Blood Royal (Blood Destiny #5) 7

My head was pounding when I woke and Roff was there, waiting for me to wake, a glass of ice water in his hands. "Roff, I feel sick," I scooted up in the bed, my head in my hands. It felt like a migraine, to be honest, and I wished that aspirin or something actually worked right then.

"Raona, will a bath help?" Roff was trying to coax me off the bed.

"Roff, my head feels like it may explode," I muttered.

"Weeping will do that," he pulled my head against his chest and stroked my jaw. Roff pushed and pulled, coaxed, begged and cajoled until he had me soaking in a bathtub full of hot water, a cool compress over my forehead and eyes. That's where Gavin found me when he came in. I don't know where he'd been and at the moment, I didn't really care. He'd frightened me the night before, causing something to happen that hadn't happened in a long time. Don was the only one who'd ever seen one of those—some sort of breakdown. I'd had several in the first few years after Howard Graham nearly killed me, but nothing in the past decade or so—until now, that is. I suppose it was the injury, the stress and the exhaustion, all weighing in at once. Roff left the bathroom quietly. I didn't make a move, leaving the compress over my eyes. I knew Gavin was there by his scent. He knew I knew as well.

"I'm not going to apologize," I said right off. "That hasn't happened for at least ten years. Hopefully it won't happen again."

"Cara, what hasn't happened in ten years?" Gavin's voice was gentle. Where did that come from? It was as far from what he'd been last night as it was possible to be.

"Don called it crying jags. It happened a lot in the first five years after Howard Graham, well," I didn't finish. "Only once in a while after that before it finally went away. Until last night."

"Cara, I am not Howard Graham."

"I know."

"Cara, I will not touch you in anger."

"Gavin, you say that now. What if I make you mad again? Howard Graham always promised my mother that he wouldn't hit her again. Until he'd get drunk the very next day and break his promise." I pulled the compress off my eyes and the light in the bathroom made me squint and ramped up the headache.

"Headache?"

"Migraine."

"Worse."

"Yes."

"He yelled and cursed, didn't he?" The subject had changed again. Gavin now knelt next to the bathtub, taking the compress out of my hand and settling it over my eyes again. "While he beat you and your mother."

"And before and after, don't forget that." I slipped down farther into the water. There was no bubble bath in this water, it was perfectly clear. Gavin could see every bit of me. I felt a little embarrassed, but then he'd seen every bit of me for a while, now. Gavin took the mesh sponge, dribbled body wash on it and proceeded to give me a slow and lazy bath.

After a while, he began to talk. First in Italian, then switching to French. Telling me how beautiful I was. He kissed my hands and my fingers. Traced my collarbone and nipples with the sponge, and then with his fingers. Said he loved my ankles and kissed those when he lifted them out of the water. And then he started to talk about Howard Graham.

"How could he harm this?" Gavin ran fingers down my ribs. "Could he not see how fine and beautiful it was? Why would any man harm a child, even if it were not his?" Gavin leaned in and placed a kiss—the first of the evening—on my mouth. "Cara, when you are away from me, I dream of your mouth." He kissed me again. Eventually he pulled me out of the tub after the water had cooled quite a bit, wrapped me up in my robe and carried me out of the bathroom.

"There is our little rose," René said when Gavin carried me into the kitchen to feed me a bag of blood. At least two-thirds of a bag, anyway. Winkler, Roff and Tony watched as I had my meal.

"Our girl is fine except for the terrible headache," Gavin put the rest of my blood back in the fridge. I think they all heaved a sigh of relief.

"We have records of deposits, as well as the aliases and the addresses of several homes across the globe connected to those aliases," Bill thumped a thick folder down in front of Admiral Hafer. "Along with names of contacts. Rahim Alif has no loyalty to you, Admiral. He's been handing out information right and left about you. Now, suppose you tell us what you know and which information you've handed to the enemy, or so help me, I'll see you crucified."

Admiral Hafer sat in one of the interrogation rooms at FBI Headquarters, casts on one arm and both legs. He'd been inside those rooms before, only on the other end of the questioning. He knew the drill. He also knew exactly what was going to happen to him. His ex-wife and his son would be crucified with him and they hadn't even suspected. Alif hadn't been the only one pulling his strings, he now knew. The powerful vampire Xenides had gotten Alif involved to begin with. It was a game to Hafer in the beginning. He just hadn't realized how far it would go or how deeply it would wound the country. He suspected now that he'd been under some sort of compulsion all along, but Director Jennings wasn't going to accept that as an excuse. Admiral Hafer's career—and his life—were over.

I was huddled against Gavin's side as we watched the early news before dawn. The news crews had gotten word that something had gone down at Camp David two nights before and were pressing the White House for information. Eventually the White House Press Secretary held a press conference, explaining that campers had gotten lost and wandered into the space normally off-limits to visitors. He denied any altercation and said the situation was resolved amicably. That made Gavin snort while I laughed.

"How is you headache, cara?" he leaned down to kiss my forehead.

"Better. I hope it goes away when I sleep," I yawned.

Xenides had seen the misdirected information released by the White House and wanted to shout and tear the hotel down. Alif captured, Hafer captured or dead, five of his vampires dead—he hadn't gotten an answer when he'd tried to call and the three research biologists Frazier had trained were likely dead as well. Xenides' anger was at a dangerous simmer, but he still had several trump cards up his sleeve. He'd see about putting those into play very soon. Meanwhile, he cursed the vampires who'd died; they'd failed him for the last time.

Chapter 13

"Wear this, cara." Gavin had packed for me, with Roff's help, when we'd left Oklahoma City. Now he was holding up the dark green dress that he'd paid a fortune for last year in Dallas. It was V-necked with long sleeves, hugged my breasts and waist and had a flared skirt that came tastefully to my knees. There was a pair of brown designer heels to go with it. We had an invitation to the White House and Bill told Winkler that the President wouldn't accept no as an answer. Therefore, we were going. Bill sent a limo for us so we packed into it; Gavin, René, Winkler and Tony all dressed in expensive suits.

I hadn't seen Michael in days, only now learning that the werewolf agents Renfro and Delgado had taken him with them to do a bit of moonlighting. I hoped he was happy and impressing Director Bill. Roff had no desire to go with us to the White House and Bill said it was all right if he didn't come. Just as well, I wasn't sure how to explain to the President that not only was he entertaining vampires and a werewolf but a genuine alien as well.

We almost had a private audience with the President and First Lady—Bill was there, the Vice President was there, and the Speaker of the House. Apparently, he was in on the secret too, though I'd never met him before. He knew Tony; that much was certain. Secret Service agents led us into the oval office, the doors were closed and we were offered drinks. We were all seated comfortably while we talked with the President, the First Lady and the others.

"Lissa," the President finally said, "I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate what you did for me earlier. If you hadn't come along, things might have turned out badly."

This sort of thing always embarrassed me, and I discovered that I could now flush, which embarrassed me further.

"It was nothing," I mumbled, attempting to wave off the praise.

"It might be nothing to you, but it means a great deal to us. That's why you'll join a select few in receiving a second Medal of Freedom tonight. Lissa, will you stand to receive this honor?" The President stood and Gavin had to help me stand as everyone else in the room stood as well. My knees were knocking together, I was so nervous. The Vice President handed the velvet case to the First Lady who opened it, allowing the President to lift the medal out so he could place it around my neck. He leaned down and gave me a peck on the cheek, too, as he shook my hand.

"Thank you," I barely got the words out, dipping my head a little. Thank goodness, our group was small; I was obligated to wear that thing for another hour as we made small talk. The First Lady admired my ring, so of course I had to tell her that Gavin was my husband. Surprisingly, he was quite smooth about the whole thing when she started asking questions, such as how we met and how long we'd been married. He only gave the facts, stating that we'd met in Texas and had only been married a short while. She might have been shocked out of her shoes if she knew all the particulars in between.

"Will we see other female vampires?" The Vice President joined the conversation. Gavin cleared his throat.

"Most female vampires are much too shy," René offered a disarming smile as he and Tony came to the rescue. Winkler grinned and winked at me from his place at Bill's side.

"Lissa is the only vampire I know that could do this sort of thing," Tony added. That much was certainly true.

"How do you feel about joining their ranks?" The President asked Tony.

"I like it very much," Tony replied. "Although it does have its drawbacks." The First Lady found that amusing.

"I take it you were near death after the bombing in Paris?" The Vice President wanted to know.

"That is correct, otherwise it would not have been considered," Tony inclined his head. René placed a hand on Tony's shoulder as a warning—not to give too much away. We finally were allowed to leave, after assuring the President that Bill had our number. Bill walked out with us and got us loaded into the Limo. "The President wanted to meet with you alone, Lissa," he told me before shutting the door on my side. "The Secret Service wouldn't allow it."

"Are the other three all right?" I asked, meaning the foreign heads of state I'd hauled away from Camp David.

"They're fine; perhaps a bit disgruntled over their shuffling off to the White House for the meeting. Camp David is being put back together as we speak. Hafer won't ever see the free light of day again." Bill closed the door and our driver pulled out.

"We will leave tomorrow evening for Oklahoma City," Gavin said after we got back to the safe house. He'd gone outside for a while to have a private conversation with Wlodek and came back in with a grim expression on his face. I had no idea what the conversation entailed, but I'm sure it involved me, somehow. I packed up Medal of Freedom number two and placed it in the bottom of my suitcase, along with the green dress and heels. It was unlikely I'd be wearing them again before this trip was done.

September was nearly over when we landed in Oklahoma City; Roff pointed that out to me. His watch was working just fine, thank you, and once again, I contemplated smacking Gavin for giving it to him. "We have two days here and then we must travel to Kansas City," Gavin informed all of us on the drive from the airport to the house in Nichols Hills. Something about that bothered me, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Gavin wasn't talking much, either, for some reason. Normally he didn't talk much, but he was bordering on complete silence now and that worried me.

Winkler was eating in the kitchen the following evening with Michael, who'd flown in separately. I'd made spaghetti for them—with meatballs, of course, when Winkler's cell rang. Trajan, Winkler's Second was on the other end; I recognized his voice.

"Boss—it looks like Kellee's in labor. No false alarms this time," came through loud and clear. Winkler was standing up as soon as the words were out of Trajan's mouth.

"I'll be there in a couple of hours," Winkler said and terminated the call. "I'm going to the airport," he said. "I'll leave my things here; I can pick them up later. Michael—Bill said to tell you to give him a call when this is over and he may have a job for you. Lissa, gotta go."