“She needs to feed, Luke. She needs to feed,” I repeated again and again as I rocked my tiny daughter in my arms.
Once again, she was human, but she’d become even thinner. Her ribs protruded, and her skin was so white, it resembled snow.
Only little Conroy was thriving. Luke would hold him to my breast to let him feed, but I was so delirious from lack of sleep, half the time I didn’t even know he was there until he’d finished feeding and fell back asleep.
Di tried to coax me to rest too, but I refused.
“She’s dying, Di. She’d dying, and we’re not doing anything about it!” Only twenty-four hours had passed since I welcomed my babies into the world, but already, I was unfit to care for one.
I couldn’t feed my daughter.
I couldn’t control her transformations.
I couldn’t stop her pain.
And with each minute that passed, my daughter’s body cannibalized itself to provide her with the energy the changes demanded.
Hazy sunlight spilled into my bedroom. Di and Father stood a few feet away, discussing our options. Lena and Susannah hovered in the corner of the room. Flint, Edgar, and Amber were making dinner in the kitchen while the twins, Mica, and Raven traveled to our condo to bring over more clothes and things that Luke and I had forgotten in our haste to reach Father’s.
It was evening again. The sun was low in the sky. My family had brought me a plate of food to eat at lunch, but I couldn’t touch it. How can I eat when my daughter is starving?
“She’s going to die!” Tears rolled down my cheeks. My mouth felt so dry, and the heavy feeling in my breasts had lessened, most likely from dehydration. I knew I needed to drink. I needed to eat. I still had one healthy baby I needed to care for, but all I could do was stare at the darling girl in my arms, who felt much too light and looked much too sickly.
Luke paced the room. Fury emanated from his body. I knew he felt as hopeless as me, but whereas I cried time and time again, his energy turned to anger. I knew he hated that he couldn’t care for me and our children.
Di chewed on her finger as a shrewd look covered her face. “We need to find a way to stop her transformations,” she said, not for the first time. Dropping her hand, Di stepped closer to Emma. “If we can stop her transformations, and if she stays permanently as either a wolf or a human, she’ll be able to feed. If she can feed, she should survive, but unfortunately, it’s become obvious she’s completely unable to control her transformations. I was hoping they’d slow down, but since they haven’t, we need to intervene. If we don’t, she’ll die.”
Di’s pragmatic words made my throat tighten.
Lena pushed away from the wall and kneeled at my side. “Don’t worry, sister. Please don’t worry. We’ll figure this out.”
“But how do we stop them?” I asked. “She can’t control them. We can’t teach her how to control them since she’s so young, and each minute that passes by, she grows weaker and weaker.” I gripped my sister’s hand tightly. “She’ll be dead within a day or two. I’m sure of it! If she doesn’t feed, she’ll die!”
The worry and fear that something was wrong, the emotions I’d felt throughout my entire pregnancy, rose up inside me like a tidal wave. This was what my subconscious had been trying to warn me about all along—Emma’s presence and the challenges her little body would face.
Lena squeezed my hand back, her expression solemn.
With a growl, Luke’s pacing increased while Susannah stood near the corner, twisting her hands. The two of them could transform at will, but that had been learned. Beside the two of them, Edgar could transform too, but he never had, not in the entire time I’d known him.
And before that, when they were all captive in O’Brien and their transformations had been seen as threats, they’d been forced to endure that horrible drug that suppressed their animal forms. That drug—
My mouth parted. That drug . . .
I bolted to a standing position with my daughter in my arms. She barely shifted from the sudden movement as I rushed to Father. “I know! I know what we can do!”
Father steadied me since I swayed on my feet. “What, Jacinth?”
I grabbed his forearm. “That drug they gave Luke, Susannah, and Edgar at O’Brien when they were held imprisoned in the warehouse! The drug that stopped them from transforming! That’s the drug we need! If we give that to Emma, it will stop her from changing! We can control her transformations, and it will allow her to feed. Then she won’t die!” My eyes darted between him and Di. “Will that work? Can you create that drug and give it to her?”
Di and Father shared a weighted look.
“What?” I demanded. “Can you or not?”
Lena stood as still as a statue. Even Luke had stopped pacing. His beautiful golden locks hung in greasy streaks to his shoulders. Neither of us had showered or changed. For the first time in my life, I didn’t give a damn about how I looked.
“Answer her!” Luke advanced closer to our adopted father. “Can you make that drug? Can you save Emma?”
Father took a shaky breath. “No. I can’t. I have no idea what chemical composition Marcus used for that drug.”
Lena’s shoulders fell. “And since we destroyed all evidence of his work when we killed him, we’ll never know!”
Her quiet words said it all.
I stumbled back and collapsed onto the chair, cradling my tiny, weak baby to my chest. Sobs wracked my body in earnest.
She’s going to die! My beautiful girl is going to die, and there’s nothing I can do about it!
I brought her closer to my face and touched her to my cheek. Her thin skin felt so cool.
“Wait!” Di’s sharp tone broke the quiet. “Marcus may be dead, but there’s somebody else who may know how to manufacture that drug.”
My head snapped up as my delirious, foggy brain tried to understand what she was saying. “There is?”
Di’s dark eyes turned fearful, but she nodded nonetheless. “Yes. Albert Darlington is still alive. He may know how to manufacture that drug.”
My mind reeled with the implications. Albert Darlington was one of the three original scientists in Project Renatus. He, Marcus Christenson, and Father had been the founders of the project that had created us, and from what I knew of Albert, he was just as sick and twisted as Marcus had been.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Another twenty-four hours passed. That was how long it took for Father to get in contact with Albert and for Albert to return to Chicago. Apparently, the older scientist had been abroad, but when he heard why Father wanted to meet him, he’d readily agreed to fly home.
I didn’t want to think about his eager acceptance of Father’s request. And I especially didn’t want to think about why Albert had insisted Luke, the babies, and I all accompany Father to Illinois. Initially, I’d asked Father to go alone and return with the drug, but Albert was having none of it. If we didn’t accompany Father—Albert wouldn’t help us.
I leaned back in my seat on the jet. I couldn’t believe we were traveling to Chicago to plead with the man who had mercilessly studied us when we were children, but Di was right. Albert Darlington was our only hope if we wanted to save Emma.
Thankfully, Lena, Flint, and Di also joined us. It felt safer that way—safety in numbers.
Little Conroy slept peacefully in Luke’s arms. I held Emma. I couldn’t bear to let her go. She seemed to grow weaker and weaker with each minute that passed, and despite the unbearable fatigue that rolled through my body in sharp intermittent waves, I couldn’t sleep.
“Has she eaten more?” Lena leaned across the aisle and touched my arm gently.
The plane dipped as clouds drifted by the window. Greg, our pilot, had begun our descent into Chicago.
“A little.” I shrugged helplessly. Emma was currently in her wolf form. Even as a pup, her fur was dull and her eyes droopy. She’d lost even more weight in the past few hours, and her spine stood up in a ridge, like prominent beads on a ne
cklace. “She drank a few sips from the bottle about two hours ago. That’s all I’ve been able to coax into her today. She’s just too tired from the transformations.”
I lifted my little ball of fur and cuddled her to my cheek. She lay listlessly in my arms, her breaths shallow. It had been an hour since her last change, which gave her a small break, but I knew another one was due soon. According to Di, ninety-seven minutes was the longest Emma had gone between transformations since being born.
“She’s going to be fine.” Lena moved her hand to clasp mine. “Albert will give us the drug, and then Emma will stop transforming and start eating. She’s going to be okay.”
I gripped Lena’s hand and stared into my sister’s green eyes. My throat constricted. “But on what terms?”
~ ~ ~
We landed in Chicago twenty minutes later. Hot humid air swirled around the jet as we descended the stairs to the tarmac. The summer sun shone brightly as the scent of jet fuel hung in the air. A large van with black-tinted windows waited for us. We wasted no time climbing aboard before speeding toward Albert’s.
Driving along the interstates and highways surrounding the Windy City brought back horrible memories that I wanted to bury. It was here that we had rescued Luke, Edgar, and Susannah from O’Brien Pharmaceuticals. It was here that we had returned to Marcus’s mansion and ended the tyranny that O’Brien had forced upon us our entire lives.
But now we were back. And once again, we were confronting somebody from our past—a person I never wanted to see again.
Father weaved in and out of traffic, driving much faster than he usually did.
Di turned from where she sat in the front seat to face us. “When we arrive at Albert’s, Father will do the talking. He’s still hoping we won’t need to be involved. We’re to stay in the van unless he signals for us to enter Albert’s home. Does everybody understand?”
I cradled Emma to my chest. Since she was still in wolf form, a car seat wouldn’t work. Only little Conroy was buckled up. “We’ll stay in the van. Just please, Father. Make him help us.”
“Yes. Please.” Luke’s voice was hoarse.
Father glanced at us in the rear-view mirror. He looked nearly as fatigued as Luke and I did. He had spent countless hours in his lab, poring over old data as he searched for the drug that Marcus had created. But try as he might, Father hadn’t been able to find it, and despite knowing he could probably create a similar drug eventually, at the moment, we didn’t have time.
“I’ll do my best.” Father returned his attention to the road, a grim expression on his face.
~ ~ ~
We pulled up to Albert’s estate thirty minutes later. Its structure was chillingly familiar. Between the solid walls that lined the perimeter, the swiveling security cameras, and the elaborate wrought iron gates that admitted vehicles, more memories surfaced of the time we had broken into Marcus’s mansion. I shuddered.
“Was he hard to get in touch with?” Flint leaned forward in his seat beside my sister. Through his thin T-shirt, the muscles in his back were visible.
Father shook his head when the large gates opened soundlessly. “I’ve had Albert’s contact information since . . .” He pulled the van forward. “Well, since I last spoke to him.”
I knew Father was referring to that fateful day over two years ago, when Father had flown to Chicago to negotiate terms with Albert—a blackmail deal that guaranteed Albert would leave us alone.
Father drove down the narrow winding driveway. It was perfectly smooth blacktop and looked new. Large trees shaded the drive. The grounds were eerily pristine.
“Albert’s also had my contact information since I reached out to him two years ago.” Father drove the van up to a large stone mansion, which looked like something out of the English countryside. He shifted the van into park. “Albert has inquired a few times about all of you. However, I’ve never replied.”
Di looked at him sharply. “You never told me that.”
Father shrugged. “I didn’t think it was important. He doesn’t deserve to know anything about any of you.”
The bitter twinge in Father’s tone was something I rarely heard.
Father opened his door. “Excuse me. I’ll return as quickly as possible. Hopefully, I won’t need you to come inside with the children.”
My heart pounded as Father slammed the door behind him and walked on stiff legs to the mansion’s front door. I closed my eyes and prayed fervently that Albert would give us the drug without any of us having to see him again.
~ ~ ~
My eyes began to droop as we waited in the car. Father had left the engine running so the air-conditioning stayed on, but still, exhaustion wrapped itself around me like a lover’s embrace.
“Just rest for a while, my love,” Luke whispered into my ear.
Lena shifted from where she sat in the back. “This seat is really long. How about you come back here with Emma and lie down? Both of you can—”
“No!” I gasped when I felt the tremble in my arms.
Emma began to convulse and yipped painfully when the transformation took over.
Di reached for Emma and took her gently from my arms. She winced when the snapping sound of bones filled the cab. Tears filled my eyes as little Conroy let out a cry. Within seconds, the van was filled with painful yelps from our daughter and ear-piercing wails from our son. Chaos had broken out in the span of twenty seconds.
“Can you feed him?” Luke unbuckled Conroy as I automatically lifted my shirt.
Flint turned to look out the window. I knew he’d done it to respect my privacy, but at the moment, I didn’t give a damn.
“Di?” I called. Conroy readily latched onto my breast, but my attention still stayed on my daughter.
“The transformation has finished.” Di held up Emma from the front, but there were no cries.
My heart stopped. “Di? Is she okay? Why isn’t she making any sounds?”
When Di didn’t respond, the blood drained from my face. “Di?” I screamed.
“She’s very weak.” Di cradled my naked daughter to her chest. Against Di’s black blouse, Emma looked snowy white. “I need you to try to feed her, Jacinda. Can you latch her on to your other breast? Her heart rate is much too fast, and she’s incredibly dehydrated. I don’t think we have much time left. She’s . . .”
I swallowed sharply. “She doesn’t have much time left before she passes away? Is that what you were going to say?”
Luke’s eyes flickered to golden as he emitted a powerful growl. Lena sat with wide eyes, her face pale. Even though Flint still looked out the window, I saw him swallow tightly.
Di gave the barest hint of a nod. “That’s right. I don’t think she has much time left.”
Before I could think about the wisdom of my actions, I unlatched Conroy and handed him to Luke. Little Conroy let out a startled cry at his meal ending sooner than he wanted, but I couldn’t let my daughter die. I flew to the front of the van, my movements clumsy in the cramped space, and grabbed Emma from Di.
“Jacinda? What are you doing?” Di’s frantic call filled my ears as I unlocked the van’s door.
I didn’t reply as I flew out of the vehicle.
Cradling my daughter to my chest, I ran to the stairs and up to the front door. A huge wooden door with an elaborate metal lion’s head in the center of it greeted me. I banged on it fiercely. “Open this door! Please! You have to help me!”
The air rustled around me. Luke appeared at my side. He still held Conroy, who was wailing loudly enough to wake the entire world.
“My love?” Luke’s golden eyes were filled with panic.
“Albert has to help her, Luke! He has to!” Emma’s tiny body was still cradled to my chest, but she hadn’t made a sound. And worse than that, she felt like skin and bones.
The door opened abruptly just as Luke raised his fist to smash it down.
My breath caught in my throat as I gazed into eyes that I remembered—the cold, calculatin
g blue eyes of Albert Darlington.
Albert stepped aside, but not before I saw a sickening smile lift his lips. “Jacinth, it’s a pleasure to see you again. I hear that you require my assistance.” Similar to Father, he was well-dressed. However, that was where the similarities ended. Where Father was warm and loving, the cold, detached emotion rolling off Albert was alien-like and clinical.
I hurried stiffly into the massive entryway. Marble flooring and ivory pillars adorned the circular foyer. A large and wide staircase off to the right led to the second floor. Father stood only a few feet away, his face pale.
“You have to help us! You just have to!” Tears formed in my eyes. I didn’t care that my voice sounded desperate or that my hair was in disarray. I probably looked at death’s doorstep, but I didn’t care about any of that. Even though my vision swam in and out of focus from lack of sleep and even though intermittent nausea had wracked my body for the last twelve hours, I didn’t care.
I unfolded my tight embrace to show him my daughter. “She’s close to death. Please help us.”
Albert’s eyes widened as he reached for my daughter. I was loath to let her go, especially when I saw the eager gleam in his eyes.
“Conroy tells me that she’s inherited Luke’s abilities.”
A blanket appeared at my side. Lena lifted it to Albert. “Here. Cover her with this.”
I gave my sister a brief, grateful smile. In my haste to leave the van, I’d completely forgotten to dress my own child.
Albert wrapped Emma’s emaciated body in the blanket then felt for her pulse. “I believe you’re correct, Conroy. She’s close to death. Come. We don’t have much time.”
CHAPTER NINE
Albert led us through the large mansion, which felt like a vacant tomb.
“You’ll have to excuse my not offering you refreshments. My staff is off as I wasn’t expected back from Europe for another month.”
None of us responded. My entire family followed behind me. I didn’t register any of our surroundings. All I felt was Luke’s arm around my waist and the whimpers that came from little Conroy. It seemed our son had accepted his fate and knew that another meal wasn’t coming anytime soon.
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