Ambrosia (Nectar 2)

She’d been craving this. She’d been staring out the window, tired of being in this room. She’d spent so much time waiting behind closed doors for him. She wanted that part of her life to be over with. She wanted them to have a life together.

Who knew, at this point, what it’d look like but she couldn’t wait to move forward.

“I have the dagger,” he whispered against her chin, kissing her after his fangs had retracted, and his chin jerked to the box on the dresser. He lifted her up and got into bed with her, then spooned her.

“Yeah?” she asked.

“Adrian just dropped it off. He’s offering to make a second one if we stay for a month. That’d mean you carry one and I’d have one, too.” He kissed behind her ear and ran his fingers through her hair.

Kyla both sighed and winced. She sighed at his touch but winced at the idea of another month.

Another ovulation? Another period?

“He wants to talk to me about options for your next cycles. He wants to run tests. I don’t trust him, baby, but I think we need him while we get this figured out. If he hadn’t been here when you bled…”

“I hate him, Tristan. I hate what he did.”

“I know, princess. But if he hadn’t been here maybe I wouldn’t have stopped. Maybe I’d have drained you.”

“Or maybe you would’ve stopped.”

“Historically speaking, the woman typically gets drained. Anyway, here’s what I’m thinkin’…”

“Maybe I wouldn’t have been bleeding. Maybe our baby would’ve been growing inside me like it was supposed to do.”

His expression dropped.

They stared at one another for a beat.

She folded her arms across her chest, “Anyway, you were thinking?”

He sighed, rolled onto his back, and pulled her close, her head rested on his shoulder.

“You carry the dagger…”

“Does it work? He didn’t give us a dud, did he?”

Tristan smirked, “No. It works. I tested it on him. He’s flat out downstairs.”

“Good,” Kyla snapped. “Asshole.”

He gave her a squeeze, “He’ll be up and about any time now. Anyway, we’re thinking we should stage a vulnerability so Liam gets in. But we’ll be ready.”

“Okay…”

“So, you need to stay in here, stay armed with that dagger. They think I should carry it but I want you to hold it. We’ll have the building guarded by programmed vamps who will be medicated, too. They shouldn’t have a reaction to you even if you start bleeding.”

“Right.”

“We’re allowing vulnerabilities with a delivery later tonight and then again first thing in the morning. If he gets in during either of those two times he’ll be apprehended and then daggered.”

“How many daggers are there?”

“Two. Yours and Adrian’s. He’s promised to make more. He’s low on the metal he needs but he’s getting more.”

“Okay. Who programmed the guards?”

“My mother’s back and working on them right now. Celia isn’t on site and we don’t want her in the know, either.”

She nodded, “Your mother is something…”

Tristan looked at her funny.

“I met her. While they had you.”

His face contorted, “What?”

“She came to see me.”

He jumped out of the bed to his feet, “And Adrian allowed it?”

“No. Well, he tried to stop her but apparently when his back was turned she killed the six people he had here, some nurses, some guards. She killed one of Adrian’s horses, too, I guess to punish him…”

“I need to know what happened in that conversation.”

Kyla snickered, “She’s something…”

Tristan rolled his eyes, “I hate that she was anywhere near you. What happened?”

“We took a walk. We walked to that meadow with the tree swing and I recognized it. I’ve dreamt about that place. About my ex being there. What’s up with that, anyway? He’s here. The ex, Jackson, that I thought was dead.”

“First things first. Taryn? Tell me.”

“Moonflowers were blooming and she was trying to program me to work on you for the ‘the cause’, convince you to make lots of babies and drink a lot of… you know… and she told me you shouldn’t trust Claudio but we should let Adrian help us ‘cuz we need him. I let her think she was getting her way.”

“She tried to program you?”

“She failed. And then she bit me, and…”

“She bit you? She bit you?” His face was scary.

“Yeah, but she told me to forget it happened. She---”

“SHE BIT YOU?!” He bolted out of the room.

Kyla’s mouth was still open in shock but he was long gone.

She got up and went into the hallway. She glanced over the railing and didn’t see him but Adrian was there. She went down the stairs and Adrian was sitting on the sofa with his head in his hands.

“What are you doing here?”

“Recovering. Tristan daggered me. He just ordered me to keep you safe and then left.”

“Is his mother on the property still?”

“She’s in the main house. Did you tell him that she toyed with you?”