Dakotah: Blood Oath: Chapter 4

Mika’s Note: I’m not sure about this chapter, I teenk it sucks.  And not in the same way Dakotah does. LOL  Oh well ~ this is what I get for taking so long to get where I was going.  *sigh*

Sierra screamed as her heart started beating again. Painfully hard. Awareness flared around her, light stabbing her eyes. Blinking rapidly, she looked around at the scared and concerned faces surrounding her. “What happened?” she whispered.

Dr. Anders cleared his throat. “Apparently, you have a weak heart, Sierra. Giving birth nearly killed you.”

Her eyes widened in fear. “The baby…”

“…is fine,” Dakotah reassured her. “He’s healthy and screaming in the nurse’s arms.”

“Where?”

“In the lobby,” Cheyenne squeezed her sister’s arm. “Are you okay?”

Sierra began to nod yes and then shook it no instead. “I’m not sure. Why do I feel so… weird?”

“Weird how,” Dr. Anders questioned.

She shrugged. “I don’t know how to explain it. Things seem… brighter, clearer somehow.”

“Damnit,” Dakotah growled, “you promised.”

Backing away from the angry vampire, the doctor held up his hands protectively. “I didn’t think…”

“Think? No you surely didn’t think Doctor!”

Before Dakotah could rip out anyone’s throat, Sierra interrupted anxiously, “What the hell are you two arguing about.”

Dakotah scrunched his face up into a look of disgust and despair, an odd combination on so elegant a face. “He insisted I share my blood with you. He was afraid you were going to perish and that was the only way to save you. I refuse to force you to suffer like I have.” He turned and glared at the doctor. “And now it’s too late.”

Sierra was horrified. She knew the hell he suffered through day in and day out. They’d discussed this very thing time and time again, and always came to the same conclusion: neither of them wanted her to come to the dark side. “So I’m now… like you?” The last word was barely audible.

“We don’t know that yet,” Cheyenne added hopefully. “Do we?”

Reluctantly, Dakotah shook his head. “No, but the signs are all there.”

“Can’t you,” she shrugged her shoulders at a loss for a good term, “tell?”

He looked her over and noted her shinier hair, her brighter eyes, the glow to her skin and growled in his throat. But, there was still a lot of her, the human her there as well. “I can try.” Leaning in close, he took a deep breath, in through his nose and held it, briefly, before exhaling. “You still smell human, but there’s one other…”

She screamed again as he moved quicker than she could process and embedded his fangs deep in her neck. One small swallow and he stood back, wiping his mouth. “Am I okay?” Sierra wasn’t sure what had scared her more, the thought of becoming vamp or his sudden lack of respect for her humanness.

He slowly licked the remaining blood off his lips, slowly, thoughtfully. Almost like he was savoring the taste. “You taste… different, but still human. What has happened here?”

Dr. Anders looked nervous before clearing his throat. “I have no way of knowing for sure, but my guess is that she temporarily has some of your abilities. Like an energy drink will give you a temporary boost of power. I would think it should fade in time, but I have no way of knowing how this will affect her in the long run. May I draw some blood to run some tests with?”

Sierra nodded, and smiled weakly. “Only if you bring my baby to me. I can’t believe I’m still without him!”

The doctor looked horrified for a moment. “Of course, right away.”

Cheyenne stopped him before he could run out after the nurse. “Do what you have to do. I’ll get the baby so that we can get them all out of here ASAP.”

He nodded and turned back to Sierra while Cheyenne went in search of the infant. Returning almost instantly, she cradled her new nephew in her arms. Bringing him to her sister’s side, she grinned. “See? He’s perfect. Nurse says he’s adorable and healthy in every way.”

She reached for her child and held him to her chest. His tiny fists were pressed against his pale cheeks, framing two pink lips. A thatch of dark auburn hair topped his head. “What color are his eyes? He’s snoozing much too soundly for me to see.” She stroked his little arm and sighed, happy to finally have him here.

“I think they were blue,” Chey told her, grinning even more broadly. “But we’ll see soon enough, I’m sure.”

Dakotah reached out and touched his son. “I’m sure we will. Let me hold him so you can get ready.”

“Am I able?” She looked to the doctor for his confirming nod.

“Yes, just be careful. And be aware that this is not a normal child. He will require blood as well as his mother’s milk.”

“And how will I get that?” Sierra asked, concerned.

“I will procure it for him, do not worry.”

She looked at her husband as if he’d lost his mind. “How can I not worry?”

He smiled a gentle smile. “We have no idea how much he will need, but even now, I do not need much. We will figure it out and we will make it work.”

She couldn’t argue with that, not really. “Okay then. I’m ready. Are you?” Dakotah and Cheyenne both nodded. “Good. Do we have a blanket for Austen then?”

The doctor blinked for a moment until he realized she was referring to the baby. The blanket he’d been wrapped in was covered in blood and needed changing. “Yes, yes, I do and I think I even have a diaper to send him home in.”

Dakotah shook his head. “Forgot the diaper bag. Bad Mommy.”

“Hey,” Cheyenne threatened. “You be nice to her! She’s had a hard day!”

The vampire looked at his sister-in-law and laughed his first real laugh in weeks. “Oh, so she’s had a hard day, then? And I have not? Almost lost my wife and left with no idea how to raise a child on my own?”

“Oh, okay,” Cheyenne said exasperated, “you have a point.” And then something clicked. “So you decided on Austen after all?”

Sierra nodded. “Yes, I thought it had a nice sound to it – Austen James.”

She nodded in agreement. “I like it, now, let’s go home.”

“That is the best suggestion I have heard in awhile,” Dakotah agreed, wrapping his son in the new, clean blanket, and handing him to his sister-in-law. Lifting the now-dressed Sierra from the table, he nodded in the direction of the doctor. “Inform me as soon as you know something.”

“I promise.” He knew better than to lie to a vampire.

“Good.” Following Cheyenne, he carried his wife out into the lobby and into the desert night.