Chapter 14
I exited the copter with baby in basket. Thank the lord for headsets. She was content, sleeping soundly in her car seat.
Tate met me as I made my way through the halls of the base. "She looks good."
"I didn't know how she would take it, but with the headset you gave us she didn't flinch once." Tate led me to his office.
"What's the plan?" Marcus was there waiting with Spade as we opened the door. They must have heard us coming.
"We go in and get him the fuck out! That's the plan." I snapped rudely. At least I could admit that it was rude.
"Who's staying with the infant?" Spade asked. I could tell that he didn't agree with what I was doing, but I needed to do it.
"Is Gram here?"
"Of course I am, Dear." She walked in at that moment, "You need to be careful out there, Rose. We don't need you disappearing."
"I will be," Which brought me to my next question. "Where's the pack?"
"Hear the copter?" Spade asked sarcastically.
"Let's go meet them. I don't want them to know about the baby."
"Why the bloody hell not?" Spade continued to give me an incredulous look.
"I have my reasons." Like the fact that I didn't want him to be with me because of the baby and there was no way I was leaving her. "Let's go." If he didn't love me after seeing my full vampy mode today, fine. If he couldn't handle what I was fine, but I wasn't going to allow him to stick around just for our child. He would hate me even more in the long run.
On the way down we met up with Cat and Bones. Marcus gave me and everyone else the briefs. We had our team from the base working with us so it was going to be a little easier than I had originally thought. When you have a team of vampires and wolves with you things tend to move a little easier.
We didn't have Mencheres this time, but we had a small army and we were going to get Term. I could fight this time which I hadn't been able to do before and this was my fight. If I didn't fight this Vampire he would keep coming after us. After my family. Until he got to me and I couldn't allow that.
When we made it to the hanger I was flanked by 20 vamps and ghouls, but what bothered me was the looks of wonder and sadness that I got from six sets of eyes that watched me approach.
I had lost weight. Since Aisling was born last week I hadn't really eaten at all. I was feeding for my substance again. Food was important, but blood kept my vampire strong.
I wore my leather pants and a bodice that covered my stomach but didn't have any straps, so my arms could move freely. No one would know that the bodice was my armor. It looked like a normal shirt, but the bulletproofing was taught on the inside. I left my hair down, because it seemed more intimidating when my eyes went green. Plus, it just looked hot in general.
"Rose-" Courtney gave me a look of withdrawal.
"Let's get him out of there, then I can get back to my life." I looked into her face as she started to tear. I knew what she was thinking. I should still be pregnant and I looked like I hadn't been for months. I fought back my sadness and anger. I wanted to run to her side and hug her. I had missed her, but I couldn't let on. They had left me. Sure it was due to orders, but she still could have picked up a phone and called. This distance between u was fully their doing.
"Plan?" Regulous choked out raising his head to meet my eyes.
"I'll be with the wolves when we arrive." I said quietly.
"You can't-" Bones began to protest, but it was short lived.
"Don't start that crap with me!" I started yelling at the crowd around us. "This is MY mission! He was mine! I'm calling the shots!" I let my power wash over me like a blanket.
Everyone had piled into 3 copters. Some of them didn't like the idea of what we were about to do. They didn't speak their concern, but I could hear it in their thoughts.
No one spoke to me on the way there. Which was good. Listening to their mental ramblings had brought me to my snapping point. Anymore and I would loose it. I was ready!
When we arrived at the gate it was nearly dusk. I could sense Term. I knew he was there. He was in pain. It must have shown across my face, because Marcus's emerald eyes bore into mine.
Why he kept Term in the same home he had kept my brother was beyond me. Normally the vamps moved around, keeping their actions low. This guy wanted to be found. He wanted to be on my radar.
"Rose-"
"Silver. It holds the shifters too. He's bleeding." I snarled as I felt the green flush my irises. "Heavily." His thoughts were dark. He was close to dying.
"Where do we go?" Reggie asked from behind me.
"You come with me." I told him before I moved to the group. "All of you will head in the front. There are about thirty vampires and 6 ghouls in that house. Another few scattered through the property he has been keeping his guard up since Marcus, but I can't hear Johan anywhere." He was the one I needed. He needed to die, before he could anyone else from me. "If you can take one hostage. We need to find him."
"He isn't there. He never was." Marcus spoke quietly at my side.
"They are expecting us, leave only one alive. This fight will be over today. Understood!" It wasn't a question, although I got a lot of head nods from my boys in black. "The wolves and I will go around the back." When no one moved I noticed Bones had crossed his arms and stood his ground. I glared.
"HE may be here now," I pointed a finger at Bones. "But I am still in charge of this unit."
"It's not him, Rogue." One of my guys whispered.
"Who-" I started to ask as Cat stood tall and barked.
"You heard the lady. MOVE, BOYS!"
They did, with a mild hesitation. After they had flanked into the large house at the top of the hill I moved to Regulous. "We don't have much time. I need you to shift."
"You gave the order." He nodded and turned to his family and gave a nod. They took their wolf forms, not bothering to take off their clothing, it all ripped.
"I know you can communicate with us."
"Of course I can. Let's go. I think he's around the back. The guest house."
Sure enough as I got closer to the spare house around the back I could smell his blood and almost feel his pain with him.
The fights going on inside the house were clear in my mind as my soldiers and family held their own. I had lost two soldiers already. I was going to loose more if we didn't hurry.
As we ran closer the pain Term was feeling washed over me in rivers. It was so overwhelming that my knees buckled and I fell to the ground. "I have to shut down."
"You can't turn off our communication." Adam stood next to me growling. "We're relying on you."
"I'm still here aren't I?" I looked into the wolf's eyes and could see his fear as his brothers fought. He had been ordered to guard me. Not by the man that was in pain in the back house, but by his Beta. He wan't backing down, nor was he letting me.
"He needs you." Courtney had moved to my other side. As we made our way through. Her silvery coat was covered in the blood of an unknown vamp. Her heartfelt words gave me the power to stand and move once again. Term needed me. He may not love me anymore and wouldn't want me, but he needed me now. I couldn't let him down.
"Let's go."
Term
As if the chains wrapped around my arms and legs weren't bad enough I had silver spikes drawn into my arms as well. It was done so that I couldn't shift. I had lost a lot of blood and my senses were fading faster now.
I could hear rumblings outside as something snarled and for an instant I thought, just maybe, that my brothers had come, but then I remembered the dogs that had found me out when I first came here. No it couldn't be them. I was dying and would never see my family again or lay my eyes on Rose again, or my child for even the first time.
As the snarling grew closer I panicked. Someone was coming and I could no longer lift my limbs to defend myself. I was stuck through and through with silver. They were coming to finally kill me off. I held my breath and the sounds grew closer and closer.
As the door burst open I saw an angel in black, her hair gleamed red in the sun that streaked through the door. As her power caressed me I couldn't look away. The sight was riveting. She was flanked by wolves as they snarled at the sight of my blood and the silver that they couldn't touch.
"Regg, Guard the door!" She spoke to the wolves as she moved to undo the chains around my arms. "We don't need any surprises."
She wasn't looking at me. This beautiful creature with the paling skin and emerald irises wouldn't look me in the eye. Why? I love her. My love saved me. Suddenly the power that caressed me left the room completely. She shut down. The vampire was gone.
When she finished untying me I fell to the ground, unable to hold myself up. She moved to the spikes in my arms and legs sighing heavily as if it hurt her too. She pulled slowly as though it wouldn't bring so much pain. I screamed.
"I need you to drink some of my blood." She was all business. She grabbed one of the sliver thin daggers that had been in my arm and sliced her wrist holding it to my mouth. I didn't protest, although I should have. What about… "It won't heal you perfectly, but it will work enough to get you moving again. We need to get you to the cars and away from here. Another vamp can help you from there."
"The baby?" I broke away and really looked at her for the first time since she'd come in. She was leaning too close, my head was in her lap. There was nothing in between us, she should have been heavily pregnant by now.
Her eyes slowly silvered, still speckled with green as she began to tear, "Get him to the vans." She spoke frantically, helping me up and pushing me to the wolves.
She had lost the baby. She lost the baby and I wasn't there for her. I had run a fool's errand that no one should have done alone. I had gotten myself caught and let her down. I lost my family trying to save our future. I had hurt her in more than my getting caught and I was going to pay for it, she would never forgive me.
"Rose-"
"You will all receive instructions when you reach the van. Go, I've already lost enough today without loosing any of you." She moved ahead of us, running into the house as her power heightened again. "He needs blood! GO!"
"Where is Rose?" Juan asked as he waited at the first van. We all jumped in quickly. The back of the van was filled with IV hookups and I knew the vampire was there for me. I was nearly dead from my revelations and the run across the field hadn't helped any. "She's supposed to be with you. I can't leave without-" His eyes jot to the vehicle behind us a she hopped in. "Never mind. Let's go!"
"She's in the one behind us?" I asked a we skidded away.
Having shifted back, we all settled into the back of the van. They had several pairs of sweats waiting for us. It took my remaining energy to slide on a pair of pants.
"Here bro." Juan had sliced his arm open to give me more blood, I grimaced, but drank anyway. He tasted sweet, but it wasn't the same as Rose. She was sweet with a kick of something more. Something I couldn't place.
After I healed I was hooked up to an IV and packed onto a helicopter. Still not with Rose. I knew that she was avoiding me.
It was hours before anyone spoke. I needed to break the silence, I was driving myself crazy. "Where are we going?"
"We're taking you home." Juan just stared out the window, "She asked Tate to fallow. He's behind us. You'll be fine, but she wants him to make sure."
"Where is she going?"
"Back to the base to check in and collect some things," He gave me a dry smile before he finished, "Then she's off to Romania."
"Romania?" What the hell was in Romania? Her parents lived in England.
"She's staying with Dracula until it's safe for her to go home. She's safer there. " He shrugged, wagging his fingers at me. "The whole flame thing."
"When did it happen?" I knew I was torturing myself to find out, but I needed to know how long she'd been living with this burden without me.
"About a month after you left."
"I need to go to the base!" It was urgent. I needed to see her. I needed to hold her, despite the fact that she wouldn't want me after this. She needed to know that I still loved her. That she had been in my thoughts this entire time.
"Sorry, we have our orders."
"Fuck orders!" I moved to stand. Juan put a hand on my shoulder, he was too fast. There was something sharp in my neck. Everything went black.
Rose
I couldn't answer him when he had asked. I couldn't tell him and hope that he would stick around to be there for me and not just his child.
I kept trying to tell myself that it was better this way. Aisling could still grow up happily. Hell, I grew up with no parents. When she asked, of course I would tell her about her father. I would tell her how great of a man he was. How he would have loved her. I would even tell her that it was all my fault that we weren't together. If she chose to move to live near her father I would be okay with it. It was her right to know.
When the copter landed at the base I ran strait to get her and didn't take any chances getting her out of there right away. I couldn't face anyone. I wanted to be alone. Term was safe and Aisling was in her little seat being toted into the copter as another one landed on the other end of the landing pad.
"Fuck!" I slid her carrier into the space allotted to buckle her, slamming the door shut and almost getting my foot caught in the process. I knew that copter too well. Term was in it. Something had to have happened in order for them to change direction. "Go!"
With a "Yes, Mam!" The copter started up. I could see the bodies of his family piling out as the laid his limp body onto the pad. He should have been healed. I closed my eyes at the sight as we took air and flew off.
I prayed. For the first time since I was a child I prayed. I needed him to be okay.
As soon as the copter landed and we were safely on the ground again I made the call.
"Juan, what happened back there?"
"He's fine, Niña. He just got a little excited and I had to calm him down."
"What did you do to him?" I ground out. I wasn't too excited about what I had seen and I had 6 hour to register it all. Six lonely hours with nothing to entertain me but my thoughts.
"I used a mild tranquilizer. He came to within a few hours and was sent home." "Does he know anything?"
"Not a thing. Don't worry about it."
Everything was quiet for a two weeks. The base had their memorial services for the three men we had lost that day. I had attended them all and was worn out.
I planned on sitting to my own for the next two and tend to Aisling. Although I bit the bullet when Vlad asked me to sing. Which, believe it or not, became his early evening entertainment. He said that I sounded like a tortured soul when I sang and it comforted him to know he wasn't alone. Aisling seemed to like it too. She would fall asleep every night during this time.
We were upstairs when Vlad huffed and turned, moving downstairs to the door. I stopped singing, although Aisling protested with a whimper. Picking her up I moved closer to listen in and see who it was.
"Have we not been here before?"
"These are different circumstances, Mate." Bones? He sounded almost cheerful. "No criticizing your… Decorations this time."
"I understand Rose is still here." Mencheres too?
"She is." It was all Vlad said. It was all he needed to say.
"Can I see my wife?" Term.
"No." Curt, but honest.
"Why?" Term ground out. "I can't even see her or talk to her?"
"She has come here to be alone."
"Bullocks!"
"Vlad, I think he needs to see her." Cat.
When I peaked around the corner Vlad was flaming. Literally as everyone stood in a semi-circle around him. Okay this was going a little too far.
"Please." Term's voice was quietly pleading, but his gaze was deadly.
"If she wanted to see you she would have gone to see you. I do not hold her here."
"Okay, stop it." I whispered as I showed myself, I knew that they could hear me when all of their faces turned in my direction.
It wasn't until Term's gaze fell on Aisling, still in my arms, that I remembered he didn't know. He had obviously spent the time with my family and he didn't know she was here.
His eyes grew incredulously wide before his features flattened again and anger took over. No one spoke a word for minutes as he stared at me. His eyes raking me and the child in my arms.
He suddenly moved his glare to the floor as he spoke. "Rose, get your stuff and let's go!"
"Why?"
"Rose, get in the damn car!" He looked around at everyone standing in Vlad's entryway and started to shake, "I'll be outside."
"What if I don't want to?"
"I'll give you ten minutes," He looked back at me as he held the door open to leave. "If you aren't there, I'm coming back in for you!" I wasn't a threat. The dead stare he gave me said it all.
I knew that I could hold my own, but I was terrified. More terrified than I had ever been of him. I packed my stuff, with Cat assisting and we went out to the SUV, baby in carrier.
Term was already seated in the far back where he had hooked in the other end of the seat. That sealed my fate. I was stuck back there with Term and baby. At least Aisling was in the middle. A buffer of sorts.
Term
She had my hair. My eyes. Rose had hidden it from me. For nearly 3 weeks I tortured myself with the thoughts that my child had died and my wife hated me. She may hate me, but all for another reason. My child was alive.
"She's crying." Rose seemed upset.
"Yeah?" I spoke through my teeth, not wanting to sound as angry as I was.
"She's hungry." She rolled her eyes. Pointing, as if it should have been obvious.
"Then feed her." I glared, grinding my teeth.
"Fine!" She snapped, taking the baby out of her seat and coddling her. She exposed her breast allowing the baby to latch on.
It should have embarrassed me to see her exposed breast out in the car with everyone around, but it didn't. She was caring for our child.
I suddenly found myself conflicted. Yes, Rose had hidden it from me. I wasn't sure why, but she had. On the other side this woman, this beautiful creature had given birth to my child. A beautiful little girl.
She must have felt me staring at her. "Okay, the tawny eyes need to go!"
I looked away staring out the window instead.
When she was finished and the baby was sleeping peacefully in her car seat again Rose Asked, "Where are we going anyway?"
"The airport." Bones scoffed from the seat in front of us. I may not like the man and god knows he hates me too, but he came through for me tonight. I was grateful, so I'd take his shit.
"Why?" She asked skeptical.
"I'm taking you to my house in Maine." Term bit out.
Silence consumed the remaining of the car ride and expanded through the flight.