Thorne Ch. 09

Barb watched fascinated and jealously as Thorne then bent down and kissed her stomach. He lingered for a few more seconds, stood up and then spoke to her.

"I expect this to be over by morning. After things settle down, we'll talk again."

"I won't be your mate if that's what your wondering," Barb said her tone curt.

"I wasn't wondering about that," Thorne replied his tone just as curt. "But I suspected as much. I wanted to talk about the future of our child and what part in it that future you wanted to play if any."

When he saw Barb's surprised expression, he continued.

"I have always been honest about my feelings toward you. I have also admitted that part of the reason that we're together because of the choices I made. Just as I won't deny your family access to him, I won't deny you if you choose to be a part of his life. I have to go, but think about this... think about your part in this."

"This isn'...."

But Thorne was gone. He already knew what she was going to say.

*****

The streets were empty except for the hunters and their prey. The few humans that were out quickly found cover when they saw the two factions roaming the streets. Every so often, a vampire or wolves who hadn't heard the warnings were caught unawares. Half of those were killed; the other half either escaped or was rescued.

Ethan and Thorne sniffed the air, but neither made any comment. The tension was thick, almost palpable.

"Are you ready to do this?" Ethan asked.

"It has to be done," Thorne replied. "This makes me think of our fathers. I can still remember seeing them talking together about how best to protect us. I guess it's come full circle."

"I suppose it has," Ethan agreed. "Good luck and be safe," Ethan added extending his hand.

"You too," Thorne replied taking Ethan's hand and shaking it. It occurred to him that he liked Ethan.

***

Noel stood back watching the two vampires who just several weeks ago were enemies. A thought began to niggle on the back of his mind, but it wasn't clear enough that he could get a grasp on it. As soon as he tried to force it, he felt the beginnings of a headache.

"Not time yet," he murmured and went his post. On his way, he made a check on where the women and children were. They had already congregated in the living room. The only person missing was Barb. He stopped to look at the faces and saw the fear. He wished that he could say something to allay it, but he couldn't think of anything.

He passed Joseph who was on his way to the roof and then Martin who was on his way to the front of the house. He greeted each of them with a nod and took his place in the back. While he kept watch, he began to plan his future. He definitely was moving away as soon as the mess with Rufus Saunders was over. The question was where.

He heard a sound behind him and whirled around relieved that it was only Victor.

"What are you doing here?" Noel asked not unkindly.

"They're all taking girl stuff," Victor replied. "It's boring."

Noel couldn't help but laugh.

"I can understand that, what would you like to talk about?"

"Jets," Victor replied without hesitation.

"I'll make a deal with you," Noel said. "You can stay, but as soon as I tell you to go help the women and children, you go."

"Deal!" Victor replied extending his hand.

The first two hours was quiet. By the end of it, Noel knew more about model jets than he cared to; but he enjoyed talking to Victor and loved his enthusiasm. At the end of the third hour, Noel tensed.

"Victor, go back and get the others ready to leave," Noel said his eyes glued to the darkness.

"Whose here?" Victor asked forgetting his promise.

"I don't know, but go now!"

Victor took off at a run leaving Noel alone scanning the darkness.

"Relax," a voice said. "It's just me."

Joseph appeared in front of him with a grim smile on his face.

"I'm just making rounds on the property," he said. "Sorry if I startled you, but good reflexes."

"Did you see anything?" Noel asked.

"No and it's quiet out front too," Joseph replied. "I'm going to head back now, but give a shout if you see or hear anything suspicious."

Joseph vanished leaving Noel alone with his thoughts about where he would move to. Europe he decided. He had been there to visit, but he had never lived there. His excitement grew as he began to make concrete plans to leave states. He wouldn't live in one of the family homes, he would buy his own place. He thought about the eyes in the portrait and as with the memories, he decided that when the time was right, they would find each other no matter where in the world they were.

"Is it alright now?" Victor asked.

"It was Joseph making rounds," Noel replied. "Is everyone alright?"

"They're ok.., Uncle Martin checked on them. They're back to talking about girl stuff. Can I ask you something?"

When Noel gave his permission, Victor hesitated.

"What's really happening? I know that it's more than one person that we're hiding from."

"As much as I would like to explain everything to you, I can't," Noel replied. "That has to come from your parents. But what I can tell you is that I won't let anything happen to you or anyone in your family. Now, may I ask you a question?"

"Sure," Victor replied.

"Why haven't you designed your own model plane? I saw your sketches-they're good."

Victor blushed at the compliment but had no real answer other than he hadn't seriously considered it.

"Will you help me?" Victor asked. "You're a real artist."

"But so are you," Noel countered. "There are many different kinds of art. I could never hope to design a plane, but I would be more than happy to help."

"Yes!" Victor exclaimed happily.

"But it will have to wait until this is over," Noel said smiling. "You'd better get back to the others."

Victor didn't argue. He was already designing his model plane in his head.

****

"You really should be with your sisters," Adrianna said. "You might feel better and maybe Katrina and Rachel can help answer any questions that you have."

Barb didn't reply, but changed her clothes. Anything was better than sitting in the room with only Adrianna as company. When she tried to zip up her jeans, she groaned. She had no choice but to wear one of the maternity outfits that Louise had given her. She had to admit that Louise had good taste and that she actually liked the colors of the outfits. The pale yellow top looked nice with the maternity jeans and felt comfortable.

All chatter stopped when Barb walked in with Olivia. Louise was the first to greet her and then the others.

"We're glad that you came," Juliette said hugging her.

"Well," Barb said dryly, "it beats sitting in my room with Adrianna."

"We're still glad that you're here no matter the reason," Louise said taking her hand. "That's a good color for you," she added noticing that Barb was wearing one of the maternity outfits.

"I had nothing else to wear," Barb replied instead of saying thank you.

She ignored the little twinge of guilt that she felt and sat down. She settled in her seat and prepared to be bored. In spite of herself, she grew interested in the conversation. She just didn't get it. Both Katrina and Rachel married their rapist and had children with them. Kevyn married a rapist and Louise was married to a child of rape. She looked around to see where the children were and spoke up when she saw that they were on the other side of the room.

"Explain to me how you married men that hurt you."

"There is no easy explanation," Rachel replied. "Martin and I were meant to be together even before the rape occurred. It took a lot of time for me to know and accept that..."

"But he hurt you! And then my sister marries someone who hurt other women."

"Barb," Katrina said softly. "It's a hard thing to explain and even harder to understand. I won't tell you that I still don't get angry, because I do. I'm also not going to sit here and justify what they did because it doesn't change anything and it was wrong no matter the reason that it happened. All I can say is that they owned up to what they did and are trying to help others. They are now the men and vampires that they were meant to be.

"Why aren't they in prison?" Barb asked.

"In the human world they would be," Rachel explained. "In this world-the vampire world rape isn't illegal. That's something that we're working to change but as in the human world, change happens very slowly if not slower. Vampires as I'm sure you've seen are slow to change the familiar. In the meantime, we're doing all that we can to stop not just rape, but other violent crimes as well. I agree with Katrina- Martin and Ethan have owned their past and are now the men and vampires that they were meant to be. Like her I still have my moments and I always will."

The words "owning up to what they did" caught Barb's attention. That seemed to be a recurring theme with everyone who talked to her. Thinking that the subject was closed, the conversation went from the rapes to adjusting to life as a mate of a vampire. Barb stopped listening. She was Thorne's mate in name only and that was as far as it was going to go. As the discussion continued, she looked over at Louise who was radiant. Her small hand rested on her stomach and every so often rubbed it.

Barb jumped when she felt a hand on her stomach and then relaxed when she realized that it was Celeste. Barb looked down at Celeste and could see her lips moving. After a few minutes, Celeste smiled and moved away from Barb without speaking. Barb wanted to know what transpired between her niece and the baby but was too afraid to ask. Celeste still scared and freaked her out.

She looked over at Nadine remembering how she had treated her when she was a housekeeper at the hotel. How was she supposed to know that the woman was a card carrying member of Mensa?

"Looks can be deceiving can't they?" the voice whispered. "Look at the vampire that was to be your mate."

"Shut up!" Barb hissed under her breath.

She looked up to see Louise watching her and quickly looked away. She didn't want anyone to know what was going on inside of her head. The baby talking to Celeste was already too much.

"Do you think that the guys are alright?" Juliette was asking nervously.

"You would know if something happened to Hans," Rachel replied. "That's part of the connection that we were talking about. All of us have the capability to reach our mates telepathically although I wouldn't recommend trying it tonight- we don't want to distract them."

Juliette nodded and blinked back tears. When Celeste climbed into her lap, Juliette held her so tight that the girl squirmed. Celeste whispered something in Juliette's ear and Juliette relaxed, but only slightly. As Barb watched, she realized that she hadn't even thought about Leon and he was her brother. A small trickle of reality began to trickle into a small crack that she didn't know was there.

Her next thought was that she hadn't given Thorne a second thought since he talked to her before leaving. Even as she thought about him now, it was in reference to the baby. She wanted him back in one piece because he would take the baby off of her hands. If he died, the possibility that the others would change their minds about taking him was a very real possibility.

"So selfish," the voice whispered.

Like she had done so many times before, Barb ignored the voice and turned her attention back to the group. The conversation had changed to Katrina and Rachel's work.

"We're always looking for volunteers at the fundraisers and at the children's homes," Katrina said.

"I'm swamped with classes," Kevyn said, "but I'll do whatever I can to help."

"Me too," Louise and Juliette chimed in.

Barb tuned them out again and let her mind wander. She daydreamed about where she was going to live after the baby was born. Going back to Pittsburgh was at the top of the list. After thinking about it, she decided that maybe that wasn't a good idea. She had too many friends who would cling to her because she had money. She heard the voice laugh, it's disbelief clear and ignored it. She needed to go somewhere where no one knew her. The only thing that she was sure of was that she wasn't going to stay in California any longer than she had to.

"What about your child?" the voice whispered. "Do you plan to stay out of his life?"

"Shut up!" Barb said not realizing that she had spoken out loud until it was too late.

She looked around to see everyone staring at her. Of all the eyes looking at her, only Celeste's had a knowing look in them. Barb met Celeste's eyes and inwardly cringed. Celeste more than made her nervous, she frightened her. It reinforced the thought that she had to leave the state as soon as possible.

She was angry that she was so afraid of a six year old and struggled not to react as she normally would have- with sarcasm and a sharp tongue. One, she knew that none of the adults would tolerate it and two; Victoria Sinclaire scared her almost as much as Celeste did.

"Barb, are you alright?" Kevyn asked concerned. "Do we need to call Gretchen?"

"No," Barb replied with a dry mouth. "I'm fine. I need a drink of water."

She stood up to go to the kitchen and suddenly Victoria was blocking her way.

"Not the kitchen," Victoria said in a tense whisper. "You can't go into the kitchen."

Up until this point, Veronica and Vanessa had remained silent. They were sitting in the back working on their laptops. Veronica was the first to reach her.

"Victoria honey, it's alright," Veronica said softly as she knelt in front of her. "Noel is in the kitchen, Uncle Martin is in the front and Uncle Joseph is on the roof..."

"Don't let her go into the kitchen," Victoria said sobbing as she threw her arms around Veronica's neck.

"Alright, we won't let her go into the kitchen, okay? Calm down," Veronica said stroking Victoria's back. "No one is going to go into the kitchen."

"Pumpkin," Katrina said as she knelt beside the trembling girl. "We're all safe and no one is going to take anyone away."

Victoria released Veronica, threw herself into Katrina's arms and allowed herself to be carried away. Veronica stood up, looked at Barb and then walked away making it clear that she hadn't forgotten that Barb had made a pass at Rik.

"Strange kid," Barb muttered and continued on the kitchen.

Noel turned around when he heard her enter and then looked back toward the property. He didn't have anything to say to his sister in law, at least nothing nice so he kept his mouth shut. Then he remembered the baby.

"How are you feeling?" he asked glancing back at her.

"Are you asking about me or the baby?" Barb retorted.

"Both of you," Noel replied. "Just because I don't like you doesn't mean that I'm not concerned about your welfare."

"I don't care too much for you either," Barb replied. "What grown man lets his brother support him?"

"Is that what you think?" Noel asked.

"That's exactly what I think," Barb replied.

Noel laughed and shook his head, but didn't say anything to defend himself.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" Barb asked.

"No I'm not," Noel replied. "It's none of your business for one and for two you seem to think that you know it all. Last of all, I don't have to explain to you why I'm living with my brother. I would think that you have more important things to think about instead of why I'm living with Thorne."

"What did he tell you?" Barb asked sure that Thorne had told Noel about the options that he presented to her.

"Nothing but I know my brother," Noel replied. "Your question just told me that you haven't learned much and you don't know as much as you think you do. Thorne is a very private person. He doesn't kiss and tell as it were. You should also know by now that Thorne is not one for petty games and he pulls no punches."

Noel's cell phone rang interrupting Barb's reply.

"Thorne?"

"How are things there?" Thorne asked.

"Quiet-what about out there?"

"Busy, but so far the only casualties are on the hunter's side. I just wanted to check in. I'll call again later."

When Noel hung up, he wasn't surprised to see that Barb was gone.

****

Olivia paced. Benita and Kenneth had given up on calming her and she refused to be compelled to sleep. She had met Grant and his mate Calinda and accepted them as part of her security detail. The other vampire couple, Hugh and Jackie was due in the next night and would meet with Olivia. The other wolf couple, Milo and Natasja would be in by morning to meet with her.

She wanted to ask Benita about the vampire couple and Grant about the wolf couple but refrained. She didn't want any preconceived ideas. She would do what Benita encouraged her to do- trust her instincts. On the plus side, none of the couples knew each other except by reputation. Her thoughts went from the meeting with the couples to her father. Was he still alive or did he take her advice and leave? Her heart raced when she thought about her role in his demise.

It didn't occur to her to change her mind about his death-it was a necessity if there was ever going to be peace. Her mind raced with all of the possible scenarios of his death-none of them pleasant. Thoughts of her father's pending death triggered thoughts about William. She could only hope that he came out of it unscathed.

Suddenly, she wanted William to kill her father if he had to die. William had no love for him, but he wouldn't torture him nor would he turn him. Also knowing William, it wouldn't be an out and out murder. He would give her father a chance to defend himself thus giving him a degree of dignity. Olivia was coming to believe that it was more than her father deserved.

"Can you get me a laptop?" She asked. "I need to do something to occupy my mind."

"I'll get mine," Kenneth said as he stood up. "What else do you need?"

"For this to be over," Olivia replied.

"Olivia," Benita said when they were alone, "what is William to you that you asked that he be spared?"

"Nothing- he warned me about Harry and stayed with me at the club until he had to leave."

"Correct me if I'm wrong," Benita said, "but it seems that William is more to you than someone who just warned you."

"What are you saying?" Olivia asked.

"I'm just making an observation," Benita replied with a small smile.

"Here's the laptop," Kenneth said as walked in completely unaware that he had interrupted something.

Olivia, grateful for the interruption took the laptop and sat at the table. Moments later, she was typing.

****

Thorne appeared behind his club, took a quick look around and vanished. He was surprised that it wasn't burned to the ground. He touched base with Ethan and continued his patrol along with three other vampires. One was from his security firm; the other two were from Ethan's. Ethan's crew was made up of one of his own security team and two from Thorne's. It was a token of trust on both sides.

"Have you heard from William yet?" Thorne asked during one of the check-ins.

"No and things are still quiet at the house. So far no one has spotted either Harry or Rufus. So far we've captured three hunter crews before any of the more radical vampire groups got them."

"Good," Thorne replied. "I wish that I could say that we did as well. We've found an entire team of hunters drained dry. Just to be sure we decapitated them. Ethan, I don't need to tell you that we need to find Rufus sooner rather than later. At some point he's going to realize that he's better off leaving and we may never find him again."

"I know," Ethan replied. "It's beginning to look as if William is our only real chance of getting rid of him."

Thorne didn't say anything, but he agreed and silently wished William luck and Godspeed.

****