Several days later, Nadya rode through the Q on a white mare in the company of two men from Jalen’s militia. She didn’t necessarily agree that she needed protection, especially since word of her conversion had surely reached all the provinces by now, but her lovers had been insistent. Their combined strength and sense of purpose, when exerted upon the same goal, was nearly insurmountable. Arguing had proven for naught, but at least she’d remained firm in her conviction that she had to see her grandmother without Jalen and Rem. If she could get her grandmother to see her at all, her best chance was by herself, not with the two vampires at her side.
All around, signs of rejuvenation manifested themselves. The streets were free of litter and waste. New ditches flowed with water for crop irrigation, and cleared fields showed sprouts of greenery here and there. Other groups had undertaken the task of upgrading the buildings, and several structures looked new after renovation. Even the people themselves showed marks of change. Homespun clothes still seemed to be the norm, but most were neat and clean, recently repaired, or newly woven. The most amazing sign of transformation was in the children. The ones she saw playing looked healthier, without the hollow cheeks indicative of too little food that she remembered from when she’d lived among the humans of the Q.
The apartment building where she’d lived with her grandmother remained unchanged, though it seemed to have fewer residents. Her newly heightened senses told her that as much as the forlorn air of the building itself. Nadya dismounted, trying to ignore her bodyguards, and entered the building. The stairs were rickety as ever, but she tread them confidently, knowing all the weak spots.
She knocked on the closed door, no longer feeling comfortable just walking in. After a second, she heard the shuffle of feet and her grandmother’s heartbeat as the older woman approached the door. Nadya held her breath when the door opened, not certain if Granny would even allow her past the doorway.
A look of displeasure contorted Granny’s face, but she didn’t slam the door. “What do you want?”
“I wanted to see you.” Nadya smoothed the front of her dress nervously. The plain cut and fabric, deliberately chosen so as not to remind her grandmother of her new life of luxury, had no wrinkles, but she needed something to busy her hands.
“Why?”
“Because I love you. Oh, Granny, please forgive me,” Nadya begged as she threw herself against the other woman. Tears leaked from her eyes, and she cried harder at her grandmother’s rigid posture. Finally, Granny put an arm around Nadya, her entire body softening. “I’ve missed you so much, Granny,” she whispered against her grandmother’s neck.
“I’ve missed you too, child.” Granny sounded gruff, and her eyes were moist when she stepped back, leading Nadya inside.
When the two guards would have followed, Nadya held up a hand and closed the door on them. Rem and Jalen could insist she have protection, but they couldn’t make her take the men everywhere. She wouldn’t bring the vampire guards into her mother’s home. As a vampire now herself, she must have been an intrusion to her grandmother’s sensibilities on some level.
Nadya edged away from the chair nearest the window, avoiding the patch of sunlight falling across the cushion. Once safely in the shadows, she removed the heavy veil that had shielded her sensitive skin from the late afternoon sunshine and sat in the other chair. Granny sat in the window seat, and after a few moments of awkwardness, they were soon talking just as they had in the past.
No, there was one critical difference now. Granny was treating her with the respect due a fellow adult, not as a child. Peace settled in her heart as she sat in the old living room where she’d spent her first eighteen years, basking in the glow of her grandmother’s love again. She wouldn’t have changed any of her actions, but it lightened a burden she had carried for months to know Granny had forgiven her and still loved her.
Several hours passed before Nadya knew it. “I must get back,” she said after a look out the window. Shadows dotted the landscape, and it would be fully dark before she arrived back at the DuMond mansion. She took her grandmother’s hands in hers, squeezing for a moment before releasing her. “Thank you for understanding, Granny.”
Granny frowned, her gaze still full of concern. “I won’t pretend to understand why you’re with either of them, but I love you. All that matters to me is that you made the choice voluntarily, and that you’re happy. You deserve better than your mother’s fate.” She sniffed. “So did she.”
“I know.” Nadya swallowed the lump in her throat, biting back the melancholy emotions that threatened to destroy her warm glow of happiness. Clearing her throat, she said, “I am happy.”
With a nod, Granny rose to walk her to the door. “Come back soon, child.” She embraced Nadya in a comforting, familiar hug.
She took the feeling with her as she left the apartment. The men fell into step behind her, following her from the building. Nadya went to her horse and mounted. The presence of the guards was a minor irritation that she supposed she would adjust to, with time.
Thinking of time had her spurring the horse to a canter. It was getting late, and she didn’t want Jalen or Rem to worry about her. She knew they would anyway, probably imagining a bevy of disasters befalling her—from robbery to a bad sunburn, because she might have forgotten about her new vulnerability to extended sunlight exposure—as they occupied themselves with their daily tasks, probably each trying to hide their concern from the other. She smiled at the thought and the sight of the road to the mansion, knowing she would be with them soon.
A noise behind her caught Nadya’s attention. She twisted in the saddle to see what had caused the clatter, but never identified the source. All she saw was the blur of a thick staff swinging at her too quickly for her to duck. The wood collided with the side of her head and cheek, making her cry out and fall from the horse. She was unconscious before she hit the ground.