Corinne nudged him with her hip, but it was too late; the smile had slipped out and the baby saw it. She smiled back at Dayan and he was lost. He reached down and picked her up, cuddling her close.
«Little Miss Jen, you are so naughty,» Corinne said. «I was just about to go for a run too, before all the madness starts. Now what am I going to do with you?»
«She likes to go. We can put her in the pack,» Dayan said.
«It's too cold.»
Dayan leaned down to nuzzle his daughter's face. «She's getting good at regulating her body temperature and we can dress her warm. Were taking her to the inn later, and that's not much different. She wants to go, Corinne. She loves it when you run with her.»
Corinne loved to run. She'd had a bad heart all of her life, preventing her from doing anything physical, and now that she was Carpathian, she couldn't run enough. It made her feel free and whole and so very happy. Back home in the States, she ran with a stroller, so Baby Jennifer could feel the same happiness flowing through her, but here, in the mountains of Romania, the trails were too rough for the stroller and she was afraid of jarring the baby if she used the front-pack.
«I need to run and I do love taking her with me. Running clears my mind and after all this cooking and helping Sara with the children, sewing costumes and rehearsals, I definitely could use some exercise,» Corinne explained.
«Baby,» he said, one hand curling around the nape of her neck to bring her head to his. He kissed her, a slow gentle declaration of his love. «You don't ever have to make excuses to me. If you want to go out for a run, then we will. It isn't safe to go by yourself, but we don't mind going with you, do we, Jen?»
The baby smiled up at them both, happy to have her way.
«I wouldn't be alone,» Corinne tried one last time, reluctant to take the infant out in the cold. «I scanned and Nicolae and Destiny with several others are quite close to the house. I'd be safe with them. You can stay here and keep warm.»
«We're going with you, but you have to carry the baby,» Dayan said decisively. «It will just take us a minute to get ready.» He was already changing the baby's clothes, wrapping her snugly in warm clothes and donning his own outdoor gear. «You know you won't be able to run in the snow like normal. You'll have to use your abilities, to skim lightly over the surface. It takes a little bit of concentration, but you'll get the hang of it. While you're doing it, you'll still have to keep the baby's motion to a minimum.»
«You're certain you want to do this with me?»
«Yes.» He wasn't about to let her go out alone, and he needed his hands free in order to defend them both should there be need.
Corinne adjusted the front-pack and waited until Dayan had put the baby down into it, securing her and wrapping her up with a tiny hooded jacket. «With all the Carpathians in the area, don't you think it would be suicide for a vampire to attack one of us? Look what happened to the one who went after Juliette De La Cruz. I think he must have had a death wish. The De La Cruz brothers are just plain scary.»
«The De La Cruz family was always very powerful, according to Darius. He says they are ancients, somewhat secretive, and have very incredible skills. He has a great deal of respect for their power, and coming from Darius, that's saying a lot.»
«So why would a vampire target a De La Cruz woman? I'm telling you, none of this makes sense. Most of the women here are probably descendents of the jaguar line. Juliette definitely has stronger blood ties to that lineage than most, but still, the vampire drew her out. Didn't he? Wasn't he specific to her fears?»
«I don't really know. There's been some talk about it, but no one really knows what's going on. But that was the second attack, Corinne,» Dayan reminded. «Lesser vampires are often used by much more powerful ones. I'm not willing to take any chances. I think we've got one hanging around waiting for an opportunity and it isn't going to be with my family.»
«I still say they'd be utterly stupid to hang around here with so many Carpathian hunters gathered in one spot. Why would they do that?»
Dayan shrugged. «It's an old battle tactic. Harassing the lines continually eventually weakens them. And they are definitely striking at our women now.» He glanced at the baby. And our children.
Maybe we shouldn't go then. I can do without running this evening. I just was cooped up for so long with all those children. I don't know how Sara does it. One is enough for me.
Ours is a handful. Dayan bent to brush a kiss across the back of the baby's head. «We
take precautions, Corinne. We don't change our lives. You want to go running, we'll go. And like you said, it's good practice for you. The more you practice using Carpathian methods, the better you'll be at them. We'll be safe enough with all the others in the area as well. We'll head toward them.»
«Falcon dropped by to take most of the food to the inn already, so nearly everything is done,» Corinne said, as she opened the door. «He and Sara were going over the last minute rehearsals with the kids. The children are so excited. Even for Falcon, they wouldn't calm down, and they adore him.»
«I noticed Jen really responds to him as well,» Dayan said, turning back to add safeguards around the house. He didn't want any surprises when they returned. Corinne had embraced the Carpathian life, his way of life, and she'd never looked back, seemingly had no regrets, but it was important to him that she never did. He had come so close to losing her-losing both mother and child-and he wanted her life to be smooth and happy-to give her anything he could.
Corinne put her hand on his arm and smiled up at him, her heart in her eyes. «Falcon's gentle like you and the children respond to that. You're such a poet, Dayan.»
He groaned softly, tucking away the fact that he was secretly pleased she saw him that way. «Don't let Darius hear you say that. I'll never hear the end of it.»
She laughed as she began a slow jog, skimming over the snow, trying to get the feel of how to place her feet to stay on the surface. «You're all so afraid of Darius. Have you even watched him with Tempest? He's a total pushover. He just can't be that scary.»
«You even say that about Gregori,» Dayan pointed out, keeping pace with her.
«He was wonderful to me and to the baby. The man is a teddy bear.»
Dayan snorted. «I've heard him called a lot of things, but teddy bear is not one of them.»
She shot him a small loving smile. Dayan felt his heart melt. She did it so easily. A look. A touch. And his world was right. All those years on the stage with so many women throwing themselves at him, not seeing him, not caring who he was. And then Corinne. She'd given him life.
«You gave it to me,» she said softly, showing him she was becoming adept at being a shadow in his mind. «You gave me life.» For a moment she reached out to take his hand, connecting all three of them. Baby, mother and father.
Dayan's heart swelled. He loved having a family. He would always love it.
Corinne shot him a mischievous smile. «Keep up, music man.» She bolted, running like a machine, smooth and fluid, her body moving easily, heart and lungs in perfect synchronization. Dayan ran behind her because he loved to watch her run. It was something
she had wanted more than anything, something that had been denied her all of her life. Others took it for granted, but Corinne enjoyed every single step she took. He could always feel her enjoyment, and he knew the baby felt it too. Jennifer always loved to go running with her mother, and Dayan knew it was the waves of happiness rolling off Corinne that both he and his daughter wanted to bask in.