Barb settled in for the night overall pleased by the turn of events. She might not have gotten Nathan Sinclaire but she was staying in California, which was partly what she wanted. In celebration, she decided to order a bottle of Champaign. While she waited, she changed her clothes humming to herself as she went. Things were definitely looking up. She had just finished putting on the blue silk lounge suit that she wore only when she wanted to feel luxurious when there was a tap on the door.
She opened it to none other than Nadine who was trembling and trying not to show it.
"Good evening Miss." she said softly.
"You can put it over by the bed." Barb said trying to keep her tone neutral although she really didn't care. She had a place to go to but not at eight in the evening, Kevyn hadn't given her the keys to the apartment and still had to talk to the landlord.
Nadine nodded and pushed the cart to the spot that Barb indicated and went to leave.
"Wait." Barb said not quite believing what she was about to do. "Look, I'm sorry for yelling at you and calling you names, you didn't deserve that."
Nadine's eyes widened in surprise at the apology, she didn't quite believing what she was hearing. It didn't feel completely real to her but she accepted it anyway.
"Thank you Miss."
After Nadine was gone, Barb opened the campaign, sniffed it and filled one of the goblets almost to the brim with the bubbly liquid. She took a big swallow, coughed, gagged and sputtered deciding that she really didn't like it after all but she sure as hell wasn't going to waste it. She downed the contents of the goblet and refilled it before lying on top of the bed. She fell asleep before she finished the second glass.
******
Hans intercepted Nadine as she went into the kitchen of the hotel.
"Nadine? Is everything alright?"
"I'm fine... Miss... she apologized to me."
"Really? Was it sincere?" he asked.
Nadine blushed before answering, "Not entirely but she made the attempt."
The last part of her sentence is what caught his attention, "but she made the attempt."
"Thank you Nadine." Hans said. He had some thinking to do. The fates had already told him that their decision was final. Barbara Yancy Simpson was his to claim or not to claim but either way, she was his responsibility.
"Fuck!" he swore as he headed back to his office slamming the door when he got there. He sat down at his desk and replayed the telepathic conversation that he had with one of the fates.
"Is she that disagreeable that you hound us almost non stop?" The soft male voice asked.
"She is nothing more than a money hungry bitch!" Hans replied.
The fate listened as Hans ran down the list of Barb's transgressions and why he couldn't possibly accept her as a mate.
"So you see this is an unacceptable pairing." Hans said when he was through.
"As you know," the fate replied, "these pairings as you call them are made for a reason even if you don't see or understand them. What you do with it is up to you but I would like to tell you this... Your mate isn't the only one with issues... think about that."
"What are you saying?" Hans asked.
"I'm saying that there is no reason why this pairing cannot or will not work. It will be difficult and we took that into account when we gave you this woman. As I said, claim her or not, the choice is yours. If you choose not to claim her, there will be no other given to you."
Nothing he said made any difference and now he had a decision to make.
********
Louise stood in the doorway looking up at Nathan unsure of what to do next. The ball was now in her court and what happened next was up to her. Her heart raced and her stomach flopped as she slowly held out her hand to Nathan. For just a few seconds, she didn't think that he was going to take it but then she realized that he was as surprised as she was at the gesture.
He stepped across the threshold into her room and waited.
Louise waited for the rapid beating of her heart to slow down and for the fluttering of her stomach to subside before she spoke.
"I understood what you told me and I believe you but until now, I never thought about the existence of vampires. And all of you are vampires?" she asked.
"Can we sit?" Nathan asked.
Louise led him to the small sitting room and sat down beside him.
"All of us of the Sinclaire line are born vampire." he explained. "Our mates who were born human have the option of becoming vampire if they so choose. It isn't a requirement and many choose not to because of the concern about not being able to go out during the daylight hours."
Louise was listening to him talk, lulled by the sound of his soft baritone when she suddenly tensed.
"What aren't you telling me?" she asked.
The intensity in her voice surprised him, as did the suddenly tight grip on his hands. It was his turn to be nervous. Louise, feeling his anxiety, eased her grip and spoke.
"It's going to be alright, just tell me. Whatever it is, I can handle it."
He had been waiting for the opportunity to tell her about the family history and she had just given him his chance. Suddenly the fact that he had never raped seemed immaterial, the saying "guilt by association" passed through his mind. Patrick's advice about not sugar coating it and not making excuses also crossed his mind.
His mouth was dry and felt as though it was filled with cotton. He wasn't ready to do this, he didn't want her to know that his family. No matter how much he loved them, they had been monsters.
"Nathan? Talk to me." Louise said with a confidence in her voice that was new to her.
He couldn't make the words come out; he didn't even know where to begin. Louise pulled away, went into the bathroom and came back with a glass of water. Nathan gratefully took the water and drained the glass dry. Louise watched him wondering what could be so horrible that he was afraid to tell her.
"You told me once that I could tell you anything." she said, "I'm returning the favor."
Maybe it was because she asked or the fact that she felt his anxiety but whatever it was; he began to talk starting with the past and working his way forward and to the present.
"I'm not going to make excuses or even try to explain the whys or the how's. It was a horrible practice that went on for far too long and one that never should have been allowed to start."
"And your mother was raped by your father? Your Uncle raped his wife?" Louise asked.
"Yes."
"I've only seen them once but they seemed to really love each other." Louise said.
"That's because they do and I won't sit here and tell you that I understand it." Nathan said. "The only explanation that I can come up with is that they were already mates but even so; to accept the man that raped you..."
"Is a sign of strength." Louise said as she realized that her family's issues were nothing compared to this. "They kept their babies and moved forward. I don't know if I could have done that."
Nathan waited for the inevitable question that came a few minutes later.
"Have you ever.... Have you ever raped anyone?"
"Never and I never even came close to it. If my uncle hadn't stepped forward and fought to end the practice, more than likely I would have." Nathan replied.
What amazed him that while she was surprised, she wasn't outraged and demanding to know how his family could have done the things that they did. On second thought, he realized that her empathy was at work. If he concentrated, he could feel it surround him, touching him, soothing him.
"Does Kevyn know?" Louise asked.
"Yes and according to Uncle Patrick, they're still working through it."
"The vampire that kidnapped your cousin, his mate was a victim wasn't she?" she asked.
"Yes, she was one of Uncle Patrick's victims."
"He didn't really want to hurt her. Your cousin I mean. He was very angry, bitter and he felt guilty for not protecting his mate better." Louise said.
"He told you that?" Nathan asked.
"I felt it." Louise replied.
"What else did you feel?" Nathan asked.
"Not much more other than he was relieved that it was finally over so he could be with her, will there be others?"
Nathan shrugged, "That remains to be seen but Uncle Ethan is on the alert, that's why we ask that none of you go anywhere alone. Louise, I've told you so much tonight and I'm sure that you're overwhelmed. I'll give you as much time as you need to decide if you want to be a part of this screwed up family and I'm sure that you'll want to talk to Kevyn."
"You know," Louise said, "I thought my family was nuts but I think that your family just took first place. I have to be honest and tell you that I'm appalled that anyone would teach such a thing. I also realize what it took for you to tell me when you didn't have to." she stopped, looked at Nathan and knew that he had expected her to run and was still waiting for one shoe and then the other to drop.
"One of the things that my father used to tell us was that you can't hold an entire group responsible for the actions of some of them. I think that what your family did was horrible but the fact that they've stopped it and are very vocal about it says something. The fact that you've never hurt anyone also helps and I can only imagine Kevyn's reaction when Patrick told her about it. What I'm saying is that I'm glad that you told me instead of me finding out inadvertently and that I don't hold you responsible for the past and for what your family did."
Nathan was dumbfounded and while grateful, her reaction wasn't what he had been expecting. All of the other mates had reacted much as Kevyn had and here was his sweet, shy Louise... he had to know and understand why her reaction was so different.
"Aren't you angry?" he asked.
Louise waited several minutes before answering.
"I'm angry but not at you. I guess it's because the rapes went on even after someone realized that they were wrong. If you had raped or hurt someone I probably would have reacted more like Kevyn did. I also learned something a long time ago and that's anger for the most part is a wasted emotion. I learned from my family that it did no good to get angry because in the end, I was still left alone physically caring for my mother while they did whatever it was they did. I was the one whose head ached and stomach churned and they felt none of it."
"So you learned to roll with the punches." Nathan said.
"Something like that but since I've been here I'm learning that I don't have to do that as much."
"To what are you referring?" Nathan asked.
