New Kingdom: European Court Ch. 07

As the water rinse away the dirt and grime, Emma relaxed in Antony's embrace. She lifted her face to his, hoping for a kiss to seal the vow. She was not disappointed. Antony started by simply pressing his lips against hers until she opened her mouth to inhale. When he had access to her mouth, he deepened the kiss pulling her closer to his body. As his tongue invaded her mouth, his hands moved over the length of her body.

Emma moaned as he touched her. His fingers gently traced her spine stopping at the curve of her bottom and then moving up across her shoulders and stopping at the curve of her breasts. He repeated his simple touches until she was aching with need. Moving against his body, Emma felt him tense and she searched for the release of her desire. Antony's hand wrapped around her forearms and moved her away from him.

"Emma, love," he growled. "Please don't make break my vow immediately after I said it."

"I ..." she started but was stopped by his fingers gently touching her lips.

"No. We will. Very soon. I can guarantee that. But first," he said turning her to face the water, "let's finish this shower."

He helped her washed her golden hair and then spent a considerable amount of time washing every inch of her body. Emma giggled when he insisted on lathering her breast again "just to make sure." When he shut off the water and reached for a towel on the warming bar, he turned to find her smiling at him.

"I could get used to that," he said gently drying her body. "Your smile is mesmerizing."

"I think I could get used to feeling this good," she replied and then dropped her eyes. "Do you think this will last?"

"It has to," Antony answered wrapping another warm towel around her body. "Emma, there's so much to explain, and I'll confess that I'm just beginning to understand it myself, but I don't think I can survive without you."

"I feel that too. It felt so wrong to leave but I couldn't stay. Not with that woman here."

"Emma, I won't deny that she was part of my life. But she died. Last year, she returned from travelling and was, well, she was infected with something that destroyed her. I don't know how, but her body was revived. It was not the woman I knew."

"Did you love her?"

"There was time that I loved being with her. She satisfied a part of me that I'm now ashamed to have been."

"Where is she?" Emma asked.

"Gone. That's all I know. Gabriel took care of it," Antony answered leaning his forehead against hers. "I know that sounds heartless but she was an occupied shell of the woman I had known."

"Antony, thank you for finding me."

"Thank you for telling me where you were," he whispered against her hair.

"I don't understand how that worked. There's so much I need you to explain."

"And I will," Antony said guiding her to the bedroom. "But you need rest. We will talk in the morning."

Emma allowed him to unwrapped the towel and help her into bed. After he quickly dried his own body, he joined her under the sheets. She tensed when the warmth of his skin brushed against her but started to relax as he gently stroked his fingers down her back.

"Antony?" she asked with a drowsy voice, "Would you call me crazy if I told you that I believe we belong together?"

"No," he answered simply. "Actually, hearing you say it makes me happy. I know we belong together. You are my true mate."

"How can you know that?" she whispered stifling a yawn.

"Because I knew I was going to die when you left," he answered.

Before she could say another word, Antony placed his thumb over her lips and smiled at her. Snuggling closer, Emma returned the smile then shut her eyes. Warm and relaxed, Emma realized that a normal person would be hysterical sleeping in bed with a vampire. No one had ever accused her of being normal.

"No," she thought to herself. "I'm finally right where I belong. In this country, this house, and definitely in this bed with this man."

Surrendering to allure of sleep, Emma chuckled when she thought she heard a man's voice in her head say, "You are mine."

Edward walked through the large house to the rooms he shared with Iona. He had lived too long to dwell on a bad experience. To date, he was the only one of the New Creation to be abducted and he was grateful that his brothers neither condemned him nor pitied him for the experience. And while he had simply been the victim of their enemy's well laid plans, he knew that he was not without fault.

In last several centuries, life as a king of the Third Creation had become boring. Settling on the new continent had been an amusing change of scenery but soon the requirements of his position were weighing on him. He had practically begged Gabriel to visit him so he could have both his brother's company and his assistance in dealing with the demands of his growing empire.

After a few decades, America, as it had been for humans, became a haven for newborns or adventurous vampires who wanted a taste of the exciting young country. Although his reign stretched from coast to coast, Edward's presence could only be found at home. With Gabriel's assistance, he implemented the Council to help enforce the laws of his people. No matter the reason, placing those members of the Council in authority of their regions was the best decision he had made in a very long time.

Standing outside the door to his apartment, Edward bowed his head. He had become complacent. And in his absence, another power had stepped in and usurped his authority. There had been no war or even an announcement. He was blind to the rebellion until the day he woke bound and bleeding.

His abduction had been carefully planned with one anticipated result. After weeks of bleeding and starving, Edward was to be given an innocent from whom he would feed. And in his depraved state, he would inevitably kill the innocent, thus, bringing destruction to not only him but also to his people. The innocent had been carefully chosen. She was not a virgin who would have died of fright. Nor was she a whore who would have welcomed his advances. She was a young woman who had never understood her purpose in this world.

His Iona, once known to her friends by the name Lia, was a girl who loved a good time. She was definitely his kind of woman. They had never moved in the same social circles, he was sure of that. But yet, they had come so close to meeting without ever realizing it. If he and she would have encouraged Gabriel and Alena to follow their hearts, Lia and a disabled brother would have eventually been brought to his court to live.

But their history was not so romantic. No, he had insisted Gabriel drop whatever foolishness he had found at the Children's Hospital and help him implement the Council immediately. He had played the loyalty card against Gabriel by challenging his concern for the mission of the New Kingdom. And Lia had pushed her sister into another juvenile delinquent emergency causing Alena to decline Gabriel's offer of joining him as a mate. If only they had been better people.

Edward smiled at the door. How could his Iona be any better than the perfect woman she was now? He could feel her pushing at his mind trying to find him. She knew her sister's mate had returned and wondered why he was delaying so long.

"Edward, where are you?" he felt her voice ask in his head.

"Walking in now," he answered while simultaneously opening the door.

"Avoiding me?" she asked from her seat.

"Never. What do you have ... oh no. The book?"

"I found it in Antony's library," she answered while placing it on the table in front of her. "I thought maybe reading his prophecy would shed some light on things here."

"And did it?" he asked pulling her up from the chair.

"No. Has it ever? I'd love to meet whoever wrote that and smack the sh..." Iona said but was interrupted when Edward silenced her by placing his fingers over her lips.

"Trust me, love. You have no idea who you are threatening."

Taking the seat she had vacated, Edward crossed his legs and then pulled her onto his lap. Iona looked at him with a question in her expression but remained silent. They sat that way for a few minutes until he finally sighed, signaling the end of the quiet.

"So," she started quietly, "Were we there?"

"Yes. God yes. I felt it as soon as we left the city. I could smell the decay of the bodies and the contamination of the soil from the excavation."

"Did you look down there?"

"No. We had to act quickly to get Emma out. There will be time enough for a tour. Actually, I wouldn't mind skipping another field trip to hell."

Iona turned in his lap and looked up to meet his eyes. Hers were filled with tears that soon spilled over her cheeks. Neither of them wanted to discuss their first days together but both knew they could not move forward by ignoring their past.

"We've never really discussed ..." she started and then failed to find the words she needed to finish.

"I suppose there is therapy for what we experienced but I rather not have to relive my guilt, humiliation, and fear."

"No. No. Me neither," she quickly agreed. "Do you hate me?"

"What?!"

"Do I repulse you? Edward, please be honest. I'd rather you tell me now and let me go then to keep me with you because you feel some obligation to me."

"You're so young," he started and wiped the tears from her face. "Sometimes you act so confident and experienced that I forget that you are still a newborn. You still don't understand the power of being mated."

"I know we are, Edward. I feel it too. But I don't want to be a reminder of that time."

"Do I remind you of it?"

"Only the good part. Meeting one decent person. Falling in love. Getting rescued."

"So? You remind me of the very same things."

"You were chained and starved. I was raped and beaten and given to you as your last meal."

"And which of those were your fault?" he asked in a voice broken with emotion.

"I left home. My sister begged me to stay and change my ways," Iona tried to explain between sobs.

"Stop. She would not want to hear you blame yourself for what happened. And I certainly don't. What they did to you ... I suffered the abuse accepting that my end was near. But when I met you, I begged for a second chance just so I could get revenge on your behalf."

"You never made me feel dirty or bad, even when I was drinking their blood."

"Don't you understand? In those days we spent together, I knew you were meant to be with me. I couldn't change what they had done to you and they had changed you by the time Gabriel and I found you again. But it doesn't change the fact that you were meant to be my mate. There would be no life for me without you."

"If you had told me to leave, I would have been dead within the hour," she said with a small smile. "What happens now?"

"Tomorrow, I suspect my brothers and I will have repented for our neglect and finally declare war."

"I thought you had declared war already?"

"No, we were retaliating against the attacks. We were waiting for clues to understand our foes. But now? Fuck them. We're just going to kill them all and exterminate their very existence from this planet."

"I love it when you talk tough and dirty," she said with a laugh.

"How about I talk tough to them and dirty to you?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Iona said and then squealed when he playfully bit at her wrist. "I love you, Edward."

"As I love you. As long as my heart beats, it belongs to you. My heart, mind, blood ... and speaking of blood ..." he whispered as he moved his mouth to her neck.

"I was just about to ask," Iona said moving to his neck. She quickly pierced the vein in his neck and drank the only sustenance she craved. As his blood warmed her mouth, throat and stomach, she fleetingly wondered when he would pull her away. Pushing the though aside, she continued feeding even when he carried her to their bed.

Emma stretched in the bed as she started waking from sleep. Careful to not stretch her arms so wide that she would hit Antony, she gently reached across the bed searching for his warm. When her hand found nothing except cool sheets, she sat up in the bed furious that he had left her alone.

"She's a wildcat in the morning," Antony said from the foot of the bed. "Care to tell me why you're so angry?"

"I thought you were gone," she mumbled as she pulled the sheet over her breasts. "You promised to stay and when I couldn't find you ..."

"You thought I had lied," he finished. "Well my dear, I have some serious work to do if I'm ever going to earn your trust."

"I do trust you."

"No. You don't," he countered as he tugged the sheet back down her body. "So I think we may be able to reach an agreement on something."

"On what? Stop doing that," she said as she pulled at the sheet.

"You do not trust me, and rightfully so. I want you to be my mate but not if you second guess ever promise that I make. So, I propose that we agree that when I have earned your trust, you will agree to be my mate."

"For life?"

"For my people, the words 'for life' have a meaning of great magnitude. In essence, the mating is forever so there is no end."

"I never had anyone and now I'll have you for ... well, for every day as long as the world exists?"

"Is that a problem?" Antony asked as he threw the sheets to the floor and crawled to her.

"No. I'm just getting clarification."

"Your days of being alone ended when you walked into my office," he said and kissed her lips tenderly. "Speaking of which, I need to go to the office today. Why don't you go with me and we can get the research you've done so far?"

"Would you be disappointed in me if I said that I kind of like staying her kissing you?" she asked with a blush covering her face.

"I'd be disappointed if you didn't want to but," he said rising from the bed. "I promised to respect your decision to wait and allow you time to adjust. For the record, you didn't agree to my proposal."

"Proposal?"

"Trust me and then become my mate."

"Oh," she said turning her face away from him. "Yes, of course, I agree."

"Emma," he said suddenly standing in front of her. "It is a proposal in every way you can imagine. The blood bond creates a new life in us. One that makes us stronger by having each other but it would not allow one to remain if the other was taken. It cannot be dissolved like your human marriages. Do you understand?"

"Yes," she answered giving him a bright smile. "And my answer is still 'Yes'."

Antony joined his brothers in the library later that morning. As soon as he walked in, he could feel a sense of peace in their minds. Looking at each of them, he knew that his brothers had enjoyed the previous night more that he had but he had promised to wait.

"So," Edward said with a smile, "poor Antony is still waiting. Pity. When I think about how much pleasure I had last night and here you are were ... what did you do? Read poetry?"

"Shut up," Antony replied with a grin. "Should we ask your little minx if she shares your opinion of pleasure? I seem to remember your idea of fun included more than two people."

"I've changed," Edward answered seriously.

Walking to the bar, Gabriel poured three glasses of their special whiskey and offered a glass to each of his brothers. Without saying a word, the men toasted each other and drank quickly.

"This stuff still burns my throat," Antony declared. "It's a wonder Emma survived it."

"Speaking of Emma's survival ..." Edward began.

"She's more than just lucky to have survived yesterday," Antony finished.

"I wasn't talking about the kidnapping. Although we do need to discuss what happened. I was talking about surviving this drama with you."

"We're good."

Edward turned to Gabriel for support but found none. Gabriel merely nodded his head in agreement and sat in one of the chairs.

"The young woman is beyond our concern now Edward. Antony will do what's right with her. Do you have plans that you can share?"

"We will be mates but I need to give her time and space to understand our ways," he answered looking at his watch. "But right now, we need to go to the office and find her research."

"That doesn't sound like you're giving her very much time and space at all," Edward joked. "We need to discuss our adventure last night."

"Now?"

"No, of course not," Edward answered. "Gabriel. Call the bad guys and tell them we're calling a time-out until our brother returns from his little field trip."

"Fucking smart ass," Antony retorted with a grin. "I'll have you know that it's more business than pleasure. We need to go to the office. I think her work is key to knowing our enemy."

"I don't disagree," Gabriel interrupted. "But we know more now than we did yesterday. There is something very different about your little human. If she had not cloaked you, then you would have never have been able to enter those temples."

"Maybe she's just an exceptional human," Antony offered quietly.

"In four thousand years, I've never met a human quite so exceptional," Gabriel answered. "Antony, there is something about her that is almost like our people."

"She's not a vampire," Edward said. "Anyone can see that."

"But she moves in shadows and can hide from us," Gabriel added.

"She doesn't hide from me. This is how I know she is my mate."

"So last night we learned that our enemies know little about us," Gabriel said after a few minutes. "They could hear our thoughts when we talked to each other but were deaf to the Third Creation. We don't when they discovered their prisoner missing but I would think they know now. Certainly, this shield or hers would not make them forget their well planned abduction only a few hours earlier."

"Her blood would speak to them," Antony murmured. "The blood from her injuries was shielded from them until I removed her then her blood on the floor would have been appealing to them."

"That explains why were attacked," Edward said. "I had thought we screwed up when those things starting crawling out of the dirt. Jesus. Our people live like vermin."

"They are not our people," Gabriel and Antony said together.

"Those creatures were men that had once been human but they were never part of the New Kingdom people," Gabriel added. "Our blood flows through those we've changed and even when they sire a newborn, our blood is still there. But these things have been created by something else."

"So we know that when we are the Third Creation, our communication is protected. Emma, sorry Antony, has a history we need to research. And finally, we aren't fighting deranged vampires. The Panthralges have created a new species," Edward summarized. "No. I don't buy it. The mixing of our blood is science but creation?"

"Not creation but mutation," Gabriel explain. "The Panthralges are a mutation of angel and man. I think they have taken our blood and added to the mix. Unfortunately, the results are unstable followers at best. The end product is not royalty but the best ingredients for a perfect army."

"Explain," Edward said.

"These new vampires have one desire. They will follow orders because their masters provide unlimited, unrestricted blood supplies."

"Fuck," Antony groaned. "So who are we fighting now? The Panthralges or the mutants?"

"Both," Edward answered. "But look at the bright side, last year we had no idea who had started this war and today we know who, their purpose, and their strategy."

"That's a bright side?" Antony asked. "Well here's reality: how many of them are we fighting?"

"Millions," Gabriel answered solemnly. "The Third Creation needs to unite and bring our armies together. We need to strengthen our people in this house immediately," he added and then paused looking down before continuing, "I fed Alena last night. I know she's young but she's ready."