In the Beginning... (22 page)

He bowed his head, resting
his forehead on her free arm.
I am so
sorry!
Two tears slid across her elbow,
attesting to the strength of his words.

Josey stared at him,
studying the dark curls that whirled over his head. He actually
meant it, despite the things he had done to her. He meant it, was
crying over what had happened to her. She raised her IVed hand and
touched his hair.
Don’t.

Cormac jerked his head up
and looked into his
Rajni
’s eyes. Her hand, still impaled
by the IV needles, hovered in the air. He wiped the moisture from
his eyes. He would not show such weakness in front of his female
again. She needed him to be strong, and that was what he would
do.
Stay still, I am calling for my sister.
She needs to find out why you are healing so rapidly. She will find
the answers. She always does.

You have great faith in her. And you love
her.

Yes. She is my only sibling, yes. We had a
brother, but he disappeared more than a hundred years ago.

Wow. Do you still miss him?

Of course. He is—was—my brother.

I have a little sister, you know. She is
just twenty-one, though she seems so much older than that. And so
beautiful. She is at college. I miss her when she’s gone. She’s
probably very frightened right now, and worried. She always tries
to worry over me.

Cormac nodded, and then
spoke into the phone when his sister answered. He never took his
eyes off his female. She never looked away from him. He replaced
the phone in his carrier.
I am sorry about
that.

She will be better once I am home. You are
still planning to let me go, right?

We will discuss your return
to your family when you are fully healed and I am one hundred
percent certain you will be safe and protected always. Until that
happens, I do not know when you shall return home.
And he would not, could not, ever be one hundred
percent certain she was safe. Not with her grandfather being the
monster bastard that he was. Not with the Lupoiux that have started
to flood the Colorado area.

So you are going back on your word?

No! But, dammit, I do not
know why those bastards were in this area, why you were harmed! Do
you want to draw more of their Kind to your home? To your precious
little sister? I could smell her essence the night I took you, too!
She does smell so young and innocent! What do you think a pack of
Lupoiux would do to her? First, they would try to mate her, hoping
she would be compatible with one of them. Then they’d bite her! Or,
if they decided she was not worth their trouble, they would simply
kill her! All because they followed you, a
Dardaptoan
female, back to your home!
Do you want that?

No! Is my sister safe?

She should be.
Cormac felt like the rank bastard he knew he was.
Why had he said all that? Just to frighten her into staying with
him? Was he that desperate?
Do not panic. I
am sure you’re family has made arrangements to keep your little
sister safe!
He returned to her side and
sat on the edge of the mattress.

She studied him for a long
moment.
My father would. He’s probably got
Jade locked away somewhere, with Em’s sister, and Mal and Mickey’s.
And he and my cousin Rand are probably searching for us. And
Rathan.
Rathan
will
not stop until he finds us!

He had no problem
recognizing the satisfaction in her words.
Who is this Rathan? A special friend of yours?

Her smirk returned.
You might call him that. Rathan is the sexiest man
alive. And he’s very close to my cousin Rand!

Are they life partners then?

Her eyes widened and her
mouth dropped open. Then her eyes narrowed.
No.

Rathan prefers women. Specifically, blonde
women.

So you and he were together
then? Do I needst to kill him, then? Make it clear that he will not
be preferring you?
Cormac knew what his
female was doing; her baiting him was her way of trying to take
control in a situation where she had little hope of any actual
control. Still, who was this Rathan she seemed so certain would be
coming for her?
I can do it quite
easily.

I doubt it would be as easily as you think.
You are very arrogant. I’m not sure I like that. Is your healer
sister coming, then? I would. If I found something medically
interesting enough. Where did she study? If she is a true
doctor.

She studied several places through the
decades. Every fifty years or so she enrolls in a human medical
school, just as a refresher. And because she hopes the human
doctors will find something that can help our people.

Duke and Johns Hopkins are the best for
research. I went to Johns Hopkins. What is she looking for?

Anything that can help our people.
Antibiotics, coagulants. Immunizations. Don’t task yourself with
it.

Why should I even care
about
your
people?
Oh, yeah? Now I remember…you made me into one!

How a woman could infuse so
much sarcasm into a mental question was beyond him.
Perhaps I should have said ‘do not task yourself
with it right now?’ You need to rest!

Josey didn’t want to let it
rest. If she didn’t focus on
something
she would have to face the
fact that the lacerations in her skin were starting to hurt the way
they should have an hour ago. Maybe she had moved too
much?

And didn’t the whole lack of medical
knowledge for these people now directly affect her and her cousins?
What if something were to happen to Emily or Mal? What if those
creatures that had attacked her had hurt Emily worse? What would
have happened to her cousin? It did matter to her. Probably just as
much as it mattered to him.

I have a lot of questions.
And I think you owe me answers, don’t you? What if something like
this happens again? To Mickey or Mal or Em? Don’t I have a right,
a
responsibility,
to find answers for them? They are my
family—
they
are all
that matter to me! I have questions, and I will get my
answers!

He started to say something,
but stopped. He turned toward the door.
Hold that.

Kindara’s here. Jocelyn…be gentle with her.
She is very fragile, and it is your grandfather’s doing. Just…be
kind, please?

That’s something else I have
questions about.
Josey eyed him as he
approached the door.
I will be nice to your
sister; in exchange,
you
will answer every single question I have. About
your people and about my grandfather—and about every other subject
I think of!

The woman who entered the room looked nothing
like her brother and that surprised Josey. Cormac was so dark,
despite the golden eyes. This woman had the same eyes, the shape
and color. That was where all resemblance ended. Her hair was
almost as blonde as Josey’s and she wasn’t much taller than Josey
either. She was thinner than Josey and looked almost fragile.
Especially in the white top and trousers. Her clothing was
identical to that which had been provided for Josey to wear, right
down to the green sash around the woman’s waist.

Josey kept her eyes on the
woman’s lips as she spoke.
Tell her that
the clotting is occurring when your medical books said it should
not. Fibrins are most likely forming. Unless your medical books are
wrong.

He spoke with his sister,
but Josey could not read his lips. A different language. It
appeared as gibberish for her.
Speak
English so I can kind of follow. Or get Jierra here to sign for
me!

He spoke with his sister again, this time in
English. Josey had no difficulty reading his lips. “She thinks she
is healing too quickly for a Dardaptoan. Will you take a look at
her?”

His sister nodded. She
approached Josey slowly. Josey just watched. What had her
grandfather done to this woman? Why did he do it?
She doesn’t have to be so scared. I am not going
to hurt her. I am the one laying here unable to move.

He said something to his
sister. More gibberish.
She is trying not
to frighten you!

I am not afraid of her. And
I’m not a wimp either!
Although the pain
that was starting to fill her veins might make that claim a lie.
Maybe she had moved a bit too much?

You’re hurting!
Why didn’t you say something?
He said something to his sister, but he had turned away and
Josey missed whatever it was. The other woman’s movements turned
more purposeful. She moved to the side of the bed and pulled the
chair Cormac had occupied closer. She stared down at Josey. Said
something, but Josey missed it.

She asked if she could see
your abdomen.
Cormac stood behind his
sister, his arms crossed over his massive chest.

Josey slipped her arm out of
the way.
Tell her that it is starting to
burn. But none of the stitches have broken.

Just quit playing doctor and let her take a
look.

Cormac watched every nuance of his sister’s
expression over the next fifteen minutes. Kindara looked both
puzzled and intrigued, but not concerned. “What is it?

What have you found?”

“What I shouldn’t have.
She
is
clotting
faster than she should. Twice as fast as a human. I’ll need to run
some tests to determine why. There is also absolutely no sign of
infection, anywhere. And there should be at least some. I’ll need a
couple samples of her blood to see what is going on.”

“So she’s doing well?” Cormac heard the worry
in his own voice.

“She’s doing remarkably well, brother. She
does need to rest for at least a few weeks. Maybe a month. You and
I both know the outer body heals much faster than the inner for our
Kind. We don’t want to lose her to internal damage. I trust you to
keep to that. Watch for signs of fever, which I haven’t seen any.
Barlaam and I will both be in to check on her.”

“Thank you.”

I
have
questions!
His female’s words were filled with irritation, as they had
been for the last ten minutes. She did not like being unable to
communicate directly with his sister. He had no issue seeing
that.

Later. When you can move without wincing,
you can write the questions down. Or I will get my niece or one of
your cousins in here to interpret.

So what does she
say?
It is my body and my
life you’re discussing.

She says you are doing well and she needs to
run some tests to find out why you are doing as well as you are.
Blood samples, and such. Does that suit your demands?

She glared at him, attempted
to cross her arms over her chest. Kindara had replaced the bandages
over Jocelyn’s skin, then tugged the blankets up to cover her.
Jocelyn’s movements were careful, attesting to the pain she still
felt.
No. I need to know what is happening
to me. Don’t I have the right?

He hesitated. Of course she
did.
You do. And honestly, Kindara isn’t
sure what is happening. She has never seen such rapid
healing.

In any of your people, or just those unlucky
people who were once human? Maybe I still have human blood
characteristics? I read something in one of your books; something
about the Dardaptoans needing the platelets and thrombins found in
human blood in order for their own blood to function properly?
Maybe I still have enough left in my blood to facilitate better
clotting than she is used to seeing. Blood tests will definitely be
in order. As will a control group. Probably from Emily, Mal, or
Mickey. Do you have any other ‘once-humans’ around? Samples from
them would be ideal. Plus any relatives they have.

Cormac held up a hand, waved
it next to the bed.
Slow down.
You
will not be doing any
such things. Not for a while, at least. Kinney says you won’t be at
full strength for an entire month. A lot can happen in that
time.
He ignored the irritation on her
face. On this, he would not budge.
You will
rest for the next two weeks. In that time we—together—will reassess
our situation. Work on ensuring your safety. Hopefully find the
answers to your questions. Determine what the future holds for both
of us.

And answer my questions about my
grandfather. I want to see what he did. All of the files; every
last one of them.

The darned vampire man managed to avoid her
questions for the next two days. Even though he rarely left her
side, he evaded and side-stepped better than a wimp during dodge
ball. The only time he left her side was to shower, and then he was
right back there the moment he finished.

His sister came and went, gradually becoming
easier in Josey’s presence. Josey wasn’t used to being the patient.
Kindara took several tubes of blood, and took photographs of the
lacerations on Josey’s stomach. Cormac would translate his sister’s
wishes and Josey would cooperate.