**Ch 359: Beauty Of the Rose

Chester took her to a vacant landscape, where the ground was so dry that it was cracked into several sizable streaks that webbed out in different lengths and widths. Out in the distance, the blistering sun created a hazy illusion from how effulgent it shone in its heat. Any visible plant life was warped from its green as they were shriveling to a crisp.

Zoey groaned in pain when he placed her on the dry dirt. Choosing not to stand, he stayed on the ground with her. He wasn't wearing a shirt, and his feet were bare, but he did wear a pair of brown light wool elastic waistband pants. Farther out in the distance, his clan met him there while Chester seemed to do a mental headcount to make sure he had everyone before his eyes reached Zoey. She groaned louder when she tried to scoot away from being near him.

"What are you?" she gnashed her teeth in pain as her body trembled.

"I'm a vampire, but I won't hurt you." Chester calmed her with his big lustrous bright hazelnut eyes.

"What do you want?" her chest heaved from the pain she was in, and the terror she had witnessed.

Chester sighed, then he asked. "This might be hard to understand, but do you believe in fated love?"

"My heart belongs to my deceased husband." Zoey clarified as she held her lower abdomen.

"I know. It's what I deserve for not raising you." Chester grimaced in his sorrow, and Zoey gaped at him dumbfoundedly.

"I don't understand," she mumbled.

"We are destined mates. You were meant to be with me," Chester affirmed, then he dug his fingertips into the dry dirt. 

Zoey marveled at the green sprout that Chester was flourishing up through the cracked soil. Her eyes only shimmered as a red rose bloomed into a mature beauty before he picked it.

"What sort of sorcery is this?" Zoey uttered as Chester was in the middle of plucking off each thorn from the rose he grew.

"It's my second gift. As a vampiress, you'll have the power to heal while I have the power to grow plant life," Chester told her as he handed her the thornless rose. 

Mesmerized by the rose's beauty, she took it, but then she started to cry. The beauty of the rose wasn't enough to take away the pain of what she lost.

"I want my baby girl!" Zoey sobbed, and Chester outwardly gave her empathy in his gaze.

"I'm so sorry you lost your baby. Not to scare you away, but I can promise if you give me a chance, you'll never lose another baby because ours will be immortal." Chester sincerely unveiled as Zoey groaned in pain from her recent childbirth.

"You're Crazy! I need to get back to my family! I must warn them about Senator CJ!" Zoey rejected as she declared. She tried to stand, but she stumbled on her feet and lost balance. 

Using his fast reflexes, Chester quickly caught her before her butt landed on the ground. He adjusted his body lower and had her upper body lay against his folded legs.

"They think you died in the fire, and you must keep it that way," Chester warned.

"I must tell my family—"

Chester talked over her, and he vowed. "They can never know about vampires. Otherwise, the Vampire Covenant will kill them, but nothing will happen to them if you come with me. But if you go back, the Vampire Covenant will kill your family, and then CJ will try to take you again. You have to trust me, and I promise you'll watch your family descendants flourish if you willingly come with me."

Teardrops streamed from her eyes as Zoey nodded her head that she would go with him. Chester held her in his arms while she drowned in her grief for all she had lost. Then, he glanced at the ground. Dark red blood was seeping into the dirt from Zoey's dress. She started to bleed heavier from overworking herself. Instead of getting the proper rest to heal, she's been too busy burying her stillborn daughter. Then, she had to deal with everything CJ and Crystal did to her when he killed her servants and burned down her home.

"I must take you to my Coven before I lose you," Chester whispered before he picked her up like a bride, and he then disappeared with her. 

Zoey withdrew her thoughts from my mind, and I stared at her without realizing we were both crying. We released our hands and wiped our tears away.

"Everything Orlando and Crystal said were all lies. You were never engaged or in love with CJ." I uttered to collect it.

"At thirteen, I had a crush on CJ, but my father didn't marry me off to him, so I fell in love with my first husband," Zoey clarified.

"I feel foolish for getting deceived by them!" I broke down, and Zoey touched my shoulder.

"Don't be hard on yourself." She settled me. "My family and I got tricked too because the Mills were our friends, but you got away from them in time."

"How did I get away from them in time?" I whimpered, confused.

"Later on, I found out CJ killed my father shortly after he denied him my hand in marriage, and my baby girl wasn't born a stillborn," Zoey expressed with tears.

"They killed your infant as well," I uttered to realize it, and Zoey nodded her head.

"My baby was active the whole time during my pregnancy. I found out later that Aurora used the umbilical cord to strangle her with it. Which it's not uncommon for vampires or vampiresses to kill human babies. But Aurora made it appear like my baby was born deceased. I know they would've killed my husband and our firstborn daughter if they hadn't died from pneumonia. But you got your vamp babies away from them in time." Zoey explained in her sadness.

"Where was Chester when this happened?" I wondered.

"He woke up a month beforehand, but he couldn't come near me until he got his hunger under control. Chester did everything he could to reach me to prevent them from killing my baby, but the Mills won that small battle while I was in labor," she explained.

"Chester was going to turn your baby if she lived," I responded in shock.

"Because it was only her," Zoey replied.

"I don't think Kai would've done that for me if I had another man's baby," I revealed more to myself.