Moonlight – Generations
Los Angeles. The town where I grew up. The place I met my wife. The place I lived. The place I worked. So much of my life was tied up in that city. I guess that's why I came back, why we came back, after three years away. We never intended to see the city again. Funny how things change.
We showed up at Josef's place unannounced. He answered the door himself. He saw me first and smiled, actually smiled.
"Mick," he said, clasping my hand, "I never thought I'd see your self-rejecting face again."
"Josef," I said as I returned the handshake. "It's really good to see you." Instinctively I stayed between him and Beth. It wasn't that I didn't trust him, but I'd gotten so used to it out there.
As observant as ever, Josef glanced over my shoulder. "So's there a reason Beth's hiding? What, you afraid of a harmless old vamp like me now?" To add to the joke, his eyes flashed gray-blue.
"Um, actually, that's why we're here," I said. "We need your help." I moved to let him see her.
I know this happens normally to my kind, but Josef's face completely drained of color. He saw a much different Beth than she was three years ago. Then she stood tall, a too confident woman walking among vampires. Now she carried her head low, nerves keeping her shoulders slightly hunched. Her hands wrapped instinctively around her growing stomach. No one could miss her state.
"Beth," Josef whispered. He stared at her stomach, his eyes trying to see through her jacket and her skin. I knew he was listening to that second heartbeat. Finally he managed to pull himself out of the shock. "Come in," he said though his normal calm tone didn't return.
I lead Beth inside, one hand on her back, the other on her arm. I trusted Josef with my life, my secrets, even my wife, but with what we'd been through, even his home seemed capable of betrayal.
He called for two of his freshies for what I thought were afternoon drinks. Instead, he had them bring Beth into the closest bedroom and help her lie down. She was six months along, and she really needed to get off her feet.
With Beth settled, Josef led me back out into the main room, far enough away that Beth couldn't here us, close enough that we could here her. He watched the door for a long time. Finally he turned to me.
"So what happened?" he asked. "Who's the father?"
"Apparently, I am," I said.
"Mick, vampires can't have children. Come on, who's she been seeing? I know you two pride your marriage, but she's got to have cheated on you."
"Don't you think I know that?" I asked. "Don't you think I've pushed her over and over to tell me? She swears there's no one else. Why would she lie to me when the only other explanation is impossible?"
He studied my eyes for any cues then turned to his hearing, most likely listening again for the double heartbeat in the next room to convince himself it really was there. I've done that every day since it first showed up.
"This is impossible," he whispered.
"Yeah," I said, "and it's scaring us both senseless."
***
It all started three and a half years ago. On the beach at midnight, the moon shining over head, I went down on one knee, and before the words could even leave my mouth, Beth was on the sand next to me, her lips on mine. I could barely slip the ring on her finger with how ecstatic she was. We married three months later on a clear night, the ceremony timed to start just as the moon started to rise. Her family was so confused. My friends thought it was hilarious.
I know what you're thinking, but no. I didn't turn her. She didn't want it. We were going to stay together as long as possible, and if she wanted to later, we'd think about it then. For us, it was enough to just be together in the moment.
We left LA almost immediately. Beth wanted to see the world. Sixty years is a long time to save up for a rainy day, and it doesn't hurt to have a multi millionaire as your best man either. We packed up, cut almost every tie we had, and moved, ready to keep on moving until we found that one perfect place to settle down. Honestly, I don't think either of us ever planned on settling down again.
We traveled through Mexico, down into Brazil, and caught a plane to Europe. You know how I said we cut almost all our ties? One that stayed was mine to the Cleaner. She's got counterparts in every city across the planet. The one we saw set me up with enough blood to make it to Europe and then some.
England was nice. Germany brought back memories. Overall we had a blast, but something kept calling me. Beth understood, and we headed to France, to Paris, to the vampire court. The royal line still kept court there, Lance and his brothers. While LA is run in a 'do as you please as long as it doesn't hurt the rest of us' kind of way, Paris is run on strict rules passed down from the reign of terror. Lance still sits on a higher chair than any common vampire, and they still serve justice in a very authoritative way.
It didn't take long to track him down. I just had one question: what happened to Coraline? Instead of asking him, I saw it for myself. If a common vampire commits a crime, they're dead within the hour. If a royal vampire does, it's apparently a three year court case. I stood in the audience, trying to get a good look at her. She was nearly starved, unhealed cuts on her arms and chest. I thought: all this over me? But no.
As the laundry list of crimes against the family rang in the hall for what must have been the hundredth time for them, I began to shake. There was no way she'd make it out of this one alive.
The extended trial was almost over, only two more nights. I went again, and Coraline saw me. Her eyes pleaded salvation, but what could I do? She knew it and hung her head again. I went the third night, and Lance finally read the sentence.
"For all these crimes, Coraline, you have been found guilty," he said. "You disgraced the family name, you endangered our secret multiple times, and you worked outside our knowledge for far too long. The sentence is death by fire."
The crowd broke out in protests and cheers, the guards came forward, and Coraline rose for her last walk. I pushed my way forward. For all she put me through, there was still a part of me that loved her. I stood pressed against the railing separating the trial from the audience. Her eyes never left mine, and when she passed, she broke from the line. Before I could react, her fingers raked across my face. I stumbled, slamming into the man next to me. He pushed me upright, and I barely caught a glimpse of Coraline as her guards physically lifted her and carried her from the room. As the blood trickled down my cheek, I heard a familiar step behind me.
"Hello, my brother," Lance said. "Finally come to pay your blood family respect?"
The other vampires backed away to give their lord room. I didn't turn.
"My sister gave you quite a scratch there. Let's have a look," he said. When I still didn't turn, he sighed. "Still nursing old wounds are we? You should remember you're part of the royal line. Show some more control."
"Just because Coraline turned me doesn't make me part of your court," I said, "and you've just sentenced my only connection to your family to death."
I knew I had to get out of there. Something about the cuts on my face didn't feel right. The blood should have dried already. I didn't know what was going on, but I did know Lance wouldn't be happy about it. Without looking at him, I pushed my way out of the hall.
"See you around then?" he called. His laughter followed me outside.
Beth was waiting for me five streets away in a car with six silver rings, a sliver choker, and three stakes lying next to her. I stumbled into the car, sitting heavily and closing the door with a weak hand.
"God, what happened?" she asked, quickly pulling off the rings to take my chin in her hand.
I winced. "Coraline scratched me," I said. "She's been sentenced to death, and I think she wants to take me with her." I swallowed, trying to clear my tight throat. "Just get us away from here, okay?"
She nodded and turned on the car. I felt worse and worse the farther we went. But five minutes later, when we were nearly out of town, I felt something else.
"I'm warm," I muttered.
"What?" Beth asked as I flipped the mirror down. The cuts were still bleeding.
"Beth, I'm warm," I said. "I feel warm. I'm not healing either. It feels like-"
"Like you did when you took the cure," she finished. "Coraline gave you more?"
I touched one of the cuts. It stung, and I pulled my hand away. I needed to clean them. "Find a hotel," I said. "We need to sort this out."
And that was that. The cuts didn't heal that night. They didn't heal the next day. We left Paris and France behind as fast as possible. I couldn't tell if we were followed. I didn't know if we crossed any vampires. Suddenly I couldn't protect my wife in a world I wasn't familiar with, and it scared the hell out of me. That said; being human again was amazing. We stayed in the sun at least ten hours a day. We rented a sailboat in Spain and sailed all the way across the Mediterranean. I was human for six months. Then four weeks before I turned back, Beth was late. I was furious. We argued over and over, but she swore she'd never cheated.
"Why would I cheat on you?" she cried. "Why would I destroy what we have?"
"I don't know," I said, "but obviously-"
"Mick, you know me. I love you. I would never jeopardize that."
"I can't have children."
"Well, then either you're wrong, or the test is, because it says I'm pregnant."
It took me weeks to calm down, and then I turned back, and that's when I started to smell it. Vampires, and not just any vampires, old vampires. The smell never left my senses. I could feel eyes on my back, and I wondered if Lance knew, if he had known the impossible the moment I did. I had no way of knowing how long we'd been followed, but we needed to get away. We tried different places, but we didn't know anyone. We couldn't call out any favors or know for certain that Lance wasn't less than a step behind. It took months, but I finally had to admit we needed help. I contacted the Cleaner for the first time in more than two years, and we booked a flight to America.
***
I explained as much as I could to Josef and tried to understand what I couldn't. He listened silently, adding nothing. He never nodded, never turned his head. He just stared at me. When I got up to reaching LA, he finally blinked.
"So what do you want from me?" he asked.
"You've got connections," I said. "You've got protection. We need both. Beth needs a doctor, but we're afraid of what they might find. She hasn't seen anyone yet, and we've both got a lot of questions."
"I know a few vampires in the medical field," he began.
"Josef, you know as well as I do that that would never stay confidential," I said. "We need a human, someone who can't put the pieces together."
"And the protection?" Josef asked.
"I think Lance is following us."
At this he just turned away. He stared out the window at the setting sun. "You realize how many vampires that would take?" he asked quietly, not turning to face me. "If Lance wants something, he's going to get it."
"I won't let him take my Beth," I said.
"Why is this happening now?" he asked. "Why is this happening to you?"
"Maybe the cure? Maybe her blood type? Maybe both? I don't know," I said, "but you know this changes everything."
I caught a whisper. Beth called for me. I headed back for the bedroom. She was lying on the bed, the two freshies sitting close by. I knew they were wondering why Josef suddenly turned them into attendants. I ignored them and sat at Beth's side.
"You need to rest," I said. "We've been traveling for a week straight."
"I'm worried," she said.
"You don't have to be," Josef said, entering the room. "I'll take care of everything. Girls, could you come with me?" The others left, and we had the room to ourselves.
I smoothed Beth's hair and kissed her forehead. "Go to sleep," I whispered.
She only tightened her hold on my hand. "I don't want to lose this," she said. "I don't want to lose this baby."
"I know," I said.
"But what if it miscarriages?" she asked. "What if my body can't keep it?"
"Don't think like that," I said. "I won't let anything happen to either of you. Now get some sleep."
She swallowed, blinking quickly against tears, and finally closed her eyes. I stayed at her side. The sun set and the moon rose while I sat there. The moon began to dip again before Josef knocked quietly at the door.
"You've been in here for hours," he said. "You need your sleep too." He handed me a glass of blood. "And you need your strength. The doctor will be here in the morning. I've got all my guards coming in. The first are already here. The rest will be here before the week's out. They all think I'm the one who pissed off Lance. It's going to take a good story to keep them from wondering about Beth, but the less they see her, the better off we are."
"Thanks, Josef," I said.
He nodded. "Vampire solidarity," he said, that gleam finally back in his eyes.
I smiled, my first one in days. "Raw, raw," I said.
The morning came and went before Beth or I woke up. Josef came for me at noon when Beth got up. He already had a spread waiting for her, every type of nutrition an expecting mother would need and then some. She ate more than I'd seen her eat since we found out about the pregnancy. I was glad she could finally relax. Josef's house was a fortress, one with triple the guard by the time the doctor came.
"I usually don't do house calls," she told Josef.
"That's why you're getting paid a month's salary for an hour visit," he said.
She pursed her lips. "So what's so pressing you can't bring the mother to my office?" she asked.
"That's also why you're getting paid a month's salary," he countered. "No questions. No consultations. As far as you're concerned; the second you leave this house, your patient doesn't exist."
The doctor frowned but submitted anyway. "So where's the mother to be?" she asked.
We led her into the bedroom where Beth stood by a mirror, brushing her hair. She saw Dr. Kennel through the mirror first then turned and tried to give her a smile.
"This is Beth," Josef said.
Dr. Kennel nodded. "Nice to meet you," she said. "Why don't we get started?"
Josef and I waited while Dr. Kennel went over a full examination. She asked Beth questions the whole time, only about half of which Beth could really answer. When she found out Beth hadn't had a medical examination before this, she really started getting annoyed.
"I don't care what's going on here," she said. "Your child's health needs to take priority. Now I have no way to compare your future development to your past. You need to follow all of my instructions from here on out. Do you understand?"
Beth nodded though she kept her mouth clamped shut. Dr. Kennel calmed down a bit after that and finished the examination. When she was done, I finally got over the knot in my throat.
"So how does it look?" I asked.
"She's healthy. A little travel worn, but healthy," Dr. Kennel said. "She needs to keep up her nutrients and rest. You didn't say she was so far along, Josef. I'm coming back tomorrow with an Ultrasound machine. The baby sounds fine, but we need to be sure."
"By all means," he said, "but from now until then-"
"I know, Beth doesn't exist," Dr. Kennel said. She got up and headed for the door. Josef glanced at me then did the same. I closed the door and moved farther into the room.
"See?" I asked Beth. "Healthy."
She only nodded.
"Can I get you anything?" I asked.
She smirked. "Rocky Road Ice cream."
***
I waited like a man facing trial as the ultrasound machine warmed up. When the doctor finally placed the rod on Beth's stomach, I could only watch the screen. The heartbeat I'd listened to for months now came to Beth's range, and she smiled. The image on the screen made me forget everything else.
"Hm," Dr. Kennel muttered.
"What?" I asked.
"The baby's quite a bit more developed than normal. Are you sure it's only been six months?"
"We're pretty sure," Beth said. "Why? Is that bad?"
"No, just something to note," Dr. Kennel said. When we only looked at each other, she frowned. "You're expecting bad?" she asked.
"This isn't exactly a normal pregnancy," I said.
"Are there risk factors I should know about?" she asked. "Drug use? Family diseases?"
"Not exactly," Beth said.
"We're just kind of worried, I guess," I said.
Dr. Kennel shook her head, turning off the ultrasound machine. "Everything looks fine," she said. "If you're worried, I can come back in a week to check on the baby's progress."
"Thanks," I said.
When she left, Josef came in.
"So what's the verdict?" he asked.
"Healthy again," I said.
A smile pulled across his lips, only for a second, but I saw it. That was when I realized what this might mean to Josef. He never had a child. Four hundred years old, and his line would end the second he died. If our child survived, could we find a way for him as well? Could he get the one thing he'd never had?
***
Four weeks went by without incident. Beth grew by the day. To me, she never looked so beautiful in her life. She seemed to glow. When she smiled, her smile lit the room. Even when she was caught up in worry she still had that expectant air to her. Josef noticed it too and softened up his usually sharp tongue when he saw her. We kept the freshies away from her since that first day to make sure they wouldn't talk, but in a way I think they knew she hadn't left. Dr. Kennel stayed confident at our child's health until we reached the sixth week. Seven months, 3 days. On that day, the routine ultrasound made her frown.
"What?" Beth asked. Her hand tightened on mine with a vice grip.
"Nothing, well, nothing big." She sighed. "Your baby's still farther developed than it should be. I'm worried it might become a premature birth."
"How premature?" I asked.
"Hard to tell, but we'll see. I suggest you don't do any stressful work from now until it comes."
Beth glanced at me, and it took a bit for me not to smirk. Stressful? That was life right now. Dr. Kennel didn't really catch the exchange, or at least she'd finally learned to ignore it. In any case, she finished her tests and left, reassuring us again that our baby wasn't in any danger.
At seven and a half months it was the same story, but this time she gave us a date.
"You baby's probably going to be a month premature," she said. "It doesn't need more development after that unless its growth slows drastically." She watched the monitor for a while then frowned again. "I'm not too thrilled about the form of its hands."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"They've grown normally until now, but it looks like its fingers are pointed. I know you don't want to go to a hospital, but I'd really like the birth to happen there. There may be some tearing."
"So there are going to be complications?" I asked.
"Possibly, but don't worry. We've got the best doctors around. Just call me when she goes into labor, and I'll pull in some of my colleagues." Before I could open my mouth, she raised a hand. "I won't tell them until they're absolutely needed," she said.
I dropped the protest and instead brushed back Beth's hair from her face. Dr. Kennel packed up with her normal confident air and left when the sun was just going down. I met up with Josef in the front hallway to tell him the news.
"I trust her judgment," he said when I finished. "We'll bring Beth in. I just hope what she's describing aren't vampire claws."
"And if they are, what else is going to show up?" I asked. "We need to start-"
My nose filled with the scent of decay and that extra undertone I'd smelt too many times for my liking. Josef's fangs came out as he caught it too.
"How the hell?" he hissed.
Beth screamed. We bolted for the bedroom door. When I opened the door, three vamps tackled me. Three more went after Josef. I killed one with my first move and got enough of an opening to spot Beth. She fought Lance's hold, tried to pull away, but he was a vampire, she was human. She didn't stand a chance.
"No," I shrieked. The remaining two vamps pinned me to the floor. I caught one with my heel, came down hard, and pulled out of his hold. "Beth!" By now she was out the window.
"Mick," she cried. Her voice faded even on that one word as Lance and another vampire dragged her off the grounds.
The last vampire on me caught my leg. I fell again, this time rolling half out of the way of his tackle. We fought, I got a grip on his neck, and his body sagged in my hold after a sickening snap. I looked up to see Josef fighting his last attacker.
"Go," he shrieked.
I leapt out the smashed window and raced after Beth's scent. I jumped over the bodies of Josef's guards, some with stakes in their hearts, others dead. I made it to the road. Too late. Three silver bullets burrowed into my chest as the car squealed away. I stood there, my body suspended for a split second. Then my knees buckled. I fell. My eyes never left the car, but they slowly lost focus. My mind dimmed. I don't even remember hitting the ground.
***
I woke up in a freezer. When my mind finally made sense of where I was, I threw the lid open and ran for the door. Josef paced the room behind it.
"Whoa," he called. "Calm down." He caught me as I fell.
"Where's Beth?"
"Mick, I'm sorry. Lance took out our transport before he left. We couldn't follow."
"You said you brought in all your guards," I snapped. "How could this happen?" I pushed forward, but he grabbed me tighter before I could hurt him.
"Calm down," he hissed. "I did bring everyone in. I raised security as far as I could. Lance had a stronger force. I've lost half of my personnel not to mention all of my security system. This isn't my fault. Now let's figure out how to fix it."
I strained a moment longer before finally giving up. When I stopped, he let go and stepped back. "What do we do?" I asked.
"We call in the cavalry," he said and offered me a robe.
When I'd calmed down completely, he led me to the next room. The Cleaner, her assistants, Guillermo, and Logan all looked up when we entered. Fifteen of Josef's guard stood at the room's back wall.
"Mick," Logan said. "You're looking better."
Josef handed me a glass of blood. I drained it in one gulp.
"Why? How long have I been out?" I asked when I finished.
"Twelve hours," Josef said.
"Maybe now you'll tell us what this is about," the Cleaner said.
"You didn't tell them?" I asked Josef.
"I was waiting for you," he replied.
I glanced around the room. I don't think I've ever been more nervous.
"It's Beth," I said. "Lance has her, and we need to get her back."
"Beth?" Guillermo asked. "Why would Lance want her?"
Josef and I glanced at each other. Finally I looked back at the others.
"Beth is pregnant," I said. "She's pregnant with my child."
"That's impossible," the Cleaner said.
"That's what I said," Josef returned, "but it's true. For some reason Beth's body was able to keep the child. We tried to keep it secret, but Lance found out. This changes everything, and you know he'd want to be in control of that."
The others only stared at us. I waited as patiently as I could. Slowly each one pulled out of their shock. The last to do so, Logan spoke.
"This is," he whispered, "I mean, wow. This is amazing." Then his skin went ashen. "Mick, you really want us to go against Lance?" he asked.
"Look, I don't care how strong he is," I snapped. "I don't care what his claim is on being vampire royalty. He has my wife. My wife. Now I'm asking you, please, help me get her back."
They stayed silent a while longer. Finally Logan nodded.
"So what do you want us to do?" he asked.
"Beth's doctor said she's going to be premature," I said. "If everything goes as predicted, she only has two weeks before she goes into labor. We know Lance will at least keep her safe until then to see how the labor goes and if the child even survives. After that, we don't know if he wants something like this to happen or not. We can't guarantee either one's safety."
"Where did they take her?" the Cleaner asked.
"We don't know," Josef said. He nodded at Logan. "That's what you're here for."
"Okay," he said. One eyebrow rose.
"You've got all my resources," Josef said, "and as much help as I can get. Find them. I don't care how you do it. Just find them."
***
He did it. I don't know how, but Logan did it. He hacked into every traffic camera, every store video, every kind of monitoring device in a twenty-mile radius of Josef's place, and he found them. Lance headed due north the whole way. When he disappeared off of Logan's scanner range, it was clear Lance didn't intend to leave the country.
"She's too close to labor to fly," the Cleaner said when Logan presented his findings. "Lance will keep her safe somewhere here. Not too far of a drive either."
"So we have to deal with forces, not distance," Josef said.
I clapped Logan on the shoulder. "Good job," I told him. It had taken him three days to find Lance's trail. He nodded and returned to his computer. Now he had to widen the search to follow them.
"We might be able to catch them by scent from there," Guillermo said. He pointed to the final camera shot of our target.
"Maybe," I said, "but Logan should keep it up just in case."
"All right," Josef said. "I'll send out two guys as scouts, see what they can find. Knowing Lance, he's probably holed up somewhere remote but majestic enough to feed his ego. That should narrow things down. We'll still need numbers to make an attack."
"It's going to have to be commando," I said. "We just don't have enough vampires for anything else."
"I could make some calls," the Cleaner offered.
"No. I don't know any of your contacts. I don't know what they'll do if they're the ones that get to Beth," I said. "This baby means something different for each of us. To me, it's my child. That trumps anything right now. Understand?"
"You're letting your emotions get the better of you," the Cleaner said.
"But he's right," Josef said. "We can't predict any other vamp's behavior."
The Cleaner backed down, and Josef left to talk with his men. I glanced at each before turning to Logan again.
"Just a little more," he said. His fingers flew across the keyboard. He'd been working straight. After we got Beth back, I was going to get him a year's supply of blood.
The computer beeped.
"There," he called, swiveling around in his chair. "Six more miles."
"Six?" Guillermo asked.
"Then the trail stops," Logan said.
"Son of a gun thinks he's safe twenty six miles away," I whispered.
"He probably is," the Cleaner muttered.
"What?" I called.
"Nothing," she said. "Come on. We've got work to do."
***
I crouched in the bushes; heart pounding so hard I thought it would come out of my chest. Josef crouched on my left, Logan on my right. The Cleaner and her assistants were ten yards to our left. Guillermo was with two of Josef's guards fifteen yards to our right. The rest of Josef's guard was on the far side of the building, waiting. We'd found the hideout, a not too run down manor. The scent of vampires was so thick on the place, that our scents would go unnoticed. At least I hoped so. I crouched there, counted, and prayed.
When I counted to twenty, a noise rose up above the building. Josef's men had started their attack. They'd moved as stealthily as they could, but we knew Lance would find them. They were the bait. When their fight seemed at its peak, we started our attack.
The Cleaner and her assistants raced for the door on this side of the building. Guillermo and his guards leapt for the roof. Josef, Logan, and I raced for the second story windows, crashing through them. The second we were inside, I caught Beth's scent. I ran in her direction. Josef and Logan stayed on my tail, but they weren't as fast as I was. They didn't have the father's passion either. I kicked in the door leading to Beth's scent with them more then two yards behind me. That was a mistake.
The second I was in the room, someone slammed into my side. I hit the wall hard, crashing halfway through. The vamp that attacked me grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the wall. He threw me in the other direction. I slammed into a table, breaking it in half. He was on me again before Josef even made it to the door.
"Mick," he called then immediately had to block. A second vampire attacked him.
The vamp with his attention on me wrapped his hands around my neck. The guy was twice my size and strength. I slammed my fist into the side of his head, but he didn't even flinch. Another few seconds, and I'd pass out. Just then, the vamp breathed in sharply. His hands released, and I pushed him off. He fell to the floor hard, revealing Logan behind him.
"Stake?" I coughed out.
"Yep," Logan said. "Now go get your wife."
I nodded and headed for the only closed door. As I reached for the handle, I heard the wet snap of a stake driven through skin and muscle. I glanced back to see Josef pushing his attacker to the ground. I turned back to the door.
"Mick, so good of you to join us," Lance called when I opened the door. He was sitting next to Beth.
I snarled, but then I caught the whole situation. Beth must have heard the fight and gotten too tense. She cried out, fingers wrapped around a female vampire's hand. She was going into labor.
"Lance, let her come with me," I said. "Please, she's my wife. That's my child you're trying to steal."
"Steal?" Lance called over Beth's frantic breathing. "I'm not stealing anything. This babe has royal blood. It's mine by right."
"No, it's not," I called. "Please. The doctor said there'd be complications. She needs to go to a hospital."
Beth cried out again. The contractions were way too close together to move her. The gleam in Lance's eye showed he knew it too.
"Maria is a doctor," he said. "She'll keep the babe safe."
"And Beth?" I asked.
"Of course," Lance said. "How am I to repeat this little experiment of yours without our Eve?"
"No," Beth cried. Tears streamed down her cheeks. "Mick, make him go away."
"She's terrified," I said. "I can help her. Please."
Lance waited for only an instant before rising. I rushed to fill his place. Beth grabbed my hand, a vice grip as another contraction started.
"I need you to push," Maria called. She had moved from her place at Beth's side to the end of the bed. When I looked up at her, I saw Josef and Logan enter the room. The Cleaner and her two assistants were in the room behind them. Lance stood next to the doctor, eyes expectant.
"Beth, push!"
Beth screamed.
"Push!"
She screamed again. Then a second scream joined hers.
"It's a girl," Maria called.
For an instant I couldn't breathe. All I could do was listen to that hysterical crying. The doctor lifted my daughter up to show me. My baby's fingers were, like Dr. Kennel said, pointed, like the bones themselves had become claws, but nothing else looked unnatural. Maria lowered her again, cut the cord, and turned to Lance. He came forward with a blanket.
"No," I cried. I bolted to my feet, but he already had her in his arms. He stepped backwards.
"Now be rational, Mick," he said. "Do you really want a fight with a newborn in the room?"
"Sure."
The shot rang out before any of us could react. The silver bullet pierced the side of Lance's head. His hands loosened, and I dove forward. My girl was in my arms before he even hit the ground. I knelt there, knees staining with his blood, and looked up at the Cleaner. She lowered her gun as calmly as she had pulled it from its hiding place. I stood, giving her a silent nod.
"You're not out of the woods yet," Maria called.
I came to her side. Long cuts ran down Beth's inner thighs. Our daughter's sharpened fingers hadn't made it into the world without leaving something behind.
"There's most likely more inside," Maria said. "Look, I don't care who I'm dealing with. She needs a hospital."
"We'll handle it," the Cleaner said as Guillermo came through the door. "Now I suggest you leave." She raised her gun again.
"Fine. Just get her to a hospital," the doctor said. With that, she left the room.
With the doctor gone, I finally turned to the little thing in my arms. It wailed so loudly I began to wish I didn't have enhanced hearing.
"Mick."
Beth's weak call brought me immediately to her side. She raised her hands, and I placed our girl in her arms. She let out an amazed kind of laugh. Her skin was drenched, and pain from her wounds was beginning to pull at her lips, but she smiled.
"I've got Dr. Kennel on the way," Josef called from the back of the room. He set his phone back in his pocket.
I don't think Beth heard him. I barely did myself. I could only stare at my daughter's beautifully scrunched up face.
"What should we name her?" I managed to say.
"Eliana," Beth whispered. She brushed her fingers against Ely's cheek. "Eliana."
***
The doctors made Beth stay in the hospital for three weeks. There had been more cuts, a lot more. She stayed in surgery for nearly a day. They said she was lucky to be alive. I knew it wasn't luck. It was her strength. She wanted to see Eliana again. She wanted to see her little girl.
Josef and Dr. Kennel managed to keep the doctor's colleagues away from Eliana. Dr. Kennel completed her examination in private. Besides the fingers, she didn't find anything "wrong." I wasn't so sure the fingers were wrong in the first place.
Ely was my responsibility those first two weeks. Beth wasn't strong enough to hold her. I don't think I slept more than an hour the whole time. When Dr. Kennel finally let me bring Eliana to her mother, I caught a new scent. With Ely in Beth's arms, I quietly left the room. I closed the door just as Lance came down the hall. My eyes shifted.
"There's no need for that," he said. "I'm not here to hurt you."
"Then why are you here?" I asked.
"To congratulate you," he said. "Your wife, and your child. Both alive. That is amazing."
"You can't have either," I said.
"I know that now," he returned. He glanced in the window. Beth didn't see him. She was too absorbed in her baby. "But I will be watching."
I waited for him to say anything else, but he didn't. He just stood there, eyes on Eliana. That's when it occurred to me.
"You don't have any children," I said.
He shook his head.
"Your little Ely is more than a miracle," he said. "She's hope. For all of us."
"You're going to experiment," I said.
"Of course."
"Leave Beth out of it."
"Of course. Family first, you know."
I turned to him. "Royal blood?" I asked.
He nodded. "Royal blood. Whether you like it or not, Mick, that girl is royalty, and so are you."
He took one last look at Eliana. Then he turned and left. I followed the sound of his footsteps all the way out of the hospital.
"Mick?"
I turned to spot Beth looking at me through the glass. Smiling, I opened the door and walked to the bed. I sat at my wife's side and set my fingers on my sleeping daughter's head. Let Lance worry about what this meant for vampire-kind. Let Lance wonder if it could happen again. I had my Eliana, my beautiful baby girl. No matter what the future held for her, we'd be ready.