away from the bedroom.
“I want to get something for my mom from
those stores before we leave. I saw them the night we got here.
Would you help me pick something out?”
Nyx paused midway down the polished ivory
steps. Her sapphire-blue eyes were bigger than normal. “Isis, you
do realize you can’t return in this condition, don’t you?”
I blinked, trying to register the part where
Nyx said I couldn’t go home. Did she mean forever?
“For how long?”
“After the mutation has finished its course—”
She looked away from me. “Maybe then.”
“If I don’t turn into some unrecognizable
beast, you mean?” My statement was full of reproach, as if she were
responsible for what was happening to me.
“Don’t say that.”
Nyx reached for my arm, but I avoided her
touch and continued down the stairs, my hands in fists at my side.
The steel IV needle burrowed deep into my vein, but the pain kept
me from sobbing like a scared little girl. More than scared, I was
angry. Angry that this family, with all their powers, couldn’t give
me any answers. Angry that I was turning into some freak of nature.
Angry that the man who was my father had done this to my mother and
to me, with the full knowledge of the monstrosity he was creating.
I hated S. Leumas for taking my mother’s only child. But then
again, I had never been her child to keep, had I? I belonged to no
one. Not even to David who thought he had secured me. That thought
ignited more hatred for S. Leumas. He would be responsible for
making me break my mother’s and David’s hearts.
Eros was strolling across the living room
when I reached the bottom step. He stopped below a crystal
chandelier in the living room. He separated his pink, full lips to
say something, but saw Nyx descending the stairwell and locked his
hands behind his back instead. Call it an epiphany, but suddenly, I
knew how out of place Eros felt in this life. I knew how desolation
must devour his soul on a daily basis. I knew this because even
though I wasn’t unaccompanied, I was alone. Alone like
Eros.
“Off to find more antiquities?” Nyx asked
Eros.
He took his glasses off and cleaned the
lenses with a handkerchief he pulled from his pants pocket. “Oui.
I’d ask you to join me, since you’re a connoisseur of fine things,
but I know you’re preoccupied with your patient.”
“Another time,” Nyx said.
Eros nodded, then adjusted his eyeglasses on
the rim of nose. “Feel better, Isis.”
“Thanks.”
I watched Eros turn the knob to the heavy,
wooden door and wished it was me that was leaving. Nyx rubbed my
arm as if to apologize for the conversation we had had a moment
ago. Or maybe she felt how desperate I was to leave.
“Come, dear,” she said. “You need to
eat.”
In the peaceful green garden, we ate the
broth in silence, listening to the chirps of birds hiding in the
surrounding trees. My bowl was still more than halfway full when
the colic began. I hugged my stomach and took shallow breaths of
hot air. The pain lasted only a few seconds. The same thing had
happened with the vegetable soup earlier in the day.
Nyx set her spoon down and straightened her
back. She studied me for a moment, and then said, “Your stomach is
learning to digest food again.”
“I assume that’s a good thing.”
Nyx raised her spoon and dipped it into the
soup. “Yes. Any improvement means a day closer to home for all of
us.”
“Maybe.”
Nyx stirred her soup and looked at me from
under her lush black lashes. “You know, when I thought you were
pregnant—and again, I apologize—I was horrified. That would’ve
meant you were married.”
“Married?” I acted as though I didn’t know
what she was talking about. “But what about the white dress, the
bridesmaids… the cake? What makes it official if there are no
papers to sign?”
“The ceremony is a sacred and private vow.
You need no other witnesses. Although we’ve acquired modern
traditions in our culture, what
“I want to get something for my mom from
those stores before we leave. I saw them the night we got here.
Would you help me pick something out?”
Nyx paused midway down the polished ivory
steps. Her sapphire-blue eyes were bigger than normal. “Isis, you
do realize you can’t return in this condition, don’t you?”
I blinked, trying to register the part where
Nyx said I couldn’t go home. Did she mean forever?
“For how long?”
“After the mutation has finished its course—”
She looked away from me. “Maybe then.”
“If I don’t turn into some unrecognizable
beast, you mean?” My statement was full of reproach, as if she were
responsible for what was happening to me.
“Don’t say that.”
Nyx reached for my arm, but I avoided her
touch and continued down the stairs, my hands in fists at my side.
The steel IV needle burrowed deep into my vein, but the pain kept
me from sobbing like a scared little girl. More than scared, I was
angry. Angry that this family, with all their powers, couldn’t give
me any answers. Angry that I was turning into some freak of nature.
Angry that the man who was my father had done this to my mother and
to me, with the full knowledge of the monstrosity he was creating.
I hated S. Leumas for taking my mother’s only child. But then
again, I had never been her child to keep, had I? I belonged to no
one. Not even to David who thought he had secured me. That thought
ignited more hatred for S. Leumas. He would be responsible for
making me break my mother’s and David’s hearts.
Eros was strolling across the living room
when I reached the bottom step. He stopped below a crystal
chandelier in the living room. He separated his pink, full lips to
say something, but saw Nyx descending the stairwell and locked his
hands behind his back instead. Call it an epiphany, but suddenly, I
knew how out of place Eros felt in this life. I knew how desolation
must devour his soul on a daily basis. I knew this because even
though I wasn’t unaccompanied, I was alone. Alone like
Eros.
“Off to find more antiquities?” Nyx asked
Eros.
He took his glasses off and cleaned the
lenses with a handkerchief he pulled from his pants pocket. “Oui.
I’d ask you to join me, since you’re a connoisseur of fine things,
but I know you’re preoccupied with your patient.”
“Another time,” Nyx said.
Eros nodded, then adjusted his eyeglasses on
the rim of nose. “Feel better, Isis.”
“Thanks.”
I watched Eros turn the knob to the heavy,
wooden door and wished it was me that was leaving. Nyx rubbed my
arm as if to apologize for the conversation we had had a moment
ago. Or maybe she felt how desperate I was to leave.
“Come, dear,” she said. “You need to
eat.”
In the peaceful green garden, we ate the
broth in silence, listening to the chirps of birds hiding in the
surrounding trees. My bowl was still more than halfway full when
the colic began. I hugged my stomach and took shallow breaths of
hot air. The pain lasted only a few seconds. The same thing had
happened with the vegetable soup earlier in the day.
Nyx set her spoon down and straightened her
back. She studied me for a moment, and then said, “Your stomach is
learning to digest food again.”
“I assume that’s a good thing.”
Nyx raised her spoon and dipped it into the
soup. “Yes. Any improvement means a day closer to home for all of
us.”
“Maybe.”
Nyx stirred her soup and looked at me from
under her lush black lashes. “You know, when I thought you were
pregnant—and again, I apologize—I was horrified. That would’ve
meant you were married.”
“Married?” I acted as though I didn’t know
what she was talking about. “But what about the white dress, the
bridesmaids… the cake? What makes it official if there are no
papers to sign?”
“The ceremony is a sacred and private vow.
You need no other witnesses. Although we’ve acquired modern
traditions in our culture, what
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