Blood Legacy Origin of Species (4 page)

Lia again gazed at her reflection. She realized the rash had originated from the wound in her neck and was spreading in both directions. It covered her face and head first because of their proximity to the wound, but now it was spreading down her body. She stared at her arms in horror, imagining she could see the rash spreading before her eyes.

A harsh, guttural comment behind her caused her to leap to her feet and clutch her shirt to her breasts. She did not understand the language but the disdain in the voice was clearly communicated.

Two men and a woman were standing before her, impossibly tall and dressed in the strangest clothing. One man had a deep scar across his face and the other appeared older, more refined. Both wore expressions of cruelty on their faces, expressions so habitual they had worn grooves deep into the skin. And yet somehow neither was as frightening as the woman whose striking features were untouched by time or expression, whose gaze was completely dispassionate. All three examined Lia closely, talking amongst themselves in the harsh language Lia did not understand. They seemed surprised to see her in the ruins of the town, but less surprised at the bizarre changes in her skin-tone. One of the males grasped her brutally by the arm and yanked her shirt open, causing her breasts to spill out. Lia blushed crimson with shame, but the attention the three gave her was less lascivious than clinical. There seemed to be some disagreement, with the female dismissing Lia, but one of the males maintaining interest. Finally there seemed to be some sort of compromise as the female shrugged and walked off. The male turned back to Lia and with one motion stripped the dress from her. He examined her fully and this time Lia sensed more ill intent in his perusal, now that he was no longer within the view of the female.

Lia did not have time to assess the danger of this attention because the man pierced her skin with a sharp object, and blessedly, everything went black.

Susan leaped up when Victor came into the lab carrying Ryan. She knew immediately that something was wrong, both by Victor’s expression and by the limp form he carried in his arms. She swept the paperwork from the examination table to make room for the motionless figure that Victor gently set down. Edward came in the door behind them, having instantly sensed his master’s distress.

Ryan was not unconscious. Her eyes were open, but she did not appear to be aware of any of them. She was very pale and her skin was abnormally cool to the touch. Susan placed her hand upon Ryan’s forehead. Although Ryan’s body temperature could vary wildly, this was extreme even for her. Her eyes were dark with exhaustion.

“What happened?” Susan asked.

“I’m not certain,” Victor said. “She was standing there talking, then just collapsed.”

Susan shined a light in Ryan’s eyes, noting the near-instantaneous pupil reactivity normal to Ryan. “I’ve seen her like this before,” Susan said. “When we were imprisoned, Madelyn would bleed Ryan almost completely. It would take days for her to recover. But this,” she said, waving her hand in front of Ryan in an attempt to get her attention, “this is new.”

The motion finally appeared to have the desired effect and Ryan slowly focused on Susan. Susan was relieved to see recognition in her eyes.

“How did I get here?”

“We were in the study, talking,” Victor said, “then it seemed like you just faded away. It was almost as if you fainted, but without losing consciousness.”

Ryan shifted on the table, then pushed to an upright position. The maneuver seemed to require a great deal of effort on her part. “I feel,” she stopped, unsure exactly what she was feeling. “I feel weak right now.”

Susan eyed her uncertainly. When she had been human she would have taken this statement at face value, but now that she possessed preternatural senses, the statement seemed quite impossible. She could feel the power emanating outward from Ryan and it had not diminished in any way, regardless of what Ryan was feeling. Susan turned to Victor.

“Do you feel anything different about her?”

Victor shook his head. “No, she feels exactly like an Old One, powerful beyond her years.”

Edward eyed his master with apprehension. Although Ryan often seemed oblivious to her abilities, she had never expressed a feeling so at odds with the reality. The creature sitting before him possessed unbelievable power, yet seemed to have difficulty sitting upright.

“I’m going to run some tests on you,” Susan said. “Fortunately I have a lot of baseline information on your anatomy, so I can do some comparisons.”

Ryan sighed and reclined once more. All she wanted to do right now was sleep.

“And so this bear and this little pig, they are friends?”

Susan watched Ryan from the doorway. Drake was curled up in her arm and was reading to her slowly and methodically, his diction quite advanced for one so young. Ryan was in her bed once more, propped up on a mountain of pillows, her fatigue obvious. Susan quietly shut the door, certain that Ryan would be asleep long before the animals finished their quest. She turned and stifled a cry as she nearly ran into Edward. He motioned for her to follow him, and they joined Victor in the study.

Victor sat staring into the fire, a glass of red wine untouched at his elbow. This changed when the two entered. He lifted the glass to his lips and drained it in a single drink, setting it back down on the side table. Edward grasped the decanter on the table and refilled the glass. He filled a second glass and offered it to Susan, who thought about refusing, then accepted, taking a long drink herself. Then Edward, who although always allowed, never presumed, did exactly that and poured himself a glass, also downing it in a single drink.

Victor turned from the fire to Susan. “Well, Dr. Ryerson?”

“Ryan’s resting and is probably already asleep again. I’m not surprised it’s taking some time for her to recover. Even as strong as she is, she’s been through some pretty horrifying things. So her weakness is not that unexpected. But the memory loss?” Susan paused, also considering Ryan’s brief period of unresponsiveness. “I don’t really know what to think about that.” Susan took another long drink of her wine. “Now that Ryan is settled I’m going back to my lab and start analyzing the blood work.”

Susan thought back to the earlier examination. Simply obtaining the sample had been an adventure since Ryan’s skin was almost impenetrable and the sight of blood excited a predatory response in all of them, including Susan. It was at times like that she had to muster all of her professionalism to complete even the most mundane act.

“But you must have a theory,” Victor said, pressing her, “you always have a theory.”

Susan started to deny this possibility, then relented. Edward topped off her glass as she settled into the chair opposite Victor.

“I don’t know how much Ryan has told you about our captivity.”

“Not a great deal,” Victor said. “I’ve had little opportunity to speak with her since she was returned to us.”

“But you know of Madelyn.”

Victor’s expression grew black. “Yes,” he said coldly, “I know a little of her. I had the pleasure of meeting her when she briefly returned to parade Ryan before us, and I know her from Abigail’s memories, as well as those of my grandson.”

Susan unconsciously shivered. “Madelyn bled Ryan regularly, injecting her with some type of neurotoxin to do so. Ryan swore she would not take Madelyn’s blood, but I think that is exactly what she did at the end in an attempt to defeat her. Such a union would put unimaginable stress on Ryan’s system.”

“So you think that Madelyn has infected Ryan with some sort of disease?”

Susan was uncertain. “It is possible. It’s too early for me to tell. She may just have weakened her. But I think Ryan is probably wise in her restraint on Sharing blood right now. If anyone can adapt to the attack on her system, it will be her.”

CHAPTER 5

LIA SAT IN HER CAGE. She was naked, but she had grown used to being naked. The shame had finally collapsed into numbness that was probably the only thing keeping her alive. Besides, the scales on her body now covered her entire torso and extremities. The supple, leathery surface felt almost like clothing if for no other reason it felt nothing like her skin. The skin condition would not have been that bad were it not accompanied by pain, pain that grew intense and became continual.

Like most born of her time and station, Lia was not educated. But she was cursed with a keen intelligence. Were she slow and stupid, she probably could have lost herself in the grief of the horrible deaths of her husband and children, in the madness of all that she had seen. But instead she spent day and night wondering what she had done to deserve the hell to which she had been sent. She also wondered endlessly about the demons who were her captors.

The male had come to her almost immediately and although he had done unspeakable things to her, none were recognizable as sexual. Lia was left with a feeling of violation, as if she had been raped repeatedly, yet no sex, at least in her understanding, had occurred. These visits became infrequent, then ceased entirely. Now when someone came, it was merely for observation.

Lia wished she could see herself. She could feel the growths on the side of her head, like the knotty protrusions on the head of a young goat. They were painful as well, fibrous little bumps that jutted from her skull and began to curl like the horns of a ram as they grew longer. The female looked at these with particular contempt, as if their manifestation was some sort of failure on Lia’s part. Lia often wondered if it was this growth that would result in a fate like all the others.

Like all the others.

Lia had lost all track of time, yet she seemed to remember each person who came and went in the cell next to hers. All were horribly deformed, suffering. Most went mad and after a short period of observation, were disposed of with cruel efficiency. Lia could not count, so poor was her education, but at first the number seemed the size of an extended family, then that of a small town, then that of a city.

Now they seemed to her as numerous as the stars in the sky. She brushed her fingers along the bony protrusions on her head, unconsciously tracing the circular path. It was probably only a matter of time before they disposed of her as well. She hoped her death would be quick and painless, but from what she had seen of the cruelty of the executioners, efficient as they were, her death most likely would be neither.

Victor went to check on his sleeping child. He pushed quietly into her room only to find an empty bed. He passed into the adjoining room, certain he would find her curled up with Drake, but the boy was sprawled face down in the blankets alone. Victor extended his senses throughout the mansion but could not sense Ryan anywhere. He felt the stirrings of unease. He sat down on the edge of the bed and placed his hand gently on Drake. The small boy opened his eyes sleepily.

“Where’s your mother?” Victor asked softly.

Drake rolled over so he could look up at his grandfather. He yawned and brushed his dark hair from his eyes. “She went for a walk.” It seemed he sensed Victor’s concern and sat upright, his eyes darkening. “Is Ryan okay?”

Victor smiled. It was one of Drake’s peculiarities that he referred to Ryan by her name, not “mom” or “mama” or “mother.” He did the same with Victor. Ryan speculated it was because Drake had acquired language in a very unique way, not simply by repetition, trial-and-error and mimicry as did most children, but through direct mental contact with Ryan. He had absorbed her language schema before he had ever spoken a word. And although Ryan now referred to Victor as “father,” she also still called him “Victor” out of habit, as she had done for centuries prior to learning that he was in reality her parent.

It did not bother Ryan in the least, and in fact, she thought it probably brought Drake a measure of protection. Although many knew that she had a son, there was no sense in inviting trouble.

“I’m sure she’s fine,” Victor said. He lifted the covers and motioned for the boy to lie back down, which Drake did. “You go back to sleep.”

Victor left the room, but Drake did not go back to sleep. He stared into the darkness, occasionally chewing his lower lip. He more than anyone knew that Ryan was not fine.

Victor caught Edward in the hallway. “Have you seen Ryan?”

Edward identified and shared Victor’s concern. “I thought she was sleeping in her room.”

Victor shook his head. “Drake said she went for a walk.”

Edward’s response was brisk. “I will check the gardens. Dr. Ryerson is still in her lab, perhaps you should check there.”

Victor nodded in agreement, but he was not optimistic. He did not sense Ryan anywhere, but that was not as meaningful as it would have been under normal circumstances. Prior to these recent events he could sense his child hundreds of miles away, but right now he was not certain he could sense her in the next room.

Moments later, Edward returned to the hallway as did Victor with Susan in tow. Edward shook his head in response to the unasked question.

“I will access the security cameras.”

Victor nodded grimly. Initially, he had thought the idea of security cameras ludicrous. No technological gadget had even close to the sensory abilities of their Kind. But Edward had been disturbed by the ease with which Madelyn and her men had infiltrated their compound when Susan and Drake had been kidnapped. And although security cameras would not have prevented the abduction, they would have at least recorded it.