A/N - Wee bit of a change from the official timeline of C.F.'s books. It is where my official AU takes over, lol. For those who have read the books, you might realize what it is. If you don't, cool. If you do, don't shout it out in the reviews just in case others haven't gotten that far yet.
When Danica awoke that morning, she had already made up her mind about something apparently while she was sleeping. It was time to tell Lena what was happening around her.
As she turned her head, she saw a note on her pillow.
La Mia Stella,
All is now well. The being that stalked Lena has had justice dispensed upon him. He is truly gone and shall never come for her.
We sleep, once again, in your basement. I shall see you at sunset this night and every night thereafter until you decide that what we currently have is certainly not enough.
Andriev Lupov
She found herself reading the letter over and over again. Her eyes widened with wonder as the words on the page began to disappear after less than five minutes. And then she found herself giggling like a schoolgirl. She put the paper into her nightstand and forced herself out of bed for the day.
After showering and getting dressed, she went to Lena's room. Of course the girl was up already playing video games. "Have you eaten yet?" she asked her.
"No."
"Are you hungry?"
The girl thought about it first. "No."
Danica shook her head. Her niece's appetite hadn't been doing so well lately. She walked further into her room. "Can we talk right now? I mean really talk?"
"Sure." She saved her game and then turned off the unit as her aunt sat down on her bed with her. "What's going on, Aunt Dani?"
"First of all, I wanted you to know that Andriev and Darius took care of the situation last night. It's over. It's done."
Her face morphed into one of relief. "Really? Like for real?" she almost whispered. "He's—He's gone?"
"Yes, sweetie, he's gone."
Lena just sat there and nodded as tears pooled in her eyes. She wiped them quickly and then looked over at her aunt. She obviously had something more to say.
Danica thought about Rusti's advice and pushed ahead. "I think you and I need to level with one another, all right?"
"All right."
"I want to make a deal with you right now, okay?"
"K."
"I'll tell you everything. The complete truth. I'll keep the stuff to myself that I don't think is age-appropriate, but otherwise I'm going to level with you about everything going on around you."
Her eyes opened wide. "For real?"
"For real."
"What's the catch?"
Danica smiled down at her niece. "You have to tell me one thing, just one, that you've been hiding from me. And the rest of it, you tell a therapist. I'll bring in someone who—Well that's her job, it's what she does. You tell her everything else. Just empty it all out and you'll feel much better. She doesn't get to tell me anything you tell her either. Not unless you want her to or you want me in the room when you speak to her. It's all up to you."
Lena sighed as she seemed to be mulling over the terms of the deal. "One thing?"
"One thing that you've kept to yourself. Tell the rest to the therapist."
"And you tell me everything in return?"
"So long as it's age-appropriate."
Lena nodded. "Okay. I'll tell you the one thing I've been wanting to tell you anyway for a long time. Natalia's in Puerto Rico now, so I wasn't too worried about her with all this vampire shi-"
"Lena!"
"Sorry. Anyhow, Natalia's like… well like us. You know what I mean? Like everybody in this house right now. She's different. She can do things. It's kind of why we wound up hanging out and stuff. And I was worried when I figured that that thing was brought here because of me. I just didn't want her to come home and have him chasing her because, you know, she's different, too, you know?"
Danica had always suspected as much, but didn't let on that she did. "When does Natalia get home?"
"Tomorrow," she said, halfway excited. "I talked to her on the phone a few days ago. We can't wait to do a little school shopping together." She stood excitedly as if her arms were wings. "And now I can actually go outside! I'm free again!"
"Seems like you're not too interested in finding out what's going on around you," teased Danica, trying to suppress laughter.
Lena sat right back down on her bed. "Oh, I'm listening."
"What I tell you is not to be repeated. Not even to Natalia. Not until Andriev gives you permission to tell her. It's not your secret to repeat. If you let this slip to the wrong people, others can be targeted to die."
Lena looked seriously nervous. "It's like that?"
"It's like that."
She sighed. But it was obvious she really wanted to know what was going on around her. "I can keep it to myself."
###
After Dani was done, Lena just sat there and looked at her aunt, full of wonder. "Carpathians," she whispered. "Like the Carpathian Mountains. So Rusti became-" She sat there, paused, seemingly letting it all sink in. "And if they turn bad, they can become-" she nodded. "I see now. I understand why I thought Andriev could have been a vampire but wasn't."
Danica noticed the girl looked very serious, but not stressed out the way she had for the past couple of weeks. "Do you have any questions?"
Her eyes lit up. "So when do you and Andriev get married and stuff?"
"That's the question you come up with after I tell you all of that?" she asked, halfway exasperated.
"Well what do you expect?" Lena asked. "You walking around turning down dates left and right-"
"Lena!" she warned.
"No, for real! He's the first guy that doesn't seem scared off by the fact that you've got a kid and besides that, I don't know," she looked sensitive as she shrugged, her eyes growing a little teary. "I think he likes me. Like really likes me and wants to be around and take care of me, too, you know? That's important, right?"
"Yes, that's very important to me," she agreed.
Lena sighed. "I guess I just need to think about all of this. It's a lot of stuff."
She had to ask. "Does any of this scare you in any way?"
"No, actually, most of it doesn't. I mean, it's freaky and everything, but I guess it kind of makes sense that we're sharing the planet with more than just… us."
Danica envied the stretch-ability of the youthful mind. "Do you have any other questions? You said most of this doesn't scare you. That means something does. What part scares you?"
She looked decidedly nervous then. "Well that vampire thing called me his lifemate. So since you're Andriev's lifemate and Rusti is Darius' and Desari is Julian's- Does that mean that horrible thing really was my life-"
"Absolutely not," she said emphatically while shaking her head. "I asked Andriev about that and he has assured me it doesn't work that way."
"So they don't just do a Pokemon thing on you, that kind of situation?" she asked.
"Pokemon?"
"You know? 'I choose you Pikachu!' That kind of situation?" she clarified.
Danica quickly covered her mouth with her hand so she didn't laugh out loud. Her niece was being serious this time with her weird analogy and she didn't want to burst her bubble since she was actually not trying to be funny. "No, it doesn't quite work that way."
Lena grew very quiet then for a couple of seconds. "So somebody could possibly be walking around out there right now and he's my lifemate? Like technically?" she asked almost carefully.
For once in her life Danica focused on blocking her thoughts from her niece. She wondered then if she should tell her about that. Or tell her half. Or tell her nothing at all. She decided to go halfway. "Yes, there could be." (Who knew? He could already be dead for all they knew… or worse yet, turned. She shuddered on the inside at that thought.)
Lena shook her head as her eyes began to water up. "That's just sad."
"Why is that sad?"
"I don't know why. It just is." As she sat there and thought about this theoretical person her chest began to ache. She felt a true deep hole of sadness as if from someplace else trying to swallow her whole. "That's just so sad."
"If it makes you sad, then don't you think about it," she said. "You've been through enough. Save that for later." One thing her niece did not need was another shred of guilt on her young mind about one more thing. "I want you to see this therapist and be a kid again, you understand? Just be a kid."
"I'll talk to her, Dani, I will," she assured her. "Can I go back to dance class now? It's been like two weeks. The teacher must be wondering what happened to me."
"Yes, you may," she said.
"I can go tomorrow night? Natalia and I can walk there together. She likes to watch my class and chill out until we're done."
"That's fine," she said, glad her niece was able to go out again.
###
As the sun began to set, Lena could feel Andriev in her mind. How are you this evening, la mia stella?
She smirked as she slipped a freshly prepared vegetable lasagna into the oven. Fine. Why don't you just come upstairs now?
He seemed temporarily distracted. Why is the child outside?
Danica shook her head at his overprotective nature. Lena is outside in our fenced- in backyard. That's what kids do. They play outside. Or in this case, she's out there finally feeling free enough to be out there. I want to honestly thank you for doing that for her.
It is my duty. But in her case since she is now my child, it was a true necessity.
She shook her head. You didn't answer my question. Why don't you just come upstairs?
As you wish.
Danica had a feeling she had just opened a can of worms, but it was too late. Andriev himself walked in through the doorway of her kitchen dressed in some kind of expensive looking suit with a dozen red roses in his hands. Her mouth dropped open. He looked extraordinarily hot. But she really tried not to pay attention to how he was looking because if she did- "When did you get those?" she pointed to the beautiful roses.
He thought about telling her he'd picked up the seeds and compelled them to grow faster since the day before. He knew that perhaps that would be too much too soon. "Do not worry yourself over such small details. Simply place them in water."
She gave him the side-eye. "Did you just tell me in your precise English the equivalent of 'don't worry your pretty head about that'?"
He shrugged only halfway. "I don't understand your meaning. English is not my first language."
She knew he was playing at ignorance. He had probably been speaking English longer than she'd been alive, but she let it go for the time being. "I spoke to Lena earlier and told her… well I told her a lot. Mostly everything, actually."
He tensed slightly. "And she?"
"She took it well. I mean she said she needed to think about it since it was a lot to absorb, but she took it well. She took it a hell of a lot better than I did. As to the whole lifemate thing, she's on me like a cheap suit to find out when you and I are getting married."
"Is she?" he asked, more than pleased. He tried to have a neutral expression, but a bit of a smile slipped through anyway. "She is most intelligent, is she not?"
"Oh cut that out!" she said since she could sense what he was feeling. She looked him directly in the eye and merged her mind with his. I can't say this out loud. I swear teenagers have super hearing or something. But she understands about lifemates fully now. I assured her the vampire was most certainly not hers. But since she understands now she figured out on her own that someone could be out there for her.
You did not tell her?
No, I didn't. It's not right. Not right now. She's too young and she's been through too much. I didn't have it in me to put that on her. Not right now. Not until she's older and ready for that information.
I understand and I agree. We say nothing for now.
Agreed. "Anyway, I decided, once she goes back to school you and I can figure this all out."
"And when is that?"
"Next week."
"That is fine," he shook his head. He looked around at the house. "This home is well made. A few renovations, some expansions and it could be suitable for the both of you."
She put her hand on her hip. "Why would you want to upgrade my house?"
"Unless you wish to move into one that I purchase? Though I do think it would be better for the child's stability if she remains where she is for the time being."
"For the time being?"
"I wish to put her into a better school. Would you not wish to know that during the daytime she is well cared for? I could hire a staff. Julian's brother has a family that-"
"Brother?"
"Yes, his twin-"
"There are two of those fine men walking around, looking the same?" she asked with a grin.
He did not like that one bit. "Danica."
She began to laugh as she prepared a salad to go with the lasagna. "Oh, I made him upset! Come on, think about it. You guys are all so fine, it's wrong to go and make two of one of you. The poor ladies when they were growing up must have been in hysterics every time they walked through a neighborhood."
"Yes, they were," said Julian himself as he and Desari entered the kitchen. And the golden haired hunter was wearing a huge grin as he held his wife's hand.
Desari lightly slapped him on the chest with her free hand. "Cut that out. She's speaking in a hypothetical sense. It's so true! Anytime we see a good looking man and an exact duplicate a woman thinks 'watch out, world!'"
Both Lena and Desari were laughing pretty hard. Andriev gave his newfound cousin a 'look'. "Hey, it's not my fault the ladies think I'm ultra fine," Julian shrugged. "But for the record, I'm the better looking twin."
Desari rolled her eyes as Danica went over to Andriev and hugged his huge frame. "Think about it. You're so huge, you already are two guys rolled into one. I think you're even bigger than him," she referred to his cousin.
Julian was no longer laughing as Desari laughed harder. "Oh, I can't!" the singer gasped. "My stomach aches from laughing so hard!"
Andriev felt much better then as he placed his arms around Danica in return and squeezed. "I must go outside and see to the child now." He headed toward the back door.
"She's fine!" Dani called after him as he walked out of the house. To her, the vampire was dead and Lena was now safe.
But Andriev knew that that one vampire wasn't all there was in the world. And now there was a child relying on him. For the first time in his life he began to understand the fright of being a father as sweat broke out on his back.
###
Later that evening, the men all went out hunting and the ladies relaxed around the house. Danica and Lena ate the vegetable lasagna and the salad, and Rusti and Desari sat with them at the table, talking.
"So, when did you say you two were getting married again?" Lena tried to casually ask her aunt.
"Nice try," Dani said as she shook her head.
"You know I had to try!" she smiled.
"Did you get a chance to talk to MaryAnn?" Dani asked Rusti, pointedly changing the subject.
Tempest nodded in return, "I did as soon as I got up this evening. I have a feeling her and Manolito are in a tug of war about this, but wherever there's a girl in need, she's going to be there. And he'll bring her himself, knowing him."
Desari sighed, "Ah yes, the De La Cruz brothers," she giggled.
"What about them?" asked Lena eagerly. "Are they cute?"
"Eat more food," said Danica as she plopped extra salad onto her plate.
The other ladies at the table laughed. "I heard Andriev saying he wants to expand on your house?" asked Desari
"Wow! You know, Gabriel's wife makes these stained glass windows with safeguards already built into them," said Rusti.
"Whose Gabriel?" asked Danica.
"Oh," said Rusti, "that's Darius and Desari's other brother."
"Other brother?" said Lena. "There's more scary guys walking around out there? Sorry, Rusti, your husband is a little bit scary."
"There's a lot of them," laughed Tempest. "There's Gregori, and there's the twins Gabriel and Lucian-"
"Another set of twins?" muttered Danica.
Lena asked, "They're all scary?"
"Most people think they are," said Rusti. "But think of them as giant puppies. They'd never harm you."
Desari laughed, "I just found out Carpathians used to scare their children by telling them if they didn't behave that Gregori the Healer would come for them!"
Tempest admitted, "Well Gregori's not so bad once you get to know him. Savannah brings out the best in him. But those ancient twins-"
"Jeez, another set of twins out there," Danica muttered again as she finished her salad.
"Keep being amazed and you'll wind up pregnant with a set!" Lena teased her aunt.
"No talking about pregnancy!" Danica said. "And no talking about men. Or boys. Or-"
Lena continued the list of rules in a rapid huff, "—no making out, no short skirts, no dresses with the back out. But isn't this all exciting? I mean, a whole new world, right under our noses all these years!"
Just then, Tempest sat up and seemed to be paying attention to something else. She turned to them, then. "I guess MaryAnn won her fight with Manolito. They'll both be here in a few days. I think by then Darius is going to want to put me into seclusion, but I can't let him."
"It's all about the baby!" joked Desari.
"What baby?" asked Danica.
"I'm kind of pregnant," said Tempest. "I just didn't want to say anything with everything that's going on-"
"Whoa!" Lena grinned. "I couldn't even tell!"
"I'm not showing yet," smiled Rusti. "But he's going to want to get me out of here like tomorrow I guess. It's about time we left you guys to put your life together."
Danica gave her friend a huge hug. "You could have told me!"
"I didn't think it was right to drop that bomb in there with everything you guys are going through. But now that the vampire's dead, I felt I could tell you."
That kind of made up her mind for Danica right then and there. She wanted to be there for the years to come for her friend after she gave birth, she wanted to step into their world fully at some point. But she knew it would take time for her to do so. And what was she going to do about Lena in the meantime? She felt very strange about leaving a teenager on her own during daylight hours. It just wasn't right. Her and Andriev needed to talk and hammer out how things were going to be. There was a lot of work to be done.
