The Beast 4: Soul Tripping Read online

  Guillermo stepped forward. “Let me see la bebe. Ah, she is precious, amante. Truly lovely.”

  “She really is, isn’t she?”

  “Let’s hope she gets her looks from Anna,” Nadine quipped. “What are you going to call her?”

  “Call her?”

  “Yeah, you know, a name? She can’t go around being just the baby.”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about a name.” He stroked the infant’s head, and took notice that she hadn’t cried once since birth. “How does Rebekah Madison sound?”

  Nan brought her hands to her chest. “Oh.” She hugged her shoulders. “That’s wonderful.”

  His mother’s full name was Nancy Rebekah, and Anna’s middle name had been Madison. It seemed only fitting to name her after two very courageous women. “Rebekah Madison it is then.” He kissed her again and she grasped at his fingers, her eyes so alert for a newborn. “Welcome to the world, Bekah.”

  “And goodbye,” a voice crowed from the kitchen as the French doors burst open, shattering glass throughout the living room.

  Nadine and Tyr were already up and ready for the fight as Guillermo pushed Nan back and out of the room. Nathan clung to Bekah, ready to protect her with every fiber of himself. But the Brotherhood had come more than prepared. A vial was thrown on the floor by one of them, and Nathan watched as Tyr and Nadine dropped unconscious onto the ground. Nathan spotted the skinny kid who’d had his mother the first time, and the kid’s eyebrows jerked up. “He’s not falling asleep! What did you guys do wrong?”

  “It should be working,” one of the robed vampires said. “It should be working!”

  Nathan glanced back at Guillermo, who had passed out behind him. “Oh shit.” Thirteen against one and a half were not good odds. His arms began to tingle as he stepped back over his fallen lover then raced from the room and out the front door. He had to protect his daughter, make certain she was safe. The Brotherhood followed, gliding quickly after him, and for a bunch of anemic assholes, they were fast.

  “Oh, God, please don’t let me fail her.” He whispered the prayer over and over as his vampire vision sought to find somewhere or something that would help him hide his daughter. The tingling sensation in his arms grew worse, like a million ants biting his skin. A spell. It had to be a spell. The Brotherhood of Truth was trying to force him to drop her. “I won’t let you go. I promise.”

  He glanced down at her after the promise and saw that her little face, poking out from the blanket, was starting to glow. In his head, he heard a small voice cry, Stop! Nathan froze. It couldn’t be.

  The Brotherhood surrounded him. The twelve of them began to chant again, but Nathan couldn’t hear them over the white static in his head. The infant’s eyes glowed with power, lighting up the darkness. The vampires faltered in their chant as they watched her blaze with illumination, then without a sound, the light traveled outward to the edges of the circle and the Brotherhood vanished, like they were never there.

  Nathan blinked. He looked down at Rebekah. Once again, she looked like a normal, healthy infant. Only, he thought, she shouldn’t look normal, or healthy. She was four months premature, but she looked like she was at least full term and a month old. He carried her back into the house. Nan had collapsed on the stairs. He checked her pulse, strong and steady. It had just been some kind of sleeping potion. Sitting down on the couch, he stared blankly at the wall, and waited for everyone to wake up.

  “I don’t think we should tell anyone what happened, Bekah. I don’t think they would understand.” How could they? Nathan didn’t understand it himself. The idea that one little person could wipe out that many ancient vampires with a wink scared the shit out of him. If anyone found out… He’d have more than just the followers of the Brotherhood to worry about.

  Bekah smiled. He’d swear on his life, she honestly smiled. And he couldn’t help himself. Nathan smiled back.

  * * *

  Tommy Brown stared at himself in the mirror. He wore a white sheet over his head and wrapped a rope belt around his body. He’d been the only witness, the only one to see the child’s true power. The Brotherhood wasn’t gone, he decided. Not as long as he lived. He would start a new order, more powerful and greater in number. The time would come when Nathan Greer and his bastard child would pay. Maybe not today, or even next year, but Tommy would destroy them eventually. This he made his solemn vow.

  “First things first, though.” He looked around the small bedroom full of science and astronomy posters, and the star quilt his mother had made for his twin bed. “I need to get my own place.”

  Chapter 12

  The next evening, Nan had her party for Nathan. The box she’d put in his hands the first night was a Celtic knot gold ring. It had been his grandfather’s and she thought it was time Nathan should have it. Alfred and Shirley were ready to go home. Alfred actually seemed to be taking the whole vampire thing in stride, but Shirley, not so much. When she finally started talking, it was mostly babble. They said their goodbyes at the door.

  Nathan extended his hand to Alfred. “Thank you,” he told the old doctor. “For everything.”

  “You’re welcome, young man.”

  “Be good to Mom.”

  “She’d kick my butt if I wasn’t.”

  “She’d have to stand in line.” Nathan chuckled.

  Alfred smiled and nodded his agreement. “Until next time.” He walked Shirley out to the car leaving Nan alone for her goodbye. Guillermo carried Rebekah down the stairs, and Nadine and Tyr came in from the living room.

  “Oh, I’m going to miss you, son.” She pulled him down and kissed his cheek, then she looked around. “All of you.”

  She walked over to Rebekah and took the infant from Gui. “You,” she said to her first and only grandchild, “you, I am going to miss the most. No offense, son.”

  “None taken, Mom.” Nathan grinned.

  “You take good care of our baby, you hear me?” She sighed longingly. “I’ll think about what you asked, Guillermo.”

  “Did I miss something?” Nathan watched as his mother and his lover exchanged glances.

  “I’ve invited Nan to live with us and act as caretaker for the child during the day. If it is amenable to you, amante.”

  “I think I’d like that.” Wrapping his arms around his mother and Bekah, Nathan held her tight. “I think I’d like that a lot.”

  “Well, then I might just do it.” Patting his back, she held him just as tight. “I love you, baby.”

  “I love you, too.”

  “Oh!” She gave an extra squeeze. “I didn’t even have to force it out of you. Fatherhood is already doing you some good.”

  Before she left, she embraced Tyr, Guillermo, and even Nadine. “Take care of my boy,” she added, as she walked out the doors.

  “I like her,” Nadine said suddenly.

  All three men stared at her.

  Placing her hands on her hips, she narrowed her eyes. “What? I can like her, can’t I?”

  Epilogue

  Less than a month later, Nan had moved into the mother-in-law’s quarters with Alfred. And no, they were not living in sin. Alfred had proposed shortly after they arrived back home, and they eloped to Vegas the next week. She took great care of Bekah during the day, while Nathan and Guillermo cared for her at night, with the occasional babysitting by Uncle Tyr and Auntie Nadine. The thought of Nadine as an aunt sent a shudder through Nathan.

  Guillermo had pressed Nathan once or twice about what happened that night, and Nathan finally told him the truth. He expected Gui to get a little freaked, but instead, the master vampire was pleased. It seemed as long as Nathan and Bekah were safe, it was the only thing that mattered to him. On another front, Nathan’s day waking seemed a thing of the past. He hadn’t had any more dreams or early risings since the day Anna died.

  He still grieved her loss, but the house Gui bought for them had finally become a home. Rebekah had her own room, right next to the master b
edroom, and a baby monitor sat on Nathan’s nightstand.

  Guillermo snuggled up behind him, kissed the nape of his neck and pressed his cock against Nathan’s ass. “Good evening, amante.”

  Nathan took Gui’s arm and wrapped it over his chest. “Evening.” Turning over, Nathan licked his lips, then pressed his mouth to Guillermo’s.

  “Is she still sleeping?”

  Nathan nodded. “Yes.”

  “Bien.” Rolling on top of Nathan, Guillermo growled, “I plan to do wicked, wicked, naughty things to your body.”

  “Mmm. Like what?”

  “First, I am going to suck your cock until you beg for release. After, I plan to fuck you until you are completely agotado. Exhausted.”

  “Ooh.” Nathan grinned and pursed his lips. “I can’t wait.”

  “Eh,” he heard on the monitor. “Eh, eh.”

  “Alas, amante, nuestra hija pequeña has other ideas.”

  Nathan loved it when Guillermo called Bekah “our little daughter” and he kissed his lover hard in response. “I’ll be right back, don’t move a muscle.” He wiggled his finger at Gui’s solid erection. “Not any of them.”

  Throwing on a pair of boxer briefs, he went into Rebekah’s room. She was standing on the inside of her crib, holding on to the rails. “Not possible.” But he was discovering the impossible was completely possible with his small miracle.

  At one month, she was physically at the developmental stage of an eleven-month-old child. Even her two bottom and top teeth had started to come in. She held her arms out to him. Immediately, he picked her up and bounced with her. Grabbing his finger, she brought it to her mouth. Nathan felt a sharp sting.

  He jerked his finger back. “Ow!” The tip had a small puncture with a tiny drop of blood beading to the surface. “What the hell?” He pulled back her lip in time to see tiny fangs retracting on either side of her top teeth into her gums.

  Green-blue eyes stared up at him with innocence, and he thought, Okay, this is just one more thing in a long list of things to deal with. It’ll be fine. But what happened next, he was totally unprepared for. Rebekah winked and said, “I’m hungry, Daddy.”

  The End

  Reneé George

  Reneé George was born and raised in California. She lived in Hawaii and Texas before settling in the Midwest. Happily married for sixteen years, Reneé lives a hectic, but fulfilling, life with her husband and her sweet baby boy (okay, so he’s eleven now, but he is still her baby!). As a self-proclaimed voyeur, she thinks that there is something distinctly voyeuristic in most people. Watching the lives, loves, and self-discovery of unique characters unfold in the written word can be extremely satisfying. It’s like knowing a great secret. Fantasy, paranormal, and science fiction have always been a big part of her life, allowing her to escape the mundane. She became hooked on alternative worlds and realities after reading J. R. R. Tolkein’s books when she was nine years old. She enjoys writing strong characters with even stronger desires. Her website is at www.romance-the-night.com.