I couldn’t tell him that I was ok because I was afraid that if I opened my mouth, I’d start screaming again.
He started shouting orders. To whom, I didn’t know. I let the comfort of his warmth invade my senses and I closed my eyes. I was safe with Drew. He would always keep me safe.
Chapter 13
When I opened my eyes again, the light was filtering softly through familiar curtains. I was back in my bed. The sheets felt clean and warm. I could pretend for just a moment that this had all been some fever induced dream, not the bizarre reality that had become my life.
I turned my head and saw my son staring intently at me.
"Hey bubby, what’s up?" I asked groggily. How long had I been out of it this time?
"Mom?"
"No, it’s Santa Claus," I replied with a grin.
He let out a breath that I hadn’t realized he’d been holding and crawled into the bed. I wrapped him in my arms and held him tight.
"What’s wrong sweetheart?" I started stroking his hair around his ear. I’d been doing it since he was an infant. It calmed me more than it did him, I think.
"I wasn’t sure that it was you. You’ve seemed a little different lately and well, you don’t look like you." He buried his face into my side getting closer.
"Of course it’s me," I chided. "I’m always going to be here baby. You know that. Wait, what do you mean I look different?"
"You look like you, but different."
Well, ask a stupid question… "Why don’t you tell me what’s going on inside that brilliant noggin of yours and I’ll make it all good again. Sound good?"
His body relaxed against me as he let go of the tension and his head bobbed up and down with a nod. Scooting around, careful of still sore ribs, I raised his chin and looked in his eyes. "What’s up?"
"I feel like there’s something big about to happen and I think that you’re scared, but you’re not talking about it. Also," he paused, looking for the right words. "I think that my room is haunted. There’s a lot of rattling going on under my bed at night."
It never failed to amaze me how perceptive this little person was. It shouldn’t, this kid saw and heard everything. Every little nuance of his personality was zoned in on people’s emotions. He definitely didn’t inherit that from me and it made me wish for a brief instant that I’d made an effort to get to know his biological father.
"Things are changing, you know that right? It’s one of the reasons that we have Drew here with us."
He nodded again without saying anything.
"Well, with any change, things are going to feel a little big and a little scary. But we roll with the punches right?"
“Why have you been acting so weird the last few weeks? Mom, you won’t even put up the tree – you love putting up the tree.”
He did have a good point. I did love putting up the tree. I mentally calculated the time. If I’d been gone a few weeks, we only had a week before Christmas. Thank God I hadn’t missed Christmas.
"I’m kind of worried about the book and I need to take a trip after Christmas. I’m worried about leaving you alone. That’s all."
"I didn’t know you had to go out of town. Am I going to stay with Dad?"
I stroked his hair back from his forehead and kissed the tip of his nose. "Do you want to stay with your Dad? You can do that or stay here in the house with Drew - or with Rose and Ted. Whatever you want. I don’t think that I’ll be away for that long."
"I guess I could stay with Dad. But could I come home if I wanted?"
"You can do whatever makes you feel best. Drew will be here if you decide to do that." I rubbed his back and we sat like that for a few minutes.
"It’s just that Dad’s new girlfriend is cool, but it doesn’t feel the same as it did when we were a family."
"I know. It’s ok. We’ll put the tree up today, baby. I guess that it’s just been weird this year, not having Daddy here with us. I’ll try not to be weird anymore."
I gave him a tight squeeze.
"So this whole dying your hair blue thing. Are you going through a mid-life crisis, like Dad thinks?"
"I’m what?" I grabbed a hunk of my hair and sure enough it was a deep blue, almost black.
"Mid-life crisis. Dad says that the hot boyfriend and the hair job are a result of some mid-life crisis."
"Your father is an idiot. I have to go to the bathroom. Is there anything for breakfast?"
"Yeah, Drew made your favorite this morning."
"Sweet! Lemme go to the bathroom and I’ll meet you in the kitchen ok?"
He hopped out of the bed and smiled at me. His entire face lit up with relief. It looked like Drew and I were going to have to have a talk so he could catch me up.
I also made a mental note to talk to Drew about keeping Spot locked up at night so he didn’t get into mischief. Rotten golem. I was going to take a piece out of him, just for scaring my kid.
Somehow my wobbly legs managed to carry me from my bed to the bathroom where a reflection in the mirror scared the hell out of me. "Holy Shit!" I screeched and backpedaled to the door thinking for a moment that someone else was in there. So many feelings were duking it out for points on the battlefield of my emotions. Mortified? Yes. Surprised? Um, yeah! Pleased? Perhaps just a little.
Dylan wasn’t kidding. I did look different.
"What are you screeching at?"
Drew’s sudden appearance startled me and I nearly fell down. My legs were shakier than I thought. He grabbed me before I hit the floor and held me up for a few minutes.
"I uh, really have to pee," I started nervously.
His eyes widened. There were a few moments of awkward silence before he cleared his throat.
"Do you uh... need me to help you—?"
"Oh my God, get out of here," I interrupted and yanked down my panties before sitting on the toilet.
The fact that I hadn’t waited for him to leave was evidence of my broken mental wiring.
He squeaked and turned around hastily. I couldn’t help the burst of laughter that escaped.
"Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to start explaining what has happened to me?"
"I’m assuming that Zachary injected you."
I nodded.
"Well, the nanites activated the dormant DNA and made the changes they thought necessary to your… uh… makeup. This is what you would have looked like if Diana had kept you with her in Olympus."
"Is this why you told me not to cut my hair?" I asked confused.
He nodded. "Yeah, I don’t know if your hair would have grown back. They kind of keep your body in a state of stasis. You can tone it down through a sort of glamour but I’m afraid that you are stuck with this body and these features until you – well, until you die."
I gasped. I felt like fainting. I was glad I hadn’t gotten up yet. My hand shot up to my mouth in surprise and crashed into my lips, smashing them against my teeth. Blood filled my mouth, tasting coppery and sweet.
"Ow - Fuck," I mumbled against my hand.
Drew grabbed a towel and ran some hot water over it before handing it to me. "This is just to clean up any exterior blood. Your nanites will heal the cut pretty quickly."
I nodded and raised the towel to my mouth, slowly this time. He was right. The cut on my lip was already knitted together and I gently dabbed at it before taking a deep breath.
"Well that’s a first. I’ve never given myself a split lip before. Am I so delicate now?"
He grinned, "No, you’re that strong."
I started laughing. I couldn’t control it. I bent over and held my sides as I howled at the absurdity of this situation.
"So I’m going to walk around damaging myself?" I asked between gasps of giggles.
"Not any more than usual," he responded with a wry grin. "You’ll get used to it. It looks like your body is waking up and it’s going to go through fits and starts until you settle into what will be the norm."
"Seriously, get out of her
e. I can’t believe you're still here. I need to finish up and eat. I’m starving."
On queue my stomach growled.
"It’s not like I haven’t seen you naked, Grace."
That made the fire rush up into my face. "Shut up and go," I growled.
He left with a chuckle and I made my way to the sink to wash my hands while trying not to stare at my face.
I’d lost a lot of weight with the boot camp that Drew had put me through, but in the time I’d been out of it, my muscles had gained new definition. The loose skin on my arms and face was both tighter and smoother, taking on the ethereal glow that surrounded my mother.
Simply put – I was looking at a different person. I mean - I could tell it was me because my eyes were mine, as were my lips. But the face that I’d been staring at for years was just different. There was an edge there now that hadn't been there before.
I had to secretly admit that I loved the hair. It was more blue than black. I’d always wanted to have my hair dyed blue, but Brandon had called me silly then promptly stated that I was too old to be so immature.
"Going blue in suburbia isn’t well done." I parroted and rolled my eyes.
I giggled at myself and turned around, inspecting every inch. All of my life, I've seen myself as mousy – drab even. I knew that it was vain to stare, but the changes were just so big. This was crazy and cool wrapped up in a big red bow.
My curiosity spiked. What else had changed?
That mousy girl had been so grateful when Brandon proclaimed that he couldn’t imagine living his life without her. So grateful in fact, that she'd put up with the emotional abuse and neglect for years, because let's face it - he was making such a great sacrifice staying with someone so plain and so ugly.
That secret petty part of me couldn’t wait to see the expression on his smug stupid face when he saw me now. Would he be sorry? Probably not. He’d likely sigh disapprovingly and tell me that I needed to grow up and stop trying to recapture my youth. With that realization, I suddenly had the urge to buy every skin tight pair of leather pants I could find.
"You won’t have time to go shopping,"
I started, jumping in surprise. "I thought I told you to go." I said, exasperated.
He just grinned at me. "I was just making sure you didn’t fall down and break a hip or something. C’mon Narcissus, let’s go get something to eat."
I grumbled but followed him into the kitchen after taking one last peek at my reflection. My stomach led the way because he's a great chef and I was starving.
Chapter 14
The boys were sitting at the breakfast bar talking about Dylan's break when I sauntered in. I grabbed an orange from the basket and tossed it onto a plate before heading for the eggs and corned beef hash. The hash wasn't part of my regular diet, so Drew must have been pretty concerned about the shape he'd found me in.
Plopping down next to Dylan, I tore into the food - shoveling in forkfuls of eggs as quickly as they would fit into my mouth. I listened as I chewed. It sounded like Dylan was planning another ski trip with his dad. They were going to hit Copper Mountain after Brandon picked him up Christmas night.
We’d agreed to split his two weeks between us. I got Christmas Eve and Morning and the week preceding. He got Christmas night through New Year's.
"Are you all set for gear?" I asked between mouthfuls.
"Yeah, Dad said that he was getting me new boots for Christmas."
"Cool, your feet are growing like weeds right now. I’m surprised that any of your shoes fit…"
I trailed off as I watched Drew’s head shake furiously back and forth, silently telling me to shut up.
"Mom, you just bought me new shoes this week," Dylan stated, confused.
"Right of course I did," I responded, my voice pitched a little higher than normal. "And, I’m surprised that they still fit considering how fast your feet are growing. Duh!"
It was a save. He laughed and wrapped his arm around my waist. "I’m glad you’re back to normal Mom. You were a little weird there for a bit."
My pleading eyes told Drew, "I need to tell him."
His look replied, "It’s not time. He won’t get it."
I raised my eyebrow. "Have you met my kid?"
He bit his lower lip and then nodded slightly.
"Are you guys having one of those weird look conversations over my head?" Dylan asked. "Cause, you know that’s just creepy, right?"
I chuckled and shook my head. "Nope. Just eating this awesome food. What’s on the agenda for today besides the tree?"
"Drew promised me a Halo match if I cleaned my room and got rid of all of my old clothes and toys."
My eyebrows shot up into my hairline with surprise. Ok whose kid was this? This couldn’t be my kid. My kid refused to pick his dirty underwear up off the floor unless I threatened him with bodily harm.
"Well sounds like a good time. When do you want to do the tree? Want to save it for tonight?"
"Yeah that sounds good."
"You and I have training to do Grace," Drew interrupted.
"Ok, I’ll finish this and meet you downstairs." I started shoveling faster. I needed to talk to him and talk to him fast. What in the world happened while I was gone?
Finally, my stomach ceased its protests about being empty and I was able to push away from the breakfast bar with a sigh of relief. I dumped my plates into the dishwasher - another life change Drew had implemented. Turns out it's easier to clean a kitchen if you do it as you dirty it up. Who knew?
Jogging down the stairs and twisting my hair into a coil, I thought about my upcoming conversation with Drew which is why I completely missed that Scooter was lying near the bottom of the stairs. What would have normally resulted in mass destruction - with a high chance of broken bones and bruises - ended in something astonishing. My limbs quite suddenly had a mind of their own and went into auto-pilot mode. With palms out, I turned the fall into a dive - springing off of my hands, pulling my legs over my head in a scissor motion and landing upright.
Holy crap! Did I just do that?
Scooter loped down the rest of the stairs and rubbed up against my legs, panting. Frowning in confusion - because he was never this friendly toward me - I leaned over and rubbed behind his ears, scratching around the edges. His tail started thumping with pleasure and I laughed.
"Ok you. You’re not trying to kill me and I know a happy dog when I see one. What’s up?"
He went into typical golden retriever mode and fell limply in front of me with his legs cocked into the air and his tongue lolling out of his mouth.
"You’re a terrifying creature Scooter. Yes, you are," I cooed as I rubbed hard along his chest and stomach.
"Scooter!" The command was terse. "You’re not a damned dog. Straighten it up."
A short huff came from Scooter’s metallic snout and he rolled over, kicking his back leg out in a stuttered stretch.
"Seriously, he’s never this nice to me. What’s up?" Suspicion laced my words.
"He’s Zachary’s creature and he can smell him on you."
I was going to make a smart assed remark. I really was, but instead I shut my mouth and just nodded.
Drew pointed to the treadmill and like Scooter, I immediately obeyed.
"Today we’re going to test your speed and stamina. I’m going to increase the speed and see how long you can sustain. It should be improved since the transformation. Obviously your nanites are working properly, if we judge by the stunt on the stairs."
"That was them? I have no idea how I did that. My body just took over and I was suddenly graceful. Trippy." Shooting a toothy grin over my shoulder, I climbed onto the treadmill and hooked the emergency stop to my shirt.
Drew pulled it off. "No more safety nets."
"Oooh-kay," was my drawn out response.
We didn't bother with a warm up. I was suddenly running at a 4.7 speed from a dead stop. Normally, this would have wrecked me. I should have been out of breath in less than five min
utes, but Drew dialed up the speed so that I was jogging at 5.5.
"How does that feel?"
A furrow knit my brows as I tried to determine what spectacular thing had happened to me. "I’m good. You can go faster. I feel like I’m just jogging."
He turned it up to 6.7 and I started feeling it. I nodded at the dial, silently telling him to give me more. I wanted to see how fast my legs could move because right now, I felt like the Bionic Woman. Once the speed reached 8.4, my brain kicked in and made me realize with utter panic that my legs couldn’t move that fast yet. I only had time to blink before my chin hit the tread and my body did an ungraceful flip before tumbling off the machine entirely.
"Nanites haven’t kicked in fully," Drew noted.
"You think?" I asked, my voice raising an octave. That freakin’ hurt. My chin started itching and burning and I raised a hand to feel what was going on.
"Don’t touch it. It will heal faster if you just let it do its work."
I rubbed my sore thigh instead, willing it to stop hurting. "So obviously I can’t run that fast yet."
"You will soon. We’re going to start upping the intensity of your training because I need you to be able to defend yourself against Zachary when he comes at you again." He sighed and ran agitated fingers through his hair. "Nobody has seen him in hundreds of years. Most of us thought that he’d gone back through the gates. I’m so sorry Grace. I was in shock and I didn’t react quickly enough to keep you from having to suffer through his attentions."
Ok, I guess this was as good of a time as any to get this talk out of the way. I mostly wanted to block the terror of those initial hours but there was something redeeming in Zachary and I think his son needed to see that.
"Do you want me to tell you what happened?"
He closed his eyes and nodded, then sat on an exercise ball.
"I died," was how I started the conversation. Call me a Drama Queen, but I wanted to get that part out first because it was the part that scared me more than anything else.
Pacing, I told the story. I could feel my body tightening with the leftover fear. My arms wrapped around my middle as if hugging myself would make those painful memories all better.
Huntress (A Grace Murphy Novel) Page 13