New Kingdom: Australian Court Ch. 06

Even now, they were visiting one of their favorite homes nestled high on the unchartered mountains of the north region. The rustic cabin was protected by a canopy of clouds and treacherous terrain. Flowing through the canyon, the breeze caught the sheer drapes wrapped across the balcony and reveal the two lovers locked in their eternal embrace.

Gabriel sat on the low bed tenderly holding his mate as she straddled his lap. In the aftermath of their passion, they both required time to recover from the exertion and allow their mutual feeding to rejuvenate their bodies. It was those precious minutes when nothing existed except them.

"We need to leave soon," Alena whispered against his neck. When he merely groaned in response, she lifted her head and added, "They were expected us days ago. And if I don't get their before Arianna...."

"You will no longer be the favorite grandmother?" he asked with a chuckle.

"It's not like that."

"Of course it isn't," he agreed stroking his fingers down her back. "We'll leave tomorrow."

"Gabe?"

"It's ... difficult," he answered.

"She's your daughter."

"And I'd rather discuss this when we're dressed."

"We haven't been dressed for three days," she responded leaning to look at eyes. "She knows how you feel. Don't hurt her like this."

"Hurt her? I have to watch her get older every day. She's been sick every year."

"With a cold."

"And then I get to look forward to watching her die. Oh, and if that's not cruel enough, that fucking human had to multiply this misery by five."

"They are your grandchildren not multiplied miseries."

"Bastard," he declared and then added, "It's not supposed to be like this. Josh immediately quit aging when Nola changed. Why does Alex have the choice to kill my family like this?"

"It's Abigail's choice too," she responded rising from his lap. "And every day we stay away is a day that we lose with them."

The next several hours passed in silence as they closed their home and descended the mountain. Alena understood her mate's pain. While the fear of death lingered in the distant future, they had already experienced several scares typical with human families.

Abigail's last pregnancy had been difficult from conception requiring bed rest during the last trimester. One of the girls had fallen from a horse suffering a concussion. Little Andrew had received his human's share of stitches and casts. When the flu invaded their house, the entire family was at the mercy of Alena's interpretation of TLC. It was no wonder that they all survived, thrived and declared her the better of the two grandmothers.

But time became their worst enemy. With each passing year, Alex's hair would become grayer and new little lines would appear around Abigail's eyes. The children were healthy and normal by human standards but, in eighteen years, Samantha was now a young woman. Despite the changes in their family, Gabriel and Alena remained the same; therefore, they could no longer be introduced as Abigail's parents.

When their plane touched ground, Alena reached for Gabriel's hand and paused. She sensed more than his dread. She felt his fear. Although he was no longer leading armies to battle, his nature had not changed. He knew something was wrong.

"Humans deal with loss every day," she whispered.

"But we should not."

"Would you rather we not have them at all and miss every joy we've shared just because of the inevitable?"

"I don't understand why it has to be inevitable when he has the choice," he murmured.

Moving from the plan to the car, Alena stopped when she heard Gabriel laughing. She turned to find him surveying the cargo being unloaded from the hold.

"How do you expect to transport this to their house?" he asked shaking his head.

"I, uh, didn't realize how much had accumulated," she explained as the handlers continued to produce packages from the aircraft's belly. "I saw things at shops or online and had them delivered here. They'll fit in the car....if you hold some things."

"My life as a pack mule," he grumbled as the car was stuff with toys, clothes and gifts. "The chauffeur stays and I'll drive. I thought Alex asked us to quit bringing so many things to the children?"

"Oh please," she said arranging the bags around her feet. "I'm not obligated to honor ridiculous requests."

"But I am?

"Gabe there's a slight difference between spoiling one's grandchildren with the newest toys and altering their species."

As they traveled out of the city, their conversation was light hearted and teasing focusing on the time they would spend with family. Gabriel commented on the progress of new construction while Alena begged to stop at the new little shop they had just passed. They fell quiet when they passed the remains of a small house.

Still smoldering from the fire, the little building appeared to have recently caught fire. But Gabriel and Alena could sense the truth. Under their children's leadership, their people had progressed in this world but they had never succeeded in eliminating the bad seed that had been spread through every country. The smell of blood and burnt flesh saturated the air.

"Alex will need to send a team to investigate," Gabriel murmured.

"It's so close to home. I thought we had chased them into the mountains. What does this mean Gabriel?"

Shaking his head, he reached for her hand and continued driving to their destination.

When the familiar bend of the road appeared ahead, Alena clapped her hands in anticipation.

"To be fair, we've only been gone a month," Gabriel commented.

"But we should never leave."

"Never? If we never left...do you remember the last time Andrew walked in on us?"

"He's a little guy. Surely he won't remember that. Will he? We should build a house of our own."

"Another one? Right here in their yard? Please don't make me start sounding like Alex," he answered pulling into the drive. As they climbed from the car, the front door burst open and a small boy ran as fast as he little legs could manage.

"Andrew!" Gabriel said lifting the boy in his arms and swinging him high in the air. "Again?"

"Again!" the child answered giggling in delight. When Gabriel had spun him a few more times the child said, "Wait wait wait. Watch this."

Alena moved close to her mate as the child climbed down and turned his back. Fumbling in his pocket, the child found what he wanted and lifted it to his face. Spinning around, he growled through the piece of plastic and giggled at the horrified expression on his grandfather's face.

Gabriel stared at the artificial fangs protruding from the child's mouth. "Does this answer your question?"

"What?"

Lisping through the plastic, Andrew explained, "They're like yours Grandpa. I saw them when you bit Grandma."

"Oh god!" Alena shrieked. "What else did you see? Did you tell your mom?"

"Tell his mom what?"Abigail said walking down the porch. "Oh did Drew show you his new treasure? He said they are like Grandpa's. When did he see....? Oh. Oh! Uh...." She turned toward the house blushing and said, "Girls. Grandparents are here."

When the next three oldest children ran out, Alena took a deep breath to regain some control and greeted her granddaughters. Standing by the car, she began distributing gifts which were received with squeals of delight.

"And this is for you," she added handing a bag to her daughter.

"You don't think I'm too old for gifts? Never mind. I'm not."

"The house looks good," Gabriel commented nodding to the additions to the building. "They appear authentic."

"Yeah well nothing like a little grease fire to get some new bedrooms added," Abigail replied. "But I think being banished from my own kitchen is a bit extreme especially with everything happening now."

"We saw the house outside of city limits," Gabriel commented. "What's happened?"

"Last week, we found another coven. Stronger. Organized."

"Just as we feared."

"Josh and Nola are arriving later today. We plan to call a meeting this week."

Gabriel watched his daughter closely noticing every change in her face since he saw her last. She was worried. Whether it was concern for their people or something else, he could not guess. He needed to find the human to learn the truth.

"Is Alex here?" he asked looking around.

"He's been with the construction crew. Supervising cleanup."

When sound of the door caught their attention, they turned to see Alex approaching. Seeing the changes in his daughter was unbearable but the sight of Alex nearly startled him. The usual boyish charm slightly marred with graying temples appeared to be from another person. He slowly descended the front stairs and grinned when he saw children with their gifts.

"Mom will be disappointed," he said walking to Alena first. "They will be here soon and she'd hoped to arrive before you."

"That will never happen," Alena said hugging her son in law.

"I guess there are worse things than having spoiled children," he responded turning to Gabriel. Offering his hand to shake, he grimaced when he noticed Gabriel's surveillance.

The slight moan had caught Gabriel's attention first; followed by the hesitation at the stairs; and finally the scent that could only mean one thing. Glancing at his daughter, Gabriel watched Abigail's expression as she looked at her mate. Love overcome with grief. This visit would be the one he had dreaded.

"Let me show you the changes," Alex said to Gabriel.

Walking around the house, Gabriel assessed everything surrounding him. Contractors were loading trucks with the debris piled in the yard.

"Who are they?" Gabriel asked point to the tree line.

"Who?" Alex asked looking around. Cursing when he saw the two young men talking to his daughter, he said, "Samantha is only seventeen but she thinks she's thirty. Have any suggestions?"

"You mock me," Gabriel growled. "As though I was able to keep you away from Abigail."

"Yes but you and I disagreed on that. I think we agree on this," Alex explained motioning to the group. "Help me please."

"For her, I would suggest deception."

"Deception, huh," Alex repeated with a grin. "Sammy! Your mother needs you."

When the girl looked up, she saw her grandfather and ran to meet him. Jumping into his arms, she hugged the big man as hard as she could. "When did you get here? Where's Grandma? Did Daddy tell you about the fire? Mom's not allowed to cook anymore. Truth be told, she couldn't cook anyway but now we might hire a real chef. I wish we could have a housekeeper. It's dreadful how they make me clean my room, take out the trash and work in the yard. They call it 'chores' which is only a nice word for slavery. Just because I'm a kid, doesn't mean....."

Placing two fingers gently on the girls lips, Gabriel whispered, "Your Grandmother will think you don't love her anymore if you don't hurry and see the presents she brought you."

"Presents?" the girl squealed.

"As though she doesn't always bring you some," Alex mumbled.

"Yes," Gabriel answered. "And if you want to talk about being sorely used, you should see how I'm expected to carry those packages from her to you."

"That's different Grandpa," she explained with a smile walking to the house. "Love you."

"So deception works with her. What about them?" Alex asked pointing to the young men.

"Fear? It would be my pleasure to scare the hell out of them."

"Maybe next time," he son in law answered with a laugh. "I'm sure there will be a next time."

"You have news to share," Gabriel simply stated. "Tell me."

"Where to start. We found a new coven that concerns us."

"Not that. You."

Alex smiled sadly knowing he would need to share the diagnosis, fears and plans that he could not avoid. Walking to a large pile of debris, he shuffled some pieces around and said, "I wish they would remove this garbage. The children could get hurt."

He found a stud with several rusted nails hanging on the edge. Pitching the piece into the center of the pile, he added, "Pancreatic cancer. Two months. No options available."

"It will break her heart," Gabriel said quietly. "It's killing her now."

"No," Alex answered shaking his head. "She doesn't know."

"She knows," Gabriel snapped. "You can see it her face. You've denied her from feeding haven't you?"

"No, not from feeding, just not from me. I didn't know if it would hurt her," he explained and then turned around. "God, I feel like a coward but I can't stand this. I'm not afraid of dying. And the pain can't get any worse. But leaving her seems unbearable."

Gabriel turned away wishing he had been better prepared for this moment. "I've dreaded this since I met you," he finally said. "You've done well but there is much left unfinished."

"She's never tried to change my mind. Everything has been based on a normal human life. I just thought we would grow old together. I know you will take care of things. Everything. Her. The kids. God, Andrew won't even remember me."

"If that's your choice."

"I don't choose to leave my family now. Young and in the middle of another damn war with these monsters."

Gabriel narrowed his gaze and replied, "Very well." His motions were quick and efficient when he added, "Let's return to the house."

Alex nodded and spun around. The impact caught him by surprise until he recognized the board with the rusted nails. How it had moved from the top of the garbage pile to block his path would never be repeated by him. With a look to Gabriel, he nodded and moved the board. He stared in horror at the rusted nail which had gouged his thigh tore away from his flesh.

Nothing could have prepared him for the shock of seeing his life's blood spray from the damaged femoral artery. Falling to his knees, he stared at Gabriel in fear wondering if anyone could save him in time.

"Abigail!" he heard his father in law roar. "Come quick! Alex has been injured!"

Alex struggled to stay conscience as his heart pounded in his ears. He heard his children and mother arrive within seconds but it was the small familiar hands that gave him hope.

"Oh, god, Alex! Oh, god, no!" Abigail screamed.

"See if you can seal the wound," Gabriel said from the sidelines. "Maybe it's not too late."

Arianna and Alena pulled the children away as Abigail closed the gash on her mate's thigh. She sat up to cradle his head in her lap. With tears flowing down her face, she listened to his heart struggle from the excessive loss of blood.

"Baby," he whispered. "Don't let me die."

Abigail paused and then glanced at her father. With a smile, she leaned close to Alex's ear and whispered, "Forever." Her bite to his neck, quick and efficient, was soon followed by a small slit to her own wrist. She fed him with the care a mother would have for a small child. When her father touched her shoulder, she closed her wound and held Alex close.

In an irony that amused Gabriel, Alex's life as a human quickly altered to that he had once despised. His new heart started immediately after the death of his mortal life. The children were ushered into the house with explanations that their father would be fine... in a few days. Gabriel helped his daughter to her feet while Conlaoch lifted his son in his arms. Watching the family move into the house, Gabriel turned to find his son standing to the side.

"So Alex has joined us," Joshua declared. "Good. We will need him. How are you, Dad?"

"Good."

"Glad to hear it," Joshua said walking beside his father to the house. "Because you're about to come out of retirement."

They walked to the house together in silence. Gabriel decided that they could discuss strategy later. Reeling from this recent victory, he needed a few hours to appreciate the family that was with him now and would be forever.

The sight of his grandson stopped him in his tracks. The young boy was sitting on the steps with his head in hands, pouting.

"It's not fair," he declared. "Even Mommy has teeth like Grandpa. Real ones!"

"Someday, you'll have real ones too. I promise," Gabriel replied lifting the boy to his shoulders. "And I have a pretty good record of keeping promises."

*** THE END ***