VIOLET DAWN

Chapter 46

As Patrick's voice disappeared from her mind, Violet braced herself for pain, but it did not come. Instead Daniel released her arm, and began to touch her stomach. His fingers were harsh as they stretched her skin this way and that.

"It can't be. It is not possible," he kept muttering. Violet waited with her breath hitched in her throat. She did not understand what he was doing, and the unknown was almost worse than what had come before.

And then Daniel began to laugh. At first it was slow, but then he laughed harder and harder, and Violet knew he had lost his wits. She wanted to scream. Kill me already! End this misery! But she refused to let them know the extent of her misery. 

"Friends!" Daniel said, when he could manage to speak between the laughter that was shaking his body. "I have an unexpected gift for you this day."

Violet could feel confusion ripple in the room around her and her thoughts went to Ismail. She could smell him, somewhere behind her; he was still on the ground. Would he be able to beat the poison? Was he feeling better and could he fight? Her mind filled with questions as Daniel yanked her off of the alter.

She stumbled, her bare feet skidding on the dirt ground as Daniel pulled her arms back and held her out in front of him.

"Look at the crescent mark on her stomach! She carries the child of a Vampire!" Daniel declared triumphantly.

Violet's mouth went dry and she tried to pull her hands forward to cover herself. He had lost his mind. Didn't he know humans could not bear children to vampires? The sudden excitement in the room was palpable.

"How can it be!"

"That is the sign!"

"Another Blessed?"

She felt the hungry eyes on her body and bile rose to her throat. They were all mad. Utterly mad. 

Daniel was at her ear, his voice rough and hot, "I should have known. Anne Dewberry was of the Blessed bloodline, the sister to Angelica's mother. No wonder she was so obsessed with killing Ismail. He is your father, isn't he?"

Violet's head spun with what she was hearing. No, Ismail was not her father. He couldn't be, could he?

Daniel pushed her to the side and suddenly there were two others holding her while he moved away in Ismail's direction.

"I must congratulate you, Ismail. You have a beautiful daughter, even if she is only half Vampire. Tell me though, how did you manage to impregnate our dear Lady Dewberry when she had such a great hate of ? I met her on several occasions and she seemed to have a great hate of you."

Violet listened, waiting for Ismail to deny it all, but the man said nothing.

"How touching," Richard laughed somewhere to the left. "Look at her. I really think she did not know."

Someone clapped merrily in the distance.

"This is so much fun! A Leader and a Blessed one and we get to kill them both!" Elisabeth laughed. "I have a wonderful idea! Let us kill them together. It is only fitting!"

"Why not?" Daniel said, sounding contemplative. "Lie them side by side on the alter and tie them down. It is time to finish this."

Violet struggled as they moved her back onto the marble. A moment later, she felt Ismail's body press against her side. Rough ropes pulled tight against her chest and legs, but all she could think was that she was beside her father.

"You four cut him, and let him bleed dry. Don't touch his main arteries; this should not be too fast. You three, you can be the first to feed from her." Daniel commanded. His words made no impact on her. She was hovering now, somewhere between Earth and a different place. Could he really be her father? Her mother, Lady D, no Lady Dewberry, told Daniel her father was a gardener. Was that a lie? If not, why did she hate Ismail so?  Still, it could not be, could it?

"Father?" Her question was too soft to be heard beneath the ruckus laughter of the Vampires surrounding them. The scent of blood filled the air and she felt a small shudder run through the body beside her.

They were cutting him. Her heart ached and then a set of sharp fangs pierced her thigh. The pain seared through her as she felt her blood being sucked out of her.

She stretched the hand that lay between her body and Ismail's and found his hand. His fingers curled around hers. She felt his weakness, and in an inexplicable way, his regret.

"Yes." The word was so soft she was not sure if she hadn't imagined it. Violet struggled, trying to move her head so that she could be closer to him, so that she could hear him more clearly.

"Yes," he said, and this time she was sure. He was her father. She had a father.

Another set of teeth broke the skin near her elbow, and she cried out. Soon, soon, everything would be over.

She breathed deeply, slowly, trying to concentrate only on the feeling of his fingers around hers. Instead her mind wondered to Patrick. She imagined that he was there, his scent all around her. The smell of the highlands and that of heather and mountains was so clear, she could almost taste it.

Did blood loss make a person delusional, she wondered.

And then there was a crash above stairs and the mouths on her body ripped away. She heard Elisabeth yell and there was the sound of running all around her.

"VIOLET!" She heard her name, heard Patrick's voice calling it, and thought how lovely it was. And in the next moment, she knew nothing more.