Echo Book 2

24. Vampire

I wake up a couple of hours later. I'm lying over my boys in the command area of the ship. They brought in a couch.

"Good morning."

"Have a nice nap, baby?" Malax flips his paper over.

"Yep. How do I put another captain's chair over there? You both need one."

"Nadine did it with the scepter somehow. I wasn't there, only heard about it." Tim rubs my feet and flips his paper over. They are working on something.

I jump up. "Bring me the scepter."

A brain hands it to me a minute later. I sit in the captain's seat. "Where do I put it?"

The brain guides the end of it into a hole. My vision goes orange, then I see the command room as tiles. I feel the boys' hands on me. They must have run over. I can move everything around the tiles. I don't want to mess anything up though. I put another captain's chair beside the one I'm in. Then let go.

"I fixed it."

"Good job, baby." Malax kisses my head. "Why don't you go take a shower? You still have salt on you."

I shower and put on a summer dress. Then check my phone. Eriska has blown it up. She wants to turn into a vampire too. Of course, she does. Maybe I can make her go first.

-Where are you?-

-Corix-

-Any ships there?-

-Rye has 1-

-Tell Rye to bring you to earth-

-He won't-

-Steal the ship-

-He's got the shuttle guarded-

-Tell one of my brains to bring you a shuttle down from the ship in space. Make sure you're away from Rye.-

I do my hair.

The brain comes over. "Eriska is seeking approval to move a ship from Corix to Earth."

"Is she on it?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Anyone else?"

"No."

"Approval granted. How long will it take her?"

"14 hours."

-I'll tell Kane you'll be there in 14 hours and to help you. Find him when you get there.-

-Thank you.-

I find Kane on the contacts list.

-Where are you at?-

-Still Earth. Figured I would stay since you're coming here anyway.-

-Eriska is coming to earth. She'll be there in 14 hours. Will you and Mary help her please? She wants to be a vampire.-

-We'll watch for her. Who is with her?-

-Nobody.-

-Ok.-

I go back to the command area and the boys are in the captains' seats with papers. "How long?"

"Couple of hours. You hungry?"

"No. I'm going to roam around. I wanted to check the animals."

"Alright, yell if you get lost, baby."

I check the plants first. It's amazing. The area is huge. An entire level of the ship is for fruits and vegetables. Big area for grain. The animals are the same way. They seem happy with the area to run in. They're healthy. I can't complain. Then the fish tanks are huge. We have several different kinds of fish.

"Where did that orange fish come from?"

"Nobino. King Victor's planet."

I text Victor and tell him I want to get some orange fish off his planet for my tanks.

-Now?-

-No. I'm going to earth now. Maybe a week or 2.-

-No problem.-

Then I go back to my boys. "Victor is going to let me get some orange fish from his planet. I want to put them in the tanks. That was so good."

"Yea, that is a good fish." Tim pats his leg, so I sit on his lap. I snuggle with him and he rubs my back.

I wake up when Malax picks me up and carries me to the shuttle. Nobody says anything. I'm trying not to have a panic attack. We get to Dipak's office and Malax is still carrying me around.

Dipak motions to the table. "Have a seat. I didn't realize you were both coming."

"Neither did we."

The boys laugh and Malax puts me on my feet. I jump straight to Tim and wrap around him.

"You're alright, babygirl. Let's do this quickly. She's barely holding on."

"What's wrong?"

"Scared." Tim pats my butt.

"Tye, don't help."

Mary laughs and stands up. "I'll help. I went through it too. You'll be fine. We have a doctor down there who has done this lots of times. Come with me."

Johen smiles at me. "Pass out as soon as you can. Do not fight it. You'll wake up, and it'll be over."

Nadine gets in the elevator with us. "I've done this before. And Mary and I will be there when you wake up. We want to make sure you're ok before you get slammed with the first mate bond. Who is going first?"

"Ax is. I'm going back to the resort planet. I wanted to talk to Tye about the roller coasters he has set up."

"As soon as she's unconscious you'll want to do that. You can't be around her as she flips. Neither of you can. She'll be unconscious for an hour or 2, and you'll go crazy."

Malax winks. "I'll be in the building, baby. I won't leave you alone on earth. I'll wait for one of them to tell me I can go in."

"Ok."

Nadine bypasses the security check with us. Then we go up to another level. I have a nice room.

"Hi Echo, I'm Dr. Cruor. Are you ready?"

I shake my head and cling so tight to Tim. He lays me down and kisses my head. "You'll be perfect, babygirl. Then we get forever. I need you forever." He kisses my lips. "I love you."

"I love you too."

"I will never be able to hear that enough." He kisses my head again and Malax takes his spot.

"My girl."

"I'm scared."

"It's ok to be scared. But you have to be strong and brave now. I know you can do it. You got us through a whole invasion, baby. Then you saved me. It's time to be brave again."

"I want a brave break after this."

They chuckle.

Then Malax kisses my lips. "I love you."

"I love you too."

I feel the needle poke my hip. It feels like lava runs through my veins. I grab the blankets and my body goes stiff. Then it feels like my organs are being eaten by lava. A high pitched, blood-curdling scream comes out of me.

Nadine shoves my head against the pillow. "LET GO."

Blackness closes over everything.

I open my eyes and I have a tube in my mouth.

"Good job. You did it." Nadine helps me sit up.

"Why do I feel disgusting?"

"Your body fought hard for about 45 minutes. Your pulse was racing. It caused sweating and tight muscles. We had the bedding changed when you stopped, but yea, you'll still feel gross until you take a shower. Drink this. The drip will prevent frenzy, but you need 12 ounces for now."

It's blood. I sip it, then I chug it. "That's amazing. How long was I out?"

"10 hours. We weren't sure if you were sleeping or unconscious. Figured you'd wake up eventually. The blood was absorbing fine."

"My boys?"

Mary goes into the bathroom. "Both are still here. We're keeping them informed. Tim is working at the table this morning before he leaves. I think he wanted to wait until you woke up. Malax is waiting for us to summon him. I figured you would want a shower first. Maybe some food."

Nadine nods. "Once you feel the mate bond, you're not going to eat."

"I didn't bring more clothes."

"I got some for you. Do you need help in the shower?" Mary hangs a dress like the one I have on, in the bathroom.

"I'll be fine. I have to get the sweat off me."

"I'll have breakfast set up when you get out."

"Thank you."

I wash everything twice then get out to a big breakfast. It's weird not having to breathe. Everything else kind of seems the same. Mary does my hair while I eat. She even dries it.

"You are crazy good with hair, Mary."

"Lots of practice."

"Is Eriska here yet?"

"Not yet. Another 2 hours. Kane, Rye, Tim, and Ax figured out she stole the ship."

I giggle. "I told her too."

"They figured that out too. She was authorized to take the ship by Queen of Queens Octavia, herself."

Nadine and I laugh.

"Rye is 4 hours behind her. Ax had to send him another of Kehlani's ships."

I nearly choke, I laugh so hard.

Nadine pats my back. "They're going to have too many ships here. They're each going to have to drive their own home."

I wipe my eyes off. "Going to have to send out a memo, if people are going to the same place, they can ride in the same ship."

Mary nods. "Save on transportation costs that way. Are you ready for Ax?"

"What if he changed his mind?" I panic.

Mary cracks up laughing. "Then I'll send Tim. But he didn't change his mind. They are waiting as patiently as they can."

"I'm ready."