Blood Oaths Read online

  “Only if you want some, too.”

  “I do.” Manu surged out of her chair. She did not dare to look back. She could still feel Logan’s eyes on her. Blocking out the white walls, she maneuvered the corridors to where she had seen the Starbucks earlier. Five people were in the queue and she fell in behind them. Her eyes swept over the interior of the little shop. Many eyes quickly looked away and Manu smiled inwardly. The Japanese were a very polite people, but her six foot plus frame made her the tallest person in the shop, thus drawing their stares. The queue moved fast and within a few minutes she was making her way back to the waiting room with two skinny lattes. Logan smiled her thanks when Manu handed her the drink. For a few moments they sat quietly, sipping their coffee. Logan was the first to break the silence.

  “You don’t like hospitals, do you? I’ve never seen you so uncomfortable before.”

  Manu took a long gulp from her coffee, debating whether to simply laugh off Logan’s observation or to tell her the real reason. She smiled at Logan and shrugged.

  “I hate the smell.” It wasn’t a lie.

  “Yeah, me too. One day when we decide to have a baby, I want you to take me to one that doesn’t smell like this.”

  A spray of coffee spewed from her mouth as Manu began to cough uncontrollably, drawing the attention of a nurse. The woman quickly came over.

  “Are you okay, ma’am?”

  Manu nodded as she tried to smile at the woman. The nurse did not look convinced, but decided to let it be. With teary eyes, Manu turned to look at Logan, who calmly looked back at her.

  “Baby?”

  “You’ve never called me that before,” Logan said quietly, her eyes twinkling. “I like it.”

  Manu blinked a few times. She tried again. “What made you think about a baby right now?”

  Logan took a sip of her coffee. “Because I finally realized that Choko and Lulu are here to get pregnant.”

  Manu gaped at Logan. Lulu was having a baby? She had flown all the way from the States to Japan to help her nemesis—now ex-nemesis—take on a Yakuza clan because said ex-nemesis wanted to have a baby with her wife. And now her fiancé had been infected, too. Manu dropped her face in her hands.

  “Just so you know I would love to have a baby one day. So, we need to address your fear for hospitals.”

  Manu raked her hands off her face. Logan had an intense look on her face. She took a deep breath and nodded. “Duly noted.”

  “I would’ve hoped for little more enthusiasm, but I’ll take what I can get,” Logan said softly. Manu heard the faint hint of hurt behind the words and immediately snapped out of her gloomy mood. Being in public, she would not touch Logan, but she made strong eye contact with the blonde.

  “I admit that it had taken me by surprise. You never mentioned that you were interested in having children. I, personally, never thought about it, but if the most important person in my life wants a baby with me, then I want the same.” Logan blinked and a tear escaped from the corner of her eye. “If you’re happy, then I’m happy. Always remember that.”

  Logan wiped at her leaking eyes. “What bad luck for us to be in public at this very moment?”

  “I agree.” Manu still held Logan’s gaze. “Why didn’t you ever tell me that you wanted a baby?”

  Logan looked away, but not before Manu saw the flash of regret on her face. “I was messing up a lot…too much back then.” She turned back to look at Manu. This time her eyes were bright with love. “It’s as if I’m seeing you for the first time again and I keep falling in love with you every day.” The intense look in the blue eyes made Manu blush. “I want to have your child more than anything.”

  “I think we can find a way to make that happen.” She reached out and took Logan’s hand. “I should warn you that I’m terrible with babies. They take one look at me and then they bawl.”

  “That’s okay. I have the same experience with babies. We’ll deal with it together.”

  The clearing of a throat made them both look up. They blinked at a beaming Lulu.

  “Everything went well.”

  “We can see that,” Manu murmured. The woman looked different, with her dark eyes shining like polished opals and her face relaxed into a huge goofy grin. Lulu Chen was a beautiful woman, Manu thought, as she studied the dark-haired assassin. Manu wondered if she too was going to look like that when her time came.

  Logan came to her feet and held out her hand. “It’s probably still too early to congratulate you, but this is the first step to a great future for the both of you.”

  Manu watched as Lulu looked down at Logan’s hand and then up at Logan. She stepped past Logan’s outstretched hand and gently pulled the taller blonde into her arms. Logan’s eyes were huge with shock, but she managed to return the tender hug. When Lulu pulled back, her eyes were soft.

  “Thank you for what you mean to my wife. She doesn’t make friends easily and because of the line of work I’m in, she tries to keep them away so they don’t find out.”

  Logan smiled back. “She’s a wonderful woman and you deserve to have someone like that in your life.”

  Fascinated, by the tender moment between the two women, Manu could only stare. A week ago, their relationship was that of assassin and target. It was almost inconceivable that they would be standing before each other, trading compliments. Lulu gave Manu a curt nod before she disappeared down the hallway.

  Logan held her hand out to Manu, who took it eagerly. “Let’s go to the apartment. I want to be alone with you.”

  Manu surged to her feet with a huge smile, almost dragging the amused blonde behind her in her haste.

  THE END

  About the Author

  Stein Willard

  Stein started writing at the age of thirteen after feeling cheated by the ending of a novel she was reading. She took the novel and rewrote it from the ending back to the front, adding 200 more pages to it. Up until then she had only written in her native language, Afrikaans, a derivation of the Dutch language.

  In 2007 she decided to experiment by writing a few short stories in English. By pure accident, she came across platforms on the internet to publish her work and was encouraged by a friend to try and post some of her creations.

  Stein resides in Windhoek, Namibia.

  Connect with Stein online:

  Email: [email protected]

  Facebook: www.facebook.com/stein.willard

  OTHER BOOKS BY THE AUTHOR

  The Guardian Series

  Book 1: A Guardian’s Touch

  Book 2: A Guardian’s Love

  Book 3: A Guardian’s Passion

  Book 4: A Guardian’s Salvation

  Book 5: A Guardian’s Eternity

  The Stone Warrior Series

  Book 1: To Be Unbroken

  Book 2: Carved in Stone

  Other

  Afterglow

  Phantom of the Heart

  Spoils of War

  Random Convergences

  Hereafter