Natalie’s mouth had formed an O of astonishment as the
meaning of Nick’s claim sank in. “LaCroix, is it
possible that Nikki has, oh I don’t know, inherited
some of this aura?”

LaCroix frowned in surprise. “I don’t know. I’ve never
heard of a mortal bearing a child while being under
the mark of a vampire. It’s entirely possible. What
makes you ask?”

Natalie got up and paced, her arms folded across her
chest. “Sometimes, especially since Nikki started to
talk, I can almost feel her in the back of my head. It
sort of reminded me of the feelings I had with Nick
before you took him away from Toronto. It’s much
fainter, but it is very real. I can always tell when
Nikki is hurt, or upset. It never crossed my mind that
it could be related to Nick in any way.”

LaCroix stood up and walked over to her, putting his
hands on her elbows. “Natalie, if that is the case, we
may have the means to trace your daughter. The blood
link is not only emotional, it is spatial. Even now, I
can tell you that Janette is walking back toward the
house. If you can concentrate and reach out to Nikki,
we may be able to find her before her captor calls
again.”

Just then Janette opened the front door, and carried
in a suit bag over one shoulder, a large carry case,
and wheeled a small suitcase after her. She put the
two bags down, being careful with the large carry
case. She propped the rolling suitcase against the
wall, then hefted the large carry case and looked
around until she saw the short hallway to the kitchen.
She looked in at Natalie and LaCroix, then headed
toward the kitchen.

Curious, Natalie headed after her. She saw Janette
open the valise and pull out several wine bottles and
put them in the refrigerator. She glanced up when
Natalie stopped inside the doorway. “Don’t worry, it’s
all donated. I am the local supplier, so I know
exactly where every bottle originates.” Natalie was
strangely comforted by the fact that Janette took the
time to explain the origin of the blood to her. She
smiled faintly. She looked up at the clock above the
stove, and was shocked to see that it was already
after midnight.

Rather than close the valise, as Natalie expected her
to, she turned back to it and took out several large
black bulging plastic pouches. She began stacking them
on the counter. Natalie looked on in confusion,
wondering what was in the pouches. There were almost a
dozen of them.

“Janette, what is in those pouches?”

Janette looked up at her. “Money. Didn’t LaCroix say
the ransom demand was five million dollars in unmarked
bills?”

Natalie’s eyes bulged. “You brought it HERE? But, I,
what…” she floundered, the shock of having five
million dollars sitting on her kitchen counter leaving
her almost speechless.

LaCroix came up behind her silently. “Natalie, you DID
call me and ask me to provide the ransom. That is the
primary reason I am here, after all.”

Natalie turned to stare at him, her mouth still
hanging open. Finally, she managed to close her mouth.
Her eyes shut for a moment, and a tear slipped down
her cheek as she whispered, “thank you.”

Janette crossed over to her and wrapped her in an
embrace. “Shhh. It’s just money. If I had known that
you needed it, I would have gotten it for you.” She
pulled back. “Now, we don’t know for certain that this
kidnapper is MISTER Andropov. It seems likely, but in
case the motive for all this is NOT revenge, but truly
is money, we need to make sure that your little girl
is safe. Don’t worry, we will find her.” She leaned
forward and planted a cool kiss on Natalie’s forehead.


LaCroix watched Janette’s affectionate display, and
felt her protectiveness toward Natalie surge across
their link. His own face wore a small smirk. Janette
pulled back and put her arm around Natalie’s shoulder.


“Come, you should sit down.” She led Natalie back
toward the living room, LaCroix following.

When they were all seated again, LaCroix told Janette
of the theory that Natalie might have a tenuous link
with Nikki. Janette frowned in concentration.

“Hmmm. It IS an intriguing thought.” She turned to
Natalie. “My dear, have you tried contracting little
Nicole through this link?” Natalie shook her head.
“Perhaps now might be the time to do so.”

Natalie was dubious about the process, but she nodded
in agreement that it was worth a try. She shut her
eyes and concentrated on the link with Nikki. She
felt, as always, the very faint presence of Nick. It
was tenuous, but it was there. She probed the other
sense of “connectedness” in her mind, and was shocked
to discover not one, but three. Her eyes flew open as
she looked at the two vampires, realizing that through
her link to Nick, she was also connected to Janette
and LaCroix. They both smiled and nodded
acknowledgement of her discovery. Both of them had
felt her very faint reaching out to them.

Closing her eyes again, Natalie found the trickle of
emotion that signified her daughter. She pushed into
the link, trying to determine what Nikki’s emotional
state was. She was asleep, and seemed confused,
unhappy and scared, but the fear wasn’t overwhelming.
She seemed to be as well as could be expected, and
didn’t seem to be in pain. Natalie breathed a sigh of
relief. Carefully standing up, she slowly turned her
body, trying to use the link with Nikki as a compass
point for her to lock onto. Suddenly she got a
“tugging” from her daughter. She opened her eyes and
noted that she was pointed vaguely to the southeast.

She looked at the two vampires. “When I turned, I
suddenly felt like I had a string that pulled at me.
Is that what it feels like?”

LaCroix and Janette exchanged looks, then Janette
nodded at Natalie. “Yes. It is a bit different for us,
but essentially the same. What do you say we take a
little drive, the three of us?” Natalie didn’t say
anything but went to retrieve her coat and purse.
They went out to Janette’s Lexus, and Natalie got in
the front seat, LaCroix in the back. As she
concentrated on finding her daughter via their link,
She also probed around the links she had to the
vampires sitting with her. The link to Nick was also
present, although much fainter. She remembered him
telling her that physical proximity strengthened the
links. With LaCroix and Janette sitting close to her,
she was able to discern that their presences in her
mind were both linked very closely to the fainter
entity of Nick. It was interesting that she could tell
which link belonged to which vampire; each one had a
distinctive “flavor”, just as the connection to her
daughter was very clear to her as “Nikki”.

As they started driving on the Beaverton Hillsdale
Highway heading toward the city, Natalie concentrated
on the connection to Nikki. She felt a steady tugging,
and once it “moved” to her left, and she directed
Janette. As they got closer to the river, she felt a
sharp tug to the west. They entered the city proper,
and headed toward Janette’s haunts, over by the
Burnside Bridge. As the started driving toward the
Pearl District, Natalie felt the tugging growing
stronger. She realized they were heading out past the
city proper, toward what passed as an industrial area,
with large warehouses.

Suddenly, she lost the connection. She cried out, and
Janette pulled over.

“Natalie, what is wrong?”

“It’s gone…I can’t find the direction any more.” She
still felt the emotional bond with her daughter, but
she couldn’t discern her direction anymore. Tears
welled up in her eyes. “What happened? Where did it
go?”

Janette started cursing in French. LaCroix frowned.
“But you can still feel her in general, yes?” Natalie
nodded her head. “She is probably in transit then, or
has been taken underground. This is not an exact
science, and since your bond is very faint, we cannot
become disheartened.”

They agreed to head back to Natalie’s house. She cried
silently the entire time, but sent feelings of love
and reassurance along the emotional link connecting
her to Nikki. As she became more aware of the other
presences within her mind, she realized that she was
feeling something very faint buzzing along her link to
Nick. She quickly tried to damp down her own emotions,
knowing that if he felt them it would only serve to
make him curious and restless.

They arrived back at her house around 3:30 AM. Natalie
was amazed at how easily she had reverted to a
nighttime lifestyle. Janette dropped them off, and
left to return to her club. Natalie pulled a wineglass
out of the cupboard and offered it to LaCroix along
with a bottle opener. He silently inclined his head,
then proceeded to open one of the bottles Janette had
brought.

Natalie took the pouches with the money and put them
in a trunk in the closet; she still wasn’t comfortable
with the idea of five million dollars lying around her
house. Even with LaCroix there, she was still nervous.
LaCroix didn’t say anything, just watched her with
that smug smile that in past times had infuriated her.


Finally, she showed him to the basement. He looked
around in appraisal.

“This will do quite nicely, thank you.” Natalie left
him to settle into the room, and went upstairs. She
gathered her mail and sifted through all the bills,
credit card offers, and other pieces.

LaCroix came back upstairs about twenty minutes later.
He looked at Natalie going about her life tasks and
finally went to her bookcase and chose a book to read.
He sat down in one of the overstuffed chairs and began
reading.

Finally, Natalie got up and nervously started pacing.
LaCroix ignored her until she walked over and sat down
facing him. He looked up, to see her nervously biting
her lower lip.

“Is there something you wanted?”

“Since we seem to be in a lull, and all we can do now
is wait, I was wondering if you can tell me how Nick
is really doing. When you left Toronto you told me
that you could help him control his…cravings, I guess.
Please, I just need to know that he is OK.” She looked
at him, her blue eyes filled with such longing that it
touched his heart.

“Very well. The first thing that I did when we left
Toronto was to get Nicholas to stop drinking that
swill he had been digesting. One of the reasons he
had difficulty controlling himself with you is that he
had been half starving himself for decades. By denying
himself human blood, he had set himself up to fail at
any exercise of control. Add to that the fact that
Nicholas was also drawn to you emotionally, it was no
wonder that the beast inside of him almost killed you.
He had lost the skills and finesse needed to control
his primal desires, and like an alcoholic that has
abstained for many years, allowing himself to feed on
you awakened all his urges with a vengeance.”

Natalie sat listening, trying to be detached and
unemotional, but his explanation of the disastrous
ending to her relationship with Nick brought those
last few moments together crashing into the forefront
of her memories. Tears started slipping down her
cheeks.

“Are you sure you want to hear this, my dear?” LaCroix
asked.

She nodded. “Yes, I need to know what happened.”

LaCroix inclined his head. “After we left Toronto, we
went to Paris for a year, and Nicholas and I worked on
his control. The City of Lights always has had a
calming effect on Nicholas, and this was no different.
We joined the local community there, and Nicholas
rejoined his kind. He is still a troubled individual,
but he now has the support of his own kind. He still
interacts with the mortal world, but he keeps himself
aloof. It still troubles me that he still keeps
himself apart from his own kind as well, but
eventually Nicholas WILL come to terms with himself.
He has a strong sense of survival, regardless of his
lingering humanity and this pointless guilt which
follows him. I know you may not be happy with the fact
that Nicholas has turned back to embracing his nature,
but it truly is for the best.” LaCroix watched
Natalie, trying to determine what she was thinking.

“Thank you LaCroix. I’ve done a lot of thinking over
the years, and I honestly believe that part of Nick’s
problem, his depression, was his constant battle with
himself. He was a man divided. I’m not saying that
becoming mortal wasn’t a very real objective for him,
but I truly believe that he came to be too dependent
on the dream, the possibility of becoming mortal
again, so much so that he refused to live in the
present. I won’t lie to you and say that I would be
happy if Nick became mortal and we were able to live a
full and happy life, but I’m not even sure if
attaining mortality would make him happy. Part of me
thinks that it is HAVING a dream, something to strive
for, that is what he needs. I just don’t know. And now
I never will.” A tear slid down her cheek. “I love
him, and will until my dying day. There IS no one else
for me, there never could be.”

LaCroix looked at her speculatively and asked the
question he had toyed with for many years. “I must ask
you. Now that you have had several years living a
normal mortal existence, how would YOU feel about
coming across if you were offered the choice, and have
had time to weigh the differences? And I mean for
yourself, not for Nicholas. If it was your choice,
freely made?”

Natalie looked down at her hands in her lap. She
finally started speaking, picking her words very
carefully. “I always thought that the worst thing
about being a vampire would be moving on, making a new
life for myself every seven to ten years, leaving
everything and everyone that I had grown to care for.
In the last ten years, I HAVE lost everyone and
everything that has mattered to me. And now with this
situation with Nikki, I realize that it doesn’t matter
whether I’m a mortal or a vampire, there will always
be loss. I’ve started over in my life three times, and
each time I’ve lost or said goodbye to my old life. I
think with that realization, I have a better idea of
what it is to move on. And, truth be told, I HAVE
thought about the wonder of living through changing
times, to see history and science advance. My only
hesitation with becoming a vampire is the blood lust,
the urge to kill.” She looked up at him, a steely
determination in her eyes. “I’m a doctor, LaCroix,
pledged to save life, not take it. I don’t know that I
could survive the self-hatred of killing another
sentient being. THAT is what drives Nick. He regrets
the lives he has taken and destroyed, all the pain he
has caused. And in that respect, I support him one
hundred per cent. I know that in this modern age a
vampire doesn’t NEED to kill, but from the
conversations Nick and I have had, the vampire ENJOYS
killing, the hunt. And that is the part of being a
vampire that I don’t know that I could handle. I
cannot make a decision like that, not in theory.
Maybe, if I was faced with the decision due to a
life-threatening situation, I’d be able to say finally
‘yes, bring me across’, but I cannot say that for
sure, right now, that that is what is what I want.
But, if I was dying and the possibility existed that I
COULD make that choice, I guess I would have to say
that yes, I would want to be given that option. From
what Nick has told me, the final decision of whether
to come back, is mine and mine alone.”

LaCroix nodded. “Yes, that is true. It is the choice
of the individual. Thank you for your honesty, my
dear. After we left Toronto, Nicholas spent many
months trying to decide whether or not he should have
attempted to bring you across as you lay dying. I
think he believed that it is not a choice you ever
wanted, that you only wanted him if he was to become
mortal.”

Natalie stared at him. “How could he believe that?
Doesn’t he know that I love ALL of him? I love the
person he IS, not what he MIGHT be. Yes, the chance to
have a family and grow old together was what we both
longed for, but we both knew that that possibility
might not exist. I TOLD him that night that if he had
to make the decision to bring me across that he should
do it so that we could be together.” She shook her
head at the sadness of the situation.

LaCroix leaned over and put his hand on hers. “My
son’s greatest failing when it comes to his heart is
that he always tries to make decisions based on HIS
beliefs. He doesn’t always honestly listen to the
wishes of others. His hubris in life is that he thinks
he knows what is best for anyone who knows him. And we
both know that is not always the case.”

Natalie nodded, remembering all the times that Nick
had tried to shield her from things, to “protect” her,
and that he never listened to her when she told him
that he didn’t have the right to make decisions FOR
her. Oh, Nick, she thought.

LaCroix leaned back. “It is nearing dawn, and I am
going to retire for the day. Tomorrow we should find
out what the kidnapper wants us to do. I know it will
be difficult, my dear, but you should try and get some
rest.” He stood up. “Good day, I shall see you this
afternoon or evening.” He leaned down, took her hand,
and placed a cool kiss on the back of it before
leaving to go to the basement.
=======================
Kristen Fife, all rights reserved 2004
fenix23fyre@...