“If you find a way to give us your blood, I
will release your mother,” he said. Desperation built behind his
eyes. Clara might have taken him on his offer right then, but she
could see the desperation wasn’t strong enough. She needed to know
he’d lost all hope of gaining her blood. She nodded with his
fingers still grasping her face. Parker growled something under his
breath. “Lock her up,” he muttered.
Mark grinned gleefully and Clara’s stomach
knotted. “Please,” she gasped when Mark loosened the straps again.
“Don’t let him hurt my mom anymore.”
Parker’s eyes flashed to Mark. “What is she
talking about?”
Mark shrugged one shoulder carelessly. “I had a little fun, so
what?”
A groan escaped Parker’s lips and he
massaged his eyes with his thumbs. He stood up and his hands fell
to his sides. “Felix!” The thick, muscled man returned. “Take Miss
Rita to her cell.”
Felix moved to obey without question, taking
her by her arm. He escorted her back to the horrible room and
shoved her just inside the door. The room was quiet and appeared
empty. For a gut rending moment she thought her mother had been
taken again, but she was there, curled up under the covers.
“Mom?” Clara whispered when her mother
didn’t move. Luzy’s eyes fluttered and she smiled weakly. “Where is
Beth?”
“They took her to a different room. They
separate us to keep us from plotting too much. Don’t worry, my
beautiful daughter. How I’ve missed you,” she said in a whisper.
“How long has it been?”
“Almost two years,” she whispered, trying to
hide the ache in her heart at seeing her mom so weak and sickly
pale. Every second she spent remembering Parker’s offer was misery
when she knew her mother suffered.
“It feels as if it’s been ten,” she
struggled to sit up.
“Don’t move, mom,” Clara objected.
“I want to embrace you, I want to touch your
face.” Her fingers brushed her daughter’s cheek. Clara scooted onto
the bed and pulled her into a hug.
“I missed you.”
“I missed you too, sweetie.” There was a
gentle pressure as Luzy’s arms came around her waist. The hug
wasn’t broken until Luzy became too weak and lay back down. Clara
held her in her arms instead. “How is your father?”
“He…he mourns you,” she said, unable to reveal the entire truth of
the matter.
“And your brother? I’ve heard rumors he’s a
werewolf now.”
“It’s true,” she affirmed. “Ironically he
was bitten at random before he found out anything about you.”
“Your father didn’t tell you?” Luzy’s eyes
opened and she tilted her head to look at her daughter.
“Not until after Tyson questioned him.”
“He was supposed to warn you. You were all
in terrible danger and he was supposed to get you out of the state,
if not the country.”
“I think he hoped you would come back,”
Clara murmured.
Luzy sighed and shook her head. “Your father
isn’t very good at listening to instructions.”
“I’m sorry, mom, I didn’t know Parker was
holding you here. We thought you were gone.”
“I am glad he listened in that regard.”
“You mean to say you faked your death?
“Of course I did, I was trying to keep Parker from seeing you.
Everything was spiraling so fast, I couldn’t keep track of the
days, but I knew I had to protect you and your brother. I should
have warned you myself, but there wasn’t time.”
“How did he catch you?” Clara asked.
“They used your scent. I should have known
better than to believe they actually had you. I was just so scared
that I’d waited too long.”
“My scent?” Clara remembered Tyson telling
her Mark had been in her room.
“Yes, Mark was so covered in your smell that
it didn’t wash out for days. Just when the smell was fading, he’d
leave and come back with your smell fresh on his clothes. Were you
dating him?”
“No! Why does everyone ask me that? He was
my boss at the animal shelter.”
Luzy chuckled. “I was only trying to
tease.”
It was wonderful to hear her mother’s laugh
and tears bit Clara’s eyes. She sniffed and wiped them away. “Will
they be terribly cruel to Beth?”
“I doubt they will even remember her by now.
There is too much excitement at having found
the cure
. She’s
feisty sometimes though.”
“You don’t put up a fight?”
“I used to, especially when they wouldn’t
let me know if they had you, but I learned it was useless after a
time. It’s less painful to just do what they ask.”
“What do they do?” Her voice was low again,
afraid to voice the question and discover the answer.
“They took my blood for a while in the hopes
of finding the secret of the cure. That’s why I’m weak. They took
it daily for a few months. Was he able to extract your blood?”
“No, my skin is protected from them. They
can’t make a mark let alone an incision.”
Luzy smiled and nestled her head against
Clara’s arm. “That’s good. Perhaps they will never be able to hurt
you.”
“I’m worried about you.”
“I would be better if you weren’t in this
horrid place.” Her voice was weak and Clara held her as she drifted
into sleep. She stroked her hair and hummed a little lullaby Luzy
used to sing when Clara and Callan were toddlers. She bit her lip,
trying not to imagine an eternity spent there. Parker would live
forever once he had her blood and he would keep her for eternity
and a day if he could. The concept might have been more tolerable
if she knew her mother and Beth were free.
A few days passed
before Parker demanded her presence again. She was surprised when
Felix escorted her to a bathroom and instructed her to wash. A tub,
filled to the brim with steaming water and frothy bubbles, beckoned
to her. New clothing had been left under the mirror in a neat pile.
She washed quickly. Once done, she waited, alone with her thoughts
for a small window of time. A knock came on the door and she
answered it almost eagerly. Parker greeted her with his pleasant
smile. “I’m happy to see you’re well, Miss Rita.”
She lowered her eyes disappointedly,
silently willing him away.
“My dear, you show such distaste before
you’ve truly gotten to know me?” He pulled her arm through his and
led her up the hall. “You may find you can tolerate my presence if
you let your guard down just a moment.”
“You hunt my friends and keep my mother and
Beth captive in gruesome conditions. You want nothing more than to
taste my blood. You must admit these would seem character flaws to
someone like me.”
“I am not the monster Jothram has led you to
believe. I keep your mother and Beth caged like animals because
they behave like animals. As for your blood, I don’t want it for
myself.”
“I can imagine you want to become rich by
it. What good is immortality if you can’t sustain the
lifestyle?”
“You think very little of me indeed,” he
muttered under his breath, but didn’t answer her accusation. He led
her to an elevator that had to be summoned by a key.
“Can you deny it?” she asked when he’d
pressed the button for the uppermost level and the door slowly slid
shut.
“Let’s save our discussion for dinner.”
The elevator glided to a stop and the doors
slid open to reveal a floor very different from the one she’d come
to know. It was brightly lit and evocative of an expensive hotel.
The halls were painted ivory and gold. Mirrors lined the walls
accented by deep mahogany woodwork. Her stomach knotted as Parker
brought her to a room where a table was laden with good things to
eat. He seated her in front of a plate where the good smells
tantalized her senses. Her stomach jumped and growled as if it
would eat without her if she didn’t take a bite.
“I understand you don’t take meat,” Parker
said as he sat across from her. He shook out the white napkin and
placed it in his lap.
“My mother and—”
“Darling, don’t speak of them. Eat up, there
is much to discuss once you’re through.” His blue eyes almost
sparkled when he smiled. When she hesitated again, he chuckled
warmly. “Your concern is adorable. You have my word they will be
taken care of.”
Her hand took the fork almost before she
knew what she was doing. Her stomach was emptier than she ever
remembered it being and the baked potatoes slathered with butter
looked wonderful. There was also lentil soup and pasta salad. The
spicy, savory scent made her stomach grumble. The plates clattered
on the table’s surface when she rammed the fork into the wooden
surface and Parker jumped.
“I’m
not
hungry,” she said smoothly
and crossed her arms, leaving the fork protruding from the
tabletop.
Parker recovered as if he witnessed people
stabbing tables on daily basis and cut into a beef wellington that
sat atop his plate. “There you go snapping at me again,” he said.
“As I mentioned before, I’m not the monster your Jothram has led
you to believe. Why, even now, I show you kindness and you return
it with bitter words.”
“I have some trepidation in regards to your
purpose,” she seethed.
“You mentioned that I want to keep your
blood for myself? I assure you this is not the case. In fact, it’s
the furthest from the truth you could possibly imagine.”
“Why then? To cure werewolves?”
“No, my concern lies far from them as well.
I only took interest in them to find you. Now that you’re here, I
needn’t squander my time.”
“If you’re to share my blood, who is there
to share it with other than werewolves?” Clara asked, watching him
closely. He sighed and placed his utensils to one side, getting to
his feet. He made a show of pacing seriously before the window with
his hands locked behind his back.
“Do you know how many children suffer from
terminal diseases, Miss Rita? Do you know how many are plagued with
sicknesses doctors can’t seem to heal, or even diagnose? My own
daughter died a few years ago. Her name was Jodie and I’m sure you
can imagine she was the light of my life.”
“Are you suggesting I can do something about
these illnesses?” she asked cautiously.
“Not only can you do something, you can heal
them! If such a child were to drink just a drop of your blood,
their ailments would vanish.”
“That sounds very appealing indeed, but
wouldn’t they become immortal as well? How can you ask a child to
make such a decision when they couldn’t begin to understand the
gravity of it?”
“Is there a soul alive that could understand
the gravity of the situation? Many adults would consume your blood
at the mere idea of being able to live forever and they could never
understand the full weight until they were desperately alone and
had seen too much. This doesn’t need to be the case for the
children. Tyson hasn’t informed you of the full powers of your
blood. Perhaps he knew you would do the right thing and feared such
a decision.” He turned to face her again. “If a werewolf drinks
your blood on the night of the new moon, he or she is healed of the
curse and they become mortal again. If your blood is swallowed by a
mortal on the night of no moon, immortality ensues. What you didn’t
know is if taken on any other night your blood doesn’t bring
immortality. Instead, the consumer is healed as near to perfection
as a mortal can come without actually achieving immortality. As you
can guess, my anxiety to have your blood is not for myself, but for
the suffering. Can you imagine the good you could bring about?”
“If what you say is true, why didn’t you
approach me in a different manner?”
“We needn’t decide anything,” Parker said,
completely ignoring her question. “If I can burden you with one
more story, I will allow you to rest and think on what we’ve
discussed. No doubt you know a little of my family’s history and my
ancestor’s abhorrence to werewolves. Jothram has probably told you
how cruel my family was, although I’m sure you can imagine the
horror they felt when they discovered what they believed to be
hellish monsters roaming the country. Jothram had spread the
infection far and wide by then.
“I am not like my fathers. I have knowledge
they did not and I don’t go out of my way to be cruel. My interest
in werewolves is, as I mentioned before, to help others. I fought
to find you so my Jodie could be whole, but it’s too late for her.
If I can help others like her, I may be able to put her memory at
peace. I hope you will consider giving me a chance to prove myself.
Like I said, nothing needs to be decided right now.”
She refused to touch the food, or even look
him in the eye after his speech and he eventually gave up, taking
her from the odd dining room. She fully expected to return to her
mother. Instead, he passed the elevator and showed her to a thick
door that opened to reveal a lavishly decorated room fit for a
princess.
“I do not want to stay here,” she exclaimed
when he started to push her in. “I want to go back to my
mother.”
“I told you I would tend to your mother and
Beth. Let this be a test of my trustworthiness.” He smiled again
and the door shut behind her. She heard the scrape of a key in the
lock. When she lay down, the bed was soft and formed to her body.
She fell asleep thinking of her mother and Beth, willing them to be
alright.
Come morning, her grumbling stomach woke
her. The sun cut through the glass windows and the shadows created
a striped pattern from the bars lining their exterior. She wandered
around the room, exploring her new surroundings. She showered and
dressed in the clothes she found. It was late afternoon before
someone came to her door. The key scraped and the lock clicked.
Parker entered, followed by Mark. Felix was visible just before the
door slammed, startling her from her place on the bed.
“Hello, I trust you’ve been able to rest?”
Parker asked nicely.
“Where is my mom?”