Those are your only two choices because I'd die before I let you be a part of my children's life."

Abruptly, Jimmy shoved her behind him. "Maggie, get the h.e.l.l out of here before he kills you!" he screamed.

Simon gave Jimmy a brief look of annoyance before lifting him off the ground with one hand and flinging him halfway through the brick wall of the fireplace behind him. Stunned by a blow that would have killed him if he were mortal, Jimmy could only watch help lessly as Simon grasped Meghann's chin.

"Mr. Delacroix," the vampire said calmly, and Meghann felt more than a little panic at the flat glint in his eyes, his bone-white skin and lips stretched into a narrow, grim line. "Even if I believed Meghann's words, I would not kill her now.

I'd wait until she served some purpose and gave me my heir." Visibly dismissing Jimmy, he turned back to Meghann and favored her with a faint grin. "Words are cheap, pet. What say you to backing that little speech with action, Lady Baldevar?"

Crossing her arms over her chest, Meghann nodded and Simon sank to his knees before her, laughing at her perplexed look.

"You claim to regret not heeding my uncle's warning to spurn my love. As I recall, he did not simply caution but offered you a way to rid yourself of me once and for all. Remember? You must call out to the great Alcuin and allow him to possess your body so he may slaughter me. Summon my old enemy you know I shall make no attempt to strike you now. Even a fiend such as myself would not kill a woman bearing his son. With me destroyed, you and your lover can live happily ever after perhaps he'll even be good-natured enough to play father to our child. Come now, Meghann, achieve your heart's desire with one word Alcuin."

Meghann raised her hands, and her mouth opened but no sound came forth she could push nothing past the lump in her throat. Alcuin, she tried to say but a bittersweet kaleidoscope of memories flashed before her. The small bedroom faded into the vastness of the Nevada desert, where she had nearly lost her life and clung to Simon, begging him not to leave her alone while he had held her close and a.s.sured her no one would hurt her again. Then she saw Simon crush her to him when she shyly offered him her father's ring after he had asked her to marry him.

Unbidden, she felt herself back in the rustic little wedding chapel softly lit with dozens of candles that blurred and became indistinct when she had blinked back tears of joy as she placed the ring on Simon's finger.

"Something wrong?" Simon inquired silkily and gave her an arch grin that made her curl her fist and land a staggering blow on his chest.

"I hate you!" she screamed and hit at him blindly, wanting to kill him when she heard his triumphant peal of laughter. "It's not true, it's not! You you've spelled me somehow, warped my mind!"

"If I had you under any spell, you'd be far more amiable, I a.s.sure you. Come now, sweetheart enough of this foolishness. We both know your cruel words had no substance behind them. You still love me, no matter how piqued you are by my treatment of that nonent.i.ty." Simon swung her into his lap, pinning her arms to her chest to keep her still. "Can't you see I had to keep him unaware so you would not be burdened with the upheaval of his reemergence? Look how upset you are and I admit I am to blame for part of that, but I did not shatter our bargain. I was willing to give him his freedom after you gave birth. I still might allow him to live if you fulfill your part of our deal."

"Do you think I'm stupid enough to believe you tortured Jimmy out of concern for my health or that you had any intention of letting him go?" Meghann snapped, glowering at the condescending gold eyes. "You just don't want any compet.i.tion, you you insecure p.r.i.c.k! And what deal are you talking about?"

"You'll have to curb your tongue around our children I'll not have my heirs exposed to such sordid language. I'm sure you don't recall our deal you have no desire to at present. But I shall refresh your selective memory. You agreed that once Mr. Delacroix regained his faculties, you would tell him all that has happened between us or I would. Shall I start with this?" Simon held up his hand so the plain gold wedding band was reflected prominently in the overhead light.

Though Jimmy was a few feet from them, his vampire eyes gave him the ability to make out of every detail of the gold ring a ring he'd seen a thousand times before around Meghann's neck.

"Your father's ring?" Jimmy said incredulously, and Meghann resisted an impulse to hide her head in her hands so she wouldn't have to see the hurt disillusionment in his eyes. "Why the h.e.l.l is that thing wearing your father's ring?"

"Because I gave it to him," she said tiredly. She sighed and glanced at the floor, unable to meet Jimmy's eyes when she told him everything that had happened while he was insensible.

Meghann spared herself nothing, suppressed no truth Simon could later use against her. She started at the beginning, telling Jimmy she'd barely had time to grieve over Simon's kidnapping him when she discovered she was pregnant. She explained why she needed to drink Lord Baldevar's blood, their bargain that she could work on healing Jimmy in exchange for carrying Simon's child willingly.

She told him about the friendship that sprang up between her and the fiend, how it deepened when she clung to Simon in terror after Guy Balmont's surprise attack. There was no joy, only shame in her voice when she said she'd not only been Lord Baldevar's lover the past five months, but his wife.

"There's no excuse for what I've done none at all. I'm so sorry, Jimmy," she said through her bitter sobbing. "You were my best friend, next to Charles, and I never wanted you to be hurt. Believe me, I'd never have taken a lover if I knew Lord Baldevar was alive. The fiend will kill anyone I try to love. Now that I'm pregnant, I'm stuck with him if I want to be in my babies' lives, that is. And it's more than that in some twisted way, I do love him almost as much as I hate him. Leave, Jimmy, please. Just forget me."

"Maggie, no! It's a joke, right?" Jimmy pleaded. "Like before you're tricking him and you'll kill him when the moment's right. Maggie, there's no way you can love this a.s.shole."

"I'm sorry," she began but Simon put a finger over her lips, pressing down so she couldn't open her mouth to bite him. "You do not owe him remorse. Never apologize to those beneath you, little one. Mr. Delacroix has his wits, what little there were to begin with, as well as the gift of immortality. If he hungers for you, that is his dilemma." Simon placed his chin over Meghann's head and gave Jimmy a grin full of mock compa.s.sion. "I truly sympathize with you, Mr. Delacroix. Of course you fell in love with Meghann I cannot fault your taste, but this extraordinary creature was never meant for such as you. Go and find some bland little sparrow to share your nights with and never cross my path again if you wish to remain alive."

"Meghann?" Charles and Lee stood in the doorway, their eyes darting between the couple by the bed and the man that stood a few feet from them, brick dust clinging to his hair while he slumped and blinked back tears.

"She's simply absorbing the shock of Mr. Delacroix's startling recovery,"

Simon said and glanced at Charles, waving his hand in a dismissive gesture at Jimmy. "Do with him as you will. I'm taking Meghann back to bed so she can relax. Doctor Winslow, come with me I'd like you to make sure this distress hasn't aggravated her condition."

"No!" Jimmy yelled and yanked his arm away from Charles. "I'm not going anywhere especially not with you! Maggie thinks she loves this psycho why the h.e.l.l didn't you get her away from him when he first started to f.u.c.k with her head?"

"She needed his blood," Lee started to explain.

"Who the h.e.l.l are you?" Jimmy demanded but turned his fury on Meghann before Lee could reply. "And you! You used to have a mind of your own wouldn't give a creep like this the time of day. After all you told me he did to you, if you stay with him you're nothing more than a d.a.m.ned stupid b.i.t.c.h!"

"What did you call me?" Meghann said incredulously, and Simon deposited her on the bed.

"Do you see now why I tell you all your altruistic efforts are for naught that they will not be appreciated?" Simon scolded. "Look at this cur you salvaged his mind and in place of thanks, you receive insults. Doctor Tarleton, please escort Meghann to her room while I deal with this worthless specimen that thinks he can address my consort in such a manner."

"f.u.c.k you! She's not your consort and she never will be!" Jimmy screamed.

"You've done something to Maggie, twisted her somehow. Come on, motherf.u.c.ker Maggie may not be able to kill you, but I won't have any problem with it. When you're gone, she'll be herself again."

"Simon, no!" Meghann yelled when he stepped toward Jimmy, and all four men flinched at the high-pitched shriek that cracked the window behind her.

"Please," she said and clutched at his hands. "What do you care what he says or calls you? I said I love you isn't that enough? Please don't hurt him!"

"Maggie, shut up!" Jimmy snarled. "Let me hear you say you love him one more time and "

"And what?" Simon inquired icily, throwing off Meghann's hands and stalking toward Jimmy.

Jimmy took an uneasy step back where the h.e.l.l had that unreasoning anger come from? Was this part of the blood l.u.s.t too, that rage that made him want to wrap his hands around Maggie's throat and take all of that I love you talk out of her by force? And why was he yelling at Maggie, calling her names when none of this was her fault, when the cause of all the h.e.l.l of the past year was standing right in front of him, those d.a.m.ned yellow eyes daring Jimmy to come closer?

"I'm not gonna back down," Jimmy said, so furious he wasn't even afraid of the homicidal rage brewing in Simon's gaze. "I'll die before I stand by and let Maggie stay with you she doesn't know what she's doing."

"You wish to lay down your life for a woman you mean naught to? Very well, such an imbecile has no business being a vampire anyway." He spared a brief glance at Charles, unable to do anything so far except stare in shock at the two enraged vampires before him. "Take Meghann from this room now."

"No!" Meghann screamed before Charles could move toward her. "Simon, please listen " she started to say but Jimmy flew at Simon, a frenzied desperate attack as he pummeled and clawed, trying to get him down on the floor.

For one moment, his hate actually lent him enough strength to surprise Simon and a ragged line of scratches appeared on one cheek but Simon soon regained his equilibrium and flung Jimmy from him with an outraged roar.

Now he stood over the p.r.o.ne vampire but didn't continue the physical a.s.sault.

Instead, he lifted his hands far above him and began a low, even chant that made a strange dark light illuminate his hands.

"Jimmy, get away!" Meghann screamed and broke away from Charles. She knew what Simon was doing had done it herself to kill a vampire when she had no stake or weapon to aid her. He was using a Druidic ritual, appealing to an ancient Celtic G.o.ddess to give his hands the strength to plunge past Jimmy's breastplate and remove his heart. If she could stop the chant, she could prevent Simon from gaining the power he needed and maybe distract him long enough for Jimmy to escape.

Jimmy heard her terror and broke the paralysis Simon's words already held him in. He managed to get one foot up and slam it through his enemy's groin, making him fly off his feet.

"No!" Charles screamed when Simon flew at Meghann, scrambling toward the two creatures fighting over her. Though Simon swiftly regained his balance, he wasn't able to stop himself from crashing into her.

Meghann didn't simply fall to the floor; she slammed through it, a choked cry of pain issuing from her.

"Meghann!" Simon turned her over gently, his face turning an unnatural shade of white when he saw the crimson stain spreading over her nightgown.

"Help me," she panted, barely able to speak through the monstrous pain ripping through her.

Lee ran to her and pushed the nightgown up. "It looks like placental abruption and she's hemorrhaging must be disseminated intravascular coagulation for her to bleed like this." Simon and Charles both blanched at the prognosis as well as the river of bright red blood pouring down Meghann's legs. "She's lost the ability to dot Pick her up easy, I've got to do a caesarian stat may even have to do a hysterectomy to save her."

Simon picked her up, flinching when Meghann moaned and clutched at her abdomen. Swiftly, he followed Lee out of the room, not even seeming to notice Jimmy backed against the wall. "Get out of here, Jimmy," Charles said when they left the room.

"I didn't mean it!" Jimmy burst out, eyes beseeching Charles to understand. "I didn't see her behind him! Jesus, I'd let him kill me before I hurt her like that."

Charles nodded briefly, some of the panic leaving his expression as he turned to Jimmy. "It was just a terrible accident but that doesn't matter. You're lucky Lord Baldevar really does love Meghann. If he weren't so concerned with saving her life, you'd be dead by now. But whatever happens, he's going to hunt you down. Here," Charles said and withdrew a fat wad of bills from his wallet. "Get to the house in Rockaway. Under Max's doghouse, Meghann put the address of your sister she moved your family after Simon transformed you, to keep them safe."

Jimmy flinched at that information, that even if Maggie had done something he really didn't want to think about with Simon Baldevar, she'd still cared enough to look after him and his sister.

"I can't leave I have to help Maggie " Jimmy didn't care if Simon hurt him.

He had to go to Maggie and do whatever he could to save her.

"You can't do anything for her now," Charles said but softened his tone at Jimmy's shattered expression. "Look, you know I'll do everything I can for her, and the other man is Lee the most gifted obstetrician I know. I'll let you know what happened send a letter care of your sister. Please, Jimmy, get away from here before Simon destroys all her hard work to bring you back by slaughtering you."

Jimmy nodded and stepped into the hallway with Charles, feeling something start to block him but then ease away.

"One thing," Jimmy said and put his hand on Charles's shoulder. "Please tell Maggie I didn't mean to hurt her. Tell her that I love her."

"Of course," Charles said and without another thought for Jimmy Delacroix, flew the astral plane, his destination the large ballroom that had been transformed into a surgery and state-of-the-art neonatal ICU for the twins, should they need it.

Charles arrived and saw Simon and Lee already scrubbed and masked, Meghann prepped for surgery on the operating table.

"Let me," Charles said to Simon after he scrubbed up and inserted the feeding tube in Simon's hands through Meghann's nose. He attached it to one of the packs of Simon's blood, prepared weeks before at Lee's suggestion. "You concentrate on keeping her calm."

Simon nodded and wiped a cold cloth across Meghann's clammy brow, holding the hand that gripped his with bone-crushing intensity.

"Promise me," she gasped, fighting to speak through the agony that gripped her.

"Anything, little one."

"Don't don't forget me "

"Don't you dare talk that way," Simon said fiercely, meeting her pain-glazed eyes. "I won't forget you because you're going to be at my side, raising our children."

"I hope so," Meghann said and smiled through her tears. No matter how angry she was over what he'd done to Jimmy, this might be the last time she talked to him and she didn't want it to be a conversation of remonstration or hate. "But if I'm not please, you raise these children like I want you be soft and tender like you are with me. Don't please say it wasn't an act, that you really can live like that "

"Hush," Simon said. "I'll be everything you want in a father for your children and if I'm not, you'll be here to nag and carp."

"One more ow, Jesus! Lee, what's going on?"

Over his surgical mask, Meghann saw the fear in Lee's eyes and felt grateful when he didn't try to lie. "There's some fetal distress. Are you ready for the caesarian?"

Meghann swallowed back her apprehension, knowing the pain she was in would only get worse when Lee cut into her, and nodded. "Just one Simon, don't hurt Jimmy Delacroix. He didn't want this to happen promise me you won't go after him."

A narrow slash of red appeared in his cheeks but Simon only said, "Anything you want, Meghann. Now relax and think only of the wonderful little babies you're going to see soon."

Dimly, Meghann heard the fetal heart monitor and knew that one of the babies was in trouble, or maybe both. The heartbeat was too slow their only hope was delivery. Please, she prayed to anyone that might be listening, let Lee complete the caesarian before they die.

The pain was hideous, worse than anything she'd ever felt before worse than transformation even. She knew she was in shock, knew it by the horrible shaking cold that gripped her. She felt the sweat pouring off her clammy skin and the nausea that gripped her through the pain.

"Gonna be sick," she slurred and felt someone, Simon or Charles, grab her by the shoulders and pull her up so she wouldn't choke on the vomit.

"Help me," she whispered, not sure whom she was addressing. She felt a hand grip hers and managed to open her eyes, gazing into Simon's eyes. His eyes were narrowed and his jaw clenched as though he were in pain too and then Meghann understood he was taking some of her agony into himself, trying to lessen it for her. In that moment, she felt any remaining anger fall away. All that mattered was that this was the father of the children she wanted so badly to live.

"Thank you," she tried to say but in that moment she suddenly found herself standing over her supine body.

Charles stood guard by the machines that monitored her vital signs and frowned. "She's pa.s.sed out from the shock."

"Might be the best thing," Lee murmured and made a neat, vertical incision from her navel to the pubic bone, spreading the abdominal muscles apart before making another vertical incision through the wall of her uterus. "Good thing she can't feel the pain, doesn't know what's going on."

But I do know, Meghann tried to say. Why couldn't they hear her? She glanced at Simon, frowning down at her bloodless, still face.

Simon, don't you hear me?

Abruptly, his head jerked up and when their eyes met, Meghann saw something in his eyes she'd never seen before terror. Meghann, don't you drift away, he said and she moved toward his outstretched hands, finding herself back in her body, almost welcoming the fierce pain. Let her feel pain as long as she remained here, didn't die.

"Don't let me die," she whispered, her voice so weak that only Simon, positioned right by her mouth, could hear her. "I I have to know the babies are okay."

"You won't die," Simon promised and leaned down to kiss her, pulling back in shock at her ice-cold flesh. He turned to Lee, a hard-driving edge in his voice.

"Hurry!"

"What is it?" Charles demanded.

"She's dying," Simon told him, looking almost as pale as the semiconscious woman on the operating table.

"d.a.m.n I can't stop the hemorrhaging! Charles, I need your help!" Lee said, handing Simon two incredibly tiny, bloodied figures that Meghann knew were her children. She wanted so much to hold them but she felt herself fading away again.

Was that really her that still figure with a mop of fiery red hair framing a face that resembled white dough? Look at those deep creases around her eyes and mouth, she thought with an odd sense of detachment from the dying body on the operating table.

Just a little more time, Meghann pleaded with an unseen force but it kept dragging her away from the nightmarish scene of seeing her body die, watching the life drain from her as blood spurted up from the sickly green sheet covering her and drenched Lee's surgical gown. The blood kept coming despite all Lee's frantic efforts to save her, and Meghann was hurtling away, drifting toward some strange place Come back, Meghann!

Take care of my children, she tried to say to Simon, and her last emotion before the peaceful blackness claimed her was a soft pity when she saw Simon clinging to the empty sh.e.l.l that was her body and pleading with her not to die.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Southampton, New York

Six weeks later