by Zoë Fox
“Certainly,” he nodded.
“Lucas told me what happened,” her mother sighed once the door was closed.
“He did?” The evening was coming back slowly. She didn’t want to contradict whatever version of the truth Lucas told her mother. There were some things she doubted Meredith would be able to handle. “What did he tell you?”
It took her a moment to start talking, but once she did she seemed to have trouble stopping. For the most part, the story she told was what Alex had lived, except for the parts about communicating telepathically and Kirk’s final moments. She ended her summary with passing out only seconds before Lucas had killed her attacker.
“I just can’t believe it,” Meredith’s eyes were watering at this point. “I mean, I really thought he was the one. He seemed so sweet.”
Alex resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She had never seen Kirk do anything that could remotely qualify as ‘sweet’. Controlling, sure. Homicidal, certainly. But definitely not sweet. Instead, she silently patted her mother’s hand.
Meredith dabbed at her eyes with a tissue she’d retrieved from the bedside table. “Do you think I’m ever going to meet someone? I mean, I’m not destined to be alone, am I?”
A knock at the door saved Alex from having to answer.
“May we come in?” Lucas peaked his head inside the hospital room, Toad’s arms wrapped around his neck.
“Of course,” Meredith responded, wiping her finger under her eyes in hopes of fixing her eyeliner. “I’ll just go grab a soda from the vending machine.” At the door, she turned around and smiled at Alex. “Who knows? I might meet a cute doctor in the hallway.”
Alex shook her head at her mother’s retreating form.
“Is she always like that?” Lucas asked as he deposited Toad on the bed beside his sister. He quickly scampered up the inclined mattress to give his sister a hug.
She nodded as she stroked her brother’s hair. “Well, sometimes she’s worse.” She paused for a moment. “So, what did the doctor say?”
He took a seat beside her, stroking her hand lightly as he explained about the blood transfusion. “I only had time to stop the bleeding, not heal the wounds completely. In hindsight, that was for the better. I can’t imagine the confusion it would have caused the medical community had you been brought in with significant blood loss and no lacerations.”
The image of his hand, the same one resting on top of hers, squeezing the life out of Kirk flooded to the forefront of her mind. Her stomach slipped and she had to fight off a wave of nausea. “So, um, what happened to the body?”
Lucas tilted his head to the right, studying her. “You’re not afraid of me now, are you?”
“No, of course not,” she said honestly. “It was just a little disgusting. I was just curious how you explained the whole gaping neck wound thing to the police.”
He didn’t say anything for several moments. The clock ticking behind his head and the sound of Toad’s breathing were the only sounds in the room. “There was nobody to explain.”
She sat up straighter, pulling Toad with her. “What do you mean?”
He sighed, continued to her hand affectionately. “I couldn’t very well justify the injuries he had sustained. I had to remove him from the house and hide the body before the authorities arrived.”
“So, the cops don’t know he’s dead?”
He nodded. “And they can’t. At least not anytime in the near future. I told your Uncle that I fought him off, but that he escaped out the backdoor.”
“Did he believe you?”
“He seemed skeptical at first but eventually accepted it as truth.” He ran a hand through his loose hair. “I was worried about you, Alexa.”
“You and me both. That was the scariest thing I’ve ever lived through.” She reached over Toad and retrieved her cup of water.
“My fear for you might have caused me to do something you won’t like.” He was careful to keep eye contact as he spoke.
“What did you do?” She asked, her eyes narrowing.
“I was afraid you’d lost too much blood. Your heartbeat had slowed dangerously.” His throat tightened with emotion, making the next few words more difficult to say. “I didn’t want to lose you, so I gave you a few drops of my blood. It was not a significant amount, only enough to keep you stable until you could receive medical attention.”
Her eyes widened. “That doesn’t mean I’m going to become a vampire now, does it?”
He shook his head. “No, of course not. However, there may be side effects so we must keep our eyes open for them.”
“What kind of side effects?” The scene from Rosemary’s Baby when the title character started chowing down on raw meat flashed before her eyes.
Toad giggled.
“To be honest with you, Alexa, I don’t know. I have never done anything like this before. It may be nothing,” he intertwined his fingers with hers, “but whatever it may be, I am sure we can figure it out together.”
Alex leaned back against the pillow. Her head was killing her. The last thing she wanted to think about at that moment was the possible side effects of vampire blood.
“Are you angry with me?” He struggled to keep his eyes neutral, not wanting to influence her feelings. In the moment, he’d done what he thought best to save her and he would live with any consequences. The important thing was that she was alive.
“No, I’m not mad.” She managed a weak smile, fighting through the pain of her throbbing head.
“Good. I would have hated to have to fall back on the fact that I did save your life tonight.” He said, returning her grin.
Alex rolled her eyes. “I would have thought of something.:
“Like tipping the chair over?” He asked, his right eyebrow rose.
“I was kind of pressed for time there!” She glanced down at Toad. “What I want to know is why you never told me what Kirk was?”
He looked up at her, his eyes wide and innocent. “What do you mean?”
“You can read minds. You knew that he was a killer, but you didn’t say anything.” She stroked his hair. “Why not?”
“I did!” He exclaimed. “Toad said there were spiders in his head.”
“And how was I supposed to know what that meant? Why didn’t you just say ‘Hey, mom’s new boy toy is a bloodthirsty psycho?”
Both Lucas and Alex watched the child, waiting for an answer.
“Oh,” Toad shrugged his shoulders. “You didn’t ask.”
Chapter Fifty-Four
Alex opened the door to Lucas’ house, closing it behind her. It had been three days since she was released from the hospital and her wounds had already healed to thin shiny gray lines. She’d purposely skipped her follow up visit to the doctor, knowing she wouldn’t be able to explain her complete recovery. She’d chalked it up to the miraculous healing powers of vampire blood, although any other side effects had yet to show themselves.
“Hey, I brought your mail inside,” she said, placing the two letters on the coffee table.
“Thank you,” Lucas said as he emerged from his study. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed his lips to hers in a kiss. He savored the smell of her skin, still thankful for the fact she had survived.
The last few nights had been blissful, Alex thought. It was amazing how nice things could be when no one was trying to kill you.
“So, I think one of those is the electricity bill,” she said when he released her. “And the other one has the funky olive tree sea you like to use on the back of it.”
Lucas paused. The events of several days’ prior had caused him to completely forget the letter he had sent to the Council regarding Roderick. In hindsight, he should have sent follow up correspondence to inform them that he had been mistaken, but there was little he could do to remedy the situation now. As it was, he would now have to pen a rather awkward apology.
He opened the bill first, delaying the inevitable.
“Will you show me how
to handle this late?” He asked, placing it to the side.
She rolled her eyes. “When are you going to start catching the hang of the whole new millennium thing?”
The corner of his mouth twitched in the beginnings of a smile. “If I did, how would I talk you into spending time with me?”
She pushed his shoulder playfully. “I only do it now out of pity.”
“Then, madam, you may continue to pity me as long as you like,” he teased, slipping his finger under the seal of the second letter.
He unfolded the thick off-white piece of parchment and began to read, while Alex went to the kitchen to grab something to drink.
Mister Beinhard,
The Council of Gnosis has met and discussed the issues you have brought to our attention. You have accused a fellow member of the Order, Roderick Wadeford, of drawing unwanted and undue attention to our kind. Your presence and the presence of any collaborating witnesses are hereby requested at court to determine the faith of Mister Wadeford. The date and time that the trial will commence will be sent to you sometime in the immediate future.
In the event that you are unaware of recent changes made to the Council’s protocol, please allow this to serve as notice that, if the Council finds Mister Wadeford innocent, your own trail will take place immediately following his. The punishment for intentionally falsifying information to harm the name of another member of the Order is death. (Please see the Official Rulebook, Section 7, page 213 paragraph 4 for further clarifications.)
Please await further instructions.
Good Day,
The Council of Gnosis.
“Okay, that is definitely not good,” Alex said, her voice wavering as she sat the orange juice container on the counter.
Lucas looked up, her voice drawing his attention from his silent reading. He stared at her quizzically, wondering how he was going to break the news to her.
“So, these Council guys are just going to kill you if you can’t prove you had just cause to think Roderick was up to something?” She asked, coming back into the living room. The color had drained from her face. “I mean, they can’t do that, can they?”
He continued to stare at her. “How did you know what the letter said, Alexa?”
“You read it aloud, didn’t you?” She narrowed her eyes. “Why are you giving me that funny look?”
He placed the paper on the coffee table. “I read it silently.”
“No, you didn’t. I heard your voice reading every word out loud.” She was beginning to panic.
He shook his head. “You must have read my mind.”
Zoë C. Fox
Lives in North Augusta, SC.
She would love to hear what you thought of this book, even if it's to tell her to get a real job. She can be reached at:
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