Read Vampire Coven Book 3: A Vampire's Embrace for Free Online

going to stash the girl. It would be too dangerous for her. He would let the mother ponder awhile longer than intended. He felt certain nothing could kill an enraged terrified mother on the lookout for her child. Nothing smart enough was brave enough to get close to something that smelt so horrible.
    * * * *
    Rhett stopped only once while taking Ann to the coven. The child needed to have a drink. They weren’t too far from home and Rhett helped her shed her furs. She had no need of them on this continent. Jungle foliage surrounded them, warmth would bathe her skin. She was a tiny little thing, stick arms and legs as Acca had been, she was either small for her age or not the age he had first surmised. The sun had set while Ann slept in his arms and was now high in the sky. Rhett noted the child slept a great deal. He wondered at malnutrition, most ice dwellers suffered from it.
    Ann wanted to touch everything once set loose. Rhett found her fruit which she ate with wide-eyed wonder. He wandered after her unconcerned, enjoying her curiosity. It was as though he were spending time he should have had with Acca. Playing in the sunshine. Instead of brief night visits while the house slumbered. A thought occurred to Rhett. He had found the child and so she was his, which meant he would have to keep the mother. No child was separated from its mother.
    For just a second, he had the cruel thought of leaving the mother where she was. Then Ann would be his daughter. A child he could watch grow. Rhett would make her a good father. The woman had left her alone, after all, with men roaming the glacier. The terrified screaming that he had heard from the woman caused him pause. Ann’s mother had been sick with worry. Ann was a wanted child. It wouldn’t be right or responsible to separate them if what Ann needed most was her mother. The idea angered him but it was real.
    A butterfly landed on Ann’s forehead, she spun round and round trying to gaze up at it, her eyes skyward, then crossed, never having seen one before. Rhett laughed. Only this laugh was pure enjoyment, not some manifestation of cynicism. Rhett could watch Ann play all day. Each discovery was new to the child.
    Tired of her game, Ann walked over to him. She looked shy as she touched his hand. Rhett crouched before her. Spindly arms and legs covered in bruises made Rhett angry. He knew her mother didn’t beat her. He had seen these types of bruises before on the ice dwellers. It was the many falls from the slick ice. Rhett had stripped her to her leather undergarments, a small tank top and breaches to the knee. He studied her black and blue elbows. Her limbs were so tiny in his huge hands, hands made to wield a sword. Acca had fallen a lot. But ice was not to blame; she had been a bit clumsy.
    “I need to pee.”
    Rhett was surprised then smiled. Like Acca this little Andra-Ann of his knew what she needed when she needed it. He gazed around listening for any dangers. He detected nothing. Rhett reached for her hand and led her to a small bush.
    “You go pee behind the bush, and I’ll wait here,” he told her.
    She went around the bush right back to him. Ann yanked on his hand. “No pot.”
    “You don’t need a pot, just drop your drawers and pee.”
    Ann frowned. “I’ll fall over.”
    Rhett thought she had a point. Girls were definitely at a disadvantage in the waste area needing to squat. Looking around Rhett dragged two logs together. Ann still looked up at him.
    “Just drop your drawers and sit between the logs.”
    “I’ll fall in.”
    “You won’t fall in,” Rhett said and became exasperated. Perhaps he should have brought the child’s mother. Ann still continued to stare up at him.
    “Pee’s coming.”
    Oh shit, that’s a warning if I ever heard one.
    Rhett turned her around and covered his eyes with one hand while fumbling with her leather pants. He sat her down and sighed with relief when he heard a stream of liquid hit the ground. He waited a few