Dark Companion (28 page)

I didn’t care that Lucky had “a strangeness.” He was glorious and golden and he needed me.

Ludovico went on to describe the great advantage which would accrue to the farmer and his family if the baron’s proposal were accepted. Not only, he said, would Teresa be a lady of the highest rank, and in possession of enormous wealth both in gold and jewels, but that the other members of her family would also be ennobled …

William Gilbert,
The Last Lords of Gardonal
(1867)

Chapter 25

On Wednesday, I stayed in bed until past noon and then took a long hot shower, happy to have my own bathroom again. As I finished dressing, there was a knock at the door.

When I opened it, Mrs. Radcliffe was standing there, neatly dressed in navy slacks and a pale blue shirt. Her eyes were shaded by a broad-brimmed linen hat, but I saw tension in her mouth. “Good afternoon, Jane. May I come in?”

“Yes, of course.” I guessed what was coming but hadn’t expected it so soon.

We both sat on the sofa, angled toward each other. “Mr. Mason told you what I saw.”

“I hoped that we would have time to introduce you more gradually to our world.” She smoothed her pale hands over her slacks. “You were not chosen at random, Jane. You have great abilities, and you’ve proved yourself hardworking and honest. I wanted to bring another girl here from Helmsdale because Claire was quite dear to me and my family.”

“Mr. Mason told me that.”

“We failed her, Jane, but not for want of trying. She was suffering a type of post-partum depression and we were making efforts to get her into a recovery center. We have some excellent facilities both here and abroad.” Mrs. Radcliffe smiled sadly. “We’re all trying to cope, though poor Albert has had it the worst.”

I became impatient. “But you’re here to talk about me, not Mrs. Mason. I’d like to know what
exactly
you expect of me along with … with my blood and loyalty.”

“You put it so bluntly!” she said. “I’ll try to put our offer in context. In the past, our people were murdered by the superstitious and by those using that ignorance in order to steal our lands and property. We developed a system to help us survive and even thrive. We have friends, associates like those you saw at the ceremony, who protect our interests. We take care of them as well.

“At a higher level are the Companions. Each Companion has a lifelong bond with an individual Family member.”

She had been glancing away occasionally as she spoke, but now she clasped my hands and looked right into my face. “Jane, we are asking that you be Lucian’s Companion. If you say yes, we’ll take care of you for the rest of your life. You and my son would go to college together and graduate school. We would provide you with comfortable housing and a generous allowance.”

Hearing it from her made it real and momentous. I drew in a breath. “Is that a … a proposal?”

“No, our genetic anomaly makes traditional marriage with a Normal almost impossible. If our blood contaminates your blood, you could die. It’s one reason we are so cautious in our dealings with Normals. Companions usually marry another Normal and most have families who enjoy the benefits of the relationship.”

I felt uncomfortable, but she seemed so absorbed that I couldn’t tug away.

“Jane, you’ll have to make compromises, of course, but in exchange, we’ll offer you all of our resources to ensure that your life is as enriching and fulfilling as possible. In fact, we hope that you will want to work at one of our medical research facilities. You’d never have to worry about buying a house, or paying tuition, or medical bills.”

I slowly removed my hands from hers and tried to sound calm when I felt anything but calm. There was still the chance that Lucky had only wanted to taste my blood but didn’t know what his parents had planned for us. “Does Lucky know you’ve chosen me?”

“He’s very happy that you were chosen … although he certainly wasn’t supposed to take any action until you agreed to join the Family.”

Family
. I’d wanted a family so badly. “And what would my responsibilities be?”

“Lucky will want to taste your blood now and then. Only a few milliliters at each feeding, which won’t endanger your health at all. You are not expected to do his chores or his schoolwork. If anyone gets suspicious, or if you feel that he needs our help, you’ll act to protect him and be a liaison to the Family.”

“No one believes in supernatural monsters, or would hold a genetic anomaly against you,” I said.

“Superstition is based on emotion, not fact, and even intelligent people are eager to destroy anything different. People fear the unknown.”

“Is Jack…?”

“Jacob’s normal. Well, he’s
a
Normal.” Her expression became softer and warmer. “We have a very low birthrate and I’d lost all hope of having children when he came into our lives. I am so grateful that he did and I love him as much as a mother can love a child.”

“Claire Mason wanted a child.”

“I should have told you that Claire was from Helmsdale, but her loss is still upsetting. She was my husband’s Companion and like an aunt to my boys. Poor Claire.” Mrs. Radcliffe sighed. “We have things in common, Jane. We’re careful, smart, decent.”

“I would feel more comfortable about this if you’d told it all to me from the start.” I wanted to tilt the power of the negotiation to me. “What if my answer is no?”

“No one’s ever declined the offer.” Mrs. Radcliffe stood. “However, in that case, we would certainly honor our agreement to provide you with a Birch Grove education, and we would seek another qualified candidate who is interested in my son’s well-being.”

“The way I was asked here to take Bebe’s place.”

“Bebe didn’t refuse the role, Jane. She left before we made the offer, although I believe she suspected that we were going to give her an exceptional opportunity. You can give me your answer tomorrow.”

*   *   *

I barely slept that night, and I was already dressed and staring out the front window at daybreak, when everything was sparkling with dew and birds flitted among the branches, singing out.

I loved this place, but I had an odd feeling that I was missing
something,
like taking a test and skipping a critical step.

So I did what I knew best: I organized information, trying to find any reason why I
shouldn’t
accept the Radcliffes’ offer. In a clean new notebook, I wrote down everything that had happened, everything I’d been told. I drew a chart of relationships and tried to construct a timeline of events.

The missing factor was how Lucky felt about me.

I knew how I felt about him. I wanted him. It was that simple: I wanted Lucian Radcliffe and my desire for him was so powerful that all the unknowns seemed insignificant by comparison.

To my Birch Grove friends, he was merely a pretty boy, the headmistress’s son. They didn’t see anything more because they didn’t need anything else that Lucky offered. My friends took a family, home, comfort, and safety for granted. They took beauty and pleasure for granted.

But I knew that these things were precious. Lucky offered something else, too. He was someone I thought I could love. And I would do everything I could to make sure he fell in love with me, too.

I hid the notebook in the laundry room and went back to the living room window.

Lucky was coming down the curving path, light and shadow flickering over his face. My heart jumped because he was even more stunning now that I knew his secrets.
Our
secrets.

I opened the door and waited on the porch. When he saw me, a blush came to his pale cheeks.

“Hi, Jane. Come for a walk with me.” He started up the path toward his house and then veered right to a narrow trail that had been hidden by thick shrubs. Leaves crunched under our feet and birds chirped in the trees.

I studied Lucky as he walked ahead of me. His shoulders were wide in a thin charcoal cotton sweater and his legs seemed longer in black jeans. Occasionally a ray of sunshine pierced the clouds and branches and brightened his gold-honey-amber hair.

Soon we arrived at a small creek that wound around a boulder. Lucky boosted me effortlessly atop the boulder, and then he sat beside me.

“Jack and I used to play here. We built dams and had sword fights. He was Sir Jacob, Defender of the Grove, and I was Prince Lucian, Heir to the Throne. He’d still be happy playing here, but I grew out of that a long time ago.”

The water in the creek pooled down below, the same color as Jack’s eyes, and the smell here was like Jack, vivid and green.

“My mom’s really mad at me because I didn’t wait until you were formally asked. That’s the reason I was staying away. Because I wasn’t supposed to … you know. Although, it’s not my fault that you saw the celebration.”

So
that
was the reason he’d kept away. “Your mother was calm yesterday. She told me about all of you like it was completely normal.”

“We’re human beings with a genetic anomaly, not monsters.”

“I don’t think you’re a monster, Lucky.” I watched a water skeeter glide on the water, and I thought about surfaces and tension. “So Bebe was supposed to be here with you?”

“Yeah, I spent two years getting to know her, and then one day she took off with this uncle who shows up out of the blue.” He sounded hurt and angry. “I didn’t even get a good-bye.”

“Were you in love with her?”

“Bebe? No way. But I could talk to her and she was cool. We were buds.” Lucky hesitated. “My folks were waiting to ask her about being a Companion, but I’d told her already. She was psyched, but I guess she got a better offer from this
uncle
. Hell, maybe she really did have an uncle.”

“You were upset?”

He nodded. “Hattie said I should get used to girls blowing me off, unless I straighten out my act. She knew I’d told Bebe. Jack, too.”

“It’s a little weird, knowing that Hattie was probably reporting on me to your mom.”

“If you told Hattie anything in private, she’d keep it secret because … you can always count on Hattie. She probably told my mom just enough to keep her off your back. It’s all tradition with my folks. They keep expecting villagers to storm Birch Grove carrying torches and wooden stakes.”

Our laughter eased my tension. My leg was alongside Lucky’s. His arm was beside mine.

“I like you, Jane. You’re smart and levelheaded. You listen and consider stuff. You didn’t completely flip out about the geezers’ ceremony or with me that night.” His gaze drifted down to my breasts, then my neck and my arms.

“Lucky, what you said about girlfriends being temporary…”

“A Companion is a lot more important than a girlfriend. A Companion is a bond for life. I know you want something different, but that’s because you’re used to a certain idea of a relationship.” He paused before saying, “This isn’t sex for me, but the feeling I get when I taste blood is amazing. That’s the only explanation I can give.”

He shifted his weight to one hip and then reached into his pocket for the penknife. He opened it with one hand. He moved his fingertips along my cheek, making me dizzy with desire. “But I’ll try to make it good for you, too. I want you to like it.” When his hand dropped, his fingers skimmed the tip of my breast and my pulse raced.

“I like being with you, Lucky.”

“Stay then. Two more years and we’ll get out of this stupid town and go to college somewhere cool. We’ll travel the world and have adventures. We’ll find someplace great to live and be successes. My family will pay for everything.”

“That’s a lot of money. I can get scholarships.”

“They’ve
got
a lot of money. You won’t have to worry about anything except being there for me, Jane.”

He rubbed my earlobe between his thumb and forefinger. He put his lips near my ear so that I could feel the soft exhalations as he spoke. “Will you stay with me, Jane?”

And his words echoed Jack’s song,
Titania, stay with me, stay for me,
and I remembered the heat of Jack’s hands on my face, but I shoved away those confusing feelings because I wanted Lucky to keep touching me. I wanted one bright and beautiful thing in the misery and ugliness that had been my life. I was used to
wanting,
I could exist with
wanting
.

But Lucky’s wanting
me
gave me a sense of power that was intoxicating. And so I said, “Yes.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you, Jane, my very own Companion,” he murmured into my ear. “The lobe doesn’t have many nerves, but it has so many capillaries.” He bent my lobe to expose the back. Then he raised his knife and I felt the pain, like burning, as he cut me, and I cried out.

A burst of wind sent branches rustling and creaking as my blood flowed, sticky and warm and iron-scented.

Lucky watched with exhilaration as the thick blood trickled down my jaw and then along my throat. He pushed me back against the hard, cold rock and began licking my skin, his tongue rough and smooth at the same time.

The branches above us swayed as the wind grew stronger, and Lucky’s tongue rasped upward all along my neck. Then he nipped my earlobe and tugged, worrying at the cut and making it bleed more.

I closed my eyes and I wrapped my arms around Lucky. I would pay attention only to this moment, and this beautiful boy’s body against mine. I could feel the muscles moving in his back. His hand slipped under my shirt, and his fingers clasped my waist. I clutched his shoulders when he bit hard.

Then I opened my eyes and saw a blurry, transparent shape above in the white branches and fluttering leaves. I blinked and watched in wonder as the shape grew denser and dark. It didn’t move even though the branches thrashed, raining narrow leaves down on us.