"Um, I'm on a commission job," Gabrielle lied, hating to do it, but seeing no other choice. "I'll give you guys a call as soon as I can. Take care of each other. I love you."
"Gabrielle - "
She clicked off the call before she was forced to say anything more.
"I'm sorry," the blond woman said as Gabrielle came toward her. "I didn't realize the chapel was in use."
"It's not. Please stay. I was just..." Gabrielle released a pent-up sigh. "I just lied to my friends."
"Oh." Gentle pale blue eyes settled sympathetically on her.
Gabrielle closed the phone and smoothed her finger over the polished silver case. "I left my apartment in a rush the other night to come here with Lucan. None of my friends know where I am, or why I had to leave."
"I see. Maybe one day you can explain everything to them."
"I hope so. I just don't want to put them in danger by telling them the truth."
The halo of long, golden hair shifted as the woman nodded with understanding. "You must be Gabrielle? Savannah told me that Lucan had brought a female here under his protection. I'm Danika. I am - I was - Conlan's mate."
Gabrielle accepted the slender hand Danika offered in greeting. "I'm very sorry about your loss."
Danika smiled, sadness swimming in her eyes. When she withdrew her hand from Gabrielle's grasp, it moved absently to cradle the nearly imperceptible swell of her abdomen. "I've been meaning to come and find you to say welcome, but I fear I'm not the best company right now. I haven't much had the desire to leave my quarters these past few days. It's still very hard for me, trying to make this... adjustment. Everything is so different now."
"Of course."
"Lucan and the other warriors have been very generous to me. On their own, they've each sworn their protection if I should ever need it, wherever I am. For me, and my child."
"You're pregnant?"
"Fourteen weeks. I'd hoped this would be the first of many sons for Conlan and me. We were so excited about our future. We'd waited a long time to start our family."
"Why did you wait?" Gabrielle winced as soon as the question left her lips. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to pry. I'm sure it's none of my business."
Danika dismissively clucked her tongue. "There's no need to apologize. I don't mind your questions, truly. It's good for me to talk about my Conlan. Come, let's sit awhile," she said, walking with Gabrielle to one of the chapel's long benches.
"I met Conlan when I was just a girl. My village in Denmark had been sacked by invaders, so we thought. It was actually a band of Rogues. They killed nearly everyone, slaughtered women and children, our village elders. No one was safe. A group of Breed warriors arrived in the middle of the attack. Conlan was one of them. They rescued as many of my people as they could. When my mark was discovered, I was taken into the nearest Darkhaven. It was there I learned all about the vampire nation and my place within it. But I couldn't stop thinking about my savior. As fate would have it, a few years later, Conlan came through the area again. I was so excited to see him. Imagine my shock to discover that he'd never forgotten about me, either."
"How long ago was this?"
Danika hardly paused to calculate the time. "Conlan and I shared four hundred and two years together."
"My God," Gabrielle whispered. "So long..."
"It passed in a blink, if you want to know the truth of it. I won't lie and tell you that it was always easy being the mate of a warrior, but I wouldn't have traded a single moment. Conlan believed totally in what he was doing. He wanted a safer world, for me, and for our children to come."
"And so you waited all this time to conceive?"
"We wouldn't start our family so long as Conlan felt he needed to remain with the Order. The front lines are not the best place for children, which is why you don't see families among the warrior class. The dangers are too great, and our mates need to be able to focus solely on their missions."
"Don't accidents happen?"
"Unplanned pregnancies are all but unheard of among the Breed, because it takes something more sacred than simple sex for us to conceive. The fertile time for blood-bonded Breedmates revolves around the crescent moon. During this crucial period, if we wish to create a child, our bodies must have both our mate's seed and his blood flowing within us. It is a sacred ritual that no mated pair goes into lightly."
The very image of sharing this profoundly intimate act with Lucan made Gabrielle warm deep inside her core. The thought of bonding in that way with anyone else, growing large with anyone's child but Lucan's was a prospect she refused to consider. She would rather be alone, and likely would be.
"What will you do now?" she asked, filling the quiet that made her imagine her own lonely future.
"I'm not sure yet," Danika replied. "I do know that I will never bond to another male."