Page 6 of Salvation
Her smile reached her blue eyes. “I know you will, and the thing is, so will everyone else. This baby will have a shit-ton of aunts and uncles. But about us.” She reached out and placed her palm on his cheek. “We don’t love each other, but I care a great deal for you.”
“I care for you, too. Maybe the mating mark will come for us.”
She dropped her hand. “See, the thing is you are old enough to be my father. No offense,” she offered quickly.
He chuckled. “None taken. The choices are for you to make, Luna. I vowed this when you came with us. If you chose to settle for a man one day, it should be for love and nothing less. If we are granted the mating marks, then we were meant to be together. Either way, nothing will change between you and me. We will raise our child to the best of our ability and apparently, we will have a village to help us do so.”
She nodded and looked down at her stomach, which he noted was becoming bigger. “Do you think we’ll be able to get to Kentucky?”
“I plan to do everything in my power to make that happen.”
Luna leaned in, her long blonde hair falling forward, and she kissed him on the lips. Not a kiss of passion, but one an old lover might give.
“Thanks for the talk.” She looked out the windows. “You’d better close those shades if you plan on staying in here much longer. I’m going to lie down for a bit.”
He stood. “I’ll walk you to your room.” They went into the corridor, and he stayed with Luna all the way to her room, which he had moved to the second floor next to his once they found out she was with child. “Have a peaceful rest.”
“Thank you, same to you.” Then she closed the door.
* * *
Luna slippedinside her room and pulled the curtains until only a streak of light shone through. As she flopped on the bed, she stared at the ceiling.
“You are such a ditz. You should have told him how you really felt.” That was why she had gone searching for him, but when the time came, she had lost her courage. Truth be told, she was terrified. What if they couldn’t get to Kentucky? What if they tried and, in the process, Wolfe died from sun exposure? So many scenarios ran through her head of things that could go wrong. She was twenty-five and pregnant with a vampire’s child. They were treading into unknown territory and without a damn doctor or even a nurse. Getting up in the morning had taken on a new meaning for her and everyone else. Just to wake up was a blessing, and being able to go to sleep at night was even more so. They had had little trouble the past couple of weeks with demons or worse, the rogue vampires, but it was only a matter of time. She felt it in her bones.
Rubbing her belly, she thought of the child growing inside her. This was no world to be born into. At least not right now. Maybe later things would get back to normal. Or whatever the new normal would be. Who knew how many people still lived out there? It was why it was so very important they get to Kentucky, where the others had started to build new lives. Maybe some of the other women there had gotten pregnant, too. Then at least she wouldn’t feel so alone. She knew there was another baby, Faith, that had been rescued and was now living in Kentucky. If she could bring this baby to term, it would be important for the children to grow up together.
A knock came at her door, so she rolled from her bed to see who it was. Looking through the peephole, she spotted Ella standing on the other side.
“Hey you,” she called out as she opened the door. “I’m surprised to see you.” She stepped aside to let her friend enter.
“Why are you surprised?”
“I figured you would be busy.”
“Well, I was. I was busy baking.” She unfolded the towel from the basket she was carrying to reveal four muffins and two bottles of water. “I managed to whip up blueberry muffins.”
Luna’s mouth watered. “How?” She motioned Ella to the desk along the wall where her friend went and set the basket down.
“Well, this place still has all the baking supplies, and I happened upon some dried fruit, so I made a few batches of muffins. Have one.”
“But what did you bake them in?” She wasted no time in grabbing one, which was still warm, and took a bite. The flavor was one she hadn’t had in a long time. Warm, moist, sweet and tangy and it tasted like a burst of sunshine in her mouth. “Oh, my god! You are a wicked baker.”
Ella smiled, her blue eyes twinkled with pride. “Glad you like them. One of the vampires made an oven using stones and hot coals.” She plopped into one of the chairs by the window. “So, did you talk to him?”
“I talked to him,” she muttered between bites. “But not about that. I… He has so much going on and I didn’t want to add more.”
“Luna, you are having his baby. You two need to talk about this shit.”
She grabbed another muffin and plopped on the bed. “I know, but how can I ask him to risk his life and take us to Kentucky?”
“Girl, I do believe he is already on board with that plan. It’s just a matter of figuring out how, so we all stay alive. What I meant was him and you going alone. You need to get to Kentucky, no matter what.”
She finished chewing. “I can’t ask him to leave all of you behind. Plus, what if something happens to him? Then I am left alone.” She had never been a fan of Ella’s plan for Wolfe to take her on this journey and leave the others to fend for themselves. They were a community, and he was in charge of all of their survival.
“He can take a few others with you for safety. A smaller party stands a better chance than a bigger one.”
Luna knew what her friend said made perfect sense, but it wasn’t as simple as that. Rather than respond, she took another bite of muffin.
