Page 81 of Silent Stalker
“That you’ve gendered,” my mother pointed out.
“There’s no way I’m spending that much money on another man, so she is my dark lady of temptation.”
My mother snickered. “That is something Penelope’s father would say. It’s a prejudice of you old things, isn’t it?”
“No. It was quite commonplace for men to partner with men, especially further back in history,” Emerick replied. “I have no problems with such things. That said, the only person I’m spending that much money on is my wife, and should she have interest in children, our children.”
“But any children you have would be like Penelope, wouldn’t they?” my mother asked with a frown.
“I am not quite that old yet, although the risk of predisposition would be present. It is my hope that the information her father gave us can help us with the real reason we bar children from rising. Drinking only in peaceful circumstances from a calm donor has not been something we’ve tried before. Her diet may help us with Edgar.”
“Clarke told me about the child. Edgar, yes? I am glad he found his way back for you. You understand the grief of a parent losing a child.”
“And I understand why Pepper’s father did as he did. I would not be able to stake my child, especially not after she’d risen on her own. He said he’d planned to bury her the next day?”
“He’d just wanted to be with her for a little longer. He hadn’t believed she’d rise. Had he, he would have been more prepared. I believe he was truly shocked. Like me, he had no idea what to do. Those first few days, well, we made up a lot as we went. How were we to explain to the doctor we thought there was something wrong with her heart? Well, that was simple enough. He claimed he’d been resting his head on her chest to listen to her heartbeat, and it sounded wrong. The doctor checked to humor him, but sure enough, he also thought her heart sounded wrong.” My mother sighed, and she met my gaze. “If only we could have, we would have changed so much. We’d meant to give you a childhood others dream of, but we had to give you something far darker, instead.”
“So I would be able to survive to adulthood,” I pointed out. “I can accept that. I’m adding threats to the list, Master Clarke. You best treat my mother well.”
“On the surface, he has a low bar to meet.” My mother grinned, and the happiness in her expression startled me. “He’s been a gentleman, much like your father. Unlike your father, Clarke is emotionally available. Don’t be too angry with your father. Or with me. Neither one of us were emotionally available for the relationship. Everything we did was for you. We had bitten off more than we could chew, but it worked out.”
Emerick gave me a squeeze and shooed me off his lap. “On that note, we need to start dinner. Will you be staying the night?”
“He has a hotel room for us somewhere nearby. He’s going to try to teach me how to resist the sun, but I get rather surly, so he would rather we don’t expose Penelope to that. She likely has enough temper issues right now.”
“Only that I stupidly informed my husband we would not indulge until he was sufficiently blood bound. I will be double checking tonight after you leave.”
Clarke snorted. “How much more blood bound do you want him, woman? He’s sufficiently bonded to you, I promise. If it’s the competition you’re worried about, you have nothing to fear.”
I headed for the kitchen and waved off his commentary. “I thought it would be fun to see which one of us goes insane first, but I’m quickly learning we were idiots to make that wager. On that happy note, I’m going to go help make dinner so we don’t all starve, and after dinner, I will delight in kicking you both out.”
My mother and Clarke laughed.
A weekafter my mother left with Clarke, I needed the brood to rescue me from Emerick’s tender care. I’d ventured from beyond exhausted to barely able to move, and it counted as a miracle I managed to text Ben with a plea to occupy Emerick for a while so I could get some sleep.
The instant the rescue party showed up, I crawled to the tub to soak. A bemused Salania escorted me, and she assisted my efforts through adding some bubbles to the water. “Ben claims you were warned what the dress would do to Emerick.”
“Did the dress survive? Did any of the dresses survive? I’m half the reason I’m in this state. I kept trying on the dresses, then he’d get ideas.”
“Yes, you hold a great deal of responsibility for your sore state. To be fair, he’s always been hesitant about the women he would attempt to date, and he rarely indulged. Normally, it is the women wearing out the men, but he did the other men proud, and he will surely strut for a few weeks over his conquest.”
“Conquest is the right word for it.” I groaned and stretched out in the tub. “Thank you in advance for not letting me drown.”
Salania sat on the ledge. “You’re most welcome. Would you like to be let in on what has gone on while you were otherwise occupied?”
“Please, that way I’m not ambushed nearly as badly as I expect to be tomorrow night.”
Grinning, the vampire held up a finger. “Your mother is on a mission to tame Master Clarke, and he is playing difficult to catch. His brood is delighted, and the brides broods have offered their blessings for their union upon hearing the situation.”
“My mother rising is pretty much a miracle for them.”
“It is, indeed. And word of your circumstances has spread. Most are in awe of your father’s dedication to you and your mother—and are even more impressed that your father took steps to ensure your mother is cared for in her new life. If your father’s goal was to elevate himself to high standing among the preternatural, he has succeeded. He has revealed himself to be a vampire, informing the mortals that the preternatural are all around them. And he made it clear everything he had done, he had done for you. It has created quite the shockwave, especially since all the vampires associated with his enterprises have mystically vanished. The rest of the employees, well aware their employer is a preternatural, are amused. This leads us to believe things are falling in with one of your father’s plans. We have no idea what those plans may be.”
“Good luck guessing. What else happened?”
“The brides broods are eager to host your marriage ceremony, and as Ben saw no reason to deny them, he went ahead and began the general preparations. If you had wanted to refuse, you should have come out of your bedroom in order to do so.”
I laughed at her annoyed tone. “For the first few days, the bedroom was the only place I wanted to be. Then I realized I’d bitten off more than I could chew.”
