Club Angel's Kiss

Just like I had envisioned, the life of my dreams sat in my lap, lingering like a thundercloud above the Sanders’ mansion for the years that passed the fateful day of the slaughter house fight.

Fourteen passed, exactly, before I even had time to breathe. Almost every detail of my life before the fight changed, transformed into what I was experiencing the day that I found myself looking around the living room, wondering how the hell I managed to become so lucky.

Sure, I remembered my birth parents, my origins, the enemies that caused so many human nightmares. Those were the things I longed to forget, but something told me I never would.

But things were different.

The biggest of all the changes was my becoming a vampire a year after the war ended. Zacky turned me, and I awoke from a daze a magnificent creature. Seemingly overnight, I became everything I dreamed of. Beautiful, graceful, strong, and powerful.

And I got to become the eternal queen of my coven, with Zacky, whom declared himself the king about twelve years back. I agreed, because the shining plea in his eyes told me not to deny it. My heart would have wrenched had I still been alive.

Zack did well in the position. But he did better as a father to our handsome, exquisite gentleman of a son.

Daniel blossomed into a different person over the years. He changed from the timid, worried little boy of my memories to a strong, confident nineteen-year-old who had the kindness and personality of his father and the caring heart of his mother.

Our influences turned out much stronger than I ever would have guessed.

We let him attend middle school when he came of that age; we wanted him to experience other children and not become a weird hermit.

Joel followed in his footsteps when he hit the age of twelve. Daniel was in eighth grade, he in sixth. Lavender did the same two years later, but both boys were already in high school.

Despite their age difference, they became each other’s best friends. Their relationship grew right before our eyes, and it still amazed me how close they were. In fact, in thinking of the times their love for each other became apparent, I could name instances when the boys stuck up for their female counterpart.

Rave’s favorite was when a boy much older than Lavender called her a cruel name and Joel chased him for seven blocks, finally catching him at a dead end. The other boy got off lucky: only a broken jaw and a few bruises.

Joel walked away with nothing, as always.

But, other great things came from letting them get out into the world with other living people. Great things such as what became known as our romance judging panel.

The children dated a few times, but the coven always seemed to know when the person they dated was the person. The person to be their mate, the person who would get to meet the children’s mysterious family.

(We were apparently famous in the kid’s high school. People of all ages wondered who we were, the people who ran the refurbished Club Angel’s Kiss downtown.)

Lavender found hers surprisingly fast. A boy two years her elder by the name of Hosea, with muscles galore and golden hair that would make Rapunzel jealous.

Daniel was second…sort of. As much as I hated it and didn’t want to admit it, the second I laid eyes on the five foot three brunette bombshell, I knew she was the one for my baby.

And so did Zacky--in between his stares and gawks at her as we picked the kids up from school. But, unfortunately, Daniel made it quite clear that he and the girl, Jane McCord, were just friends and nothing else.

But, they began dating weeks later, and then Joel started dating his own girl by the name of Connie.

Then, two weeks ago, Daniel came to me and asked if he could bring Jane to the mansion to meet the family.

I agreed…

Though I had no idea why the hell I did.

The coven went into a tizzy when I told them of the impending arrival of the beautiful human girl. We planned the whole thing out; we would have dinner, which we wouldn’t be eating, and talk to the girl.

Our mission would be to win her over, steal her heart with our charm and…good…looks, I guess.

It was Zacky’s plan. I only agreed without knowing all the details. Personally, I thought Zacky simply wanted a reason to flirt with her.

And that night shined in my head like a flood light.

MOM!”

I jumped from my seat on the couch, lurching into the air and landing expertly on my feet across the room, my hands braced against the banister of the staircase.

Daniel, the cause of my surprise, stood grinning in the front door.

I straightened up. “Honey, you know not to sneak up on me like that!”

“Sorry.” Daniel crossed the room at a steady pace to my side. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and planted a kiss on the side of my face.

I raised an eyebrow as he took a step back.

My son. OH! It almost hurt me to look at him. He was a good two feet taller than me now. His dark hair hung just below his ears and stuck up in odd directions, and his dark eyes pooled with mystery.

His jeans were too big for him, so they sagged on his hips, but his flannel, button-up shirt clung to his slight muscles. The sleeves were folded to the elbow.

I jutted out my bottom lip.

He tilted his head. “What’s wrong, Mom?”

“I could be asking you the same question.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to pick Jane up. Or is Kat and Adam cooking for no reason.”

“No, no. I’m going to get her in a few minutes…I was just wondering something.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets and rocked back on the balls of his heels. “Something important.”

“What?” Did I honestly want to know?

Daniel flipped a shock of hair from his eyes. “When should I tell her about us? The family, I mean,” he murmured. “She deserves to know what she’s walking into. And you guys aren’t exactly what anyone would call normal.”

The comment should have bothered me, but it didn’t. I knew we were weird. Everyone in Chicago knew we were weird and always approached us with caution. This girl was no different.

I was actually pretty shocked her parents ever agreed to let her come to our house. Then again, Daniel had a knack for being persuasive.

“We’re not normal, I’ll give you that much.” I couldn’t deny it. “When the time is right, you can tell her. And you’ll know when that time is right.

And he did. A month passed and he told Jane the shocking news of his vampire family. She said she wasn’t surprised. He asked if she was scared and wanted to go home, and her response was, “No. I love your family, I love you. I want to be part of this…uh…coven.”

Which puts us at the current point in my life, the point where I couldn’t be happier in any sort of way.

I looked carefully around the large room as I wondered again and again how I could become to lucky. So unbelievably lucky!

Really. If I hadn’t been sitting on the couch, fully aware that I wasn’t dreaming, I would have thought the entire experience was a dream. None of it happened. I never really met Matt, and I never fell in love with Zacky.

But I knew it was true.

“What are you staring at?”

I slowly looked up from my reverie. “Hmm?”

Zacky settled down beside me on the couch, immediately pressing a quick kiss to my lips. I reveled in the taste of his warm lips.

“What are you staring at?” he repeated.

I waved my arm at the panorama of the beautiful living room. He followed my movement to look at the scene I had been staring at.

He glanced back at me. “It’s our house. What about it?”

“Not the house itself,” I explained. “Our life. I love it.”

“I love our life, too.” Zacky dove in for another kiss, this time grabbing my face in his hands. This one lasted longer, and I was panting by the time he pulled away. “And I love you.”

“I love you more.” Slipping my hands on the back of his neck, we kissed yet again.

Something that didn’t change over the years? Zacky and I still couldn’t keep our hands off each other, even after being stuck as mates for almost fifteen years.

The flame still burned deep in my heart for him. I highly doubted it would ever go away, honestly.

“Oh, GOD! Daniel, your parents are at it again!”

Giggling, I broke away from my mate. The look on Jane’s face as she stood on stairs was priceless. She, like so many others, knew what it was like to walk in on the king and queen in their intimate moments.

It could get disturbing.

I pressed my lips together. “It’s okay, Jane. We’re done.”

“I’m not,” came Zacky’s quite response.

I jabbed my elbow in his ribs. He laughed, but otherwise ceased his perverted comments.

Jane finished her trek down the stairs and hopped off the last step. That’s when I noticed the baby in her arms.

“AH! Is Kip awake?” I held out my arms. “Let me hold him, please?! Please?”

Jane nodded. “Be my guest. He hasn’t slept a wink in almost two days and I’m wiped. I need some sleep.”

She lowered the baby boy into my arms. Immediately, I cuddled him to my chest and kissed his forehead.

Did I mention I was a grandmother? Because Jane and Daniel (before we changed Daniel into a vampire) had a baby boy named Kipling Baker, whom I loved almost more than my life.

Zacky nodded toward the stairs. “Go get some sleep, Jane. We’ll watch Kip for you.”

Jane didn’t need anymore convincing. She hurried away up the stairs and to her and Daniel’s room like a bullet.

Zacky laid a hand on my back.

I smiled. “It almost makes me want more babies.”

“Amber, isn’t it a little late for that?”

“Yes.” I shook my head. “But I said almost. We have grandchildren now. Beautiful, perfect grandchildren like Kip.”

“Yes. Do you know what else we have?”

I glanced up at him as I rocked Kip back and forth. Zack’s eyes glittered, a smile on his features that I wasn’t sure I liked.

Slowly, I tilted my head to the side.

“What?” I asked cautiously.

“Each other for the rest of--”

I finished for him.

“Forever.”

THE END...