Zane's Redemption

“Delilah.” He was unable to be any more civil than that. After all, her mate had just insulted him.

She smiled at him when a beeping sound from the kitchen put a frown on her face. “Oh, no, the cookies, I almost forgot.”

Before he realized what she wanted to do, she stretched out her arms and put the baby against his chest. “Here, hold her for a moment. I’ve gotta take the cookies out or they’ll burn.”

Instinctively, his arms came up to hold the baby before Delilah rushed toward the kitchen. “But, I …” His protest was too late. Shit!

He looked down at the little bundle in his arms, not knowing what to do next when the baby opened its eyes. They were as green as her mother’s and just as beautiful. The little girl looked straight at him. She was a hybrid, a half-human, half-vampire child, possessing the attributes of both species.

She could be out in daylight without burning, yet she would have the strength and speed of a vampire once she was fully grown. Even as a child, she was stronger and would grow faster than a purely human child. While she could eat human food, she could also sustain herself on blood. And once she had reached maturity, she would stop aging just like a full-blooded vampire.

The best of both worlds, she was a tiny wonder. Only vampire males were fertile, but they could only procreate with blood-bonded human females. Vampire females were infertile. However, this little girl had lucked out: her human genes assured she was fertile. She would make Samson a grandfather one day; and her children would be hybrids like her, no matter who the father was.

Fascinated, Zane stared at the miracle in his arms and stroked his knuckles over her rosy cheeks. He hadn’t felt such softness and sweetness since his little sister had been a baby. Ten years her senior, he’d often taken care of her, fed her, and lulled her to sleep.

“You sweet little girl,” he whispered and noticed how she opened her mouth to smile at him. Tiny little fangs peeked from her upper gums.

The baby’s little hand reached for him, and he obliged her and allowed her to capture his index finger with her fist. Her grip was strong, pulling his finger toward her face with ease. Before he could register what was happening, she drew his finger to her mouth and wrapped her lips around it. Sharp fangs descended into his flesh.

“Ouch!” He jerked his finger from her. Blood dripped from it. Zane looked back at the baby and saw her smack her lips together as if she wanted more. The little devil had bitten him!

He shook his head and looked up, his gaze colliding with Delilah’s. Her mouth gaping open, she stared at his bleeding finger and then at her daughter’s mouth.

“She bit you.” Not a question, simply a statement. “She’s never bitten anybody before. You do know what that means, don’t you?”

Ah, shit, he knew only too well.

Chapter Three

Portia Lewis shut her laptop and slid it into her shoulder bag together with her course book, waiting for her best friend, Lauren, to do the same.

“Are you going to Michael’s party tonight?”

Portia shook her head as she and Lauren fought their way through the throng of students exiting the lecture hall. “I still have to prepare for tomorrow’s criminal psychology test.”

Lauren made a dismissive hand movement. “Piece of cake. Besides—” She bent closer and lowered her voice. “—you can always use your powers.”

Portia jumped back and gave her a scolding look. “You know we’re not allowed to do that!”

It had been drilled into her as far back as she could remember. Both her father, a full-blooded vampire, and her mother, a human, had instilled in her that she had to hide what she was at all times: a hybrid, half vampire, half human. The only reason she could even talk to Lauren about this was because her friend was just like her.

When Portia and her dad had moved to San Francisco after her mother’s death in a car accident six months earlier, she had struck up a friendship with the mayor’s daughter after realizing that Lauren was a hybrid too. They were signed up for many of the same courses at the University of San Francisco, a private catholic school. Because the aura of hybrids was so different from humans, they had recognized each other instantly, both glad to have a best friend they had so much in common with.

When she’d told her father about her new friend, he’d seemed displeased, making Portia wonder whether he was somewhat envious that she had instantly found a friend while he still mourned the loss of his wife. She missed her mother terribly, but she knew she had to get on with her life. Luckily, Portia had always been good at making friends quickly. It was a survival mechanism she’d developed early on, because her family rarely stayed anywhere for longer than a year. Her father always moved them to a new town just when she started to feel at home. She understood it to a certain degree. As a vampire, he had to be careful not to attract attention. Humans around him would eventually find it odd that he never ventured outside the home during the day, never extended or accepted dinner invitations, and didn’t age. She had accepted it, but at the same time, she longed for a place to grow roots and stay.