AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“The lycan are returning, and I’m continuing to follow her.”Thorne pauses.“If you can hear me, Alexander, I won’t let them out of sight.”
Alexander sits up, wiping his tear-stained face. “Does he mean it?”
I nod. “Thorne followed me for three hundred years. He will do everything he can not to lose them.”
On cue, the lycan walk through the broken glass. “Topher says they weren’t able to keep up with her without being seen by humans. Thorne is still following her,” Amelia translates their silent conversation.
Alexander stands and straightens his suit. He bows to the lycan. “Thank you for trying.” He runs his fingers through his hair and clears his throat. “I’m ready to go home, Elsie.” I don’t know when the change came from him calling me Mommy to calling me by my name, but I’m not angry about it.
“I’ll come with you,” Amelia says, moving to our side. Without explanation, I know she’s coming in case Alexander decides to lose his shit. “The lycan will stay behind and clean up.” She looks around the room at the destruction. “These poor…” she stops her words, looking at the immortal child next to me. “I’m so sorry, Alexander.”
“Thank you,” he whispers. “They’re better off now.” His words sound much wiser than he appears.
The three of us exit the building, running toward the beach house. We arrive minutes later at the empty home. Alexander moves straight to the television, turning it on and allowing the ambient light to fill the room. He sits on the edge of the couch, staring mindlessly at thescreen.
“I asked Topher to stop and grab some clothes for him on their way back,” Amelia says, standing next to me in the kitchen. The two of us are staring at the immortal child, not sure what to do or how to help him.
“Elsie?” I look up at my name. “May I have some goat’s blood?”
“Of course.” I grab one from the cooler and take it to him. “Would you like to clean up a little?”
He empties the bottle in one gulp. “I’d like that very much.” He turns toward Amelia. “When will the Alpha be here with my clothes?”
I share a look with Amelia. “They’ll be at the church for a while,” she answers. “I’m sure we can find something around here for you to wear until your clothes arrive.”
Alexander stands. “That will be fine.” He turns toward me. “Will you help me, Elsie?”
“Yes.” I follow him upstairs, directing him to mine and Thorne’s bedroom. “There’s a shower and supplies inside.”
“I’d rather take a bath.”
“Ok. Let me get your water going.” Moving into the bathroom, I set the water to the perfect temperature, not that it matters for a vampire, but it’s something I need to do. The sister in me wants to provide this boy the love he’s missed.
Alexander walks into the bathroom. “Will you stay with me?”
His behavior feelsoff,but taking into account that he just murdered his siblings and watched his mother take his sisters, he has the right to be a littleoff.“I’ll come back in once you’re in the water.”
“Thank you.” He nods. “Are there bubbles?”
“I’ll find some.” I leave the boy in the bathroom, moving through several bathrooms on the same floor and finding bubbles not far away.
“I’m in,”he says through my mind seconds later.
“I found bubbles,” I announce, coming back into the room. Pouring the bubbles into the running water, the tub fills with white foam almost instantly.
Alexander’s tiny body is covered in scars. Some look like bite marks. Others look like burns. I close my eyes at the realization that in order for these to remain scars, they were inflicted before he was turned.
“Mother did them,” he answers my unasked question after reading my mind. “After she took me, she used me to entertain humans. Some of them liked to bite.”
“Oh, Alexander. I’m so sorry,” I apologize, fighting the tears from forming in my eyes.
“Why? It’s not your fault.”
“No, it’s not my fault, but I’m sorry for the pain she put you through.” I pull the hem of my shirt up, exposing my stomach. “Do you see this?” I point at a long scar on my abdomen. He nods. “The man who took me did it. He stabbed me because he was angrythat I was starving.” I take a breath, hoping not to fall too deeply into a memory. “He let me bleed for hours.”
Alexander looks into my eyes. “Why did he take you?”
“I don’t know,” I answer truthfully. “We have several theories, but mostly I think he took me because he could.”
