Nick's eyes shot open at the sound of his dead mother's voice. Sitting on the edge of the bed clothed in a baggy sweatshirt and slim dark jeans was Magdalena de Sang. Her long deep brown hair was plaited into a single near waist length braid and her matching brown eyes were brimming with blood tinged tears.
Nick shook his head, 'I'm either still drunk or dreaming.' he quickly reasoned.
LaCroix stepped around the bed and placed his hand on Magdalena's shoulder, "You are awake and quite lucid, Nicholas."
"But how? You were burned at the stake! I saw it!" Nick pointed out.
Magdalena nodded, "I was burned and dead but before I could journey to the life beyond I was resurrected from the ashes." she replied softly.
"Resurrected? By who?" Nick demanded.
Magdalena sighed and her tone became bitter, "Malachi. A powerful warlock, who taught me everything I know of the magical arts. He was a good man before he became consumed with power and greed. Malachi is immortal but unlike a vampire he slowly ages. The only reason he has not died yet is because for the past seven hundred years he has been enjoying a ready supply of vampire blood."
"Yours." Nick whispered.
Magdalena nodded and LaCroix's hold on her shoulders tightened. Magdalena patted his hand reassuringly.
"There were others. Sometimes when Malachi fed me he would take the victim away at the right moment to make them a vampire. He entertained himself by torturing them until all that was left of them was their desire to die. I thought about the same thing many times but I knew that if I did so then Malachi would either resurrect me again or he would come after you." Magdalena confessed.
"Why would he come after me?" Nick asked.
"Because you are a rarity, mon fils, a born vampire and witch hybrid. Also given the fact that you have received no formal training in the development of your magic talent and have also allowed several of your vampire powers to atrophy makes you especially vulnerable. Your mother and I agreed that it would be best if you took a rest from your mortal life and concentrated on resolving those issues." LaCroix answered bluntly.
"Why couldn't you have just told me that? Why drug me and whisk me away?" Nick demanded angrily.
"Malachi has begun to infect your dreams, mon bebe. He has marked you as his prey. Neither your father nor I wanted to risk that you wouldn't believe us and say no." Magdalena said simply.
Nick had to silently agree with his mother. LaCroix's credibility had slipped considerably as far as his son was concerned. Besides as busy as his mortal life was at the moment…
Nick's eyes suddenly grew wide as the realization dawned on him, "Oh shit." he said quietly.
LaCroix frowned, "There is hardly need for such language, Nicholas."
"I'm just thinking about how I have about four open cases though that's probably not my concern anymore because thanks to you I'm probably now unemployed!" Nick snapped.
"If only that were true. I spoke with your captain and due to a family emergency you are now using the vast amount of vacation time you've managed to accumulate. You had quite an arsenal." LaCroix replied calmly.
Nick's face fell and his mouth formed into a pout, "How long am I here?"
"A month. Please understand, Nicholas, we're doing this to save your life not ruin it. If Malachi ever got his hands on you I would never forgive myself." Magdalena pleaded.
Unable to see his mother so sad Nick smiled and pulled her into a gentle hug, "I understand, Maman. Besides this will give us time to get to know each other."
Magdalena nuzzled into Nick's shoulder fighting not to cry, "I'd like that, Nicholas."
As she held her son Magdalena could hear a faint noise as if someone were whispering in her ear.
"Enjoy your time with your son while you can, Magdalena. He will be mine no matter what you do." the raspy voice of Malachi hissed.
Magdalena stiffened at the sound of her captor's voice. LaCroix sat down behind her and held her as well. Embraced by her husband and son Magdalena felt for the first time in a long time that just this once Malachi would not win.