Vampire's Soul (Vampire Queen 14)

Vampire-servant relationships weren't what he'd expected them to be, all formal and arms' length, with the servant acting like a stiff butler from an old movie. And these guys were part of the top-of-the-heap vampires. Not on the fringes, where stuff like that would pass unnoticed. Plus, they were both total badasses and fighter types.

They'd also both been exactly what Dovia needed around her. Quiet, courteous, showing sensitivity to her situation but not smothering pity.

Like now. With all of them cognizant she was in an enclosed space surrounded by testosterone, everyone was going out of their way to keep their presence low profile, protective without treating her like glass.

Hard to get pissy toward the other vampire and his vampire-hunter servant when they were being like that.

See, he could be mature. Occasionally.

Rand's gaze lifted, showing amusement, and Cai curled his lip at him. Nosy wolf.

"I want to stop here."

Before Rand could reply to that, Dovia spoke up. It surprised Cai, because he'd thought she was dozing. But she'd lifted her head and had her hand on the door. The urgency in her tone suggested she meant right now. Was she sick?

All four men bolted into immediate action, mobilizing to handle the awkward possibility of female illness. Rasheed was already pulling over, responding to Daegan's gesture.

They'd emerged from the cow path road system a while ago, and were now on a winding, still rural but four-lane highway. Though they'd been gaining on and passing the occasional car, for the most part they had it to themselves. Even so, Daegan and Gideon were out of the car first, scoping the area. Proving they knew their job, they didn't allow anyone out until they gave the all clear, Dovia's request notwithstanding. When they did give that go-ahead, Cai exited and offered Dovia a hand out, Rand climbing out behind her.

She brought the stuffed rabbit with her. The girl didn't head for the roadside to get sick, as Cai had suspected. She headed across the two lanes toward the center median. Exchanging a glance with Rand, Cai followed her, the shifter trailing behind at a discreet distance. Gideon and Daegan stayed where they were, by silent accord sharing lookout duty with Rasheed and giving Cai and Rand the personal bodyguard duty.

This stretch of highway participated in the state's wildflower program, and the median was overflowing with a combination of red poppies, yellow lilies and lavender. Dovia went into them, her free hand trailing along the bobbing stems and blooms, her body turning as she looked at the flowers surrounding her.

"It's so beautiful," she said. "I haven't been up this way before. And when they brought me here, they had...I was hooded, and tied."

Cai moved closer to her.

"Can I borrow your knife?" she asked.

"Depends on why you want it."

She held out a palm. Imperious little miss. He stared her down and she sighed. "I want to cut a lock of my hair."

"Oh. Okay, let me do it. Sorry, but I'd feel better not seeing anything classified as a loose weapon near you for the next hundred years."

"And you think you're not kind." But she pulled out the comb holding up her hair. The dark red strands rippled as she grasped one lock about three inches from the end. Given the hack job that had been done on it before, he hesitated, but she met his gaze, telling him it was what she wanted. When he cut the piece for her, using the pocket knife Chad had surprisingly offered him, she took it and sat down on the ground, her knees folded, the bunny on her thighs. It had a satin pale green ribbon around its brown neck, and she untied it, retied it, with her lock of hair in it. Then she positioned the stuffed creature against a clump of the cheerful poppies, the ribbon and hair in its lap.

She knelt there for a few minutes, silent. Her head bowed and Cai thought she might be praying. Unexpected. Not many vampires he'd met were all that religious, though some believed in a higher power. But then she spoke, and he realized, both from the words and the weight of the emotions they were carrying, that she'd been collecting her thoughts.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be your mother," she said quietly. "Please forgive me. I hope my selfishness, my inability to handle being a mother now, doesn't keep me from having the privilege and honor of bringing another life like yours into the world. I know..." Her voice cracked. "You were not of him, nor of me, but a gift from God, and I should be stronger..."

She stopped. Cai dropped to one knee and slid an arm around her shoulders, under her chin. He pressed his lips to the crown of her bowed head. "God--whatever that is or means--understands. That kid, too," he said shortly. "I feel it, you know. When I handle that spark, I can feel what it feels, somewhat. It understood. It knew now wasn't the right time, the right circumstances."

She stilled in his arms. "Truly. You're not lying to me."

"If I am, may I be damned to hell. Or have to wear bright, happy colors, which is the same thing."

A slight smile pulled against his cheek, but she turned her head, meeting his gaze with a piercing look that told him yeah, one day this girl would be a hell of a mother. Or the next Lady Lyssa. "You're telling me the truth."

"I am," he said.

He wasn't. He was lying his ass off. He could feel that spark, yes, but not any thoughts that specific. But he could feel if it was distressed, and he'd felt nothing from it but peace, so it felt like he might be telling the truth.

As good as she was with "the look," he'd had to lie to save his ass for decades. She wasn't even in his league when it came to a believable poker face.

After a long moment, her shoulders slumped with relief. Her face was wet with tears, but she was quiet with it, no sobbing. Her head bowed again and he shifted his hands to her shoulders, backing off some. From dealing with his own shit, he knew sometimes you had to feel stuff to get rid of it, but he wished he knew how to bring a smile to her face, help her feel better. Put something on the scale to balance the overwhelming load of what she was carrying on her shoulders. She was too young to have to deal with this crap.

A rustling noise brought both their heads up. It took several blinks for Cai to process the unlikely sight of a giant black wolf bounding through the flowers like goddamn Bambi, apparently chasing a cadre of moths. The pale yellow winged insects flapped around in a confused vortex as he snapped at them. It made them dance away so he could continue chasing, large body spinning in wide circles, leaping. Practically cavorting.

He was sparing the leg, doing a lot of it on three, which just increased the Bambi bouncing effect. Dovia sat back on her heels, watching Rand as Cai rose to his feet. That put him in the right position to see a smile bloom on her face, as rare and precious as one of the flowers around them.

Yeah, flowers were something special. Anyone who saw a flower break out of a seed pod, push out of the ground and become something as delicate and beautiful as what it was, despite the inner strength it took to do all that, knew they were looking at something precious.

Dovia was up on her feet, chasing after the wolf, trying to catch the moths with her hands. Years fell away and she was a young girl playing, not a sexually mature woman. Rand brushed against her, and her hand dropped to hold onto him. She'd left her shoes behind and Cai collected the feminine pair of modest heels by the ankle straps, watching her dance and play. She didn't laugh; he was sure she would again, but it was too soon for that. But she was smiling, her eyes possessing a promising light that showed her spark had not been doused.

She wasn't going to become a cranky, surly, closed off bastard like him, beyond help or repair. He glanced across the road and confirmed Gideon and Daegan were still at the car. Gideon was grinning, and he spoke a few words to Daegan. Cai could have heard some of it if he tried, but he knew it wasn't important. At his servant's words, Daegan tilted his head toward Gideon, his serious lips curving.

"I'm ready to go home now."

Dovia was standing in front of him, a chain of flowers in her hair, Rand at her side. The wolf panted happily, a moth wing stuck in his teeth. Dovia fastidiously removed it, showing

no hesitation at reaching into that toothy mouth. Rand landed an appreciative lick on her wrist that had her making a noise damn close to a giggle.

Show off. Flirt. "Okay, shift back into a human so you don't get hair all over the limo," Cai advised. "Or we'll tie you to the back bumper and make you run the rest of the way."

"We will not," Dovia said indignantly.

"Not your servant, is he?"

Cai said it more sharply than he'd intended, what the fuck. Rand's ears pricked up. Cai felt the mental rebuke from the wolf almost before Cai registered Dovia's instant flinch.

"Sorry," he muttered. "I didn't mean to sound like an ass. I'm just saying...well. Never fucking mind." He pivoted on his heel and strode back to the car, leaving Rand and the girl to follow at their leisure. What did it matter to him?

Cai made sure to keep his mind firmly closed. Yeah, Rand maybe could read his emotions as easily as his head, but he was done letting Rand meander through it like he had the poppy field.