Lost & Found: Shattered
Chapter 2
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Shattered
Chapter 2
15 months ago…
“So,
what do ya think?”
Cora looked at Paul and Marko and sucked her bottom lip between her
teeth.
“I
think you might be, no you ARE the most amazing female on the planet.
“You’ll
shock the hell outta him, that’s for sure.
“I
know, and I don’t expect him to even think about it.
look at it the same way. But for me,
now, five years is still a long time.
relationship. With
me.”
“
about it, girl. He’ll be stoked.
and kissed the top of her head.
She’d
been worried. She was planning a
surprise for Dwayne next month, on the fifth anniversary of their Bonding, and hadn’t
thought about their ‘age difference’ until now.
She knew they didn’t celebrate birthdays or any holiday, except for
Christmas, which was more of a tradition and a reason to embarrass each other
with goofy gifts than anything else. On
their nightly stroll down the boards - one of the few times she was more than
ten feet from Dwayne - she confessed her plans to the two blondes, who she had
come think of as brothers. But she only
told them half of what she had planned.
She’d
been sitting with an artist so he could sketch the pattern of the knots on her
neck and wrists. He came to the Emerson
house when she was at the Library. She
knew if Dwayne knew about her clandestine meetings, he’d kill first, ask
questions later. If he
even asked questions. Once the
artist had gotten the sketches perfect, he’d taken them to a friend of his, a
jeweler. She wanted two pendants made,
one for Dwayne and one for her.
She
contemplated the other half of her surprise.
Her trips to the Library under the Emerson house were not all about
meeting the artist. She was also doing
some research. Having come across a
vague reference about vampire pregnancy quite by accident, her interest was
piqued. The more information she found, she
applied it to her life; the circumstances; the way her body felt and changed;
the way she reacted to Dwayne, both physically and emotionally; and the way
Dwayne had been acting around the Boys.
It all fit. And the blood test results
confirmed it. She was pregnant.
In
her reading, she found that the fertility of vampires depended on two
factors: whether or not the couple is
Bond Mated, and the age of the vampires.
Only a Bond Mated pair can conceive.
And since Bond Mates are rare, and not all Bond Mated pairs conceive,
vampire pregnancy is a rare, precious thing.
The age of the Bonded male also has a direct
effect on conception. The older the male
is, the more potent his seed. While with
the Bonded female, just like humans, her fertility dwindles as she gets
older. The only difference is that
vampires’ biological clocks measure the centuries instead of the decades.
She
was also manifesting some of the classic symptoms of pregnancy, which carry
over to vampires. Her breasts were extra
tender. She was crying at the drop of a
hat. The Boys were walking on egg shells
around her, because they never knew if they did or said something wrong.
wasn’t having any morning sickness (or would that be evening sickness?) or any strange
cravings like dill pickles in Rocky Road ice cream.
blood. Oh, well, and the mind-blowing
sex. And lots of both.
But
Dwayne was worse. He was constantly
cranky, snapping at the Boys. He was
having trouble controlling his jealousy around Cora.
was her fault. Well, her body’s fault,
anyway. Females give off strong
pheromones during pregnancy, triggering the male’s protective, and often
jealous, instincts during pregnancy. And
it’s chemically matched to her mate, so he’s the only one affected by
them. She shook her head and
smiled. Thank the gods. I don’t think I
could handle all of them being so possessive.
boards, arm-in-arm with her brothers.
The
three vampires were oblivious to the black eyes following them from the
shadows. Eyes filled with hate.
bitch. He’s not yours.
fingers. But they’re nothing!
MINE!!
markings on the female’s body. They just
saw her body, bloody and broken. A snarl
escaped past lips that held a mockery of a smile.
pretties, it’s time to feed.
Dwayne
sat at the bar, nursing a rapidly warming scotch.
the bartender. Another body had been
found. “…This one was young.
anyway? But, yeah, it was just like the
others. Throat ripped out.
mayor’s daughter.” Dwayne’s heart
dropped. It was just like the
others. He had fed off all of the
victims the night they all died.
David
looked pointedly at Dwayne. He was the
only one who knew about the connection between the victims and his
brother. Not even Cora knew about
this. And the fact that he was keeping
secrets from her ate him up inside. But,
it seems, she had secrets of her own.
And he didn’t want her upset her with the grisly news.
PMS. Constant PMS.
Snapping
out of his reverie, Dwayne grunted and acknowledged David’s unspoken
concern. Someone obviously wanted it to
look like Dwayne was the killer. Someone
was trying to frame him.
ones who knew he was a vampire are the ones he lived with, plus Old Man
Emerson. And the only one who knew who
he fed from was the vampire sitting next to him.
“This
just doesn’t make any sense.” Dwayne
shook his head as they moved over to a corner booth.
“No.
But someone is sure as
shit trying to make it look like you’re the one killing these
kids.” David’s smooth voice was for
Dwayne’s ears only. “I know we’re not
the most pious group of vampires. I
mean, we’ve all had our mouths full of the life’s blood more than once, but
this… I don’t even know what this is.
But it IS bringing a lot of unwanted attention.”
is. I just don’t want Cora to get wind
of this. She goes ape shit over the
smallest things. Although…”
muscles as he lifted a hand to rub the soreness.
“I
know. Believe me.
You two aren’t exactly quiet.”
David smirked over his draft.
“Compliments
of the lady…” The waitress set another
scotch down on the table in front of Dwayne, preventing the snarky reply from
passing his lips. His enhanced vision
cut through the smoke and haze, settling on the woman the waitress indicated
with a nod. She was blonde.
descent. On second thought, no,
not Scandinavian. Her eyes were too
dark. But definitely
European. And
something else. Her facial
features were strong, angled and sharp.
A lot like… He narrowed his eyes.
David,
intrigued by his brother’s reaction, started his own inspection.
he looked back at Dwayne. His gaze was
intense, but didn’t acknowledge her raised glass.
reaction from such a reserved male.
Though it held none of the sexual response the woman was obviously
after. He raised an eyebrow.
“You
know her?”
“No.
gaze. He blinked and looked back across
the bar to see the back of the woman’s blonde curls spill down her back as she
slipped out the door.