1 PART 13: The morning after
When Phoenix awoke the next day, it took her a while to remember all that had happened the night before. They had run from the Night World, and were now probably being hunted for it. They now had to be extremely careful wherever they went because the Night World would have no qualms about killing them in plain sight of other people. They would just make it look like some sort of terrorist attack.
She rolled over to look at Blake who was still sleeping soundly behind her. He looked so innocent in his sleep. No one would guess that he could be a killer. Phoenix sighed and thought back to the report Thierry had given her before she joined up with Blake and the others. The report had been full of details about how cold-blooded these people could be. How they shot first and asked questions later. Phoenix wondered how much of that was actually true.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Blake asked startling her. She hadn't known he was awake.
"What?" Phoenix said. Looking at him. He had this smug look on his face, like a cat that had just got the cream.
"You were thinking. What about?" He wondered gathering her into his arms again. It was like he couldn't stand to not touch her for more than a few seconds.
"I was just thinking about the report Thierry gave me about you and wondering how much of it was true." She said a bit afraid of hearing the answer.
"None of it. Never believe what anyone tells you about me. Not a word is true." He said laughing. But when Phoenix looked at him seriously he sobered up a bit. "Tell me what it said and I'll tell you what is true."
Phoenix told him the contents of the file watching his face as she talked. He was either hiding his emotion, or he felt nothing from it. "So, what do you think?" She asked when she had finished.
"Some of it is true." Blake said carefully. He looked at her, his eyes pleading a little. "Phoenix you do know that I have done some pretty horrible things, but I want you to know that it's all over now. Do you believe me?" When she nodded he continued. "A lot of that is the truth. I was a cold-blooded killer. But I only killed who the Night World told me. I didn't go on killing sprees of anything like that. None of us did. We all did what we were told and were rewarded for it. It was never fun for any of us."
Phoenix could see the truth in his eyes and decided to put him out of his misery. "It's okay. I believe you. But if you didn't like it, why did you keep doing it?"
Blake shrugged. "I guess it was because it was expected of us. If our families knew that we didn't really want to kill people, they'd flip. And then send us to an enclave full of humans that we could hunt, and we could become the proper Night People all over again. I don't want that. I lived in an enclave for five years, and it is not an experience I want to re- live. You have no freedom, your every move is watched and criticised. That was one of the main reasons I joined the Night World. All I had to do was kill someone once in a while, and they would give me the freedom I wanted, the freedom I deserved."
Phoenix didn't know what it would be like on an enclave. But from what other people had told her, it wasn't a fun thing. All she could see in her mind's eye was a little by with dark hair being yelled at because he wanted to do something other than what was expected. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm sorry you had to go through that." She kissed him softly and buried herself in his arms.
Blake smiled. "Hey, if I know that this was going to be your reaction, I would have told you about this a long time ago." He pulled her closer and put his face in her neck. "You know," he said nuzzling her pulse point. "I'm kind of hungry. Would you mind?" He asked sweetly.
Phoenix response was to bare her throat to him. He rubbed his fangs over her neck, like he was teasing himself; before they sunk deep Phoenix could her in her mind a very soft Thankyou.
Not a problem. She told him silently. It feels nice.
Doesn't it though, he said pressing himself against her. Phoenix just laughed. I love you. You know that right? Blake said into her mind.
Of course I know. Do you think I'd be letting you do this if you didn't? I love you too.
Blake laughed. Do you think I would be doing this if you didn't love me?
Phoenix just punched him mentally, ignoring his laughter. She pulled away from him and jumped out of the bed.
"Hey!" Blake protested. "What just happened here? One minute I have you in my arms, the next…you've jumped out of bed and are getting dressed. There is something wrong with this picture."
Phoenix laughed at the sad look on his face. "Come one, I'm hungry and breakfast is on now. Let's go before all the good stuff is gone." She threw some of his clothes at him before running into the bathroom to fix her hair. She could here him grumbling as he got dressed. "Ready," she asked walking back into the room.
"You're a real morning person aren't you." Blake stated standing up.
"And you're not." Phoenix laughed.
Blake shook his head. "We're having a talk after breakfast. A very serious, long talk." He took her hand and pulled her out of the room.
"Oh?" She asked innocently. "What about?"
"About, what a reasonable hour to wake up is." Blake said seriously.
"Um, Blake? You're going the wrong way. The dining room's this way." Phoenix said pointing in the other direction. When he looked at her confused she said, "Why don't I just lead the way. Don't worry honey, you'll find your way around soon."
In no time at all they were in the dining room. Much to Blake's shock many people were up already, including his group. He went and sat down next to Thorn and grumbled. "How can you be up at this hour?"
Thorn just grumbled right back. "This wasn't mu idea. Star was up at the crack of dawn for a swim, and dragged me right along with her. And guess who we met down there? Megan and Josh. He looked about as happy as I was. Then to top it all off, we get lost for about twenty minutes and had to ask someone for help. It was so humiliating. But I have to admit the place is impressive. What about you? Did Phoenix drag you down here too?"
Blake nodded and reached for some food in the middle of the table. "If it were up to me, we would be doing much more pleasant things with our time, but no, she was hungry."
"So was Megan," Josh said joining the conversation. "And I must tell you, I've never seen her eat like this before. People might think that we never feed them." He nodded to Phoenix and Star who were attacking their food like it was their last meal.
"Got enough on your plate there?" Blake asked Phoenix who had loaded her plate. It looked like she had gotten food for three other people as well as herself. I've never seen her heat like that before, Blake thought to himself. He thought that it might be because of what had just happened. Maybe almost being killed made her hungry.
Phoenix looked down her nose at him. "I'm hungry. Do I criticize you when I see what's on your plate? No I do not, so shut up and let me eat." Phoenix went back to her food and ignored Blake completely. She didn't know why she was so hungry, but she was. Never in her life has she been this hungry after a fight. Sure, she got a little peckish, but she didn't eat enough food to feed a regiment.
Blake eyes widened when he thought about what it could be that could make her hungry. He had only seen one person who could eat that much in the morning. His mother, when she had been pregnant with his baby sister hadn't been able to stop eating, and it didn't matter what she ate. She had just wanted everything. It had been a scary thing to see. "Phoenix," he said hesitantly. "Have you been feeling okay lately?"
"Yeah, why?" Phoenix asked, her mouth full of pancakes.
"You haven't been feeling a little…I don't know…off lately?"
Phoenix thought for a moment. "Well, just after I left you guys, I wasn't feeling well, but I think that was because I was so upset about you I was making myself sick. Does that make sense?"
Blake nodded to himself. "But are you sure it wasn't something else? Something that we might have caused?"
Phoenix frowned, a puzzled look on her face. "What do you mean?"
Blake leaned over and whispered in her ear. "Do you think you're pregnant?"
"What!" Phoenix exclaimed jumping up from her chair so fast that it skidded backwards and fell over. "No! I don't think that, and I have no idea why you would think of that." Phoenix didn't seem to notice everyone looking at her strangely. She was too worried about what Blake had just said. Without looking at anyone she turned and ran out of the room.
"What did you say to her?" Thorn asked in amazement. He had never seen Phoenix run from a room like that, or the look on horror on her face.
"Nothing." Blake said getting up from his chair. "I have to go check on her, I'll talk to you later okay." With that he left the room on a hurry, to find his soulmate.
"What was that all about?" Star asked Thorn looking in the direction they ad just gone.
"I have no clue," horn said going back to his food. "But from the looks of things, it was pretty serious. But don't worry, Blake will tell us later. Get back to that mountain of food you have before I eat it,"
Star looked at the food feeling suddenly sick. She pushed the plate away with a grimace. "I don't want any anymore. You can have it."
Thorn looked at her strangely. "Are you feeling okay baby?" He asked concerned for her. She looked as if she were about to throw up all she had just eaten. And that worried him because Star never threw up.
Star said back in her chair and smiled wanly at Thorn. "I'm fine, I just think something on that plate doesn't agree with me. But I'll be fine in a little while." She got up from her chair. "When you're finished eating, come find me in one of the television rooms." She kissed him on the forehead and walked away.
"I'm going to go for a swim," Megan said getting up. "I'm finished here anyway. See you later."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Blake wondered through the mansion looking for his soulmate. When he felt that he wouldn't find her by just aimlessly walking around he decided to focus on the soulmate link to find her. He closed his eyes and focused for a moment. His eyes opened a minute later, she was in the library. Trying to find something to read to take her mind off of what he had just said.
Using her memory Blake made his way to the library.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Phoenix looked at the hundreds of books on the surrounding shelves, but try as she might, she couldn't find anything to interest her. The library was filled with bookshelves, floor to ceiling. Thierry was really proud of his library as it held books for every era, and all in perfect condition. Her thoughts were too caught up in what Blake had just said. She tried to think back to the last time she had her period, it was before Thierry told her she had to go work with the Night World.
She flopped down onto one of the numerous couches in the enormous library. Her thoughts going back to what Blake had said. What if she was pregnant? Was it even possible for a witch to get pregnant with a vampire? What was she talking about? She lived with a human/vampire half-breed, and Hunter Redfern had children with Mauve Harman in order to keep his line going.
She used her powers in order to search inside herself, looking for the baby that might be there. It took her some time to find her concentration, but when she found it, it took no time at all to find what she was looking for. There deep inside her womb was a tiny being. She could feel hers and Blake's power surrounding it, almost like the power was keeping the baby safe.
She opened her eyes, they were filled with tears. She was pregnant! Se was going to have a baby! This had to be one of the happiest times in her life. Phoenix knew that she would get all the help she needed, from everyone. She felt a huge smile break out on her face.
And that was how Blake found her, with a smile and her face glowing with happiness.
When Phoenix awoke the next day, it took her a while to remember all that had happened the night before. They had run from the Night World, and were now probably being hunted for it. They now had to be extremely careful wherever they went because the Night World would have no qualms about killing them in plain sight of other people. They would just make it look like some sort of terrorist attack.
She rolled over to look at Blake who was still sleeping soundly behind her. He looked so innocent in his sleep. No one would guess that he could be a killer. Phoenix sighed and thought back to the report Thierry had given her before she joined up with Blake and the others. The report had been full of details about how cold-blooded these people could be. How they shot first and asked questions later. Phoenix wondered how much of that was actually true.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Blake asked startling her. She hadn't known he was awake.
"What?" Phoenix said. Looking at him. He had this smug look on his face, like a cat that had just got the cream.
"You were thinking. What about?" He wondered gathering her into his arms again. It was like he couldn't stand to not touch her for more than a few seconds.
"I was just thinking about the report Thierry gave me about you and wondering how much of it was true." She said a bit afraid of hearing the answer.
"None of it. Never believe what anyone tells you about me. Not a word is true." He said laughing. But when Phoenix looked at him seriously he sobered up a bit. "Tell me what it said and I'll tell you what is true."
Phoenix told him the contents of the file watching his face as she talked. He was either hiding his emotion, or he felt nothing from it. "So, what do you think?" She asked when she had finished.
"Some of it is true." Blake said carefully. He looked at her, his eyes pleading a little. "Phoenix you do know that I have done some pretty horrible things, but I want you to know that it's all over now. Do you believe me?" When she nodded he continued. "A lot of that is the truth. I was a cold-blooded killer. But I only killed who the Night World told me. I didn't go on killing sprees of anything like that. None of us did. We all did what we were told and were rewarded for it. It was never fun for any of us."
Phoenix could see the truth in his eyes and decided to put him out of his misery. "It's okay. I believe you. But if you didn't like it, why did you keep doing it?"
Blake shrugged. "I guess it was because it was expected of us. If our families knew that we didn't really want to kill people, they'd flip. And then send us to an enclave full of humans that we could hunt, and we could become the proper Night People all over again. I don't want that. I lived in an enclave for five years, and it is not an experience I want to re- live. You have no freedom, your every move is watched and criticised. That was one of the main reasons I joined the Night World. All I had to do was kill someone once in a while, and they would give me the freedom I wanted, the freedom I deserved."
Phoenix didn't know what it would be like on an enclave. But from what other people had told her, it wasn't a fun thing. All she could see in her mind's eye was a little by with dark hair being yelled at because he wanted to do something other than what was expected. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm sorry you had to go through that." She kissed him softly and buried herself in his arms.
Blake smiled. "Hey, if I know that this was going to be your reaction, I would have told you about this a long time ago." He pulled her closer and put his face in her neck. "You know," he said nuzzling her pulse point. "I'm kind of hungry. Would you mind?" He asked sweetly.
Phoenix response was to bare her throat to him. He rubbed his fangs over her neck, like he was teasing himself; before they sunk deep Phoenix could her in her mind a very soft Thankyou.
Not a problem. She told him silently. It feels nice.
Doesn't it though, he said pressing himself against her. Phoenix just laughed. I love you. You know that right? Blake said into her mind.
Of course I know. Do you think I'd be letting you do this if you didn't? I love you too.
Blake laughed. Do you think I would be doing this if you didn't love me?
Phoenix just punched him mentally, ignoring his laughter. She pulled away from him and jumped out of the bed.
"Hey!" Blake protested. "What just happened here? One minute I have you in my arms, the next…you've jumped out of bed and are getting dressed. There is something wrong with this picture."
Phoenix laughed at the sad look on his face. "Come one, I'm hungry and breakfast is on now. Let's go before all the good stuff is gone." She threw some of his clothes at him before running into the bathroom to fix her hair. She could here him grumbling as he got dressed. "Ready," she asked walking back into the room.
"You're a real morning person aren't you." Blake stated standing up.
"And you're not." Phoenix laughed.
Blake shook his head. "We're having a talk after breakfast. A very serious, long talk." He took her hand and pulled her out of the room.
"Oh?" She asked innocently. "What about?"
"About, what a reasonable hour to wake up is." Blake said seriously.
"Um, Blake? You're going the wrong way. The dining room's this way." Phoenix said pointing in the other direction. When he looked at her confused she said, "Why don't I just lead the way. Don't worry honey, you'll find your way around soon."
In no time at all they were in the dining room. Much to Blake's shock many people were up already, including his group. He went and sat down next to Thorn and grumbled. "How can you be up at this hour?"
Thorn just grumbled right back. "This wasn't mu idea. Star was up at the crack of dawn for a swim, and dragged me right along with her. And guess who we met down there? Megan and Josh. He looked about as happy as I was. Then to top it all off, we get lost for about twenty minutes and had to ask someone for help. It was so humiliating. But I have to admit the place is impressive. What about you? Did Phoenix drag you down here too?"
Blake nodded and reached for some food in the middle of the table. "If it were up to me, we would be doing much more pleasant things with our time, but no, she was hungry."
"So was Megan," Josh said joining the conversation. "And I must tell you, I've never seen her eat like this before. People might think that we never feed them." He nodded to Phoenix and Star who were attacking their food like it was their last meal.
"Got enough on your plate there?" Blake asked Phoenix who had loaded her plate. It looked like she had gotten food for three other people as well as herself. I've never seen her heat like that before, Blake thought to himself. He thought that it might be because of what had just happened. Maybe almost being killed made her hungry.
Phoenix looked down her nose at him. "I'm hungry. Do I criticize you when I see what's on your plate? No I do not, so shut up and let me eat." Phoenix went back to her food and ignored Blake completely. She didn't know why she was so hungry, but she was. Never in her life has she been this hungry after a fight. Sure, she got a little peckish, but she didn't eat enough food to feed a regiment.
Blake eyes widened when he thought about what it could be that could make her hungry. He had only seen one person who could eat that much in the morning. His mother, when she had been pregnant with his baby sister hadn't been able to stop eating, and it didn't matter what she ate. She had just wanted everything. It had been a scary thing to see. "Phoenix," he said hesitantly. "Have you been feeling okay lately?"
"Yeah, why?" Phoenix asked, her mouth full of pancakes.
"You haven't been feeling a little…I don't know…off lately?"
Phoenix thought for a moment. "Well, just after I left you guys, I wasn't feeling well, but I think that was because I was so upset about you I was making myself sick. Does that make sense?"
Blake nodded to himself. "But are you sure it wasn't something else? Something that we might have caused?"
Phoenix frowned, a puzzled look on her face. "What do you mean?"
Blake leaned over and whispered in her ear. "Do you think you're pregnant?"
"What!" Phoenix exclaimed jumping up from her chair so fast that it skidded backwards and fell over. "No! I don't think that, and I have no idea why you would think of that." Phoenix didn't seem to notice everyone looking at her strangely. She was too worried about what Blake had just said. Without looking at anyone she turned and ran out of the room.
"What did you say to her?" Thorn asked in amazement. He had never seen Phoenix run from a room like that, or the look on horror on her face.
"Nothing." Blake said getting up from his chair. "I have to go check on her, I'll talk to you later okay." With that he left the room on a hurry, to find his soulmate.
"What was that all about?" Star asked Thorn looking in the direction they ad just gone.
"I have no clue," horn said going back to his food. "But from the looks of things, it was pretty serious. But don't worry, Blake will tell us later. Get back to that mountain of food you have before I eat it,"
Star looked at the food feeling suddenly sick. She pushed the plate away with a grimace. "I don't want any anymore. You can have it."
Thorn looked at her strangely. "Are you feeling okay baby?" He asked concerned for her. She looked as if she were about to throw up all she had just eaten. And that worried him because Star never threw up.
Star said back in her chair and smiled wanly at Thorn. "I'm fine, I just think something on that plate doesn't agree with me. But I'll be fine in a little while." She got up from her chair. "When you're finished eating, come find me in one of the television rooms." She kissed him on the forehead and walked away.
"I'm going to go for a swim," Megan said getting up. "I'm finished here anyway. See you later."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Blake wondered through the mansion looking for his soulmate. When he felt that he wouldn't find her by just aimlessly walking around he decided to focus on the soulmate link to find her. He closed his eyes and focused for a moment. His eyes opened a minute later, she was in the library. Trying to find something to read to take her mind off of what he had just said.
Using her memory Blake made his way to the library.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Phoenix looked at the hundreds of books on the surrounding shelves, but try as she might, she couldn't find anything to interest her. The library was filled with bookshelves, floor to ceiling. Thierry was really proud of his library as it held books for every era, and all in perfect condition. Her thoughts were too caught up in what Blake had just said. She tried to think back to the last time she had her period, it was before Thierry told her she had to go work with the Night World.
She flopped down onto one of the numerous couches in the enormous library. Her thoughts going back to what Blake had said. What if she was pregnant? Was it even possible for a witch to get pregnant with a vampire? What was she talking about? She lived with a human/vampire half-breed, and Hunter Redfern had children with Mauve Harman in order to keep his line going.
She used her powers in order to search inside herself, looking for the baby that might be there. It took her some time to find her concentration, but when she found it, it took no time at all to find what she was looking for. There deep inside her womb was a tiny being. She could feel hers and Blake's power surrounding it, almost like the power was keeping the baby safe.
She opened her eyes, they were filled with tears. She was pregnant! Se was going to have a baby! This had to be one of the happiest times in her life. Phoenix knew that she would get all the help she needed, from everyone. She felt a huge smile break out on her face.
And that was how Blake found her, with a smile and her face glowing with happiness.
