Thorne Ch. 03

"I... I thought that vampires were made up." She said softly.

"Many people do." Thorne said. "We do nothing to indicate otherwise."

"Am I going to live forever?" Barb asked her voice shaky.

"Yes." Thorne replied in a matter of fact tone of voice. "When we fucked and you got pregnant you became immortal."

Barb stood up and then sat back down. This was something that she definitely hadn't planned on.

"And what will the baby be?" She asked more out of curiosity than concern.

"If it is a male, it will be born vampire." Thorne replied. "If it is a female, she has a fifty-fifty chance of being born vampire. Either way, it will be loved and cared for; by me at least."

"Eternity?" Barb asked missing the last part of Thorne's statement.

Thorne didn't answer her. She needed time to let the information sink in. A full fifteen minutes passed before Barb said anything and when she did, it wasn't about the vampirism. She finally believed him.

"Do your brother and his friend have to live here?" she asked back to her old mindset.

"No they don't have to, but they will for as long as they wish to." Thorne replied his tone cool. "Let me remind you that you are to stay away from their part of the house."

"I just don't understand why you're supporting him if he's so accomplished." Barb said aware that she was pushing. Having two grown men living with her was not a part of her plan.

Thorne's eyes flashed in warning.

"You do have an apartment that you can go back to if you wish." He snapped effectively shutting her up. "Now, let's talk about the child. You are expected to follow any and all instructions that Gretchen gives you although I doubt that it will be an issue for you. It's in your best interest to do so."

Barb didn't say anything. She was beginning to understand that she would be hard put to pull the wool over Thorne's eyes.

"Next topic is the issue of security. You are not to go anywhere alone especially at night. I'm assigning Billings the task of being your driver and guard. You will do as he asks and if not, he will have my permission to manhandle you if necessary. The only place that you are safe at night is on my property and the property of the Sinclaires'. I will also be assigning you someone for the daytime hours. It will be a female since I'm sure that you will want to spend the day shopping."

"Can I at least pick her?" Barb asked.

"There will be three to choose from." Thorne replied already knowing that she would ask.

"And if I don't like any of them?" Barb challenged.

"Then choose the one that you like the best of the three." Thorne replied. "I want to be clear about something. The purpose of the guard is the protection of you and the child and not to be your best friend. Whether you like her or not is immaterial. This brings me to my next point, keep your fucking mouth shut. As I mentioned earlier, your mouth is part of the reason that we're stuck together. You have a need to broadcast who you are and that needs to stop now."

"You can't tell me what I can and can't say!" Barb said angrily. "This isn't prison."

"But it can be if you choose it to be." Thorne replied. "I'm warning you. Keep your damned mouth closed. I told you about the hunters and the fact that one hasn't been seen in years doesn't mean anything. Their numbers surge and then wane and if my calculations are right, their numbers are on the upswing. As I explained to you, they are usually human although there are vampires that work for them as well as other species..."

"Other species?" Barb asked.

"There are many other forms of life." Thorne explained "And not all of them are good. My point is that you never know who is listening. I can't stress the importance of secrecy enough. You are to bring no one here unless it is a family member. Is that clear? The safety of everyone depends on absolute secrecy. Do you have any questions because I won't accept that you didn't know as an excuse if something happens because of something you've said or done to draw attention to yourself."

"You know, I'm not stupid. You don't have to keep repeating the same information." Barb snipped.

"Don't I?" Thorne asked drily. "We shall see won't we?"

"Am I allowed to drive one of the cars?" Barb asked.

"You may drive any of them except for the Jag and the Maserati." Thorne replied. "What else?"

"I want a live in servant..."

"No."

"But..."

"No." Thorne said his tone firm. "I know what you're about. You want to be waited on hand and foot. You want that lifestyle that you read about in the magazines and see on the idiot box. What you fail to realize is that not every one of means lives that way. We will talk about getting help for you when the child is born and we will set clear guidelines as to what his or her role will be.

I also wanted to tell you that I saw the way in which you tried to play nice with my brother. If you're thinking about the divide and conquer plan, forget it. Noel doesn't want to become a part of our domestic issues. You burned your bridges with Felix so don't bother trying to befriend him. But I have a question for you. Do you not realize how transparent you are?"

"Are we done?" Barb asked not answering the question.

"Not quite." Thorne replied. "There's a meeting at Ethan Sinclaires' house this evening at six pm be ready to go."

"I'm not going." Barb replied. She wasn't ready to see her family yet. She wanted it to be at Thorne's house so that she could gloat."

"It wasn't a request." Thorne said. "We'll leave here at five-thirty and I hate tardiness."

"What if I refuse to go?" Barb asked.

"Why in the hell don't you grow up and stop acting like a child testing her limits?" Thorne asked. "You fucking got what you want so don't argue with me about things that involve our safety. You will be ready to leave here at five-thirty. Do you understand?"

He didn't give her a chance to respond. He was gone even as she was opening her mouth to say something.

Barb sat where she was for a long time before she made her way to their bedroom. She wasn't surprised that Thorne wasn't there; she would have been surprised if he had been. She looked at the California king sized bed wondering which side of it he slept on. Her bags sat on the floor at the foot of the bed offering no clues. Finally, she shrugged, picked up the small suitcase that contained her toiletries and pajamas and went into the bathroom.

******

Katrina rubbed Ethan's shoulders without speaking. She knew that he was wishing that he could do more than issue a simple statement encouraging extra caution. She also wondered how much of his tenseness had to do with Thorne Blackwell's coming to the meeting.

"He's a part of this family whether I like it or not." Ethan said when she asked him about it. "We need to deal with whatever's coming and then we can work on our... relationship if you want to call it that. I would be fine with not interacting with him unless we had to, but there is the fact that Barb is his mate to consider."

"I don't know," Katrina said, "But just from what you've told me about him, I don't see an issue. I don't think that he'll stop Barb from seeing her family if she wants to; he'll just stay out of the picture."

"Maybe you're right." Ethan conceded. "Tonight will be the first time in centuries that the Sinclaires and the Blackwell's sat in the same room to talk about helping each other."

"Maybe Thorne will see that your family didn't betray his." Katrina said.

"Maybe, but that isn't a priority right now. We need to find out who or what is here and how to neutralize it. It's just ironic that it's a Yancy that brought us back together." Ethan said.

"What do you think it is?" Katrina asked.

"I wish I knew." Ethan replied. "Where's Victoria?"

"She's in her room talking to Wanda." Katrina replied. "I've already been talking to her about reporting anything strange."

"Good... I do have to agree with one thing that Nathan and Louise are saying." Ethan said, "This has nothing to do with the past, at least not the rapes."

"Ethan... you once told me that the hunters came and went, do you think that could be what's coming?"

"Possible although we usually don't know that they're here until there's a rash of unexplained vampire disappearances and deaths. I've been checking and there's nothing out of the ordinary." Ethan replied. "But still, it's a good thought and one that will be discussed at the meeting."

"Well, I'd better get moving. I still need to get the sandwiches made." Katrina said as she kissed the top of Ethan's head.

"Are you making those ones with the ground up ham and cheese?" Ethan asked hopefully.

"Of course." She replied. She started to walk away but Ethan grabbed her hand and pulled her into his lap.

"Thank you." He said as he kissed her.

"You're welcome now let me up. Times a wasting." She replied kissing him back.

Ethan watched her leave the office with a mixture of love, pride and regrets. He closed his eyes and let the emotions wash over him for several minutes before returning the task at hand. He made a phone call to Conrad Bain, the surveillance officer for hunters in the area.

"Ethan!" He greeted. "I saw your announcement and was waiting for your call."

"Do you know anything?" Ethan asked.

"I've had people out looking and watching, but nothing has shown up. There hasn't been the rash of deaths usually associated with them, but we'll keep our eyes open. I'll call you if I hear anything."

Ethan hung up at a loss as to what was coming. He called Nathan every couple of hours asking if the feeling had dissipated. Each time the answer had been no. With nothing left to do until the meeting, he went to the kitchen to help Katrina make the sandwiches.

********

Barb dressed for the meeting wishing that she had time to go shopping for a new outfit. When she got up there was an envelope on the dresser with her name on it. Inside was a credit card with her name on it and a sheet of paper with the list of names of the stores where Thorne had arranged a line of credit. There was also a hand written note at the bottom of the paper.

"Please remember your limits. The three women from whom you will choose your day guard from will be here by the time we return from the meeting.

TB"

Barb reread the note, almost threw it away and thought better of it. It had the list of stores that she could shop at on it. She signed the back of the card wondering what would happen if she went over the limit. She took a shower determined that she would take a long hot soak in the Jacuzzi after she picked her day guard out.

After the shower, she slathered the expensive body oil all over her body since money was no longer an object. She took care to rub the oil into her stomach in hopes of avoiding or at the very least minimizing the stretch marks. As she rubbed the oil in, she thought about Louise. She wondered if she was concerned about things like stretch marks and decided that she wouldn't be. Nathan would love her no matter what she looked like.

She on the other hand, had to make sure that she was always at her best. Who knew? Maybe someone better would come along. Barb froze at the thought. There would be no one else. Thorne had mentioned something about being together for an eternity. Did he mean literally? She wondered. She knew nothing about vampires. She had never had any interest in anything supernatural and now she was in the midst of it. Were vampires like wolves in that they mated for life? She wished that she had thought to bring her laptop, but then again; she could ask one of her sisters.

She changed her mind and decided to get her laptop from the apartment. Then she realized that she didn't know if the women that she was to choose from were human or not. A tap on the bedroom door hurried her along.

Fifteen minutes later, she was in front seat of Thorne's silver BMW. Noel was sitting behind her which made her a little nervous. She found him a little creepy in the same way that she found Gretchen except she didn't like Noel. She pushed Noel out of her mind and thought about seeing her family for the first time in weeks. She couldn't wait to rub their faces in the knowledge that she was as good as they were.

Thorne glanced over at her and then turned his attention back to the road. He wondered if Ethan would try to justify the betrayal of his family. If so, he didn't want to hear it. He was attending the meeting for one reason only, he had to. There was no way in getting around what Nathan told him, the two families were now responsible for the safety and wellbeing for each other. After whatever was happening was dealt with, he would have nothing more to do with the Sinclaires unless absolutely necessary. Barb could do whatever she wanted.

He looked in the rearview mirror to look at Noel.

"Noel are you alright?" Thorne asked taking in his pinched features.

"I... I just have a headache." Noel replied. "I'll be fine."

Thorne gave him a long assessing look and decided that it had been a mistake to ask Noel to go to the meeting.

"Why don't you go home?" Thorne said after a few minutes had passed. "I'll fill you in when I get back."

"I'll be fine." Noel insisted even though he felt as if his head was going to explode.

Barb turned around to look at Noel. Even she was alarmed at his appearance.

"Hey, you really don't look good." She said as she took in his deathly white appearance and his pain filled green eyes.

The closer they got to Ethan's house, the worse Noel felt if that was even possible. Thorne looked into the rear view mirror to say something; but Noel was gone. He turned his attention back to the road ignoring Barb, but then decided to clarify a few things.

"I want to remind you that I don't play games." He told her. "Don't think that just because your family will be there that I'll pretend that this is anything but what it is. So don't put on airs, you'll only embarrass yourself."

"And you!" Barb said tersely.

"Go ahead and find out." Thorne said lightly.

Barb looked at him wondering what, if anything bothered the man. Neither of them spoke for the rest of the drive to the house.

******

Noel appeared in his studio, his head still pounding. He tried to understand what was happening, but it made his head pound even harder. Not knowing what else to do, he stumbled over to the portrait of the eyes, tore the cover away and looked at it. Gradually the pain in his head began to abate as he made contact with the owner of the eyes.

He sat on his stool still looking at the eyes, but feeling much better. He was still sitting in front of the portrait an hour later. The headache was completely gone and now he was exhausted. He whispered a thank you and a good night to the eyes and went to bed.

******

"Do you think that Barb is coming?" Louise asked Kevyn as they helped Katrina set out the food.

"I don't know." Kevyn replied with a shrug. "If she does let's hope that there won't be any drama."

"I just want her to be happy." Louise said.

"So do i." Kevyn said, "But Lou, that's up to her. It always has been. We can love her until the cows come home, but whether she accepts that love is up to her."

"I know... Kev, there's something that I haven't told you." Louise said.

"Are you alright?" Kevyn asked anxiously. She still hadn't quite forgiven herself for leaving Louise alone in Pittsburgh although she really had no choice. She knew that she tended to be overprotective and it was something that she and Louise had discussed several times.

"Kev..."

"Alright... what do you need to tell me?"

Louise told her about the intense feelings of sadness and where she thought it was coming from.

"So let me make sure that I understand what you're telling me." Kevyn said. "You think that the sadness is coming from Barb's baby."

"Yes."

"And Nathan doesn't sense it, only you."

"Yes."

"How? It's not that I don't believe you, but how is that possible? We haven't seen or talked to Barb in weeks. Maybe it's Celeste." Kevyn offered.

"It isn't." Louise replied. "The first thing I did when I first had the feeling was to check our baby and then Celeste. She's happier than she's ever been. I also checked Victor and Wanda and it isn't them. I don't have an explanation for why this is happening, but I'm telling you that it has something to do with Barb's baby."

"What are you going to do?" Kevyn asked.

"There's nothing that I can do at this point." Louise replied. "But I'll tell you something, I would rather have the feeling of dread than that feeling of sadness."

"Why is that?" Kevyn asked.

"Nathan shares the feeling of dread with me. I have to bear the feeling of sadness alone. It makes me feel helpless like there should be something that I could do to alleviate it. What that is, I don't know."

"Just be careful and let me know if there's anything that I can do to help. Are you going to tell Juliette and Leon?" Kevyn asked.

"I will after the meeting if there's time." Louise replied. "We'd better get this food out, everyone will be here shortly."

*****

"He's coming?" Leon asked when Nathan told him about Thorne.

"Yes." Nathan replied. "I wanted to warn you."

"I'm going to talk to him." Leon said firmly. "I'll tell him the same thing that I told you and Patrick."

"I figured as much" Nathan said. "But may I make a suggestion?"

"What's that and me not talking to him isn't an option." Leon said.

"I wouldn't suggest that." Nathan said. "That was one of the things that I liked and respected about you. I was going to suggest that before you make any accusations that you ask for the facts first. Thorne Blackwell is many things, but he isn't a liar. He is very to the point and doesn't pull any punches."

"Are you saying that I should believe him over my sister?" Leon asked.

"No, that isn't what I'm saying." Nathan replied. "What I'm saying that you should listen carefully to what's being said. You will be able to detect the truth no matter who the speaker is."

"Will you have my back if he's hurt her?" Leon asked his voice low and intense.

"If he has hurt her, you won't need to ask." Nathan replied.

Leon nodded and went to look for Nadine. Nathan let out a sigh and prepared himself for whatever was going to happen.

*****

Barb looked at the large house looming in front of her and was surprised at the stab of jealousy she felt. She had a large house, well part of one anyway. She looked around as Thorne pulled up to the gate and gave his and then her name. Several seconds passed before the gate opened and Thorne drove through.

He parked the car, looked at Barb and then got out of the car. She watched as he looked around and then came to the passenger side of the car. Thorne opened the car door and offered his hand, but there was no emotion to it. It was something that he would have done for anyone. As soon as she was out of the car, he dropped her hand; but stayed close. Again, there was no warmth associated with the gesture. When they reached the front door, Thorne rang the doorbell and stepped back.

******

"He's here." Ethan said when the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it." Katrina said.

"No, I'll get it." Ethan said. "Why don't you make sure that everyone is in the meeting room?"

Ethan waited until Katrina was gone before answering the door. He wanted to make sure that Thorne understood that he was invited because he had to be. If he was going to cause trouble, then he could leave.

Ethan opened the door and came face to face with the vampire with whom his family had been friends and allies.

"Thorne." Ethan said his tone cool.

"Ethan." Thorne said his tone just as cool as Ethan's.

Barb felt a distinct chill that hadn't been there before the door opened and realized that the two men had a history.