PART I ORIGIN
Isipped the bubbling cold beverage in my hand. The fruity taste of champagne was a welcome burst of flavor, though it was nothing like the headiness of blood.
Letting the sip linger on my tongue, I eyed the flight attendant who sauntered past in a figure-hugging sarong kebaya.
“For the record, Cheng, I think you would look devastating in one of those outfits,” a male voice murmured to my side.
Lifting an eyebrow, I gave my traveling companion a sidelong look. Companion was not an accurate word to describe him. I could use any number of words such as vampire (though not the same type as me), large man (he was about six feet tall, and those long, muscled legs of his filled out the space before him, whereas I could fold my entire body into my seat with ease), or even fellow person of East Asian ethnicity.
But companion? No. At least, I wasn’t a willing one, not in some senses of the word.
I was inclined to stab him in the throat for that rather inappropriate comment when I noticed how the tips of his ears had reddened slightly. He downed his champagne, throat bobbing as he swallowed.
Huh. A compliment. A sincere one. And he was embarrassed to say so, but he still did anyway. All right, I shan’t stab you for that remark. I’m too tired, and now I’m curious.
What do you want with me?
“I prefer my qipaos, ” I murmured instead.
“Of course. Classics.”
A different flight attendant approached us. This one wore a uniform in hues of red and orange, unlike the other one ’ s purple and black tones She appeared older too The uniform was probably a sign of her more senior rank.
“Miss Lee, is there anything else I can get for you?” she chirped, eyes darting to me.
A gentle shake of my head and those mascara-lined eyes returned to my companion. “And you, Mr Xia?”
Oh, her finely-honed charms were no match against his. He returned her flirtatious smile, and her rouged cheeks bloomed a delicate pink.
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Show off.
“I’ll have another one, please,” he requested, handing his long-stem glass over.
“Certainly, Mr Xia.”
As she strode away, I asked, “Are you that thirsty, Henry?” He huffed “Nervous”
“You?” I scoffed. “Why? We’re no longer in danger. At least, not for the time being.”
“No, we aren’t. Thank goodness for that.”
I jutted my chin behind us. “Your friend, Shastari, is fine. I believe she’s fallen asleep again.”
“She’s not my friend,” he answered, his face hardening. “She’s the one who dragged me from my office in New York to Singapore.” His dark eyes met mine. “To find you. ”
My mouth parted to speak, but he cut me off, “But you are right. We’re safe now. ” The darkness flitted away as a shy smile emerged from his face. “I’m nervous because I’m finally sitting here. With you. A captive audience. You can’t run from me here.”
That unsettled me a little. And it clued me in to what he wanted. Either there was something he had to say that he wanted me to hear, or… He wanted me to tell him things Things that only I knew And knowing who he was, I could guess what he wanted to know. He was right. I wanted to run. But I couldn’t, and I refused to. So I hedged and laughed instead. “Here I thought you were nervous because you were worried I’d bite or maul you, or do any number of untold heinous things to you, given my past and our… ” I gestured between us. “...differences.”
He barked a laugh, large hands curling over the armrests. “We have our differences, surely. But I know you better than you think. If you wanted to maul or bite me, you’d have done it
already. Admit it, you ’ re just as curious about me as I am about you. ” Damn. He had me there.
I was curious. Unhealthily so. I couldn’t help myself. I was already drawn to him for a number of reasons, and I allowed myself to ponder them as the flight attendant returned with Henry’s second champagne.
The most obvious thing about him, clearly, was how much of a killer he probably was. That is, if one ignored his expensive collared shirt, those dress pants and polished shoes, all of which made him look like he had stepped out of a business meeting involving billions of dollars.
He had the arms of a killer. His white sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, exposing the thick corded muscles of his arms which flexed with even the slightest movement. His thighs bulged from beneath his pants, obvious to me even in the dim lighting of the aircraft cabin.
It made me wonder when was the last time Henry had taken another life. It made me think of the last time I had done so. Once, unintentionally, a mere two years ago. And before that, over a hundred years ago.
Then again, in this day and age, most vampires didn’t have to resort to violence. It was needless and cruel, and a sentiment that most of us held to our hearts.
Truth be told, I was probably more of a killer than Henry. I did not have his build and obvious strength. I could fit all five-and-a-half feet of me into my luxurious first-class seat. Crosslegged. And though I didn’t look older than twenty-five, I’d lived over two-thousand years.
I had literally seen the rise and fall of civilizations.
I wondered what the flight attendant thought of me, thought of us, as she handed Henry his drink. Surely she couldn’t have guessed that the blood on my hands might have drowned dozens of people. Surely she couldn’t have suspected that Henry and I were no more than a man and a woman taking a redeye flight together.
What misconceptions ran through her mind as she glanced my way, a hint of envy in her gaze? Did she think I was Henry’s wife? His mistress? A friend or a colleague?
The last thing she would have guessed was that we were two vampires on the run.
Three, actually. Shastari, after all, was somewhere behind us. Sleeping.
Why, the flight attendant was probably wondering what Henry was doing with a woman like me. I was dressed in black clothes and combat boots. That, together with my white skin and slightly unruly shoulder-length black hair, made me look like an unobtrusive ghost, which was precisely what I wanted her to think, what I wanted anyone to think. Not to look too closely. To ignore. To turn away.
Henry, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. He was the epitome of a human in his prime a man in his thirties. Strong jaw. Broad shoulders. Healthy golden-brown skin. Raven black hair in a tight knot behind his head. One could not ignore him at all, not with his fit, strong, virile appearance.
Virile?
I tamped down on the thought, chiding myself. Don’t think of him that way. That is not a road you want to travel.
Henry finished his drink, waved an attendant over, and handed his empty glass to her. Then, he settled into his seat, clasping his hands together with a satisfied sigh.
He leaned toward me. “Did I mention that I’m a bit of a collector of stories?”
That statement threw me off guard for only an instant, before it occurred to me that this was what he wanted.
A story. Mine.
Not that he was explicitly asking for it, no. But I could see where this was going. I wanted to sigh and ask why he wasn’t feeling as exhausted as I was. I’d just come out of a fight for my life (not my first, of course, but definitely a memorable one in recent years), whereas he and Shastari had been on the run for three days.
I wanted to ignore him, but he was being pesky. After all, I’d requested separate seats at the airline check-in counter. However, once Henry had realized that the cabin was empty save for the three of us, he had insinuated himself beside me like some sort of eager puppy.
A very large eager puppy.
And I was stuck with him all the way until we landed in Italy. I was a captive audience, indeed.
“No, you have not,” I responded irritably, gesturing to the pricey titanium watch on his exposed wrist. “I gather you ’ ve amassed a fortune for yourself, but so have many of us who live for centuries and hide in plain sight among humans. Although…that wasn’t the point of your question.”
He caught the annoyance in my voice. I caught it too. The way it sharpened my gentle accent, which had been honed after years of living in post-Victorian England, where lords and ladies still lived in houses full of butlers and cooks and servants, and sipped on tea with milk while nibbling on buttered scones in fine parlors.
On the other hand, Henry possessed a mid-Atlantic accent which reminded me of black-andwhite Hollywood films. Coupled with that deep, smooth voice of his, it was easy to see why he oozed enough charm to seduce an entire room. Or in this case, an entire cabin of female flight attendants. Possibly the sole male one too. The only distinctive thing about his speech was a sharp twang here and there, and the faster cadence of his words. I would have bet that had something to do with his Asian heritage. If he spoke Mandarin or Cantonese (and I had no doubt that he was well-versed in one or both, like me), then it explained the uniqueness of his speech.
Speaking of heritage…why did he keep his hair so unfashionably long? Was it a throwback to his youth? Had he grown up in olden China? Which dynasty? Why was his skin so much darker than mine? It wasn’t just because he was a different type of vampire. There was non-Chinese blood in him too, I was certain of it.
He spoke again, interrupting my unbridled curiosity, “No, Cheng. That was certainly not the point of my question.”
Cheng. Again, my chosen name on his lips jarred me. I knew why, though I wasn’t going to dwell on it.
Instead, I asked, “What do you mean then, when you say that you collect stories?”
“I collect stories,” he repeated. “Like my ancestors before me. ” Ancestors. Like the one who preceded you by several generations. The one I knew and loved. His gaze locked with mine, but I merely angled my head, ignoring the leaden weight that threatened to settle in my stomach. He was trying to get a reaction out of me. I knew this. He knew this.
I gave him nothing.
After a moment, he went on, “I have archives. Storage facilities. Copies of copies I painstakingly made to preserve the wealth of knowledge that’s been handed down to me. Which I am now solely responsible for. But I took things a step further, and it’s only because of the times we live in.”
“One step further?”
There was a gleam of pride in his eyes as he revealed, “Fifteen years ago, I started a publishing company. It’s rather successful now if I do say so myself. Perhaps you ’ ve heard of it.”
At the expectant tilt of my head, he told me the name of his company. I chuckled in amusement. “A True Blood like you? Running a publishing business? That is a first. And what, pray tell, do your fellow True Bloods make of it?”
For that’s what Henry was. A True Blood vampire. A vampire who was biological, who could thrive in the day and eat food. A vampire who was born, who lived and matured in a way no different from that of a human child, until they hit puberty. Then, their strength grew. Their thirst developed. And they became what they were born to be.
Which meant that he was vastly different from me. A Hybrid vampire. Made. Changed. Formerly human. I consumed a minuscule amount of food and drink for appearances. I could not stand the sun, for it burned my skin and made my flesh grow tumorous.
Henry shrugged. “I make no secret of it, but I don’t speak of it either. I don’t speak to my kin at all if I can help it.”
“Ah…you’ve hinted at that time and again how you avoid your people like some reclusive hermit.”
“A rich one. ”
“Shastari has alluded to it as well, and I’d ask her myself except she’s fast asleep. And you refuse to reveal why.”
His silence and stony expression served as his answer. He wouldn’t speak of it until he was ready.
Suppressing the sigh in my chest, I switched gears, “Your publishing company. Is that how you collect your stories then?”
“Oh, no. Not at all,” he clarified, eager for the change in topic. “The company ’ s just a business that happens to mesh with my interests. The stories churned out by my company are fiction, at the end of the day, no matter what people might think. Whereas the stories I collect are still ours. ”
Ours. He’d said the word as if he and I were no different from each other. But we stood on opposing ends of a chasm. Surely he knew that?
It was time to address what I’d already guessed. I crossed my arms. “I won’t give you my story. There’s nothing to tell if that’s where you ’ re going.”
His face fell. This obvious display of emotion amazed me. How could he have lived so long this way? Unless it was because of his proximity to me. It was clear he’d known of me for a long time. Perhaps…idolized me.
You don’t know me, I thought. And I don’t know you.
He collected himself. “Perhaps I don’t want your story.”
I shot him a look.
“Perhaps I want Sarah’s.”
I didn’t, for a second, believe that. He knew who I was. I knew who he was. He reeked of curiosity, just as I did. What a blatant lie.
Or was it?
“Sarah’s fine.” Is she?
His dark-brown eyes held mine, and he mirrored my own doubts as he said, “We’re flying toward danger, not away from it. You’ve said so yourself that he, our enemy, has been looking for one like you. You’ve gotten away. Barely. And it’s thanks to me and Shastari. Now, I know of only one other person in this entire world like you, Cheng, and we both know who that is.”
My hands balled into fists. “Sarah.”
Regret left a bitter taste in my mouth. I should have protected her better. But I did all I could, didn’t I? The circumstances were far from ideal.
“We can’t help her,” Henry interjected, echoing my thoughts. “Not now, while we ’ re flying in the air. Help me understand Sarah. What she knows. What she doesn’t. Whether she’s even equipped to fend off anyone trying to take her…”
His words threatened to steal the air from my lungs, and I forced myself to breathe. At least I could breathe. After all, I was still flesh and blood. Just…different from a human, as Henry was different too.
“All right. To tell you about Sarah, I’d have to speak of how I met Julian first.”
A corner of his sensuous mouth lifted. “Tell me then. I’m all ears. ”
So I did, beginning with events from two years ago.
Cheng
The boy, Julian, rolled his eyes at Cheng. “Please, like I would believe you ’ re a vampire, Mariko. If that’s even your real name. ”
From where she was crouched by his bed, she frowned at his perceptiveness. “That’s irrelevant. You need to come with me immediately.”
He raised his brows, mouth puckered with skepticism. “Yeah, sure. You say you ’ re a vampire. And you may look like one… ” He gestured to her all-black clothing that swathed her in shadows. “But how do I know you ’ re actually one?”
Well. That was off-putting. Especially with that slight American twang of his, which was made all the more amusing by his prepubescent voice and the smug look on his face.
She pursed her lips. “You’re rather more difficult than I expected. I don’t need to prove anything to you. ” Stretching out a pale white hand, she motioned with her fingers. “Come.”
“Prove it.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Anything I do will frighten you. I don’t wish to do that.”
“I’m ten. I’m all about being scared.”
Oh for goodness sake.
“I am not a Halloween amusement.” She gestured about his bedroom. “You don’t belong here. Don’t you see that?”
She’d struck a nerve. His brown eyes softened with uncertainty. It was impossible for him to believe the life he led was anything but normal. He should have been smarter than that. She’d spotted storybooks scattered through his room, and a TV set mounted on a long cabinet. He must have known that he ought to have a mother and father, perhaps siblings, and attend school. Surely he couldn’t believe that two nannies, and the building he was confined to, or the supervised weekly visits to a nearby library or playground or museum, with plainclothes guards watching nearby, was normal?
He was staring at his arms, smooth and unmarred by scars. “They’re always poking me with needles. And….there’s always people coming to ask me things. People with white coats. They sometimes put wires on me. ”
She nodded. “And when they take your blood, the needle marks always seem to heal without a trace. Don’t they?”
A muscle on his jaw twitched. “Yeah. They’d always ask how I was feeling. Whether the shot they gave me made me sick. Or…why I always healed so fast. They said it wasn’t normal.” His eyes met hers. “What…what am I?”
The way his voice tightened, the confusion on his face…it tugged at her heartstrings. “You’re very unique. I know you can hear better than most people. You have never been sick. You recover remarkably fast from bumps and scrapes. You may have tried to hide it but…”
“They always outsmart me. ” His gaze turned furtive. “They’re always watching me. Cameras everywhere. Except for the bathroom. Wait. The one in here…they’ll see you. ”
She nodded toward a corner of the ceiling. “I disabled the one in this bedroom. Don’t worry. ” He relaxed a little. “Wh-what am I then? Am I…am I like you?”
Her smile turned lopsided. “I thought you didn’t believe in vampires.”
“I didn’t believe you were a vampire. I thought vampires were supposed to be scary. ” He bared his teeth, lifting his hands in a caricature. “You know, stuff of nightmares and blood and fangs and all that. You…” He waved his hand in a rocky motion that said, meh. “What’re you supposed to be anyway? A goth? Wednesday Addams?”
She stifled a laugh. “You are most amusing, Julian. Well, I suppose you aren’t afraid of me because you are like me. In a manner of speaking.”
She didn’t add, You aren’t afraid of me because you ’ re not big enough to realize that despite the dark and sinister thing within all of us, you’ll grow up into a True Blood. While I, a Hybrid, am your people’s greatest enemy.
There would be time to explain all that later.
“Which is…?” he pressed, his eyes suddenly gleaming with anticipation. “Come on. Prove it. You say you ’ re a vampire. So…”
Cheng sighed in resignation. “Children…all right. You get one bit of proof from me, and if you behave, I might be inclined to show you more. ”
“You know…I like the way you talk.” He tried to mimic her speech, “Fancy a cuppa tea?”
“I do not speak like that.”
“You kinda do.”
She grinned, showing off gleaming white teeth with sharp canines. A little sharper than that of most humans, but not so sharp as to attract attention.
He clucked his tongue, the skepticism returning to his face. “My dog has sharper teeth.”
“You don’t have a dog.”
“If I had a dog. They wouldn’t even let me keep a fish or a hamster.”
“Can your imaginary dog do this?”
In a flash, she raised her upturned left wrist to her mouth and bit into her flesh.
“Ew…” he winced, looking like he wanted to gag.
She withdrew her teeth, tongue darting out to lick blood from her lips. The coppery taste zinged through her and her eyes darted to her wrist, drawing Julian’s attention there.
The marks were sealed shut, leaving nothing but unmarred skin and drying droplets of blood. She dragged her tongue over the blood and grinned at him again.
He shuddered. She saw the fear in his eyes. And…understanding.
“Okay…” he said, slowly nodding. “I think I’m sold. So…you’re a vampire. And…I’m some kinda vampire too.”
“That is correct.”
He ran a hand over his mouth. “Why don’t I have sharp teeth? And how come I don’t turn to fire in the sun? Am I gonna live forever? Do I need a coffin to sleep? What about garlic? Wait, I had pasta for lunch. There’s garlic in it. Okay, so I can eat garlic. What about ”
Cheng lifted a hand, wondering if it would be wrong to stuff his mouth with a sock. It probably was, so she said instead, “You need to stop talking.”
He didn’t. But he changed tack and pointed a finger at her, and asked, “Why’re you here then? And why should I come with you?”
Ah, finally. A relevant question.
“I’m here to do you a favor.” Cheng pulled the sleeve of her black jacket back over her arm. “And you’ll come with me simply because I say so. ”
“Because I don’t belong here,” he repeated her earlier words.
She nodded, stretching her hand out toward him as he sat on his comfortable and warm bed. “Now, we have a really narrow window of time…”
“Where’re you taking me?” he interrupted.
“Does it matter?”
“You tell me. I don’t even know who you are, and what you ’ re gonna do with me. ” Cheng fisted her hands on her hips. “You ask a dreadful number of questions.”
He snorted. “I’m a kid. Whadaya expect? Don’t you know anything about kids?”
She didn’t have to consider the question. “I don’t,” was her curt answer.
“Well, you wouldn’t make a very good babysitter if you ’ re such an amateur, I—”
The word ‘amateur’ got to her. And now, not only did she have to resist the urge to stuff his mouth with a sock, she had to resist the temptation to strangle him.
She summoned her most patient and stone-cold voice, the type she used just before breaking bones, and said, “Let me stop you. I am risking my neck for one of you so don’t make it sound like you ’ re the one doing me a favor.”
The boy gave an insouciant shrug, oblivious to her tone. And of course, he picked up on something else she’d said.
“Wait a minute. One of you… ” He lowered his voice into a conspiratorial whisper, “You know of others like me? I’m…I’m not the only one?”
“Silly boy, is that what was holding you back?” She clucked her tongue. “Yes, there are others like you. Too many for my liking if you ask me. But no, you ’ re not the only one. You never were. You’ve been trapped here all your life, and that’s not right. I am getting you out, and I’ll bring you to your real family.”
That got him moving. He threw off his blanket and stood as Cheng rose to her feet. He shrugged on a sweater, then grabbed a pair of sneakers for his feet as he asked, “Who are you then?”
Cheng pursed her lips thoughtfully. “They’ll tell you plenty of things about me. That I’m your enemy. That I’m only looking out for myself. Or that I’m out to kill you because of who you are. ”
He paled. “K-kill me? Are…are you gonna?”
She scoffed. “I’m only your enemy if you see me that way. Yes, I am doing this for myself, but considering I’m here rescuing you, you should be grateful for that and cooperate with me. And no, I have no intention of killing you. That would be an utter waste of my valuable time.”
He let out a boyish snort. “You’re a vampire. Don’t you like, live forever? You have all the time in the world.”
“Not as much as you think. In any case, I want you out of harm’s way and safe with your family. They’ll take a little convincing about you, considering they have no idea you exist, or even how you might exist in the first place.”
He blinked as he absorbed that nugget of information. “Okay…but uh…how do you know about me?”
“I stumbled upon something I wasn’t meant to. ”
“That doesn’t explain…”
“Would it help if I told you I have some hacking skills and took a peek where I wasn’t supposed to?”
His eyes grew wide as saucers. “No way, that is so cool!”
“I see that I’ve won you over once more. Good.” Seeing that he’d put his shoes on, Cheng veered for the window where she’d entered from. “Climb onto my back. Don’t look down.”
“We’re climbing out the window?” he squeaked. “It’s twenty floors up!”
“Then you’d better start counting.”
“Wait, wait. Are you gonna get Eve?”
She paused in mid-step. “Who’s Eve?”
The boy sighed and gestured to his bedroom door, in a vague general direction to his left. “You know. Eve. She’s the other kid stuck here. I’ve never been allowed to meet her, but my nannies talk about her when they think I’m not listening.”
Her mouth fell open. “There is another?”
“Another what?”
“Another clone.”
“I’m a clone?” He blinked in astonishment. “What did they clone me from? Okay, that’s a dumb question. A vampire, of course. Who did they clone me from? Am I some sorta scientific experiment?”
“Quiet. Not now. Where is this other child?”
Clearly still reeling from the word clone, Julian shook his head. “I don’t know. On the same floor, maybe. Like I said, I’ve never met her. I don’t get it. You said you ’ re a hacker, how come you didn’t learn about Eve?”
“I have some skills, but I—” Cheng stopped short, angling her head, hearing the sound of distant footsteps.
She was upon him, covering his mouth with an ice-cold hand, eyes warning him to stay silent. He did so. And the only sound was that of his heart thudding in his chest while she counted off the seconds.
Nothing.
She exhaled in relief. “No time. They’re coming to check on you any minute now. We have to
go. I will retrieve Eve another time. Once I find out more about her.”
“You promise?”
“I promise.”
Sarah
Hello, doctor.”
Sarah sat down in the plush armchair, facing the older gentleman before her. The office was as it always had been, with a musty smell of old wood, piles of books squeezed on the shelves, and soft gentle lighting as the late afternoon sun poured in.
“It’s been a while, Sarah,” the psychiatrist greeted. He spoke like her, with a hint of a New York accent. “How’ve you been?”
“Good. No panic attacks. Haven’t needed my Xanax in months.” She straightened her top and crossed her legs. “But I’m helping out at a friend’s wedding next month, which is why I’m here to refill my tablets. Just in case. ”
Please don’t ask me any more questions. I know you do that every time I see you, but I don’t want to rehash
“Great to hear,” the doctor said with a satisfied nod. “You’ve come a long way from those supra-normal attacks you used to have. What’s it been, ten years?”
She fought back the sigh in her chest. He was just being nice. She ought to return the favor. After all, he’d been her treating doctor ever since…
“First attack when I was thirteen,” Sarah answered mechanically. She forced a smile. “But I’m fine now. I just celebrated my birthday.”
He glanced at his notes, confirming that her date of birth had, indeed, passed. He smiled back. “Happy twenty-fifth.”
“Thank you. ”
“Did you do anything special?”
“Other than lamenting the fact that my one and only brother, Joe, decided to move to Italy six months ago to join the clergy? Sorry, I’m being sarcastic. I hung out with some friends and got drunk.”
She stopped herself, regretting that she had said so much. Her voice had cracked at the mention of Joe, and the doctor instantly picked up on it.
“Your brother’s gone?” He leaned forward, concerned. “You’re all alone then?”
“Yup.”
“How’re you coping?”
“I’ll be okay,” she answered bravely, though she plucked at her pants as she said this.
“You don’t sound okay.”
“I can’t do much about it, and…I don’t want to talk about Joe.”
He held her gaze for a moment, then relented. “Fair enough. How’s work?”
She brightened. “Good days and bad days.”
“Medical writing, if I recall?”
“Uh-huh. My boss is crazy. He should see you, doc.”
The psychiatrist laughed. “Why’s that?”
“He ‘fired’ me the other day.” She curved her fingers into air quotes. “Then he expected me to show up for work the next morning and lambasted me big time for not coming in. Nuts, ain’t it?”
“Sounds like a character. And uh...what happened to the guy you were dating before?”
“Who, Jason?”
“I think that was his name. ”
“Pfft. Done and dusted. I think I’m gonna adopt, you know? I give up on men. No offense”
“None taken,” he returned a good-natured smile.
They chatted pleasantly for a while more, though Sarah wished he’d cut the consult short. She’d had a long day and simply wanted to go home.
Finally, the doctor handed her a prescription of Xanax. “Come back anytime, Sarah. Especially if those attacks of yours recur. ”
“Pretty sure they won’t. But thanks.”
At last, she thought in relief. She couldn’t wait to get out of the doctor’s office.
You ’ re pulling my leg,” Henry interrupted me.
There was a hard glint in his eyes that suggested he wasn’t amused. He looked positively lethal at that moment, as if with one strike of his large hands, he could have snapped my neck.
It left me with little doubt about his true predatory nature. All charm and suavity, hiding what he was. Just like I was doing.
Not that I feared him. Not in the slightest. I could have bested him with my eyes closed. We both knew this.
No, he was simply annoyed at me.
“How on earth could you possibly have known what Sarah was doing right before you waltzed up to her front door with Julian?”
I tilted my head to meet his gaze. “Did you think I didn’t get to know her first? What she’s like, who she meets, her habits and tendencies? Did you think I would be so heartless as to involve an innocent human like Sarah without first getting to know her? I knew what she struggled with. I knew the pain and heartache within her.”
And I made full use of it.
I shrugged. “Besides, I spoke to Julian too, you know. I dug everything out from him. Everything he could remember after the fact. So I know a lot of what happened to Sarah. The only thing I didn’t know was… ”
“What she truly was, ” Henry finished. “And so you manipulated and deceived her, and opened a whole can of worms for yourself.”
My tone turned frigid “I couldn’t have known What were the odds that out of a myriad of potential choices, I picked someone like Sarah? You presume much, Henry Xia, to judge my actions without an understanding of why I did what I did. As if I didn’t know what the hell I was doing.”
“Aren’t you judging me now too? Haven’t you been, from the moment you laid eyes on me?” I parted my lips, faltered, and stopped myself with a sigh. “You’ll forgive me for making assumptions.”
He let out a sound. “I am not him. ” My teeth ground together. “I know that.”
“Do you?”
Tension hung like a ghost between us. Unseen. But palpable. Felt.
Henry exhaled “I’m truly sorry about all this It wasn’t meant to be this way ” “You’ve already apologized.”
He scrubbed a hand over his face. Such a human gesture. But it reflected the exhaustion that must have been within him from being on the move for days on end. And now I’d joined him and Shastari. Running.
“Let me continue,” I offered, jumping at the chance to turn my thoughts away from why we were running in the first place.
“Yes. Please.”
I settled deeper into my seat. “Contrary to what you may have heard, Sarah and I had more than one conversation. Several, in fact. I didn’t, as you might put it, throw her into the deep end. Not straight away. But you are right, I manipulated her. I learned about her. I used her weakness to my advantage The fact that she was so lonely, so isolated You, most of all, would know that none of us could have survived so long without having an instinctive feel for people. Without learning how to…”
“Mold them to our purposes, like a potter with a jar of clay.”
“Yes, exactly.”
A soft rumble in the back of his throat, and a slight lowering of his chin signaled that he understood.
“I knew I could trust Sarah with Julian.” I smiled at the memory from two years ago. “It just
took a little bit of work convincing her to open her heart to him.”
Sarah
Sarah sat in her brother’s dilapidated car. She brushed back her dark bangs and rubbed her tired eyes. They were bloodshot in the rearview mirror, hallmarks of a long day.
Irish blues. Baby blues.
Her dad used to call them that. Right before he abandoned the family. Then, her mother killed herself through an accidental overdose of painkillers, leaving Joe and her behind. Thankfully Joe was already eighteen and could legally support his then-twelve-year-old kid sister.
Ever since, it’d been Joe and Sarah Monagan against the world, until he too, decided to leave.
Of all things, Joe, the clergy.
Joe had his demons too, she had to admit. Still, it didn’t make the pain any less when he abandoned her. After six months, she had yet to have a proper conversation with him beyond a couple of brief and terse phone calls.
Sarah pulled out of the parking lot at the clinic to drive back to the tiny house that she lived in outside the city. It was a small affair, with an unkempt lawn that she had no time to maintain, set in a lower-class neighborhood. But it was home. It had been her mother’s, then it had passed to her brother, who had transferred the property under her name just before he left.
“In political news, the president has confirmed his intention to run for re-election, which means he will have to be nominated at the upcoming Republican National Convention. This has stirred a wave of…”
She tuned the radio out, glancing at the clock on her dashboard. There was just enough time to make it back before her annoying neighbor started yelling at her for making too much noise. Get a life, woman. It’s only seven o ’clock.
Sarah drove on home, hitting some snarls in traffic but eventually pulled up at her house forty minutes later, just as the sun set.
Home was a simple place. She kept the house neat and tidy, with her mother’s and brother’s things still lying around because she didn’t have the heart to throw anything away once Joe had left. Mom’s couch still sat in front of the TV. Faded pictures in old-school glass frames. Furniture that was probably ten years outdated. There was a pot of roses outside that she’d bought a few weeks ago. She was pretty sure the roses had long since died.
But it was home. It was hers. It was all she had of her family.
Ignoring the twinge of loneliness in her chest, Sarah dumped her belongings on the kitchen table and took a shower.
Just as she was done, and still towel-drying her hair, the bell rang. She started. Who could that be? It’s almost eight. Gina, it better not be you complaining about your back again. I know we ’ re neighbors but you seriously need to get a life!
“Coming!” she hollered when the bell buzzed once more.
She hot-footed it to the door and pulled it open, peering through the latch. Huh?
A little kid stood there.
Okay, not so little. He looked about ten. Olive skin tone. Brown, messy hair. A plain T-shirt and jeans.
At the sight of her, he gave a bright toothy grin and waved.
“Uh…who…are you?”
“Sarah Monagan?”
She nearly jumped at the second person who simply appeared beside the boy.
“Oh my God, I didn’t even see you there!” she exclaimed, putting a hand to her chest. A woman peered at her from where she stood beside the boy. She gave Sarah a tight smile.
“My name is Mariko Lee. I’m a social worker. Can we come in?”
The woman did not look like a social worker. Then again, Sarah had never dealt with one before. Did social workers dress like that? She had on a black denim jacket with silver buttons and multiple pockets, black pants, and matching combat boots. That, together with her messy black hair and pale face made her look like a ghost or a goth.
The woman, Mariko, eased into one of Sarah’s kitchen chairs. The boy dumped his small backpack onto the floor.
“Hey, do you have milk in there?” he asked, eyeing the fridge. “Uh…yeah. Sure, but…”
“Julian, just sit down first,” Mariko chided, beckoning him into the seat beside her.
The boy grunted, but did as he was told.
Sarah did the same, feeling a little lightheaded. “So uh…I had no idea my application to be a foster parent was already approved. I mean, I submitted it a few months ago and…”
Mariko blinked at her. “And…?”
It occurred to Sarah that this wasn’t just a social worker dropping off a charge at her doorstep. Maybe this was an interview too. The woman was studying her intently now.
Shit. I should’ve been more prepared. Is the house in good condition? I don’t even have a room ready for a kid to sleep in. Ugh, what was I thinking? Possibly that I needed to fill the gap in my life now that Joe is in Italy?
Yeah, I was totally thinking that. And now it’s too late. There’s a social worker sitting in my kitchen with a kid beside her.
Joe’s gonna kill me if he finds out.
She straightened her spine. “I mean…I wasn’t expecting…uh…it’s really soon. Uh…”
This interview was not going well. Not if she kept umm-ing and uh-ing.
Mariko laughed under her breath. “Please don’t worry about it. We’ve checked your background, and everything looks fine.”
The social worker, Sarah realized, was not American. Perhaps she was…but she wasn’t born and raised in America She spoke with a refined English accent, which was incongruent with her Asian features and even more so with her grunge look.
Mariko gestured between the two of them. “This is Julian. Julian, this is Sarah.”
They waved at each other. As Julian beamed at her, Sarah’s heart twinged again. That lonely feeling she’d had for the past few months reared its ugly head, threatening to consume her if she didn’t cooperate and welcome this little kid with all his baggage.
“Let me get you some milk,” she said brightly, heading for the cabinet to grab a glass. “Mariko, do you want some?”
“No, thanks. I’m just here to tell you a bit about Julian and what to expect.”
“Okay, um…tell me then,” she responded, heading for the fridge now, glass in hand.
“Julian is ten. He was raised in a rather sheltered environment. He’s been home-schooled all his life, and isolated from people But ” Mariko glanced at the boy “He’s smart Gets along well with others.”
The boy snorted. “Not with you. ” Mariko’s face hardened, though she didn’t respond to that. “He eats a lot and he is extremely curious.”
“I like cheeseburgers and steak!” Julian quipped.
“How long will I be fostering him for?” Sarah asked.
“Two weeks. A month, at most. It’s summer now, so you aren’t obliged to try and continue his studies. We’ll see to that later. But what we will need you to do is look after him full-time. As much as you can. ”
She stiffened. “Full-time? I have a job.”
The words left her before she could take them back Sarah realized then that this was not how to win over the social worker. It implied that she was not committed.
“Uh…ah, I mean… ” she fumbled. “That is to say, you ’ re in luck. Because since it’s summer, I’ve accumulated some vacation time and can definitely take two weeks off. And there’s my neighbor, Becky. She’d be glad to help look after Julian for short periods of time if I have an appointment or an errand to run. But I’ll keep that to a minimum. Um…”
Oh God, am I winning her over or am I losing her? Why doesn’t she have any expression on her face? Just shut up now.
Sarah clamped her lips together and waited, resisting the urge to tap her toes under the table. After a long moment, Mariko gave a sharp nod. “Excellent. You’ll do.”
She exhaled, unable to stop the relief as her shoulders sagged. “Sorry. First-time jitters.”
“No apology needed. I’m sure you’ll do just fine. And as an added incentive, in case the proceedings take longer than two weeks, please accept this.” Mariko fished out a slip of paper from one of her jacket pockets. “This check will cover not just the usual stipend, but includes expenses, as well as the potential loss of income for one month.”
Sarah’s mouth fell open as she accepted the slip of paper. “Serious? Don’t you like…need approval for these things?”
Mariko’s smile was enigmatic. “I’m rather senior. Approval’s all been obtained.”
She glanced at the check, and her eyes bulged out. “This is a lot of money. ”
“Julian’s a special case. You see, he has family. His real family. But it’s a complicated affair with plenty of moving parts, and I’m the only one dealing with all of it.”
“I have a sister too!” the boy blurted, licking at the milk mustache over his upper lip. His glass was already empty, and he helped himself to the carton, pouring another one. “A sister?”
Mariko cleared her throat at Julian. “Yes, a sister. Which we weren’t supposed to mention, remember? Sarah’s not here to foster your sister. Only you. ” “Right…sorry.”
“It’s okay, Julian,” Sarah chimed in. “I’m sure Mariko will help your sister when she can. ”
“She promised she would,” Julian huffed, his prepubescent voice laced with sarcasm. “But she hasn’t done a thing yet. You would think that someone as talented as Mariko would be able to get my sister out in a jiffy. But no…it’s been a whole week and I’m still stuck. All she does is stay up all night talking on the phone.”
Mariko was not amused. “For work, Julian. I’ve told you a hundred times already.” Sarah, however, snorted in laughter. “I like you, kid. You obviously don’t pull your punches.” “No, he does not,” Mariko added with a withering smile at Julian. “Now, if we ’ re done here, I need to go. ”
She made to rise but Sarah stopped her. “Hang on. Don’t I uh…uh…”
The woman ’ s stern look made her falter, but Sarah spoke anyway, “Don’t I need to sign something? And uh…I don’t know how this works and all, but do you wanna see the house and make sure everything’s okay?”
Her face softened. “Of course. Please show me around.”
Sarah never got that paperwork, did she?”
I chewed on my lip at the memory. “No, she didn’t. Julian kept her so busy in the ensuing weeks that it simply slipped her mind.”
“Astonishing,” Henry remarked, laughing under his breath.
“What is?”
“One, that you managed to hack into the foster care system and single Sarah out, of all people, though I can see why you chose her. And two, that you actually convinced her that you were a social worker.”
I glanced down at myself. “Can’t a social worker dress like this?”
“A social worker doesn’t dress as if they could be carrying at least two or three concealed weapons on them”
“Point taken. But just so we ’ re clear, I did not have any weapons on me that particular day.” He shifted, stirring his plate of gravy and rice with a spoon. “And what was it you said about his upbringing?”
“That it was extreme. ”
“And she believed you?”
“Not really. The money I waved at her helped.”
I played around with the food that had been served to me. I could not eat any of it. More than a nibble would make me sick to my stomach. But I could pretend, and I was skilled at pretending.
Henry, on the other hand, could actually eat, and I watched him with a small sense of envy, though not too much For a True Blood like him, food enriched his life and supplemented his diet. He ate a small quantity of his inflight meal, and I couldn’t help but mark the elegance with which he dined, careful and unhurried in his movements.
How strange it is. Sitting here on a plane, eating together. Acting as if nothing else hangs between us, as if we are merely exchanging stories.
“Money,” he scoffed. “I see. ”
“No. You do not. Yes, the money helped. But Sarah was desperate for companionship.”
“Her desperation led her to later events…”
“Yes, I know that,” I snapped, a little miffed. “It left her more vulnerable than I expected. I am two thousand years old, but I am not infallible.”
“None of us are, ” he conceded. “So. All obstacles were taken care of.”
“In a manner of speaking”
Henry raised an eyebrow. “Her panic attacks?”
My finger twitched, and I had to stop myself from curling my hand around the metal fork I was holding. “I knew about them.”
“I suppose you never expected…”
“No, I didn’t.”
He backed off at the bite in my tone. “They got along better than you and Julian did? Despite you being Julian’s rescuer?”
I exhaled loudly. “They most certainly did. I loitered outside for a while to wait for Julian to settle in. I watched from the shadows and listened to them from a window. They got along so well. They could hardly stop talking to each other. They connected on so many levels that I could not with Julian, even though I tried for an entire week I was happy for Julian I was also relieved”
Henry chuckled. It was a deep and soothing sound. “I see what happened, Mariko. Julian was simply too much of a handful for you. ”
A smile ghosted my lips. “I suspect that if it had been anyone else but me, there wouldn’t have been an issue. But as it is I am rather confined in the hours I keep.”
“Which made it difficult trying to entertain an energetic ten-year-old from sunup to sundown.”
“Precisely. Definitely not an experience I would care to repeat.”
His lips parted with a question. I knew instantly what he was going to ask. After all, it was the most natural question.
Did you ever have children? Before you were… Changed. Permanently altered. Immortalized in the form of a woman in her mid-twenties. For all intents and purposes, unkillable. I flicked my hand up. “No. You needn’t ask. The answer is no. ”
He cleared his throat. “Why didn’t you take Julian straight to the other True Bloods? Surely they would have…”
“Believed me?” I arched a brow at him. “Or would they have shot first and asked questions later?”
“Point taken. Your reputation does precede you, I suppose. ” His broad shoulders heaved as he inhaled. “So you left Julian with a random human. She was willing. And he… ”
“It was Julian’s idea, actually. At the time, I’d reached the end of my tether. Your kin were being absurdly uncooperative. I had to attend to his prepubescent needs, whatever those were. Did you know how much he ate? What do I know about eating and food and dining? I can pretend and mimic, but I know nothing because I do not eat. And did you realize how many swear words the boy knows? Honestly. You’d think that with two nannies, he’d know better. I wanted to wash his mouth out with soap. ”
Henry covered his mouth with his hand, though it was a losing battle to stop himself from chuckling. “As I was saying, you left Julian with Sarah, along with some money. And off you went.”
“Don’t make it sound as if I left her in the lurch. I called her every day without fail to find out how she and Julian were doing.”
“Then it was quite carefully thought out.”
I couldn’t help the deep sigh that issued from my mouth. “It was. Until all hell broke loose.”
Sarah
No way, Sarah. That is insane. You’re a foster parent now?”
Sarah was in the city with her friend, Janice, who was the only person she’d managed to maintain a close connection with from college. Janice was getting married, and Sarah was catching up with her on wedding plans over coffee and cookies.
The afternoon sun dipped low, and skyscraper shadows cast the street in cool shade. Janice sipped on her cappuccino, licking steamed milk from her lips as she crossed her legs and gave Sarah a no-nonsense look.
“I am, ” Sarah said, squaring her shoulders with pride. “I’ve been looking after Julian for almost two weeks now. It’s been so fun. But tiring. Tiring and fun.” She slumped on the table with a smile. “I’m exhausted. But I love it.”
Janice laughed. “What have you guys been doing?”
She counted off with her fingers. “We went to three museums. Watched two musicals. Ate a bunch of food. Julian once ate so much ice cream, he threw up right after that. And then ate some more. God, he loves ice cream. And steak. The amount of meat this kid can consume is phenomenal.”
“And that social worker’s check covers everything?”
“And then some. She said Julian’s a special case, and I can see why.”
Janice tilted her head. “Why?”
“Well, he…” Sarah shook her head. “I’m not sure if I’m supposed to say anything about it. I mean, he’s a really lively and energetic kid. Normal, as far as I can tell. But I suppose his environment wasn’t normal, which is why he’s being fostered.”
“That makes sense. ”
Julian himself refused to say much about where he was from, and why he had to be fostered. From the nightmares he had, where he sometimes awoke in a daze or talked in his sleep, Sarah surmised it had something to do with repeated, unnecessary hospital visits, blood tests, and EKGs. Sarah knew enough of medicine to recognize that Julian might have been a victim of Munchausen syndrome by proxy. That was probably why Julian had been removed from his original home in the first place.
Once, Julian had even woken up, utterly confused, and bitten Sarah’s hand. He was awfully regretful about it, sobbing to bits before going back to sleep.
“So when are you done with him?” Janice asked, leaning forward. She shrugged. “It was supposed to be two weeks. But during yesterday’s phone call with the social worker, she said there’d been a hiccup with Julian’s family of origin. Another week, maybe.” She drew closer, lowering her voice into a conspiratorial whisper, “You know, I love the kid. But I didn’t realize how exhausting being a mom would be.”
Janice snorted in laughter. “You’re the one who submitted that application on a whim! He’ll be out of your hair soon for good, I’m sure. ”
Soon. For good. Huh. That empty feeling was threatening to come back.
Maybe I should give Mariko a call and tell her to take her time with the situation with Julian’s family. Now that I think about it, what the hell am I gonna do with my life once he’s gone? It’ll just be work and lonely ol’ me at home. Again. Without Joe.
She pushed the thought aside and shoved the remaining bits of her cookie in her mouth, if only so she could focus on chewing rather than thinking.
“Does Joe know about this?” Janice asked, nibbling on her chocolate chip cupcake.
Sarah groaned. “Look, it’s my first day off since starting my fostering duties. Let’s not talk about my brother.”
Janice gave her a disapproving look. “You haven’t told him, have you? He’s totally clueless about what you ’ ve been up to.”
“He left me. And I’m an adult. I don’t need his permission.”
“I actually think your brother has his own issues. Might explain why he left so abruptly.”
“Yeah, well, not like he’s around to talk about it,” she muttered, drumming her hands on the table.
Thankfully, Janice picked up her cues to divert the topic, and said, “So what’s the little man doing then? If you ’ re out here in the city by yourself?”
“Oh, you remember my neighbor down the block, Becky? The one with the twins? She’s watching him for a couple of hours at her place. I left him with a gallon of milk, a hunk of cheese, and a pile of library books. Good grief, he’s got a bottomless pit for a stomach. Have I mentioned that already? And boy, does he love red meat. I had to promise I’d grill a steak for dinner tonight and take him to watch Wicked again tomorrow.”
“I think somebody’s infatuated with a little kid,” Janice teased. “Always thought those deadbeats you used to date were never good enough for you. What’d I tell you, Sarah?”
“That there’s someone out there.”
“And…I never thought it’d be a kid that would grab your heart.”
Sarah blushed. “My maternal instincts are a lot better than I realized. Who would’ve thought?”
“Indeed. Hey, remember to get your meds from the pharmacy later,” Janice reminded, pointing a finger at Sarah’s purse. “Your prescription is sticking out. Don’t lose it.”
Sarah stuffed the doctor’s script back in her bag, making a mental note to collect Xanax from a pharmacy on the way back. The slip of paper was all crumpled inside the minor disaster that was her purse.
“You know, you should bring him to the wedding,” Janice invited. “That is, if you ’ re still babysitting him by then.”
“If I am. Your wedding’s in a month’s time. Besides, I can’t imagine bringing him along. What would people think?”
Janice scrunched up her face. “True, that. He’d be the center of attention and not me. ”
Sarah stuck her tongue out. “Bridezilla.”
Janice threw her head back in laughter.
An hour later, Sarah collected her Xanax. She was just in time to take a train home and prepare that steak for Julian.
As she emerged from the store and into the crowded street, she bumped into someone ’ s shoulder. Her bag of meds dropped onto the ground.
“Aw, man. ”
She crouched down, reaching the bag before it got kicked away by uncaring, oblivious New Yorkers.
Another set of fingers deftly swiped it up “I am so sorry, ” a male voice said The bottles rattled inside.
“Here you go. ”
Fingers brushed hers. A strange feeling surged through her. She saw a flash of red and her throat tightened a little.
Oh my God.
She recognized it. The onset of a panic attack. No...not now. Not in the middle of a busy sidewalk. A warm hand grasped her shoulder tightly. The panic attack receded a little at the contact, though she still continued to feel uneasy. She blinked and stared into the face of the stranger whom she’d bumped into.
Before her stood a slender man in an expensive black suit, grey eyes filled with concern.
“Are you okay?” he asked, smiling warmly “I apologize again I didn’t see where I was going” He spoke with an accent. He wasn’t American.
“Yeah…” she breathed, taking him in.
When they both straightened, she saw that he was a few inches taller than her. And… Oh my, she thought. Now her heart was racing again, not from the panic attack, but possibly from swooning. He was drop-dead gorgeous, appearing as if he’d just walked off a magazine cover. Fair-skinned, with black hair that curled down just at the nape of his neck, inviting her to brush her fingers against the strands. His smile was lopsided, flirtatious, and playful.
“Um…” she stuttered, at a loss for words.
His smile widened. “I believe you are trying to say thank you. You’re welcome.”
His hand was still on her shoulder, a reassuring anchor that all was fine.
“Th-thank you, ” she managed, clutching her bag of medications.
He dropped his arm with a nod. She took a step back, remembering that she had to get to the subway. Her stomach roiled and her heart still thudded in her chest, as if the panic attack was trying to rear its ugly head.
“I’ve gotta go… ”
“Hold on. Are you sure you ’ re fine? Where’re you headed? Let me walk you there.”
Sarah peered at him, suspicion rising. Yeah, right. “No, thanks.”
“You look a little pale,” he said with a note of concern. “Are you going to the subway? I’ll go with you, make sure you ’ re all right.”
“Fine,” she relented. “You can walk me to the subway. But that’s about it.”
“Hey. I know. Big city. Can’t trust everyone. ”
As they strode together, the man introduced himself, once more smiling in that disarming manner of his, “My name is Antonio. But you can call me Tony.”
The dots connected when she heard his name. “You’re Italian. I think? Although you sound a little British. I don’t know.”
He grinned, wagging his eyebrows at her. “Is it that obvious?”
She grimaced. “Sorry. I mean, you stick out a little.”
“Because of my accent or my looks?”
She blushed, giving him a shy glance. “You’re full of yourself, aren’t you?”
Tony shrugged. “If you knew me, you’d see why.”
Hmph. That’s arrogant. But then again, you ’ re really good-looking and I can’t seem to stop myself from staring at you and feeling all gooey inside.
They arrived at the stairs that led down into the subway and stopped, moving to one side of the street to avoid the flow of commuters.
“Um…thanks back there,” she said, jabbing her thumb. “I’ll see you around.”
“Hang on. I don’t know your name. ” He tilted his head knowingly. Ugh. “It’s Sarah,” she answered with forced politeness.
“Suits you. ” He grinned. “So. Sarah. Would you like to grab a cannoli with me one of these days?”
Her jaw dropped. “C-Cannoli?”
“Yeah…you know, delicious fried pastry. Italian. Like me. Not, of course, the fried pastry part.” He winked at her.
“I…um…” she stammered, blinking. The panic attack was completely gone now, replaced by a different type of nervousness. “Are you asking me out?”
He chuckled. “What do you think?”
She began to shake her head, but Tony’s hand touched hers. A current of heat traveled up her arm as he stared into her eyes, and all suspicion and unease seemed to melt away.
“I am, indeed, asking you out,” he murmured. There was something dark in his voice. A part of Sarah shrieked in warning, Danger.
But another part relished in it. Desire.
Breath held, all she could do was draw closer to him, until she could feel the warmth emanating from him. His eyes seemed like pools of silver, luring her to immerse herself in their depths.
Come in. Surrender.
“Say yes?” he asked.
She couldn’t resist. “Yes,” she answered, her voice coming out like a soft purr. His mouth curved up wickedly. “Wonderful.”
