Night's Mistress (Children of The Night 5)

Rane blew out a sigh of relief when he opened the door and saw Mara standing on the porch. He had been thinking about her, worrying about her, ever since he’d returned from Reno. He glanced at the man beside her, startled to see Kyle Bowden instead of Logan. Rane grunted softly, thinking that Kyle Bowden must have done some mighty fast talking to get back into Mara’s good graces. As a vampire, she hadn’t been really big on forgive and forget.

“It’s good to see you,” Rane said, opening the door wider. “You, too, Kyle. Come on in. So,” Rane said when the three of them were seated in the living room, “what brings you up this way?”

“We need your help,” Kyle said. “As you can see, Mara’s pregnant.”

“I hope you don’t expect me to deliver the baby,” Rane muttered.

“No,” Kyle said, “but I think her life might be in danger. She’s lost her powers . . .”

Rane looked at Mara, his senses probing the air around her. “You’re human again,” he murmured. He supposed that explained why Rafe hadn’t been able to find her since they saw her in Nevada, and yet, it didn’t, not really. Mara had shared blood with him and his brother. She had brought his father across. They should have been able to locate her no matter where she went. “How could it have happened? I mean, no one’s ever heard of a vampire reverting. It’s . . .” He shook his head. “Hell, I don’t know what it is.”

“I don’t know how it happened.” Mara folded her arms over her stomach. “No one knows.”

Rane swore softly. She had told him she was changing, but this was one change he hadn’t considered. Human again. It was impossible, unthinkable.

“Hi, Mara, Kyle,” Savanah said, coming into the room.

“Hello, Savanah,” Mara said, forcing a smile.

Kyle nodded at Rane’s wife.

Savanah sat on the arm of Rane’s chair. “Kyle, did I hear you say Mara’s life is in danger?” Savanah asked.

“We’re not really sure,” Kyle replied, “but Mara says she doesn’t trust her doctor, even though he’s a vampire . . .”

“Ramsden?” Rane asked.

Kyle nodded.

“Pregnant women get a lot of funny ideas as their due date approaches,” Savanah remarked. “Maybe there’s nothing to worry about.”

“Better safe than sorry. Anyway,” Kyle said, looking sheepish, “she’s not just in danger from the doctor. When I couldn’t find her, I hired a vampire hunter . . .”

“You did what?” Rane exclaimed.

“Yeah, I know, it was a dumb thing to do, but I didn’t know how else to find her. I told the hunter I didn’t want Mara hurt in any way, I just wanted to know where she was, and it worked. Only now . . .”

“Who was the hunter?” Rane asked, his voice grim.

“Lou McDonald.”

“Damn! She’s as hard as flint, that one. And her sister’s not much better.”

“Sister?” Kyle muttered, frowning. “She never mentioned a sister.”

“Cindy Meloni.”

“There was a Cindy working for Ramsden,” Mara said. “Do you think that’s her?”

“Could be. The McDonald sisters have made quite a name for themselves in the last few years,” Rane said. “They’ve racked up an impressive body count between them, although I don’t think Meloni does much killing.” Rane scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “You were right to bring Mara here. We’ll take good care of her. I’ll call Rafe and the old man and let them know what’s going on.”

“Hey, I didn’t come here to drop her off,” Kyle said, slipping his arm around Mara’s shoulders. “We’re in this together.” He looked at Mara and smiled. “The three of us.”

Rane looked at Mara. It was easy to see that Kyle was deeply in love with her. Who could blame him? Vampire or not, she was an incredibly beautiful woman, and softer, sweeter, somehow, now that she was mortal. He was less certain of Mara’s feelings for Kyle. Had she really forgiven the man for the way he had behaved when she’d told him she was a vampire? Of course, now that she was human, Kyle’s feelings on whether she was a vampire or not didn’t really matter.

“The two of you are welcome to stay here, with us, of course,” Rane said. “We’ve got plenty of room.”

“Who’s going to deliver the baby?” Savanah asked.

Mara shook her head. “I don’t know. I don’t want to go to a hospital where they might do tests. I don’t know if the baby will be normal or not, human or not . . .”

“Well, you came to the right place,” Savanah said with a smile. “I’ve taken the Lamaze classes.”

Rane snorted softly. “Fat lot of good they did.”

Savanah made a face at him. “Okay, so I didn’t use the technique during the actual birth, but I still know what to do, and I think that, between myself and Cara, we’ve got enough experience to deliver a baby. And there’s a hospital in town if anything goes wrong.”

Later, while Kyle was getting their bags and Rane was calling his brother and his father, Savanah took Mara upstairs to see Abbey, who was sleeping peacefully in her crib.

“She’s beautiful,” Mara said.

“Thank you.”

“Why did you take the Lamaze classes and then not use what you learned?”

“It hurt too much. I used Rane instead.”

“What do you mean?”

“He talked me through it.” Savanah laid her hand on Mara’s arm. “This must be so difficult for you.”

“You have no idea.”

“I hope you don’t think this is rude, but I can’t help wondering . . . how do you feel about being human again?” Savanah asked.

“I hated it at first, but now”—Mara placed her hand on her belly—“it’s not so bad. I hope I have a little boy who’ll be as handsome as your Abbey is pretty. Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“What’s it like for you, being the only mortal in a family of vampires?”

“To tell you the truth, it was a little strange at first, even a little scary, but Rane’s been wonderfully supportive. And I love the rest of his family, although Roshan can be a little intimidating at times.”

“Yes, Roshan,” Mara said thoughtfully. He was less than five hundred years old, and yet, even before she had given him her blood, he had been a powerful vampire. She wondered who had made him. Odd that she had never thought to ask. Of course, it didn’t matter now.