Redeeming (23 page)

“I hope you’re right.” Jett replied. “For now, we just have to pray that remains the case.”

As Jett approached, Daniella walked up and hugged him.

“Everything okay?” S
he asked.

“Yeah,” he began. “It will be. What’s the latest with Owen?”

She sighed and chewed on her lower lip. “He’s still in surgery.”

“Okay,” Jett replied. “Look, I think you need to just go home and get some rest. I’ll stay here with my folks, Millicent and Tucker until he gets out.”

“No,” Daniella said. “I want to stay.”

“Daniella, please…” Jett said as he grabbed her by the upper arms. “I need you to do this for me. I’m worried about you and until we have a chance to deal with the child… I just cannot risk having anything happen to you, accidental or otherwise.”

“Okay,” Daniella replied as she leaned up and kissed him. While she did, Tricia and Marilyn approached.

“Child?” Daniella’s mother said apparently well within earshot of the conversation. “What?”

“Mom, please…” Daniella said. “I’ll explain everything to you…”

“Daniella,” her mother interrupted. “You…
are pregnant
?”

Daniella exhaled.
“Yes, mom.”

***

“So when, exactly were you going to tell me about this, Daniella?” Her mother asked.

“It’s just really complicated, Mom.”

“And so, it’s not enough I get kidnapped by these things but now I’m supposed to be happy with the fact that you are having a child with one of them?”

“Mom, first of all… as I explained to you…” Daniella began with an
exasperated tone. “Kane took my identification and sent his men after you. It’s not like I told them where you were. Secondly, Jett is not a
thing
for God’s sake.”

As Tricia drove back to Daniella
’s apartment mother and daughter fell silent; each stared out their respective windows in frustration with the other.

“You guys…” Tricia said as she attempted to act as the voice of reason. “Don’t fight.”

Daniella exhaled and turned towards the back seat where her mom sat and as she did, Marilyn looked at her. Her eyes appeared glassy and on the verge of tears. Daniella reached back and placed her hand on her mother’s knee.

“Mom,” Daniella began. “I’m sorry. I can’t imagine how difficult all of
this is for you. Just know I had my reasons for not telling you before but I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

Marilyn sniffled a bit and nodded her head.

“And now…” Marilyn replied.

“Now, what?” Daniella asked.

“Daniella,” her mother began as she crossed her arms. “I know when you are lying to me. There’s something you aren’t telling me even now about what’s going on with you. Now, I’ve had more than enough of this and I don’t deserve this kind of treatment. And for that matter, neither does Tricia!”

Daniella exhaled and leaned back into the car seat. She would have to tell them. There was no way she couldn
’t. But how?

“Ugh,” she groaned as she looked out the passenger’s side window. “It’s times like this I could really use a drink.”

“Your mom’s right, Daniella…” she said. “Whatever is happening, now isn’t the time to keep it to yourself.”

“I know,” she muttered as she reached down and caressed her stomach. “I know.”

A little more than an hour later, Daniella sat on her couch and after an uncomfortable start, she somehow managed to get through all the reasons behind the concern over her pregnancy. Needless to say, neither Marilyn nor Tricia were all that thrilled she’d kept it to herself.

In fact, they were
downright furious with her.

“So now what, Daniella?” Marilyn asked with disgust in her tone. “We are just supposed to wait around for you to die?”

“Jesus…” Tricia chimed in. “Why would you keep something like this to yourself especially after the pregnancy test?”

“Pregnancy test?” Marilyn yelled as she looked at Tricia. “You mean
you
knew about this?”

“Yes,” Tricia began. “Well, kind of…”

“What does that mean?”

“I knew about the
pregnancy
…” she continued. “Daniella asked me to keep it secret. Which I did. But, I didn’t know about the rest of it. Really. God damn it, Daniella!”

“Will you two stop
please?” Daniella screamed. “What? Do you think this is easy for me? Or that I’m not scared to death right now?”

As she finished speaking, she stood up from the couch and walked down the hallway towards the bathroom.

“Daniella!” Marilyn yelled as she walked away. “Come back here!”

“No!” S
he screamed. A split second later, she walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind her. She was so angry; she shook as she slammed the toilet seat down and sat on top of it. For a few moments, she heard her mom and Tricia still talking loudly to each other in the living room. Presumably, there was still a good amount of finger pointing going on. While she sat, she placed her elbows on her knees and cradled her head in her hands.

“Fuck…” she cursed under her breath. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

Daniella sat in silence for a few more minutes until there was a soft knock at the bathroom door.

“What?” S
he groaned.

“Daniella,” Tricia said. “Open up. Come on…”

“No,” she replied. “I’m tired of getting yelled at right now, okay?”

“No one is going to yell at you…” her mother said. “We just want to talk.”

Daniella raised her head up and looked at the ceiling.

“Alright, one second…” She replied.

“Okay,” Marilyn said.

She stood up and on the way to the
door she caught a glance of herself in the mirror. “Oh my God…” she said as stopped and rubbed underneath her eyelids. “I look like total hell.”

She dragged herself to the door and pulled it open.

“Oh Daniella, honey…” her mom said as she walked towards her with her arms open. “I’m sorry.”

As they embraced, Daniella felt as if a great burden lifted from her at last. Bad as the situation was, at least she didn
’t have to worry about lying or trying to hide it any longer.

“I know…” Daniella replied. “I’m sorry too.”

As they broke free, Daniella hugged Tricia.

“I’m sorry as well,” Tricia began. “I just wish you would have told us sooner.”

Daniella nodded but exhaustion kept her from responding.

“Well…” her mom said. “What do we do now? And the answer better not be ‘I don’t know’…”

Although tired, Daniella managed a soft smile. “It isn’t,” she began. “I’ll explain everything.”

***

Several days later, Daniella, Marilyn, and Tricia all returned to the bear shifter compound outside Fesser’s Grove. They gathered in the Shrine of Dela, the clan’s place of reflection, in preparation for the ritual they hoped would not only spare Daniella’s life, but also herald the arrival of the next bear clan heir.

With Kane in custody, Jett spent the time since they
’d seen each other doing what was required of him as the new clan leader. In addition to the murder of Buck, Kane left an immense legacy of death, destruction, and deceit from his reign of terror. Even though Jett was off to an honorable start, there much to repair and rebuild.

Adding to the mantle of leadership was the rather difficult issue of a human female giving birth to one of their own. Nowhere in bear clan law was the practice prohibited but it rather, they believed it not possible. Aside from Jett
’s mother, who died, there weren’t any recorded instances where humans survived a shifter birth.

Yet, it turns out that Owen
’s memory was accurate. There were rumors that once it did happen but the mother tragically died of a deadly strain of flu a short time afterward. So if the legends were true, it meant that a chance, however small, did exist. Of course, if it didn’t work, the baby would die. There was no doubt about that outcome. Millicent approached Jett and Daniella as they spoke with her mom and Tricia just within the entrance to the shrine.

“It’s time…” Millicent said.

Jett and Daniella shook their head in acknowledgment.

“Well… you ready?” Jett asked.

Daniella shrugged. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready but I can’t take waiting anymore.”

“So,” Jett began. “Is that ‘yes’?”

Daniella nodded and smiled.

“Okay,” Millicent said as she reached towards Daniella and embraced her.
“Come with me.”

As they began to walk away, Daniella grabbed Jett
’s arm.

“Wait…” she said as glanced back to her mother and Tricia. “Can they come with me?”

Jett looked at Millicent and shrugged his shoulders.

“Don’t ask me, Jett.” Millicent began. “You are the clan leader now. It’s up to you.”

Jett raised his eyebrows in surprise. He looked at Daniella and said, “Guess I’m still not used to that yet.”

“So,” Daniella began as she echoed Jett’s question moments earlier. “Is that a ‘yes’?”

“Of course,” Jett replied with a soft smile. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

After a brief walk across the temple, everyone gathered in the prayer antechamber. As they entered, Millicent closed the heavy oak door behind
them. At the front of the room stood a large stone altar. Rows of pews filled the remainder of the relatively small space. A mix of burning candles and sun peeking in through long, thin windows along the side of the structure provided ample light in the room.

“Take a seat in the front.” Millicent said as she looked at Marilyn and Tricia. As they did, they continued towards the altar.

“Daniella…” Millicent began as she gestured towards the immense stone. “I need you to climb onto the altar.”

Daniella nodded and started to make her way up.

“Here, let me help you…” Jett said as he steadied and lifted her.

After she got on top of it, Millicent said,
“I need you to lie back.”

Daniella reclined on the stone and tried to find a comfortable position. As she did, Jett took her hand in his.

“Are you alright?” He asked.

“As alright as I’m going to be…”

Millicent looked at them, smiled and said, “Okay, then, if you are ready… we can begin.”

Daniella swallowed hard and nodded while she squeezed Jett
’s hand tight.

Over her right shoulder, Millicent carried a small leather bag. She pulled
it around in front of her and reached inside. After a moment, she produced a small vial. Teardrop-shaped, it contained a fine powder. As she opened it, she began to speak…

“Daniella, inside of this vial is concentrated dosage of Ellem’s Eye. It is a root that is poisonous to bear shifters but not to humans. Humans have antibodies which make them immune to it.” She said.

“Well, if it’s poisonous to shifters… why do you keep it?”

“Although rare, it does have one use among our kind…” she said. “In cases of rare disease or illness, some elect to consume it as a peaceful way to move on from this life.”

“Sort of like hemlock?”

“Yes,” she replied. “Very similar…”

“I don’t understand,” Jett interrupted. “Why are you giving this to her?”

“Well as I explained, Ellem’s Eye is poisonous to our kind.” She began. “And now that the child grows within her, they share the same blood. There’s no
way to know for certain if the child has, or will ever have, enough antibodies to resist the poison.”

“If it does?” Jett asked.

“If Daniella ingests the powder and does not lose the child, it means that there are enough antibodies present to protect it…” she began. “Of course, that is the best possible scenario because it means they will both survive.”

Jett hesitated for a moment. He looked into Daniella
’s eyes, squeezed her hand, and smiled softly.

“And if it doesn’t?” H
e asked.

“I’m afraid that’s a bit more complicated…” Millicent sighed.

“What do you mean?” Daniella asked.

Millicent nodded and placed her hand on her chest.
“Now understand that everything I know comes from hearsay… word of mouth if you will… but, if the child is not sufficiently immune, not only will it die but there’s a very good chance you might as well.”

“Wait…” Jett began. “But you just said that humans are immune the effects of Ellem’s Eye. How can it threaten her?”

“For the very same reason she
might
protect him,” Millicent replied. “Their
shared
blood. It is
the
thing which can save them both or… not.”

“Hmm,” Jett replied as his features darkened. He looked at Daniella and then turned to Millicent. “Would you give us a moment?”