Final Days (7 page)

Sitting on the sand with the warm water pushing at her toes, she thought of the big man in Paris.  Koen. 
Oh,
how she had let him in. 
Blushing at the thought of how she’d practically attacked him, a perfect stranger, she thought about how it would have shocked people who knew her.

She had meant every word she wrote in the note she’d left.  She’d meant it too
, when she’d asked him to remember her.  Shouldn’t there be something she left behind?  Shouldn’t
someone
miss her like that?

Morbid thoughts, stop it, she chided.  She’d decided she would not
do this.  No more sadness.  Only living every remaining moment to its very fullest.

Next, Cairo, for a visit with a colleague from an Egyptian newspaper and one last look at Egypt’s treasures before she flew
back to Chicago.

EIGHT

Holy fuck!
  Koen had just reminded himself a few days ago that life could take incredible turns in moments.  And that’s exactly what happened in Africa.  He thought that he and Jacob would go there, find Starla, bring her home, and things would be normal again.

Did.
Not. Happen. Everything got complicated when Koen realized that Jacob was in love with the girl. 

Then they discovered she had been abducted by a first blood vampire who was part of a large community of first bloods.  Unheard of to Koen or any of his own clan of first bloods in Europe. 

The leader of the first bloods, who called themselves children of the moon, was a striking man named Ahmose who claimed Starla as his mate because it turned out she was
Shoazan,
an extraordinarily rare person who could have a child with a first blood vampire.  Koen couldn’t fault him, she was too precious, first blood children so rare and prized.

But Starla admitted she was in love with
Jacob, and it all turned into a horrible mess.  Jacob attacked Ahmose to free the woman he loved.  Ahmose attacked Jacob because he believed she was destined to be his mate and the mother of his children.   There was no easy way to resolve it.

Shocked, Koen had to play peacemaker when
he suggested they call in an old friend who was an empath with the ability to divine the future, especially when it came to first bloods.  Cherise and her husband David flew to Zambia from their home in Iceland and did a reading for them with everyone present. 

Koen was thrilled to see the petite Frenchwoman so happy now with her first blood husband.  Her life had not been easy.

Gathered in Ahmose’s yurt, Cherise, Starla, and Ahmose, connected by touch, traveled into the spiritual realm to seek the truth.  When it was finished, and the three of them returned from the inward journey, Cherise sat back to advise the angst-ridden group.

“These souls reached for each other on the spiritual plane.  They needed to be together,” Cherise told them
.  “I could not keep them apart.  These two were meant to be together.  But as parents.  Not as lovers.”

Nothing was resolved.  Starla and Jacob were in love and needed to be together. 
And although Ahmose clearly knew he was destined to have children with Starla, he saw no way it could happen now.  No vampire male would ever allow his mate to be with another man.  So, it all went to shit in a shit-storm.

Eventually, Ahmose had to accept…Starla love
d Jacob and nothing he said or did would keep her with him.

Ahmose was a good man.  Koen respected him and his desire to fulfill his destiny for his people.  This situation had no way to end well.

When Starla told Ahmose she would be leaving with Jacob, and how sorry she was that she could not have their promised first blood children, there was enough pain to go around for everyone.  Koen hurt for the lost children, but he knew Starla did, too.  There was no way to fix this.

Before they left the hidden community of first bloods, Koen and Ahmose promised to keep in touch and bring their clans together.

When the next night, Koen, Cherise, David, and a friend of Starla’s left the village near the waterfalls, Starla and Jacob left too.  Ahmose was nowhere to be seen and Koen understood completely.

He had lost his
own daughter before she was born, and, against all odds, found her last year.  The pain had nearly wrecked him.

Flying from Zambia to Cairo, they stopped in a luxury hotel to sleep away the daylight and travel on to France the next night.  

While checking in, Cherise sent Jacob and Starla to their room so they could have their first night alone together.  Koen was completely exhausted, so Cherise sent him up, too, telling him she and David would take care of the arrangements. 

He glanced across the big lobb
y, for some reason he hesitated.  What was he looking for?  His sharp eyes perused the area, and when he saw nothing of interest, he shook his head, and followed the others up the elevator.  All he really wanted now was to get home and see if his team had found his blue-eyed angel.

God.  Alisa
.  What the hell was he going to do about
her?
  He didn’t really
want
to be in love right now.  Too much happening in his life.  But when he considered telling his men to cease the search and come on home, he couldn’t do it.  He wanted her, more now than before, and when he fell asleep, his dream of their lovemaking was so vivid he woke with a painful, impressive hard-on.

If there was a place on this planet you could touch eternity, it would be Egypt.  Ghosts of the past walked in every corner of the country, but especially in monuments left behind by people who believed they would live forever.

She loved the Sphinx.
  It appealed to her on several levels, so on this final night in Egypt, beneath clear skies, she touched the ancient rock and slid down near it to look up at the regal head reaching toward the stars.  It was one of Alisa’s favorite places on earth. 

Did she feel a
special connection this time because of her lost years?  Maybe.  At midnight, she sat in the shadow created by a spotlight and just breathed the air above the warm sandy earth.  A beautiful couple walked by, arm in arm.  Alisa could tell they felt the same connection to the people of the past who walked here beside them.  She watched the beautiful brunette lay her hand on the warm stone, closing her eyes.  Alisa smiled, because she had done that same thing the first time she’d come here a dozen years ago.  It was hard to believe her life was nearly over now. 

She sat there
for what might have been hours, but during that time, she committed her moments to the universe.   And asked it to be kind and keep her from lingering too long in a body that no longer let her be a part of all this…of life.

A
t some point, her thoughts were only of Koen.

“Thank you, universe,” she whispered, “Thank you for him.”

This part of her Magnificent Journey was over.  It was just the first part, but she needed to go home, rest, check in with her doctor, let Percy know she was okay, and prepare part two of her final visits tour. 

She was leaving tomorrow morning for home, so she stood up, stretched and headed back to her hotel. 

Only the finest would do, according to Percy, who had booked her into one of the best hotels in Cairo. 
Sentimental man.
  She loved him for it.

She’d spent the night under the stars, and although it was nearly morning, she needed to sleep.

On her way back to her rental car, an overwhelming tiredness struck her.  Like someone sapped every remaining bit of her energy. 

Luckily, she didn’t have
far to go to get to her room and just let herself drop.  A valet took her car and she headed up to get her key at the elaborate desk where guests came and went.

Alisa waited anxiously behind a couple finishing registration for their rooms in the luxury hotel.  Her eyes wandered to
a big man beside a gorgeous petite woman who was speaking to the desk clerk with a French accent.  He reminded her of Koen, something about his height and carriage, and extremely handsome as well.  Were all these amazing men she was suddenly seeing a little gift for her messed-up fate?  Or had they been around all along and she just hadn’t been open enough to notice them?  Now, she couldn’t get Koen off her mind.  Well, Koen’s body.   Koen’s
naked
body.

Suddenly the beautiful French woman turned around and stared at her.  She smiled softly at Alisa, but kept staring.  Then she stepped forward.

“I am sorry, but would you mind if I touched your arm?  Just briefly?”

It took Alisa back a little.  What an odd request from a stranger.  But her smile was genuine and her manner gentle.   Alisa could see no harm, so she nodded.

Glancing at the big man beside her, the petite woman touched Alisa’s wrist, then slid her fingers into her palm.  Her eyes captured Alisa’s, who realized she did not want to look away.  A calmness came over her and she felt her body respond to the touch, a connection to this strange woman, not like the one with Koen, but as if she knew her.

The woman stepped back, and with her hand still on Alisa’s wrist, she tilted her head and spoke.

“You have a beautiful soul.  Your journey does not end where you think it will.”

“What makes you think I’m on a journey?”

The woman nodded.  “I know.  It is a noble one.  Ultimately necessary, I think.  Have a great life, magnificent girl.”

The French woman turned to the big man
.  He looked into Alisa’s blue eyes, smiled at her, and took the French woman’s arm to escort her to the elevators.

How could she know? 
Did
she know?  It seemed like she did. 
Oh, God, could some people tell she was dying?  Was there something they could see?

She shook her head.  No.  It had to be a coincidence
that she used that word, magnificent.  It was common, wasn’t it?

Alisa took the elevator to the third floor and closed the door to her room as soon as she was inside as if she could keep everyone and everything out.  She was beyond exhausted.  Was it her condition?  She didn’t know.  But she needed a shower and a full eight hours sleep.  Thankfully, she was in the perfect place.

As she lowered her bag, she felt a little dizzy and stepped over to the bed to drop down carelessly.  Why was she dizzy?

Probably the exhaustion and lack of food.  As she walked to the bathroom, she began to
drop her clothes.  Shirt, bra, slacks, panties, all trailing from the bed to the bathroom.

This shower had
a big rainwater showerhead, and when she stepped beneath the warm water, it cascaded over her, droplets massaging tired, sore muscles.  Her skin responded. 

She couldn’t help herself, she though
t of Koen.  That enormous powerful man, in her hands, her lips on him, bringing him to climax.  It was perhaps one of the most fulfilling moments of her life. 

One thing she’d been grateful for when she found out she was terminally ill, was that she didn’t have a
husband or lover in her life who had to go through the pain of losing her.

How awful to imagine Koen
having to watch her die.  And yet, in a moment of clarity and truth, she knew she wanted to race back to Paris, find him, tell him about her illness, and have him stay with her until the end.

Out loud, to an audience of one, she said what she wouldn’t admit any other time.

“I don’t want to be alone.”

But sanity returned and she remembered what he
r mother had burned into her mind. 
Nobody wants to be there for your troubles, child.

It would be selfish to involve him.  His heart meant more to her than her own comfort.  She wasn’t afraid of dying, she knew that was a singular event and then
it was over.  But all the moments leading up to saying goodbye…that’s what scared her.

After the shower, she wrapped herself up in the plush white robe provided by the hotel.   When room service brought her cart, she pushed it aside and curled up on the bedspread.  She fell asleep with her hand slid down between her legs and pretended that it was his.

NINE

THREE MONTHS LATER

Jacob roamed around the site where their home
was under construction.  He had little exposure to the yurts that were primary residences here in what he privately referred to as “moonieville.”  Yeah, he knew it wouldn’t fly, but that’s how he thought of the quiet village he would call home soon.  His new wife, his mate, was up on the adjacent hill next to a stunning first blood vampire named Chione.  Chione reminded him of Eillia because of her Asian heritage, her long dark hair and eyes, exotic and breathtaking. 

From that first day, Chione had assisted Starla in adapting to this village
; expectations, first blood relationships, protocols.  He thought she was very like an old fashioned handmaiden for Starla.  Although Starla called her friend and family.

Starla smil
ed at Chione, who placed a hand on Starla’s belly to feel the child within move.  Their little boy, a first blood vampire, would be born in less than six months and they would begin their extremely unique lives as vampire parents.  He was thrilled about the pregnancy and couldn’t wait to meet the child.  The only part of it that he regretted was the child was not his.  Not biologically.

Coming from inside the biggest yurt in the community, a ridiculously large and handsome first blood vampire joined the women
and kissed Starla lightly on her cheek.  Man, he wanted to fucking punch the guy for touching her.  But couldn’t.  Well, wouldn’t.  He actually really liked him.  It was just that this situation was so bizarre, they were all still navigating the muddy waters of this odd relationship between two made vampires who were mated for life, and the first blood vampire who was the father of the child his woman carried.  Insemination made the baby, not passionate lovemaking, so he had no reason to be jealous.  Usually, he wasn’t.  But when Ahmose touched Starla, even casually, his blood pressure shot up.  A normal vampire reaction to another man near his mate.  Ahmose would understand completely.

Jacob headed up and joined them, giving Ahmose a too firm handshake.  Ahmose smiled because he got it.  He knew Jacob had seen the chaste kiss and reacted the only way a male vampire would.  Grabbing Jacob’s other hand, he encased both in his and touched his shoulder.  Jacob could feel the tension slip away. 
First blood manipulation, they called it “impressing,” a skill every vampire had, but couldn’t use on another vampire. 
Unless you were a first blood
.  The soft touch left the “impression” intended by Ahmose to relax and feel no anger.  It worked well.

“Thanks, man.  Still getting used to this.”

“As am I.  As are all of us.  My people still do not believe your Starla chose you over me.”

Jacob spread his arms.

“I’m a fucking charming guy.  Well, they’ll find out soon enough.  The best man won.”

Ahmose grinned.  “I don’t know about the ‘best’ one, but the right one did.  I am really pleased to welcome you to my family, Jacob
, and to my community.  Please know I think of you as a brother.”

“I appreciate it.  It’s going to get
close, since we are sharing the job of father to these children.”

Ahmose tilted his head.

“I thought I’d be much more disturbed about that.  I’m not.”

“I guess it’s the destiny thing. 
You know, that you and Cherise believe this was meant to be exactly how it played out.  That I had always been a part of this ordered chaos.”

“I believe it to be so.  We are not competitors anymore, my brother.  This woman is well and truly yours.  I am forever grateful you both accepted our destinies and these children can be born.”

“It seems clear now you were right all along.  Doesn’t mean I’ll ever get used to you touching my mate.”

“I will endeavor not to.  But I love that she is the mother of our children and every once in a while, I need to just let her know that.”

“I get that, too.  Just, try to do it when I’m not looking.”

“Fair enough.  Are you two pleased with the dwelling?”

“Yeah.  Not as big as yours.”

“Nearly.  And three extra rooms on the back for our children. 
The small one behind it is meant as a play area.”

“Sweet.  They’ll love that.”

“Breakfast?”

“Definitely.  Need to mitigate the damage of all tha
t wine last night.  Your celebratory MoonShine is incredible.  And highly inebriating.”

“That’s wha
t makes it so special.  The party keeps going long after the music stops.  If you have sex while high on it, it’s…well, just give it a try sometime.”

Ahmose accepted the situation, but it was still difficult for him to imagine his Star with Jacob.  He knew now he was just the sperm donor, but he missed the love he might have had with her, if fate had been even a little less capricious and let her fall in love with him instead of Jacob.

But he meant it when he told Jacob he was grateful to them.  They did
not
have to do this.  But they were here, risking their marriage to bring the children of the moon to him and this village.  There were no words great enough to convey his appreciation and gratitude.  So he would shower the couple with all the wonderful things he could over the coming years, give them a home forever, full of love and laughter, and a village that would be like family.

Ahmose knew they would have a boy and then two girls.  Starla would be assisted each time
with insemination by another first blood vampire with an elaborate lab in southern France.   Their son was growing right now inside the beautiful young vampire he had met just three months ago.

He clipped Jacob on the shoulder, called up to Starla and Chione, and they all went down to join the community for the first meal after rising from their daylight sleep.

Windari sat near the edge of the garden, watching Ahmose laughing with the usurper, the Shoazan who was pregnant with the child that
she
should bear him.  Their leader had been searching for his Shoazan for centuries, but he’d never given her a chance.  He did not
know
she could not have a first blood child, he had never let her fuck him to find out. 

Once, a very long time ago, during a solstice celebration, she’d gotten close.  Both had been very drunk on MoonShine, and very, very horny.  But at the last moment he’d pushed her aside and told her he was too tired and just needed to rest.  He had very kindly told her she was lovely but not what he needed at that moment.

She had hoped the next day he might be more amenable to beginning their relationship, but he’d gone back to his ever polite sickeningly sweet, kind manner.  He would fuck a common human, but he hadn’t once fucked
her
.

If she was the jealous or vengeful type, this could get ugly.  Oh, wait…actually, she
was
the type.  She’d been waiting too many centuries for him to decide to bed her. 
And now, the last straw
.  He’d chosen a newly made vampire to make a life with.

Her pride could not allow this to stand.  She deserved him and had waited too long
for him to accept this.  It was time to act.  She’d always known that if something is in your way, you eliminate it.  Simple.  Quick extraction.  Like that hideous twin the universe had saddled her with after birth.

God.  A perfect copy of herself.  How awful.  As they grew and her sister shadowed her, Windari had known she must get rid of her.  Of course, she never meant to
kill
her.  Just get her out of her life.  But then it became apparent to Windari that her twin was more powerful than she was.  With little deduction it was clear to the young Windari what was happening.

She had been born part of two.  And had to share her power and abilities with her twin.  When it became obvious one evening in old Egypt that her sister was stronger than she was, Windari knew Tamesine had to die.  It was the only way to get her power back from that unfortunate appendage she’d been saddle
d with by nature.

Windari had made it quick.
  She wasn’t a cruel woman, and this
was
her sister.  Taking her away from the community, because she knew they would never allow her to do this, she took Tamesine to the United Kingdom, to Scotland.  And there, alone on a mountaintop, she’d hugged Tamesine, told her that she loved her, broke her neck and sliced her throat, her head severed almost completely.  A first blood
could not
survive that severe an injury.  Tamesine had looked up at her with shocked, pain-filled eyes and fell into a deep cavern crevasse that Windari pushed her into.

She’d sat there for a long time afterward, appalled at what she’d done.  Then, as night moved toward day, aware she needed to seek shelter, a small grin twisted her lips.  She was finally one. 
Finally unique
.  The beautiful Tamesine no longer eclipsed her or vied for attention.  Windari felt stronger.

“I was right,” she’d
called out loud, to herself and the universe.  “She had my powers.  I feel them return.”

Did she?
Well, it would come.  She no longer shared her life with that parasite. 

Before the sun rose, Windari hurried away and let herself forget there ever was a sister born with her.

So, back to the matter at ha
nd.  Another parasite to eliminate.  The marginally attractive Shoazan that her powerful master, Ahmose, son of the moon,
thought
he was smitten with.  It had worked for her before to simply get rid of the problem.  It would work well for her again.  It was a shame about the first blood baby, but collateral damages were acceptable.  Windari felt certain that she’d be able to provide her chosen mate the offspring this woman would not.  She just needed to get the little wench to the waterfalls without anyone knowing they left together.

Starla held Chione’s arm as they walked to breakfast, Jacob casually conversing with Ahmose about cabinetry.  The night was warm, but a little cooler than it had been when they were there late this summer.  The sparkling stars winked down at the four newly formed relationships. 

Everything had worked out
perfectly.   She and her mate were moving to Zambia to raise their children in a community of first bloods that was safe and nurturing.  Starla had loved these people from the beginning.  The insemination had gone without a hitch, but most importantly, her mate and the biological father of these children-to-come were getting along.  Starla felt certain now that they could successfully blend their two households and raise these children with the love and support they deserved.  At this moment, with her dear friend at her side, the new baby warm and growing inside her, and the two men she loved more than any other laughing as they walked to breakfast, she could not possibly imagine a better life.

As they arrived at the garden where four large table
s were set up with a wide variety of choices for the many vampires who would dine tonight, Jacob sat her at one of the café tables in a comfortable chair.

“I’ll get your food, baby.  Just relax,” he said with a kiss on her forehead.

Chione smiled at her as Jacob left with Ahmose.

“You are a lucky woman, mistress.  Two of the handsomest men taking care of you, loving you.”

“I know.  Still, I hope Ahmose finds the woman of his dreams sometime soon.  He’s such a special man.  He told me that he is ready to be in love.”

“I understand the feeling.”

Starla laid a hand on Chione’s arm.

“I know you would, as well.  Your mate will come, my darling friend.  You are too beau
tiful of a soul not to have the universe bring him to you.”

Chione shook her head.

“I know I must leave to find him.  I know this like I know the moon.  I will not find him here and he will not come to me.”

“I don’t want you to leave!  You need to be here
for my children.  They will need your excellent guidance.”

“Oh, I would never stay away.  But there will come a time when I will go.  I do not know
when or for how long, but I will know when the time arrives.”

“Then I hope it is soon.  I would love to see you happy and in love.  And back here with us.  You are a sister to me, Chione, and I just cannot imagine my life without you now.”

“I feel the same, mistress.”

“Then stop this mistress stuff.  Starla.  Or Star.”

“Thank you.  But you are Shoazan.  With your relationship to our master, you are like a queen here.”

“Bullshit.  I’m just like everyone else.  A girl from Wilkes-Barre, Alaska who just happened to have the right stuff.  Don’t make me something I’m not, my friend.”

Chione smiled and nodded, but she didn’t say she would no longer use the term of respect she had from the moment she met Starla.