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“Why?”
“Her ties were loose last night. I wanted to make sure she wasn’t able to shift.”
“Why are you truly here?” she asks. Every part of me is on alert. I don’t know where this conversation is going, and I’m not sure I want to find out.
“I told you. I’ve alwayswanted to be a mother.”
She moves closer to me. “I smell that lycanthrope on you,inyou. You drank from her.”
Shit. She’s right. Luna gave me her blood before I arrived. “I did. I only took a tiny amount. It’s been weeks since I’ve eaten.”
“There won’t be enough for all the children now,” she reprimands. “Part of being a mother is the willingness to sacrifice for the sake of your children.”
“I apologize. My hunger overtook me. It won’t happen again.”
Patrice closes her eyes. “I’m going to allow you to plead ignorance this time. However, if you make another mistake, I will kill you.” She moves toward the door. “You’ll need to find more food to replace what you took.” Less than a second passes before the woman is gone.
“Mommy? What did you do?”Alexander asks.
“Patrice thinks I drank from Luna.”
“Did you?”
“She gave me some of her blood yesterday. Patrice smelled it.”He doesn’t respond.“Patrice is demanding I get more food.”
The sun peeks through the cracks of the boarded-up windows, which means that Luna’s been alone in the basement for over eight hours. I can’t leave her down there while Patrice sends me out after morefood.
“Good morning, Mommy,” Alexander says, opening the door to my room. “I wanted to introduce you to my sisters.”
He opens the door fully, revealing two small girls. One of them is the girl I met when I first entered the abandoned church. The other one I recognize from the large room.
“These are my sisters, Autumn and Everly.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Autumn and Everly.”
The girl I met before steps forward. Her dress is perfectly creased and looks brand new. Dark brown curls hang to her shoulders, held together with a calico-flowered bow. She holds her hand toward me. “I’m Autumn.” I shake her small hand. “I’m Elsie.”
“Hello,” the second girl greets me. She’s wearing a pair of modern blue jeans and aHello Kittysweatshirt. Her ebony skin is flawless, along with large brown eyes and dark hair. She smiles, copying the movement of her sister and holding her hand toward me. “My name is Everly. It’s nice to meet you as well.”
“I’ve informed my sisters,” Alexander says.
“What about your mother?”I ask through my mind.
“She’s gone,” he answers out loud. “She’ll be back momentarily.”
“Then we should go.” I move toward the door. “You’ve got your sisters. Let’s get Luna and leave.”
“I’m afraid we can’t allow that,” Autumn interrupts.
“What do you mean?”
“My sister means, we can’t allow you to leave with the food,” Everly adds.
“The foodis not staying here and will not be food.” I focus my energy on the children.
“We’re not going to eat her, silly,” Autumn says with a giggle. “But if we take her now, Mother will know, and she will not let any of us leave.”
“She will hunt us down,” Everly adds.
