Vampire Coven Book 3: A Vampire's Embrace by C.L. Scholey Page A

his feet. He propelled Rhett from the room directly outside into his private garden. “We need to talk.”
    “That’s apparent. What the hell is wrong with her?”
    “She’s healthy and strong—and barren. Giving birth to Ann must have been very difficult and painful. She must have been very young.”
    Rhett relaxed. So what if she couldn’t have more children? She would still be able to feed the vampires. She would be able to feed them more often if she never carried. Women weren’t bled while pregnant or while nursing up to two years.
    “So, we both know it won’t matter to Tavish,” Rhett said.
    “If you commit to keeping her, it will matter to you; you will be responsible for her until the day she dies,” Caine said.
    Rhett winced, but he already knew that. “Your point?”
    “The child Ann. She has a congenital heart problem. She’s tiny and thin for her age, malnourished. She has a heart murmur and is suffering a slight respiratory infection. So far she has a low grade fever.”
    “You can cure some of it. Right?”
    Caine looked sad which worried Rhett. “I understand your fondness for the child. I can make her comfortable. But Rhett, there’s one more thing. She is in the last stages of leukemia; much as I suspect Acca was at the end. At the time, nothing was known of the disease. I’m sorry, Rhett. I can’t save her. Maybe if she had been born here. But not now.”
    He would lose another child? Rhett had gone out for a little fun, and his whole world had been turned upside down. If he kept the child, he would be stuck with Hope. Perhaps Tavish would take her once the child passed. Either way, whoever she belonged to would be facing a forlorn woman with a deceased little girl and no hope of another. No hope , how ironic.

Chapter 4
    Hope walked around the beautiful garden Caine had taken her into. This new world was astounding. Absently, she fingered the tiny piece of clothing she had been given. The fabric was thin and covered her breasts barley and her bottom even less. Still it was better than being completely naked. She learned she would be permitted to see Ann after all rules were explained to her. The children of the coven, she was told, were watched carefully. The adults were expected to abide by Tavish’s law. Hope was a little apprehensive. She had heard all about Tavish, the great leader of his coven. She wondered if he would be as cruel as Rhett.
    Caine told her Rhett was retrieving Tavish; he had a few issues he needed to discuss. Hope wondered at that. Caine had been very kind. So far, he had been the only one. She had shaken openly when told there were hundreds of vampires in the area. This coven alone had almost forty. Another vampire, Laken, had started his own coven, and a few from Tavish’s had gone with him.
    The walls separating the coven from the jungle were at least twenty feet high. Hope was told nothing would dare harm her while she was in Caine’s care. She wished she would be in his care forever. He was a handsome vampire, sweet, gentle and kind. She knew Ann must adore him.
    Before leaving her alone with her thoughts, Caine had given her a tour of outside. Everything was new and different, but with thoughts of her child foremost in her mind, Hope wouldn’t give in to fear of the unknown. Like everything else she would suck it up and muddle through whatever life had to offer. A few green plants wouldn’t be the death of her.
    The things buzzing around her were annoying, not terrifying. Caine called them bugs. Some bit her, some just sat on her. For the most part they left her alone which was good; bugs had no concept of personal space. Neither did Ann so Hope was used to things being in her face.
    It was alarming when three vampires suddenly appeared before her. She knew Rhett and Caine and assumed the third was Tavish. Hope was beginning to see a pattern with these vampires, all were dark-haired and blue-eyed, large builds, handsome. All wore dark clothes making them