"Bloodmoon Aberdeen, John Senior's wife, a full blooded Lakota Sioux, the daughter of Ruth Big Knife. When she suspected that John couldn't have children she cast the bones with her mother and determined her future lay with another man's seed. Lakota magic is different from ours, mine or Astrid's, so I'm not sure exactly how they determined it, but they decided that I should... uh... HELP Bly give John a son.
"Were you married at the time?" Pat asked.
"Yes. To a precious girl named Yasmine. Mind you, I didn't love Yasmine the same way I loved Elizabeth, but I DID love her, and she loved me, not my family's money. That's more than can be said for a lot of women I knew in my younger days, especially after Liz became a nun."
He paused, drew a deep breath and continued "Sorry, I digress. The trouble started when my brothers, Aaron and Phinneas went off to Europe. They came back... vampires."
* * * * *
Lucius clutched the bloody bundle to his bare chest as he ran to the plantation house. The infant began to cry again, but there was nothing he could do about it until... Until what? He was defeated. THEY had won. In spite of his power, his knowledge. In spite of his alliances with Ruth, Elizabeth and Scion, THEY had won. In less than an hour he and his daughter would probably be dead.
His legs were giving out as he bent forward to make it up the stairs. He stole a glance at the sun: He had perhaps thirty minutes, maybe forty, before THEY left their graves, where ever those graves were. How long would it take them to get here? Since he had been fooled into inviting them into the house it would offer no protection. His only way out was through the mirror, if he could open the portal.
He slammed the door shut and threw the lock into place. Placing the child on the ancient bed, he began closing the windows, hoping to buy time against the attack he knew was coming. As he put his hand on the east window he heard someone shout his name: "Lucius!" and another, a feminine voice echoed "Lucius!"
John and Bloodmoon "Bly" Aberdeen came running through the pecan orchard, Bly's white dress billowing behind her as they sprinted. "Let us in, Lu!" John shouted. "We want to help you!" Lucius ran to the door he had just locked and opened it as his friends ran up the steps. Bly never even looked at Lucius as she made a bee-line for the crying baby wrapped in Lucius' shirt. She scooped the child up and tried to comfort her.
John didn't stop to catch his breath before asking "You did it?"
Lucius sat heavily on the bed, put his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands as he said "YES! I found my dying, pregnant wife; what was left of her after my brothers finished with her. She died in my arms! Her last words were 'Cut me!' So I cut her belly open and PULLED MY DAUGHTER OUT! Then I reached back into Yasmine's body and pulled out her heart and then cut off her head so she can never be a vampire! Damn them! Damn them to hell!" He gave in to his crying in huge sobs. John sat next to him and put a hand on his friend's shoulder.
Lucius cried over Yasmine for several minutes while Bloodmoon sort of danced with the infant in her vain effort to comfort the newborn. Then as he composed himself he suddenly realized that his friends were risking their lives for him and new fear arrived: What about their child?
"Where is John Junior? Is he safe?"
"He's safe with his grandmother, Lu," said John "But you can't beat your brothers. Are you going to...?"
