“I didn’t let her. She didn’t ask my permission.”
“You could have forced her to stay.”
“Force her? Beatriz is immortal, Carla. Probably stronger than I am right now. And she had Ryan. How on earth would I do that?”
I said nothing. I could see his point. Yet I was still upset that Beatriz was free.
Becquer bent toward me. “Why are you so difficult to please? I promised you I’d get your son back. And I did. Could you at least be thankful for that.”
I blushed under his deep stare. And looked down, embarrassed at the truth I recognized in his words. “Thank you. I mean it, Becquer. I’m grateful. Very, very grateful.”
Becquer took my hands in his. I shivered at the contact for they were still cold, even colder than I remembered. “Yet you’re upset too. Why?”
“I thought you could read minds.”
“Feelings. I sense feelings. No motives. No reasons. And in your case, your feelings are puzzling. So please, explain.”
“Not now. You are not well,” I said for his face was pale in the moonlight. “Tell me what I can do to help.”
“Nothing, really. But I appreciate your asking.”
“Are you sure? You seem weaker than you were when Beatriz … Did she do it again? Did she take your blood?”
“Yes. But this time I offered. The change demands lots of blood. She was thirsty already, so I offered her mine. Enough to carry her through the night. That will give her time to get some from one of the blood banks that deals with us immortals.”
“And you trust she will.”
“I hope she does. For both of our sakes. If she kills, the Elders will hold me responsible. So you see, Carla, it would have been in my best interest to keep her close so I could supervise her. But she didn’t agree. She threw Ryan over the fence to make sure I didn’t follow her. I had to step us out of time to keep him safe while I gave her my blood.”
That explained the shock wave I felt on the road. It also explained why he had fainted. I remembered how weak he had been when I found him at the library. No wonder he was half dead now. I looked up the bank toward the parking lot. Matt was coming down already. But Ryan was not visible. He must have moved behind the car to change. He would not join us for a while. And Matt already knew Becquer was immortal. He would not be surprised if he saw us. I turned to Becquer.
“Take my blood,” I said quickly, afraid I would lose my nerve if I thought it over. “Take as much as you need.”
Becquer smiled. “You said you didn’t want to exchange blood ever again.” As he spoke, he traced the veins of my right wrist with his long fingers. “What made you change your mind?”
“You saved my son’s life.”
His fingers stopped moving. “Is that why?” His smile was gone and his eyes were dead serious.
“Yes.”
He let go of my hand. “That is not how it works. I never take blood as payment.”
“But you need it.”
“Matt will drive me home,” Becquer said curtly. And his words were final.
I should have felt relieved at his rejection for the idea of giving him my blood scared me more than I could acknowledge. Yet I wasn’t relieved, I realized, but hurt. I pushed back the unexpected feeling for I didn’t want him to sense it.
“As you wish.”
I got up to leave for Matt had already joined us.
“One more thing,” I heard myself saying. “I think it’s better if Ryan does not visit you any longer.”
“Why?” The hardness in his eyes remained, but there was a hint of hurt in his voice.
“Beatriz, of course.”
“Whether Ryan is in my house or in yours doesn’t matter. She knows where you live. She was my secretary, after all.”
“Among other things,” I wanted to say but didn’t, for Matt was listening. And although he probably suspected, or knew, his mother and Becquer had been lovers, it was not right for me to mention it now. Besides, whatever Beatriz had been was irrelevant, compared with the threat she posed now. For if she knew where I lived that meant she could hurt Ryan any time. Or Madison.
Madison. I had to call her, tell her to stay indoors, not to let Beatriz in. Or did that matter? Did immortals, like the mythical vampires of lore, need permission to enter somebody’s house?
Instinctively, my hand reached for my cell, but I couldn’t find it. I had left it in my purse, and my purse was at Becquer’s house.
“Madison is safe,” Becquer said.
“How did you guess I was thinking of her?”
“And Ryan will be too,” Becquer continued not bothering to answer a question that needed no answer. “I made a deal with Beatriz. If she ever touches you or your children, she is dead. Besides, she’s leaving Pennsylvania tonight, she promised.”
“And you believe her?”
“I do. Beatriz has risked a lot to become immortal. She won’t want to antagonize me further as I am the only one who can protect her from the Elders.”
“The Elders,” Matt repeated. “Federico said they will kill her for stealing your blood.”
“Don’t worry, Matt. I’ll speak in her defense. Let’s hope I’m convincing.” He turned to me, “As for Ryan, I’ll follow your request, Carla. I won’t contact him. But tell him that if he ever needs me, I will always be there for him. Or is that too much to ask of you?”
I considered retracting my request, for I could see in his dark stare the pain it had caused him to accept it and he had just saved Ryan’s life. But the incongruity of the implausible events of this long day had finally caught up with me, and I felt too weary to continue the discussion. So instead, I nodded. “I’ll tell him.”
I asked Ryan to call his sister as soon as I reached the car, for despite Becquer’s words of reassurance, I needed to talk with Madison to believe she was all right. When Ryan’s cell didn’t work, which was not surprising after its immersion in the water, I drove us home dangerously fast along the narrow, winding road that left the lake.
The possibilities of Beatriz going after Madison were slim, I reminded myself. Besides, even if she had gone to my house looking for her after taking Becquer’s blood, Madison would not have been there. Abby’s mother was supposed to pick her up at eight to drive her to her Halloween party. It was past ten now. Madison was at the party, she had to be, and Beatriz could not reach her there.
Immortals only sense humans when they are close, Federico had told me. Beatriz did not know where the party was, or that Madison was going to a party for that matter, and she couldn’t trace Madison’s mind, because she had never met her.
But no amount of reasoning could convince me Madison was safe, not even hearing her voice on the phone when we finally made it home. And so, despite her complaints that I had agreed to let her sleep over at Abby’s, I insisted on picking her up.
Madison was not happy to see me. And once the wave of relief at seeing she was unharmed wore off, I wasn’t happy to see her either, for I soon understood why she had been so upset by my change of plans. Madison was wearing the skimpy outfit that, earlier that day, I had strictly forbidden her to wear.
I shook my head in disbelief and motioned her to the car.
“It’s not what you think,” Madison told me after sulking for a while.
“And what’s that?”
“That I planned to wear this dress all along. I didn’t, really.”
“Why did you wear it then?”
“Courtney had the same cat costume I bought at the mall. She posted her picture on Facebook before the
