Chapter Six

She leaned against the railing of her balcony and looked down into the darkened woods below her waiting for any type of movement. It had been awhile since she'd had a decent feeding and her body ached for fresh blood.

She closed her eyes listening to the sounds of the night and reopened them, a grin spreading across her lips, as she heard the soft sound to the right of her.

"You better not have been followed."

"You didn't sense me coming did you? Trust me, I'm alone."

She turned facing him and threw herself into his arms hugging him tightly.

"Is is so good to see you Lance. I have missed you so."

He laughed, setting her back to the ground, and cupped her face dropping a light kiss to her lips.

"You are so beautiful Christabela. I am so glad you are back home. When will you return to the lair....or have we been captivated too much by THE Father Chasez?"

She stepped back away from him arching her brow as her eyes set off a soft glow.

"Bite your tongue Lance. I will never return to the lair.....not as long as my brother has lost his mind."

He slid his arm around her waist and pulled her tight against him looking down to her lips.

"I would rather bite your tongue than my own."

She placed her hand on the back of his neck and pulled him down to her slipping her tongue between his soft lips. His teeth sank into her tongue and he sucked hungrily at the blood that flowed from it, moaning as he pulled away wiping away the drops that remained on his lips.

"You do taste sweet Christabela......God how i've missed the taste of you."

She giggled and took him by the hand pulling him into the house.

"Come. The last thing we need is Christopher finding you are here."

He sat on the arm of the couch and watched her as she sat moving into a comfortable position.

"You are hungry. It shows in you. Come with me and get yourself a proper feeding. I can tell it has been awhile since you've had a decent meal."

She laughed and waved her hand in the air dismissing his words.

"Do not worry of me dear Lance. I have survived quite a few years without the coven. I will be ok. I will fetch a meal later. Now.....you come to me for a reason. What is it?"

He smiled as he slid from the arm of the couch to the cushions propping his leg across his knee.

"My purpose was that I needed to see you. It has been too many years and I tried to get away to see you again. Christopher has made it impossible here lately."

He shifted on the couch and grabbed her hands pulling them into his. "Please come back to us. With you there Christopher would change..."

"Christopher would do no such thing. He wants to lock me away and use me as a breeder...a way to rebuild a coven that I no longer approve of. He's turning toward the Sabbat Lance and I can not believe the three of you have not stopped him. I will not let him use me and I will not let him destroy any of you."

Lance laughed and reached out caressing her face lightly.

"You still are the feisty one." He leaned in closer brushing his nose to hers and smiled. "It is with me that he wishes to breed you with. Would that really be such a bad thing?"

In one swift motion she moved herself across the couch and straddled him, lowering herself and rubbing her hips against him.

"No...that would not be so bad after all....BUT that would be a true wish of Christophers and I can not grant him his wishes. Besides, you are here to discuss Natasha. You are in love with her......I am not surprised."

He pushed her from his lap and stood from the couch walking slowly to stare out the sliding glass doors.

"She is a mortal. Just a retainer that I will use for breeding. I am NOT in love."

She laughed, standing from the couch and moved over behind him resting her cheek on his back.

"You are in love........your blood flows through mine.....I know what you feel. She is no ordinary mortal you know. You sensed that when you chose her. She has lineage."

She stepped back grinning and wrapped her arms around her waist arching her brow as he spun to face her.

"She has no lineage. Granted....I thought there was something about her when I laid my eyes on her, but it was nothing more than she was the perfect choice to carry my child."

"Don't be blind Lance." She laughed moving to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water holding it up. "Want some?"

He shook head and leaned against the door frame folding his arms across his chest.

"No...and don't change the subject. Where do you get this lineage shit? You have been with the ancients way too long."

She opened the bottle taking a drink and moved back to the couch sitting down.

"She is a 14th generation of Santiago. Granted, the blood line ended some years ago....but it's there Lance. "

She took a sip of her water never taking her eyes from him as he sat down across from her and stretched out his legs sighing.

"She is sick."

"I know."

"What is wrong? Christopher says to put her from her misery....."

"Christopher is her misery."

Setting the bottle to the table, she folded her legs indian style and patted the couch next to her smiling as he moved across the room taking the seat.

"Natasha has lineage.....Christopher knows this, and it pisses him off. Santiago and my father were arch enemies. Santiago ..........I believe....had a hand in my fathers death. For that I owe him a lot. My father was an evil man Lance, and you know that. Natasha needs to be embraced....and soon. This baby could kill her, your son is powerful. Almost as powerful as our child would have been."

He sighed and threw his head to the back of the couch closing his eyes.

"Then Christopher will never agree to an embracing. He would rather see her dead. I can not embrace her without his permission Christabela."

"No." She smiled. "You can not embrace her without the permission of the leader of the coven. I....as queen.. reign over Christopher, and with my permission, she can be embraced. She will need one vial of my blood, along with yours of course, but it must be done soon."

Lance nodded and sat up on the couch staring down as he laced his fingers together.

"She is pretty special to me you know. I don't want to lose her."

She leaned over running her fingers through his hair and kissed his cheek.

"You will not lose her. Tomorrow night, you embrace her......make her your childe....I can take care of Christopher. The ancients took great care of me over the years Lance and I learned a lot from them. If I can get that book from that damn Father Chasez then........"

"You do not need a book." He laughed sarcastically cutting off her words. "You have walked hand in hand with the ancients.....lived with them. You are rare to our kind Christabela. Females are not know to be born to our kind and you are one of the few who have........hell you are one of the only two remaining. You have powers that we would all suck another dry for and still not be able to gain. You don't need some damned book to find the names you need to stop Christopher. You are queen......and you can take him down."

"Lance....."

She looked down to the floor and took a deep breath before looking back up to him.

"Know why I have really refused to breed with you all these years?"

He shrugged his shoulders and narrowed his eyes watching her.

"There is something you have hidden from me all these centuries? You kept that one blocked good. So tell me 'ol wise one.....why have you refused my great body?"

She laughed at his playfulness and her smile slipped from her lips looking into his eyes.

"Because I didn't want to have to send her away to the ancients to protect her from Christopher the way I had to be protected from my father. Father Mulhee saved me......"

"Father Mulhee was foolish. He should have remained with the coven instead of hiding in the Catholic Church."

He stood from the couch and ran his fingers through his hair turning back to her, a questioning look lingering on his face.

"A daughter? Really?"

Christabela nodded her head and looked down her hands.

"Trust me Lance. We would have created a daughter.....and I can't do that."

He sighed deeply and moved back to the couch sitting down next to her, cupping her face in his hands.

"I have someplace I need to visit. I will return here at sundown tomorrow and get you. Christopher will be out looking for you so it will be safe for you to return to the castle. Once she has been embraced she will need your help to survive Christabela. I can't teach her everything on my own."

She grinned and kissed him softly on the lips and pulled back pushing against his chest.

"Get out of here and tend to your needs. Tomorrow night I will be ready. Keep her safe Lance.....and most importantly....keep her from Christopher."

He quickly kissed her on the lips and moved back to the balcony disappearing into the night. She sighed and stood from the couch stretching walking back out to the balcony and inhaling deeply in the night air. She sensed a victim and smiled floating to the ground below her to begin her hunt.