Cornelius disappeared from my side as Luc reached into the crib. Mina abruptly stopped crying and Alexandre released me as my heart stopped beating. I begun to move forward too, but I noticed Luc had frozen. Cornelius had him in a death grip, clutching the back of his spine at the nape of his neck. In the next instant, Luc's body language changed, his shoulders slumped and he sunk to his knees, Cornelius still gripping his spine. I heard a slight sob and then a crunching as Cornelius squeezed his hand around Luc's neck, his expression blank. Alexandre snatched the baby from the crib as Luc issued a choking sound and with a final snap, Luc's spine broke and his body went limp. Cornelius released him with a disgusted look and his body fell forward. I sank to my knees on the floor, watching the scene in horror, and then my eye was drawn to Mina's small body in Alexandre's arms.
"Please.." I whispered and held out my arms. Alexandre was staring at her, and didn't notice me. "Please..." I begged, crying. "Is she alive?" I wailed and Alexandre's head jerked in my direction. He raced to my side with the baby.
"She's fine, she's fine Carys. It's ok, it's just.. She opened her eyes and..." Alexandre handed the baby to me.
"She looks... like Gen." Croaked Luc from his place on the floor. He took a raspy breath. "I couldn't... do it. Because... she looks.. like Gen..." He choked and Cornelius kicked him aside with distaste. I looked at Alexandre with confusion, then to the baby in my arms, who had the most startling green eyes. I sucked in a breath. Alexandre leaned his forehead against my temple and held me close.
"Genevieve was our sister." He whispered, his voice heavy with tears. "Mina resembles her. Quite a lot. The same hair, the same eyes." A tear wet my cheek that wasn't my own. Mina grunted and wiggled slightly, nestling her head against my chest and closing her eyes again. I clutched her tightly.
"I.. didn't know.. 'Lex... I'm sorry. ...I.. almost killed her... again..." Luc broke down in tears himself and Cornelius tsked and came to stand beside me, hands in his pockets as if he no longer considered Luc a threat. Cornelius was a scary beast.
"What do you want to do with him Xan? If we leave him, the wound I gave him will be fatal in his condition. We don't really have the blood to revive him at present anyway, so I say, he made his bed, let him lie in it.." Cornelius commented. Scary beast indeed.
"Let me..die..." Luc gasped. "I'm.. so tired." He closed his eyes and rasped another breath before coughing. Alexandre looked at his brother and then back to Mina and I as if torn. Luc wheezed and was silent for too long.
"Well, I guess that's it." Cornelius shrugged.
"No." I spoke and started to struggle to my feet. Alexandre helped me up. I was still clutching the baby tightly and had no intentions of letting her go. "Get him to the med room. See if you can stabilize him. Even if all we can do is keep his heart beating for now. Let's keep transfusing him with Alexandre's and my blood. Let'see if we can help him make the change he's already begun." I squeezed Alexandre's arm and Cornelius sighed, but picked up Luc's still body.
"What a mess." He said with distaste and carried Luc out. I wobbled to the bed and sat down, Mina still clutched to my chest. Alexandre followed and kissed me on top of the head.
"I don't deserve you." He murmured into my hair. And then laid his forehead on top of my head, resting his hand on my shoulders. I chuckled uncomfortably.
"Well that's not true. It seems I've learned a lot of my patience and kindness from you, so maybe I don't really deserve you." I replied. Alexandre tried to object, but I waved him off and leaned against him as he sat on the bed next to me, placing my head against his shoulder. "You know, sometimes I wonder if this is not all still a dream." I murmured. Alexandre growled softly.
"What is it going to take for me to convince you that this is real? You just gave birth for goodness sake-sure that is not a pain a dream can fake?" Alexandre scolded lightly. I laughed lightly.
"You've never been inside one of my nightmares." I replied.
"Ok then, surely this.." Alexandre lifted my chin, kissing me sweetly "This amount of love... is not something a dream can fake." Alexandre whispered.
"Hmm, I don't know. I might need more convincing." I answered and Alexandre's growl resonated in his chest as his lips moved along my jaw and to my neck.
"You're impossible Carys." He murmured against my skin, kissing my pulse and I shivered.
"Give me a few more days to heal, and I'll show you some impossible things I've been wanting to do to you." I teased and Alexandre nipped my neck with a snarl. I squeaked "Hey-shh-baby sleeping." I giggled.
"She'll get used to it." He growled and I shivered again.
"Phew-the hormones in this room! You just got done making a child, are you seriously intending on trying for another so soon?" Cornelius griped waving a hand in front of his face as he entered the room. Alexandre snarled at him.
"What is it Cornelius?" I sighed.
"Luc's all set up. I could only spare the one bag for now, unless you intend to go on a hunger strike, which probably would not be good for you or the baby... I actually came up here to see if you needed any help cleaning up the mess..' Cornelius waved vaguely at Luc's blood on the floor. Alexandre groaned.
"All of that work setting up this room!" He complained.
"And it was beautiful. We'll just buy a rug." I kissed him. He shook his head.
"This room will forever be tainted by the smell of Luc's blood." He griped.
"No it won't, go get some peroxide, like a lot of it. It'll help eat away the biological matter and help kill the smell-why am I telling you this, smarty pants? You should already know." I shoved his shoulder and his eyes lit up. He kissed me soundly.
"You're right, that should help it fade more quickly. Come on Cornelius, let's get to work." Alexandre clapped his hands and the baby struggled and cried. I rolled my eyes and Alexandre mouthed a "sorry".
I scooted back on the bed and soothed the child while they cleaned. Sadly, the two of us fell asleep before they finished, but I felt Alexandre's gentle hands as he took Mina from me and Cornelius as he laid me down, and when I woke up later, the two of them surrounded us on the bed like body guards, Cornelius behind me, Mina between Alexandre and I. Mina was fussing quietly, so I drew her to me and allowed her to nurse, only to look up to see Alexandre watching us with loving eyes, which made me blush. He ran his fingers across my cheek.
"I haven't seen that look in a while." He commented softly.
"Give me time, I'm always finding something to be self conscious about." I muttered and he chuckled. I yawned abruptly while Alexandre played with a lock of my hair.
"Why don't you get some more sleep? There is nothing pressing for you to do and I'll take care of Mina when she's done, at least until she's hungry again." He offered.
"What about you? Aren't you tired?" I asked through another yawn.
"I didn't just give birth." Alexandre chuckled. "Compared to you, I'm quite well rested."
"No funny experiments." I grumbled at him and he laughed softly.
"Agreed." He kissed me on the forehead gently. Mina fussed and he laid a hand on her head, gently rubbing it until she quieted.
"Incubus, still charming the ladies." I mumbled sleepily. His chuckle was the last thing I heard before falling asleep.
The days flew by and before I knew it Mina was already a week old. Alexandre, Cornelius and I once again settled into a comfortable pattern of care, this time for Luc and Mina. Luc was still unconscious, his body was barely healing, despite Corneliu's surgical repair efforts to the physical damages. Luc's heart still beat, but with a broken spine and not enough blood.. He could be unconscious for months or even years, considering it should have killed a normal human. Cornelius gave him regular injections of all of our blood and kept a human blood IV on a slow drip, but we were still preserving supplies as the frenzy of reporters only increased as the trial of the Nurse got under way.
A knock at the door one morning had me groaning as I walked with Mina attached to my chest on the way to the kitchen to feed myself while feeding her. The hungry little beast was already increasing her intake on me and I craved blood more frequently now. I was tempted to teach whoever was at the door a lesson and just open it with the babe at my breast to embarrass the heck out of them so they'd stay away, but instead, I closed my robe slightly to cover myself and cracked the door. Human, male, sweaty in the summer heat. Cotton blend uniform, gun. Smelled like a cop.
"Can I help you?" I asked.
"Yes Ma'am, are you Carys Ayers?" The man asked.
"Who's asking?" I grumped at him.