Her eyes widened. "Now?"
"Aye."
She took a sudden interest in her pie. "I-I'm not ready to discuss . . . anything."
Meaning she wasn't ready to talk about their relationship. " 'Tis about work."
"Oh." She looked relieved. "Then it doesn't need to be private."
"Aye, it does." He gave her a pointed look. " 'Tis important."
"What's going on?" Gregori asked, his eyes twinkling. "Are you two having a lovers' quarrel?"
"No!" Leah exclaimed at the same time Dougal muttered, "Nay."
Abby gave her husband an amused look. "See how well they agree with each other? I think they must be dating."
"No!" Leah said at the same time Dougal said, "Aye." She glowered at him. "We're not dating."
"Ye have a date with me tonight."
She huffed. "That's business."
Dougal arched a brow. "And pleasure."
Gregori grinned. "So which is it? Business or pleasure?"
Leah scowled at Dougal. "Business, no pleasure."
He slowly smiled back. "But pleasure is my business."
Gregori snorted.
Abby snickered. "Definitely dating."
Dougal leaned forward, lowering his voice. "Leah, I need to talk to you before Angus returns."
She shrugged and ate some more pie. "Then go ahead."
Dougal sighed. He'd have to do this with an audience. "I wouldna be surprised if Angus moves this entire mission to China."
Leah stiffened. "Oh."
"You think we'll go to China?" Abby asked.
"You're not," Gregori muttered. "Not when you're expecting. It's too dangerous."
" 'Tis too dangerous for any mortal," Dougal growled. "Leah, if Angus asks you to go, I want you to refuse."
She frowned. "But I've made so much progress."
"Did ye hear what Angus said? Our enemy might target you next. And our enemy consists of a vicious vampire named Master Han, his two vampire lords, plus an army of mutated supersoldiers and a demon."
She grew pale. "I don't intend to fight them. I'll do all my work in a lab. You can keep me safe in a lab, can't you?"
"I'll do everything in my power to keep you safe, but Darafer can travel anywhere. The safest course for you is to retire from this mission before Darafer knows ye're involved."
Leah winced. "I told the soldier my name."
Dougal hissed in a breath. It was too late then. He circled the desk and squatted next to her chair. "I will protect you. No matter what."
"So who is the lass ye brought with you?" Connor asked an hour later.
Dougal ignored the question as he paced across the library.
Connor leaned against his desk, folding his arms across his chest. "She seemed to be holding you verra tight."
Dougal snorted. "Teleporting makes her nervous."
Right after their arrival, Marielle had hugged her, and Leah's heart rate had immediately stabilized. Dougal suspected Marielle's touch had retained a healing quality. She'd certainly healed Connor. "Yer house looks much better than I remember."
Connor smiled. "Aye. We've been renovating it, making it more comfortable."
Dougal nodded. " 'Tis verra nice." Connor had neglected the old manor house for over a century. After all, a Vamp had very few needs - a supply of synthetic blood and a safe place for his death-sleep. But now that he had a wife and child, Connor's cold shell of a house had been transformed into a warm and happy home.
After their arrival, Marielle had insisted on giving them a tour. Now she was upstairs in the nursery with Leah so they could admire the sleeping Gabriel.
Connor walked over to the sideboard and opened a bottle of Blissky. "So did Angus decide what to do?"
Dougal's prosthesis fisted tight, but he managed to relax it. "He told us right before we left."
Connor watched him closely. "Ye have to go to China then?"
"Aye. I'll be going with J.L. and Rajiv."
Connor poured two glasses of Blissky and handed him one. "I know ye never wanted to go back."
Dougal took a sip and relished the burn down his throat. He wasn't happy about going back, but since Leah had wanted to continue with her work, he was determined to help her however he could. "The mission will be headquartered in Japan. The Coven Master there, Kyo, is purchasing an old abandoned school building on a remote island. One classroom will be turned into a modern laboratory for Abby, Leah, and Laszlo. Then the other classrooms will be changed into dorm rooms, no' just for the people working there but for any captured soldiers we bring out of China."
"Ye plan to keep them prisoner at this old school?" Connor asked.
"Aye. We'll keep them sedated or in stasis. Apparently, it will take time to change the mutated soldiers back to normal. One injection is no' enough."
Connor frowned. "What will keep Darafer and Master Han from rescuing them?"
"They'll be guarded constantly. And we'll keep them knocked out so they canna attempt to contact Darafer mentally." Dougal sighed. "But it is the weakest link in the plan." He shrugged. "What else can we do? We canna set up the operation in China without being attacked by Master Han's army or being noticed by the government. And Romatech is no longer safe. Besides, it is too far away to teleport a large number of prisoners."
Connor nodded. " 'Tis a tricky situation to be sure." He sipped some Blissky. "This Leah ye brought with you is one of the scientists then?"
"Aye. She's a doctor. Dr. Lee hired her to be his standby, but she also has a Ph.D. in genetics, so she's the one figuring out how to undo the damage wrought by Darafer."
"Och, ye're proud of her." Connor's mouth twitched. "Though it sounds to me like she's too smart for you."
Dougal snorted and drank more Blissky.
"Is she the one?"
Dougal swallowed so fast his eyes watered. "I doona - " He stopped. What was the point in feigning ignorance?
When Connor had drained his blood, drawing the last drop from his veins, he'd also sucked all of Dougal's memories into his mind. And then, when Connor had fed his vampire blood back to Dougal in order to complete the transformation, all of Connor's memories had been embedded in his blood. They knew each other's pasts. All the secrets, all the regrets, all the sins, and all the joys.
It didn't always happen that way. Dougal had learned since then that most vampires were strong enough to shield their minds when transforming a mortal. Connor had been strong enough, but after experiencing Dougal's painful past, he'd shared his own.
It had been an unspoken pact between the two of them never to tell anyone else what they knew. For almost three hundred years, they had protected each other's backs and each other's secrets.
"Did ye find forgiveness?" Dougal asked.
Connor's mouth curled up slightly. "Aye."
Dougal swallowed hard. "That's good. I'm glad for you."
"It is good. Ye should try it sometime."
Dougal sighed. Could he ever deserve forgiveness? Or deserve Leah's love?
"Is she the one ye've been searching for?" Connor asked quietly.
Dougal nodded. "I believe so."
"Good." Connor finished his Blissky and set his glass down. "Ye've suffered enough."
Dougal winced. He had a bad feeling there was more suffering in store for him. But hopefully not for Leah. Somehow, he would keep her safe. "I canna fail her like I did Li Lei."
Connor patted him on the back. "Ye'll be fine. 'Twill all work out in the end."
Dougal gave him a wry look. "Since when did ye become an optimist?"
He smiled. "I've learned to have faith. Come on." He strode toward the door. "I want to meet this lass who's too smart for you."
Chapter Eighteen
"He's beautiful," Leah whispered as she watched the little boy sleeping in the crib, his pink cheeks and blond hair nestled against a blue pillow. "He looks like you."
"Thank you." Marielle smiled as she gazed at her son. "But when he's being stubborn, which is most of the time, I say that he takes after his father."
"Can I ask you a personal question?" When Marielle nodded, Leah continued, "How does it work - I mean, do you like being married to a vampire?"
Marielle's mouth twitched. "Are you contemplating a similar marriage?"
"No, no." Leah waved a dismissive hand. "I'm just curious."
"I see," Marielle said, although her eyes still glinted with humor. "Well, I know very little about other marriages, but I believe mine is very happy. Even our housekeeper says it works wonderfully well."
"She knows your husband is a vampire?"
"Yes. She even told me she'd like a vampire of her own. Do you know why?"
Because he might be gorgeous, sweet, and sexy like Dougal? Leah shook her head. "I have no idea."
"Because you never have to cook for them. And they never snore."
"Right." 'Cause they sleep like the dead.
"I can't imagine being married to anyone but Connor. And Gabriel - " Marielle glanced down at the sleeping boy. "I am still in awe that I actually gave birth. To have life growing inside me, then to see him, and hold him in my arms. There is so much love in my heart, I feel like it could burst."
Leah gazed at the little boy, and a vision flashed across her mind of a little boy with black curly hair and green eyes. She pushed the thought aside. Dougal seemed to be constantly monopolizing her thoughts. "Is it true you were an angel?"
Marielle nodded and led her toward the nursery door. "Not a very good one, I'm afraid. I didn't always follow orders. When I was a Healer, I healed two children I wasn't supposed to."
"You saved their lives?" Leah stepped into the hall with her. "How could that be bad?"
"One grew up to be a serial killer."
Leah winced.
Marielle headed toward the staircase. "When I became a Deliverer, I disobeyed again. My wings were stripped off, and I was cast upon the earth. That's when Connor found me, and I fell in love."
"But surely, as an angel, you already knew about love."
"Yes." Marielle paused at the head of the stairs. "For millennia, I was one of the Heavenly Host, a part of the whole. We were connected to each other, always communicating with each other and singing praises to the Heavenly Father. We could always feel His presence, so we were surrounded by love, and filled with love for His children."
Leah's skin prickled with goose bumps. "It sounds . . . heavenly."
"It was." Marielle smiled with a wistful look. "It was a warm and peaceful sort of love, a love for everyone. But with Connor, it all changed. All of a sudden, love was personal and . . . fierce. There was a desperation to it, so powerful that I could not live without him."
"So you gave up Heaven for him?"
With a sigh, Marielle started down the stairs. "When I was cast out for disobedience, I was afraid that I was a fallen angel and that I was doomed for hell. But now I realize that my rebellious nature didn't mean I was evil. It only meant I was human." She shrugged. "So I'm convinced I'm where I'm supposed to be. Connor needed me more than Heaven did. And the Heavenly Father works in mysterious ways."