Chapter 7 Tess
Reuniting the human children of the creche, according to the research Tess had done so far, was not going to happen quickly. It had taken her hours of tedious combing through the records couriered over from thenew
Council to finally accept that she just wouldn’t be able to organize happy endings for all the kids who had been forcibly removed from their parents.
The Vampyren had, in some cases, simply stolen them away.
Sometimes this was due to confusing orders and scrapped plans.
The Council would decide it needed strong, healthy older kids to “save for later” or train for some task and then those plans would fall through.
Some were found out on their own, having been lost, and now causing too much trouble.
Whatever the reason, not all of them were orphans but their parents had, in most cases, been lost to the obscurity of their chaotic world.
They would be very difficult to find again with the country only occasionally able to communicate via internet.
All the social media companies had long since collapsed and shuttered.
It was going to be like hunting for needles in haystacks.
She would need a real staff for that project, Tess decided.
She wrote out a memo for it, intending to request that from the Council later as part of the new creche infrastructure.
Now she was working on disassembling the other creches in the region and finding their human mothers (all of that was on paper, thankfully) and sorting out who would go where.
She had already heard from people in the resistance who were eager to adopt the half-Vampyren babies not wanted by their mothers.
A woman from Free the Children named Jaime who had a Vampyren boyfriend thought it too sad that the children should languish when they might find new homes.
That was an entirely new angle that hadn’t occurred to her before.
Though the adoptive parents would have to be carefully screened in such cases.
Writing up a memo and a report on that was another project and it was all keeping Tess very busy.
Besides that, she had a lot of inventory requests to go over, with Crystal who seemed a little distracted by some “special project” she was doing for Kal.
There was also the matter of blood for the babies.
No matter how much they had on supply, she was always worried about obtaining more.
Working on incentives for the harvesting of blood was going to be another huge project to untangle with the Council, she supposed.
At some point, Tess, tapping away at her laptop and lost in an abyss of spreadsheets and data, abruptly stopped and yawned.
Forced to pause for five seconds, she realized she was alone in the cafeteria.
She’d come down there to work while eating and had lost track of time.
The cafeteria was also the one spot where wifi actually functioned a good portion of the time, at least over the past few days.
She suspected that had something to do with Loren being on the council.
Humans with good wifi and cell reception were a lot more dangerous than humans without it.
But it was now a utility, and it was becoming more available. That was something.
Tess stretched and blinked. She realized she’d forgotten to eat which she’d come down to do hours ago, before getting wrapped in her work again.
She checked her watch. It was one in the morning.
She winced, feeling a little guilty. Kal had come by to check on her a few hours ago and she’d promised she’d be up. Oops.
“You never did eat, did you?” It was Kal, chuckling behind her.
She got to her feet and stretched, casting him a sheepish smile. “I forgot.”
“C’mon.” He took her hand and led her through to the kitchens. “Let’s get you some food and then you’re going to bed.”
“Kal—
“You workedallday,“ Kal pointed out. “This isn’t a negotiation.” There was a whole steel fridge just for blood packs and he grabbed one for himself before digging a plastic tub full of pasta salad out of the fridge full of human food. Tess found some chicken to pair with it and poured herself some punch and they stood, eating in the kitchen and enjoying each other’s company.
“What’s this special project you’ve got going with Crystal?” Tess said.
“It’s a surprise,” Kal said, winking. She smiled, putting on a show of being suspicious but she was really charmed.
“You Vampyrens love to wink once you pick it up,” Tess said. She kicked his shoe, feeling like some young girl with a crush. She would not have expected it, but now she looked up into Kal’s eyes and thought: I love him.
She had a strange urge to cry suddenly and swallowed the lump in her throat.
She was overcome with love for Kal. She needed the two of them to survive this transitional period.
She wanted that future with him. Tess rubbed her stomach.
She’d had a suspicion for the last day or so once she’d realized how long it had been since she’d had a period.
But she hadn’t taken a test yet. Crystal had some pregnancy tests stashed away in the supply room.
Tess found herself a little afraid to find out for sure and uncertain of what she wanted.
“Winks are so strange,” Kal muttered. “I like them. Also, people are always shocked when I wink at them.” Tess only laughed at that and Kal gave her a long look as he drained the last of his blood. “Hey, Tess?”
“Yeah?”
Kal looked almost shy suddenly, and he toed the ground with his boot. “I want to know… Ifyouknow, that is, what you picture for us? I mean the two of us? Long-term? When there are no more battles and when it might be safe enough to find a place permanently. Do you want what Crystal and Mark have?”
“I love you,” Tess blurted out. They’d said it to each other already and yet she flushed when she said it.
She was tired. That didn’t help. Kal burst out laughing.
He leaned in and kissed her cheek and the tip of her nose when she scrunched up her face in embarrassment.
She could smell the blood in his mouth. But she’d become used to that.
It just smelled familiar now, and it didn’t bother her now.
She had even been thinking lately that she would let him feed on her, mark her if he wanted to.
The thought made her wet, if she was honest with herself.
“I mean... yes. I do want that. I want a future with you, Kal,” she whispered.
“If you want one with me. I want you for good. So don’t go anywhere. And don’t fucking die, alright?”
She finished her food and washed it down with some overly sweet punch and then she just felt edgy, loitering there with him in the kitchen and pouring her heart out under a flickering fluorescent light.
Kal put down his empty blood packet and before she realized what was happening, he was picking her up and setting her down on the counter, stepping in between her knees to kiss her soundly.
“I’ll try not to,” he whispered. She wrapped her arms around his neck and they kissed lazily like that for a while, until Kal decided it was time for bed and picked her up as she squeaked in protest. He carried her out but she protested, jumping down to collect her laptop and files.
He slung an arm around her shoulders and they headed out, back to her dorm, and to the warmth of a good night’s rest together.
* * *
The next morning
Tess slept in, having worked so hard the day before.
She slept right through the alarm and Kal let her.
When she finally stirred, she hummed in delight and pressed back against his warm, muscular body spooning up behind hers.
He kissed her shoulders and she allowed herself more time than usual to relax in his embrace, and just enjoy the comfort of a morning in bed with her lover.
“It could always be like this,” she said softly.
“Itwillalways be like this,” he said.
She felt him hard behind her and pressed in a little more.
When he growled in her ear, she giggled.
But when he reached around and slipped his big, rough hand inside her panties to lazily finger her, she gasped and they rocked together.
His erection was blatant through their thin nightclothes as he fingered her.
She came first, crying out, and reaching behind her to run her fingers through his hair as he nibbled at her neck.
Her orgasm set him off, and he came in his pajama pants.
She rolled over and kissed his neck before crawling out of bed.
He groaned and reached out for her and she laughed, smacking his arm.
“I got work to do!” She said. “God knows when this battle or whatever is going to happen or when the Lucian may strike. I have to finish as much as I can as fast as I can.”
“Not tonight though,” he said gravely, wagging his finger.
He sat up and rubbed his eyes, blinking at her sleepily.
Kal, Tess had discovered, was not a morning person.
She didn’t think she got up terribly early, but she was always up long before him.
She thought he was cute to see him as he was forcing himself out of bed in the morning.
He was like a grumpy puppy and it was a far cry from the typical portrait of a Vampyren.
“Youhaveto stop working at…” He bit his lip and thought for a moment.
“Six. At six you’re done. I have plans for you. ”
“Oh, do you?” Tess smiled widely. She had planned to work long past that time but she couldn’t help how giddy she felt at the idea of Kal making plans on her behalf and wanting to surprise her. “What are these mysterious plans?”