Sian's concern warmed her and Renee smiled. "I'm wonderful. I couldn't be happier." She reached out and squeezed Sian's arm. "Thanks for caring, in spite of what I am," she added quietly, aware of the people around them.
Sian blushed a little and shrugged. "What you are is a person who got caught up in something she didn't expect. Nothing more, nothing less. Believe me, it's a feeling I'm more than familiar with."
Renee hugged her and pulled her toward the door. "This life isn't anything I ever imagined, but now I can't imagine going back to the way I was," she said. Then she smiled and nodded at the mall. "Now enough mushy stuff. Shopping beckons. What are you looking for?"
Sian's blush deepened. "Maternity clothes."
Renee gaped at her. "You're can't mean-you're-"
Sian laughed. "Yep," she said, suddenly grinning from ear to ear. "And happy as hell about it. Now wipe the shock off your face and let's get cracking. I think we only have a couple of hours before the shops close at ten, and I need everything."
"I didn't know va-" Renee cut the word off, glancing around. "I mean, I didn't know anyone was born that way."
"Not many are," Sian agreed. "It's very rare. Only dhampyrs-half and half, like me-or a few 'high-blood' lines can have children." She glanced at Renee as she steered her toward a large department store. "Diego was born, not made. That's why Eli was dead set on getting him a mate when his older brother died without children."
Renee blinked, following blindly. "Eli made you and Diego get together?"
Sian laughed. "Sure did, despite the fact that I wasn't like them and neither of us wanted it. He snapped his fingers and poof!
The bands appeared and we were mated, even though it should have been impossible."
"Wow." Renee knew exactly why Eli could do such a thing, but she was still shocked he actually had. "I think I can understand why you'd be a little ticked at him."
"Ticked ain't the word, hon. I shot him." Sian stopped before a rack of clothes and pulled out a blouse. She made a face.
"Ick. Looks like a tent."
"Wait, hold on a second here." Renee gaped at Sian. "You shot Eli?"
"Sure did. Diego was pretty mad when he found out about it, but Eli thought it was funny." She gave Renee a look. "May God give you patience, Renee, 'cuz that man has a damn strange sense of humor."
Renee laughed. "Yes, he certainly does," she agreed. "And I love him." She nodded at the blouse. "It doesn't look like a tent.
It's cute."
Sian put it back at once. "If there's one thing I'm not and never want to be, it's cute."
Despite Sian's reluctance, they managed to put a rather impressive dent in Diego's credit card as the evening wore on. Fifteen minutes before the mall closed, Renee dragged a protesting Sian into a lingerie shop. "I'm gonna look like a whale and you're making me look at this stuff?" Sian cried, waving a hand at the racks of tiny teddies and thongs and sending her shopping bags in a precarious arc. "No way, girl. He'd take one look and laugh!" Renee shook her head. "He'll take one look and drool," she shot back. "You're pregnant. It doesn't make you a nun. Yes, your belly is going to grow, but the way I see it you can either go out and get some granny panties that come up to your chin, or you can get some of these-" she held up a pair of red silk bikinis, "-and remind him how you got this way."
The saleslady laughed as Sian's face reddened until it almost matched the panties Renee held. "She's got a point," she agreed.
"And I've got a great matching bra for those, too. Your man will love it, that's a guarantee."
Sian glanced down at her chest and made a face. "I'm not even sure what size to get anymore," she complained. "They just keep growing."
Renee laughed again. "Then get a couple in increasing sizes, " she advised. She caught Sian's doubtful look and grinned.
"Listen to me, girl. Do you honestly think Diego is going to complain that your breasts are getting bigger?"
Sian covered her face with her hands. "All right, all right!" she cried. "Anything to stop you two from talking about it. What is it with strangers and my underwear, anyway? Pick something out and I'll buy it if it will end this conversation!"
"That's the spirit!" Renee rubbed her hands together with an evil grin as she looked over the assortment of naughty undergarments.
"You know," the saleslady piped up as Renee started piling bras and panties on the counter, "we have some very sensual nighties in plus sizes. I know a lot of women who wear them when they're pregnant and I haven't heard a complaint yet."
"Great idea." Renee added a couple to the growing pile.
Sian finally stepped to the counter and brandished the credit card. "Enough, enough! This is more than I'll ever wear." She glanced back at Renee as the saleslady rang up her purchases. "Aren't you getting something?"
Renee felt her cheeks heat. "I hadn't thought about it."
Sian laughed. "Oh, and now she blushes!" she teased. "Come on, you have to get something, too. You're a newlywed. Get something that'll make Eli lose his mind." She glanced around before spying a burgundy velvet and leather merry widow with a matching g-string. "That."
Renee laughed out loud as she looked at it. She had never in her life worn anything like that. "Oh, I don't think so. Besides, we're shopping for you, remember?"
"We're done shopping for me and there's still-" she checked her watch, "-five minutes until close. We're shopping for you now and I'm telling you, get that thing or I'll make you sorry."
Renee lifted it off the rack and glanced at the tag. It was even her size. Her temperature climbed about a hundred degrees at the thought of wearing it for Eli but she still hesitated. "G-strings are uncomfortable," she protested again, touching the velvet trim with a fingertip.
"Honey, you won't be wearing it long enough to get uncomfortable," the saleslady chimed in.
Sian grinned. "Ring it up. I'm getting it for her." Renee made another half-hearted protest as the saleslady took it from her hands and Sian laughed. "I need you to keep Eli busy enough that he doesn't even think about meddling in my life anymore," she added. "That should be a good start!"
They walked out to Sian's car a few minutes later, laden with bags. Renee couldn't remember when she'd had a better time shopping. She normally hated it with a passion. "This was so much fun. Thanks for the invite. I'll shop with you anytime."
Sian hit the trunk release button on her keyring and dumped her bags inside. "It's a deal. Diego sure won't come with me, and it's no fun at all with James."
"Maybe if you took Diego to the lingerie shop, he'd see things diff-"
Renee's voice died in mid-sentence as a shattering pain split her head. She dropped the bags she carried, pressing her hands to her temples as though it'd help her squeeze out the invading presence.
There you are, little girl. I've been looking for you. And who is this lovely young thing with you?
Panic shot through her. "Get in the car!" Renee managed through gritted teeth, each word a burst of agony as she fought to throw off the horribly familiar hold seeping through her mind. She couldn 't let anything happen to Sian and her baby! Her knees went weak and she crumpled to the pavement, struggling with everything in her.
Sian ran to her with her gun already in hand, ignoring her warning as she intently searched the shadows. "What do you sense?"
she demanded, all traces of teasing gone. Renee clearly saw both the Slayer and the cop in her at that moment. "Where is it?"
"Outcast," Renee gasped. The memory of the Outcast forcing her to do his bidding in the alley seared her and she recoiled from Sian when the other woman bent closer. "Get away from me!"
Very noble, the Outcast laughed in her mind. But you can't save her. Why don't you take her gun away and shoot her for me?
Renee's hand shot toward the gun at his command and she fought against it with all her might. Her fingers trembled in midair a few inches from Sian's wrist.
"Go!" she cried, forcing a compulsion into her words despite the pain. Why had she left without Eli when she'd known her true sire was still out there, waiting for her?
Suddenly a warm hand closed around hers, pulling it away from Sian's gun as a strong arm wrapped around her to draw her against her mate's hard chest. Peace swept through her and the pain receded before it. Renee almost collapsed with relief at the blessedly familiar touch.
"Easy, little one," Eli murmured in her ear. "Diego called me the minute you left his house. You were never alone."
Then he looked up at Sian, who was still holding her gun in a two-handed grip and searching the night for a target. "Get in the car and go home to Diego," Eli ordered, shrugging off his long duster and wrapping it around Renee. His swords glinted in the dim parking lot lights, but he didn't care who saw them. "You're in no condition to-"
"I don't take orders from you," Sian snapped, still scanning the lot. "I'm a Slayer too, in case you've forgotten. You go do your thing. I'll stay with Renee."
Eli didn't take the time to argue. He brushed a kiss over Renee's forehead and helped her to lean against the car before standing and drawing his swords in one graceful movement, a predator preparing to defend his mate.
"Come out, coward," he called, letting his derision echo in the challenge. "Or are you afraid to face me without a woman between us?"
Caen ground his teeth in fury. Why hadn't he sensed the Slayer following the women through the crowded mall? This one was powerful, but Caen was no fledgling himself. He'd been hunting for more than two thousand years and was strong in his own right.
He should have felt the Slayer's presence!
The Slayer stood beside the women, a sword in each hand, and he took a deep breath of the chill air. "I smell your fear, Outcast," he taunted.
Caen focused his will and sent it shooting through the fledgling. Throw yourself on his swords!
He heard her moan but suddenly the Slayer was in her mind. Stay still, little one, he murmured to her, and Caen was horrified when she closed her eyes and didn't move.
You will obey me! he snapped furiously at her. I am your sire and my hold on you is the stronger!
The Slayer laughed again. "I am her bondmate," he said to the night, as though certain Caen would hear him. "Do you honestly think your feeble blood tie has any chance against mine?"
Caen roared in rage. The damn Slayer had completed the bond and taken the fledgling from his control! He leapt down from the roof of the mall, aiming the crossbow at the traitorous fledgling's heart even as he plummeted to the ground. If I can't use you, I can still kill you! he screamed at her as he pulled the trigger and sent the bolt on its deadly course.
The Slayer spun in place and slashed down with one sword. There was a ringing impact and Caen shook with fury as the bolt ricocheted harmlessly away.
The fledgling didn't even flinch.
Gunshots shattered the night as the woman with them fired in his direction, tracking his roar and the course of the bolt. The Slayer's head snapped his way and Caen ran as one of the bullets nicked his hip. He ignored the pain and kept a wary eye on his nemesis.
And suddenly, impossibly, the Slayer vanished.
Caen stumbled, certain his eyes had played a trick on him. No one could vanish. Vampires altered their form or flew or moved with inhuman speed, but they did not vanish. He didn't dare look away, trying desperately to figure out the puzzle before it was too late.
He looked up just in time to see the Slayer shimmer out of nothing right in his path. Caen threw himself to the side, dropping the crossbow and narrowly avoiding the first vicious swing of those swords. He rolled and came up with his own sword in his hands even though he knew he had lost every advantage. "Damn you!" he shouted, charging in furiously.
The Slayer only smiled. "I am not the one who is damned."
He deflected Caen's first flurry and slashed back with a vicious assault of his own. Caen parried with more difficulty than he liked, constantly looking for another opening.
Finding none.
"I am not the one who kills for the temporary pleasure of the sun on my face, " the Slayer went on in the same calm, emotionless voice, and Caen snarled at him. The bastard wasn't even out of breath as he drove Caen back, forcing him closer to the building and cutting off his retreat. He swung down with all his might, hitting one of the Slayer 's swords right at the crosspiece, but he didn't even seem to notice the blow which should have numbed his hand and forced him to drop the weapon.
"I am not the one who hides behind a woman," the Slayer taunted, and suddenly the pace of his attacks sped up. Caen parried desperately but the blades found his flesh again and again, small wounds that weakened him as he bled and let him know the Slayer was just playing with him now.
"You killed my Clan!" Caen growled, enraged by the Slayer's calm while he methodically cut him again and again.
"You attacked my mate," the Slayer shot back, and now there was emotion in his voice. Fury. The promise of death shimmered in his black eyes. "She is my Clan, and three times now you have tried to kill her. Do you honestly think I would let you live?"
Caen never saw the final strike. A piercing agony stabbed through his chest. He looked down in disbelief at the Slayer's sword buried in his flesh as his own dropped from his suddenly nerveless fingers. "No," he whispered. Eli planted his foot in the Outcast 's stomach and wrenched the sword free as Caen's life bled away. He closed his eyes, unable to feel any triumph as he remembered Renee's horror the last time she'd seen him kill. He wasn't as emotionless as she'd thought that night. Every time he was forced to destroy another vampire, he ached. They were all his children, even the dark ones.
But then he heard Renee's footstep behind him and felt her arm slide around his waist. "It's all right," she whispered, her other hand encircling his around the hilt of the sword and not flinching away from the blood staining the blade. "It's over now, Eli. Let it go. He isn't worth your pain."
He turned and wrapped his arms around her, grateful beyond measure for her understanding. "I'm sorry you had to see me kill again, little one."
"Don't be," she replied at once. "You saved me. I love everything you are, Eli."
He kissed her softly before looking up to find Sian watching them. "Are you all right?"
She shrugged and glared down at the gun still in her hand. "I think I need to get back to the firing range. My aim stinks. I didn't even wing him and I was shooting to kill."
"You winged him," Eli reassured her. "And you shouldn't have to kill."
Sian narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't you dare go getting all macho on me like Diego. I still have several rounds left and you know I'll use them."
Renee raised her head and looked up at him. "You know if she shoots you again I'll have to kill her, and Diego would probably get upset. How about laying off the machismo for a few minutes?"
Eli raised an eyebrow as Sian laughed. "Yeah, that could happen. The weather report said nothing about hell freezing over, Renee." Then she grinned at Eli. "Before you whisk your woman away and lock her in the house, she bought a prime distraction you wouldn't want her to forget." She raised her hand and Eli's eyebrows rose when Renee blushed scarlet at the sight of the bag hanging from Sian's fingers. Eli reached for it but Renee snatched it first.
"Thank you, Sian," Renee said, glaring and red-cheeked.
Sian's grin didn't waver as she glanced back up at Eli. He held Renee close to his heart, swords still out, and if she saw how his hands shook at the close call, she didn't comment on it. "She humanizes you a bit, you know. You needed it. Big time."
He laughed in spite of himself. "Thank you, Sian."
She holstered her gun and dusted off her hands. "My work here is done. Now I need to go shock Diego with the credit card bill. Later."
Eli bent to nuzzle Renee's ear as Sian walked back to her Ferrari with a wave. "I could use some distracting," he said, remembering the last store he'd watched them go into and very much hoping the little bag held what he thought it did.
She clutched it closer but arched her neck, leaning in to his caress. "Take me home and I'll see what I can do."
Amelia Elias
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