the same whole.
He sighed and lay beside her, inwardly cursing his need for blood. He could not go to ground without taking in more sustenance. He waited, the demon within him roaring and raging, until he sensed the human near, heard the soft pad of footsteps. The heavy door creaked, and Stefan placed several bottles of blood on the floor, then retreated, leaving Aidan and his lifemate alone in the chamber.
Aidan staggered across the floor and wrapped his hand around the neck of a wine bottle. He drained the contents and reached for the next one. Stefan had brought five full bottles, and Aidan consumed them all, and still his body craved more.
But with renewed energy from the blood supply, he moved the bed with a wave of his hand and opened the trap door to the cool, waiting earth below. It took concentration to peel back the layers of soil to make a space for his body and Alexandria’s. Gathering her into his arms, he floated into the protection of Mother Earth. Aidan settled his frame around his lifemate and began the intricate ancient spells guarding the entrance to his lair. The trapdoor shut, and the bed above moved back into position. He closed the earth over them, around them, and slowed his heart and lungs as he felt the healing properties in the soil coiling around his wounds. His heart stuttered, his lungs rose and fell, and then all bodily functions ceased.
Stefan closed the door to the basement, knowing it could be days before Aidan made another appearance. He hoped he had brought him enough blood. Aidan would provide for Alexandria when he rose again and hunted his human prey. Until that time it was up to Stefan to guard the house, Marie, and young Joshua.
He found Marie cleaning the floor. She turned to him immediately, her eyes questioning. He held her tenderly. “He will live, Marie. Don’t worry for him.”
“And his woman?”
Stefan smiled tiredly. “She was amazing. She wants nothing to do with him or us, yet she saved his life.”
“She will be his salvation. But you’re right, Stefan, she doesn’t want to be here with us.” Marie sounded sad, her heart filled with compassion.
“She doesn’t yet understand what has happened to her,” Stefan said with a sigh. “And the truth is, I wouldn’t want to have to face what she is facing. She doesn’t understand the difference between Aidan and the vampires. She’s been roughly used, and her freedom is gone for all time. Even her ability to be with Joshua is restricted.”
“We will have to be patient with her.”
Stefan smiled suddenly. “ Hewill have to patient with her. And she will stand up to him as no one in his lifetime has ever done. Modern American women are far different than what he is used to.”