Infinite Love

Chapter 36

Amelia

Two days of hiding out at the Waldorf alone, head in a tail spin. Pregnant. I reach down and touch my stomach. This precious little miracle inside of me.

Part of me just wants to run right now, disappear into the night, it would be easier to run and hide on my own. The thought of leaving Erik, of him never knowing, I know it would keep him safe and I would sacrifice everything to keep him safe.

Well not everything anymore. Our child is more important now.

How can I deny him the same chance to protect and love our child? Even if it puts him in the danger I have always tried to keep him away from, he has the right to be with us. I need to tell him everything.

Still I feel sick and it’s beyond the morning or should I say all day sickness that I have been fighting the last two days. It’s come from no where but now I feel my whole body affected. The few vampire babies that I have had the opportunity to study have grown quicker, the gestation seems to be half of that of a human and once born they have accelerated growth.

This is happening and happening quicker than I would like everything considered. Of all people I should have know this was a risk but I’ve been in such a tail spin since Erik came back into my life that all logic and reason seems to have abandoned me.

Steeling myself I turn my phone back on the get my driver and my breath sticks in my throat at the volume of calls and voicemails that start to filter through. Over a hundred form Erik alone but his is not the one that stopped my breath and made my heart thunder. One single voice message from Damian. He never calls me personally, he couldn’t give a s**t to speak to me on the phone, he simply summons me when he wants something.

My hand shakes a little over the screen before I pull it back, no I can’t face whatever he has to say right now. I quickly message my driver and put the few belongings I have back into the weekend bag. It’s almost evening Erik should be headed back to the penthouse soon.

Half an hour later I’m in the car that seems to snake painfully slowly through the city. Each second makes me feel more and more queasy. I know what I have to do and I know it’s the right thing but it doesn’t make it any easier.

As I walk through the doors to the penthouse my steps echo loudly through the emptiness. It seems not even the staff are here. Walking into the kitchen I make my way to the large wall of wine and select a Malbec. I hesitate for a moment after opening the bottle hand poised in mid air.

Is it okay to even have this and then I chuckle, remembering the insatiable need for blood that the mothers I had studied had had. The robustness of their foetuses. A little wine to calm my nerves will absolutely not harm this particular baby.

Pouring a moderate glass just to take the edge off I wander out onto the large wrap around patio. Glancing at the rippling water of the pool I’m very tempted to just climb in and let it sooth away my troubles.

Instead I wander over to the large stone balustrade that goes up to my chest. I sit my glass on top of it, folding my arms I look out across the city. So many people just going about their lives, facing their own troubles and problems. I wonder if any of them are as colossal as the situation I now face.

I let a bitter laugh out into the air, what an ego I have. Of course they bloody are, some are facing much worse because they don’t have the power or resources I do. It’s a reality check.

Yes Damian is evil personified, yes he is malicious and relentless, yes he is powerful and yes my greatest gift is useless against his magic.

But . . . I have survived him for a thousand years, I have been watching and learning, I have grown strong. I have a reason to fight for my own survival now. I had always been willing to sacrifice myself to ensure Erik’s safety but my child needs me to exist.

Absentmindedly I take a drink of my wine as I continue my musings. My priorities are different now. I need to find a way for us to disappear, identities that can’t be uncovered, I need time to seriously find a way to defeat Damian.

Who am I trying to kid. How do you defeat someone who is immune to magic? Who absorbs it and grows stronger every time it’s used against him? It’s impossible is the same devastating answer I have come up with time and time again over the centuries. Hiding is our only option.

A shiver runs through me at the same moment I feel a presence join me on the balcony, even before I turn I can feel the pure anger rolling from the person.

Erik stands just through the wall of sliding doors, his muscles are tense, his dark hair ruffled and unkempt. His eyes haunted and blazing with a dark emotion. I freeze at the sight of him not yet ready to face this moment.

Silently he takes strong purposeful steps towards me, I have nowhere to go my back pressed into the cold stone as he advances. As he reaches me his hard body presses into mine, one of his hands comes up splaying around my throat squeezing lightly, eyes burning into my very soul. My breathing is laboured as he fills my entire world.

“Who do you belong to Amelia?” He growls his words laced with a double meaning. There is no more hiding.