Fruit of Misfortune (20 page)

“You imbecile!” Galen snarled. “I told you
not to leave any trails. What kind of moron makes paper files in an
age when we rely on computers?”

“Galen, calm down.” David held his brother
back by the shoulders, and then dragged him a few steps away from
the desk.

I took the scientist’s shaking arm, more for
my benefit than his. Galen looked a lot bigger when he was angry,
but I drew up courage and defended the poor doctor.

“It’s not his fault,” I said. “He was
assaulted. Look at his eye.”

“I can do better.” Galen raised his little
finger, stepping toward us. “I can pry his eyeballs out with my
pinky.”

David tugged at the back of his brother’s
shirt.

“Stand down,” David said. “You promised
Mother you’d never do that again.” David took his brother by the
arm and pulled him away from the desk. “Now, stop harassing the
man. He’s here to help.”

“I am.” The doctor blinked. “I t-truly, truly
am at your disposal, as I’ve told you before,” he said. “I wouldn’t
be here if I didn’t want to help you.”

“He says he can help David,” I said. “Dr.
Gunn says David needs to have a blood transfusion as soon as
possible. You need to call your dad and tell him to come to Athens
right away.”

“I’ll need a liter of blood from each family
member,” Gunn said. “It’s imperative that we act quickly.”

Galen took his cell phone from his back pants
pocket and used it to point at the scientist. “You’d better start
praying, Gunn. My father isn’t as forbearing as I am.”

Gunn’s eyes twitched. I felt sorry for him.
The poor man had no idea what he had signed on for when he accepted
the proposition that the family had extended.

Galen began to punch numbers on his phone,
but David whisked the phone from his hands.

“What are you doing?” Galen glared at David,
but David ignored him.

“Before we do this, I need to know
something,” David said. “Dr. Gunn, can the same procedure be
executed for Isis?”

Gunn turned to eye Galen before he answered
with apprehension.

“I’m afraid it’s too late for her,” Gunn
said.

“Then I won’t do it. “ David looked at me. “I
can’t.”

“You have to. This is the only way,” I stared
intently into eyes, as if that would force a positive answer from
him. “I need my dream boy, not the boogie man.”

“I was thinking more along the lines of
Frankenstein,” David said. “At least he has a bride.”

“You’re serious? You’re throwing it all
away.”

“I’m doing this for both of us.”

“No! You don’t get to pick
us
anymore.
You do this for your mother who’s already suffered enough. Do this
for your brothers that have protected you since the beginning. Do
this for your father who has put everything on the line for you.
Aren’t they worth it?”

David tightened his mouth.

“Answer me. Will you do it for them?”

“Don’t make me choose between you and my
family.”

“Then choose what’s right for you.”

“I already have.”

I stared at him for a second. “So you’re not
going to go through with the procedure?”

David shook his head. The back of my eyes
began to sting. My face filled with the warmth of both rising anger
and frustration.

“But, Mr. Chios, if you—” Dr. Gunn began.

“No,” David said. “My decision is final.”

Galen let out a grunt of irritation, took his
phone from David’s hand, and shoved him by the shoulder. “We’ve
done everything in our power to protect you, you selfish,
ungrateful ass. Our family has stepped over the laws of the
Doctrine of Deus, knowing and accepting that the Council will have
our heads as soon as this is over. Haven’t you had enough of
Mother’s suffering? Are you even aware that Father will lose his
position on the Council and be tried for conspiracy?”

David said nothing, but stood immobile,
watching Galen.

“You claim to be oh-so-in-love, but the truth
is that she,” Galen’s chin jerked in my direction, “might care for
you more than you care for anyone except yourself, and that my
brother, is sad. A half-witted
Creatura
has more sense than
you.”

As offended as I wanted to be, Galen was on
my side, and I appreciated it.

“He’s right,” I said. “There are five other
people in your life that would go to the end of the world for you,
but you—you only care about your own happiness. And that’s just so
messed up, David.”

David blinked once. I walked past Galen and
him and headed for the door.

“Isis,” Gunn called out. I had forgotten he
was there. “Is your species called
Creatura
?”

“Yes,” I sighed. “This is what you get when
you cross a human and what they are.” My eyes landed on David who
looked like he was struggling to keep his emotions stable. “I don’t
know what I’m turning into. But I do know I shouldn’t exist. If you
have any questions, Galen and David are the ones to ask. Thank you
for your help, Doctor.”

Without looking back, I walked out of the den
and into the hallway where I saw Eryx leading the policemen out the
door. Nyx and Paulina were sitting on the white sofa in the living
room. Nyx held Paulina’s hand while Paulina half spoke, half wailed
into Nyx’s phone.

Nyx turned her head to look at me with
reddened eyes. I couldn’t tell if it was from lack of sleep or
crying. Maybe both.

“You don’t look well,” Nyx said, trying to
keep her voice down as Paulina continued her phone conversation.
“Are you feeling ill again?”

“I feel fine. But none of us are really well,
are we?” My voice broke.

Paulina rose from the couch with the cell
phone in her hand and walked away from us.

“No.” Nyx shook her head, watching as Paulina
used her apron to wipe the thin streams of tears that fell down her
pained face. “We’re far from well and very near hell, if you ask
me.”

“I know I’ve said this before, but I’m
sorry.” I tried to blink back my own tears, but they were stronger
than my will. “I did this to your family. I ruined it.”

“No one blames you. Why do you insist on
blaming yourself?”

“Because David won’t accept the opportunity
he has to save himself.” I sat next to Nyx. “Dr. Gunn says he might
be able to help him stop the change, but he won’t do it because of
me. Because Dr. Gunn has no cure for me, and he won’t go through
with the procedure if I can’t be helped.” I reached for Nyx’s
hands. “You have to talk to him. He won’t listen to me or Dr. Gunn
or Galen, but you—you’re his mother. He’ll listen to you.”

“The doctor guarantees this?”

“He said there’s a very high probability that
if he does a blood transfusion, the change won’t happen.”

Nyx sprung up from the sofa. “Are they still
in the den?” I nodded. Nyx reached for my arms and lifted me up
from the sofa. “The chances of David listening to me aren’t as
great as you think.”

“No, don’t say that.” I said, feeling that
somehow Nyx was jinxing the odds of having David change his mind.
“He has to listen to you.”

“My dear, I may be his mother, but there’s
one factor that makes him inflexible.”

“He’s stubborn, I know.”

“No, Isis.” She sighed. “David’s in love with
you. You don’t need to be empathic to see that his world, his life,
they revolve around you. When he looks at you, he’s a lost cause.
I’m glad he found you. Everyone deserves to love and be loved. And
if his choice is to go forward with you in this change, then as
much as it hurts to resign myself to lose him, I can’t obligate
David to give up his happiness.”

I bit hard on my bottom lip to stop it from
quivering. Nyx was my last resort, but she was on David’s side. So
what if he loved me? I loved him too. But I wasn’t going to stand
for more bloodshed.

“I’ll talk to him,” Nyx said, putting an arm
around my shoulder. “You should rest while I do. You’re tired, I
can sense it.”

“I will.”

I watched as the porcelain-skinned goddess
walked toward the foyer and vanished around the corner. The odds
that David would change his mind about putting a stop to his own
transformation were next to impossible. There was nothing else I
could do for now, so I walked up the staircase, taking each step at
a sluggish pace. When I reached the second floor, I stared at my
bedroom door, but didn’t go in to rest as I had told Nyx that I
would. Instead, my feet led me down the left corridor, my pulse
quickening as I set one foot in front of the other. I reached my
destination and held my breath. I closed my eyes and felt my heart
objecting, sinking deep into my chest. I didn’t want this, but I
didn’t have a choice. It had to be done. Before any internal
conflicts could surface between my heart and my brain, I turned the
knob and walked into the room.

“I accept,” I said.

Eros lowered the newspaper that was in his
manicured hands and grinned. He walked to the door and closed
it.

“My sweet, Isis.” He placed a chaste kiss on
my cheek, and I turned away. “Why be so cold?” His French accent
was starting to irritate me. “You’ll grow to love me. You’re
already on the brink.”

“Before you get any ideas, I have
conditions,” I said. “First, you have to take me to find my father,
like you said.”

Eros placed one hand on my waist and tipped
my head up with the other so that I could look directly at his
eyes.

“What else, my sweet?”

“You have to keep your promise.”

“I promise to take you wherever you desire,”
Eros said, and then he kissed me, long and hard.

I had felt shocks of delight the first time
he had kissed me, but now my lips felt dead against his. I was
nothing more than a piece of property, an addition to Eros’
estate.

The satin
pillowcase was dampened with tears of regret, anger, and impotence.
It clung to my cheek like a second skin as I lifted my face off the
bed and reached for my phone. I dialed and cleared my throat while
the line rang, then took in a deep gust of air and held it to
settle my breathing.

On the fourth ring, I heard a smile in my
mom’s voice when, instead of the typical hello, she said, “You
forgot you had a mother, didn’t you?”

It hurt to hear her voice. It hurt to know
that I would never see her again. But what hurt the most was that I
was going to leave her alone in the world. Who would take care of
her?

“I can’t forget you. You’re the woman who
potty trained me.”

“The way you associate me with toddler poop
is both disgusting and endearing. Now, tell me what you’ve been up
to that you haven’t had the time to call the woman that spent hours
upon hours in labor with you.”

I loved that my mom made me smile even when I
felt like I was drowning in an emotional sea of acid.

“Blatant lies. You told me you were in labor
for under an hour—that I was eager to come into the world.”

“Oops,” Claire laughed. “Forgot about that.
So c’mon and tell me what you’ve seen so far.”

“Lots of old things.”
Deities
.
“Ancient statues and temples.”
Those were built for
them.

“Yeah, there’s a lot of history in Greece,”
Claire said. “Did you get over that cold?”

“Yup,” I said. “I saw a doctor.”
He told
me I was turning into a monster in nine days.

The line went quiet for a moment.

“Honey, is everything okay? You sound kind of
down.”

Aside from the monster morphing, I’m in
shock because a woman killed herself yesterday for my sake.
“Well, I just got over that cold and all, and there’s that other
thing.”

“What?” she asked.

This is the last time I’ll ever hear your
voice.
“I miss you, Mom,” I said, wiping my eyes with the heel
of my hand. “And I love you.” I wanted to scream. How could this be
happening? How could I have kept this from her? “Mom, are you
there?”

“The way you said that, it gave me chills,”
she sighed. “Isis, maybe you should come home.”

You’re right to be worried.
“You’re
overreacting.” I kept my voice steady. “As a matter of fact, I’m
headed out for more fun in about five minutes.”

“Oh yeah? Where to?”

“A movie—with English subtitles.” I thought
adding the part about subtitles was a good save.

“Hmph,” Claire grunted. “I was hoping for a
longer call this time.”

“My phone bill’s going to empty out your bank
account if we talk longer.”

“You’re probably right,” she said. “You sure
you’re okay?”

“Mom, I’m having a blast over here. You have
nothing to worry about.”

“Well, okay. Take care of yourself. And if
you need to come home—”

“Mother—”

“Okay, okay. Love you bunches. Bye.”

“Love you, too,” I said and left the phone on
my ear until the line went dead. I was a horrible daughter.