Free Final Days by C. L. Quinn Page B

bloods that was safe and nurturing.  Starla had loved these people from the beginning.  The insemination had gone without a hitch, but most importantly, her mate and the biological father of these children-to-come were getting along.  Starla felt certain now that they could successfully blend their two households and raise these children with the love and support they deserved.  At this moment, with her dear friend at her side, the new baby warm and growing inside her, and the two men she loved more than any other laughing as they walked to breakfast, she could not possibly imagine a better life.
    As they arrived at the garden where four large table s were set up with a wide variety of choices for the many vampires who would dine tonight, Jacob sat her at one of the café tables in a comfortable chair.
    “I’ll get your food, baby.  Just relax,” he said with a kiss on her forehead.
    Chione smiled at her as Jacob left with Ahmose.
    “You are a lucky woman, mistress.  Two of the handsomest men taking care of you, loving you.”
    “I know.  Still, I hope Ahmose finds the woman of his dreams sometime soon.  He’s such a special man.  He told me that he is ready to be in love.”
    “I understand the feeling.”
    Starla laid a hand on Chione’s arm.
    “I know you would, as well.  Your mate will come, my darling friend.  You are too beau tiful of a soul not to have the universe bring him to you.”
    Chione shook her head.
    “I know I must leave to find him.  I know this like I know the moon.  I will not find him here and he will not come to me.”
    “I don’t want you to leave!  You need to be here for my children.  They will need your excellent guidance.”
    “Oh, I would never stay away.  But there will come a time when I will go.  I do not know when or for how long, but I will know when the time arrives.”
    “Then I hope it is soon.  I would love to see you happy and in love.  And back here with us.  You are a sister to me, Chione, and I just cannot imagine my life without you now.”
    “I feel the same, mistress.”
    “Then stop this mistress stuff.  Starla.  Or Star.”
    “Thank you.  But you are Shoazan.  With your relationship to our master, you are like a queen here.”
    “Bullshit.  I’m just like everyone else.  A girl from Wilkes-Barre, Alaska who just happened to have the right stuff.  Don’t make me something I’m not, my friend.”
    Chione smiled and nodded, but she didn’t say she would no longer use the term of respect she had from the moment she met Starla.
    Jacob arrived back to the table with two heaping platters of food. 
    When Chione stood to go get her first meal, Ahmose was coming back with two heaping platters as well, and set one in front of her.  She didn’t know how to react.  The master bringing food to her.  That was unprecedented.
    Starla watched with a smile as Chione stood frozen.
    “Say thank you, Sweetie.”  She urged.
    Chione dropped into her seat beside Starla, murmured ‘thank you master’ quickly with downcast eyes, and picked up her fork.
    Ahmose seemed uncomfortable, too, as he took a seat closer to Jacob than the women.  He glanced up at Jacob and smiled.
    Starla rolled her eyes.  Men.  Vampire or human.  Pretty much the same.
     
     
     
     
    Later that night, Jacob sat in the garden behind the yurt that would be their home.  It was nearly finished, and he had to admit it was incredibly beautiful for what he called a glorified tent. 
    Fireflies.  Everywhere.  He hadn’t known there were fireflies in Africa.  As a boy, he had loved the magical insect that he could hold in his hand and study the glow.  Bio-illumination .  He hadn’t understood that then.  Although now he knew first blood vampires could sometimes do it.
    He and Starla had been living here now for only a week and he couldn’t believe how muc h like home it already felt. While Starla finished a shower, he waited in the enclosed garden Ahmose’s