Chapter 72: Chapter Seventy-Two

"Are you alright, kitten?" Damien asked, propping himself up on one arm to look down at me, his blue eyes soft with love and happiness as he peered at me.

*'God, could this man stop being sexy for like two seconds? I'm trying to be mad at you, damn it.'* I thought, then reminded myself that he didn't know that I was supposed to be mad at him yet. I knew he was hiding something from me, but hadn't confronted him about it yet.

"I'm okay, are you okay?" I asked, turning on my side to face him, running a finger down his muscular chest, meeting his gaze.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because I know you're not okay, and you're hiding it from me." I said, watching as his eyes clouded over in surprise, but disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, telling me I was indeed correct. *'I knew he was lying to me about something. Jesus, this man just can't help himself, can he? Continually hiding things from me, like I'm a child who can't handle the truth.'*

He sighed softly, watching me with a look I couldn't quite place, shaking his head. "I know you're tired of me saying this..."

"Then don't say it. Tell me the truth, now." I said, trying to keep my anger at bay as I watched him, waiting with as much patience as I could muster, which admittedly, is not much.

"There's been something happening to me, and we don't know what, why, or how to resolve it." He said softly, his blue eyes trained on my face as if he expected me to freak out or something.

"Which is what, exactly, Damien?" I asked, shrugging softly. 'Does he expect me to freak out about something he hasn't even told me anything about yet?'

"I've been losing my control, slowly but surely over the span of the last few weeks. It's like I'm going recreant, but my eyes aren't turning like they should be if I were indeed turning." He said before tracing a design around my stomach, watching lovingly at my flat abdomen.

*'I hope you know how badly he can't wait to see you, baby.'* I thought, feeling my heart thump loudly in my ears, trying to hold back tears as I watched his reaction, just knowing that I would be having his child.

"I knew that already, but you need to elaborate for me." I whispered, running my hand through his thick black hair, turning, so I was laying flat on my back.

"What do you mean, you already knew?" He asked, turning his head to look at me.

"I knew something was wrong when you left, but Sam didn't go after you. It seemed pretty obvious you were having issues with keeping your cool after you went off on Val, and I knew for you, that meant something was affecting you." I explained, keeping my eyes trained on his, watching for any change in his demeanor.

He chuckled softly, his eyes alive with laughter as he shook his head. "Kitten, you never cease to amaze me." he said, before sighing as the seriousness returned to his face, making me wish I could take it back. I loved it when he smiled, and never wanted to see anything else on his beautiful face. "I wish I could tell you more, but I don't know much more, honestly. I'm not going recreant, but I don't have the same amount of control I'm used to. I hate to say this, but it scares me. I've never heard of something like this happening, and neither have Sam and Sinclair. We've been trying to figure this out, but come up with nothing."

I nodded, and leaned down to kiss him. "We will figure it out, and for the last time. Stop hiding things from me, Damien. I can understand why you kept this from me, but were you going to tell me?"

"I just thought it would be better to tell you after I had some sort of idea as to what was causing this. I didn't want to cause you unnecessary stress, as I know that's bad for the baby."

"Okay, I can understand that." I said, then turned to where his phone buzzed on the bed side table, then looked back at him. "Do you want it?"

He closed his eyes for a moment, then nodded softly with a sigh. "Might as well."

I reached over and looked at the message that had come across, feeling my heart jump with a mixture of excitement and fear. The message read: 'We know what's causing it, we're outside. Wanted to give you a forewarning.' From Sinclair. I handed the phone to Damien, who reacted nearly the same way, as he jumped up and immediately dressed before handing me a pair of clothes, waiting for me to dress before leading me downstairs.

Sinclair, Valerie, and Sam waited at the front door, seemingly surprised as Damien threw the door open, but the group got over it quickly as they stepped over the threshold.

"What have you found?" Damien asked excitedly, looking between Sam and Sinclair, waiting for one of them to respond.

"Actually, we didn't find anything." Sam said, making my heart drop into my stomach.

"Valerie did." Sinclair finished for him, motioning to Valerie who was still standing just in front of the door, a smug smile on her face as she watched Damien turn to face her, a look of surprise painted on his face.

"Yeah, humans for the win." She said, then smiled softly at me.

"Well? Tell me!" Damien exclaimed.

"I will, but I want an apology." She said, putting her hands on her hips, pursing her lips as she watched Damien expectantly.

"You're serious? You're holding what may very well be my life over your head, for an apology?" He asked incredulously, looking back at Sam and Sinclair, who just shrugged. He looked back at Valerie who nodded seriously, not an iota of amusement on her face as she waited. I could visibly see Damien fighting with himself to keep his composure, rather than attack her, which is clearly the side of him that was fighting the hardest to take over. He sighed once he regained his control and closed the difference between the two, taking her hands in his, locking his eyes with hers. "I apologize for scaring you. It was not on purpose, as I had no control over my emotions."

*'You really like to push your luck, don't you Val? He could just as well have snapped and killed you, before apologizing. Do you realize how hard it was for him to bite back the urges he just had to relieve you of your head?' I thought, thankful for Damien's will to fight his desires, rather than give into them. I knew it was not easy, and he didn't seem to enjoy it much either, but fought back nonetheless. 'You know he only let her live because of what she is to you, but if she keeps pushing it, our friendship will be the last thing he cares about.'*

"Venom." Valerie said with a self appeased smile, clearly not so much as attempting to refrain herself from gloating.

"What about venom?" Damien asked, shaking his head as he didn't understand what she was trying to say.

"The way Valerie explained her thoughts makes the most sense. I don't think there's anything else that makes more sense than this. The child isn't fully human, and because it was made without the venom of a vampire, it's creating its own. That venom is changing Bastet's DNA, which in turn is affecting you. Because you have an emotional connection to her, it's not turning you recreant." Sam explained, his blue eyes shining brightly as he watched Damien, waiting for him to realize.

"I'm not going recreant, but the change from blood to emotional, is lessening my hold." Damien said, squinting his eyes slightly as he thought about what he was saying. He turned around and pulled Valerie into a hug, squeezing her a bit too tightly, causing her to cry out softly through her fit of laughter. "You're a genius!" He exclaimed before setting her back down.

"Okay, so we know what's causing it, but how do we rectify it?" I added, looking at the group curiously.

"Lucifer's blood. It's the only thing powerful enough to stop another vampire's venom." Sinclair added, crossing the room to pull me into a quick hug, before patting my head softly, "You are okay, little human?"

"I'm okay, Sinclair." I said with a giggle, trying to swat his hand away. "Wait, you said you're switching from blood to emotional? That would mean you and I share the same blood, right?" I asked, my eyes going wide as I spoke. *'No, that can't be correct. There's no way we share the same blood, I'm a descendant of his wife, and they didn't have kids.'* I told myself, but still found myself eager for his response.

"Not literal blood, kitten. You know of the saying: 'the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb,' Yes?" He asked, waiting for my nod. "The marriage I had to Karin, was as close a connection to a blood relation as it could have gotten. Because of that, and the love I have for you, it made my connection nearly as strong as a blood connection. What is happening, is the baby's venom is altering your DNA, which is lessening the connection we have from your descendancy from Karin." He explained, watching me to make sure I understood.

"I'm still confused, how is the baby altering my DNA?" I admitted, biting my lip, unable to stop myself from feeling ashamed.

"Don't feel ashamed, little human, it's not an easy thing to understand without having it explained. Valerie only understands because Sam explained in detail how venom works. I know you did not receive the same explanation, so allow me to enlighten you." Sinclair said, looking down at me, his gold eyes soft with understanding as he watched me. He led me into the library and ushered me to sit before he started explaining how a vampire's venom works, and how it was as different as a human's DNA, or fingerprints. Once I understood this, he explained again how the baby making its own venom, could be altering me. He didn't seem to mind how many times I interrupted him to ask questions, but explained everything to me, so I understood everything completely. Sam and Damien only interjected a few times to add to what Sinclair was explaining.

"I get it now." I said with a sigh before looking to where Damien stood, just off to the side, watching as Sinclair and I conversed.

"And I understand why you said Sinclair would be a good teacher. For a recreant, your patience is unmatched by anything I've had the pleasure to witness." He complimented. "So you believe having Bast drink my blood to over power the venom should rectify this?"

"Yes, but the child is making its venom. You do understand what that means?" Sinclair asked, looking back and forth between Damien and me.

*'It means the baby isn't human.'* I thought, turning to Damien to where I expected him to be upset, but was surprised when he didn't seem bothered by it at all.

"You realize what it means, but do you realize what your blood would do during the development of the child?" Sam added, watching me closely.

Rather than paying mind to Sam's glare, I kept my attention on Damien, who met my gaze with his own. His expression remained calm and seemingly still unbothered by the situation.

"Bast, this will likely overpower the vampire in our child." Damien finally said, kneeling down in front of me, putting his hands on either side of me as he spoke. "Are you okay with that?"

I thought about this for a moment, before letting out a breath I wasn't aware I was holding. "It's either make our child come out human, or let you hang by a thread until our baby is born." 'That seems like a pretty obvious choice. I can't make Damien live on the edge for the next eight months, just to force our child into being a creature of unknown power and abilities.' "I see no downside to our baby being born human, Damien. I can think of nothing but bad omens if we let you stay like this until then."

He watched me for a few more seconds before he stood, facing Sam, then Sinclair, before he finally landed on Valerie. "Thank you for helping me with this, but Bast and I have a lot to discuss, and I'd prefer privacy."

"Of course." Sam said, bowing slightly before following Sinclair and Valerie out of the door.

Once the group left, Damien turned back to face me, his blue eyes clouded over in pain. He knelt down in front of me again, taking my hands in his before kissing the backs of them softly. "I think you should let me stay like this, kitten."