A Gift of Three (A Shade of Vampire #42)

A Gift of Three (A Shade of Vampire #42)

Bella Forrest



Hazel





I leaned back against my husband’s chest, sighing with contentment as I surveyed the waves gently lapping against the shoreline. Moonbeams danced across the black waters, their rays like shimmering spotlights over The Shade.

It was almost eight months since we’d returned from Nevertide, and already a lot had changed. I drew my hand across my stomach, my fingertips idly flitting over the bump—it was something I did often, preoccupied with the strange sensation of having my body changed so much by the child growing inside me. Our child.

It was still early in the pregnancy, but sometimes the baby would give me a small kick, making me aware of its presence, making me feel like a mom, which was mind-blowingly surreal and wonderful all at once. Apparently, supernatural babies showed more early activity than human ones.

“Are you cold?” Tejus asked me, wrapping his arms around my frame without waiting for a reply. As always, his embrace made me feel secure—like our little family unit, just me, Tejus and the bump, was indestructible.

“I’m not cold at all.” I smiled. “But this is good.”

“How’s the bump?”

I chuckled. “Active today… quite a few little kicks.”

I didn’t need to turn around to know that my husband was grinning from ear to ear. He was just as excited about the birth as I was, already planning on how to turn a room in our treehouse into a nursery, and studying birthing books like he was preparing for an exam. I’d told him that Corrine would be on hand throughout the delivery and afterwards, along with my mother and my grandmother—there would be plenty of experts—but he wouldn’t listen. The astute, strategic mindset he had once used to organize armies in Nevertide, and lately GASP missions, he now focused on the birth of our child, studying everything in painstaking detail.

“It’s around week sixteen, that sounds about right,” the ‘expert’ replied.

I laughed, taking Tejus’s hands in mine. I placed them on my stomach and he rubbed my skin gently over my t-shirt. We stayed like that, in silence, for a while—just listening to the waves, and the crackle of the fire that Tejus had built next to us.

I started to daydream, picturing what life would be like with our child, what our ‘bump’ might grow to be like, to look like—dark hair was a given, and so was pale skin. Sentry skills were to be expected; this had been confirmed by Corrine. It made me smile. Our half-ghoul child…it was such a weird concept.

“How was training, by the way?” I asked eventually, coming back to the present.

Tejus, Ben and my grandpa Derek had been teaching combat skills to some of the newer GASP members. It had been quiet in The Shade of late, and all three men had decided it was the perfect time to hone skills and ensure that all of GASP was more than ready for whatever might lie ahead.

“Good,” Tejus replied. “Field and his brothers are impressive. They don’t over-rely on their ability to make a quick exit, which is commendable. They’re all highly skilled, and quick to learn. Field in particular. He’s going to make a good leader one day.” He paused, softly kissing the top of my head. “Just like our child will.”

I rolled my eyes. Of course our child would. With a father like Tejus, I couldn’t imagine it being any other way.

“Was Benedict okay?” I asked. My brother had been desperate to join in the training for weeks now, but without having become a vampire yet because of his age, my dad and grandpa forbade it. It was too dangerous for a human.

“Not really.” Tejus sighed. “He hates being left out, but there’s nothing I can do… I think he also misses Yelena.”

I nodded. I thought that too. Ever since she’d left, Benedict had been difficult. He completely denied it when I inquired if he missed her, but anyone could see that he did. Still, he had Julian and his other friends on the island. I hoped he would get over it soon. I also hoped that Yelena’s parents would let her return in the summer, which wasn’t far away.

“That reminds me,” I said. “Ruby and Ash are returning soon—just to stay for a few weeks.”

“What about the brownies?” Tejus smirked.

“They’re staying, apparently,” I replied, still slightly bemused by the way that had turned out. The brownies had been sent over to Nevertide to help with the clean-up and had actually been helpful—which had come as a surprise to everyone, especially my mother. The creatures had liked Nevertide so much that they’d requested permission to stay and build a small community of their own. Ash and Ruby had been only too happy to oblige. The brownies’ stealing tendencies seemed to have been eradicated by hard labor, and now that Nevertide was up and running again, they both figured it was the more the merrier.

“Will Ruby and Ash come again for the birth?” Tejus asked.

I snorted. “Yes. Apparently, even if the bump is ready to come out, I have to hold on till Ruby gets here, or I’m in deep trouble.”

“Oh, really?” Tejus replied, an acerbic tone creeping into his voice. “You can tell Ruby that if she puts undue stress on my wife during labor, she’ll be the one in trouble.”

I laughed, knowing he was only half-joking. My husband’s protective instincts had ratcheted up a couple of notches since news of the pregnancy, and it looked like it would continue at maximum until I had our child.