FYI I see Vlad as Vincent Perez, a totally gorgeous french actor! He isn't classically good looking but I can't keep my eyes off the man!
Thunder rolled in the distance and lightning lit the blackened sky. Just feet beyond the front porch the sea crashed unrelentingly onto the sand. Tavia sat curled on the swing, listening to the ruckus inside. Ian and Dove were attempting to get all ten children settled for bed, from the sounds of things it wasn't going well. Dove had already begun to sing, using her beautiful voice, and no little amount of her special ability.
It had been during the nearly suicidal rescue attempt of Tavia and the children that Dove had accidentally discovered her gift. Using her voice alone she could control humans, and vampires. The only people immune to her power were master vampires.
Tavia placed a hand on her gently sloping belly, feeling the power coming from the two children growing inside her. She was only a month along into her pregnancy and already she had a connection to her unborn children. She heaved a sight and sent a silent prayer into the night.
Before Cat and Bones had left to be alone, they had placed one phone call. He was coming, the father of her children was on his way. A chill ran through Tavia's body as a single name reverberated in her mind Dracula. She knew very well who he was, Mental had made sure she knew.
"You are baring the demon spawn of the damned." his voice taunted. "your children will be my perfect soldiers. An evil scourge we will release upon the world." Tavia's hands reflexively balled into fists, ready to strike. She would protect her children with her dieing breath. Her children would never be the monsters they wanted.
Sure strong booted strides sounded on the planks of the porch. "he's here." Ian told the women. Dove was holding Tavia's hand as the sat together on the couch. The door opened and a very angry prince of darkness stormed in. the anger flashing in his eyes rivaled the storm that was raging outside.
"where is she?" Tavia heard his voice, hard and flat.
"she and the babies are here, safe. But you have to calm down or you'll frighten her." Ian cautioned. Vlad took a deep breath, more an attempt to stamp down his rage than for the air. "she wasn't a willing participant in this either." a growl came from deep in Vlad's chest.
The whole situation wreaked of abuse and use, two things he would never subject a woman to. Yet some one had done it in his stead. His seed had been forced upon the poor unsuspecting woman. Here he was, about to force himself on her, no woman would bare his children out of wedlock. "i am calm now." he told Ian, who looked at him with eyes full of doubt.
Cat had explained a lot to him on the phone, a call he had never expected to get. She had told him things that were difficult to hear at all, never mind over the phone with an ocean separating them. The woman had been kept prisoner from an early age, turned into a vampire against her will, and impregnated with his own DNA. Who they had gotten a sample of his DNA he had no idea, but he would find out.
Cat had also mentioned that the woman was afraid that he would try and take the children from her once they were born. She need have no fear of that, It had been six hundred years since ha had been a father. Even if he remembered what it was one was supposed to do with children, he would not be able to do it alone.
Thinking of his long dead sons hurt, not just emotionally, but it caused a deep physical ache in his chest. His strong brave sons, gone too early, so young. Every one he love, dead. Vlad didn't know if he could survive fatherhood again. Holding those tiny forms in his arms only to have them grow and leave... or die.
What of the woman carrying his children. Would she accept him at all? Or would the fear they instilled in her be too much for them to over come? He could live with out her love, but he would not be denied his children, and they were a package deal.
"I'm fine." he told Ian again. His voice was calmer now. Ian inclined his head towards the room where the women waited.
Tavia held her breath when he strode into the room. He was better looking than the pictures she had seen. Tall and elegant, with a high forehead. He had long dark hair that hung to his solders, but was without the beard or mustache they usually depicted him with. He didn't look as harsh as she had expected. he looked more like a dark angel than the demon she had imagined. He was handsome!
Vlad's eyes fell on the women holding each other on the sofa and knew instinctively witch was Tavia. Woman was the word Cat had used, but to his eyes she was a child. She could have been no older than eighteen. She was long and thin, forever stuck in the awkward body of a teenage girl who had yet to develop the lusher curves of woman hood. She had her legs tucked up under her, one twig thin arm wrapped possessively around her stomach that still looked flat to him.
Light brown ringlets framed her face, shorter than his own hair, but perfect for the round shape of her head. She had plump pink lips, her little tong darted out to moisten them. When he met her eyes he was stunned, beautiful purple eyes stared deep into his soul. She was measuring him up.
Ian made a sound in his throat. "come my love." he held out a hand to Dove.
"we'll be in the next room if you need us." Dove told the younger girl. they were friends already and she was nervous leaving her. Tavia didn't look away from Vlad, but she nodded to let Dove knew she understood.
Vlad moved slowly, trying not to frighten the little girl. He took the chair across from her and waited for her to relax. After what could have been an eternity Tavia dragged in a ragged breath. "i know what you want." this surprised him, he had not told Cat his intentions.
"it will not be so bad." he tried to sound reassuring. She scoffed.
"you think I'm weak because I'm young? Well I'm not." he voice was strong now, so were her words. "you can't have them!" that got through. The girl really did believe he was here to take the children from her.
For a moment he thought perhaps it would be best to wait until she gave birth and just take them. If she was so paranoid perhaps there was something wrong with her. But he pushed the thought away, she had a right to be suspicious. "I'm not here to rip the unborn children from your womb, foolish woman."
she blanched, if that was possible. He realized she was sending all the blood in her body to the babies. He cursed himself for not being the ladies man Ian was. He had meant to say something soothing to assuage her fears instead he had frightened her more. If only the girl would stop looking at him like he was the bad guy. He hadn't been the one to do this to her.
"relax little mama bare. Your cubs are safe." he tried again. She blinked at him.
"mama bear?"
"you are fiercely protective, like a good mama bear should be. With me by your side our children will never fall into harms way, for I am the alpha wolf." he gave her a reassuring smile, a flash of white teeth with no hint of fang.
"by my side?" was the girl that daft.
"but of course. You did not think you could do this alone, did you?" she wasn't looking at him any more, instead her eyes traced the pattern on the rug.
"i can mange." she mumbled. Those sweet curls formed a curtain over her face so Vlad couldn't guess her emotions.
"well you don't have to. It will take a week or so to gather my people together. Once they are here we will have a binding ceremony and then you will come with me to my home." her head snapped up, violet eyes wide with shock.
"binding ceremony?"
"i was the prince of Wallachia. my children will be royalty, not bastards." Tavia's hands covered either side of the belly as if she could block the ears of her children. How dare he call her babies bastards!
"i don;t care who you were, right now you are Dracula!" she spit the name at him as if it was something foul in her mouth. "and I will not be bound to you!"
"what do you think you will do? Have your friends hide you? No Vampire would deny me my rights in this matter. Even if you took your plea to the law guardians, they would send you back to me. No little Tavia, you will be mine!" Tavia rose from the couch. hands still covering her stomach, as she stormed out of the room.