Bonds of Blood [Lords of the Expanse] (Siren Publishing Classic) Read online

  Looking to her for a moment, Andries reached over to gently brush her hair back, his fingers stroking lightly over her cheek. “She’s a good person,” he murmured softly. “She’s kind, generous, and so giving, much too good for the likes of me,” he said, looking back to his son. “She is the best woman you will ever meet and, I will say this only once, if you make her cry, we will be having words.”

  The baby in his arms just bobbed his head and adjusted himself in his father’s arms, watching his mother and waiting for his sister to come along.

  The midwife came back. “My lord, they are asking to see you and your son downstairs.”

  Sighing, Andries nodded and stood, reaching over to stroke Xandra’s hair back. “Stay with her if you will,” he said quietly, lightly touching his wife’s lips. “She said that she was feeling the first of the birthing pains, but she told me they were very mild.” Looking to the woman, he eyed her carefully. “I will be right back,” he told her and then left the room to go down and show his son off to the throngs there.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  As soon as the lord was gone, the midwife pulled out a comms device. “She birthed the son, but the daughter is still there.” She listened and then said, “Yes, sir. I understand, sir.” She closed it off and looked down at the sleeping lady. “Soon, my lady.” She sneered. “Soon you will be able to free our world.”

  Entering the grand room below, Andries waited as all that were there turned toward him. Introducing his son, he moved around the room for a short while and then, something causing the small hairs on the back of his neck to raise, he excused himself and headed back up the stairs. Pausing at the top of the stairs, he looked around and waved over two of his guards. Ordering them to follow, he had them outside of the master suite’s doors and told them that they were not to allow anyone in or out unless he told them otherwise. At their nods he went inside and, pausing at the cribs they’d brought into their rooms, he laid his son down. “How is she doing?” he asked the midwife as his boy slid into a light sleep.

  “She still hasn’t stirred, my lord,” the woman said and dropped her gaze to the ground. Head bowed and hands pressed together before her, she waited. “Maybe we should go to the hospital, my lord. It could be the birth was simply too much for her?” She knew the lady wouldn’t wake for the second child to be born. She had seen to that. The second child would die, and its body would hopefully impart some of the keys to their future while the mother would give the rest.

  “There is no need,” he told her quietly as he looked to her and knew that she was what was setting off his instincts. “Guards!” he called out and then looked to the men that came in. “If one of you would see the lady to a room and ensure that she does not leave or harm herself, and if the other could go downstairs to get the good Doctor Sheffer please.”

  “He can’t help her,” the woman snarled and jerked at the hands holding her still. “No one can.” A triumphant smile formed on her lips. “You should have sent her to the Alliance Council when they asked you to, my lord.” She was beyond caring because she knew before accepting the assignment what her fate was.

  Holding his hand up to the guard, Andries stalked to the woman and took her by her throat, pushing her back to the wall. “You should know,” he said in a low voice as he lifted her up to his eye level, “my gift is dark and deadly, my lady,” he leaned in closer. “You don’t have to say a word. Your blood will tell me all I need to know,” he said and then, wrenching up her arm, he sank his teeth into her vein as he tightened his hold around her throat and drank, letting the blood swirl around his mouth and down his throat as he pulled what he needed from her mind via the link to the blood. He drank until she was too weak to even keep kicking at him and let her fall, uncaring for the wounds still leaking blood or the bruises at her throat. “Take her,” he ordered as he picked through her pockets and found the counteragent to what Xandra had been given. “Where the hell’s the doctor?” he yelled, moving to his wife.

  “Right here, my lord,” Doctor Sheffer said and frowned. “What’s wrong with the Lady Xandra?” he asked as he moved to her quickly and dropped to the bed beside her to check her vitals. “My lord, what has happened to her?” he asked as he looked up with fear in his eyes. “The babe is struggling.” He laid a hand over her belly and frowned. “My lord.” He wet his lips. “I need to pull the baby from your wife.” He didn’t know what was happening but knew he didn’t have time to find out. “My lord, I need to cut the child from her or neither of them will survive.” The doctor was more than a little nervous, and when the small boy began to scream his frustration, he frowned. It was almost as if he understood what the doctor was saying.

  “That woman gave her something and this is the antidote according to her.” Andries held out the vial with writings that made no sense to him, but he wasn’t of the medical profession. “Do whatever you have to do, Doctor, but they had both better survive whatever it might be,” he warned softly. Turning, he picked up his son before returning to the bed and sitting at Xandra’s side. Lifting her hand, he kissed her fingers as he rocked Dalek and began to pray that she didn’t leave him. She couldn’t leave him. He would not survive it if she did.

  There was no time for the doctor to make his choice, so he nodded and pulled off his outer coat. Cleaning his hands well, he snapped on gloves, and with a special silver blade, he opened the Lady Xandra’s stomach to pull the child free. Laying her on the bedside at her mother’s side, he cleaned her quickly before sealing the wound on the lady’s stomach. “The child didn’t receive the poison. Her body wouldn’t absorb it.” He took the vial and, still not even sparing a glance for the lord, poured it down Xandra’s throat and prayed she would wake.

  “Your daughter needs you, my lord,” he whispered as he sat on the opposite side of Xandra, holding her hand and praying as only an ancient healer could. “We will know soon enough if your wife will survive.”

  Taking Xandra’s hand with his, he stroked his fingers over his daughter’s cheek. “Hello, Andria,” he murmured softly to his daughter. “And yes, I know all about the twist on my name that your mother thinks you’ve pulled over on me, but we will let her think I don’t know. It shall be our little secret.”

  The little girl in question smiled up adoringly at her father and kicked her legs. It wasn’t long lived, however, because she was soon wiggling and snorting as she looked for her mother, for the heat she offered, and for the food she would provide.

  Xandra felt more than heard her child and whispered, “Andries?” God, she hurt. She hadn’t even had her daughter and her whole…“Andries, I can’t feel Andria in me.” Her voice was less than a whisper of sound even when she felt as if she were screaming.

  Dr. Sheffer looked to Xandra. “Calm yourself, my lady. She is lying at your side between you and your husband and son.” He touched her forehead with the back of his hand. “I had to do what was once called a caesarean section by the ancient Earthlings. It was the only way to get your daughter out before the poison touched her.” He bowed. “She’s perfect, my lady.” He grinned. “And hungry, from the looks of her. I will leave you to your husband for the explanations.” With that, the wise old man bowed. “My lord, they are perfect. Treasure and protect them.”

  “Always,” Andries said, looking to the man. “Thank you for all you did for both my wife and daughter. If there is anything that I can ever do to repay your help, please do not hesitate to ask.” When the man left, Andries laid Dalek down and picked up Andria to show her to her mother even as he shifted the sheets and her dressing gown to bare her breast. Settling the babe against her mother, he waited until Andria latched on and then, holding her up with one hand, he lightly touched his son.

  Dalek watched Andria carefully, as if just his gaze would protect her. “Why do I hurt so badly, Andries?” Xandra whispered even as she forced her arm up and around their daughter as well, forced herself to touch their very tiny and perfect daughter. “She’s so very small,” she w
hispered.

  “The doctor had to operate to save Andria before the poison the midwife gave to you could reach her and cause her harm. We gave you the cure but you are likely hurting because of that and the operation,” he said.

  Andria was more than half the size of Dalek. She was far more petite than any child Xandra had ever seen born, and that worried her for her daughter, but when the girl brushed over Xan’s mind, she smiled. “Are all babies able to do that?” She knew that Andries had to have felt it, heard it. Their daughter had given them the reassurance in emotions more than words.

  “What’s that, my love?” he asked her gently, leaning closer to her as he lifted Dalek into his arms once more. Sitting close to her, he brushed back her hair lightly and kissed her cheek. “What are all babies able to do, Xandra?” he asked in a low murmur.

  “It was like when she was in the womb, only it wasn’t words so much as emotions, reassurance.” She frowned and shrugged it off. “Ignore me, Andries. I’m just so tired and hurt.” Once more she touched their perfect little girl’s cheek and smiled. “We did it, Andries. We brought to life two perfect little babies.” She looked up at her husband holding their son with all the love she felt for him in her eyes and barely contained.

  “Yes, you did,” he said, giving her full credit because it had been all her. He’d donated to the cause, but she’d been the one to carry and birth them all the while in great danger. “I love you, my lady wife,” he told her with a kiss to her lips. “But I think you should get some sleep, Xandra. These two will be demanding later, I’m sure,” he reminded her with a hint of a smile before he kissed her once more.

  She started to raise Andria but paused as the pain seared through her. “All right, no moving until I’m healed, I think.” She panted now through the pain. “Will you now take our daughter and burp her, Andries? She didn’t eat as much as her brother, but she did take some.” She yawned and smiled at her son. “Your sister is out in the big world now, my little warrior. You will have a tougher time watching over her now.”

  Laying their son before his mother, Andries took Andria as he helped Xandra roll slightly. Rubbing his baby girl’s back gently, he breathed her in and smiled faintly. “Hello, baby,” he whispered to her. She was so much smaller than her brother, daintier, lighter, his little girl.

  Xandra took in the sight and smiled. How could she not? It was her own little slice of heaven there in their bedroom. “She’s so tiny.” Xan’s hand lightly stroked their son’s head even as she watched Andries holding their daughter. “It’s hard to believe that she will survive this life being as small as she is.”

  “She will survive and she will be strong, like her mother,” Andries said quietly while brushing his lips to his daughter’s cheek, the skin velvety soft. “She may look small, but sometimes the most amazing gifts appear in small packages, my love.”

  Xandra smiled and kissed the top of their son’s head. “I think that I need sleep now though, Andries. I love you, darling, but I’m worn out.” She pulled their son closer, noticing how closely he was watching his father, and smiled. “I have a feeling she will always have someone watching over her shoulder, or am I incorrect?”

  “She will be guarded as the treasure she is, just as you are, my love,” he said softly, reaching over to stroke her cheek. “Sleep, Xandra. I will be here with our children and we will have a short nap with you, too, if you would like,” he told her with a half grin.

  “That sounds simply heavenly, Andries.” Another yawn. “I love you, my husband,” she whispered and looked over their child. “I love all three of you. My family.” She smiled softly and felt her eyes closing and sleep taking her over before she could fight it any more.

  Andria let out a soft and very female burp. “And we love you, too, Xandra, my lady wife,” he said with a grin at his daughter. “You are much more polite than your brother,” he commented softly as he shifted around on the bed so he was sitting boxing in his son. Laying Andria down at his side, he watched as they turned to each other and touched hands. It had to be one of the most touching moments in his life. Settling down, he lay watching them as they both relaxed and slid into sleep. Shaking his head, he rested on his arm and let himself doze, needing to be alert enough to wake immediately if there was cause, but desperately requiring some sleep.

  Chapter Thirty

  During their rest, the twins shifted and moved closer to each other, Andria’s body surrounded and corralled close between her father’s and her brother’s bodies. As if protecting the girl as she slept, the boy was all but wrapped around her. When Xandra opened her eyes, she felt Andries watching her and smiled even as she turned. “No pain, well not as much,” she corrected as she felt the tug on her lower belly. “Soon it will be all gone.” Reaching out, she touched their children’s hair. “How are we going to keep them a secret? Keep them protected?” She whispered her fears to her husband.

  “We won’t be able to keep them secret, Xandra,” he said softly, his hand resting lightly at his daughter’s back. “But we will keep them safe with the knowledge I have on the Alliance and their inner circle to keep them at bay. I know it is not the way you likely want to do this, but it is all I can think of for them. If I come up with something else to do, we will think on that,” he told her as he looked down to his daughter’s sleeping features.

  “I don’t care how we do it, Andries, just that we do,” she admitted. “We just need to keep our children safe, my love. If we can do that, all else fades into the background.” As Xandra looked up at him, she smiled and added, “Even now that they are out in the world, Dalek protects Andria. It amazes me.”

  “It is as it should be,” he told her softly, stroking a light finger to his baby’s face before looking to his wife. “It is as it always will be,” he added with a smile. “Do you wish for something to eat now that you are no longer cursing my name, wife?” he asked her with a hint of mischief.

  At least having the decency to flush, she grinned. “Hey, I was hurting like madness and I had every right to scream and curse your name.” She moved her hand up and touched his cheek. “I love you, Andries. I have always loved you, and I’m so sorry that I cursed your name. I hate that I cursed your name when you gave me such beautiful babies, Andries. I’m sorry.”

  Capturing her hand, he turned his head to kiss her palm. “There is no need to apologize, my lady wife. I know you did not mean all of it,” he said, leaving her a hair of doubt about what he might have believed. “You were in pain and people say a great many things when they are in large amounts of pain to distract themselves.”

  “I did mean one part.” She looked up with all the honesty of her heart in her eyes. “No more, for at least ten years, Andries, no more children, please?” Xandra didn’t know about the trouble his people had in procreation. Where her people were quite fertile, which was obviously the knowledge she was working on, the Vampires were not. “I love our children and I want a dozen of them, but I want many years between them, please?”

  “You’ll have them, love, I promise,” he told her. “We can only have children every century or so, if we are blessed,” he added with a sigh. “You have a lot of time to recover and forgive me for the pain I’ve given you just to bring these two delights into the world.”

  She relaxed measurably and sighed. “I hate to make that demand, especially now that you have said that, but I wanted to make sure that you knew my wishes.” She smirked up at him and added, “And besides, if I recall, Vampires can never have more than one baby at once.” Her fingers touched their son’s head, “One,” and then their daughter’s, “Two.” Laughter danced in her eyes. “Two, strange don’t you think?”

  Glaring at her slightly, he growled softly in his chest at her. “Not strange, special, unique, a gift from the gods,” he told her softly. “They are ours. They are to be treasured, and they will never want for anything,” he promised her with a hint of a smile. “You will likely have to be the voice of reason,” he warned her as he l
ooked down to his daughter with a growing smile. “I have a feeling I may go overboard with these two.” And one in particular.

  She understood all too well what he meant and nodded. “I will certainly try.” There was a moment of clear panic as she added, “Promise me that my father will never come near our children, Andries? I never want him to be around them, or try to play at being ‘grandfather.’ He is a horrible man, and no matter how much I would love for him to change and become a father, I know that he never will. Promise me?”

  Reaching over, he cupped her cheek. “He will never set foot within a hundred miles of our children or you,” he told her softly with a steely undertone. “You have my word as a warrior and your husband in that, my love.” Andries let her see the truth and sincerity in his eyes.

  “Thank you,” she whispered and turned to kiss the center of his palm. “Thank you for giving me your word, for reassuring me.” When she looked down, she watched their son watching her as if realizing the importance of the matter and smiled. “Our little protector. Even when he should be resting, he’s listening to know who to protect from.”

  “It is the way of the males of our species, my love,” Andries said with a hint of a smile for his son. “He will grow strong and will have a protective streak even larger than my own, I do believe,” he told her with a twinkle to his eyes. Stroking his hand over her cheek, he slid his hand down her neck and to her arm, caressing her skin as he went.

  “You know what your touch does to me?” She knew that he did and the play at the corners of his lips told her as much. “I love you so much, Andries, and yes, Dalek will be as protective as you are, more so because he was even protective in the womb and will forever have that tie to Andria that neither you nor I will have.” She grinned as she added, “Poor girl.” Would never be able to do much without her father or brother right there.