I would like to post the attached fiction to the Jadfe website. It is an N&N pairing.
Thank you,
Becky Chessman
bdundee@aol.com

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LEGACY OF EVIL: Inklings--An ADULT-- "Forever Knight" fan fiction story
by Rebecca L. Chessman

DISCLAIMERS: The characters from the television series "Forever Knight" belong to James Parriott and Barney Cohen. No infringement of their original copyright or ownership of the characters or series by Sony Television is intended. This is an exercise in admiration for TPTB who are the original creators of the characters and situations previously presented on television. Permission is granted to archive at fkfic-l's ftp site, fkfanfic.com, and jadfe website. All others please ask.

I have created some new characters and taken liberties with the originals to continue from where the series left off at the end of season three. I am an unrepentant Nick and Nat Packer and a Dark Knightie. I believe they belong together, but I set myself the task of finding a way other than making Nat a vampire or letting Nick have his mortality. Either of those solutions seems to violate their essential integrity. I have tried to include real places and historic events and persons where they fit, but I did not use real modern people.

This is my first attempt at fan fiction. I hope its readers enjoy the adventure. I enjoyed writing it. I have posted this on adult lists as I feel the sexual content and the level of violence might be offensive to some readers. If you do not enjoy consenting sex between adult M&F persons, or violence directed at or around children, please avoid this story. I have used Nicholas, Nick, and the French spelling, Nicolas, to refer to the character of Nick Knight. The spelling changes as each character uses the pronunciation most familiar to them. I owe a great deal of thanks to Judy Freudenthal for beta reading.

Legacy of Evil : Inklings by Rebecca L. Chessman
Chapter 1

LaCroix approached Nicholas' loft with trepidation, fearing that Nicholas would attempt Janette's 'cure' for his vampirism. It could not work for Nicholas as it had for Janette. Nicholas was weak from too many years of denying what he was. Nicholas' continuing insistence upon consuming only animal blood, living among mortals, and suffering guilt over his vampire existence eroded any constraint LaCroix had taught him. And his infatuation with Dr. Natalie Lambert wreaked havoc upon his equilibrium!

Nicholas' weakness was so severe that he had actually been possessed by a demon! But there was hope; just last week, Divia, LaCroix's beautiful and deadly daughter, had destroyed two other vampires with her poison, attacked Nicholas, and even attacked LaCroix, himself. Nicholas not only survived, but prevented LaCroix's own death at Divia's hands. LaCroix was joyfully amazed. Her death, though he grieved for the loss of his daughter, brought himself and his favorite 'son' to a new understanding. When he had come to the loft tonight, LaCroix hoped Nicholas was ready to move on, to resume his proper place at LaCroix's side. But, Nicholas' desire for Natalie Lambert intervened, and preempting Nicholas' latest foolishness had proven impossible.

Love. LaCroix sneered to himself. However foolish he found this emotion, Nicholas and his lovely doctor obviously did not. He'd found them together in the loft. He was too late. Nicholas had lost control. Dr. Lambert lay drained and dying on the floor. Not all the persuasive eloquence at LaCroix's command could convince Nicholas to bring her across. Now, her death was the only logical solution.

And Nicholas impulsively insisted on joining his lover in death, and expected LaCroix to wield the instrument of his destruction! LaCroix poised the twisted wooden pike Nicholas had handed him, his body automatically balancing it carefully prior to launching it at its intended target. His mind was in turmoil. What good was 2000 years of experience when his only 'son' required him to perform a tragic folly committed on a Shakespearean scale? Why did LaCroix's favorite child have to be the only vampire he knew who despised his own existence? Could he actually do what Nicholas asked?

Janette sped through the night sky above Toronto. It was early March. Sleet blew directly into her face as she flew, making it far too uncomfortable for flying under normal conditions, but tremendous emotional surges from Nicolas had been racking her system all evening long. She must reach him before he did something truly stupid. LaCroix was with him now. She could feel their connection, the distinctive tension of their differences. What were they doing to cause this horrendous upheaval of emotion?

She'd been able to feel Nicolas' urges through their link with LaCroix in earlier years. They had been a closely knit trio, until she fell in love with Robert! Her resultant mortality broke her bond with them both. When Robert died, she hadn't cared if she continued to live. But Nicolas cared. He brought her back across into her former vampire state rather than let her die. Since he was now her nominal master, his mood swings were more perceptible to her. He seemed calmer lately, less eager to anguish over his vampire state. Indeed, she occasionally felt his satisfaction when his powers manifested.

Then Nicolas confronted Divia, and his equilibrium evaporated. What a revelation the appearance of Divia had been! Nicolas' feelings toward his vampire master mellowed considerably. But, she knew Nicolas' continuing passion for Natalie was still something Janette's previous master could never easily accept. Could that be the root of this disturbance?

She must calm him! He would drag them both down into a maelstrom of madness and mortality. She could not allow that to happen again. She was just getting used to her forcible reconversion. Nicolas was suffering the desolation she felt in that moment when she realized she could not revive her beloved Robert.

She was nearly there! She could see the distinctive roof line of Nicolas' warehouse on the horizon, the outline of that water tank that incongruously reminded her of a ridiculous 'Humpty Dumpty' about to fall.

An enormous, electrical surge of despair caught her mid-flight and nearly ripped her from the sky, but she pressed on through it and alit atop Nicolas' skylight. Looking down she saw <....mon dieu, what was LaCroix doing!>
The tableau frozen beneath her feet horrified her. Natalie Lambert lay, seemingly lifeless, on the floor. Nicolas knelt above her, head bowed, his hands clasping Natalie's. A perfect cacophony of guilt, love, resignation, despair, hope stormed at Janette from his quiet figure. LaCroix loomed above them both, a huge, twisted stake in his hands, seemingly, poised to strike Nicolas through the heart.

"Damn you, Nicholas!" she heard LaCroix exclaim as the stake descended.

Janette plummeted through the skylight, raining broken glass and twisted metal everywhere, and confronted LaCroix.  "What do you think you are doing?" Janette roared as she ripped the stake from LaCroix's hands, broke it into shards, and threw its remains into the fireplace.

LaCroix staggered back from the violence of her advance. He shook himself, as if rousing from a nightmare, and faced her calmly. But he was anything but calm. He had nearly done what Nicholas had asked! The recollection of his own bout with barren hopelessness during the meteor crisis the previous year tempted him to be lenient with Nicholas' flirtation with human frailty, but his better sense suggested a more likely target for the stake.  "He asked me to second him as his oldest friend," LaCroix stated.

"And you agreed!?" Janette shouted. "Knowing what a state he's worked himself into!? And all for no good reason!"

<Indeed> LaCroix thought to himself as he darted a look of pure hatred in Natalie Lambert's direction. The only thing that held him back from pushing that stake through her heart was his very thorough conviction that Nicholas would never survive her death. If Nicholas were to live, and LaCroix needed Nicholas to live, Dr. Lambert must.
Nick, still on his knees, was completely unaware of Janette's entrance. He murmured despairingly to Natalie, "I can not condemn you to this darkness! But we will be together, forever."

"You idiot! You completely deluded fool!" Janette shouted at Nick. "She isn't dead. You have plenty of blood in the refrigerator. You have her knowledge as a doctor working inside you at this very moment, and you didn't think to transfuse her!? You didn't think at all did you? How typical of you, Nicolas. You are such an emotional ninny. Get up off that floor and get that blood! You know damned well she doesn't want to die. Quit wallowing in that mire of guilt and save the woman's life!" Janette barked.

Nick looked up at Janette dazedly. Then, with a suddenly brightening expression, he rose, a bit disjointedly, then whipped across the room to the refrigerator. He ripped several bags of blood out of the freezer, plugged the sink, ran hot water into it, and dumped the blood bags in to begin to thaw.

Janette rummaged briskly through Natalie's medical bag, which still sat on the table, and found alcohol, cotton swabs, needles, tubing. Nick joined her at the table, and, looking through the bag, himself, he gasped. He looked up into Janette's face, and stammered, "You...you were right! She packed for just this emergency. She has everything in here to deal with blood-loss shock." And, Nick realized, Natalie had just replaced this blood supply, "For emergencies," she had said. The A negative blood could be used for either of them. He was A negative and she was AB negative, what had been called a universal receiver until the RH factor had been discovered. Their blood types were compatible enough to risk emergency transfusion without prior cross matching.

"Well, then, get to it!" Janette exclaimed.

LaCroix stood, seemingly bemused, in the center of the room where Janette had left him. He looked down at Natalie, then bent and lifted her onto the couch. He crossed to the coat rack near the lift door and, emptying it, he brought it to stand next to the couch. Then he disappeared into Nick's bedroom and reappeared bearing blankets and pillows. He placed the pillows under Natalie's feet and covered her with the blankets, leaving only the arm nearest the coat rack bare.

Nick pulled one of the blood bags from the hot water in the sink, hung it from the coat rack, set up an I.V. line from the bag, and began transfusing Natalie. He instructed Janette to push the transfusion while he employed the drugs he had found in Natalie's bag to ameliorate the effects of shock. Then he set up a saline drip in her other arm to rehydrate her. It wasn't long before Natalie began showing signs of life. She returned to consciousness slowly, her eyes focusing on Nick's face as he hovered protectively above her.

Janette was briskly clearing away the glass and metal shards she had scattered upon her entry into the loft. LaCroix was fidgeting restlessly, tapping his fingers against the surface of the lamp table next to the chair in which he sat.

"Ni...Nick!" Natalie cried as she regained consciousness.

"Shh, hush, love, I'm here, you're safe now," Nick murmured soothingly.

"I...I remember...you wanted to die with me..." Natalie mumbled as she gazed lovingly at Nick. "You...your life...such suffering! How do you stand it?" she exclaimed as she reached up to gently stroke his cheek. Nick gathered her up in his arms, mindful of the I.V.'s still running from the bags suspended from the coat rack to the needles in her arms. He rocked her gently as he held her.

"I'm so sorry, Nat. I couldn't stop. You are so beautiful, so delicious, I wanted all of you," Nick apologized.

"I know, my love," breathed Natalie. "Truly, I know." She shivered as he held her. He tightened his grasp as she burrowed her face into his shoulder. She began to shudder violently as her body reacted to the revelation of his past conquests. The hideously compelling images he shared as he consumed her blood repeated themselves in her mind. It terrified her because she did not wish them to stop! His experiences as he had lived them were thrillingly intense. She relived his possession of herself and reveled in her ability to fulfill his desire so utterly. She wanted him again. God help her. He had nearly killed her, and she still wanted him so desperately! Her trembling slowly abated. She raised her head to look at him.

Nick drew back, "Are you all right?" She nodded, but deep inside herself, she doubted her own sanity. He smiled at her, blinked suddenly, then stared at her neck strangely. He was about to speak when...

"Well, now that that's over," LaCroix interrupted. "When are we leaving?" He pushed himself up from the chair abruptly and began to pace.

"A bit impatient aren't we?" asked Janette archly. "It's just past sunrise. You can't travel until sunset."

"Humph, well, I suppose I'll have to spend the day then--I'll take the bedroom. I'd like to be well rested for my journey," LaCroix remarked as he disappeared upstairs with a whoosh.

Janette beamed at Nick and Natalie who still sat entwined in each other's arms, although Nick seemed to be a bit uneasy. Natalie clutched at him as if he were her anchor to reality. <After what she's been through, that's probably precisely how she feels.> Janette mused.

"He took that well, I thought. Wouldn't you two like something to eat? I should think that Natalie is probably starved."

"What?" Nick asked distractedly.

"I said, you're a terrible host. Why don't you get Natalie something to eat," Janette returned.

"Oh, yeah, sure," Nick mumbled as he pried himself loose from Natalie's grasp, rose, and walked into the kitchen to stare into his refrigerator, and browse through his cupboards in search of something edible for Natalie.

"What are you going to do now? Will you move on with LaCroix or stay here?" Janette asked Nick.

"I won't leave Natalie," Nick replied forcefully.

"Don't worry about me," Natalie rejoined," I'm going wherever you do. I packed before I came." <My God, I sound like Ruth in the Bible,> she thought to herself. Then she thought ruefully, <Nick would probably consider that blasphemy!>

The phone interrupted shrilly. The answering machine clicked on, and when the message finished, Reese's voice boomed from the speaker.

"Nick, this is Reese. We've got problems! I.A. wants to talk to you, your partner's body is missing, and her father is making my life miserable. All hell is breaking loose around here."

Nick dived for the phone, punched the speaker button, then returned to his search for food. "Tracy's body is missing!?"

"They'd taken her down to the morgue at the hospital. When the funeral home arrived for the pick up, she was gone. The uniforms are searching for her body now."

"I'll get there as soon as I can, Captain, but my allergy will keep me in for several hours yet."

"Yeah, yeah, I know all about that, but I don't need you here. You have to stay put. I.A. will be knockin' on your door within the hour. I just thought you ought to know before they get there. There's no need for you to come in. You'll be on suspension until I.A. finishes their investigation anyhow. Hey, what's this I hear about Dr. Lambert resigning? Did that suicide case finally chase our best medical examiner out of her job?"

"No, Captain, it's my fault." Natalie and Janette gasped as they heard Nick's reply. "I asked her to marry me." Nick winked at Natalie as he said this. "And I think she will. I'll be waiting for I.A."

"Well, it's about time, Knight! Congratulations! And give my best wishes to Dr. Lambert," Captain Reese exclaimed. "Take good care of I.A. I don't think you'll have much trouble with them. I've seen the security camera tape. Commissioner Vetter won't be able to hold you responsible for Tracy's death for long."

Nick hung up the phone, turned to Natalie, who was staring at him with her mouth open, and asked, "Well, will you?"

She closed her mouth, took a huge breath and let it out before exclaiming, "You'd damn well better believe I will!" She held out her arms for Nick, and he gathered her up with alacrity. "But Nick, why now?"

"I've found I can't live without you," he told her sincerely. "I don't know what kind of life we can have together, but I won't have one if I can't have you."

Janette's face was a study in worry, relief, and satisfaction. "Well, it's about time you did something sensible," she told Nick as he nuzzled Natalie. "What are you going to do about him?" Janette gestured toward the bedroom.

"He'll have to get used to it," was Nick's only comment as he released Natalie and returned, once again, to the cupboards.

Natalie pulled the I.V. needle from her left arm and asked, "Would someone get me some band aids? I think I'm done with these for a while." She swung her legs off the couch, reaching for the other I.V., only to fall back abruptly as the color left her face. She had intended to clear away the I.V. setup, but found she could not. "I guess I'm not quite ready to get up yet," she asserted.

Nick jumped for the band aids, and handed them to Natalie. Then he gently removed the second I.V. needle from her right arm. He opened the box of band aids Natalie held, selected two, and expertly applied one to each arm. Then he guided her back down into a recumbent position on the couch, this time with the pillows supporting her head and shoulders. He took the box of bindweeds and replaced them in Natalie's bag on the dining room table.
Meanwhile, Janette cleared away the assemblage of bags and tubing from the coat rack. She rescued the coats, jackets, and Nick's shoulder holster from the pile on the floor where LaCroix had left them and replaced them and the rack in their original positions.

"Janette's right," Nick said, "you need nourishment. I'll get this soup on, Nat." He quickly returned to the kitchen and emptied the contents of a can of chicken soup he had found in the back of one of his cupboards into a pan.

"I think I left some bagels in your freezer last week," Natalie said from her relaxed position on the couch.

"I can toast them," Janette said.

When the food was ready, Nick rushed over to the couch to help Natalie to the table.

"I'm perfectly able to stand and walk on my own," she fussed at him as she sat up and neatly stacked the pillows and blankets she had been using. But when she found she really was still quite wobbly, she allowed him to place an arm around her waist and help her to her chair.  Soon Natalie was relaxing at the dining room table after having finished her soup and bagel, while Janette and Nick sipped from their wine glasses.

"I still despise cow," Janette shivered.

"It's drinkable," Nick asserted.

"Only to a deluded...," Janette began.

"Emotional ninny?" Nick finished for her.

"Well, you can be so thick at times," she remarked.

"I'll second that," Natalie agreed.

Just then the door buzzer sounded, and Nick checked the door video.  "It's I.A., are we tidy enough for them to surprise me in my den of iniquity?" Nick asked.

"They're only going to grill you about what happened at the precinct," Natalie remarked. "You're not suspected of any corruption, are you?"

"Not any more than usual. Unless you count my making you resign," Nick noted.

"Well, I'll never tell them I did it so I could run off with a vampire who was getting ready to move on."

"I'm going to go upstairs with LaCroix," Janette said. "I don't relish being grilled by anyone, especially about things  of which I have no knowledge." She disappeared quietly upstairs carrying her wine glass and the bottle of blood with her.

Just then the lift door opened, and two officers from I.A. entered the loft. "Detective Knight?" one of them approached Nick, offering his hand. Nick shook it and offered them a seat on the couch, which was now devoid of any evidence of the earlier emergency, except for the stack of neatly folded blankets and pillows at the far end of the couch. Nick and Natalie settled into the easy chairs.

"Detective, we'd like to hear your version of what occurred in the precinct's locker room last night. You killed the prisoner who shot Detective Vetter. Commissioner Vetter has charged you with manslaughter for that death. Commissioner Vetter is also pressing negligence of duty charges against you for placing your partner in unnecessary danger. You could be charged with murder. You could be discharged from the force, permanently, if this investigation shows that you had any prior intent to kill the prisoner, or that you knowingly placed your partner in danger and thereby caused her death."

Natalie snorted as she heard the allegations. "Sounds like the commissioner needs someone to pin this whole mess on, and you won the toss, Nick," she commented.

"Who is this?" asked the second I.A. officer, eying Natalie, and then the folded stack of blankets and pillows. Knight was single, but was he as much of a gentleman as his reputation suggested? Which of them, he wondered, had spent the night on the couch? "Does she have anything to do with this investigation?"

"This is Dr. Natalie Lambert. She's the chief medical examiner."

"Oh, yes. Dr. Lambert, I heard you'd resigned last night. Does your resignation have anything to do with this case?"

"No, it doesn't. I didn't do the work on this particular incident," Natalie replied. "My resignation is for personal reasons. Detective Knight and I are engaged."

"I see," the officer replied. "In that case, you may stay as we question Knight, but you may not comment during the questioning. Now, Detective Knight, please begin with your version of the events of last night," he removed his notebook from his inside jacket pocket as his partner placed a voice-activated tape recorder on the table at Nick's elbow.

Nick explained that he had received the call, while he had been at the morgue, about a prisoner grabbing a gun from an officer. "I arrested Dawkins during a case last year. Delbert Dawkins was a petty criminal. He was unstable, but not usually dangerous. The judge sentenced him to a mental hospital rather than send him to the regular lockup. He hadn't gotten along with his doctor and had been rearrested for assaulting him. He didn't want to return to the hospital," Nick paused and then continued.

"I thought that since I knew Dawkins, I could calm him down enough to get the gun away from him without anyone being hurt. I found him in the locker room and was talking him down. The emergency lights were on dimly, and the lack of bright lights and the patter I was using seemed to be having a calming effect. He was just about to hand me the gun when, suddenly, the room lights came on, and he started shooting." Nick's hands twisted in his lap as he continued his story. "I tackled him, threw him against the wall. I heard Dawkins' head hit pretty hard. I grabbed the gun," Nick looked up at the I.A. officers with an agonized expression.

"When I turned around to see what Dawkins had been shooting at, Tracy was sliding down the wall. She had been shot twice. I guess once she got into the locker room unseen, she planned to cover me, if it became necessary. Unfortunately, the lights coming on revealed her position, and she was shot." Nick looked down at his hands which continued to twist as he finished his story.

"Thank you, Detective, that's pretty much the way it looks on the security camera. Except, it looked on the tape as if you were directly in the line of fire. Why weren't you shot?"

"I have no idea how he missed me," Nick shook his head sadly. "It should have been me. Tracy never deserved this."

"Detective, do you still have your gun? If so, we need to take it in for ballistic tests."

"Of course," Nick went to the coat rack and withdrew his gun from his holster.

The I.A. man examined Nick's gun. "This hasn't been fired recently," he commented. "We're going to take it anyway. You're on suspension until the investigation is completed."

"Captain Reese called earlier. He said Tracy's body is missing. What's happening?" Nick asked.

"We're wondering the same thing. Nearly everyone on the force has been called in for extra duty. Commissioner Vetter is really putting on the pressure."

"Well, Detective," the second officer advised, "just relax and let the rest of the force do its job. We'll be back if we have any further questions, so don't go too far for a while." The I.A. officers rose from the couch, gathering up the notebook and recorder, and left.

Nick looked at Natalie. She raised her eyebrows. "This is really weird," she remarked. "Could LaCroix have had anything to do with Tracy's disappearance?" Natalie mused.

Nick started. "You think he brought her across? No, the timing's wrong. He was here with us when she disappeared."

"Is there anyone else who'd do that for her?" Natalie asked.

"Vachon, but he couldn't cope with Divia's poison. You saw how Urs didn't regenerate? He wasn't injured as badly, physically, but what happened to him was, actually, worse. He simply could not deal with Divia's evil. I'm not sure how I did when she attacked me." Nick shivered as he remembered Divia's relentless and frenzied attack and the vivid images of killing and feeding she had radiated. "Vachon had Tracy stake him. LaCroix said that perhaps my search for mortality is what saved me. I'm not completely a vampire. Do you suppose he's right?"

"Oh my God, Nick. You didn't tell me that."

Nick looked at Natalie thoughtfully. Natalie thought she saw a trace of revulsion flit across his face before he answered. She had a sudden foreboding in her gut. He hated himself. Would he come to hate her because she wanted him?

"I don't know anyone else who would bring Tracy across."

"Why would anyone want her body?"

"I have absolutely no idea."

"Weird," Natalie repeated.

"If I weren't on suspension, I would go out and investigate. Maybe after the sun's down we could go look anyway. What do you think, Nat?"

"You never told Janette what you were going to do next. It sounds like you've decided to stay here for a while. How does our 'engagement' fit into the picture? Or is it just a cover for I.A."

"Nat, I meant what I said." He gathered her into his arms and hugged her tightly. His lips found hers, and he began to kiss her passionately. She responded, slipping her arms around his neck to hold him closely to her.

LaCroix suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs. Janette was right behind him. "What is this I hear about marriage, Nicholas?"

Nick refused to be interrupted and continued kissing Natalie. When he judged he had made his point, he looked up. "You heard correctly, LaCroix."

"Another simple-minded mortal dalliance! Really, Nicholas, you won't always be so well-prepared every time you try to love her," sneered LaCroix.

"She isn't entirely mortal any longer, LaCroix," Nick announced.

"What!?" exclaimed Nat and LaCroix together.

"Look at her neck. There's absolutely no evidence of what I did to her just a few hours ago. Her wounds are not only completely healed, there is no bruise and no scar," Nick asserted.

Natalie gasped and reached up to touch her throat. Nick was right! There was no trace of his bite.  "My throat doesn't even feel sore," Natalie mused. "As a matter of fact, I've seldom felt so well in my life," she asserted. "And that's really strange, especially if Nick drained me as much as he says he did."

"It's Divia's influence, LaCroix," Nick said. "When I drank from Natalie, I couldn't stop. It wasn't just because I wanted her. I could feel something else. Something that's been with me, I think, since Divia attacked me. I can tell I've infected her with it, too. Why else would she be healing so rapidly? There was something very strange about Divia. It keeps haunting me. I'm not sure what it is, LaCroix, but we must find out. It may be that Natalie and I will become as dangerous to you and the rest of the Community as Divia was."

"Nick!" Natalie pushed herself away from him.

Nick reached out and pulled her back into his arms. "You can't hurt me Nat, but I'm not sure what we've been infected with. Meanwhile, we're safer together than anywhere else."

"Yeah, but that's kind of a mixed blessing isn't it?" <Will he hate me now? Am I becoming a vampire?>

"Not really, I've always wanted to be stuck with you for the rest of my life," he murmured into her hair as he pulled her even closer.

<Oh, but will you, if I become like you?> she wailed to herself.

"We must find out if anyone else in the Community has had any contact with Divia," Janette said.

"She attacked me also," LaCroix noted quietly.

"Ah, LaCroix, I'd suspect you are 'far too old and powerful' for Divia to affect you," Nick quoted.

"There are never any guarantees," LaCroix commented sourly. "She was my master."

"We can't do anything until the sun sets," said Janette.

Natalie suddenly sagged in Nick's arms. "Natalie needs rest," Nick said. "LaCroix, you won't be leaving immediately will you?"

"No. I must make sure that Divia's legacy does no further harm. If I do not, the Enforcers may have to intervene. I would just as soon that did not become necessary."

"LaCroix, may we have the bedroom now? Nat needs rest before we set out after dark. Would you and Janette put your heads together and see if you can come up with a list of anyone Divia might have had contact with? Remember she was hunting people you cared for."

LaCroix nodded briefly, and he and Janette settled on the couch with a note pad and pencil. Nick lifted Natalie into his arms and carried her upstairs to the bedroom. He set her on the bedspread and reached down to pull the comforter over her, but she pulled him down next to her on the bed.

"I don't want to rest. I want you to make love to me. The way you didn't when you bit me," Natalie informed him as she buried her fingers in his hair and nuzzled him. She wanted him, and she didn't want to think about the consequences just now. She needed his body next to hers.

"Mmmm, I'd love to," Nick murmured in her ear, "but we have guests with very sharp ears, and other senses, and making love is something just between us. You need your rest. You're still weak from shock. You have been infected with something we know very little about. And, we have no clue as to how your system will react."

"Well, then it's about time I started using some of my abilities, and we set up a lab to monitor us both."

"After we have a nap," Nick nuzzled her ear and pulled her tightly against his body. She could feel that he was as interested as she in far more intimate relations.

"I thought you said our guests had sharp ears, and that had to wait until later," Natalie whispered as she reveled in the feel, the scent of him.

"They do, and it does. But we can still snuggle," Nick whispered back as he cuddled her closely. Natalie sighed and relaxed in his arms.

<He still loves me, wants me!> she rejoiced to herself. She soon drifted into a light, healing sleep. Nick watched her sleep, enjoying the feel of her in his arms, her warmth, the rise and fall of her breath, the sound of her heartbeat, the scent of her, the taste of her. He had drunk deeply and nearly killed her. He was sated for now, but what of later when his desire for her arose again? He was far more worried about her than he had let her know. What had Divia done to him, and now, through him, to Natalie? She was healing with vampire speed. Would that effect last? There was no precedent for it. Not even one LaCroix had kept from him. LaCroix had been as amazed as the rest of them.

Their lovemaking was supposed to make him more human. Instead he had lost control and nearly killed her. Now, whatever Divia had done to him was making Natalie more like a vampire. It wasn't at all what they had hoped. Since he had tasted Natalie's blood, he knew she had accepted him completely. She truly did not care if he were mortal or vampire. She loved him unconditionally. He still could not believe that, although he knew it was perfectly true. He kissed her gently in her sleep. She was so dear to him. He wasn't sure he could bear to see her become a vampire. That change might destroy the essence of the woman he loved. Worrying, he too, fell into a deep sleep. Nick and Natalie slept soundly, it was getting late, nearly five o'clock.
[End Chapter 1 - Legacy of Evil: Inklings]

Legacy of Evil: Inklings - Chapter 2

Just across town, Amanda pushed her cart down the alley, always keeping an eye open for anything usable. The cart in front of her was half-filled with the things she'd found that morning. She didn't live out of her cart like so many other street people. She had a real room. It wasn't the best, but it was warm and clean. Her retirement checks were too small for anything more than a residence hotel, so she padded her income with the bottles and cans she recycled and the other usable stuff she found in the trash bins. People paid well for things most thought were junk once they were cleaned up and displayed properly in a second-hand shop.

Her friend, Irma, owned just such a shop. Amanda was one of Irma's best scouts. Amanda had good taste and a head for fashion. She just didn't have enough money to indulge it. So she catered to others' tastes instead.
It wasn't a bad life, Amanda thought to herself. Sometimes she had to defend herself from the riffraff on the street, but she was still strong and had taken several self-defense classes at the Y. She knew enough not to carry any cash or to pick up anything that looked like anyone else would want it. It wasn't smart to keep working after dark, and it had been nearly half an hour since she'd last found anything. Amanda thought to herself < I should quit for the day, get a nice cup of hot tea!> Suddenly she saw something promising.

Now there was a discarded coat! Just the kind of thing Irma would like to put in the kids' section of her store. It wasn't often that you found good quality kids' wear. People usually handed things like that down to relatives or friends. Amanda bent over the coat and lifted. It was heavy. Oh, God, no! The child was still in it. Blood had ruined the front of the coat. She could see that now, and, as she stared, the child's head rolled away from the torso. Amanda screamed.

In their bed in Nick's loft, Natalie held Nick in her arms. His teeth were buried in her vein, his lips and tongue nursed at her throat. He pulled back and bared his neck, inviting her to drink from him. But when she bit into his throat, he suddenly shuddered and cried out, "No....no....never....not you, Natalie!" and pushed her away. She was devastated, bereft, how could he withdraw himself when she had given everything she was to him. She reached for him, fingers curved into tearing claws, and ripped his throat out.

Natalie screamed and tried to sit up, fighting a cold weight that seemed to be pressing her down into eternal blackness. "Oh, Nick, oh God, what have I done!?"

"Shh, shh, quiet love, you're all right, hush, Nat, hush now!" Natalie gradually realized the cold weight was simply Nick holding her, trying to comfort her.

"Oh Nick, it was horrible. I...I killed you. It was so real!"

"You haven't killed anyone, Nat. You're all right. Hush now." Nick was raining kisses over her face and rocking her gently. Natalie shivered violently. She raised her hand. Her fingertips traced his mouth. Their lips met. His tongue traced the outline of her mouth. Her lips parted, their tongues met. He was delicious, his lips soft and cool, his tongue, strong and supple. She could feel his body against hers. Hard, strong arms held her firmly but gently. Hands caressed her shoulders, her hips, pulled her hips into his. God, how she wanted him! Wanted those hands to caress her everywhere. She slid one hand down between his thighs and stroked him. He pulled back, sucking his breath in through his teeth.

He captured her hand between his own and held it tightly.

"Nat, lord, how you tempt me," he hissed. She smiled against his chest.

"I know. I want you just as badly." She looked up at him between her lashes and pouted for his benefit. "I love being comforted like this. But I'd rather finish what I started."

"You will, soon, I promise." He kissed her palm, and moving away from her, he rose from the bed and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Where did I leave my comb?" he wondered aloud.

"I need one too," Nat told him as she sat up.

"Ah, here it is." He picked up a comb from the top of his dresser, ran it quickly through his hair, then sat back down on the bed behind Nat and began combing her hair.

"I've always loved your hair. Always wanted to tangle my hands in it," Nick told her, dropping the comb and burying his hands and face in her hair.

"Well, please just comb, it tangles far too easily as it is without your help!" Natalie exclaimed. She giggled as he started tickling her ribs. "Stop that, we don't have time for that. What time is it anyway? Janette and LaCroix will be wondering what we're up to."

Nick craned his neck to see the bedside clock. "It's just 5:00. Not quite sunset, but quite near," Nick announced. " We have enough time to get cleaned up before we start our inquiries. Would you like to use the shower first, or shall I?" Nick asked.

"Me first. Why don't you go downstairs and get my bag. I need to change. I feel truly grubby." Nick left her on the bed and went to retrieve her bag.

Downstairs Janette and LaCroix were just finishing a bottle they had found in the depths of his refrigerator. "At least you did keep a decent vintage on hand for visitors," LaCroix commented. "We've had breakfast, shouldn't you do the same?"

"I'll join you in a moment. I need to take Nat's bag up to her. If either of you would like to use the shower, we're taking it in shifts," Nick said.

"How perfectly lovely. Me next," Janette said.

"We have a list of possible contacts for you," LaCroix informed Nick.

"Tracy's body being missing leads me to believe that someone has brought her across. But the vampires she knew of in the Community were killed by Divia. Could one of them have survived her attack?" Nick asked.

"Vachon was older that the others," LaCroix said. "He could have survived."

"I think we should check his church and the lair of his friend, the carouche. It's hard to say what we might find under the city," Nick suggested. Then he crossed the room and found Nat's two suitcases next to the piano. He carried them up to the bedroom. He could hear the shower and Nat's heartbeat as he entered. He was terribly tempted to join her, but he knew Janette would be up soon.

"Nat, here are your things. Janette says she's next in the shower," he spoke through the door.

Natalie suddenly appeared at the door to the shower, a towel around her hair, and another about her body. She reached up and gave him a moist and steamy kiss, "Sure, you don't want to join me," she tempted throatily.

"You seductress," he murmured into her mouth. "I love you."

"I'll bet you tell that to all the girls," Natalie replied.

"No, only the ones I'm going to marry," Nick rejoined.

Just then Janette appeared at the door. "Natalie, do you think you have anything in that bag I could wear?" she asked sweetly.

Natalie blushed, "Go ahead and look. I'm not sure if our sizes are similar, and your sense of style is quite different from mine, but you're welcome to anything you care to wear." Nick backed away from Natalie and fled downstairs. Janette grinned.

"Whatever happens now, I wish you both all the happiness you can find," she told Natalie.

"Thank you, Janette. We tried what you and Robert did last night. We couldn't make it work."

"I think the conditions were quite different, Natalie. Nicolas has been abstaining from human blood for so long, I think that may have been a factor in his inability to stop drinking from you. He thinks Divia has also had an effect. He may be right. But I believe that neither of you will be truly content with one another until he comes to terms with what he is."

"You're right, Janette. He feels so guilty for things that aren't his fault. I've tried to talk to him. LaCroix tried to reach him last night. I could hear him. Nick has to forgive himself, or he isn't going to be able to live with himself or me." Natalie paused a moment and then asked, "Nick and LaCroix's relationship has changed, hasn't it?"
"It was Divia," Janette told Natalie. "Her destruction has brought them together. They're very like father and son now."

"LaCroix doesn't seem as anxious to destroy me as he was a year ago. He disapproves of our relationship. I can see why. Vampire and mortal--it does seem an insurmountable obstacle. We can't be together unless one of us changes. LaCroix doesn't want Nick to change. Nick wants very much to be mortal. I just want Nick. I don't care what he is. Since he drank from me, I understand how very hard he's worked at becoming mortal. He's invested his entire existence in that dream. I thought I could help him with a physical cure. Now I'm not so sure it's possible." Natalie sighed deeply and then continued, "I know he loves me, both for myself and for the fact that I'm mortal. If I change, I wonder if he will still care. I fear very much that he won't."

"That is why we must help him to understand and accept himself," Janette asserted. "Why don't you go ahead and get dressed, and I'll take a turn in the shower."

"Thank you, Janette. For everything. I wouldn't be here now if it hadn't been for you."

"You are quite welcome. But I believe either LaCroix or Nicolas would have come to their senses eventually."

"Yeah, but I think it might have been too late for me," Natalie said.

Janette entered the shower. Natalie began to dress, and in a short while both women descended the stairs refreshed and suitably attired. The men were waiting impatiently. Having used the facilities in the downstairs bath, they were eager to set off. Before they could reach the lift, the phone began to ring, the message droned, then...

"Knight, it's Reese. You've got to get into the precinct right away. Your suspension's lifted!"

Nick hit the button on the speaker phone.

"What is it, Captain?"

"Nick, you aren't going to believe this one. We've got a dead kid in an alley," he paused and swallowed audibly, "without its head. Everybody else is still out looking for Vetter's body. We need you. You'll have to work by yourself for a while. I don't have anybody I can spare to pair you up with yet. Just get in here as fast as you can."

"I'll be there right away." Nick hung up and looked at Natalie. "Stay with LaCroix and Janette. I have a very bad feeling about this."

"Nicholas, we're going to the Raven. We'll start checking around the Community. This sounds very similar to something Urs told me before Divia killed her." LaCroix stated.

"Where did you say Vachon lived?" Janette asked. "I think we had better check there, too."

"It was an abandoned church. Never mind, I know where it is, I'll check it out," Nick answered.

"Nick, just be careful," Natalie told him. "I want you back all in one piece." She reached up and kissed him, hard.
Nick disappeared into the lift. LaCroix looked at Natalie and asked, "Would you mind flying, doctor? I think the urgency of the situation demands it."

"Why no, I wouldn't," she replied.

Nick checked in at the precinct. He was extremely relieved that he was not being assigned a new partner. He gathered the information on the body that had been found, and headed for the crime scene.

When Nick arrived at the scene, he found the usual strobing blue, white, and red lights, the uniformed officers were cordoning off the area, and the M.E. on duty was rising from the body. It was Dr. Carver. Nick had worked with him before. He had retired the previous year. Apparently, Natalie's precipitous resignation had forced him back into service.

Carver was a thoroughly experienced M.E., although he looked more like a sweet, kindly, country doctor than the hard headed, cynical, and extremely competent man he was. Nick was, therefore, shaken when Carver turned to him white-faced, with tears in his eyes.

"T.O.D. about a hour ago. Cause of death, decapitation." As Nick approached the body, it was easy to see what had upset the doctor. And there was a faint odor, redolent of the maleficent wretchedness of the dungeon.
The child's body lay on its back, clothed in a stylish light blue winter coat with brass buttons down the double-breasted front. Blood caked the front center of the garment. The head, raggedly severed from the torso, lay approximately three feet away face up, blue eyes wide open, staring at the night sky. The face was twisted into an expression of abject terror. It had been a little girl of about nine years of age.

She appeared to have been well-dressed and well cared for. Her shoes were brightly shined, a matching blue hat still perched atop her blonde curls and blue mittens warmed hands that would never be warm again. Blood was sprayed in a distinctive pattern across the brick wall on one side of the alley. It looked as though her head had been torn off. What kind of animal could have done something so disgusting?

Children, dead, tortured children, swinging from ropes--it was a sudden memory flash--something he hadn't thought of in centuries. <Oh, God, not again, please, not again.> he groaned inwardly.

There were no other marks on the body, except for what looked like four bloody fingerprints across the child's forehead. Nick turned quickly back to the M.E. and asked. "Do you have any idea who or what could have done this?"

"Not until I get her back to the lab and take some samples. I want to get close up photos of those finger marks. Maybe we can lift some prints. This had to be an awfully strong bugger. I've never seen anything quite like it, and I thought I'd seen everything. I'll give you a call when I find out more, Nick." He paused a moment then asked,
"What's up with Natalie? I hear you're getting married. I didn't figure her to be the type to quit to raise a family."

"So it's all over both departments already, eh? No, she's not quitting, she's going into research. A private lab offered her a job she couldn't refuse."

"Ah, that's more reasonable. I didn't think even you could keep her away from her profession," Dr. Carver winked at Nick. "Well, I'll get back to you when I have more information."

Nick walked with him out of the alley, and listened while Carver gave directions to the coroner's assistants on collecting the body. Forensics arrived and the doctor told them which pictures and samples he wanted first.
"Detective Knight?" an elderly lady, who had been standing, talking to a uniformed officer, approached Nick. "I found the little girl. Who did this to her?"

"We have no suspects yet. What is your name, and when did you find her?" Nick asked.

"Amanda Collier. Just about 5:00 p.m. I was looking for stuff to take to my friend at the second hand store. I thought it was a discarded coat, until I turned it over." She shivered.

"The little girl was on her face when you found her?" Nick asked.

"Yes, when I pulled up on the coat, her head rolled." Amanda shuddered once more. "I've never seen anything like that before. I've been hunting things in these alleys for a long time now, and I've seen strange things. But never anything like this! Is it safe to be out here?"

"I'm not sure anyone is safe right now. You should go home. Do you have a friend you can stay with or someone you can talk to?" Nick asked.

"Yes, my friend Irma will come visit for a while. I found some other things earlier today she might want to buy."

"Did you see anyone or anything else near here that looked suspicious today?"

"No, no I didn't. Even the little girl's body didn't look strange at first. It was almost as if it were just a rag lying there." Amanda shivered a third time and said, "I'm going home, this has been too much for me!"

"If you think of anything else, call me anytime." Nick handed her his card. "Anything might be helpful in finding who did this. May I give you a ride?" Nick asked.

"Yes, please. My other stuff, it's in that cart."

Nick showed Amanda to his car, loaded her possessions in the trunk, and drove her to her hotel. Nick made sure Amanda and her possessions got to her room safely. Thoughtfully, he returned to the caddy, but instead of returning immediately to the precinct, he sat quietly in the front seat and remembered.

Why was it, Nick wondered that beauty had always been pursued by tragedy in his lifetime. It had been the death of a beautiful woman that had sent him to the crusades. Gwyneth, the lovely harpist, had merely been a political inconvenience to Nick's sponsor, Hugh DelaBarre, the papal legate to Carrig, Wales. It was only after centuries of uncertainty that Nick had finally realized Hugh had been responsible for both Gwyneth's murder and his own banishment to the crusades. He had survived, Nick reflected, but at a cost to his soul that could never be redeemed. During the course of seven years of service in the crusades he had lost his idealism and his innocence. He and his comrades in arms, Jules deVilliers and Yves Chambourg, had been the only survivors of their original unit. They had all been badly injured in the final defense of their camp against the Saracen. The Hospitallers had taken them in and nursed their wounds. When they recovered, they planned to travel home together. In September of 1227 they were ready to return home, but Nick's unhappy fate, predicted by Gwyneth, herself, had hounded them.

The Pope, DelaBarre's sponsor, had suddenly decided that Nick's little troupe were just the people he needed to join his new crusade against the heretical Luciferans in Germany. Word came to them at the Hospitallers that they would join Conrad of Marburg, spiritual director to St. Elizabeth of Thuringia. Together with a sizable contingent of priests, they would save the souls of the self-confessed heretics and win more glory for Christ. They were told it would be light duty. They would still be serving Holy Mother Church. What no one in their little group knew when they set out was that Conrad of Marburg was far more interested in his own enrichment than in anyone's soul.
The crusaders took up residence in the local count's castle. They ate well and slept warmly. The accused were kept in the dungeons. For the first time in his life, Nick heard the surreal accounts of the Black Mass the Luciferans practiced. As part of their ritual they had tossed sacred hosts into the cesspit and kissed the backsides of cats. It was bizarre and silly, but treated by the church as anathema. The sinners were told that in exchange for their confession and true repentance they would be forgiven and welcomed back into the bosom of Mother Church.
Every day Nick, Jules, and Yves would drag out one of the accused, tie him into whatever position Marburg had decided was most efficacious that day, wait until the prisoner was whipped properly into submission by the priests, then return him to his cell. Nick was required to record the confessions, when one of the clerics could not be spared from the 'holy' service of chastisement. It was light, but ignoble, duty. The disillusioned crusaders had now become mere jailers.

The sordid exercise went on for several, miserable weeks, for an entire monastery had been infected with the taint of this heresy. Nick sometimes found himself wondering if the sheer boredom of monastic life in winter had bred their monstrous beliefs. It was the middle of the winter, nearly the new year, when a family, two young parents and their children, came to the castle. They sought shelter from the terrible winter while traveling between settlements. Nick and his comrades had been in the hall the evening the porter had let them in. The parents were pleasant company, and the children were perfectly charming. Nick and his friends had spent a rare, cheerful evening in their company. None of the crusaders believed it when they heard the family were accused of the heresy of the Luciferans!

Nick resolved to confront Marburg. He'd had enough of this 'crusade.' He could not bear to see a young, innocent family subjected to the same treatment that had been given to the self-confessed heretics! To compound Nick's confusion and dismay, he knew, from the confessions he had himself recorded, this sect of heretics did not believe in having children, nor in sexual intercourse. But Conrad of Marburg had the family arrested anyway.
He had glowed with religious fervor as he had them taken to the dungeon. When Nick protested, Marburg gave him audience in the great hall.

"Your Grace, I have served you well in these past weeks. I have gladly helped to chastise the heretics who infest this country. But I ask you to excuse me from this duty in regard to the family you have just arrested. I understand that the parents must be punished if they have participated in such sinful rituals. But I can not understand how innocent children can be held accountable for the actions of their parents."

"These 'children' are nothing of the kind!" Marburg exclaimed. "These are devils in disguise, a mere deception. You shall see as we proceed what kind of demons these heretics spawn. Only the elect among the Luciferans abstain from intercourse. The ordinary members of the congregation indulge in all sorts of depravity. These children are the product of intercourse with Satan. This is a true challenge of our faith! If we fail in this, we should all suffer the same fate. For then we should be guilty of aiding those who defy the will of God." It was then that Nick realized that if he refused this work, he would be branded heretic and sentenced to the same punishment, or worse.

Marburg promised the family their lives in exchange for confession of sins. But the parents professed a pure faith in God and refused to admit to any heresy. They insisted upon their innocence. They said they could not lie, therefore, they would not confess to something they had not done. Marburg resorted to torture to obtain his truth, not only of the parents, who seemed able to resist anything done to them, but of the children.

Nick was pressed into service as recorder. Jules and Yves were required to restrain the parents while the priests suspended the children from the roof of the dungeon and subjected them to the whip, 'for the good of their souls.' When their parents refused to confess, the priests resorted to more painful methods. Finally, the children had died. The torture of their parents had resumed. The father was reduced to madness, utter and irrevocable. The mother died blessing her children and calling on God to accept them into heaven. Marburg, positively bloated with religious zeal and self-righteousness, declared over the bodies, "I saved their souls, they are now with God." The father was dropped into the oubliette beneath the dungeon, with only a piece of salt pork for food and no water, to rot until he died, unshriven.

Nick, Jules, and Yves were ashamed, appalled, and afraid. If they objected, they, also, would be accused of the heresy. They had entered the service of the church proudly as knights. They had survived the brutal horrors of war in the Holy Land, and had begun to feel that their crusade was far less than the holy mission the church insisted it was. Now they had been forced, by that same church, to serve as jailers and torturers, a position far beneath their status as noblemen and soldiers of the faith. This church, this God, was not worthy of their service! Their own shameful, although forced, participation in the deaths of the family was too painful to discuss. The friends began avoiding one another. They, who had been comrades in arms, became enemies. And yet they must continue the crusade against the Luciferans.

Marburg sent Nick's faithful account of the trials of the family to the Pope. Some weeks later Marburg called everyone in the castle together to hear the Pope's compliments on their handling of the chastisement of the heretics. The Pope, in a letter full of effusive praise, awarded Marburg the estate of the tortured family for his efforts. Only the three crusaders did not seem properly receptive to the Pope's praise in Marburg's eyes. But he ignored their lack of enthusiasm, so long as they continued to follow his orders. When Marburg finally ran out of Luciferans, the crusaders and the priests were released from service. Each had gone his separate way. An embittered, disillusioned, and cynical Nick had made his way to Paris to meet his destiny.

"81 Kilo, respond." The radio woke him from his reverie.

"81 Kilo here," Nick responded.

"81 Kilo, Detective Knight, you're wanted back at the precinct.

"81 Kilo, Roger that. ETA approximately 20 minutes."

Nick returned to the precinct. Reese wanted his report A.S.A.P., and there was a message from Natalie, "Call me."

Natalie was thoroughly enjoying her first flight while Nick was busy investigating the murder of the child. She was glad Janette had consented to carry her to the Raven. She still did not relish being close to LaCroix. His disapproval of her relationship to Nick was all too evident. She did not trust him. But she and Janette were fast becoming friends. Natalie thought to herself that women who loved the same man often became friends. She knew that Janette and Nick had been lovers, but they had never had the kind of relationship Natalie hoped she and Nick were building. Janette had always controlled Nick, now their relationship was reversed. How would Janette's and Nick's relationship evolve, Natalie wondered?

Janette and LaCroix touched down in the alley behind the Raven and entered through the back door. Natalie was surprised to find the Raven fully lit and catering to customers.

"I thought you were moving on, LaCroix," Natalie commented.

"I am, but another has purchased the Raven, and he will keep the clientele happy."

"The decor has suffered since I left, and the quality of your  entertainment has declined considerably ," Janette sniffed.

"Ah, but the customers like it, and it attracts the kind of crowd I prefer," noted LaCroix. "We'll speak to Jean-Claude before we move on." LaCroix approached the bartender and conferred with him for a moment then turned to Janette and Natalie and gestured to an empty table on the far wall.  "Let's have a drink while we wait." Soon the waiter brought over a bottle and three glasses. Two of the glasses were empty. The third contained a white wine. LaCroix filled the two empty glasses from the bottle.

"I hope white wine is to your liking, doctor?" he inquired politely.

"Yes, thank you, LaCroix." When Natalie sipped it, she found it was an exquisite Chardonnay.

"Jean-Claude has purchased this place from me. He should know what is going on in the Community. Hopefully, he will be able to enlighten us about anyone who might be nursing new recruits."

"Janette, how long will you be staying in town?" Natalie asked.

"Only so long as Nicolas needs me. Then I will return home," Janette replied.

A tall, regal looking man with a small moustache approached the table.

"Jean-Claude how nice to see you. I believe you know Janette. May I present Dr. Natalie Lambert, a friend of Nicholas', with whom I believe you are also acquainted."

"Good evening, LaCroix, Janette. Yes, I do know Nicholas, and I have heard of you, too, doctor. Thank you for your assistance at the time of the fever. I too suffered its unpleasant effects. What can I do for you LaCroix? Have your plans changed, will you be staying here much longer?"

"I hope I will not have to stay very much longer, but I am afraid my problems with my daughter are not yet over. Do you remember Vachon and his group? Divia cut quite a swath through them, and it appears that one of them may have survived her attacks. A young police woman's body has disappeared from a local hospital under very suspicious circumstances. If one of us is responsible, it will open up the Community to undue scrutiny. We'd like to contain things if we can. Have you heard of any new converts?"

"You don't mean to say that someone would try to bring across a mortal who occupied so public a position!?" demanded Jean-Claude.

"Not only might they have done so, but they may also be responsible for the murder of a child. Knowing Divia's tendencies so intimately, it is just the sort of taste she would indulge. Of course, it could be mere coincidence."

"We can only hope!"exclaimed Jean-Claude. "Let me think, I had heard something odd just this morning before closing. Just a moment." Jean-Claude rose and crossed the room to confer with the bartender, then disappeared into the back room of the club. He returned in very short order with a scruffy little person in tow.  "LaCroix, this is Melvin. He told me earlier today that he'd seen something unusual. Mel, tell LaCroix what you saw."

"Well, sir," Mel fidgeted with his hat in his hands. "Last night there was some guy who brought this lady into the underground near where I live. She wasn't moving much, and she only had on this hospital gown and a blanket wrapped around her. He went out and brought her some clothes, but she didn't look too good. She was real pale, and groaned a lot. I don't know where they went after that. He took off real fast when I asked could I help any."

"And where exactly is this place where you live, Mel?" LaCroix asked pleasantly.

"Oh, it's just a couple blocks down, near the docks. I'd be glad to take you there," Mel volunteered. "Maybe you could find the lady. She looked like she needed help. That guy, he didn't look like he really knew what to do for her."

"And what did this 'guy' look like, Mel?"

"Well, he was kind of dark, had a lot of hair, not like me. He was young, maybe six feet, maybe a little more, but slender-like, you know."

"Thank you, Mel. I believe we will allow you to escort us to your place. Perhaps we can find some indication of where this young man has taken the young lady."

They finished what was left in their glasses, and leaving the waitress to bus the table, they took their leave of Jean-Claude and followed Mel out of the Raven. It only took about ten minutes to walk to Mel's place. He had created a haven for himself in the access tunnels beneath the streets. It reminded Natalie forcibly of the 'home' Screed had maintained, although, thankfully, without the rat decor. Mel showed them where he had seen the man and woman. Natalie discovered the discarded gown and blanket tucked behind some pipes on the wall of the tunnel. They were marked with the name of the hospital where Tracy had been taken.

"Do you suppose Vachon revived?" she asked LaCroix. "Nick told me that he had asked Tracy to stake him. Nick thought he was dead."

"It's quite possible, if the stake were removed. I wouldn't rely too heavily on Nicholas' perceptions. His senses are not as strong as they should be, if he fed himself properly," LaCroix replied.

<Well, he certainly had a good meal last night!> Nat thought to herself.

"Maybe we should call Nick and see if we can get the address of that church where Vachon was staying," Natalie suggested.

"A very good idea, doctor. I don't think we will learn any more here. We may as well return to the loft and be comfortable. But first, let's stop at the Raven and pick up some decent food," LaCroix replied.

When they returned to the loft, Natalie put in a call to Nick at the precinct while LaCroix filled Nick's refrigerator with several bottles of what Janette lovingly referred to as her 'best vintage.'

"One thing about LaCroix," Janette confided to Natalie," he always travels first class."

About an hour later, Nick called the loft. He had gotten Natalie's message at the precinct.

"Nick, it sounds like Tracy may be with Vachon. We found a little guy who had seen a young woman in a hospital gown with a young man who matches Vachon's description. The gown and blanket she was wrapped in are marked with the hospital's name," Natalie told him.

"He must have survived somehow. He must have brought her across."

"Nick what was the address of that church Vachon lived in? We could meet you there and see if that's where they've holed up."

Nick gave Natalie the address and told her he'd meet them as soon as he could. Traveling through the air once again, Natalie began to think there were some things she might enjoy about living the life of a vampire. <If only I didn't have to worry about the addiction to blood.>

They reached the church at the same time Nick did. He'd chosen to travel the same way. He had told the captain he was following a lead and wouldn't be back for the rest of the night. Nick led the way as they entered the old church. The three vampires had no trouble finding their way in the near dark, but Natalie stumbled at every step. Finally, she noticed it was growing lighter. The light flickered, and she realized the place was lit by candles in sconces and candelabrum set all around the room they had entered.

On a bed, set on the dais to one side of the room, they found Tracy, seemingly sleeping quietly. In a chair beside her, holding her hand, was Vachon, also asleep. Nick walked quietly up to Vachon and placed a hand gently upon his shoulder. Vachon started and rose from the chair, but Nick eased him back into it.

"Vachon, did you bring her across?" Nick asked in a low tone.

"She saved me, I had to save her."

"They're searching for her body high and low," Nick told him.

"You're going to have to keep her under wraps until we can smuggle you both out of town. Otherwise we'll all be in trouble, and not just from the cops."

"The Enforcers?" asked Vachon.

"They'll know someone has been brought across. You're responsible for her. You can't walk off and leave her.
And she was a very public figure, her father's the Police Commissioner. He's already causing a really big stink."

"I was hoping she would have converted by now."

"She was badly injured. It takes time to repair damaged tissue. Do you have a big enough supply on hand for the first hunger?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, I'm well stocked," Vachon replied.

"How are you? We thought Divia had finished you."

"When Tracy buried me next to Screed, she removed the stake. She also poured all of the blood she could find over my grave, partly in commemoration, but mostly to hide it from anyone who might come looking. The confinement of the grave kept me safe from the sun, and the blood seems to have repaired the physical damage. But I keep seeing Divia's kills, the torture she put them through. It's like complete sensory overload. I'm starting to cope, but it's been really rough."

"We have a killer loose in the city, decapitating children," Nick told him grimly.

"That sure sounds like Divia," Vachon stated. "Is she still around?"

"No, Nicholas and I made sure of that," LaCroix said.

"Then who's doing the killing?"

"That we don't know," Nick told him. "We thought perhaps Tracy's disappearance and the death of the child were somehow related, but apparently they are not."

"Well, I'm not responsible, and Tracy's in no condition to do anything to anyone at the moment. Did you really suspect us?"

"Yes, Nick thinks Divia has poisoned the people she has attacked," Natalie told Vachon. "He thinks there may be an infection she passed on through her bite."

"I sure hope you're wrong, Nick. Tracy will be enough to handle as a new vampire without her having any taint from Divia," Vachon asserted.

At that moment Tracy began to stir. Vachon rushed to her side with a bottle in hand.

"Why don't you guys get out of here and let me take care of her?"

Natalie and the three vampires left Vachon and reconvened on the roof of the building.

"Well, what now?" Natalie asked. "Nick, is there any indication that that child was killed by vampires?"

"No, absolutely none," he replied.

"Then I think you may be wrong about Divia's effect. Let me get out my previous lab work and compare it to your blood and mine now. Later, we'll get samples from Vachon and Tracy. That should tell us more than running all over town. Then you can concentrate on your case, and we can decide what we'll do when that's finished."

"That sounds reasonable. What do you think, LaCroix?"

"I think the doctor is correct. Aristotle knows where I am going, Nicholas. Please contact me when you decide to move on. I do not wish to be in Jean-Claude's way any longer than I must. I will tell him what we have found, then no one will set the Enforcers on our trail. Janette, would you care to travel with me?"

"Yes, LaCroix, I believe I would enjoy that. Goodbye, Natalie. Take good care of Nicolas." The two vampires leapt into the sky, leaving Nick and Natalie behind on the roof.

"I see you've been traveling by air," Nick commented.

"Yes, and I enjoyed it. Is that how we get back to your car?"

"And then to the loft. I think we need to make some plans."

"Do you think Tracy and Vachon will be all right?"

"As all right as we will be, don't you think?" Natalie assented, and they returned to the loft just as the sunrise lightened the sky.

[End Chapter 2 - Legacy of Evil: Inklings]

Legacy of Evil: Inklings - Chapter 3

Natalie opened the refrigerator when they arrived at the loft.

"It looks as if I'm going to have to go shopping. LaCroix restocked for you. He said you needed more nutritious meals. Janette believes that your hunger would not have overwhelmed you when you bit me, if you had been drinking human blood. Everything in here now is human." Natalie wasn't sure how he was going to take that. His tremendous desire for mortality would be compromised in his eyes if he drank human blood. But he had drunk from her. He was so confusingly complex.

"I'll just have to make do," Nick replied mildly.

"When I asked you to make love to me, I told you I wanted to be with you forever. I know you wanted our lovemaking to lead to your mortality. Everything we do now seems to be moving farther away from that. I seem to be moving farther away from my own mortality." Natalie paused. She was afraid of the answer to her next question. "Nick, can you still care for me,.... if I'm not mortal?" She continued staring into the refrigerator. She was afraid to look at him, afraid of what she would see in his eyes.

"I'd do anything to keep us together, Natalie," Nick murmured in her ear as he hugged her from behind.

"So would I, Nick, but that's not really the question, is it?"

"Nat, I love you, and I want you, no matter what happens to either of us."

"Are you sure?" she turned in his arms and stared into his eyes. The deep love and longing she saw there reassured her. She slid her arms around his neck and kissed him thoroughly. "Shouldn't you have something to drink?" she asked as she released him.

"Maybe there is something in what Janette says. Let's see what LaCroix has left. Do you have anything to eat?"
Natalie poked around in his cupboards, discovered a can of stew and rescued another bagel from the freezer. Nick also found that LaCroix had not only restocked blood for him, but had placed several bottles of fine wine in the refrigerator. They settled down for dinner, toasting each other as they dined. They cleaned up the dishes and settled down on the couch to plan their next move.

"I think I need to continue my research, but there's so much
equipment I need. I've resigned from the one place where I could do any work. Where am I going to get everything, and when? These hours we keep are a bit strange. At the morgue, I had day shift to keep me in supplies."

"I was thinking about putting together a suite of labs and offices for you on the other side of the building."

"Good grief, Nick, we haven't talked about what we're going to do next, or whether we're even going to stay here. Don't start any major building until we've had a chance to catch our breath."

"We could put in a temporary facility at the end of the loft next to the downstairs bath. Add some new plumbing, electrical outlets, counters, storage. How about it? I have some contacts. Let me make a few phone calls and I'll have you all set up. "

"O.K. Nick, that sounds more reasonable. How long do you think it will take?"

"I don't know let me do the calling while you shop."

"The first thing I need is samples. Damn, I didn't take any yesterday! I should have. Sometimes the first few hours in an infection makes a lot of difference." Natalie jumped up, got her bag, took blood samples from both of them and stored them in the refrigerator.

"There, now I can at least compare what I find with your past history. I think I'll hit the grocery store now. I'll be back in about an hour."  The shopping took longer than Natalie expected. She'd also checked her old apartment to be sure she had everything she needed. She found several things that were lacking at the loft. When she finally arrived at the loft, it looked as if neither of them would get any sleep that day.

Workmen filled the downstairs, busily adding new plumbing off the downstairs bath. New counter space, electrical outlets, and cupboards were being installed on the wall between the bath and the windows. The skylight was being repaired. Nick's multi-media center had been relocated. Luckily for Natalie, the kitchen was one of the few places where no work was going on, so she was able to put away her purchases, and the things she had brought from her apartment, with a minimum of interruptions. A constant flow of deliveries kept the lift moving up and down for at least two hours after she got home. When the workmen finally finished, it was well past noon.  Nick heaved a sigh of relief, and Natalie sent him upstairs to get some sleep.

Natalie was too excited about her new lab to try to sleep. She went to the refrigerator, collected her samples, and transferred them to the new fridge on her lab counter. Opening each cupboard to see what Nick had included in her lab, she was amazed at the variety, quality, and currency of the equipment she found. He had included absolutely everything she might need, even her own computer setup with an Internet connection and an impressive array of security software. The only other equipment she might need, she could borrow time on at the university where she taught an occasional night class.

Once she had satisfied herself of the adequacy of her new domain, she sat down and reviewed the history of his previous samples. She had noted a variety of changes resulting from each procedure she had tried. Most of the notes were negative. The major changes she had obtained to date had been when she had tried the Lytoveuterine B. That had been a major catastrophe. She'd turned him into a kind of addict, and he'd nearly died. There were also minor fluctuations in some readings when he had stuck to his liquid protein diet and vitamin pills for any length of time.

She wondered if she would find any changes since his bout with Divia. Would there be evidence of his having drunk her blood? What would her blood show? Why had she healed so quickly? Was it really Divia's influence, or was she simply becoming a vampire slowly, acquiring his virus through close and prolonged personal contact? She prepared several specimens to examine with her own equipment and called the university for an appointment for the more delicate tests. Soon she began yawning and decided she could use some sleep, herself. She dragged herself upstairs and collapsed on the bed next to Nick.

Nick awoke and looked at the bedside clock. 5:00 p.m. It was time to get ready to go into the precinct. He stretched, and jumped. Someone was in bed with him! Then he remembered....Natalie! Rolling toward her, he reached out and pulled her close. She was so warm, soft, enticing. He nuzzled her hair. She was lying on her right side with one hand curled under her pillow. The other was folded into her chest. He lifted her left hand and placed a gentle kiss in the center of her palm. He stroked the back of her hand, up her arm, across her shoulder. He pulled her long, curly auburn hair away from her face and traced the outline of her jaw and chin. Her eyelids fluttered, and she looked up at him.

"Hello, love," she greeted him. He leaned down and kissed her lips lightly, carefully, once, twice. Then again more deeply. She sighed and turned toward him. Her lips opened. He covered them with his own, sliding his tongue between her teeth to explore her more thoroughly. He felt her tongue begin to discover him. She was delectable! He pulled back so he could fill his eyes with her face. She reached up and gently let her fingers caress his cheek, glide to his ear, trace its outline, and pull his earlobe, gently. His mouth came down hard on hers. He devoured her, pulling her against himself urgently. His hands pulling her hips into his. Suddenly he released her, panting hard. He rose and rushed downstairs.

<Damn, why can't we lick this thing?> Natalie thought. Abruptly Nick reappeared with three bottles in his hands, two were full, but the other he had half-emptied.

"Well, at least you won't leave crumbs in bed," Natalie commented as he set them on the bedside table. Nick choked, bent double, and nearly knocked the bottles off the table as he began to laugh uproariously. Natalie just reached up, pulled him down onto the bed next to her and began kissing him as she unbuttoned his pajama top. Nick trapped her hands in one of his and began unbuttoning her blouse as he returned her kisses. She wriggled so much, he finally let her hands go, but not before he'd gotten most of her clothing opened and could reach whatever curves he wished.

"Unfortunately, I have to be at work very soon," he whispered in her ear after a short wrestle on the bed, during which time they had exchanged more kisses, caresses, and giggles.

"I know, and I know you're really hungry," she sighed. "I need to get to work on those samples, too. Thank you for the wonderful lab."

"You're more than welcome," he kissed her on the nose. "Do you think you might know something by the time I get home this morning?"

"Yes, I think so. That reminds me, I have an appointment at the university the day after tomorrow. And I think I'm hungry, too."

"Nat," Nick grabbed her hand as she began to get up, "This weekend, we'll make time just for us." He kissed her palm and let her go.

Nick drove into the precinct. He couldn't remember ever being so happy. Waking up with Natalie was agreeing with him, he thought. But he still had a niggling feeling in the back of his head that something wasn't quite right.
Maybe it was just because he was so happy. When would the other shoe fall, he wondered? Then he walked into the precinct.

"Nobody has the right to be that happy, Knight," bellowed Captain Reese as he walked over to his desk.

"Captain?"

"I've never seen you glow before, Nick. Being engaged seems to agree with you. So, how are we doing on that murder case?"

"I've started a preliminary report on the scene. I was just about to go over to the morgue to see if Dr. Carver had anything new for us. I interviewed the woman who found the body. She didn't have anything more to offer. No other witnesses I could locate. Did anything else come in during day shift?"

"No, dammit, you'd think we could get a break on this one. It really makes me mad not to have any leads."

"Did anyone find out anything more about the disappearance of Tracy's body?"

"Naw, everybody's come up empty on that one, too. I.A. has cleared you of any intent. But they're still calling it excessive force. Apparently, Dawkins hit the wall just the wrong way. His neck snapped. You'll pull some leave without pay for a while, as soon as the child murder case is filed. Might be a good time for a honeymoon," the captain mused.

Nick decided he would visit the morgue, find out what Carver had, then go over to the church and check on Vachon and Tracy. A few hours later he returned to his desk with very little more information than when he had left. There were fingerprints that had been lifted from the child's forehead, but no match had been found in the computers as yet. And there was another odd thing, the child's clothing had shown traces of chalk and salt.
Tracy and Vachon were doing as well as could be expected. Tracy was through the first hunger. Vachon was trying to teach Tracy the ropes and keep her fed so she wouldn't crave live prey. Nick had told them to give Nat blood samples as soon as they could.

The phone on his desk rang insistently, "Detective Knight, 94th precinct," he answered.

"There's another body in that alley," a female voice breathed into the phone, then he heard the click of the disconnect.

"Captain, an anonymous tip. There's another body in the alley!" he called to Reese. The captain started shouting orders, and Nick and several others rushed for the door.

It was a gruesome repeat of the night before, only this time the body was male and slightly older than the girl had been, and there seemed even less to go on. There were no witnesses at all. Nick noticed the same desolate odor, so evocative of Divia and the dungeon, emanating from the body. <I'm so sorry. There was no one to help you either.> Nick thought as he watched the morgue attendants load the body into the hearse for its trip downtown.
Nick barely made it home before sunrise. What had started out as a quiet night, had turned into a media event. News crews were besieging the precinct. Nick was glad Natalie was not involved in this case.

"How's the case coming? How are Vachon and Tracy?" Natalie asked him when the lift doors opened.

"The case isn't coming. We have no leads, and now we have two dead children."

"Oh, Nick, no!"

"Oh, yes! Tracy and Vachon are fine."

Nick stretched an arm around Natalie, and they settled onto the couch.

" I wonder why anyone would need to kill children and leave them in the same position each time. It's like a ritual. And the crime scene, that blood spatter on the wall...that's it...those bodies...they couldn't have been killed where they were found! There wasn't enough blood!"

"Didn't the M.E. tell you that?" Natalie asked.

"We never discussed it. I was so busy enjoying being with you, building your lab, and worrying about Vachon and Tracy that I never thought to ask if the bodies had been moved."

"My gracious, I never realized I could be that distracting!"

"I'm glad you are," he told her as he wrapped both arms around her and pulled her into an embrace. They fell asleep on the couch in each other's arms, exhausted from their lack of sleep the day before. Nick awoke, tangled in Natalie, to the drone of the message on the answering machine.

"Nick, it's happened again, another body, same location, meet me at the alley," Captain Reese's voice went silent.

"We have to get up," Nick told Natalie, half-sitting. Her head lifted from his chest, and she pulled his down for a kiss before letting him up.

"God, Nick, I sure hope you get this case solved soon. Where could they be getting these children? It's not that easy to corral kids. Where were they killed? And where would they keep them until they could be dumped? This is a real nightmare of a case, isn't it?"

"It reminds me of the Sedrick case, the guy who was collecting the trophies, the parts of the women he admired. We looked for a large, isolated house with lots of property. Sounds like I need to do that again," he told her as he headed upstairs to shower and change.

A half hour later when he arrived at the crime scene, Nick went directly to where Dr. Carver was kneeling next to the third victim.

"Doc, do you think the bodies have been moved?"

"I'm sure of it, Nick, not enough blood at the scene."

"And," he told Nick, "I found traces of chalk and salt on the second victim, and from the looks of this one, I'll find it here too."

Nick bounced some of the ideas he and Natalie had discussed off Dr. Carver. Carver agreed with their theories. Nick decided to do some research on recently acquired property that might furnish the kind of facilities this killer would need, plenty of land, large house, soundproof walls. Nick called on some of the real estate agents he had worked with on the 'trophy' case and developed a list of places that seemed like good bets for investigation.
Then he developed a list of private child care agencies that might have older, adoptable children. No one had come forward to claim any of the children, and none had yet been identified. He reasoned that children with surviving parents, or who were wards of the state, would most likely have either been reported missing or been fingerprinted. Someone should have claimed at least one of the bodies by this time.

Again, it was nearly dawn before he finished his shift and headed for the loft. He wondered what he would find this time, when the lift doors opened.

"Sorry to run just as you walk in the door, Nick, but we need to get home before it gets light out," Tracy greeted him.

" See you later Nick, Nat," Vachon said as he left with Tracy.

"They brought me new blood samples," Nat noted.

"Good, any results on the ones you have already?" Nick asked.

"Some." Natalie took a big breath, "Nick, it looks like my blood has changed. But I can't tell the extent of the change yet. It has some vampire factors, but it isn't quite the same. I need the university's research equipment to see what's happening."

Nick's face clouded, "How do you feel?"

"I'm fine. I don't feel any differently. We haven't really tried making love again, so I don't know how quickly I'm healing. One of the tests I did this morning indicates I should heal as quickly as you do. Nick, I don't want you to worry until we know more about this." Natalie punched him gently in the shoulder when she saw his gloomy expression deepening. "Hey, silly, at least I don't have the urge to bite anyone. And sunlight is still no problem for me. Come on, perk up. Don't cry until you're cut." Natalie tickled him until she saw a smile start to appear. "Now, how's the case going?"

"You were right about the bodies being moved. Carver picked up on it. I have lists of properties and private child care facilities to check out tonight. I just hope the killer will let us have a day off. This whole thing is just too sick. I've seen a lot of death and murder in my life, but killing children this way reeks of madness and fanaticism."

"Well, let me take your mind off of it for a while then," Natalie purred as she proceeded to distract him thoroughly.
"Natalie you are shameless!"

He pulled her close and kissed her gently. When he felt her lips part, he let his tongue explore her mouth. Their kiss deepened, both gasped for breath when they finally parted.

"Are you sure about this, Natalie? I don't want to have to transfuse you again."

"You've fed well the last few days. I trust you. I love you."

"That's what you said the last time. I betrayed your trust."

"You did not. You were just hungry. I'm healing quickly now, I'll be fine."

"You're really sure?"

She nodded and smiled.

"Then, let's go upstairs," he whispered in her ear.

He stopped at the refrigerator and picked up a couple of bottles, lifted her into his arms and flew her up to the bedroom. He paused at the door to let her down. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again. He pulled her into the bedroom, shut the door firmly, and set the bottles down on the bedside table. He slipped his hands under her blouse. She unbuttoned his shirt and slid her hands over his chest and shoulders to stroke his back as she pulled his shirt off of him.

Her bra was suddenly released and disappeared with her blouse over her head. She reached for his belt buckle as he unbuttoned her trousers. They shed their outer clothing and tumbled onto the bed. They began caressing each other, their fingers tracing every feature, their lips following.

His mouth closed over hers, their tongues twined and explored. He traced lazy circles around her breasts with the fingertips of both hands. His lips trailed kisses down her neck, paused at the pulse behind her ear, sucked gently at her throat, then continued down to nibble at one breast. One hand that had so gently caressed her chest traveled over her belly and slid between her thighs. There it lightly traced the crease between her legs, teasing her gently.
She reached for the hardness she could feel pressing against her hip. She gently stroked him with one hand while the other traced the outline of his ear. Every line of him was precious to her. She wanted to love every inch of him. She heard his breath begin to come faster. She slid both hands into his briefs and held his manhood between them. One hand slid up his shaft, the other caressed his scrotum. He hissed as her hands touched him, and she felt his fingers slide into the leg of her panties, over her clitoris, and reach inside her.

Her moisture covered his hand. He let go of her breast and slid her panties down over her hips and legs and threw them onto the floor. He felt her divest him of his briefs. He reached down, spread her legs wide, and tasted her deeply. She shivered and caught her breath as his tongue visited her tender core.

She had lost her hold on his shaft when his tongue entered her, but she hardly cared. The sensations he was generating with his cool, supple, clever tongue overwhelmed any thinking process she might have had. She just felt him loving her. Then she felt a slight nick and knew he had found a vein. His lips and tongue began to,...oh gods, she'd never felt anything like this before. She felt herself pulsing over and over again as he suckled her. Then, suddenly, he stopped.

She felt him move up her body, leaving trails of kisses. His hands took over from his mouth, and then she felt his shaft enter her, filling her completely. She wrapped her legs around him. His body rocked gently against her as he thrust slowly in and pulled out of her. She could feel the hairs on his chest tickling her breasts. His mouth sought her throat, a prick, and he was drinking slowly, deeply. Then she felt his tongue close the wound, and his mouth covered hers, his tongue moved in rhythm with their lower bodies. He rocked her harder, faster, toward yet another climax. She felt him push into her even more deeply than before, exploding, pulsing, pushing them both into ecstasy. He shuddered and collapsed onto and into her. Her legs still wrapped him tightly about the waist. She could feel her muscles still contracting around him deep inside her.

He began to relax. She could feel him slowly begin to shrink inside her. She rolled them over and lay on top of him. "I want to keep you inside me as long as I can," she murmured in his ear. He smiled up at her. "I love the way you feel on me," he said. She squeezed him again.

He grinned and said, "I told you you were a seductress." She kissed him and snuggled into the space beneath his chin. He pulled the coverlet over them both and held her while his hands stroked her back.

They lay together, fulfilled, warm, comfortable. Then she felt his mouth against her throat, kissing and tasting her skin. Once again he devoured her mouth. Between kisses she murmured in his ear, "Mmm, seems like you haven't had enough yet," she murmured in his ear. Then she felt him twitch inside her.

"You try abstinence for a hundred years and see how you feel," he teased. He twitched again.

"Ah, my love, you haven't been completely abstinent."

"Damn, that's the problem with being a vampire, the women always know what you've done."

"Well, at least I also know you haven't loved anyone the way you love me for at least that long."

"Natalie, I've never loved anyone the way I love you," he said soberly.

"I know, beloved, I know," she murmured. "If I had known making love to a vampire would be this wonderful, I'd have made you do it a lot sooner. We've wasted a lot of time."

"How's your neck?"

"My neck, you're worried about my neck!? Nick, you didn't tell me all the other erotic things you could do with those teeth. I've never felt anything like that in my whole life."

"You liked that?"

"I adored it. You can do that to me anytime."

"Then I think I will."

Suddenly he was on top of her and finding all sorts of new ways to please her. Being married to a vampire was going to be a wonderful adventure!

They awoke much later. Natalie had turned onto her right side in her sleep. She awoke with Nick's arms around her waist. She could feel his erection pressing into her back.

"You have a lot of staying power , love." Natalie remarked.

"It's just waking up next to you," Nick commented as he hugged her then jumped up to head into the bathroom.
"It's late, I have to be at the precinct in an hour," he called out to her from the shower.

Natalie got out of bed, found her bathrobe, wrapped it around herself, and wandered into the bathroom. She ran her hand over her throat. There didn't seem to be any permanent marks. She opened the top of her robe, walked over to the mirror and examined the skin around her collar bones carefully. Nick had done plenty of nibbling during their lovemaking. There didn't seem to be marks anywhere.

"Admiring my handiwork?" Nick asked as he stepped out of the shower and grabbed up a towel.

"Can't find any signs of it," Natalie replied.

"Guess I'll have to try harder, " he said as he gathered her in his arms, bit her on the shoulder, sucked gently, then released her.

"Look at that!" Natalie exclaimed. Two small round holes had appeared, red in the centers, with some minor flushing around them, then they had turned white and disappeared without a trace within a matter of seconds.

"I've never seen anything like that, except in vampires," Nick noted. "Does it bother you when I bite you?"

"Never, I love the way it makes me pucker up inside."

"Absolutely no one has ever described it that way to me before," Nick howled with laughter.

"Well, it does!" Nick grabbed Natalie and spun her around until she was giddy, kissed her long and thoroughly, then released her to go and dress. Nat dropped her robe and stepped breathlessly into the shower. He was a sheer joy to be around when he was in a good mood. She didn't understand why his bites healed so quickly, but so long as there weren't any other side effects, she wasn't complaining. Whatever it was, it was certainly a handy feature when making love to a vampire.

And, she found, she wanted him more profoundly than ever. She was becoming addicted to his feeding from her. The sense of giving so completely of herself and knowing him so intimately was a heady potion. He revealed more of himself each time he took her blood. That first, harrowing, experience when he had drained her, had let her see what he had never wanted her to know. He had gloried in his powers as a vampire. He had enjoyed each and every kill. That was the basis for his profound guilt. Each victim had been savored to the fullest, their life experience added to the sum of his own understanding of the human condition. And the sexual thrill of total possession was overwhelming. Truly, being a vampire was far more addictive on a spiritual and psychological level that the act of drinking the blood itself could ever be.

He hadn't seemed to need so much of her blood, nor had he been drinking as much blood from the bottles as he had appeared to need when he was drinking the cow's blood. The diet LaCroix and Janette had recommended certainly was helping. Maybe she should start worrying if he were getting enough food. Or worrying if there might come a time when he did not need todrink from her. Oh, what a perverse thing she was becoming! When she finished dressing, she joined Nick downstairs.

"Tomorrow afternoon is my appointment with the equipment at the university," she told him. "Tonight I'm going to prepare Tracy's and Vachon's samples and compare them with ours. Tomorrow I'll have four sets of data to run through the university's equipment."

"While you do that, I'm going to check on those locations tonight, hopefully I can find this guy before he kills again." Nick kissed her goodbye and headed for the first address on his list. He called in each location to the precinct as he drove. Three hours later Nick paused outside a house on the edge of the city. All the other properties had come up empty. But this one had an aura of evil about it. It seemed to remind him of someplace he had been before. He froze. Standing next to the car, he remembered.

Nick stood outside Marburg's manor house in Germany. It was a warm midnight in May 1232, perfect for his planned revenge. He had plotted each move painstakingly. He had fasted for a time so that he would be truly ravenous when he confronted his enemy. LaCroix had taught him much in four years, but Nick had found it increasingly difficult to take those whom LaCroix and Janette saw as their rightful prey. Nick had decided on a new course of action. He would kill those he had judged guilty of crimes. The first who would feel his wrath this very night was a truly heinous man.

Conrad of Marburg richly deserved to die, and Nick would make sure he knew why he was being killed. Nick had discovered that Marburg was still living in the home of the family he had butchered. He was rich and powerful. He was a man of the cloth. He could not have a legitimate wife. But such considerations did not bother the clergy of the church Nick had grown to despise. Marburg lived with his concubine and their children. Nick intended to destroy Marburg, and his family, as thoroughly as Marburg had destroyed those he had wrongfully branded 'heretic.'

Nick entered the house silently and found Marburg in bed in the arms of his whore. Nick bound them both to chairs. He found their children sleeping in their beds. He brought each child, one at a time, before Marburg and the woman. As Nick drained each child and snapped its neck, he reminded Marburg of each member of the family he had so ruthlessly murdered in order to obtain their manor. Then Nick tore out the woman's throat, turned to the horrified priest, and drained him. Nick forced him to drink from his wrist. He told Marburg what he would become. Told him what would kill him. Then he had left Marburg, bound in his chair, in the middle of the green behind his manor with his dead family around him. When the sun rose, the killer of 'heretics' died as a vampire in the full sun.

Nick sighed regretfully as he remembered. He had not enjoyed his revenge. He had thought it would satisfy him to destroy the man who had destroyed his faith. But the execution had only exacerbated his guilt. He had merely copied the one who had wronged him and become what LaCroix had trained, a brutally, efficient torturer, and, a murderer of children. When would he ever be free of this interminable guilt? How could he possibly atone for the deaths of those children?

Only Natalie had lightened the weight of his guilt. Her unconditional love for him was healing his heart. When he thought he'd killed her, his heart had broken. He'd thought then that bringing her across would destroy him utterly, body and soul. Now, he wondered what she would become as she changed. Had he still condemned her to a life of darkness? Was his love a gift or a taint? And if she knew what he had done, would she still love him with that unconditional love she bore him now? How had he ever allowed himself to descend to Marburg's level? He was truly a monster!

Natalie had said to him on occasion that he could use his vampire nature to do good. She insisted that he had repaid his sins, even more than made up for them. She had told him repeatedly that he had to forgive himself. She truly believed what she told him. ....She loved him. He had tasted her blood. ....She loved him. Her love, her faith and trust in him, made him feel changed. Could she forgive him if she knew? Could they now truly marry? Would she continue to heal as she had this morning if he bit her again? Was she coming across on her own? Could he deal with that? He didn't know. All he knew was that he could not live without her.

He shook himself out of his reverie. He had to check out this house thoroughly. It was the last location on his list. This had to be the place where the children had been killed. He began to search the grounds. He tuned his senses to listen carefully for any sounds, feel any presence. There,....there was an outbuilding. From that building the reek of evil emanated. The miasma of dungeon and Divia wafted toward him as if it were a palpable mist.

Nick moved closer to the building. Now he could hear the beating of human hearts. Several people were inside the building. He prowled closer, found a vulnerable window, and slipped inside. It was a barn like structure. There was a trap door in the center of the floor. Through cracks around the edges of the door, light issued. Nick listened carefully, he could hear chanting. It sounded like only one voice. He could hear nothing else, but the beating of several hearts. He lifted the trap door and found a stairway that led down into a room below the floor of the barn. The hallway he found himself in was lined with stable-like enclosures. These were the source of most of the heartbeats. He peered over the edge of one door and found a child, chained to the wall, curled into a fetal position, and sleeping soundly.

He moved quickly to the end of the hall and found a locked door. This was definitely the chamber from which the chanting and the odor of evil arose. Now he could hear clearly the ceremony being conducted. His breath caught in his throat, and his hair rose on his scalp. He recognized the rite. He had never heard one actually performed, but he had read descriptions of them. The person in the next room was attempting to call a demon. And he was using the formula which required a human sacrifice.

That meant Nick had time. Before the sacrifice could be offered, the terror of the victim had to be at its peak. Just like Divia. When Divia had attacked him, he had relived all of her kills. For twenty years she had indulged in far more than the mere satisfaction of her vampire thirst. Her overwhelming need to cause pain and terror in her victims before she fed, so that she could taste those emotions in the blood, was horrifying. She had particularly enjoyed indulging her desire for killing children. Their suffering seemed especially delectable to her. She had
specialized in decapitation, so it was ironically appropriate that LaCroix should have picked up a sickle and reaped her life.

Nick had never been able to appreciate LaCroix's continual zest for killing. Unlike Divia, LaCroix's methods were seldom brutal although, usually cruel. LaCroix specialized in subtle psychological terror and the promotion of self doubt. Nick supposed LaCroix, too, sought some change in the taste of the blood. But he was more inclined to believe that LaCroix merely enjoyed the spectacle of someone bowing to his own, stronger, will. Divia had been less complex, more like the demon who had possessed him, like the one which was being called here, a pure spirit of evil, simply existing for its own aggrandizement.

Nick knew that there were still devotees who practiced ritual magic, but he had never expected to encounter one. Perhaps this ceremony, gone awry, was what had called up the demon who had possessed him. He could not let this continue. But if he were not very careful, he could release the demon or become repossessed. And, unfortunately for him, the protections available to the ritual magician, might be anathema to vampires. He needed back up, several different kinds of back up. But first he had to save the children. Too many had already died.
Moving silently, Nick released each of the five children he found sleeping in the pens. There were nine spaces. Three of the children the police had already found. That meant the magician had one other child in the room where the ritual was being conducted, the sacrifice for the night. Working quickly, Nick conveyed each child, wrapped securely in the blankets he found in the stalls, to the porch in front of the main house. It was a warm night, and the children seemed to have been drugged. They should sleep soundly until help could arrive. Next Nick pulled out his cell phone and called the priest who had exorcised him.

"Dr. VanderWaal, this is Detective Nick Knight with the 94th precinct. I've been investigating the murders of the children who were found decapitated. And I think I've found something of interest to you." He described the ritual he had overheard, and the excommunicated priest agreed to come immediately. VanderWaal arrived within twenty minutes.

"Dr., I'm so glad you could come," Nick greeted him. "I believe you may be able to help me save the life of a child. Let me call the precinct for back up, and I'll explain what I need you to do."

"Captain Reese, please," Nick said into his phone. "Captain, I need you to bring a unit of officers and someone from Child Protective Services to 1798 Lakeview Drive. Tell them to approach without lights or sirens. I've found several more kidnapped children, and the perpetrator is about to dispatch another....."

Nick had described to Reese what was needed at the scene, then he conducted the defrocked priest to the locked door in the basement of the barn. They had decided on a course of action they hoped would stop the ceremony safely and save the life of the remaining child. Nick would try to rescue the child while the priest attempted to lay the demon.

As they approached the door, they could hear the voice rising and falling in a rhythmical chant. The magician was completing the first phase of the ceremony, the first exhortation for the demon to appear. Usually three repetitions were required for summoning, especially if the demon were considered a powerful spirit. Nick reached for the doorknob and turned it in such a way that the lock broke. He motioned for VanderWaal to precede him with his cross and holy water.

The practitioner had drawn two circles in chalk on the ritual room's floor. At the center of the larger circle, protected by arcane symbols, candles, and salt, lay the altar upon which the child was bound. It was another small girl. She was conscious and terrified. The magician stood next to the altar facing away from the door toward his intended sacrifice. A second, smaller circle, near the far wall, was where the manifestation of the demon was supposed to appear.

Unfortunately, demons were reputed to be exceptionally elusive and duplicitous. There was always the possibility that the one called upon had already arrived in some other part of the room, outside the containment of both circles. The job of the magician, and of the exorcist, was to control the demon and force it to manifest inside the circle created for it. Opening either circle would allow the demon to enter or leave. It would no longer be controlled and could take anyone left unprotected.

Nick did not know if he could enter the protective circle. He knew the exorcist must create a third circle for his own protection. As soon as VanderWaal entered the room, he poured holy water in a circle around himself, placed four circular wafers blessed for the sacrament of communion at the four quarters of the circle, and set the cross at the center. Then, in a powerful voice, he began the incantation to compel the demon to retire.
At the sound of VanderWaal's voice, the magician faltered in his chant and whirled to face them. He had not heard them enter. The exorcist concentrated on his own ritual and ignored the demonologist. Nick approached the magician with his gun drawn. He held up his badge and recited his own formula.

"Detective Nick Knight, Metro Police, you are under arrest on suspicion of murder and kidnapping. Anything you say may be held against you in a court of law. Stop your ceremony, and come with me now."

"Detective you do not know the powers you are dealing with," the magician said in a quiet voice. "I shall complete my ceremony, and you will be dragged to the nether regions of Hell by my servants!" he shouted. Then he turned and began his incantation anew.

Nick holstered his weapon. The magician was obviously depending on a spiritual assault. Nick continued to move toward the suspect. He found as he approached the circle that his progress was impeded slightly by waves of a repellent pressure. It was quite unlike the discomfort he felt emanating from VanderWaal's holy symbols. It was more like pushing through a suffocating pall of sulfurous mist. The reek of decay and despair he had sensed outside was intensifying. He paced the perimeter of the circle, edging to the right, toward the altar. Nick made sure the suspect was between himself and VanderWaal, then he leapt into the circle to face the magician in full vamp, eyes glowing and fangs descended. He growled menacingly. Horrified at what he supposed was the demon materialized inside his protective circle, the magician fled. The moment his foot stepped outside the perimeter, he began to scream.

Nick thought he saw the flicker of a manifestation in the demon's circle out of the corner of his eye. But he concentrated on controlling his own beast while attempting to calm the wild-eyed child who was beginning to struggle frantically against her bonds. Nick released the girl, whispering soothingly to her, and carried her quickly from the room. VanderWaal's prayers and the magician's screaming continued behind him. Nick raced outside and placed the child with the others. The police were just coming up the drive.

"Quickly, come with me!" Nick shouted at the first officers to arrive.

When Nick and the other officers arrived at the underground stables, VanderWaal was reciting a benediction and sprinkling holy water over the magician who was now thrashing about on the floor. The priest announced that the demon had departed. It took four officers to control the raving magician and take him into custody.

Returning to the station, Nick made sure the suspect was booked and that his fingerprints were dispatched to Dr. Carver before he headed for home. It was getting close to sunrise. The wrap up on the case would have to be finished tomorrow. He was looking forward to seeing Natalie.

[End Chapter 3 - Legacy of Evil: Inklings]

Legacy of Evil: Inklings - Chapter 4

Natalie had spent a productive evening in her lab. She had finished preparing her samples for tomorrow's chromosomal tests and then had sat over her microscope doing blood cell counts. She'd also run all the routine blood tests on each of the samples. That way she would have a baseline record of each patient. Her blood was not like that of the vampires. They showed a slightly slower clotting time than she did, their acid-base balance was different, and their liver and kidney functions betrayed extremely aggressive reactions to any chemical or bacterial invasions. These differences were to be expected with their slower metabolism and their faster healing time. Her plasma showed she was deficient in some electrolytes, which would be normal, considering she'd been 'donating' blood lately. She'd expected that and had purchased a good multi-vitamin and some other nutritional supplements when she had shopped. And what she had suspected was true. Her own liver and kidney function tests showed
aggressive reactions similar to those of the vampires. That was part of what was making her heal quickly.
But there was something she had never expected to find. It had made her rush out and purchase an extra test packet at the medical supply store. She had hurried back to the loft and administered the test. It was positive! She was shocked! What would Nick do when he found out about this? Knowing that she would have to be at the university the next afternoon, and realizing that she needed some extra sleep, she decided her best recourse was a long nap. She'd just have to worry about Nick when he got home.

Several hours later Nick burst into the loft. "Honey, I'm home!" Nick shouted joyfully as the lift opened. It was just sunrise. Natalie had awakened from her nap thirsty and was standing next to the refrigerator drinking a glass of orange juice. Nick pounced on her and pulled her into a furious hug, splattering the floor with the juice still in her glass.

"I loved saying that," he rumbled in her ear.

"Do you have to be so overly enthusiastic about everything!" Natalie exclaimed. She pushed him away and started cleaning up the spilled orange juice.

"Nat? What's wrong?"

"I think you'd better sit down."

Nick's heart sank. "Oh, Nat. What did you find?" He took the rag and glass out of her hands, set them on the counter, then picked her up and carried her to the couch.

"You might not want me after you hear what I have to tell you."

Nick settled her in his lap, held her hands between his, and said, "Natalie I'd want you no matter what."

"I couldn't think how to tell you, so I just will. Nick, I'm pregnant. I think it happened that night you lost your memory." When his face lit up, she stopped him before he could explode again, "No, that's not all. I think the baby is going to be a vampire."

Nick's jaw dropped open in shock. "But Nat, I can't have children. And that is not how vampires are made!"

"Normally, no, you can't. Your body temperature is too low for the sperm to be motile. But that night your body was running in high gear. It was repairing all those damaged cells. You even showed up on the hospital monitors at human levels. When we made love, you were so warm. I didn't tell you then, but I didn't go up to the bedroom with you that night because I could feel your skin growing colder. I guess I knew you were reverting, but I didn't want to believe it. Loving you had been so wonderful, so right!"

"Nat, why do you think this child will be a vampire?"

"Why else would I be healing so quickly. The baby is protecting itself. My blood isn't vampire blood. It doesn't boil in the sun. It does have some vampire factors, but it's still essentially human. The child must be the reason for these changes. It has inherited genes from both of us."

"Natalie, do you know this for sure?"

"Not until I run the tests at the university tomorrow," she admitted slowly.

"Then, let's wait and see what the tests show. Maybe I should call LaCroix or Janette. Maybe this has happened before. The child can't be a vampire. It wouldn't grow or change. Natalie, whatever happens, I love you. Nothing can change that. I won't leave you, and I won't let you leave me. I couldn't survive without you." Nick cuddled her close on his lap and stroked her back. Natalie hugged him, snuggled under his chin and sighed.

"For a vampire who always thought he was a terrible monster and that only horrible things should happen to him, you've certainly turned into a cock-eyed optimist."

"I have you now, and we have a child on the way. Something I've wanted for such a long time. Who wouldn't feel optimistic?"

"I don't. I'm scared, Nick."

"Nat, anything that happens we can deal with together. Even this. Natalie, I love you." He kissed her so deeply and thoroughly, she thought she'd never breathe again. He was determined to prove to her how very much he loved her. Suddenly, she was lifted through the air. He lay her gently on the bed and pulled off their clothing, throwing it onto the floor. She felt his cool body against the full length of hers as he lay next to her. Then he began tenderly stroking, caressing, kissing her face then extending his loving touch to every inch of her. He calmed her, soothed her. Where his lips touched her, she felt warm, cherished. His lovemaking was slow, deliberate, thorough. When he entered her at last, they lay quietly, savoring their togetherness, before he began a gentle rhythm that brought them both pleasure and fulfillment.

"Thank you, love," Natalie whispered in his ear when their passion was spent.

"Thank you, my love," he murmured.

Hours later they awoke to the ringing phone.

"Let the machine get it," Nick said. His arms tightened around her waist as she moved to get up. He was determined to ignore everything but Natalie.

"You forget, I have an appointment at the university. What time is it anyway? I hope I'm not late."

Nick looked at the bedside clock.  "It's only 1:00. What time is your appointment?"

"At 3:00. Who could be on the phone?"

"We won't know until I play back the message, so I guess I'd better," Nick grumbled as he got up, grabbed his robe, and headed downstairs.

Natalie hit the shower and dressed before joining him. He had already poured out a glass of orange juice, popped some bread into the toaster, and was stirring something on the stove when she entered the kitchen.

"Thank you, Nick, how thoughtful!" she exclaimed.

"I have to keep the mother of my child well nourished. That reminds me, when would you like to get married?"

Natalie threw her arms around him and held him close.

"Anytime you say." Natalie kissed him, then went to rescue her toast from the toaster. "Who was on the phone?"

"Dr. VanderWaal."

"The exorcist!? Why was he calling you? He doesn't remember that night does he?"

"No. LaCroix made sure of that.....I forgot! I didn't tell you what happened last night. We caught the murderer. He was a ritual magician trying to call up a demon. He had kidnapped nine children for his sacrifices."

"My God, Nick, how horrible. What did VanderWaal have to do with it?"

"I needed someone to get rid of the demon, if there was one. The magician was getting ready to sacrifice another child. I had to stop him."

"Oh, Nick, after what you went through earlier this year, that was an awful risk. So, why did VanderWaal call?"

"He thought he'd identified the demon the magician was trying to call. It was an Egyptian spirit, Ka-Ha. That's one of the names Divia's master used."

"So," Natalie set her soup down on the table and nibbled at her toast. "Divia did have something to do with this after all."

"Maybe, in a roundabout way. But the fault for the murders is the perpetrator's. We can't very well try a demon. I'll have to go in later and tie up the loose ends of this case. Then, Reese tells me, I'll be on suspension for a while. He suggested it might be a good time for a honeymoon. What do you say?"

"Oh, sweetheart," Nat batted her eyes at him exaggeratedly, "this is so sudden!" Nick grabbed her around the middle as she sat in the chair and began to tickle her.

"You are a tease and a minx, Natalie Lambert! What am I going to do with you?"

"Marry me as soon as possible, I guess," she replied laughing.

"I'm going to make some phone calls this afternoon while you're at the university. Then I need to go into the precinct to finish up the paperwork and find out how long they're suspending me. How about the day after tomorrow here at the loft for the wedding?"

"Fine with me. Now, I'm going to pack up my specimens and go to the university."

"It's a bit early yet, isn't it?" he asked suggestively as he hugged her again and nibbled on the top of her ear.

"Well, I think I'll do a little research at the library first. I'll see you when you get home from work," she turned her face up for another kiss. Then she jumped up, retrieved the prepared samples from her lab fridge, tucked them in her bag, grabbed her jacket off the coat rack and stepped into the lift. As the lift door closed, she blew him another kiss. Nick sighed and went upstairs to shower and dress.

When Natalie arrived at the university, she made a beeline for the clinic. She had made an appointment with her gynecologist yesterday as soon as she had found out about her pregnancy. She was going to ask for genetic testing, and she was going to insist on running the samples herself. She wasn't sure if she could get away with it. But it was worth a try. She'd told her doctor that Nick's family had a genetic defect.

Nick spent the afternoon on the phone, setting up a small civil ceremony with a friendly judge presiding. Natalie hadn't returned by the time he needed to leave for the precinct, so he left her a note with the details of the arrangements he'd been able to make.  When he got to the precinct, Reese called him into his office.

"Well, done, Nick. The kids all checked out O.K., and the psychologist says they seem to be responding well to ice cream and love. They're still not sure where that guy got the kids. They're still working at identifying them."

"That's great, Captain. I'll get my paperwork finished. Has anyone found out anything about Tracy?" Nick asked.

"Naw, they haven't found a thing. Personally, I think they just misplaced her in some drawer down in that hospital morgue. Sure is strange, though."

"Captain, would you be able to attend Natalie's and my wedding? It's the day after tomorrow, at my loft, 8:00 p.m."

"I'd be honored, Nick. By the way, I.A. has decided your suspension is for a month without pay, starting tomorrow. Sorry you have to start your marriage a little short on cash."

"That's O.K., Captain, I have some put away for emergencies," Nick told him.

"The prisoner, by the way, has been identified as a Harris Lash. He's undergoing psychological evaluation. They don't think he'll be able to stand trial. He'll probably spend the rest of his life on the funny farm."

"I'm not surprised," Nick said. "Anyone who messes around with the supernatural, and especially demonology, is playing with fire."

"Say, that was a good idea you had to bring in Dr. VanderWaal from that case we had a few weeks ago. He sure knew how to handle that nut case. It was a lot easier handling Lash with VanderWaal around."

"I'm glad it worked out well. I'll go write up that report."

Nick finished his report, and headed home early.

When he arrived at the loft, he found a small delegation awaiting him.

"LaCroix, Janette? What's wrong? Where's Natalie?"

"We have no idea where she is, but we heard the murderer had been arrested. Who was it, Nicolas?" Janette asked.

"It was a ritual magician trying to raise a demon and using child sacrifice to sweeten the pot."

"Ah, so that is why you called on VanderWaal," LaCroix mused.

"Yes, did you think I'd lost my mind and intended to give away all our secrets?" Nick asked with his eyebrows raised.

"Your recent actions have been far too human. I was concerned." LaCroix murmured threateningly.

Nick shivered, "There was something I think you will find fascinating. VanderWaal informs me that Harris Lash was attempting to raise a demon known as Ka-Ha."

LaCroix's look of surprise was brief, but telling.

"The same name as Divia's maker," he mused. "How very odd."

"Indeed," Nick agreed. "I hope it's mere coincidence, but the smell of the place reminded me strongly of what I sensed when Divia attacked me. Natalie is still trying to track down any evidence she can find of Divia's influence through our blood samples. But it struck me that she does not have a sample from a vampire not attacked by Divia. Janette, would you mind providing her with a blood sample?"

"I don't mind. If it will help."

"Thank you.....I'm very glad to see you both, I wanted to ask if you would attend our wedding. LaCroix, I had hoped you might stand with me this time."

"Wouldn't your bride find that a bit tasteless?" LaCroix asked.

"No, I don't think she would," Nick assured him. "I think she's beginning to understand us just a little."

"Then, I would be honored."

"We'll both be here," Janette told him.

LaCroix and Janette took their leave. Nick opened a bottle, poured himself a glass and sat down to wait for Natalie. He was beginning to worry. She had been gone for several hours. He knew that it took time to run the delicate tests she was working on. She could not entrust the work to anyone else. Then he heard her car drive up and her distinctive heartbeat as she ascended in the lift. The door opened and a very tired Natalie dropped her bag on the table, hung her jacket on the coat rack and flopped on the couch next to Nick.

"Well," he asked excitedly. "What did you find out?"

"I'm pregnant, all right. And I'm exhausted!" Nick set down his glass and began massaging her shoulders.

"I'm sorry, Nat, I should at least have let you catch your breath before I started asking questions. Why don't I order in a nice dinner for you, and you can relax."

"Actually, that sounds like a great idea. And you can continue with that massage. I keep forgetting how tired my shoulders get when I'm fine-tuning that equipment."

"Nat, I made arrangements for our marriage. Judge Cameron said he would do it for us. I hope you don't mind, I invited Captain Reese, LaCroix, and Janette. I hoped you'd invite anyone you wanted to have here."

"That's fine, Nick. I think I'll call Grace tomorrow and see if she'll be my maid of honor. I have a few friends from the university I'd like to invite, too, if you don't mind."

"Anyone you'd like."

"That's enough of the massage for now. I think I'll order Chinese tonight." Natalie rose and went to the phone and called her favorite take out place. She ordered three of her favorite dishes. Then she returned to the couch and snuggled up to Nick.

"Janette said she would give you a blood sample. She could be your control, since she never confronted Divia."

"She's willing to do that? That's great!"

"Nat, what did you find?" Nick insisted.

"I found that I'm almost normal. I have some factors in my blood that would account for the rate at which I'm healing. I also ran the same tests I've run on you before. They still show that odd bunch of RNA, but it's mutated, probably from the influence of the Lytoveuterine B. The same RNA bundle is evident in both Tracy and Vachon. But theirs matches the one you originally had. I don't have that bundle, but I have something else at the same location on the DNA string."

"I can't tell you anything about the baby yet," Natalie continued. "I can't take the necessary samples we need. I made an evening appointment for us with a genetic specialist at the university clinic. We'll have to wait a few days. He's booked solid. He has a very good reputation. You're going to have to make sure he keeps everything under wraps. I'm going to have him do a chorionic villus sampling. That way we can find out if the baby is healthy. We could decide to abort it, if it shows any genetic defects."

"Nat, I know we never planned on this child, but you are the one woman I wanted to be the mother of my children. I can't help but be thrilled at the idea of our becoming a family."

"Nick,..." she paused, suddenly overwhelmed at the depth of his love for her, "I just wish..."

"That we knew what I might have passed on to it."

"Oh, Nick, I didn't mean that. This pregnancy is my fault, not yours. I knew what we were doing that night. You didn't."

"The last time I heard, it takes two to make a baby, Nat."

"Nick, you're impossible! You never can stand to let anyone else take the blame."

Nick enfolded her in his arms and murmured in her ear, "I don't think blame is the right word in this case. Anytime someone is going to bring a new life into the world, I consider it a blessing. I guess we'll just have to take things as they come. At least we can't say our lives will be dull."

"What was that curse people used to wish on each other? 'May you live in exciting times.' I think that was it." Natalie sighed.

"Nat, let's concentrate on our wedding. We can wait to worry about the baby until after we've seen the other doctor. What about choosing some rings? I can call someone to bring us a selection. Do you want special music? How about food?"

They spent the next hour making decisions about their wedding and dividing up the responsibilities for making the arrangements they agreed upon. Then they retired to the bedroom to rest, tomorrow would be very busy for both of them.

The day of their wedding came all too soon. Natalie was very glad they had decided to keep it small. There were so many details to attend to! Natalie had decided not to purchase a new dress. She and Grace had selected one of her favorite and most flattering suits to wear. Nick had ordered masses of perfectly beautiful flowers, and had found a pianist for the ceremony. From a selection of wedding bands a jeweler had brought, they had selected medieval posy rings engraved with their promises of love to each other. The caterer and decorator were hired. The few guests were invited. And the bride and groom had insisted upon no wedding gifts. They were already melding two very adequately stocked households. Tracy and Vachon were officially dead to Nick and Natalie's mortal friends, but they had been invited to observe from the newly repaired roof skylight. Nick had made special arrangements for their comfort. Nick had also made reservations for their honeymoon. They were spending their first week of marriage at home. But Nick had planned a surprise trip for Natalie.

The decorator arrived at three o'clock and set to work. By six the main room of the loft had been transformed into an elegant wedding chapel with the altar at the end nearest Natalie's lab. An arch of lattice work and flowers placed before the lab transformed that wall into a romantic backdrop for their vows. The caterer delivered just after seven. The dining table was laid with a selection of delectable hors d'oeuvres and shining crystal and silver. Champagne filled all the available space in the refrigerator. The lab fridge had become the temporary storage for Nick's bottles. They had foregone the usual wedding cake for a beautifully decorated sheet cake which currently resided on the kitchen counter. Any leftovers were destined for the precinct and morgue offices.
At seven-thirty Judge Cameron arrived with the pianist. They were greeted by an effusive Nick. Grace followed them up the lift, and Nick sent her upstairs to help Natalie. Janette and LaCroix were next to arrive. Janette went up to join Grace and Natalie. LaCroix hovered gravely in the background. By eight o'clock all the guests had arrived and the pianist began the wedding march. Grace, as maid of honor, appeared at the head of the stairs, followed by Janette, as bridesmaid, then, a radiant Natalie. She wore a small hat with a short veil that matched her royal blue suit perfectly. The trio gracefully descended the stairs and joined Nick and LaCroix in front of the judge.
The judge followed the standard civil service, and then offered a blessing. "It is obvious to me that these two people have a very special relationship. May their friendship and love bring them more joy with each passing year. And may that joy support them in any trials they may have to bear in their life together. May I present Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Knight."

The pianist played a recessional and everyone moved to congratulate the newlyweds. Grace and Janette presided over the refreshments, passing champagne and hors d'oeuvres to everyone. Natalie threw off her hat then mounted the stairs to toss her bouquet. It landed squarely in LaCroix's lap. He grimaced as if he'd been burned, and quickly passed it to Janette. Nick put some quiet music on the CD player when the pianist finished, and everyone mingled and visited until the food and wine began to dwindle. By ten o'clock everyone, except the wedding party, had said their final goodbyes. Grace and Janette helped Natalie and Nick clean up while LaCroix sat and quietly sipped a glass of something red he had found in the lab fridge behind the flowered arch.

"Well, I have to work tomorrow," Grace said finally, "I'm so glad you two finally tied the knot," she told Natalie as she kissed her on the cheek. Grace hugged a surprised and pleased Nick, picked up her coat and left.

"You've been very quiet all evening, LaCroix. Do you still disapprove of us?" Natalie asked him.

"Yes, doctor, I do disapprove. But that is not my only concern. Nicholas, there have been some disruptions in the Community since we last spoke. I wanted to wait until your nuptials were over before I burdened you with any further problems."

"What kind of 'disruptions,' LaCroix?" Nick asked.

"Jean-Claude tells me that there have been increasing numbers of fights breaking out at the Raven. Unlike the occasional drunken brawls he is accustomed to seeing, these fights have been extremely violent. There was a particularly unpleasant confrontation last night between a mortal and a member of the Community."

"A delectable young woman came into the club on the arm of one of the new, careless breed of vampire. The young woman's mortal lover soon appeared and challenged the vampire. The lover uttered the usual jealousies, then intimated that he knew what kind of being he was confronting. The males fought. The woman was killed accidentally. Her mortal lover had to be silenced. Jean-Claude and I felt that everyone must be notified. We have not yet discovered how the young man knew about us. Nor do we know if he may have known of other members of the Community. He was a policeman. You may be confronted. We did not want you to be uninformed in that event."

"This is very bad news. I'm sure I've been careful, but it's difficult to know," Nick worried.

"Indeed. Well, I must depart. In spite of my misgivings, doctor, I do wish you both the best in your marriage." LaCroix left via the skylight.

"Nicolas, be very careful. If I can help in any way, let me know," Janette said. "Natalie, may your marriage be a long and happy one. I'm glad you and I have become friends."

"So am I, Janette," Natalie responded, warmly hugging Janette.

Janette entered the lift and waved to them both as the doors closed.

"I never expected LaCroix to extend his best wishes," Natalie said to Nick.

"He genuinely respects you, Nat. I think that surprises him." Nick said then he absentmindedly caught up her hand and led her to the couch. He pulled her down beside him and hugged her tightly, but his mood had soured. He went suddenly quiet.

"Nick, we just got married! Are you going to let what happened last night at the Raven worry you when it had nothing to do with you?" Natalie asked him.

"Nat, I have no way of knowing what I might have let slip. I could be the reason for that confrontation," Nick brooded.

Natalie socked him hard on the upper arm. "Listen to me, Nick. You can not go around taking on the responsibility for other people's actions. You have plenty of real sins to atone for without borrowing anyone else's foolishness. And I ought to know. You forcibly shared all that garbage with me. And you know just how much of it I'm still holding against you." He glanced at her questioningly, "None of it, you ninny! So just lighten up and help me celebrate our wedding night!" Nick backed away slightly from the playful blows she aimed at his chest, but he began to smile again at the thought of their wedding night.

"Well, what now, Mrs. Knight?"

"I think I just want to sit here quietly and enjoy being with you," Natalie told him as she snuggled up under his chin. "You don't suppose we'll have any other well-wishers here tonight, do you? We haven't seen Vachon or Tracy yet."

"I doubt it," Nick answered. "I think I heard them leave just after the ceremony."

"Look how lovely the moon is shining in the windows."

Nick released her, jumped up suddenly and exclaimed, "I know!" He flew around the room relighting candles and turning off electric lights. He stopped at the media center, changed the CD's, and pulled something small from the shelf behind the player which he slipped into his pocket. Then he settled back on the couch next to Natalie and lit the fireplace. "There, we can watch the shapes in the flames, and the moonlight," he told her, "and we can neck!" he chuckled as he nuzzled her.

Natalie sighed. "What a wonderfully romantic idea!" She laughed as she returned his kisses.

Suddenly he pulled away from her again and said, "This isn't right at all. Something is missing."

"What could possibly be missing? We're both here, that's all we need tonight."

"No, no, I can't do this, Natalie. We never did things this way in my day."

"What are you talking about!?" Natalie exclaimed exasperatedly.

Nick rummaged in his pockets for a moment. "There it is. I wondered where it had got to." He handed Natalie a very small, plain box. "This should help, I hope. But it's all backward, you know."

"What? What is this?" Natalie opened the little box and found a perfectly magnificent square cut emerald ring. It's deep green-blue perfection flashed at her as she turned it in the fire lit room. Nick took it from her. As she stared at him breathlessly, he slipped it on her finger above her wedding band. It fit perfectly.

"There now that's better. A woman should have her betrothal ring first. But I suppose I'm always late with things, always getting them backward. Is this all right, Natalie?" He kissed her hand and looked up at her innocently.
When Natalie regained her wits, she gasped and threw her arms around him. "Nick, it's gorgeous!" She kissed him passionately, and he responded in kind.

"Wherever did you find an emerald with such color!? Most emeralds nowadays are a much lighter green." Natalie asked him as she admired her new possession.

"A friend gave me the stone many years ago. I had it cut and mounted for you last week. It was just delivered today."

"This is simply the most beautiful thing I've ever owned. Thank you, Nick."

"You're more than welcome, my love." They snuggled up together simply enjoying the closeness of one another.
Later he built them a nest of blankets and pillows before the fire. "This is a bit like the night we first made love," he told her as he admired the flicker of the firelight in her hair.

"That was more impromptu, we just pulled our clothes off and collapsed on them," she reminded him.  "Then this time we'll just have to take it slower, so we can savor every moment." They proceeded to do just that.

[End Chapter 4 - Legacy of Evil: Inklings]

Legacy of Evil: Inklings - Chapter 5

Two evenings later Natalie and Nick kept their appointment with Dr. Devereaux at the university clinic. She was extremely nervous. He was somber. They arrived at the doctor's office about fifteen minutes early as they had been instructed. His nurse told them that the doctor was finishing his rounds at the hospital and would be with them soon. She kept them busy filling out forms, since this was their first visit to the doctor's office. There was a very thorough family history to be filled out for each of them.

Suddenly Nick bristled. Natalie looked up, "Whatever is the matter?" she whispered.

"I feel a vampire somewhere. Could someone be following us?" he whispered in answer. "I'm going to check around outside. I'll join you and the doctor after I've made sure there's no danger." Nick went to the nurse and
asked her where the nearest restroom was, then left the office quickly.

A few minutes later the intercom on the nurse's desk beeped softly, and the nurse told Natalie she could go in to see the doctor. "I'll send your husband in when he returns," she told Natalie.

When Natalie entered Dr. Devereaux's office, she was pleasantly surprised to find he was a young, handsome, and very cordial man. He immediately put her at her ease and began reviewing the history she had filled out in the office.

Suddenly he stiffened as Nick entered the door. Nick stopped abruptly and stared at the doctor. <This is the vampire I sensed!> Nick thought. He recognized the doctor! "Jules!?" he exclaimed, "Jules deVilliers!?"

Dr. Devereaux rose from his chair, extended his hand, and cried, "Nicolas deBrabant! I never expected to see you again! So, you are the famous Detective Nick Knight who saved those kidnapped children. Well done, crusader!"

"Thank you, Jules. You're in the business of saving children too, I see," Nick said as he shook Jules' hand warmly.
"In a small way. We've been over some rough ground, you and I, have we not?"

"Now wait just a minute here, you guys. You know each other!? And he's a...a...you know!?" Natalie interrupted impatiently.

"We were friends, good friends, a very long time ago. Whether or not we still are is a question to be discovered." Dr. Devereaux replied.

"I'm willing to let the past be the past if you are," Nick offered.

"Excellent, we're certainly not as young as we used to be, are we, mon vieux?"

"No, and Natalie and I desperately need your help, Jules. There isn't another doctor with your, um, background, if you take my meaning."

" I do indeed."

"We very much need someone with all of your qualifications."

"You intrigue me. Tell me what the problem is."

Nick and Natalie explained how she had become pregnant, and what their concerns were for the child. Natalie revealed the extent of her research into the virus she suspected Divia of harboring, and promised to share her samples and results. She also told Jules about the rapid healing she had been experiencing.

"No wonder you're concerned," Jules told them. "I've never heard of a successful human/vampire mating, for the reason you've both cited. Humans don't usually survive the mating. We can do the chorionic villus sampling here in the office tonight. I think it's the wisest thing under the circumstances. Once we get the results of that test, you can decide if you wish to continue the pregnancy. Let's get you prepped, Natalie. Nick do you want to wait here or accompany Natalie into the treatment room?"

"I'd like to be with her as long as I can," Nick told him.

"Thank you, Nick," Natalie said, "and thank you, doctor."

"Jules, call me Jules, please, Natalie."

"Jules. Thank you."

Forty-five minutes later Natalie was dressing while Nick waited in the doctor's office. She joined him in the office when she was finished, and they both waited for Jules to complete the tests he was running on the samples he had taken.

When Jules entered the office half an hour later, he was smiling. "Your tests show none of the kinds of defects you'd normally need to be concerned about. Nick, your paternity is evident, but the child is not a vampire. It is growing normally. You are almost ten weeks along, Natalie. I can tell you the sex of the child if you wish. Or would you like to be surprised?"

"No," she glanced at Nick for his approval, he nodded, "we'd like to know, what is it?"

"It's a boy. You'll soon have a healthy son."

Nick beamed, and Natalie breathed a great sigh of relief.

"It isn't going to be all roses you know," Jules told them.

"Natalie, I want you to stay on a healthy diet and get plenty of exercise. I don't want you to gain more than fifteen to twenty pounds, which is going to be very hard. And I don't want you subjected to undue stress. Is there somewhere you can take her, Nick, where she can relax and concentrate on becoming a mother?"

"Yes, I have reservations booked for us next week." Nick told him. "I haven't told her where we're going yet. It's a surprise. But she won't be experiencing any stress if I can help it. I'm on suspension for the next month, so she won't have to worry about my job for a while. We have enough money saved to live comfortably for some time."

"Excellent. Natalie, I expect to see you in one month. We'll have monthly visits until the time for your delivery gets much closer. I think I'll deliver this baby myself. That way, we won't have anyone wondering about some of the items on your record who shouldn't. And speaking of that, Natalie, I assume you have a very secure method for keeping your research results. I'm entrusting this to you." Jules pushed a file and a small box containing the samples he had taken across the desk.

"Thank you, Jules," Natalie said with a relieved smile.

"I was ready to wipe any human doctor's memory, if I had to," Nick remarked.

"And I was ready to ask him to steal the samples as well," Natalie asserted.

"An excellent plan," Jules approved. "You must still be extremely careful with any information about Natalie's condition. There are vampires, as well as humans, who would kill all three of you if they knew the details."

"I believe I'm intimately acquainted with at least one of those vampires," Nick said grimly. "Natalie and I have not yet decided what we will do when we finish our trip. We still have a lot of plans to make."

"I don't want to upset you unnecessarily. I just gave you orders to rest and relax, Natalie. But I think you both should be aware of a growing threat in the Community that might target you. Could we meet in a more secure location in the very near future, before you leave for your trip?" Jules asked.

Nick purposely ignored Natalie's sudden, sharp intake of breath and said, "Of course, come to the loft. When would be convenient for you?"

"Would tomorrow at eight be all right?"

"Yes, that would be fine."

"I'll see you tomorrow at eight, then." Jules rose from his chair and showed them to the door. As Natalie preceded Nick from the room, Jules placed his hand on Nick's elbow and whispered, "Be watchful, Nick. It's very dangerous for her out there just now." Nick gazed deeply into his old friend's eyes and was shaken at the depth of concern he saw there.

"I shall protect her with my life. Merci, mon cher ami."

"Bonne chance, Nicolas. You'll need it."

Nick slipped his arm around Natalie when they reached the hallway and escorted her to the car. They didn't speak as he opened her door then went around and slid into the driver's seat. But when he had settled into the seat, Natalie reached for him. He held her close and murmured, "Nat, we'll have a long talk when we get home."

"It seems we've been having a lot of long, serious talks lately," Natalie observed quietly.

"Well, we're married now, and one of the obligations is keeping the communication lines open," he said lightly as he gently caressed her cheek.

Natalie grinned at him, "You're becoming a very good husband, then!"

They reached the loft quickly, the traffic was light. As Nick pulled into the garage, he felt a presence. "LaCroix is here," he announced, "and someone else," he paused, "Vachon, I think."

"Uh oh, I wonder what's happened now?" Natalie said.

When they got into the lift, Natalie unbuttoned her coat in the warmer air. Nick glanced over at her and had the sudden urge to feel the length of her body against him. He reached under her coat and pulled her against him, lowered his head, and kissed her full on the mouth. Her arms went around his neck, her fingers twining in the blonde curls at the nape of his neck.

When the lift doors opened, LaCroix made a disgusted sound and snorted, "Newlyweds!"

Nick raised his head and looked at LaCroix, still not releasing Natalie. "What's wrong now, LaCroix? "

"Your ex-partner is missing again. Only this time someone has taken her against her will."

"I went to the Raven for supplies. While I was gone, someone forced their way into the church and took her," Vachon put in. "We hoped you'd help us get her back. I've located her, but I can sense she's being guarded by a fairly large group. She doesn't seem to have been hurt. We're not sure what we're up against. Tracy and I had been laying low until Aristotle could get our travel plans finalized. But something must have leaked."

"Do you have anyone else helping?" Nick asked.

"We called Janette," Vachon said. "We might need a woman's touch. She's meeting us on your roof."

"Nat, please stay here. This is the safest place you could be. This trip will be too dangerous for a human, even if she does heal ever so quickly," Nick requested.

"I'm very happy to stay. Is there anything I can do?" Natalie asked.

"Not at the moment, doctor," LaCroix asserted.

Nick kissed Natalie quickly. "Stay near the phone," he whispered and left with the others. Natalie hung her coat on the rack and settled near the phone with a large glass of juice. She wondered if the danger Dr. Devereaux had mentioned was related to Tracy's kidnapping or to the incident LaCroix had told them about.

If any of these events were related, Jules had implied a special danger to herself and the baby. That was the only reason she had not insisted on going with Nick. She was far more concerned about their child than she was about Nick, especially in regard to vampire matters. He was quite able to take care of himself, and she knew LaCroix was capable of, and would commit, any action to protect Nick.

Janette met the three other vampires as they issued from Nick's roof access. Vachon launched himself skyward and led the way. He raced across the city. He paused at a small farm on the outskirts of Toronto. They descended slowly and carefully, settling down behind a screen of trees until they could better determine who or what they might be encountering.

The four of them decided they would first try to determine who was inside and what their intentions were. They would use persuasive diplomacy unless force became necessary. They did not wish to provoke any violence. They had split up to encircle the house, when the front door flew open and Tracy bounced outside and waved at Vachon.

"I could feel you coming," she beamed at him.

"Tracy, what is going on? I leave you alone for a few minutes and you disappear. And the place is a mess. Who were you fighting with?"

"Oh, that was just a misunderstanding! Hurry up and come inside. You'll never guess who's here!" Tracy exclaimed. She dragged Vachon into the living area of the main house, followed closely by the other three vampires.

"It's the Inca!" Vachon exclaimed. "I thought you'd been killed when that bomb went off!"

"Well, I was split into several pieces, but, luckily, most of me fell to earth near these friends." The Inca's sweeping gesture indicated four other vampires, two men and two women, sitting at their ease on the various chairs and sofas decorating the comfortable room.

"We heard the explosion and went outside to see what had happened. He had been ripped pretty badly, but we managed to find all of his essential parts. They fell into the pasture over there," one of the male vampires said. "If we hadn't found him, the sun would have finished him off in the morning."

"We had heard that Vachon had been attacked by that vicious woman from some other friends who live in the city," the Inca told them. "We'd heard you were dead. Then Aristotle called to see if we'd mind being a first stop in your relocation plan. We thought we'd go over to your place and help you move. We found Tracy there..."

"They mistook me for Divia. They thought I'd come back to finish the job. Then I recognized the Inca, and he recognized me. Right on their heels, there came a posse of cops with a search warrant. They were canvassing downtown areas for my body. I guess Daddy is leaving no stone unturned. The Inca and his friends were concerned that I wasn't safe alone, so they brought me here, since this is where Aristotle was sending us. I tried to let you know I was in no danger. But I see you brought reinforcements anyway," she smiled at Vachon.

"Well, the way the church looked, I thought you'd had quite a fight with someone and were dragged off against your will."

"The cops must've really tossed the place then, because it was still in good order when we left. I'm sure glad I didn't leave you a note."

"Since you have no further need of us, Vachon, I think we'll leave," LaCroix told him.

"Thanks for the moral support."

"Wait just a moment, LaCroix. You and Janette can leave, but I think there's some unfinished business my partner and I have to straighten out," Nick observed. "I'm staying for a while."

"Very well." LaCroix left abruptly.

"Call us if you need us again, Vachon," Janette told him before she too departed.

"Tracy, it's very obvious to me that your father is not going to stop until he finds something he can mourn and bury. You can't keep dodging the issue," Nick told her.

"I know, but what can I do?"

"I think Nat can help with this. She understands morgue protocol, let me call her. Reese gave me an idea a while back when he muttered something about them having just misplaced you."

Nick pulled out his cell phone and called Natalie, both to reassure her that they were all right, and, to bounce his idea off her. She thought it was sound. Nick, Tracy, and Vachon made their plans. Nick said his farewells and returned home.

"Well, what happened?" Natalie asked him the minute the lift doors opened.

"It turns out that Tracy just escaped being found by her father." Nick told her. Then he related the events of the evening.

"So that's why you asked me where else they might have put Tracy's body!"

"I think we'll be hearing from Reese soon about the arrangements for Tracy's funeral." Nick took her hand and led her to the couch where they settled down in each other's arms. Natalie tucked her head under Nick's chin and rested against his chest, as had been her habit of late.

"Now, let's talk about us for a while. We have a lot of decisions to make. Nat, what do you want to do? We're leaving on our honeymoon trip next week. But after that we haven't really made any plans. Should I stay with the department? Do you want to go back to the morgue? Do you want to move or stay here?"

"Nick, I resigned that night because I thought you were getting ready to move on without me. I tried to explain to you at the lab, just before Tracy was shot, that I'd decided you were my life. I didn't want to have a life without you. If you were going to leave, I was going to be ready to go with you. I didn't think any further than that. Now I'm not sure what I want to do." Natalie paused a moment and then went on.

"We've changed so much in such a short period of time. We've married, something I never really believed could happen. I'm pregnant, another wild miracle! And whether it's Divia's influence or the baby's, I seem to be able to heal each time we're together," Natalie paused again, thinking hard. "I know I want this baby to be born healthy. I know I'm very glad I married you," she reached up and caressed his cheek gently. "Whatever we do, I just want to do it with you."

He pulled her even closer and kissed her until she broke the embrace to breathe. "I feel the same way, Nat. I have one huge concern, though. Jules mentioned it at his office. I'm not sure how LaCroix will react when he finds out about your pregnancy. I very much fear he will consider our son a target for any game he might choose to play. He's never considered anything but his own desires, his own pleasure, to be important."

"What can we do about LaCroix?"

"Aristotle can move us anywhere we wish. He wouldn't tell even LaCroix where we were if we asked him not to. We'd have to start over somewhere else. And we'd have to keep moving, so he couldn't track us down. We'd live our lives on the run. I don't know if you fully realize it, but that's the kind of life you signed on for when you married a vampire. That's the most drastic action we could take. We could stay here and take our chances with LaCroix. But I'm not very happy about trusting to luck."

"What about talking to Janette? She might know how LaCroix would react. She might be more objective about it than we are. LaCroix hasn't seemed to want to kill me, lately. He even came to the wedding, and he congratulated us! What makes you so sure he'd want to harm our child?"

"It's just the history I've had with him. He always seems to need to dominate every situation and everyone. He needs to exploit people for his own ends. I have no idea how he might use us and the child."

"Maybe we should just make contingency plans and wait and see what happens. We haven't heard what Jules has to say yet. Maybe it isn't LaCroix who worries him. Does he even know LaCroix?"

"I frankly don't know about Jules. The last time I saw him was just before I was brought across. I had no idea he had become a vampire. I don't know any more about him now than you do. He was a brave and good friend when he was human. He seems like a fine doctor now, but other than that..." Nick shrugged.

"I know what I've heard in the profession. He has an excellent reputation for being a sensitive doctor and a thorough researcher. He's published very well received papers. The university's medical center hired him about five years ago. His work has been primarily in genetic mapping and gene therapy to repair genetic defects in children. I went to him for both those reasons. But I never imagined he might be a vampire. I knew he did mostly evening consultations, but I assumed that was so he could help people who couldn't take a lot of time off of work. I suppose that cover works well nowadays for a vampire," Natalie observed.

"Nat, I told Dr. Carver you weren't quitting just to raise a family, but that you were going to work for an independent lab. That was just a cover story at the time, but how about setting up that lab for you I mentioned earlier? The deBrabant Foundation could do it. You could do all the research you want to do, and you could do it on a time schedule you designed. That way you could take a break when the baby comes, and even after when you needed to. I could resign from the force and manage the lab so you could run the research end of things. We could get Jules and maybe some others who were good in the field to do independent work for us. What do you think?"

"I think that's a very ambitious plan. It would solve a lot of problems, but it would create some too. Are you sure you'd want to give up your police work? Couldn't the Foundation find some business whiz to run that part of the lab?"

"I'm not sure I really want to continue with the force here. I've lost two partners in one year. And even though one of them really isn't gone, I'm not sure I have that fire in my belly anymore. I'd rather spend time with you and the baby," he told her as he kissed her ear.

"Let's just think about things for now. Why don't we hear what Jules has to say tomorrow. Then let's ask Janette for advice. Would we have to be in Toronto for the Foundation to fund the lab?"

"No, the Foundation is an independent entity. It has projects in a variety of countries. We aren't tied anywhere permanently," Nick told her.

"Then we could work anywhere. If we needed to move, we could."

"You really like the idea of your own lab, don't you?"

"It's decidedly tempting. I'd love the independence it would give me, both personally and professionally."

"Then let's sleep on it," he agreed. He lifted her in his arms and carried her toward the stairs.

"No stop at the fridge?" Natalie asked him as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I don't feel hungry, just passionate," he breathed into her mouth. He paused for a moment to savor the taste of her, then leapt onto the upper landing. She pulled his head down and kissed him again when they landed. He let her slide down the length of his body until her feet reached the floor. She backed into the bedroom, pulling him by the lapels of his jacket. Then she unbuttoned his shirt, ran her hands inside to the shoulders and pushed his shirt and jacket off together onto the floor. He had slipped the clothing off her upper body and pulled her tightly against him so he could feel her breasts against his chest. The rest of their clothing fell to the floor, and she pulled him onto the bed.

"I want to be on top for a change," she told him and proceeded to fondle, nuzzle, and caress every inch of him. He encouraged her ministrations with ardent kisses and gentle, thrilling touches in her most sensitive and private places. They satisfied each other completely. Afterward she sighed contentedly as she snuggled her backside against his stomach. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed the back of her neck. As they drifted off into slumber, he pulled the covers over them both.

[End Chapter 5 - Legacy of Evil: Inklings]

Chapter 6 - Legacy of Evil: Inklings]

Late in the morning Nick awoke to a rumbling stomach. He stumbled sleepily downstairs and peered into the refrigerator. There was plenty of blood in the tall green bottles, but for some reason the only thing that attracted him was a bit of rare steak left from Natalie's earlier dinner. He reached for it, popped it into his mouth, chewed and enjoyed the flavor before he realized what he was doing. He stopped suddenly, swallowed, and shouted, "Natalie, Natalie, come here! Come here, right now!"

Natalie awakened by his shout, and thinking he was hurt in some way, jumped out of bed, raced down the stairs, and skidded to a stop in front of a madly capering Nick. "What in the hell is going on? What are you doing?" She barked at him.

"I ate it," he giggled. "I ate your steak. It was terrific. I never tasted anything so good. Why didn't you tell me you were such a good cook?"

"What are you babbling about? Are you nuts? What.......?" Nat stood in front of Nick and tried to puzzle out what he was trying to tell her.

Nick finally calmed down enough to say, "I came downstairs because I was hungry, but the only thing that looked good to me was the steak left over from your dinner. I ate it. It was delicious. It didn't come back up! Nat, I ate food, real food, without your having to bug me about it!"

"My God, Nick, I knew you weren't drinking as much blood as usual, but I thought since you went back to human you didn't need as much. I never expected you could eat human food."

"Neither did I. I just wanted it, and I liked it! Take another blood sample, Nat. Maybe something is happening like with Janette's cure."

"Well, all right, but do you feel any differently in any other way. Is the vampire still there?"

Nick stopped and became very still as he assessed his inner self. He sighed a huge sigh. "It's still there. It doesn't feel quite as strong, but I know it's still there."

"Nick, this change we've wanted must take time. Janette didn't become human overnight. She said it happened so gradually that she hardly noticed it. She tried to bring Robert across when he died because she thought she was still a vampire. But we're on the right track. Maybe our love is helping to change you." Natalie reached for him and hugged him tightly. Suddenly they both realized they were still completely naked.

"This isn't the kind of attire to induce a professional attitude," Natalie commented as she felt his erection begin to grow. "Should I take that sample now or later?"

"Later," Nick growled into her ear, "much later." He lifted her in his arms and set her on the kitchen counter next to the refrigerator. They were both extremely aroused. He took her body and her blood forcefully, greedily. She received him with delight and returned his fervor. When their passion was spent, he whisked upstairs and brought down robes for both of them.

"I'm glad you brought my warm terry cloth robe," Natalie said as she shivered and wrapped her robe around herself. "That tile counter is cold! But that was fun," she giggled.

Nick swatted her softly on the butt and remarked, "You're incorrigible, Mrs. Knight. What would respectable people say about you? Letting your husband do such things to you in the kitchen! It's positively shocking."

"Well, all right then let's get down to business, Mr. Knight. Now that you've had your blood sample, it's time for me to collect one. Hold out your arm. By the way, when do you think Janette will be by to leave me her sample?"

"I'll call her later and find out," Nick answered. "Are you going to prep those samples now, or can we go back to bed for awhile?"

"You woke me out of a sound sleep. I think I'd like to store this and work later if you don't mind."

"Not at all. I'm quite ready to go to bed with you," Nick leered at her.

"You are insatiable, you over-sexed vampire!"

"You hadn't realized that aspect of vampire lore?" he asked coyly.

"No, but then you had always discouraged my investigations."

"Not anymore," he declared as he swept her up the stairs and hustled her into bed. They teased and petted each other until they both drifted off to sleep, snuggled tightly together.

Nick awoke first. He looked at the clock and saw it was near five p.m. He decided he'd sneak out of bed and surprise Natalie with a full breakfast. He was looking forward to discovering what else he might be able to eat.
When Natalie awoke half an hour later, it was to the tempting aromas of coffee and bacon. She stretched and reached for her robe. She decided to shower and dress before going downstairs. She had some samples to prepare, and Jules was coming soon.

Nick greeted her with a bear hug and a thorough kiss when she appeared downstairs. He was beaming at her proudly as she examined the start he'd made on their breakfast. "Have you tried to eat anything yet?" she asked him.

"No, what do you think I should try first?"

"I have no idea. You'll just have to wing it," she answered.

"I'm going to make a cheese omelet. Does that sound tempting?"

"I didn't know you could cook," Natalie told him.

"Well, I've learned to do just about anything, but cooking was never my forte. They say you have to sample things to be a really good cook. I never could do that. Do you mind my experimenting on you?"

"Not at all. It will be nice not to have to cook for myself for a change."

Nick whipped up a very decent omelet while Natalie sipped her coffee. She put some English muffins in the toaster and set the table while he worked over the cheese and eggs. Then they settled down on opposite sides of the table. He served equal portions of everything to both of them. He tried a little of everything while Natalie cleaned her plate.

"I think I like the bacon the best," he finally said. "It's nice and salty. The coffee is horribly bitter. Why is it that it smells so wonderful and tastes so awful?"

"A question everyone asks before they get addicted!" Natalie exclaimed. "Are you going to finish what you have on your plate? I'm starved!"

"No, I've had enough. And you need the nourishment. After all you are eating for two now."

"Yeah, but Jules put a limit on my weight gain. That means I'll have to be a lot more careful about what I eat. This kind of breakfast isn't going to be in the plan very often, too many calories."

Nick went over to the refrigerator and opened it. "Would you like more juice?" he asked.

"Yes, I think I would. Are you going to supplement your breakfast with your usual fare?"

"I still crave the blood, yes."

"Then you should have it. You need to stay healthy, too. You're going to have to help me raise this child."
Just then the phone rang. Nick went to answer it while Natalie finished cleaning up his plate. It was Janette. She was offering to visit for a time and furnish the blood sample Nick had requested. Nick told her to come on over, then hung up.

"That was Janette. She's on her way over." Nick told Natalie.

"So I gathered. Do you want to tell her about the baby?"

"Yes, I think her advice would be very valuable."

"So do I. Jules will be here soon also. Do you suppose she'd like to stay and hear what he has to say?" Natalie wondered aloud.

"Let's ask her." Nick replied.

They both cleared away the breakfast dishes. Natalie rinsed them, loaded them into the dishwasher, and set it to run later. Nick broke out a bottle and two wine glasses in anticipation of Janette's arrival. Natalie carried her glass of orange juice into the lab, got out Nick's last sample, and began preparing a series of slides for examination.

Janette arrived and rang the bell. Nick let her up and went to meet her at the lift door. Janette swept regally into the loft hugging Nick and kissing him gently on the cheek. "You look extremely well. Marriage agrees with you, Nicolas! Natalie, how are you?"

"I'm just fine Janette," Natalie told her from her perch on the lab stool on the other side of the loft. "I'm just preparing some recentsamples from Nick. I think it's awfully kind of you to agree to provide one yourself."
"Anything for Nicolas and you." Janette threw off her cloak, handed it to Nick to put away, and sauntered over to Natalie's lab. "What a very efficient looking place you have here," she remarked. "What do you wish me to do, Natalie?"

"Just hold out your arm. I have a syringe ready for you," Natalie told her.

Janette shivered slightly as Natalie took the sample and wiped Janette's arm with an alcohol swab when she was done. "I'm certainly glad that is over," Janette murmured. "I've never been fond of needles."

"Thank you, again, Janette," Natalie said.

"It is nothing. Do you need to do anything more with that just now, or can we visit for awhile? I have the feeling that you two have something to tell me. Nicolas feels as if he might burst very soon," Janette declared.

Nick laughed out loud. "I should have known I couldn't keep anything from you!" Natalie put Janette's sample into the fridge, tidied away the work she had been doing, and left the lab to join Nick and Janette in the living area. Janette settled herself in a comfortable armchair and graciously accepted the wine glass Nick offered her. Nick and Natalie perched on the edge of the sofa, holding hands and grinning.

"Well, are you going to keep me in suspense forever?"

"Uh, no, Janette, Natalie's pregnant," Nick told her.

"You must be mistaken," Janette asserted forcefully.

"No, we aren't," Natalie told her. "And, it is Nick's child. It happened the night after he was shot and lost his memory. His body wasn't behaving like that of a vampire. It was repairing itself. He was functioning as a human for a while."

"Mon dieu," Janette breathed. "Does LaCroix know?"

"No," Nick told her. "We wanted you to know first. We'd like your advice. How do you think he would take this news? Do you think he'd be a danger to the child?"

"This is positively earth-shattering. I've never heard of this ever happening. There have been rumors of vampire women having children by mortals, but never the other way around." Janette sat very still. They could see she was thinking over all the possible ramifications of their news. "I believe I'd be far more concerned about the reaction of the Enforcers than about LaCroix."

"Why the Enforcers, Janette?" Nick asked her.

"Natalie will need medical care. This could involve exposing our secrets to human doctors."

"We don't have to worry about that," Natalie told her.

Janette's eyes widened. "Why is that, Natalie?"

"We quite accidentally found an extremely well-qualified physician who will never reveal our secrets to anyone," Natalie told her. "Do you happen to know a Dr. Jules Devereaux?"

"No, I don't believe I've ever heard of him," Janette replied.

"He's coming over tonight to discuss things with us," Nick explained. "If you'd like to stay and hear what he has to say, we'd like you to be here. He implied that someone in the Community would not like our news and might be a danger to us. We thought he might be thinking of LaCroix."

"No, I do not believe he was referring to LaCroix. But there is a minority of vampires who believe that any contact with mortals, other than as prey, poisons our very existence as vampires. It has assumed the proportions of a cult lately. I believe it is all tied up with this nonsense that occurs around each change of the millennium. You remember some of that, don't you Nicolas?"

"Not really, Janette. I realize many strange beliefs can become fanatical motives or justifications for any number of criminal acts. The murder of those children just this past week is evidence of that."

"Janette, do you think that LaCroix might be in sympathy with this cult?" Natalie asked.

"LaCroix has always gone his own way. He's never been interested in following anyone else's lead. I'm not sure what kind of games he might indulge in for his own amusement. But he would never allow any cult to interfere in what he might consider best for his family. And you two are definitely part of what he considers his family. Before this past week, I would have warned you to be wary of LaCroix with any news of this sort. But, Natalie, you've changed, and LaCroix's current acceptance of your marriage makes me unwilling to speculate on how he will react. I would guess that he may already know something. Just as I can feel your emotions through our link, Nicolas, he must. Although, he might simply imagine it has to do with your newlywed status, as I did. Whatever his reaction, you will have to tell him eventually. It will only be a matter of time before he finds out on his own. And if I were you, I'd be sure he heard this from me first."

Nick sighed heavily. "I know that is good advice, Janette. I just wish he and I did not have such a long, painful record of deception and double-dealing."

At that moment the door buzzer sounded. Nick checked the door video. "It's Jules," he announced as he pushed the button on the remote which would allow Jules to enter the lift.

Janette turned in her chair in anticipation of this new vampire's arrival. What would this doctor be like she wondered? But she was completely unprepared for the tall, slender, darkly handsome man she saw when the lift doors opened. <He is positively gorgeous>, she thought. And he had a powerful aura about him. He was as old as Nicolas, but infinitely more at ease with himself. She sensed none of the guilty discomfort which was a palpable cloud surrounding Nicolas. This man was poised, self-assured, and kind! How odd that such a powerful man should seem so kind. She found herself rising eagerly to meet him. Then her eyes met his warm brown ones, and she was lost. His hand grasped hers in a friendly greeting, but he didn't release her immediately. Janette realized that he was staring as deeply into her eyes as she was into his.

The mutual attraction between Jules and Janette was very apparent to Nick and Natalie. They exchanged understanding glances and smiles as the two vampires took each other's measure. Nick introduced Janette to Jules, though he doubted that his words were heard by either of them. Then Nick rejoined Natalie on the couch. After a short, intense interval, Jules dropped Janette's hand, and they each found chairs and settled down comfortably.

"Jules, Janette has just been telling us about a cult she has seen forming in the Community. Was this the danger you wished to warn us of?" Nick asked.

"I'm not sure which cult Janette may have noticed, but a very dangerous sect has arisen lately. It consists of a group of vampires who are opposed to any mingling between human and vampire. They speak of a hunter who will come at the end of the millennium and change the balance between human and vampire forever."

"This is precisely the group I was telling them about. I found they were at the root of many of the spiteful disagreements that used to upset the Raven when I owned it."

"You are the Janette duCharme I heard of from several of my friends. You have helped many find refuge when they needed it, both vampire and human," Jules said admiringly.

"I had no idea I had a reputation of that sort," Janette murmured. She was flattered at Jules admiration.

"You know of Nick and Natalie's problem! You must be a friend, indeed, for them to confide in you so readily."

"Nicolas and I go back a very long way. And Natalie is like my sister."

It was Natalie's turn to be flattered. She and Janette had certainly developed a far closer relationship than Natalie had ever imagined possible.

"Jules, please tell us more about this group. Why would we, in particular, be their targets?" Nick asked.

"This hunter of whom they speak is supposed to be the result of a union between human and vampire." Nick and Natalie looked significantly at one another as Jules said this. "He will be a catalyst who will change the very nature of the world. There are two distinct prophecies connected to the legend which are mutually exclusive. And there are advocates for both prophecies. One prophecy says that the appearance of the hunter will signal the end of the dominance of the human race. Vampires will rise up and take their rightful place as the primary species on the planet. They will reduce humans to the cattle they should be. The other predicts that the chosen one will usher in a new age of understanding between the two species. That age will lead the world into an era of sweeping change from which will emerge a new, stronger race which will blend the best of vampire and human."

"You and Natalie are the only human/vampire couple I know who've managed to mate successfully. Your son could be viewed as the fulfillment of either prophecy. There will be those from both sides who will attempt to possess and control your child in order to make their prophetic vision become truth." Jules warned. "Nick, you and I know first hand what sort of excesses fanatical belief can fuel. What I haven't yet told you is that our friend, Yves, is the leader of the group which adheres to the first prophecy."

"Yves!? Yves Chambourg also became a vampire!? Do you mean to tell me that all of us who survived that crusade fell into this hellish existence!? It's too coincidental, too cruel, to be true."

"Nick, I don't for a moment believe that it was coincidental. I believe in the forces of fate. We were meant to survive to bring about the change that will save both races."

"You sound as crazy as that prophecy! Jules, you can't believe this nonsense. Natalie and I just followed our desires. We aren't revolutionaries."

"Believe me, I know that. I just feel that things work out the way they do because there is a greater force working behind the scenes to make things better for the world than anything humans or vampires have accomplished. I will not even bestow a name on that force. It's too vast for those of us on this earth to completely comprehend. But I haven't lived all these years just to succumb to despair either. There is a pattern to the universe, mon vieux. I just feel it is a positive pattern, not a destructive one."

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I find it rather ironic to be cast as the virgin mother if we follow this scenario to its logical, archetypal conclusion," Natalie remarked dryly.

Janette was the first to dissolve in disbelieving giggles. "Oh, Natalie," she gasped at length, "I knew you had a wry sense of humor! What do you think of all this?"

"Frankly, it scares me to death. If this sect finds out that Nick is the father of my son, they'll pursue us and try to ruin our lives. It means that someone will try to kidnap my child. And it really pisses me off that people won't just let us alone. Maybe we should appeal to LaCroix for help. We know his agenda. We don't know what these people might want." Nick reached out and pulled her into his arms, kissed her temple and stroked her hair comfortingly.

"LaCroix?" questioned Jules.

"Nick's master," Janette explained.

"Nick, you said you were going to take Natalie on a trip. You're leaving Monday aren't you?" Jules asked.

"Isn't it rather dangerous to think about traveling now?" Nick asked.

"No," Jules answered. "Natalie doesn't show yet, and I need you to find some information for me while you are gone."

"Then you know our destination? I haven't even told Natalie yet, how...?"

"I called your travel agent and asked. He was very happy to let the florist know where to send the congratulatory bouquet.You should have used Aristotle."

"Ah, but this trip is supposed to be a honeymoon for Nick Knight and his new bride, not a new existence for Nicolas deBrabant. Very well, what do you want us to bring back?"

"We need to acquire several items and some information from a certain museum. I've made you a list. I think these things will give us an edge on the competition. They have some vulnerabilities we can exploit." Jules handed Nick a folded piece of paper, which Nick placed in his wallet.

"Jules, what do you get from all of this?" Janette asked him.

"I need to see that Natalie's baby is born alive and well. And I need to see that the whole family is well taken care of. My purpose in life is to ensure the birth of healthy babies. Nick knows why. We shared a certain hell together a long time ago. I need to be sure that anything I can do to prevent that hell from repeating itself is done."

"He's right," Nick said. "We can't let that happen again."

"Jules," Natalie put in, "you lead the second group, don't you?" The clues had coalesced in her mind. "The one that believes in a new age of hope for humans and vampires," she continued.

"Yes."

"Thank God," Natalie breathed. Nick just stared at Jules, nodding in agreement--unable to completely assimilate this latest revelation.

"What can I do to help?" Janette asked Jules.

"I'm not sure yet, but I know Nick and Natalie are going to need all the friends they can get. You will be called on to help at some point, I'm sure."

"Excellent, then I must tell you how to contact me."

"Why don't we exchange numbers. Let's let Nick and Natalie have some time to themselves now." Jules told her as he rose and escorted her to the door of the lift. She lifted her cape from the coat rack as she passed, and he helped her on with it. Janette gave them a jaunty wave and a wide smile as the lift doors closed over the two vampires.

"Well, what about that!?" Natalie remarked. Then reached out and shook Nick when he didn't immediately respond but continued to stare at the lift door blankly. Nick emerged from his contemplation a moment later and remarked.

"I've seldom seen her take to a man that quickly and wholeheartedly," then he chuckled, "unless he was about to be devoured. It's a good thing Jules can take care of himself."

"And what about this sect business?"

"It scares me as much as it does you. I don't like a single thing about it. Fanatics have always made my skin crawl."

"What 'hell' was Jules referring to, Nick?" Nick stiffened. He didn't want to think about Marburg and his family at that instant. Now he knew first hand how terrified a father could be about the fate of his child. He didn't want to think about it. He didn't want Natalie to know to what depths he could sink, how monstrous he truly was. But he knew, eventually, she would find out what foul creature she had married.

"It was a very long time ago, Nat. Jules, Yves, and I were coming home from the crusades when we were ordered to join a group in Germany who were to wipe out a sect of heretics. The group was headed by a man called Conrad of Marburg...." Over the next hour, Nick, haltingly, told Natalie the whole sordid story and finished with, "...and then they were all dead. Marburg and his whole family. I even killed the children, Nat. Even the children." He stopped, staring at his hands as he wrung them together. Now he knew he was lost. She had not made a sound during his recitation. Her face had frozen when she heard what he had done to the children. <She'll leave me now. She can't trust me with our child.> Nick despaired. A single tear escaped him, then he broke down and sobbed.

Natalie sat and watched his shoulders as they heaved and shook, she reached to stroke his hair, but let her hand drop, as she thought about the horrendous revelations she had become privy to just in the last eight days. She had begged him to tell her about his life. He had more than told her. She had relived some of it. She was jealous of his dalliance with other women, appalled at his passionate enjoyment of vampirism, thrilled by his bite, and horrified by the depth of his guilt. She had thought she understood his reason for enduring his eternal anguish.

But this was the most brutal, fiendish, cold-blooded thing he had ever done. She understood his desire to harm Marburg, and even the woman. But to kill the children! No wonder he couldn't forgive himself. She wondered bleakly if she could. She looked at him. She had never seen him weep. They had been through a great deal together in all the time she had known him. He had reacted emotionally in every way as a human, but he had never wept. How long had it been since he had allowed himself the release of tears? Nearly eight hundred years he had lived with this serpent of guilt eating at his soul. He had spent the last one hundred in constant denial of what he was, serving a penance for his sins. He had suffered countless tortures and disappointments in his quest for redemption through mortality. He had even attempted a kind of suicide at least twice that she knew of. Could she deny him the solace of her forgiveness?

Nick had killed the children.... But he had been compassionate enough to limit their suffering. He had not brought them across. He had been less merciful with the woman, but she too had died quickly. Even immersed in the overwhelming blood lust Natalie knew he had dealt with, he had focused his revenge upon Marburg. And what had he done since to atone? She knew he personally funded numerous charities around the world in nearly
every nation which saved hundreds of thousands of lives every year. For the past one hundred years he had led a nearly exemplary life doctoring, teaching, enforcing the law. He had done every action he could imagine to aid humankind. He was truly repentant. She believed, and had told him, that he had done everything he could to atone. She had been taught since childhood that this was the road to redemption. He had asked God for forgiveness, but he had never forgiven himself this terrible crime. A crime which, in his eyes, was unforgivable. Could she deny him what he needed now, her forgiveness?

Her heart swelled within her. She closed her eyes. She reached out to him. Oh, God, she prayed, give me the strength he needs me to have. "Nick, Nick, it's all right. It's all over. That was a very long time ago, love. You can't dwell on it anymore. You have to let it go. If you don't, it will kill us both. Love, can you hear me?" Nick's sobs began to subside. She pulled him toward her until he lay across her lap. She soothed his shoulders. After a long time, he sat up. He didn't look at her. He just sat silently beside her, not touching her at all. Natalie pulled him close again. She heard him hiccough once, twice. "Shh, love. It's all over now. You'll be all right now." She stroked his hair and smoothed it back from his forehead. She lifted his chin and looked at him closely. His eyes were reddened and swollen. The reddish streaks of his earliest tears stood out on his cheeks, etched with the clear tracks of his later grief. She wiped them away with her fingers. His irises were very blue. She kissed him then. And when she did, they both knew she had forgiven him even this. God, how she loved this man!

"Natalie, you're too good for me. How could you ever care for me after what I've been, what I've done?"

"My dearest love, it's you I love, not your actions. You are the most passionately caring, complicated, difficult man I've ever met. I don't know why. I just know I do love you with all my heart. I need you, Nick. You are my husband and the father of my child. That's for life. No matter what, no exceptions."

"Natalie, I......" Natalie just pulled him close and held him. He had no more words to give her. Natalie stroked his back and rocked him gently. He relaxed against her, sniffling occasionally. The phone rang shrilly, breaking their reverie. This time Natalie arose and answered.

"Hello,...oh, yes, Captain. Nick, it's Captain Reese. It's about Tracy."

"Put it on the speaker, Nat."

"Captain, I'm putting you on the speaker phone," Natalie told him.

"Hi, Nick. Sorry to call so late, but they just found Tracy's body."

"Where was it, Cap?" Nick asked.

"Well, you'll never guess, they had shipped her over to the university lab with a bunch of cadavers that had been willed to the medical school. It seems the toe tags got switched. She was still in storage, so they could clean her up pretty well. Her father raised holy hell, but it didn't do him any good. All the proper apologies were sent, and no real harm was done. The memorial service will be tomorrow at Lowe's Funeral Home at eight p.m. The night shift will be able to attend without too much time off. The burial will be on Monday at eleven in the morning."

"Thank you for letting us know, Cap. You had a hunch they'd just misplaced her. We'll be at the memorial service, but we'll be on our honeymoon during the interment," Nick told him.

"Well, you two just enjoy your trip. I know Tracy would have been thrilled to know you'd finally gotten together. So long, Nick, Natalie." Reese hung up.

"It looks like Tracy managed to pull it off," Natalie said.

Nick heaved a heavy sigh and agreed, "Yes, it does." Natalie walked slowly back to the couch and laid her hand on Nick's shoulder.

"Nick, are you all right?"

Nick looked up at her and managed a weak smile. "Yeah, I think so. I just feel all wrung out."

"That was an awful load of grief you just got rid of," Natalie observed neutrally. "Are you sleepy?"

"No," Nick heaved another unsteady sigh. "I think I'd just like to sit here quietly for a while. Please, come sit with me?" Natalie caught up the remote control and flipped on the fireplace as she settled at his side.

"Maybe a fire would be soothing. Would you like a drink of anything?" she asked.

"No, come here," he pleaded as he stretched his arms out to her, "I just need your warmth." Natalie curled up against him and tucked her head beneath his chin in her customary pose. They cuddled there until they fell asleep.

[End Chapter 6 - Legacy of Evil: Inklings]

Chapter 7 - Legacy of Evil: Inklings

Natalie blinked herself awake. <Where the hell am I?> she thought. She looked around and discovered she was sprawling on the floor between the couch and the coffee table. Nick was tossing fitfully above her on the couch. Natalie gathered her wits, shivered, reached for the remote lying on the table, and relit the fire, which she had turned off just before drifting off to sleep earlier. Nick had been thoroughly exhausted by his bout of grief. She had never imagined he might become so restless that he would throw her off the couch, but that must be what had happened. She rose slowly and went to the linen cupboard in the downstairs bath. She removed two pillows and blankets and returned to the couch.

Nick was thrashing and moaning in his sleep. Usually he went out like a light and never moved all day long, but this time he was apparently reacting to nightmares. She hoped he would battle all his dragons in sleep and come back to her more whole for the release of his guilt over the death of Marburg's children. But knowing Nick, she wondered how much relief he would get from the normal progress of grief. He had denied it to himself for nearly eight hundred years. His reactions were likely to be similarly magnified. She sighed mightily and reached down and placed a pillow beneath his head and threw one of the blankets over him. Then she took the other pillow and settled onto it before the fire, wrapping herself in the blanket.

Suddenly she felt another presence to her left. She looked up and found LaCroix staring down at her, "What have you done to him?" LaCroix demanded.

"Whatever do you mean?" Natalie responded.

"What have you done to him? He's upset, he's miserable, he's terrified. What have you done to him?"

"I haven't done anything to him. He's just coming to terms with something he did that's at the root of his guilt. I'm sure you helped him do it. It's your fault if it's anyone's!" Natalie barked at him.

"What 'thing' is it that he grieves for," LaCroix demanded.

"Killing Marburg's children."

"Marburg's children!?....he did that?........I never knew......I always wondered. Why?" LaCroix demanded of her again.

"What?"

"Why did he do that?"

"Marburg made him an unwilling participant in the torture and death of a family. I would have thought you would have known about Marburg. Nick was a vampire when he did it, a very new one. And the method he used was pure LaCroix trademark destruction. You would have been proud!" Natalie hissed at him.

"No, not for him. He was never designed for such killing. I know that intimately. This has nearly destroyed him." LaCroix stopped for a moment and stared intently at Nick. "The guilt that used to envelop him,....it's nearly gone," he observed. "But the terror, the terror is new. I repeat, doctor, what have you done?"

"Terror? I don't know," Natalie faltered. "Why....why would he be afraid?...Oh, God, I know. It's the news Jules brought us."

"Jules!? You don't mean Dr. Jules Devereaux?" LaCroix asked roughly.

"Yes....yes, how would you know Jules?"

"I don't know him, I know of him. Why would you know him? Did he help Nicholas on the case of the murdered children? Is that what has brought this to the surface?"

"Well, no, not exactly." Natalie informed him uncomfortably.

"Then, what exactly has upset him so?"

"We had planned to tell you together," Natalie glanced over her shoulder at Nick still tossing on the couch. She gathered her courage and looked up at LaCroix. "I'm pregnant. I'm carrying Nick's child."

It was LaCroix's turn to be nonplused. He collapsed to the floor and simply stared at Natalie as if he would wring the truth from her with his eyes alone. "Vampires cannot mate with mortals. You were not changed until he attacked you. This is not possible."

"I'm afraid it is not only possible, but confirmed by every test both Dr. Devereaux and I could run," Natalie asserted. "Here's where my own conscience doesn't bear examination. It happened the night after Nick was shot in the head. You remember. You left him here for me to try my 'redemption through love' on him. You were so sure he would revert, and I would fail. And you were absolutely right. But he functioned like a mortal most of the night. He didn't know, and I didn't tell him, he was a vampire, at least not until the next morning. And you know what happened next better than I."

"Knowing him, he would be overjoyed at this news. That's what I've been feeling! That and the usual newlywed reactions. But why the terror, doctor? You have not threatened to abort this child!?" LaCroix was truly shocked.

"No, nothing like that. Jules told us earlier tonight about a sect of vampires who would like very much to kill our child if they knew it existed. And, apparently, Jules and the vampire who is hunting our child were also part of Nick's unit of crusaders assigned to Marburg's authority. All that is what has prompted his reaction," Natalie assured him. "I would never wish to lose this child. Both Jules and Janette have offered to help protect us if it becomes necessary. We hoped you would do the same."

"So that is why they're hovering out there." LaCroix looked up toward the skylight and said, "You can come down now. I'm not going to do violence to anyone, at the moment." He returned his cold blue gaze to Natalie. "Well, I suppose you are truly a part of my family now whether I approve or not. How could I deny my protection?" He paused and his face softened for just a blink, "You have brought Nicholas such joy," he mused.

Suddenly, Natalie was enveloped in a cloud of blanket, and she felt Nick settle around her on the floor. "Nat, are you all right? LaCroix, what are you doing here?"

"Just checking up on my family, Nicholas. I felt your fear. I came to discover for myself why you were in such pain. I find it is for the same reason I often suffer. Love for a child."

Nick stared at LaCroix for a moment, then relaxed his defensive pose. He hugged Natalie and kissed her cheek, "He knows then?"

"He knows."

"Nicholas, I have a small confession of my own to make to you," LaCroix said. "Marburg was an agent of mine, a talent scout of sorts. He sent me information that made me believe that you would be a good recruit. I'm very sorry for his treatment of you. Marburg deserved anything you might have done to him. I'm afraid he pushed you far beyond your limits."

"Marburg was an agent for vampire recruiters!?" Nick exclaimed unbelievingly.

"Not precisely, he was simply a source of information which I and others utilized at the time. You remember how noblemen used to find likely young men to do the work that needed to be done, but was beneath a lord's notice? Nowadays it is called the 'good old boys network.' Several of us would tap into that network to find the 'staff' we required. Your group of crusaders were recommended. I believe all of you were converted."

"Now that makes sense, a lot more sense than Jules' fatalistic convictions," Natalie commented.

"Jules' master was a great believer in the wheels of fate," LaCroix told them. He looked up at the skylight again. "I said you could come down now." Just then Nick and Natalie heard footsteps coming down the stairway from the roof. Jules and Janette entered the loft a bit sheepishly.

"We were concerned about your reaction to Nicolas' news," Janette said to LaCroix.

"You should have known I would always protect our family," LaCroix said mildly.

"Yes," Janette demurred.

LaCroix rose to his feet and offered his hand to Jules, "Jules deVilliers, I assume. I have heard of you. Your little troupe of crusaders were some of the best men of your time. Your master and I had a nodding acquaintance. I was sorry to hear of his demise. He had unusual beliefs, but he was a very talented man."

"Yes, he was. I've only heard of you recently, LaCroix. You are an unusual person, yourself, an independent thinker," Jules rejoined, "and one of the oldest vampires I have met. I should like to interview you someday for my own, personal edification."

"Thank you, Jules, I shall look forward to that. I see you have already captivated Janette."

"LaCroix, really!" Janette exclaimed.

"My purpose here has been served," LaCroix stated. "Nicholas, if you need me, you know you can call me at any time. Good night, Natalie, take good care of Nicholas." LaCroix disappeared with a swish.

"Well, I'm certainly glad he's on our side," Natalie said from her seat on the floor.

"I knew he would be," Janette stated. "He's certainly mellowed toward you, Natalie."

"He said I've made Nick happy."

"You have," Nick told her. "In fact you've made me ecstatic." He hugged her tightly and began nuzzling her neck.

"I think we've overstayed our welcome, Janette," Jules said as he offered his arm to lead her to the roof. Janette gazed fondly at Nick and Natalie, then took Jules' arm and left with him.

"I thought they'd never leave," Nick murmured in Natalie's ear. Then he drew off the blanket he'd wrapped around them both and proceeded to unwind the second one Natalie had wound about herself.

"Is that vampire libido stirring again?" Natalie managed before Nick smothered her mouth in an all devouring kiss. He broke the embrace briefly to divest her of her clothing. She did the same for him. He suckled the tip of each breast then he grasped her buttocks and pulled her hips into his. She wrapped her legs around his waist. Their lips met again in another passionate kiss. He reached between them and probed her gently, to be sure she was ready for him. She reached for his shaft and helped him glide within her. His lips trailed gentle nibbles down her neck to her chest while his fingers traced their way up across her belly to cup her breasts. He found a vein close to the surface and began to nurse at one breast while his fingers caressed and teased the tip of the other.
She gasped as she felt his fangs enter her vein. She arched her back and pressed her breasts towards his face as she felt her muscles tighten against him deep inside herself. Images of a small boy carrying a basket full of bundled, dried herbs, bottles, and jars following a tall, slender woman on a bright, sunny morning in the country began to form across the insides of her eyelids. She realized she was watching Nick and his mother as they tended to the ills of the people on their manor. From the contents of the basket it appeared that his mother had had a great deal of knowledge about medicinal plants. A feeling of peace and loving warmth filled her as he continued to drink slowly, and new images from his childhood and youth formed and reformed. Then he removed his fangs, closed the wound with his tongue, and continued to caress her breasts with his lips and hands.

He gently eased her back onto the pile of discarded blankets and clothing and pressed himself more deeply inside her. They began a rhythm of thrust and counterthrust that satisfied them both. Later they lay together before the fire basking in its warmth and the afterglow of their lovemaking.

"Where are we going on our honeymoon?" Natalie asked. "Everyone seems to know but me?"

"I suppose I should tell you. After all, you'll need to pack the proper clothing. We're going to Europe. It will still be a bit chilly, and wet. But tourist season isn't for a few months yet, and we'll be able to see things we couldn't when the crowds are there."

"What part of Europe, Nick?"

"Jules wants us to stop at the British Museum, so I picked up some theater tickets for us in London. I know you haven't seen your old pathology professor in a long time, and I thought you might like to visit."

"You mean Edinburgh? Oh, Nick, I've always wanted to tour the university and the castle."

"And the Edinburgh Science Festival is going on this month. There are several excellent lectures, demonstrations, and tours I thought you might like to take in. I'd also like to show you where I grew up. So we'll go on to Brussels."

"Oh, Nick, this sounds like fun," Natalie breathed, "now I'm getting excited. I knew you'd choose somewhere wonderful. When we see the place you just shared with me," he nodded, "I want to look for plants like those your mother used. Thank you, Nick."

He held her close and caressed her face. "You are very welcome, my dear wife."

"It's getting close to dawn," Natalie told him. "Shouldn't we close the shutters?"

"Soon, love, soon," Nick kissed her again, then buried his face and hands in her hair, nuzzled her neck, and finished his last caress with a huge bear hug. He leapt up and pulled Natalie to her feet. "Last one to the shower is a rotten egg!" Nick shouted as he dashed up the stairs. Natalie followed more slowly, activating the shutters with the remote before joining him.

Suddenly she had the most vivid sense of being watched. It was a cold, hard, regard that held her transfixed at the top of the stairs. She turned slowly, expecting to see an enraged LaCroix hovering in the air before her. But there was nothing and no one to be seen. Her glance traveled to the loft floor where their little nest still lay before the fireplace. She shuddered and placed her hand on her abdomen. Whoever had been watching them had a very great hatred for them, and, most especially, for the child that lay within her. She was very frightened. Nick suddenly appeared beside her and took her in his arms. "What's wrong, Natalie? I felt your fear just as I stepped into the shower."

"I don't know, Nick. I just felt as if someone were spying on us, someone who hates us." She shivered in his arms.

"Yes, I've felt it too. Someone's been out there watching us all week."

Natalie looked up at him askance. "Why didn't you say something?"

"I didn't want to worry you, and I wasn't sure it wasn't I.A."

"Is it? It can't be, can it? It's too....." she searched for an appropriate word, "....malignant."

"You're right. I'm surprised you feel it so deeply. It's not the kind of thing a mortal would feel."

"You forget, love. I've changed."

Nick drew back a bit and examined her face intently, searching it for signs of any difference from the Natalie he knew. "You haven't changed in any way that is important to me. You're still my Natalie."

She pulled him close again and kissed the part of his chest that was closest to her face. "I know you love me, silly. I meant physically. I have changed. I'm starting to see....hear.....sense," she struggled to explain, "things I don't entirely understand. What is it, Nick?" He started to answer her, but she stopped him. "No, I don't think either of us knows, really. I need to get to work and find out what might make us different from other humans and other vampires. We are different, you know."

"So you say from your observations of our blood. But, Natalie, do you think your physical evidence will explain everything that's happened to us?"

"No, no I don't. But I can only deal with the physical changes. I'm not professionally qualified to diagnose the emotional, let alone spiritual, makeup of people."

"Nor I, but right now I think we need to get cleaned up. You have more work to do. We have Tracy's memorial service to attend, and a lot of planning and packing to do." He led her off to the shower.

[End Chapter 7 - Legacy of Evil: Inklings]

Chapter 8 - Legacy of Evil: Inklings

Several hours later Natalie was packing up the slides she had been working on for most of the day. She was wondering what she should do with the remainder of the samples she had collected. If they were going to be in Europe for two weeks, and someone hostile had them under surveillance, she was concerned that those samples and the research she had already completed might fall into the wrong hands.

"Nick," she called up to him.

"What's up, doc?" he called down to her from the balcony. He had just emerged from the bedroom where he had been packing for their trip.

Natalie grinned up at him and asked, "Just what kind of security do you have around here? Do I dare leave any of this research or these slides and samples around while we're gone? Or do we have to schlep it all over Europe? I used to trust my safe deposit box or the lock up at the lab, but now I'm not so sure."

"I have some special arrangements you should probably know about, but, maybe you should destroy any samples you don't need."

"I was afraid you'd say that. Oh, well, it probably won't do to keep old samples anyway. Our mutation is still active, and I'm not sure when it will attain stasis."

"What!?" Nick jumped over the railing and landed beside her with a thump.  "What do you mean our mutation is still active?"

Natalie started at his action, but recovered quickly. <Someday maybe I'll get used to that!> she thought and then said.  "Well, I have some good news and some bad news as they say. Maybe we'd better sit down and let me bring you up to date."

"I think you'd better!"

"I've just been examining those latest samples I took from us, the cheek scrapings I told you I needed for a cross-check. I was preparing them to examine with the university's equipment. When I put yours under the microscope to find the best cells, I noticed that they were dividing rapidly and the internal structure was altering slightly with each division. I was concerned at first that you had an infection, but it didn't look the same. There were no intrusions in the cells, just rapid growth, multiplication, and a slight difference in one part of the cell. I found the same kinds of changes in the sample I took from myself."

"I went back over all the records I've kept on you since we started the research to bring you back across. Most of the things we've tried were unsuccessful. The Lytoveuterine B was the most drastic change we managed to elicit. You knew that. I told you then that your vampire retrovirus had mutated to overcome the effect of the hormone."

"Yes, I remember, vividly. But Nat, that's been over a year and a half ago."

"I know, but there is an enzyme present in your samples since Divia attacked you. It's present in Tracy and Vachon's samples also. It is most probably from Divia, possibly her saliva. It hasn't caused any changes to Tracy or Vachon, but they were never exposed to the Lytoveuterine. Janette's RNA bundle resembles yours after you were exposed to the Lytoveuterine B. You brought her across after you took it. She appears to be a fully functioning vampire. She was never exposed to the enzyme. She might change if she were exposed to the enzyme. We don't know." Natalie paused to organize her thoughts.

Nick broke in and asked, "Nat, what about your samples?" Natalie waved him quiet and continued her explanation.

"Apparently because of the presence of the Lytoveuterine induced changes in your RNA, and the presence of the enzyme in your system, you're mutating. The enzyme has reactivated the mutation process the Lytoveuterine started which affected the vampire retrovirus." Natalie stopped to assess his reaction, but she couldn't read his expression. "We know I've changed significantly. I have that new sensitivity. I'm the only other person who's been exposed to both the Lytoveuterine and the enzyme, although my exposure has been secondhand, strictly through you. My cells are showing the same rate of change yours do, but the change in the internal cell structure is slightly different. I've been exposed to the retrovirus and the enzyme because of our intimacy, but I wasn't, nor am I now, a fully functioning vampire. That could account for the difference."

Natalie took a big breath and rushed on to finish her theory.

"Using Jules' samples, I rechecked the baby. It doesn't look like he's being affected. He's growing at the proper rate. That could be because he's protected by the placenta and the amniotic sack from most shocks to my system. That means he hasn't been affected by the enzyme, or the effects have not yet reached him. We did conceive him after you'd been exposed to the Lytoveuterine, so it's possible he could be vulnerable to the enzyme, if he were exposed to it. We won't know until we can do an amniocentesis, or maybe not until he's born."

Nick just sat and stared at her. Several minutes passed. She could see him trying to accommodate himself to the news.

"Nick, say something. You worry me when you're too quiet."

"I really don't know what to say. What you've just told me seems to make sense biochemically. What does it mean?"

"I really don't have any idea. I don't know how this will affect us. You're still functioning as a vampire. I'm still mostly human. I don't think it would be smart to introduce any more variables while this reaction is still progressing. I think the smartest thing is just to go on as we have been. Business as usual."

"Nat, you asked me what to do with all this data. I think we need a second opinion. How about submitting everything to Jules. Let's see if he agrees with your diagnosis. He might have a different point of view. He might simply confirm your findings."

"That's an excellent idea, Nick! Let's call him now."

Nick went to the phone and called Jules' office. The nurse answered, but put Jules on immediately when Nick told her Natalie was experiencing some difficulties.

"Jules, no, Nat's really all right, but we need to see you right away. We think we may have some major problems about what we discussed last night. Can you make it over here tonight about 7:00? That's great! Yes, Janette's welcome, too." Nick hung up chuckling. "You heard? They have an engagement this evening."

"That's great!" Natalie exclaimed. "I'm glad they've found each other. They deserve the same kind of happiness we've found."

Nick grabbed her and hugged her. "Now I need to show you just what kind of security we do have here." He took her upstairs to the bedroom where he pressed a spot on the wall over the head of the bed. The bed slid away from the wall when a recess opened, and Nick ushered her through a door-shaped opening.

"This is really hidden," she commented. "I'd never have known this was here."

"Good, I've never shown anyone else this room," Nick told her as they entered the room on the other side of the opening. The recess merged back into the wall, and the bed returned to its usual resting place. Lights came on automatically in the small room they had entered after the panel closed, revealing a spacious storage area. A large safe rested against one wall. Shelving, counters, and cupboards covered the rest of the available wall space. Two comfortable chairs and a small table occupied the floor.

"This is where I keep things I don't want anyone to find. We're surrounded completely by other rooms. This one lies at the very center of this building. It also has a roof escape hatch," he indicated a slight depression in the ceiling. "We could stay in here to avoid detection for a time. It's fireproof and soundproofed. There are rudimentary sanitary facilities, some dehydrated food and water," he indicated a sink and toilet beneath some cupboards against one wall. Natalie noticed a small refrigerator and microwave were built in beneath some other cabinets. "It wouldn't be comfortable. It's for emergencies only. It's a lot like the old priest holes some people used to have in castles."

"Or a bomb shelter, but it's a lot more elaborate than either," Natalie noted.

"We could and should store all your research files and samples in here when we leave. It's the only place I know that I trust to remain hidden. What do you think?" Nick asked her.

"I think you're absolutely right. This is the only kind of place I'd trust, too."

"Then let's get copies made of all your research to give to Jules. Do you trust him with it?"

"Yes, I think I do. The only other person I'd trust as much would be LaCroix, at this point. And I never thought I'd say that about him," Natalie said.

Nick nodded. "I know precisely what you mean. It's strange the way things work out."

"Weird is more like it. How do you get out of here?"

Nick walked over to the wall where they had entered and pressed in the center. "It's sensitive to my fingerprints. I'll have to recalibrate it to your prints as well." The recess reappeared and the way was clear for them to reenter the bedroom. The light flicked off behind them. They stepped to the side of the bed, and it moved back into place as the recess disappeared silently.

"Very impressive, Mr. Knight."

"Thank you, Mrs. Knight. I knew this thing would come in handy someday."

They returned downstairs and began making copies of Nat's work both for storage, and for Jules. Just as they finished, and Nick had stored one set of copies, the originals, and the remaining samples upstairs, the door buzzer sounded. Nick checked the door video. It was Jules and Janette. Nick tapped in the door code and let them into the lift.

When the lift door opened, Nick greeted them cordially and offered them refreshment, which they declined. They settled into the chairs they had occupied the night before while Nick and Nat sat side by side on the couch.

"We weren't entirely forthcoming when we visited you at your office," Natalie told Jules. "I think Janette knows what Nick and I have been experimenting with, and she may have already told you. But I don't think anyone but Nick and I suspect the full consequences of our actions."

"What is it you haven't told me, Natalie?" Jules asked. "Janette hasn't told me anything about an experiment."

"We've been working on a way to bring Nick back across."

"Oh, that. That's a fantasy that's well known in the Community. Everyone knows about Nick's little eccentricity. No one believes it's possible." Jules asserted.

"Well, it may not be, but we tried something pretty drastic last year. We had complete success for part of a day, but he relapsed." Natalie told Jules.

"That's unbelievable, Natalie. How could you get that kind of result?" Jules demanded.

"I gave him Lytoveuterine B. It's a genetically engineered hormone used to stimulate beef production."

"I know what it is, but how could it have any effect?"

"I'm not entirely sure of the mechanism, but it blocked the effect of ultraviolet on his system and forced the vampire retrovirus into retreat. However, the retrovirus, which I suspect causes vampirism, mutated and reasserted its hold on his system. He reverted. The hormone became less effective with each application. He experienced rapid and violent mood changes and reacted to the hormone like an addict to a drug. He nearly died."

"Natalie, how could you expose him to such danger? I thought you were a more responsible doctor than that!" Jules exclaimed.

"She is, Jules. I kept pushing her for results. I can be very persuasive and impulsive at times." Nick told him.

"So I remember. But you seem quite normal now, Nick. What has you concerned?"

"Divia." Natalie said. "I've found she wasn't infected by a bacteria or a virus. I wasn't able to culture either from the blood samples I've tested. But she did pass on an unusual enzyme, possibly in her saliva. I've found traces in everyone she attacked who has given me a blood sample. The only two people who've been exposed to both the Lytoveuterine and Divia's enzyme are Nick and myself. I've found evidence of a continuing mutation in both of us. I'd like you to examine my work and tell me if what I think I've found is valid."

"Amazing! Natalie, I'd be thrilled to examine your work. This is completely unprecedented. What a fascinating puzzle!"

"I hoped you'd feel that way. I've made copies of all my files for you and I'm entrusting you with the slides I prepared from the samples I collected. You may wish to collect your own samples and prepare your own slides as a cross check for mine." Natalie told him.

"That's an excellent idea, Natalie. Let's get samples from all of us. You haven't tested me, and I haven't been exposed to either the Lytoveuterine or the enzyme. Janette told me you had gotten a sample from her as a control for Divia's 'virus,' but she tells me Nick just brought her across recently. I assume that was after he took the Lytoveuterine. So she's not quite as unaffected as you might have originally thought."

"Yes, I just realized that when I went through all my slides, samples, and cultures today, and there was no virus or bacteria present in my culture dishes. That was when I began to suspect an enzymatic catalyst might be present. And I found it."

"Then let's get those new samples. I'll use my own lab to do the work, so we can double check that it isn't something that might have contaminated your workspace or samples. I'll get my bag."

Jules left to retrieve his bag from his car. "Well, now I get to see the doctor at work." Janette said. "It's a side of him I haven't seen yet. He's quite a fascinating man, you know."

"So I see," Natalie said. "I'm glad you two are getting along so well."

"Umm," purred Janette, "so am I." Just then Jules buzzed and Nick keyed him into the lift again. As soon as the lift opened, Jules busied himself with collecting blood samples, enlisting Nat's help to collect his own.

"Well, I imagine that you two will be leaving on your honeymoon soon," Jules said.

"Yes," Nick told him, "but we're going to Tracy Vetter's memorial service this evening. We leave for Europe on Monday. Would you keep an eye on the loft while we're gone? We've noticed someone is maintaining a surveillance on this place. We've secured anything we feel is sensitive, but we'd appreciate the added security. You're welcome to use it at anytime. A house sitter would be the best kind of protection."

"I will take you up on that," Janette said. "I'm not in a hurry to return home just at the moment."

Nick and Natalie grinned at her comment.

"Well, Janette, let's be going," Jules had finished stowing his samples in his bag and was holding her cloak for her.
Janette kissed both Nick and Natalie goodbye and hurried into the lift after Jules.

"Well, I think we and the loft will be in good hands, now," Natalie said.

"Indeed," Nick agreed. "Now, isn't it time we went to Tracy's memorial service?" He held Natalie's coat for her and escorted her to the caddie for the drive to the funeral home.

Lowe's Funeral Home had provided a small chapel for the memorial service. It was tastefully decorated with modest sprays of flowers. Tracy's coffin was placed at the front of the chapel. The casket was closed and decorated with its own spray of chrysanthemums, lilies, and gladiolas.

"Well, at least Tracy doesn't have to play the corpse for the open casket," Nick murmured in Natalie's ear.

"Oh, God, I never thought of that. I sure hope Vachon was able to help her through all the times she did have to play it."

"I'm sure he did. There's the commissioner and Mrs. Vetter. Let's go tender our condolences."

"All right, but I'm still a bit annoyed with him for trying to pin her death on you," Natalie whispered to Nick.
Commissioner Vetter, looking aggrieved but unbowed, was helping his distraught wife to the front pew. As soon as they settled down, Nick and Natalie approached. Nick held out his hand to Vetter and said, "I'm very sorry about Tracy's death, sir, Mrs. Vetter," he glanced at Tracy's mother. "She was a fine officer and a good partner. I'm going to miss her."

Vetter took Nick's hand and shook it briefly. "Thank you, Detective Knight."

Tracy's mother looked up at him, "Thank you, Nick. Tracy told me how you watched out for her and how much you taught her. She really admired you."

"Thank you, Mrs. Vetter. That means a great deal to me," Nick replied.  "I don't know if you know my wife, Natalie?" Nick brought Natalie forward. "She knew Tracy, too, and would like to extend her condolences."

"I know Dr. Lambert," the commissioner said. "I hear congratulations are in order for you two. They're newlyweds," He told his wife.

"Oh, I'm so happy for you," Mrs. Vetter told them. "You get him to quit that dangerous job and you'll be a lot happier."

"I'm so sorry about Tracy's death. Something very similar happened to my brother a few years ago. It's so hard to lose someone you love," Natalie told them.

"I remember, Richard Lambert, wasn't it?" the commissioner remarked. "Yes, the incidents were similar. I'm going to make sure there are new procedures for handling prisoners to try to prevent these kinds of things from happening."

"That would be a very good thing, commissioner," Natalie told him. "It looks like they want to start the service now. We'll go take our seats."

The memorial proceeded quietly. It was a dignified observance, a simple remembrance ceremony with respectful eulogies. Mrs. Vetter broke down and sobbed several times, and, finally, Commissioner Vetter led her from the room just before the benediction.

Nick and Natalie left with the other mourners. When they got to Nick's car, which he had parked about a block away, they found Vachon and Tracy waiting for them. "How are they taking it?" Tracy asked immediately.

"Your dad's holding up just fine," Nick told her. "But your mom isn't doing as well."

"I kind of expected that. What can I do?"

Natalie reached out to Tracy and gave her a big hug. "There isn't anything you can do. Just go with Vachon and have a good life. Your parents would have lost you to him in any case. This is just a little sooner and a little more abrupt. Everything will work out for the best."

"Thanks, Natalie." Tracy gave her a big smile. "I guess we'd better go on home. It was kind of weird standing in for my own corpse for a while."

"They just bolted the coffin shut this evening. She's been playing corpse too long in my opinion! Thanks for everything." Vachon shook Nick's hand and smiled at Natalie, then Tracy and Vachon leapt into the sky.

"Well, Mrs. Knight, duty done. We're all dressed up, and we have some free time. What now?"

"So far on this honeymoon of ours we've done some usual newlywed things," she blushed, "but we haven't been out anywhere fun. Could we go get a late dinner and maybe go dancing?"

"Of course." Nick took her to a small, elegant bistro for a late night snack. It had a tiny dance floor and a quiet band. They danced together between courses. Nick tasted each item from his plate and enjoyed watching Natalie thoroughly demolish her dinner. He discovered he still liked fried potatoes and polished off an entire serving.
After dinner they walked out to the caddie with their arms around each other. Nick stopped at the passenger side door and kissed her before he let her in the car. Then he went around to the driver's side and slid into his seat. As soon as he was seated, they both stiffened and looked at each other.

"They've found us," Nick told her. He scanned the parking lot to see if he could tell where the spy was situated, but couldn't locate anyone.

"Yes, but this is the first time I've felt it tonight," Natalie said as she too checked for the observer.

"Good, then maybe they've been looking for us all evening. Let's just go home and get ready for our trip. If I can get tickets, maybe we could leave a day or so early. It might make it harder to track us. I'd like our honeymoon to be just for us."

"Me too," Natalie turned to him, and he pulled her into his arms and kissed her again. They both needed reassurance.

When they arrived at the garage under the loft, Natalie suddenly exclaimed, "Nick, I feel someone in the loft! It doesn't feel threatening, though. And....and I can feel you, too!"

"It's Janette," Nick told her. "You can feel that, Natalie!?"

"It feels like someone I trust. But you...., you feel....," Natalie groped for the words, "warm, secure, loving, like home." She reached for him and he came into her arms gladly.

"Absolutely no one has ever said that about me, Natalie," Nick was deeply touched. He held her close and relished her warmth, her scent, then, suddenly, he felt as though he were being cloaked in the warmth of her love with an immutable and impenetrable shield which would never allow hurt nor harm to come to him. He had never felt so cared for nor so secure in his life. "Is this what you are feeling now?" he asked Natalie.

"Yes, I think so," she answered. They reveled in their shared love for an untold number of moments.

"This is beyond anything I've ever experienced before," Nick murmured in awe.

"It's kind of spooky isn't it?" Natalie asked. Nick just kissed her in answer. And their new connection opened a depth of emotional sharing neither had ever expected to experience. They parted after a few moments, overwhelmed at the intensity. "We really need to take this slowly," Natalie whispered. Nick just nodded. Then he offered her his hand and helped her out of the car on the driver's side. And they went upstairs to meet Janette.

"Well, hello, I had thought you two would be home when I got here," Janette greeted them from her favorite chair, wine glass in hand. "What have you been doing? You're positively glowing!"

"We just went for a late snack and a little dancing," Natalie told her breathlessly.

"Someone's still watching us. I think I'm going to see if I can get our departure time moved up." Nick said as he moved toward the phone.

"Are you settled in?" Natalie asked Janette as she sank onto the couch.

"Not quite yet," Janette told her. "Jules will be bringing over some more of my things soon. He was kind enough to help me do some moving. You don't mind if I sleep on the couch do you, Natalie?"

"Of course not, Janette. When we leave, you're welcome to the bedroom. I've been thinking that maybe Nick and I might want more room when we come home from our trip. I was going to ask him if he wanted to look for another place or if he'd rather remodel this building. He was talking about building a full laboratory facility. If you'd like to stay after we get home, you're more than welcome."

"I thought you might be considering a move," Janette commented. "Thank you for your invitation. I will think about it."

Nick returned from the phone with a smile on his face. "There's been a cancellation, Nat. Would you like to leave tomorrow? I also got our lodging reservations in London changed."

"Terrific, Nick. You've got us all packed. It will be nice to get away for a while." Natalie suddenly stopped and reached for Nick as he sat beside her.

"Jules is here," Janette commented as she turned toward the stairway.

"I can feel him, too," Natalie told Nick as she gripped his hands.

"Just relax, Natalie. You're all right," Nick reassured her. But he was less than sure of that himself.

"I can tell you're just as worried as I am, Nick. You can't hide your fears from me any longer." Natalie told him.

Just then Jules appeared in the doorway to the roof with two suitcases in his hands. "Natalie, did you just say you could 'feel' me?" he asked her as he crossed to Janette and placed the bags at her feet. He settled in the chair next to Janette.

"Yes."

"She started having some enhanced experiences earlier this week, but not this strongly. This just started tonight," Nick told Jules.

"I'm not surprised. Pregnancy induces a great many changes in a woman's system. Some women experience heightened sensory acuity, and others report extra-sensory abilities. You are mated to a vampire. We have enhanced senses. There is a sharing of experience between vampires who share blood as well as vampires and their prey. The bond you and Nick are forging is unique. It probably combines aspects of both relationships. If he has continued to feed from you, which I would expect him to do, then you would begin to experience many of his reactions and feelings. And you are no longer entirely mortal. You may be developing other abilities of your own."

"Does that mean I'm becoming a vampire?" Natalie asked.

"I won't know that until I've analyzed the samples I took. I'd tend to doubt it, unless you drank vampire blood. That's the only sure way I know to make a person a vampire."

"It's intense, overwhelming."

"Just ride with the feelings. You'll get used to the sensory overload. It will become second nature to you soon," Jules assured her. "Just consider it a benefit of pregnancy."

"All right," Natalie said slowly. Then she mused, "I hope it doesn't go away after the baby comes. I kind of like knowing who my friends are." She gave them all a radiant smile! "Nick says he's feeling some new things, too."

"Nick? What are you experiencing?" Jules asked.

"It's a bond with Natalie, like the bond between vampires from the same line, but very much more intimate. It's not like reading someone's mind, but it's a very deep, emotional sharing. She's right, it is overwhelming."

"Sounds like you two will have a perfectly lovely honeymoon," Janette purred. "Just try to remember there are other people in the world! Don't get completely lost in each other."

"Nick, Natalie, would you keep a journal of your new experiences?" Jules asked. "Your reactions to the changes which are going on inside your bodies might help us understand how the mutation processes are affecting you."

"That's a good idea, Jules," Natalie told him. "I think, I will." Natalie suddenly grimaced as if in pain, "Oh, God, Nick, I think they're changing shifts. There's that horrible feeling of hatred again."

"You're right, Nat," Nick agreed quietly as he reached toward her and began to rub her shoulders to ease the knots that were forming as she tensed under the emotional attack.

"I did some scouting before coming in," Jules told them. "They've set up an observation post on the third floor of the building facing this one across the street. I only saw two men. One was a vampire. They looked like detectives on stake out. It's getting close to dawn. The vampire must be going off shift." Nick looked a question at Jules. "It was Janette's idea that we keep a watch for you while you were out. We thought it was best to know where the opposition was, even if we don't know what they're doing."

"Were you still in the neighborhood when we left for the memorial service? Did you see anyone follow us?" Nick asked Jules.

"No, we didn't notice anyone then. We've only found the one observation post so far," Jules replied.

"If they follow normal procedure for observing suspects, depending on how many people they have, they could have other teams stationed down the block in unmarked cars in any direction. We can assume we'll be followed to the airport. While maintaining surveillance on this place, they might attempt to search it. We don't have anything to hide, but I hate the thought that we're being watched wherever we go. And with vampires on the night shift they'll be more efficient at keeping track of us. Damn."

"Nick, what about going out to the airport early in the trunk of the caddy?" Natalie asked. "Janette and Jules could pick up the car later. Maybe our watchers might even mistake them for us."

"Nat, you might be onto something. How close is it to sunrise? Would we have time to pull a fast shuffle this morning?" Nick thought out loud.

"Not in the car. We only have half an hour till the sun comes up," Jules told him. "I could check to be sure the vampire's gone, and you could fly Natalie to the airport. You'd have to find a place to spend the day. One or both of us could fly the bags out. We'll stay here through the weekend and drive the caddy out to the airport as if we were leaving on your originally scheduled flight. I don't think the vampire would be able to tell which of us is still here. Most of us aren't that gifted unless we're in the same line," Jules said.

"That's a good idea. Nat, what do you think? Are you up for a little adventure?" Nick asked.

"Anything is better than being pinned here and followed everywhere. Yeah, it sounds like fun! We're already packed. Let's do it."

Jules went up the stairs to the roof and returned after a few minutes. "The vampire and the human I saw earlier are both gone. A new human team has taken over."

"All right then, Nat, are you ready?"

"I can't wait!"

"We'll bring the bags, Nick." Janette told him.

"They're in the bedroom. Do we have our tickets, traveler's checks, and passports, Nat?"

"In my purse, I picked them up from the desk while Jules was checking on the competition."

Nick and Natalie mounted the stairs to the roof. He picked her up in his arms, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. Then he leapt into the sky and flew them to the airport. The sky was just beginning to lighten slightly when they landed in the parking lot. Just behind them came Jules and Janette with their two suitcases and overnight bags. Natalie hugged Jules and Janette gratefully. "Thank you both for everything. You're real friends." Nick added his thanks and hugged Janette and shook hands with Jules.

"You'd better get back to the loft. We'll be fine now," Nick told them. The two vampires disappeared into the sky as Nick and Natalie carried their bags into the terminal from the parking lot. Thanks to Nick's membership in the British Airways Executive Club a small room was available to them at the airport, and they settled in for the day, leaving a wake up call for five o'clock the next evening.

"I'm not sleepy yet, Nick. I still feel wide awake," Natalie told him as she perched on one side of the bed in their tiny room.

"Good, then I suggest that we work on this new sense we both seem to be developing. If you're feeling what I am, then all those people out there in the terminal are a major distraction. We need to learn to dampen all that emotional fallout. We need to focus this ability. When I first became a vampire, LaCroix trained me to use the enhanced senses we have. I think we need to try to do the same kind of thing."

"That sounds smart. How should we start?"

"Well, first let's see if we can turn down the volume on this thing. It's starting to shout in my ears, so to speak."

"Absolutely! How do we do that?"

"This seems to be allied to the sense that allows us to detect the presence of another vampire. You just learned what that was like today, too. I remember it being very confusing and frustrating at first to try to refine that. LaCroix dumped me in the middle of the catacombs under Paris and went off. My job was to try to find him. At first I just panicked, and that didn't help at all. It's a good idea to try to clear your mind, find a calm place inside, and then reach out from there."

"So, I need to be calm and try to center myself, like in martial arts or yoga."

"Yeah, something like that."

"Okay." Natalie closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. She repeated this several times. She began to visibly relax. Soon she opened her eyes and looked at Nick brightly. "What now, coach?"

"Now, close your eyes again. Just concentrate on me. Try to feel where I am without using any of your ordinary senses. I'm going to move around the room. See if you can track me." Nick rose silently from the bed.

"This is going to be easy in such a small room, Nick. I can smell your aftershave."

"Don't use your nose. Try to focus on my feelings about you.

Follow me with your face. Don't open your eyes."

Natalie did as she was told. She tracked him unerringly, even when he rose silently in the air and hovered over the bed.

"Now, relax a moment. When you were following me, did you notice any distractions from the people outside this room?"

"No, I didn't, and," Natalie told him triumphantly, "I knew where you were all the time."

"Okay, now, see how many people you can feel just outside this door. Can you give me a count?"

Natalie closed her eyes and concentrated, "About ten, some of them are moving fast. New ones keep going past. Two seem to be waiting."

"How did you do that, Natalie?"

"I just felt for different bundles of feelings. Each person seems to have their own signature. And, Nick, vampires are stronger, more vivid, than humans. All those people out there are human. You're the only vampire I feel."

"Okay, so now we know what we need to focus on to identify individuals."

"Yes," Natalie said slowly. "And if I only concentrate on you, I can block the others. I think if I practiced, I could block them or select just one to find. I also know, when I locate them, if they know I'm present and how they feel about me. I just realized that from remembering what I felt in the loft with Jules and Janette. Can we go out for a quick stroll through the airport? We need to keep to the shaded areas, but I'd like to confirm some things I feel with my regular senses. It seems that they should all work together when they can."

"You're absolutely right, Nat. It's best to coordinate all your senses. Just remember to try to narrow your field of focus when it gets too overwhelming."

" Nick, I'm visualizing a control panel and assigning a function to each button, then I can modify what I sense. I think that might help to start."

"Anything that helps you, Nat."

Natalie picked up her purse, put her arm through Nick's and said, "Let's go experiment."

They walked through the airline terminal watching the people. The traffic inside began to pick up as the morning advanced. Natalie and Nick bought a newspaper and some books to read on the plane. Then they stopped at a snack bar and got something to drink. As they sat at their table, they exchanged observations about the passersby. They began to relax and enjoy the fact that they could tell how each traveler or employee felt about their trip or their duties. Finally Natalie began to yawn, and Nick suggested they go back to their room and sleep until time for their flight.

They returned to their room and settled into the bed for the day. Suddenly Natalie turned to Nick, "Nick what are you going to do for food? We left in such a hurry, how will you get enough nourishment?"

Nick chuckled, "Don't worry, I have some in the bags, and I have contacts over there who can get me supplies. Of course, I could just resort to making love to you!"

"That would be more fun." Natalie snuggled up to him, and then yawned again.

"I think we need our sleep just now, though," Nick told her. "We won't get much sleep on the plane. And it's a long flight." They settled down curled tightly together. They slept soundly and awoke just before the phone rang for their wake up call. They arose, showered, dressed, and Nick consumed the contents of a thermos he had stashed in his suitcase. Natalie enjoyed the coffee she made in the small pot in their room. They reported to the British Airlines counter for their flight and checked their suitcases.

Then they browsed the airport shops and watched people until it was time to go to the gate for their flight. They boarded the plane and settled into their seats feeling relaxed. Natalie was pleasantly surprised to find that he had booked them into first class. They could spend the entire trip just focusing on each other. Neither felt the malign influence which had haunted their nights for the past week. It was sheer pleasure just to allow the airline's personnel to pamper them.

The flight was uneventful, if long, and Natalie thoroughly enjoyed the meals and the wine the airline served. Nick sampled everything he was served. He enjoyed the rare steak. He also slipped another thermos of his own nourishment from his overnight bag. His wine was just a bit darker and thicker than the cabernet sauvignon Natalie was enjoying with her steak.

They ignored the movie and involved themselves in their books. Holding hands except to turn pages, they interrupted their reading occasionally, to share a kiss or caress. The flight crew checked on them from time to time and observed to each other that the very nice newlywed couple in 5 A and B certainly seemed to be well mated.

[End Chapter 8]

End of Legacy of Evil: Inklings
by Rebecca Chessman -to be continued in Legacy of Evil: Revelations.