The Young Vampire Mate: The Airendell Chronicler Diaries - Book 1.5 (3 page)

Fionn nuzzles my neck and inhales deeply, “Not as good as you smell, baby,” he growls.  “Those dreams have your hormones firing on all eight cylinders!  Oh, baby, the shit I could make you feel if you would just get over this ridiculous idea you have of saving yourself for some phantom mate.”

My patience snaps and I growl at Fionn; “Stop it, Fionn.  You aren’t in love with me. I am just the one that got away.”

“Bullshit!  Morna nor Brigid ever gave me time of day either, but I haven’t spent over eight centuries panting after either one them!  You have always been the one I wanted.”  I feel like I have been punched in the gut at my best friend’s admission.  Fuck! He means it.  I am such an idiot not to have seen it before now.

I guess he realizes this conversation isn’t going to go the way he wants so he changes the subject.  “Speaking of Morna, how is she doing?”

“She’s healing.  Physically, at least.  She doesn’t recognize anyone.  Rinda has been around her dozens of times and not a single flicker of recognition.  Morna didn’t recognize me or Aideen and she thinks Luca is just some kid who’s a friend.”  I can’t help but chuckle when I add; “She feels guilty because she’s so attracted to him.  My poor sister feels guilty for being attracted to own mate.”  I smile sadly and say, “I have never understood how Luca can be so patient, waiting for her to remember him.  It must kill him knowing that he just can’t tell her the truth about them.”

“It’s worth waiting for the right one,” Fionn says quietly.  He grins suddenly, I know he’s trying to distract me from what he just said.  And then he says, “Besides, the fucker is a vamp.  Those bastards are the epitome of patience when they aren’t caught up in a blood frenzy.”

By now we are sitting at my kitchen table eating the delicious meal Fionn prepared.  “He’s always been patient with Morna, even before the Change,” I remind Fionn.

“True,” he nods as he wipes his mouth.  “Look, Breena, you know she’s going to be fine.”  I nod.  Fionn is watching me intently when he says; “My Mom says this is Morna’s final incarnation.”

I snap my head up from my gumbo and look at Fionn with a look of horror on my face.  He raises his hands to stop me from speaking and then clasps my face between his hands to calm me.  “She’s not going to die and disappear, baby.  Nothing like that.  Mom says she will re-ascend this time.  She’s going to be an Immortal again.”  Fionn drops his hands from my face and looks really troubled when he says, “And she also says we all have a lot of challenges ahead of us.  So many changes.”  He looks away and takes a deep breath.  “Nothing is ever going to be same, for any of us.” 

He gets up and paces around my kitchen for a few moments.  I get the feeling there is more and he’s just not ready to tell me about it yet.  But I know he will, eventually.  “Mom was light on details, but Morna is going to be fine, but very, very different when the dust settles.  Still essentially the Morna Glynn we grew up with… but more.”

Fionn comes back to the table and we finish eating while we talk about our friends still at Airendell and how his latest rotation with the Airendell Warriors went.  Magdrid, my mother had tried to disband the Airendell Warriors a few decades ago.  However, the Warriors still protect the Gateway despite her best efforts to do away with them.  “Bree, I hate to say this to you, but your Mom is one sick bitch.  I don’t think she ever cared one bit about the Spell Weavers or humanity.”

I nod.  “I am more convinced than ever that she was behind what happened to Morna and Luca.”

“No shit?”

“She’s always been jealous of Morna, especially since the Elves imbued her with our clan’s magic talismans.  She didn’t appreciate the Elves outing her about Neill not being Morna’s father.  Besides, Magdrid knows Morna is destined to take over for her and the two of them have very different visions for the future of our Guild.”  Fionn nods at this, we have all known Magdrid, the leader of the Spell Weavers and my mother, was bad news ever since she tried to steal Morna’s baby from her the day Morna died, the first time.

My mind goes back to that day, someone had cursed Morna with a spell that weakened her heart and she was dying before she could even give birth to Aideen.  Morna realized that and insisted that our friend Brigid take the baby by surgical means.  It saved the child, but probably hastened Morna’s death. 

Magdrid had showed up right after the birth with the Guild Elders and her flunkies in tow.  The Elders tried to help Morna but Magdrid angered Morna to the point that she wove the iron-lion spell to chase them away.  The iron-lion spell is one that makes a Spell Weaver as strong as iron and fast as a lion.  We are nearly invincible when we use that spell and no one could ever wield it as well as Morna Glynn Michaels, First Warrior of Airendell, Ireland and Wales. 

It had been an awe inspiring sight to see my little sister chase the unwelcome interlopers from her home with her belly laid open.  Unfortunately, it took the last of her remaining strength to chase them away and she died in the tall grass before their little cottage in the Glen.  None of us had ever seen such raw pain, desolation and rage as we saw in Lucian Michaels that day.  An involuntary shudder tears through me at the memory.

I remember looking down at the tiny babe in my arms after Morna breathed her last. Luca had held Morna sobbing and raging at God, Magdrid and the Elders for allowing her to die.  There had been a problem with the baby earlier, but Luca had healed her during the ensuing confusion caused by Magdrid‘s arrival.  I think Luca blamed himself for Morna dying, thinking that if he had allowed another healer to care for the baby, he could have ran the interlopers off and Morna wouldn’t have used the last of her life force to do it. Poor, Luca.  He has dealt with so much guilt for things that just weren’t his fault or even under his control.  My heart goes out to my brother in law, again.

Fionn reaches over and puts his hand over mine and gives it a reassuring squeeze.  I smile up at my friend, grateful he came, despite his halfhearted attempts to seduce me over the centuries.  I fear that he thinks he’s in love with me, but I know his heart.  He’s not really in love, he just loves me well.  Sometimes it can be hard to tell the difference.  I decide to change the subject and decide to get Fionn to tell me about his latest venture in California.

He has opened a thriving business where he restores old cars and makes hot rods out of them.  He’s making good money from one of his passions.  He makes a small fortune from each hunk of junk he restores.  He has assembled a team of amazingly talented mortals who share his love for old cars.  He was recently approached about doing one of those reality shows but he refused because Immortals have to stay out of the public eye as much as possible.  It just wouldn’t due to have your face plastered all over the public media and then someone notice twenty years later that you haven’t aged a bit.

He spends over an hour telling me about his life in California.  I really enjoy his enthusiasm, even if I don’t share his passion for all rust rods, hot rods and muscle cars. But I can tell his life is very satisfying to him in most regards.  I know deep in his heart he craves a mate.  We all do, it’s just how we are wired.  No one should have to live as long as we do without someone who truly loves and understands us.  My heart stutters at the thought of Fionn never finding ‘the one’ but I force myself to pay attention to what he’s telling me about the latest hot rod he helped rebuild.

Don’t get me wrong, I love old motorcycles, muscle cars and off roading vehicles too, but I don’t have gasoline and motor oil running through my veins like Fionn MacLeod does.  But I do enjoy how animated he is when he talks about his shop and crew.  It sounds like he’s made of a lot of good friends out in California. 

After we finish dinner we clean up the kitchen and watch a movie on the widescreen.  We watch some funky old vampire movie and laugh our asses off during the entire thing.  Vampires in reality are not funny, not at all.  But Immortals like us really love any movie that portrays Hollywood’s version of the preternatural world because they never get it right.  When I start yawning, Fionn shuts the TV off and carries me to my bedroom.  He sets me on my feet and kisses me tenderly.

“You are exhausted, baby.  You work too fucking hard.  When are you going to realize that it’s not your job to heal every poor bastard with PTSD?”  I give him my patented ‘bite-me’ look and he shrugs.  This is another old argument with us, so he lets it drop.  He strips down while I go into the bathroom to put on my old sleep tee shirt and shorts. 

I smirk when I come out of the bedroom and find him already in my bed, apparently asleep.  I pull the cover back and try to ignore the sight of his sexy naked body lying in my bed as I slip between the covers.  Anytime Fionn visits me he sleeps in my bed.  He never tries to have sex with me, he just holds me all night.  It’s always such a temptation to snuggle up against that strong, beautiful body.  But I don’t because it would be unfair to him.  I feel bad about his devotion to me and my unwillingness to take our relationship to the next level.  I usually feel kind of like I use him when he comes to visit.  But… God help me, I need him.  I love Fionn deeply, just not as a mate or even a lover.

BREENA    – MORNA REACHES OUT, AND I CROSS A LINE

I wake up panting hard.  I am drenched in sweat and sexual excitement ripples through my body like an electrical current.  My clit is throbbing and my entire sex is spasming, for lack of a better word.  I was dreaming about having sex, again.  But this time I wasn’t dreaming about my potential mate.  I was dreaming about Luca!  What the fuck? Why am I having wet dreams about Morna’s mate?  I get up from the bed and start pacing frantically around my room as I try not suffocate under the ick factor of dreaming about my brother in law. 

I woke Fionn up with my reactions to my dream and he’s watching me intently.  “Shit, baby!  Does dreaming about your mate always affect you this way?”

I blush scarlet and shake my head no.  I meet Fionn’s eyes and know that I have to tell him about my dream… if it was a dream, is a dream...  I am doubtful about that because I am still seeing the images and feeling the sensations in my mind.  “I wasn’t dreaming about my mate.  I am not sure it was a dream.  This is something else…” 

I scrub my face and pace some more.  Finally, I exhale harshly and turn to face my best friend in creation.  “I was Morna, or I am connected to her somehow…”  I look around feeling confused and utterly overwhelmed.

Fionn looks at me, clearly shocked.  “Dreaming about your sister got you in this shape?  You smell like a damned pheromone factory!”

I snort at Fionn.  “No, dumb ass!  I am connected to her, even now I can see, hear and feel everything Morna is feeling.  She’s with Luca… I mean with him.”

Fionn starts laughing so hard I want to punch him in his too big nose.  “Asshole,” I hiss at friend.  Jeez, no visions of Morna since she woke up in the hospital and now she hits me with this!?! What the hell, Morna? 

I look at Fionn and wail plaintively.  “It’s like I am having sex with him!  I can feel his body, how he makes her body feel.  I can feel how much they love each other.  Fionn, you wouldn’t believe how wild they are together.  How connected they are…”

Fionn stops laughing abruptly and nods, “Yeah, baby, I would believe it.  I caught those two going at it like wild things in a holding cell at the Gateway one time.  It was wild, magical and it so fucking obvious they were meant for each other.  Seeing it was powerful, I can only imagine what it was like to experience it from Morna’s perspective.” 

He suddenly chuckles again and gives me a wicked smirk before he says; “Shit, baby, I don’t think you can really think of yourself as a virgin anymore.” 

I want to throw something at Fionn.  But, in a way, he might be right.  I did have an orgasm.  Ewww!  My brother in law gave me my first orgasm.  That’s just wrong on so many levels!  Gee, like I wasn’t already uncomfortable around him…

Fionn snaps me out of my confused thoughts when he asks; “Are you still connected to Morna?”  I gulp and nod wordlessly.  “What are they doing now?  Going at it again? And if they are, tell me about it, in great detail!”  He’s smirking and I know he’s joking, mostly.

I snort at my oversexed friend.  “Asshole,” I hiss.  He just chuckles and waits for me to tell him what they are doing now. “They are talking.  Morna remembers dying the first time.”  I wrap my arms around myself, that’s not a good memory for any of us.  Even Fionn is suddenly solemn over the memory.

“Now Luca is telling her about his exile that Magdrid imposed on him.  He’s telling her about wanting to find someone capable of destroying him because he couldn’t make himself believe that he would ever see her again.”  I smile.  “Oh shit, she’s mad about that!  Poor Luca, she’s gonna kick his ass for even thinking about dying.”

I try to break the connection with my sister because I hate sticking my nose into their personal business.  But at one point I am devastated when Luca reminds Morna that she had tried to kill herself while she was recovering from the crash.  No, Morna!  I search Morna’s heart and mind.  I realize it wasn’t deliberate.  She wasn’t even aware she was doing it, but she did try to end her life several times.  The loss of her children has truly devastated Morna.  She still doesn’t remember giving birth to Aideen, just dying in Luca’s arms.  Jeez, this so messed up!  I am so sad for my sister’s situation that I actually physically ache.

While being connected to Morna as she’s having sex with Luca is disconcerting, to say the least, I am comforted to know that she has some of her memories back.  She’s knows who she is and who Luca is.  She has finally been reunited with her mate.  When I share this news I grin at Fionn and he smiles back at me.  He knows how relieved I am for my sister.