"I'm in love with your daughter already," he told Mal, his eyes glistening.

With a smile that seemed as knowing and deep as the baby's, Mal slid her fingers into Jack's soft b.u.t.ter-colored hair that was too long, and s.e.xy because of that. "Stand in line, mister. Stand in line."

In the lobby of the clinic, a nurse gave a look of disapproval to a man talking too loud on his cell phone. He looked like the cla.s.sic beach b.u.m, dressed in a flowered shirt, ballooned knee-length pants, dirty corded sandals, and his dirty blonde hair was pulled back with a blue ribbon-like tie of some kind.

He shot her the same look back and walked outside.

Once his call finally connected, he spoke softer.

"Yeah, Mr. Canzone. I'm outside of the clinic. She had the baby." He listened for a moment, then responded. "Sure, uh, I think it's healthy and she seems to be okay, too. Yes, sir, I'll keep an eye on her and report anything that changes. Sir, how long am I going to have to stay here?"

It was a mistake to ask, Ballgame knew it as soon as he asked. He tried to fix it, but he knew it wasn't possible. He just f.u.c.king hated this little tropical s.h.i.thole with about a billion lizards everywhere he went, even when he tried to p.i.s.s.

"I'm sorry, sir, I meant no disrespect, it's just, I wondered how long the a.s.signment was going to last, that's all."

f.u.c.k me, Ballgame thought, I'm probably toast now.

IN SOUTH AFRICA.

Ahmose hadn't slept well in days. He sat up, once again, blown from sleep, but this time, something grabbed at him. Something insisted on his attention, something he did not understand and could not recognize. It didn't matter, though, whatever it was pounded on his mind. He had no choice but to listen.

What did this mean? His heart was racing, and it felt as if little electrical shorts were lighting up his brain. He had never felt anything like this in all of his centuries. It felt like something was trying to get inside his mind, and although he tried to force the foreign sensation away, it came harder, so much so, that, hands wrapped around his temples, he surged out of bed and across the room.

It was still day, he could feel that, so escaping the enclosure of his dwelling was not possible. In spite of the danger of daylight, he almost opened the door and went out anyway. It seemed as if reason had stopped and terror had taken control of his actions.

But he pulled himself away from the doorway, backed up until he dropped onto a sofa.

"Stay down," he insisted out loud, to himself, although he wasn't sure he would listen.

Something, something, something...was out there, driving him towards it. That was it! He was caught in a spiritual vortex that he could not understand...he needed a seer. He needed Cherise.

Should he wake her? It was a few hours earlier in Iceland, and the household had likely just gone down for rest. Was this imminent? They couldn't pursue it anyway until the sun dropped, so he should try to get back to sleep, then contact Cherise and David when they were all rested and fed tonight.

Whatever it was that begged for attention tore at Ahmose all day. He managed a few hours of sleep in between startled awakenings and roaming around aimlessly from one side of his dwelling to the other.

The minutes never moved more slowly. What on the Mother Earth could be attacking the mind of a child of the moon as powerful as Ahmose? Whatever this was easily scratched itself into his consciousness and demanded he attend. He could admit, but only to himself, that this strange and unsettling event frightened him.

What if he was losing sanity? It had happened to two other first bloods from this community. What made him special enough to escape that fate over his subjects?

There was no real rest now, and he accepted that. One thing he'd learned was that when something demanded control, sometimes the best way to find the agenda was to let it take the reins. For lack of a better choice, Ahmose laid back down on his bed and cleared his mind.

He let it in.

At first, he was overwhelmed. First blood magics swirled in his mind's eye, like cosmic storms, pushing and pulling as if he knew what to do with them.

So at least he knew something now that he did not know before. This had to do with first blood, with his race, his people, perhaps his destiny. Ahmose was grateful that the magics had revealed themselves to him. This, he could manage. The magics would only come if they had purpose, and would only go when they achieved their goal. First blood magics were perhaps the most powerful force on Mother Earth.

First blood magics came from deep within the Mother and from well past the Sky. They were ancient, universal, and ultimately, human. The magics were the base of every first blood born to the sun or the moon, every first blood vampire forming the collective power, as he himself was part of the whole.

Now, wrapped in the overwhelming magics, like recognized like, and Ahmose was no longer afraid. But he still did not know why this was happening and what it wanted him to know. In spite of this unexpected reconciliation with this meteoric intrusion, he knew that he still needed Cherise. A few more hours now, and he would call her to come. As always, he knew that she would.

When night fell again, after Cherise was on her way, Ahmose would secure what mattered most in this village, which were the children. He knew they were as safe in this protected village as they would be anywhere else on earth. But any time something new like this happened, it bore scrutiny to make certain it posed no threat to the village or to the first bloods who called this paradise on Mother Earth, home.

Sleep, now, would not come. His mind wore a whirlwind inside so he knew...this was not a time for rest.

A fine wine, though, yes.

Chapter 17.

"It's impossible to believe that this baby is only a day old," Jack said, as he held Brigitte. She gurgled happily in his arms, the odd bright blue eyes unexpected in a newborn's face. He would swear she was completely aware of him, and wouldn't have been at all surprised if she said his name.

The sun's early rays began to scatter across the gentle sea, and Mal watched her daughter carefully. Erin was inside, in the bas.e.m.e.nt, but she'd told Mal that she thought the baby would be okay with daylight.

"I know very little about first blood babies," she'd told Mal last night as they waited to be released from the clinic. "I had a conversation with a s.e.xy first blood years ago in Paris." Erin's eyes glittered. "He was incredible. If your baby daddy was anything like Xavier, wow, and wow! Anyway, I spent three days with him and we talked about his race some. He told me that their childhoods are quite normal, human for the first twenty or thirty years of their lives. He and his brother had been able to enjoy the sunlight until their vampire blood kicked in and they lost the day. So, I believe that your baby won't have to live in the dark for the first few decades of her life. We know that the sun is life-giving, and perhaps that is the intention of the start of the vampire's life. Still, watch her closely, and if you see any sign of distress, if her skin pinkens rapidly or her breathing changes, get her down here."

"In a heartbeat." Mal paused and looked into Erin's eyes before she went down for the day. "Thank you, Erin, for everything. You've been my savior, and my daughter's savior, and I know I can't ever repay you for what you've done for us."

"You have already. I've been vampire for a little over a hundred years now, and I haven't had any sense of family since I was changed. No, even before that, I had no family. I had been living on the streets in Chicago, running wild with other kids, doing drugs and selling s.e.x to pay for them. Let's just say that my parents were the kind of people who should never have had children. I almost found that with your father, but neither one of us were ready to make any commitments then. Now, there's you and the most incredible baby I've ever seen, who I feel closer to than anyone since Kai. So, I must thank you for that and for trusting me when you really didn't have any reason to do so."

"Desperation. Though I've always read people pretty well, I guess it's the cop in me. Almost from that first moment, I could tell you were an honorable woman. Anyway, I'm getting all maudlin and "Lifetime movie" here, but I just wanted, you know, to tell you."

Erin nodded, hesitated, then moved closer to hug Mal. Unaccustomed to closeness, Mal hesitated too, then returned the hug and found herself clinging.

When they stepped away from each other, both had moist eyes and parted quickly. Mal hurried down the steps to join Jack out on the two-tier deck before the sun rose enough to be a problem for her daughter if Erin's supposition turned out to be wrong.

But it wasn't. Jack smiled up at Mal as she stepped out of the house wearing only a thin cotton sundress, barefoot, with a cup of hot chocolate in her hands and a gentle smile on her lips. He couldn't believe how she glowed, how lovely she looked after giving birth just hours earlier. She stopped and seemed to study the little girl he held in his arms.

"Did you want to take her?" he asked.

"No, please, you may keep her. I'm exhausted and I just want to sit here and absorb the sun and feel the breeze on my face. She'll need to eat again in a little bit and I'll take her then."

Mal dropped into one of the deep lounge chairs with heavily padded cushions, her eyes on Jack. "I just thanked Erin for all that she's done for me. I need to do the same to you. I couldn't have done any of this without you two. You are a lovely man, Jack Martin."

"Not necessary. You guys let an ex-soldier into your lives and he's pretty grateful. I've loved these islands from the first moment I landed here, but it hasn't ever really felt like home until these last few months."

"Strange little family we've cobbled together here, isn't it?" Mal took another sip of the excellent chocolate that Erin had told her she'd gotten in Switzerland. It was true, the Swiss did know chocolate.

Jack nodded. "The best families are the ones that are chosen, not born. Blood alone doesn't make people a family."

"I agree." She closed her eyes and laid her head back as the sun's touch warmed her cool skin. "Ummm," she moaned.

Jack glanced up at Mal, a vision of perfection, relaxed, her eyes closed, feet pulled up, her hands wrapped around the coffee mug perched on one knee. The moan did not aid his attempt to stop his intense attraction to her. Nor had her comment about feeding the baby. His eyes dropped to her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, full, ready to do exactly that, the nipples pressing against the thin dress as if they were reaching for the baby. Or him. G.o.d, she was s.e.xy, more now than before.

He wanted to change their platonic relationship to something more intimate, but he feared that it was still all that she wanted with him. A gurgle made him look back down at the tiny baby in his arms. Yeah, he wanted more. He wanted Bridget and this child he already felt a bond with, perhaps marriage, which he had never considered doing again, and a home where they would raise their children to know how loved they were.

He knew she really cared for him, they had become close, and had incredibly nice times together. Someday, perhaps she would see how good they were together. Jack knew better than to push and he was patient.

Stretching his legs out, Jack tucked the baby securely into the crook of his arm and mirrored Brigitte's mother. He closed his eyes to rest them. He wouldn't sleep, he needed to stay alert to protect his women. He sighed. His women? Yeah, his women.

IN ICELAND.

After waking to a very friendly c.o.c.k, Cherise grinned as she showered in the ma.s.sive cavern-like shower that was perhaps her favorite part of David's enormous Icelandic home. The water, as usual, was warm and sensual on her skin that still had such heightened sensitivity. G.o.d, that man could f.u.c.k. She hated that word when it referred to their lovemaking, but just now, the s.e.x had been so raw, so wild, so primal, it was the right word.

She smiled when she thought that she might be sore for days. It was worth every friction point!

Reaching for the scrubby, she bent to unhook it, when she suddenly lost her balance, her vision blurred, and her head spun. Something had entered her mind, spirit walked through her consciousness, something insistent, something very powerful. She grabbed for the rough tile wall to support herself when the dizziness came again.

Colors, movement, faces, abrupt, then gone, then patterns of motion wrapped in velvet thoughts. Something so totally unexpected, she couldn't believe she felt it. A presence, someone that should not be here, someone no one knew, precious, beautiful, first blood, reaching out to someone who could touch her life force even though she was so new. Precious beyond words! Life that endured! Shoazan!

In the bedroom, David slipped on his jeans and wondered if Cherise would mind if he joined her in the shower. He decided he'd better let her rest, he'd worked the h.e.l.l out of her tonight and they were already an hour late for first meal.

As he leaned over to pick up his shirt, he heard his mate call out.

"Cherise, baby, do you need me?" David asked as he fastened the bottom four b.u.t.tons.

She didn't answer, and while he knew there was nothing that could harm her in the enclosed bathroom, he got off their bed and walked over to push the door open.

"Cherise," he called again as he entered the steamy room.

Again, there was no answer, so he hurried over and saw her head bowed beneath the waterfall showerhead, both hands supporting her against the thick tile wall. She looked up.

"David, I have had a vision."

He moved into the shower and put his arms around her to support her, his clothes now soaked, but he didn't care. His empathic wife could read emotions, but visions were uncommon. They were usually vitally important, but they were also debilitating.

"Come out, baby," he said, and led his wet, naked woman from the shower. Seconds later, he had her wrapped in a ma.s.sive heated towel.

She looked up at him, her enormous eyes locked on his. "She's alive, but he doesn't know that. I must go to him."

Whatever that meant, and he knew it meant a lot, David continued drying Cherise's hair with a smaller towel.

"Who do you mean, babe?"

Cherise stilled his hand and pushed her curly hair back.

"Ahmose, my love. I need to go to Africa."

IN SOUTH AFRICA.

G.o.d, finally! The sun gone, Ahmose burst from his dwelling, the large yurt not nearly enough to contain his wandering spirit now that this unexplainable, bizarre a.s.sault had entered his mind. He stopped beneath his favorite tree, a flowering Ca.s.sia tree that someone had brought him from Java a few years ago, and breathed deeply.

This had been such a rough summer, his mind fractured by memories of Mal and moments when he wished he'd never left her or had brought her here. The birth of the second of his three children, a daughter so perfect he wondered if she had been born of G.o.ds and sent down to him. He did not feel worthy of these incredible first blood children.

But he'd made it past all of it, and was settled in again as master of this village of first bloods, happy again, and ready to move forward. Life was lived that way, he knew that, so he had to stop facing backwards. His life lay ahead, with children, and not just his own, who someday would be more powerful than all of those who came before, who would follow a course set by destiny, the journey as yet unrevealed.

Cherise was his only link to the spirit plane where this strange message must have come to him from. Iceland was a few hours behind Zambia, so he would wait until she and her household roused before he phoned her.

As he thought this, his own cell chimed.

Picking up the call, he greeted a number he did not recognize, but most vampire's numbers were either blocked or private.

"Yes?" he inquired casually, as he'd heard Koen do so often.

"Ahmose, we need to meet."

It didn't surprise him. Cherise's lovely voice coming through his mobile phone confirmed what he thought might have happened. She, too, must have felt some of the message.

"Cherise, is it about my experience this past day?"

She was quiet, then spoke again. "I imagine it is, then. Let us speak face to face. David's jet will be ready in half an hour and we will be en route. We will be with you by first meal tomorrow night."

"What is happening? Can you tell me anything?"

"When I arrive, Ahmose. Life can be very interesting."

"With a thousand years of life behind me, I am shocked that life can still surprise me, and yet it keeps happening."

"I will see you soon, my friend. Stay calm, it will all be okay."

"You know I trust you completely, madame. I will try, but I doubt I will succeed."

"Just hold that little girl in your arms, Ahmose, then peace will come."

"You are a wise woman. I look forward to seeing you and your mate again."

"Salaam, Ahmose."

"Salaam, Cherise."

So, whatever it was, the empath had also intercepted the vision. She had known it was for him.

Patience, then. Ahmose would go through his day, he would do what Cherise suggested and hold his little princess, and await Cherise and David's arrival. He decided he would not worry anyone else with the craziness of the situation until he knew what it meant.

It was going to be a long night and day ahead.

It had been, horribly, enormously, indescribably long. Twice, in the course of the night, Ahmose had become dizzy and had to grab something nearby to keep his balance. Fortunately, no one had noticed those few times and he was able to keep the events to himself. Cherise could not arrive soon enough.

Ahmose had worked throughout the night trying to figure out what any of it meant, but it was too cryptic and he really couldn't imagine. There was a strong chance it was a prognostication, which meant he would probably have to deal with trying to thwart a bad outcome. Surely Cherise would have revealed good news over the phone.

So he spent the day expecting the worst, hoping for the best, and trying to avoid people because this was so important, and he didn't want to speculate on anything until Cherise arrived. Likely, whatever she told him would affect their lives here at the Victoria Falls.

Rest came again, the sun lingering at the beginning of the day, and Ahmose prepared to go in until nightfall, until Cherise and David arrived.