**Ch 2: A Song in the Wind

"What is causing the crows to kill themselves?" I questioned in dire shock at what I was witnessing. It was barbaric, and hard to watch such amazing birds kill themselves the way they were.

"One of the wing vampire Covens that obviously want you dead." Ivan sneered at the crows constantly slamming themselves into the glass with such force. What seemed to last an eternity ended in mere minutes.

"Unbelievable," I mumbled.

Not one single crow had survived, and if they were alive, they were taking their last breath from the internal injuries they had inflicted on themselves because the Wing vampires foisted them to do it.

It wasn't like the wing vampires to kill their loyal birds, but I guess they're relatively desperate to kill me. The wing species were considered to be gentle like the Light species, but they were known to have an eldritch nature like the Slither species.

"I thought no one could touch me until after the vote?" I mentioned.

The guardian replies, "They can't. Which is why they used the crows to try."

Minutes later, Kai came in, and he checked my face and bodily injuries before Zoey healed all the cuts and wounds I had sustained. After she was done, she left with the guardian while Ivan stayed in the bedroom with us.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Kai hugged me as our unborn babies were kicking and jerking against my belly.

"I'm fine. I'm just glad our unborn vamp babies aren't hurt." I muttered, and Kai chuckled as he lifted his head above my height while his arms didn't move from my waist.

"They're more durable than you realize," he smiled.

"Another vampire can easily hurt them," I frowned at the reminder that Rex detained them.

Kai brushed his fingers between the roots of my hair strands. "That's why I do whatever I can to protect you and them," he says.

"I know."

I kissed his lips softly, and then he sighed as his forehead pressed against mine. "What is it?" I asked, feeling very confused as to why he seemed glum.

"You're not going to like this, but I have to leave. I still haven't found a haven to hide you in. If you don't get your votes, the Vampire Covenant will come to kill you," he shared, and he was right because I wasn't happy.

"I don't want you to leave," I pleaded, and he cupped my cheekbone with his right palm.

"I have too," he affirmed. "It's important I find somewhere to hide you."

"Something bad could happen if you leave." I frowned, getting flustered by the idea of him leaving to go through another dimensional world.

"I won't be gone long," Kai promised, yet I didn't believe him.

Ivan added as he stood from the couch. "Ace and Glenn are staying behind. Everybody else in Kai's family will be here too."

"But the gender reveal party is this weekend. What if you miss it?" I tried, guilting him out.

Kai chuckled as if he found my surly behavior to be utterly cute. "I mean it! Stop looking at me like I'm a cute kitten."

"Kai laughed softly. "I'll be back in four days. If I stop searching now, then I'm not going to get anywhere," he otherwise insisted.

I huffed, rather annoyed at him, but my strappy attitude didn't stop him because after he kissed my lips, we left the room to head outside. We were right outside the driveway from the mansion.

His advisors Rome, Jack, and Ivan were going with him, along with a handful of guardians. Glenn didn't want to leave Alice, his young fifteen-year-old mate, and Ace didn't want to travel too far from his wife Rose and their newborn son. Jack was also taking his son Ian with him. Since he was human-raised by his mother and his stepdad, Jack only has two years to teach Ian the ropes to defend himself and survive as a Predatory vampire to avoid being detained by another vampire.

Ian is only eighteen years old, and he had a rough awakening to realize he was a vampire once his instincts woke up by the age of eighteen because vampires don't raise their offspring without a destined mate or a vampiress in their life. So Ian passed the first test of survival when he found his dad sometime after he learned he wasn't human. Then, once Ian turns twenty, he'll choose whichever clan out of the Collin Royal Alphas he wants to work for and follow, or he can leave the Collin Coven if he wishes, which some vampires and vampiresses might do for whatever reason.

I know Kai is crossing his fingers that he stays in his Coven and picks his clan to work under because Ian's first gift gives him the ability to block his scent from other vampires, which is extremely rare and powerful. As I pondered on those thoughts, Ivan was kissing his wife Mia goodbye and the married guardians got kisses from their wives too.

"Four days," I reminded Kai of his promise when he hugged me.

Kai looked deeply into my eyes. "Four days, and I'll return," he promised again, and then, he tenderly kissed my lips. The kiss remained light and gentle as we merged our lips together into an ideal on-and-off motion.

"I love you," was the last thing he whispered before he pulled out of my grasp.

As everyone waited, he outstretched his arm towards the sky, and the wind whistled when it began to pick up. Gray clouds twisted into a funnel as a light formulated into a circular shape. Usually, he always opened the portals on ground level, but this was the first time I had seen him open one in the sky. As the gateway to another world got wider, the wind started to thrash around, and it looked as if a tornado was about to drop down on top of us. Once it fully opened, Kai smiled at me before he flew up with his friends, and then they all disappeared into the cloudy light.

After the portal closed, the wind settled into a calmer breeze and then Rose asked me. "Are you ready to head inside?"

"I guess so."

I followed Rose and Mia in while the other vampiresses left to go hunt.

"La-la…La-la..." I stopped in my tread when I heard a delicate serene voice singing somewhere.

"What is it?" Mia asked me once she noticed I stopped walking between them.

"I heard a woman's voice singing," I replied as I glanced everywhere, including in the sky.

Rose commented. "It's only the wind."

It was questionable whether it was the wind, but I didn't think too much about it right now. I was too upset that Kai had left. Unless he's around, I never feel safe. Ever since Rex captured me, I have always felt perturbed, thanks to him.