AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Phoebecharmed - Don't cwy! I'll have Santa leave you some tissue.
These are the chapters I was holding off, but I'm in a generous mood! Uh, truth is I still have a lot to catch up and I don't want to make y'all wait.
So, enjoy, and Happy New Year everyone!
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CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Three days later ...
The sun had just set and Hiliad was again at the mound to monitor Connee's status on rising again. The knot in his stomach from the nerves made his appetite non-existent; as a matter of fact, he hadn't eaten since the day Connee delivered their baby boy.
Every night since he'd buried her, he'd spend most of the time at the grave site, then at least an hour with the baby. Frannie had to show him how to hold the tiny infant the first night, for it had been millennia since he'd held one. But then he was a pro, and even fed the baby his bottle. They had to experiment with the accurate ratio of formula and blood; Frannie had collected and preserved several pints of blood from the best human candidates.
Hiliad was jostled from his concentration of any movement when his cell phone rang in his jeans pocket. He grunted when he heard the ringtone 'I kissed a girl and I liked it' by Katy Perry. He wasn't in the mood to talk with anyone but Connee. It eventually stopped ringing, but then immediately started again. "This better be important, Liza!" he snapped into the mouth piece.
There was hesitation before she replied, "We've had a problem here, Sir." She rarely used that title with him, but she had to appease his grumpiness.
"Handle it."
"Already have. When are you coming back?"
"Don't kn—" Hiliad stopped in mid-sentence when the center of the dirt mound pulsed, then settled back down; nothing else happened. "I've got a problem on my end, too."
"Oh, did that human of yours have your demon child yet?" she retorted sarcastically.
"How the hell did you know? Oh, Wilma, the big mouth."
"Yes, she told me. She was worried about Connee and it sort of slipped out "
"You bribed her, didn't you?" Hiliad asked with a slight wicked grin, relieved that Liza knew; a lot less explaining if he absolutely had to.
"Of course not. She thought I knew. Well?"
"The baby's fine, he's fine," he sighed heavily, mainly from frustration.
Then out of the corner of his eye he saw movement at one end of the burial mound. Without another word he threw the phone aside. Kneeling in the middle, the entire rectangle then constantly throbbed as he knew his Connee had awakened and was struggling to free herself.
Soft, muffled grunts emitted from the depths of the dirt, and he was beyond anxious. Mr. Hiliad Fildri was never one to just sit back and let things happen—well, maybe he was, though not when it involved Connee Byers. He began to dig at the dirt, not even caring if it rapidly collected on his jeans.
A moment later, fingers then a hand finally plunged through and grappled for something, anything to pull herself up. The other hand emerged, followed by another muffled gasp. Within seconds, Connee finally broke free and jumped beside the grave, her feet planted firmly and steadily. She stood in an attack position, looking around her wildly for something to come at her.
Hiliad, on the other hand, stood gaping at her. Connee was nothing like the woman, then official vampire that he fell in love with. Her eyes were wild and menacing, dirt was smeared all over her face and her clothing, picked up every bit of dirt that had encased her.
"Connee—"
She didn't reply but stood erect, her mouth grimacing, her eyes blazing with hatred and fear.
"Who are you?" she asked, looking around her for an imaginary attacker. "God, I'm hungry!" she whined.
"Don't you ... oh, shit." Hiliad took a step closer, but she turned and ran off toward the stream. "Connee! Wait!" He flew into the air, calling out for the queen's assistance.
By the time he saw Connee through the trees, Frannie was at her side but not holding her back. Hiliad floated back down beside the queen, who was then staring at her daughter cautiously. "Connee, baby, you're alright. Come back to the house and we'll—"
"No! I wanna eat!" she demanded, as if she were a spoiled five-year old.
"You will. There's plenty to eat if you'll just come back with us," Frannie said calmly.
Connee looked up and to her left, grinning wickedly with hunger when she heard before she saw, cowering on a branch about fifteen feet up a thick oak tree, a black and white cat.
Before either Hiliad or Frannie could respond, Connee had climbed halfway up the tree before Frannie commanded, "Connee! Get down from that tree right now!" Her daughter paid her no mind. "AS YOUR MAKER, I COMMAND YOU GET DOWN FROM THERE!"
Connee immediately stopped and peered down angrily at her mother. Hiliad gracefully floated up to her, grabbed her by the waist and threw her over his shoulder. "Put me down, Hiliad! I just need to eat!"
Flying toward the house, he had to continuously fight her and readjust his hold on her, for she kicked and screamed trying to free herself. "Little girl, I am older than you and much stronger. I suggest you calm yourself before I have to do something drastic." That shut her up.
Just as they reached the sliding glass door on the back deck, Frannie opened the panel, allowing Hiliad to glide to his feet and walk into the house. "Hiliad, the kitchen, please. I don't dare give her a human in the state she's in." He nodded and did so, then having a stronger hold of Connee.
After they walked in, Hiliad set her in a chair and held her down by her shoulders. "You can let me go. I'm not going to do anything."
"Oh, yes you will," Hiliad replied, knowing she absolutely would run out in search of the human he could also smell.
"Mom! Make him—"
"Relax, honey," Frannie told her as she handed her a bottle of Sheep's blood. "The quicker you calm down, the sooner you can see your son."
Connee looked at the bottle like it was a bag of dog crap but grabbed it and took a swallow. "Oh, god, this is disgusting!" she snapped, completely ignoring the 'son' comment. She stood, defying Hiliad.
"Oh, dear," Frannie moaned. "I'll be right back. Let me get a bag from downstairs. Keep her down, Hiliad."
"Yes Ma'am," he responded, but had no idea how he was going to accomplish that. He decided on kindness. "Sit back down, sweetheart."
Connee put her hands on her hips. "No! What if I don't want to?"
Kindness lost to tactical action. "Oh, little one, I won't have a problem tying your ass down," he challenged.
She grinned and ran her finger up his chest under his t-shirt. "You know, I would really, really like it if you did."
He took a step closer to her and stood his ground. "I also know that you do not like your ass spanked. Keep it up. We'll see how much you can take if you keep behaving this way!"
Connee's grin quickly evaporated. She crossed her arms and threw herself back down in the chair, huffing and puffing. They stared at the other for a minute, allowing Hiliad to get his thoughts together. All he knew was this: One, he had his Connee back. Two, she wasn't quite what he expected. Three, she didn't remember the baby. Okay, one thing at a time.
He put his hands softly yet firmly on her shoulders. "You really don't remember giving birth to our son?"
"Yes, I do," she said flippantly. "I just want to eat."
"He's doing fine, by the way," he told her coldly. She didn't reply.
He sighed unnecessarily just as Frannie returned with a pint of blood in a preservation bag, pulled a glass from the cabinet, released the lock and poured some blood into the glass. Connee squirmed in the chair while she tried to look behind Hiliad, her nose twitching as the aroma of the blood filled her sensitive nose. "I need to warm it up, darling. Give me a second."
When it was ready, Frannie brought the glass to Connee, who eagerly grabbed it and practically emptied the glass in one swallow. Hiliad pulled back and looked at her in disgust, even if the tempting human blood was dripping from the corners of her lips. It only reminded him how hungry he was, too; he hadn't eaten in three, almost four days.
There was a ding from the microwave and Frannie handed Connee another glass. "Hiliad," she said, nodding to the counter behind them. He followed her the few short steps, and they both watched Connee as she downed the second glass. "She has the exact same ferocious appetite she did when she was a child."
Hiliad was in no mood for a mother's reminisces. "We shouldn't let the baby around her, not in her current state of mind," he whispered softly.
"Agreed. Have you ever seen a change like hers?"
"It varies, but yes. What I'm more concerned about is—"
"The baby," Connee intervened sourly. "Right? I don't want it."
She stood and headed for the hallway but Hiliad was quicker than her. "Oh, no you don't. We have to keep an eye on you," he warned her.
"I am not a child!" she spat. "I don't need anyone to hover over me!"
"Oh, don't temp me."
"I need more ... I smell ... there's a human here. I'm still hungry."
"You've had enough for now. We need to figure out—"
Before Hiliad could finish speaking, Connee shoved her body hard into his. He did not budge but held her firmly by her forearms. "Move, damn it!"
"Connee! Watch your tongue!" Frannie chastised. "Hiliad, control her."
He looked down at Connee with a challenging look. "Queen, I'll need your help upstairs."
