Married To The Mad Vampire Lord

In another chamber in the castle where Evenly was staying, she stood at the foot of the bed, staring at the sleeping boy Rav had placed on her bed. Her fists clenched anxiously at her sides as she looked down at the little being, sleeping peacefully.

She had been sleeping when Rav came knocking at the door, and immediately she had opened it for him upon seeing what he held. He had gestured, with his finger pressed to his lips, for her not to speak so she wouldn't wake the baby sleeping in his arms, with his head resting on his shoulder.

Almost as quietly as she could move, she had opened the door wider for him to come in, and she had watched him place the boy on her bed. He had leaned down over her bed, bending a knee and almost laying on it himself as he placed the baby down gently so he wouldn't wake up.

The baby had stirred, but a gentle pat to his back had made him sleep again, his reddish lips moving in a sucking motion as he relaxed, sleeping on his stomach and pushing his bottom slightly up in the air.

Rav had straightened after making sure Angel was back asleep, speaking to her through their mind link as he feared disturbing the baby's sleep. "I will go and get his blood. Master said you can feed him that once he wakes up. And that you should be very careful, or you might end up with a claw mark and injuries. If not careful, perhaps even a bite for blood. You can—"

Before he could finish giving the instructions, Evenly's eyes widened, and she moved forward and gripped his forearm as she glared at him.

"You don't plan on leaving me alone to do that, do you?" she asked in horror, and his guilty look confirmed to her that he planned to escape and leave her with the baby, who had the strength to claw and kick, and even bite her for blood.

Last night she had been curious as to why a two-month-old baby would look this grown, but she had silently come to the conclusion that something wasn't right, and just like the duke, the baby was different, something that might be even more dangerous than a vampire.

"Oh, no you won't. We are doing this together. We are to be his pretend parents, and to make that possible and believable, we are supposed to do everything that has to do with Angel together. Go and get the blood and come back; you won't leave me to do it alone."

She told him with a voice she believed was firm enough, masking the fact that she was nervous and a little unsettled about being alone with the baby. It wasn't like she was afraid of the baby, she liked kids, but she feared what might happen if the baby woke up not recognizing her and attacked her. She wouldn't want to unintentionally hurt a little baby in self-defense.

Last night, when he had kicked her hands, Evenly had felt pain deep in her knuckles. She did not want to harm the baby in any way. When she had read about infants, they were human infants. She was inexperienced here, completely out of her depth.

Perhaps with Rav there, he would do something when the baby fussed and intervene before Angel could attack or claw.

At least that way she wouldn't be alone when he began to cry. Even though she disliked Rav and hated any moment she was forced to be with him in this castle, she wanted the baby to like her and not try to fight her.

"All right, I will get the blood and return," Rav assured her with a heavy sigh.

"Better," she muttered in relief.

But when she realized Rav wasn't moving to go and get the blood, she turned her eyes to glare at him, giving him a look that clearly said, What are you waiting for?

It was then she noticed his gaze shift downward, to his forearm, where her fingers were gripping him tightly, like a lifeline. Only in that moment did she realize she had been holding him back from moving out of nervousness.

With a quick motion, she cleared her throat and pulled her hand away, rubbing it against the side of her dress before stepping aside to let him pass.

He offered her a curt bow out of habit and then left.

Evenly didn't move from the foot of the bed even after Rav had left, afraid that any movement might wake the baby and make him cry before Rav returned. She still remembered going to bed with a sore finger, embarrassed by her own thoughtless eagerness the night before when she had reached out to carry the baby.

The memory of that swift mighty kick only made the moment all the more mortifying.

Though she had always been a woman who carried herself high, born into a family where she was pampered and later married into a very influential household, she had rarely cringed at her own actions. She was the kind of woman who calculated her speech and her movements carefully. But last night, she had cringed more than she cared to admit and had promised herself she wouldn't overdo it again. Unless the baby liked her, she would not try to take him from his mother out of excitement of holding him.

Going on this journey to Aragonia seemed to give her something to look forward to for the first time in a long while. Ever since she had been turned into a vampire, and her husband, the man she had loved with all her heart, had betrayed her, Evenly had felt as though she was living inside someone else's body, not her own.

She was not only bitter about life itself and everything that had shaped her into what she was now, but she was no longer happy nor content with anything. She fell into depression every now and then, often wishing she had just died during that hunt, that she had never been brought back, only to be forced to hear about the man she loved doing well with the woman she hated with every fiber of her being, yet have no power to take revenge.

Every day after their return to Nightbrook, she read in the newsletter about how much he was growing in success alongside Cordelia, and with each word, her hatred and bitterness mounted.

What was the use of being alive yet having no one? She had asked herself that question countless times.

Now, however, she found herself looking forward to achieving something, however small it might seem, to be liked by her friend's baby, and to travel to a land she had never visited before. An adventure into the land of humans, where she would get to breathe in a different air; that alone was enough to give her a small thrill, at least for a while. Who knew? She might even heal from this bitterness and learn to view the world like she had once did.

She was still standing there when she heard Rav open the door quietly, without knocking, so he wouldn't disturb Angel. He came to stand beside her, and they both stared at the baby, each being nervous for a reason.

Rav was nervous because, when he held the baby, he got a strange feeling and was assaulted by past memories he had put behind him. The feeling of holding his warm body made him uneasy, and if he could avoid ever having to hold Angel, he would grab that chance and stay away from the young master.