As Dawn Breaks, page 5




“Do you have kids here?”
“No, but Celina and Javed have the three they share their apartment with and I suppose will probably adopt in time, formally. But we’ve got a plan for the nest, including buying the houses around and making them part of the greater nest compound. Building multifamily units with a crèche on-site. Makes sense, as we’d like to move the office onto the grounds eventually, with only the manufacturing arm in town.”
“Wow. You’ve been busy.”
David blinked. “I suppose so.”
He found a bench, and they sat down. “You don’t sound like your heart is in it, though.”
Maybe it was because she was an officer of the police, or perhaps she just had a kind of perception. He shook his head. “I really don’t know what I want to do with my life. Before this, I let my parents decide, gave them the power to set the direction, and it didn’t work so well.”
She sighed. “I sort of know what you mean. I love my maman, but she’d have me married by now and making babies if I let her. But I don’t want that.” When he looked at her, she shrugged. “That’s not totally it. I mean, there are other reasons, but I need to live my own life. Decide who I am before I make the kinds of long-term decisions she’d like me to make.”
“And you like what you do?” It was written on her face, in the way she held herself and the determination to do what was right.
“I feel like I was born for the role. Protect. Serve. There’s no higher calling, is there?” Genevieve—Officer Fernly, he reminded himself—informed him. Then she rubbed her chest.
“When were you injured?” The words escaped unbidden, and her face blanked.
“Pardon?”
“Now and then, you rub your chest, as if it hurts.”
Her hands clenched, and a single long claw emerged. Not for the first time, he wondered if she realised just how much she was sharing when her emotions got the better of her.
“It was… something like that.”
He didn’t miss the way she corrected herself. But it intrigued him. Made him want to know more. Clearly she had issues.
Hell, so do you, idiot.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I didn’t mean to put you on the spot like that.”
Chapter 4
Genny sighed. Something about this man made her want to talk and confide. To see how he’d cope with her and what she really was. It wasn’t wise, but the animal inside her urged her on.
“I’m a hybrid.” The words tumbled from her mouth before she could call them back.
“And?” One simple word, but it encapsulated the entire issue. He didn’t understand. Hell, he lived in a world of vampires, where humans were kept safe and the ugliness hidden behind a façade. Nothing like her reality. “Maman took several lovers. My brother, Bastien, is the son of her mate. I’m not.”
He stared at her, expression blank.
“Cats can have more than one fuck in a heat session, right?” The coarse words flowed from her mouth. She needed to tell him all. It was brutal, but it was also her reality. “My maman was in heat. It was before she agreed to formally mate with my twin brother Bastien’s father.”
She stood, more than a little aware that her every movement betrayed the agitation she held inside herself. It had built and built over the years, and now she had to release it because there was no other option. It lashed at her. Saying the words and acknowledging them was necessary; otherwise, it felt like she’d explode.
“She was a party girl. One night, when the heat grew, she was out drinking with friends. She met a guy who she thinks was Irish, but she was drunk and never really told me much about him. She always said she couldn’t discuss it.” Genny swiped a shaking hand across her forehead. Now that she’d opened up, it just rushed at her like a dam where the wall had failed. “She took off with him for the night, then met Bastien’s father the next day. Only she didn’t know she’d already been impregnated. Nine months later, we were born. Dad—that’s what I called him for fourteen years—thought we were both his until puberty. Then the truth came out. Maman had to leave the pride. She ran because he said she’d duped him, and he was viciously angry. I was no child of his, he said, and unworthy of his support and protection, making me a bastard with no standing in the clan. We hid until I turned eighteen, and on my birthday, she went back to him without me. Bastien went with her. I joined the academy, and that’s my story.”
It wasn’t, though. Not in its entirety, because the story of her, and Julien was something else. The thing she would never get over because she was scarred. Not just emotionally but also physically.
“She wants me to come home. Bastien is taking a mate, and I may return for the ceremonies that come before and the Joining. I don’t know if I can.” Her breath caught, and in that moment, truth and reality aligned as never before. “Papa—my grandfather—passed two years ago, and the edict has been retracted. I could go back, but I don’t know that I want to.”
She turned, and he was there, standing behind her. His face shadowed, yet all she felt radiating from him was understanding and acceptance.
“Why, Genevieve?” He spoke gently, as if not to spook her, reaching out his hand to her.
“Because they broke me. It took so long to pull together what I have. What I am now.” Damn that hitch in her voice and the way she shook. Terror careered deep within her at the depth of emotions welling inside. Shaking her head, she pulled back, away from David and the heat that warmed the icy centre of her being.
He didn’t release her, instead followed where she led.
No one had ever wanted her once they knew what she was. And wasn’t.
“I could come with you.” Five small words, but they wound around her like an embrace, filling the empty chasm inside her.
She wanted it. Needed it with an urgency that surprised and overwhelmed.
“Don’t…,” she whispered, but he gathered her closer, and their lips brushed together by chance. Electricity arced between them, and the cat inside roared its pleasure at the touch and demanded more.
“Genevieve,” he murmured, settling his mouth on hers more firmly as he fitted his frame to hers. It felt… good.
She tugged away, refusing to acknowledge the need that raised its head, because if she allowed it to grow, she might never recover when he left.
“Don’t. Please, Mr Jardin.” The words snapped him still, just as she’d calculated in the split second before saying them.
He let go. “Forgive me.” His face was once more as impassive as the usual mask he wore, but in the depths of his gaze, she spied hurt and something more. Rejection.
Before she could do anything else, he spun on his heel and left her there alone in the courtyard.
Burning eyes settled on a form at the end of the garden. A child.
The hairs at her nape rose.
What the child was, she didn’t know, but she had to get out of there now.
Chapter 5
David worked like a demon, hoping to banish thoughts of a womanly body and soft lips.
Night came, and with it the awareness of someone in the doorway, watching him.
He raised his head and started with surprise. “Hope.” Uncertainty about how to welcome her raced through him. Years of lies and anger simmered between them still.
“Do you mind?” Her face softened as she stepped into the room. “You’ve settled in, then?”
Stilted conversation, but he deserved no more. “Uh, yes, thanks.”
“I came to talk to you. See if you’re okay. Cressida made a comment last night, but I wanted to check on you.”
“Ah, she made a similar comment to me, I’d guess. Last of the line and so on.”
Hope nodded. “Yes.”
“I’m fine.”
He fisted his hands. Fury at their parents and Alexa, because they’d been close once, he and Hope. Now it was like a damn wall lay between them, and neither seemed to know how to get past it.
Hope gave a tiny nod and retreated, and for a moment, he felt the urgency to follow her. He stopped himself, pouring every ounce of will into the admonition. She didn’t need him.
David picked up the card that lay by the phone.
Dialled the number.
“Yes?” a sleepy voice filled the air.
“When did you plan to check the mercantile building? I’ll have men ready.”
“What?” The word was more alert, as if she’d just realised who called and what was being said.
“When, Genevieve?”
Silence filled the air as he waited, aware she hadn’t hung up. Rustling echoed. “Uh, not tomorrow. Tuesday, say ten in the morning. We could meet at the precinct.”
“Fine. Cars?”
“Bring your own,” she muttered.
“See you then.” He hung up, stared at the phone. Then he smiled.
Genny cursed into the darkness. “What the hell was that all about?” Rubbing at the now aching spot between her eyes didn’t relieve the pressure.
A glance at the clock assured her it wasn’t worth going back to sleep. With another, even more vicious curse, she climbed from the bed. Letters that had been waiting for her when she’d returned from the precinct that morning caught her attention.
One, the address in elaborate script, captured her eye. “Oh, Maman!”
Tears pricked her eyes, well aware of what lay within the heavy cream parchments. She scooped it up on the way to the fridge and tugged out yet another steak. Blood filled the bag, and she sighed, popping the envelope onto the bench before tossing the meat into the pan on the stove. She covered it with pre-made stock and added a few frozen veg, then set it on a very low heat. Searing the outside seemed to satisfy her almost human half, while the animal within relished the bloody centre. “If only the rest of my life was so balanced,” she muttered.
At the sink, she rinsed, then dried her hands and picked up the envelope once more.
“Funny, the weight of it.” Sliding a nail under the flap, Genny broke the seal.
She slid the heavy card from the envelope, then peered back in. Something wrapped in paper remained. With care, Genny slid it from the base and peeled back the wrapping, revealing a handwritten note.
Ma petite bebe,
I should have given this to you long ago. However, with Bastien now looking to the future, I must face the sins of the past. I must explain my past, though it will not be easy.
Your father—for there was only ever one other than Luca—gave me this the night we came together. Said it would one day meet a need.
It never occurred to me that the need may not be my own, but yours.
Bastien and I both want you to return, even if only for the ceremony, but at the end of the day, this decision is yours. However, we must talk, and this is best done face to face, daughter.
Call me.
Your loving mother,
V
She glanced at what she’d uncovered. A very large gold coin, which winked in the light. She sighed. “A coin? What’s this supposed to mean?”
True, it caught her eye, the way it winked and shone as if a new penny. Her fingers wanted to curl around it.
Her knee banged against the cupboard. “Shit!” She growled and realised she’d stepped forwards without thinking. “That’s odd.”
Genny tossed down the invitation, and it covered the coin. The sudden need to hold and caress it melted away, and she breathed deeply as the stink of burning meat filled her nostrils.
“Oh, no!” She tugged the pan from the stove, switching the knob to Off. “Gods damn it!” The growl married with the lurch of her belly and the knowledge that she’d somehow allowed herself to become bewitched more than irked.
Tossing the meat and veg into the trash, she retreated from the kitchen. “Shower. Change. Get out of here.”
She hurried through the necessaries, but the pull to the coin remained, like a bloody tether between it and her.
It was only in the car, distance between them, that she drew a breath. The car paired with the cell, and she stabbed her finger at the autodial.
“Bebe?” Her mother’s voice floated along the wind.
“What the hell is that coin, Maman?”
She sighed. “I don’t know, Genevieve, but I had this feeling you needed it. I meant to give it to you when you mated, but—”
“It entranced me, Maman. I burnt my steak and banged my knee.” God, she sounded like a stressed and sulky teen.
“What? Why are you cooking?”
“Maman, we’ve been over this many times. I need more than meat and bone…”
“Because you’re not fully—”
“Yes. I know what I’m not.” The regret in her mother’s voice almost broke Genny, so she bit out the last word more than she meant to. Shame washed over her. “I’m sorry for that. Look, I’m going to grab some food and head into the office. You’re right though, we need to talk. About what I don’t know.”
“I… I understand, bebe,” her mother answered.
The sadness bit at Genny. “Je t’aime Maman,” she said, then ended the call.
One moment, then another passed before Genny turned the key in the ignition and drove from the parking lot.
David tried to apply himself to the best interests of the nest over the next few days. He met with the supervisors, met with the bank. He even met with the builders and architect working on new drawings to expand the house itself. With the purchase of the three neighbouring properties, everything was moving forwards at pace.
He just didn’t feel so darned enthusiastic about his tasks, though.
Tuesday morning, he opened his wardrobe, tugged out a pair of well-worn jeans, a collared shirt, and a leather jacket from the very back, where he’d hidden them moving to the nest. These were clothes he’d owned long before Alexa had stuck her claws into him, the sort his mother deplored.
He teamed them with boots. Heavy soled and reinforced, if they got into trouble, at least a blow would hurt. And if he stepped in something…
Waiting on the bottom step, ten men and a tiny woman hovered.
“We should go.” He motioned them forwards.
The large people mover proceeded, followed by another. Without the cresting of the house, they could almost pass for anonymous. Almost, except the gleam of chrome and the elegant lines screamed money. There wasn’t much he could do about that.
The group split into two sets. With the keys in his hand, David climbed into the driver seat. By agreement, nestlings took the very rear seats, and with a rev of mighty engines, they moved out of the driveway and towards the road.
The weight of his car required David to concentrate and find the rhythm. “I think we should order another couple of these. The weight will make them resource hungry, but looking at the specs, I like their defensive value,” he told the man sitting nearest him.
“I thought you might. We’re tweaking the tires too. Found some that are combat suitable. Given the uncertain times and some alliances we’re discovering, I think these will sell well.”
He grunted. Another income stream would certainly assist the house.
Traffic was reasonable, and by the time the car swung into the parking area within the precinct, he realised they’d made up time. “I’m going in. Stay here and monitor the cars.” It wasn’t so much an order as a firm suggestion.
He took the stairs at a run, having once before visited the Liaison Division—straight after Alexa’s arrest. She’d been brought to this building before she’d been officially tried at a joint sitting of the vampire Council and human judiciary.
Cells out the back were carefully reinforced to hold many species. The only one they didn’t hold were vampires, but given the robust nature of the vampiric trial system, agreements had been put in place, allowing vampires to deal with their own.
Alexa had straddled both sides with crimes against vampires and humans. In a historic decision, both sides had come together to hear the evidence and pass judgement on her. Now she was facing the term of her natural life in a maximum-security cell block somewhere overseas.
Once inside the door, he stopped. A man at the desk scowled. “Mr Jardin. Can I assist you?”
It took a moment for the name to come to mind. “Uh, no thank you, Lieutenant Belarmino. I’m here to meet with—”
“Officer Fernly. Yes, she and her team are coming now.” His voice echoed, hoarse and growly, and not for the first time, David wondered exactly what the man was. Of course, he couldn’t ask. That was beyond rude, and the dictates of his upbringing didn’t allow for that.
David heard commotion and peered over the lieutenant’s shoulders. There she was, face pale and drawn but very much focussed. Around her was a group of four other officers.
Her gaze settled on his, and he noted the way her face tightened. She stopped at the desk, indicated that the others precede her, and stared at him.
“Officer, I have two vehicles downstairs. If you’ll join me.”
“I said I’d prefer you didn’t attend,” she muttered, and he couldn’t help a grin.
“You did, but I also told you, where they go, so do I.”
“Huh,” Belarmino growled. “If you’ve finished your foreplay or byplay or whatever, go. Some of us have other work to attend to.”
David did not extinguish his smile but noted the narrowing of her eyes. He trailed her down the steps and watched as she circled the vehicle.
“I don’t know this make.” She bent down, inspected the wheel arches and windows, ran her fingers along the paintwork. “Where did you get this?”
“Both are prototypes. After the recent attacks on both nests and house vehicles, we began work on reinforced cars.” He shrugged. “Every house will want one if we can make them right.”
She stayed still for a moment, then nodded. “Makes sense. Who’s driving?”
David smiled. “Me.”
Genevieve climbed into the passenger seat. “Comfortable,” she commented as he slid behind the wheel.