MacNachton Vampires: Born To Bite Part 16

She could not die!

As if to mock his wishes, her skin grew deathly pale, and the heartbeat of their child became pathetically weak.

Regardless of her fey blood, she was not strong enough to repair her damaged body. In but moments, Rowan's and his child's lives would end.

The crowd edged closer, their whispers rising to an uneasy murmur.

Furious, Aedan glanced up, surveyed their belligerent eyes and scowling faces. His people held doubts of his lucidity, were unsure because of the lies spewed by his cousin suggesting that he was caught beneath Rowan's spell.

Why had he not suspected Breac from the start? He exhaled. Because he'd thought of him as a brother, had never believed his cousin capable of such treachery. And like those around him, he'd been wrong.

Aedan quelled his anger. His people had questions; How could they not? The laws under which they lived and their belief in their laird's sanity had been cast into doubt.

He clasped Rowan's hand within his own, scanned his people. "I am nae bewitched." He kept each word steady. His people needed a confident voice, to hear the laird they knew, one who had served them with all his heart. "Breac lied to you in his attempt to become laird of the Highland Coven. Several days past, he poisoned me with foxglove, then left me in a stone circle to die."

Whispers filtered through the crowd, and they glanced toward his cousin's charred remains.

At Rowan's rough breath, Aedan glanced down. "There is no time to explain. You must trust me in my decisions."

"The woman is nae a witch?" asked an elder vampire close by.

"Nay," he replied. "She saved my life. Now, I must save hers."

"But ..." Sir Wayrn stepped forward, stroked his long, white beard. "You told the la.s.s she was half fey."

Aedan nodded. "She is."

The elder paused. " 'Tis forbidden to try to convert a fairy into a vampire."

And no one knew whether trying would kill her, Aedan silently added. "Her human side will change. As for the rest, I am unsure." He held Sir Wayrn's gaze. "If the ancient law proves true, and my trying to change Rowan brings Ysenda, the Queen of the Otherworld, 'tis a risk I will take."

"You would give your life for a human woman?" Sir Wayrn asked.

Aedan nodded. "Aye."

Another gasp shuddered through his people.

When faced with losing the woman he loved, he did not give a d.a.m.n about his own life. Aedan focused on Rowan. She was his world; without her his days meant naught. "Rowan will live and bear my son."

The pulse at the base of Rowan's neck grew erratic.

Stilled.

On a curse, Aedan sank his fangs deep within her neck. Her rich blood sang through his body, a force unlike any he'd ever known. Within the cave she'd dripped her life-giving essence upon his tongue. He'd experienced the power, the healing properties of her blood, but 'twas only a pittance compared to his drinking straight from her.

With each swallow, his body strengthened.

With each swallow, she and his child died.

Her heart, his son's, ceased.

His mind a maze of terror and determination, he slashed his fingernail across his chest, pressed her mouth against him and willed her to drink.

She lay unmoving.

Drink!

Her body shuddered.

He would not lose her! Rowan, drink from me now!

She gasped, the slightest sound, but to him it was a miracle. Her lips, unsure in their innocence, drew unsteadily as they sought his lifesaving blood. Her throat worked. Swallowed. Seconds later, she took another drink.

Within the fragile quiet, her heart stumbled, then began to beat. A second later, their son's shuddered to life.

Hands shaking, Aedan cupped her head, guided her as she fed, continued to mentally encourage her. Soon her body would begin its change. Because his son already held vampire blood, odds were their child would live through the conversion.

Naught but time would tell if Rowan's body would endure the transition. Would her fey side reject the advance of the vampire blood?

If so, she would die.

Shaking, Aedan smoothed his hand through her rumpled hair. Rowan's feeble efforts shifted into a steady draw, but the paleness of her face exposed her struggle.

Confident she'd taken enough for the conversion, he lifted her mouth away, laid her gently back, then sealed the cut. Gently, he lifted her in his arms. "Rowan, I am-"

The air exploded around them with an angry boil. A pulse of energy, raw with fury, threw him. Hewn stones quaked as he slammed against the castle wall.

With a roar, he sprang to the ground in search of his attacker.

Another blast tossed him back. Cursing, he stood. Stilled.

Paces away, from within the vortex of power, stepped a woman, her alabaster skin flawless, her stature regal. The air around her churned with luminescent shimmers like diamonds.

Ysenda, the fairy queen.

The ancient law was true!

Outraged violet eyes narrowed, focused on Aedan. Her every movement carved with fury, the Queen of the Otherworld strode forward. A pace away, she halted. "Aedan MacGregor, Laird of the Highland Vampire Coven, you dare try to convert one the fey!"

Frustration mixed with anger as Aedan held the queen's gaze. He gave a slight nod. "Ysenda, Fairy Queen of the Otherworld. 'Twas never my intent to bring harm to one within your care, nor to challenge ancient laws."

Rowan's body shuddered within Aedan's arms, and her breathing grew weak. By the sword's blade, her conversion had begun!

"Rowan was dying," he said, his voice rough with emotion. " 'Twas the only way to save her."

"Save her?" Disbelief took over Ysenda's expression as she examined Rowan. Her gaze riveted on him. "Well is it known such an act is forbidden by ancient law, that such an attempt could lead to the fairy's death. And"-she raised her arms, her eyes as stormy as the swirl of night-"it is an act that will now lead to yours!"

Chapter Eight.

Against the haze of agony, Rowan struggled to remain conscious. She heard the echo of a woman's voice declaring that Aedan had broken an ancient law, and heard her threat to kill him.

Nay, he could not die!

On a trembling breath, Rowan fought to open her eyes, to make her mouth form the words within her mind. "Wait! Do nae kill him!"

At her pain-roughened words, the regal woman hesitated. A shudder whipped through Rowan as she battled to remain conscious, to remember how Aedan had addressed this regal woman. Ysenda, Fairy Queen of the Otherworld.

Against the full moon, the fairy queen frowned, her perfection outlined in a silvery glow as if of diamonds cast, her golden gown bright against the dark backdrop of vampires crowded within the bailey.

Disbelieving eyes met hers. "You of the fairy world," Ysenda boomed, "who have been condemned to nocturnal life and savagery, you would save a vampire?"

"They are not savages," Rowan replied. Despite her fear, Aedan's claim that she was half fey echoed within her mind. Her heart ached. In his attempt to save her, he'd broken an ancient law, a fact he'd ignored at the risk of his own life.

Humbled by his selfless act, loving him with her every breath, Rowan felt tears fill her eyes. "Before I met Aedan, I believed the same, ex-except he is a fair man, one who cares for his people, who harms none unless he must to protect his own. Savagery?" She shook her head. "Nay, vampires take only what is necessary to live, and leave those who sustain them well and ignorant of the event."

A well-manicured royal brow lifted. "Now you champion our natural enemy?"

"Our enemy?" Rowan battled a wave of weakness. "Wo-Would an enemy risk his life to save a fo-foe?"

The queen's mouth thinned. "Why else would a coven's laird dare transform one of the fey if not out of a desire to control her powers?"

"For love," Aedan stated.

The fairy queen whirled, the outrage in her eyes striking Aedan. "Love?"

"Aye," he said. "I love Rowan with all my heart." The vampires crowding the bailey gasped, but he ignored them. "She is but an innocent caught up in my cousin's twisted attempt to become our coven's laird."

"How did she ever become involved in a power struggle for lairdship of the Highland Vampire Coven?" the queen demanded.

"My cousin poisoned me and left me for dead. Rowan found me and saved my life. When my cousin discovered her and learned of our bond, he abducted Rowan. In an attempt to place doubt upon my ability to be laird, he brought her to my home, Caorann Castle. For proof, he labeled her a witch and claimed she'd cast a spell upon me."

Skepticism was plain in the queen's eyes. "This does nae explain the need to challenge ancient law by attempting to convert her into a vampire."

"When I found Rowan, my cousin had her tied to the stake to burn."

Ysenda took in the roar of flames within the bailey. The fire popped and cracked as burning branches collapsed.

"I saved her," Aedan said, "but not before my cousin slashed her neck. Had I not tried to save her, she would be dead."

"You have nae saved her." Scorn layered the fury within the fairy queen's voice. "All you have given her is more pain. In the end she will die."

His entire world stilled. "I was told the outcome of converting a fairy to a vampire is unknown. And therein lies the potential for hope."

"Mayhap," Ysenda replied. "But the blood of the vampire is a natural enemy of the fey. How can the outcome nae be death?"

"Because," Aedan replied, emotion roughening his words, "Rowan is only half fey. Her other half is human."

The queen's face paled. "Half human? Such a bond is forbidden."

He held her gaze, allowing his anger free reign. Could Ysenda not see Rowan was suffering? "I know not the details, but my hope is that with the diluting of Rowan's fairy blood, there is a chance she will survive."

"You overstep your boundaries, Laird."

"Mayhap," he stated, his voice hard, "but to save Rowan's life, it is a step I would take again." People exchanged uneasy glances within the crowd. Questions, aye they would have them. Another issue to attend to in a mounting pile, ones he would take care of once he knew Rowan's fate.

Rowan trembled within his arms, gasped, her garb clinging to her sweat-soaked skin.

"Regardless of the broken law, Rowan has begun to change. Unless you strike me dead, I am taking her to my chamber. And if it is within my power, I will save her life." Furious, half expecting a bolt of lightning to strike him dead, Aedan envisioned the swirl of fog.

"Laird MacGregor," the fairy queen called.

"Queen Ysenda, Sir Wayrn will escort you to my chamber to supervise if you wish." Aedan's body shattered into mist, bringing Rowan's with it. He flew, then rematerialized inside his chamber.

Oblivious to the luxury of silk and velvets gracing the walls and the thick woven rugs crafted with intricate detail, he laid Rowan upon his bed. With a wave of his hand, he slammed the windows shut, severing the moonlight, extinguishing the flicker of torchlight, banishing any illumination that might increase Rowan's sensitivity to pain.

"Aedan!" she gasped.

He knelt beside her, brushed away the sweat-laden hair clinging to her brow. "I am here."

"Ev ..." She panted, gave a soft groan. "Everything aches."

"Aye, 'tis your body purging your human traits." He d.a.m.ned her agony, knowing the torment to come would be worse, much worse, before he knew whether her fey blood would reject the vampire and end her life.

The whoosh of the door had him glaring over his shoulder.

The fairy queen entered. Her gaze collided with his. "You dare much."

"For Rowan," he said with a deadly whisper, "I dare anything."

A soft cry escaped Rowan's lips. "Aedan?"

He turned. Paleness washed Rowan's skin, a translucence so sheer the whisper blue veins beneath her skin lay exposed. "I am here." Hand trembling, he picked up a damp cloth from a nearby bowl, then wiped it over her brow. "You are beginning the conversion."

Her mouth worked, then she swallowed. "Ho-How long will it take?"

Agony cut through her whisper and tore him in two. "No one knows."

"No one knows," Ysenda stated, "as no one has been foolish enough to dare try to change one of the fey."

At the coolness within the fairy queen's voice, Aedan leveled his gaze upon her.

"But," the fairy queen continued, "your fairy blood will speed the process. A day, two at most."