Valley of the Shadow Read online

  “Don’t be stupid,” Jake said. “Who would take care of Sadia?”

  “Hey.” Natalie pinched his arm. “Don’t say stupid.”

  “Sorry.” Jake was pouting. “How long until we can see you?”

  “Dad told you.”

  “A year?” Jake’s eyes were wide. “Really a year?”

  “Why?” Sarah started crawling into Natalie’s lap. “A year is forever, Mama.”

  “It’s not forever.” Natalie smoothed the flyaway curls from Sarah’s face. “It’s a long time, but I’m going to need that long to feel like myself again. To get better.”

  “Are you sick?”

  “Kind of.” She kissed Sarah’s head and hugged Jake closer. “But after I become a vampire, I won’t be sick ever. Isn’t that good news?”

  “Did Dad have to spend that long away from his family too?”

  Natalie took a deep breath. “I think it was a lot longer.”

  Jake’s eyes went wide. “Longer than a year?”

  “Yeah.” She glanced at him. “See? A year isn’t so bad.”

  “I’m gonna be taller,” Jake said. “Maybe as tall as Andre.”

  “Maybe.” Natalie smiled. “I think you’re gonna be pretty tall. Like Grandpa Ellis.”

  Andre was one of Gus and Isabel’s many nephews. Or great-nephews? Great-great-nephews? Who knew? He was one of the kids on the ranch and he was a few years older than Jake, but he’d been happy to have someone near his age to play with. He and Jake had quickly become friends.

  “Mom, does Grandpa Ellis know what’s happening?” Jake put a hand on her arm. “Did you tell him?”

  Jake understood more than Sarah why they couldn’t spend much time with Grandpa Ellis, though they did talk via screen time. “We haven’t told Grandpa Ellis, baby. We’ll video chat when it’s safe. He just knows we’re out of the country for a while.”

  In fact, they’d told Natalie’s father that they’d be out of the country for a year for Baojia’s work. Since Natalie’s father had never truly recovered from his wife’s death, Natalie’s contact with him had always been sporadic and limited. Her becoming a vampire would just make it more so.

  “What do you want to do today?” She hugged both her children close. “Anything you want.”

  “I want to… make cookies. And play with my new paints,” Sarah said.

  “Cookies sound good.” Jake shrugged. “Whatever you want to do, Mom.”

  He was already so much like his father it made her heart ache. Jake wanted everyone to be safe and happy. If everyone around him was happy, he was happy. If someone was troubled, he was troubled. He had a protective streak a mile wide and a huge heart.

  Natalie kissed the top of Jake’s head. “I’m gonna miss you so much.”

  “But you’ll be back.” Jake slipped his hand in hers. “A year is gonna go really fast, Mom.”

  “Yeah.” Sarah put her arms around Natalie’s neck. “Super-duper fast.”

  They waited until both the children were sleeping. She and Baojia put them to bed together in Natalie and Baojia’s bed, giving kisses, reading stories, and getting many cups of water. It was an early bedtime for both kids, but they were tired out from a long, happy day of playing in the river, baking cookies, and painting sunny pictures for Natalie to take with her to the cabin.

  Baojia took her hand when both the children were in bed and led her to the door. Natalie lingered, watching their chests rise and fall. She stared at them for a long time, matching her breath to theirs.

  “Make me leave.” She blinked back tears. “Otherwise I never will.”

  He put his arms around her from behind and rested his chin on her shoulder. “You’re doing this for them.”

  “And for you.” She leaned into him. “And for me.”

  “Look as long as you want to,” he said. “And remember that a year is going to fly by.”

  She nodded, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away. She gripped his hands in hers. “They’re safe here.”

  “So safe,” he said. “Surrounded by our family. They will wake up in the morning while you are sleeping, and Dema will take them swimming. Beatrice will be in the library to read them stories. Matt will take them on the horses, and Dez will bake cookies.”

  Natalie nodded, but she still couldn’t look away.

  “And when it’s bedtime, Carwyn will come in and say prayers with them and let Jake pray for the entire human race and all the aliens too.”

  She laughed through her tears.

  “Giovanni will probably try to teach them Latin. Brigid will give Jake archery lessons because I told her a seven-year-old handling a BB gun was out of the question. And Makeda and Lucien will be there from sundown to sunup, making sure they both feel like they’re at home.”

  She nodded and sniffed. “Okay.” She turned and stood in his arms, letting his strength soak into her fear. “Okay.”

  “One more kiss for now,” he said. “Then we’ll go.”

  She nodded, walked quickly to the bed, and kissed Sarah’s cheek. Then she kissed Jake’s and reminded herself that her children were loved, and after that night, not even cancer could take her away from them.

  Baojia and Natalie walked through the woods and up the narrow trail to a large, spacious cabin built into the hills around the valley.

  “Holy shit.” Natalie stopped when it came into view. “You know, I forget a lot of the time that they’re totally loaded.”

  “This is… impressive. And to be fair, we’re also loaded, but not as loaded as they are, and we have two children to send to college.”

  “What you’re saying is when it’s time for us to build our chalet in the Patagonia Mountains, we’ll keep it a little more modest?”

  “I mean…” He shrugged. “Is that third story strictly necessary?”

  “It’s a little ostentatious.”

  “So it fits the Italian.” Baojia grinned when she elbowed him. “Kidding. Kind of.”

  Beatrice came out on the porch. “We can hear you!”

  Baojia laughed as Natalie covered her eyes. “Stupid vampire hearing.”

  He put his arm around her. “You’ll get used to it soon enough.”

  Natalie turned to him. “Hey, George—”

  “I know.” He put his hands on her waist and faced her. “I’m leaving you here. I’m not going to follow. This step… it’s for you to take.”

  She took a deep breath and swallowed hard. “Stay with the kids?”

  “I will.” He studied her face, every inch of it lit clearly by the full moon hanging over the valley. “Thank you.”

  She smiled. “For what?”

  “For loving me. You knew this day was coming. From the beginning, you knew. And you loved me anyway.”

  Natalie threw her arms around his neck. “It wasn’t a choice.”

  He squeezed her tight. “Yes. It was.”

  Baojia took her mouth in one last searing kiss before he sped away into the night.

  Natalie watched him go. Then she turned and walked up the path to the light waiting for her. Makeda and Lucien were in the doorway. Lucien, smiling with his timeless eyes, and Makeda, welcoming her with open arms.

  Beatrice met her at the foot of the stairs and held out her hands. “Are you ready?”

  Natalie looked around her, at the living night that called her, the moon and the wind, the soaring mountains surrounding them like an ancient embrace. She looked over her shoulder at the lights in the valley below.

  “I’m ready.”

  Chapter Ten

  She woke in a bed, but it wasn’t like any bed she’d felt before. She was surrounded by warmth and energy. Her body felt like it was part of the bed, connected like something plugged in to a vast energy source.

  She took a deep breath and smelled earth and green living things. She was naked, but it felt like the most natural thing in the world.

  Her throat burned with hunger.

  She opened her eyes and wondered what had happen
ed to them. She felt him in the darkness that wasn’t dark, his scent as familiar as her own.

  “Baojia?”

  “Drink.” He held a cup to her lips, and she drank. It soothed the burning in her throat, but the taste was too rich, like asking for water and being given a glass of wine.

  “Mmph.” She pushed the cup away. “Too much.”

  “What?”

  She shook her head and the world spun around her. Too much input. Too fast. She closed her eyes. “Too much.”

  “Keep your eyes closed.” He moved next to her, and she felt the heat from his body.

  No, not heat. Energy. Pure, undiluted energy.

  A shiver of excitement coursed through her.

  “You need to drink.”

  “It’s too much.”

  “You barely drank a pint.” His voice stayed soft but firm. “You need more.”

  “I need…” What did she need? She opened her eyes and looked for him. Focused on him. “You.”

  His smile was glorious. “Hello, wife.”

  “Hi.” Oh, he was even more handsome than before. His brown eyes were flecked with dark onyx and gold. The angles of his cheekbones were elegant. Had the shadows always highlighted his features so well? His scent was layered with the smells of water. Minerals and vegetation. Rich grasses, salt, and sand.

  He leaned forward and kissed her mouth gently. An aching sprang in her jaws, and a rush of desire bolted through her like lightning. She tasted blood and tentatively moved her tongue through her mouth.

  “I haf fanks.” She covered her mouth. “Oh my gah.”

  His low chuckle echoed around the dark room. “Yes, you do. They’re very beautiful.”

  “You think so?” She felt like she’d just had the strangest dental work ever and her mouth was half numb. Only it wasn’t numb, and her throat was burning again.

  She reached for the cup. “More.”

  The rich liquid hit her tongue, coating her mouth and soothing her throat. Her fangs retracted. The burning dulled.

  Natalie looked around her. “Where are we?”

  “We’re in a room that Lucien just happened to dig into the back of Giovanni’s house while you were sleeping.” He craned his neck. “It’s pretty nice actually. They can probably use it as a wine cellar or something when we’re done with it.”

  Natalie recognized the darkness, but it was as if she’d been given an extra set of eyes. She saw everything. The smooth dirt floor and the stone walls. The soft bed she’d felt so comfortable in was a shallow bed of earth that had been churned up to surround her body.

  “Did Lucien… I’m trying really hard not to feel like this is a shallow grave, but it kinda is, George.” She flexed her fingers and her toes. “Except the shallow grave feels supergood. Like that feeling of jumping into the pool the first day of summer.”

  “He said it would be the easiest way for you to wake. That you’d be most comfortable here. Was he right?”

  “I think so?” She shuffled her shoulders into the bed of dirt and felt the ground form around her. “Whoa, that is so weird. How am I doing that?”

  Baojia smiled. “That would be a question for Lucien.”

  “Did you wake up— Whoa.” She sat up. “More blood.”

  “Good.” He held out the cup for her to drink, and Natalie swallowed gulp after gulp of the thick liquid.

  “Oh, I really do not like that, but I do.” She licked her lips and tasted earth and iron. “You drink that every day?”

  “It’s blood, Red. I drink it about two times a week. You know that.”

  “Right.” She swallowed hard. “I mean, it feels good, but it doesn’t taste good.”

  He frowned. “Really?” He took a tentative sip from the cup. “Tastes normal to me.”

  “Ugh.” She made a face. “Really?”

  “Really.” The frown stayed. “So… wait. This doesn’t taste good to you? Not at all?”

  “No. I mean, I want it, but it doesn’t taste good.” She took another long drink. “What is it?”

  “This is normal human blood. Donated. It’s fresh even. We saved the preserved blood for when you needed it later. This is from… Well, it’s from a willing donor.”

  She waved a hand. “Yeah, maybe don’t tell me that right now.” Her skin prickled and itched. It didn’t feel bad, just… “I don’t know how I’m feeling right now.”

  “That’s perfectly normal.” His fingers tentatively ran over her bare shoulder. “Do you remember last night?”

  “If only you were asking me that because I got rip-roaring drunk instead of having all the blood drained from my body.” She shook her head. “I don’t remember much actually.”

  “That’s not uncommon.”

  “I remember Lucien biting me, which was weird. And like… not sexy at all. He’s such a doctor.”

  “Yes, he is.”

  “And then I remember… I think I just fell asleep. Did he use amnis on me?”

  “I believe so. It soothes the normal human reactions to having the blood drained from your body.”

  She put a hand to her forehead and closed her eyes again. “Wow. Yeah. Superweird.” The burning in her throat spiked, and she felt her fangs grow long. “Oh my gah. More blooh. I nee more blooh.”

  This time, Natalie drank and she didn’t stop. She couldn’t. She drank and drank and the blood didn’t taste good, but it was satisfying. So much more satisfying than anything she had ever drunk in her entire life, and she just needed a river of it poured directly into her mouth like a waterfall of bloody goodness.

  After she’d drunk what felt like the entire weight of her body and more, she took a breath. “Oh, that’s so weird.”

  “What?” Baojia was cleaning off her face with a warm, wet cloth.

  “I don’t feel full. I mean, I kind of do, but mostly I just feel…”

  “Hmm?” He was intent on his work, dabbing at her face and lips, trying not to rub her sensitive skin.

  Natalie felt her fangs drop hard, but her throat wasn’t burning. She stared at Baojia’s mouth, the fine curve of his upper lip. Her eyes trailed to his neck. His shoulder. They dropped down to the line of dark hair that ran down his belly, and an unrecognizable sound left her throat.

  He stopped what he was doing and met her eyes. “Did you just growl at me?”

  Natalie tackled him.

  She took his mouth and straddled his body, her thighs pressing into his hips. “Take off your pants.”

  “Mmmph.” He couldn’t speak, but he shoved her back and stood, tearing off the pants he’d been wearing.

  Natalie stared. His body was covered in dirt, but his erection stood proudly, jutting out from his body. Natalie eyed it and her mouth watered.

  He walked toward her and tapped her chin. “Uh-uh. Not until you’ve got a little more control with those fangs, Red.”

  She gripped his hips and ran her tongue up the inside of his thigh, scraping her fangs along his skin and leaving a red, welling line of blood.

  “Oh fuck.” He breathed out hard. “You gonna lick that up?”

  She couldn’t answer him, but she did as he suggested, and the spike of pleasure that hit her tongue felt like an electric charge.

  The blood in the cup had been thick, rich, and heavy. His blood was sweet.

  Baojia knelt down and faced her. His hands cupped her breasts, and she let her head fall back. It felt so good. Everywhere he touched felt so good. She wanted him to touch her everywhere.

  “Like this?” He sent a wave of amnis licking over her body.

  Had she said that aloud? Natalie moaned. It felt so good she wanted to weep.

  “Yes, you said that aloud. What about this?” His mouth touched her neck. His lips explored his favorite place to bite, and her body responded instinctively. “Do you want this, Natalie?”

  “Yes, yes, yes.” She loved it when he bit her. “But first…” She put a hand on his erection.

  “Excellent idea.” He laid her back on the ground,
spread her legs, and eased his way inside.

  Her flesh was swollen and ready for him. She wrapped her legs around his hips, thrilling at the surge of energy she felt at her back.

  Plugged in. She felt like she’d been plugged in and turned on at the same time.

  He angled her hips up and went deeper as his fangs pierced her neck.

  Without any warning or buildup, Natalie climaxed in a massive, overwhelming wave. Baojia didn’t stop moving in her. He thrust through her climax and into it, holding her as she shuddered and wept.

  Her mouth felt empty. Her fangs ached.

  “Here.” He kept moving, but he put his hand at the back of her head and brought her mouth to his neck. He turned his head and bared the side of his throat to her.

  Natalie didn’t have to be told twice. She hooked her leg over his hips and drew him even deeper as she struck his neck with her fangs and latched on.

  His roar of pleasure echoed in the stone chamber.

  She held on and sucked hard, swallowing the sweet blood in ravenous gulps.

  This was sex. What they’d been doing for the past eight years had only been foreplay.

  He convulsed in her arms, and she felt his climax as it if were her own. His blood mingled with hers. His amnis—cool, precise, and deadly—entered her body and twisted around her wild, chaotic energy.

  He surrounded her and she grew calm.

  This.

  This.

  This was her mate. Her lover. Her husband. The other half of her soul.

  She understood it now. Her blood and body worshipped him. His touch adored her.

  Natalie didn’t have any words. Not a single one could even touch the measure of her feelings.

  He was everything. And she finally understood.

  She was everything.

  Baojia watched Natalie as she drifted in a postcoital haze. She’d drunk more stored blood and fallen into a semiconscious trance, sinking back into the bed of earth Lucien had prepared for her. He could feel her amnis in his body and knew that it was chaotic and confused. But it was also happy. Content.

  Wild and happy. Confused and content.

  Yes, he knew this woman.

  He couldn’t contain his smile. He felt like he might be smiling for centuries. So much for the stoic and cynical enforcer; he might have to find a new line of work.