The Mark of Cain (8 page)

She blushed again.

“At least you’re no longer speaking in tongues,” she
said to her lap.

“Tongues?”

“Yeah. You kept talking in some weird language. The
doctors thought maybe you had an infection that was making you delirious or
something.”

“Did I?” He already knew the answer. He had never
been sick a day in his life. God had kept him and his family safe from disease
while they were single-handedly procreating the Earth. And then, by the time
God had given birth to disease, he was immortal. He could get hurt, but his
cells were resilient and recycled themselves too often for any illness to have
enough time to infect him. It probably didn’t hurt that his blood was coursing
with pluripotents—the kind of stem cells usually only found in fresh embryos that
could become any type of cell in the body. They’d notice the stem cells in the
blood they’d taken here at the hospital—or at least they would have if Santoni
hadn’t switched the blood, like he knew the man would do; it was standing
orders to always switch Inac’s blood with a healthy mortal’s if he was injured.

“Nope,” she said as the corners of her full mouth
twitched upward as though she was trying to smile. “They had no idea what was
up.”

“It was probably just a dream.”

“Then it was a nightmare. You were acting like
someone was trying to kill you. They had to tie you down so you wouldn’t hurt
yourself…or someone else.”

So he’d gone crazy for a little while. Wasn’t the
first time, and certainly wouldn’t be the last.

“How long have I been here?”

Only now did he stop paying attention to Hara long
enough to notice the institutional white paint and sterilized smell of the
room. Around him were few monitors, even less that he was actually hooked up
to. He’d gone to school a few times to be a doctor so he knew what each and
every piece of equipment was for. Not that he was going to actually work as one
because he didn’t do anything for anybody but him, but he liked to know
everything about the world that he could so as to better rule it—

“Two days,” Hara said, interrupting his thoughts.
“You were in surgery all night the first day because the bullet pierced an
artery. They thought you were going to bleed to death. That’s one thing they’re
guessing. Maybe you were in shock and that’s why you were speaking in a made up
language. Plus, you didn’t seem to know who anyone was, let alone yourself. You
were really gone….”

“Well, like I said, I’m good now.”

She smiled then and, when she did, a wondrous light
entered her eyes.

“For that, I’m thankful,” she said.

He ignored that, instead asking, “Speaking of
wounds, how’s your boyfriend?”

Straightening up as though she was more comfortable
with this subject than she was with his gift of tongues, she said, “Eric’s
fine. He had to stay overnight for observation because he had a nasty
concussion, but he’ll be okay.”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah. It easily could’ve gone the other way if you
hadn’t jumped in. I think the guy was thinking about shooting me.”

“Yeah…maybe….”

She seemed nervous again as she added quietly, “But,
just so you know, Eric isn’t my boyfriend. I don’t
have
a boyfriend.”

He knew that she was hinting, but he was going to
play his own game for a bit. He planned to only be her friend, albeit one who
always hinted at things himself, until she couldn’t take it any longer. Then,
when passion drove them together, she wouldn’t be able to think rationally and
he could take complete advantage of her.

“He isn’t?” he asked after a few moments, pretending
like he didn’t already know that Eric was just a friend. “By the way he was
scowling at me the other day, I was sure you two were an item.”

“Nope. We’re just friends. I mean, he’s a good guy
and everything, but I’m just not attracted to him.”

“How is it a girl as beautiful as you doesn’t have a
boyfriend?” he asked as he flashed his best smile. This smile had seduced some
of the most striking and powerful women in history—even the notorious man-eater
Cleopatra had been clay in his hands. If it could accomplish that, then it
could certainly seduce
Hara
.

She blushed, her hands on his getting warmer. He
could also feel her pulse speeding up as she pressed her thumb deeper into his
hand thanks to her nerves. She was becoming flustered. Exactly the reaction
he’d been going for.

Hara swallowed, her lips slightly parting afterward
as her luminous eyes looked between his eyes and mouth and her chest began
rising and falling in shallow gasps. She probably didn’t realize how obvious
she was being in wanting to kiss him.

Eventually, she said, “I just haven’t found a guy
I’ve liked enough to become his girlfriend.”

“That’s a pity,” he said in a tone of voice that
said it wasn’t really. He wanted her to be confused about him. To know that he
wanted her, yet also to wonder whether or not he really did. The anticipation
on her part would just build him up in her mind.

A lot of men had to do what they could to stay away
from exactly that. But not him. He could live up to the fantasies. Actually, he
would make even the best fantasy pitiful in comparison. When you had more than
a hundred centuries of practice, not including the hundreds more before time
was recorded, you knew your stuff. Archeologists believed that he’d migrated
from the home of his parents in Africa somewhere between 60,000 B.C. and 30,000
B.C., but he knew otherwise. Scientists believed so strongly in their
radiometric dating. But what they didn’t know was that, after a certain amount
of time, the process would speed up so something would seem to age thousands of
years in mere weeks. Also, the gases in the air that the objects were exposed
to varied so much over the years that they were no longer comparable to each
other. He wasn’t sure exactly how much the gases differed and how the process
sped up because he hadn’t tested it enough to figure it out, but he knew there
was no way that he’d been alive for over thirty-two thousand years. Maybe
twenty thousand, but no more than that.

“What about you?” she finally asked.

“Me?”

She nodded.

“Well, I’m not really into men, so…” he said,
shrugging his shoulders and then immediately wishing he hadn’t from the pain
that again shot down his right arm and into his neck, chest, and back.

She lightly hit his forearm, not noticing his pain
because he was a master at hiding his emotions.

“Girlfriend, I meant. Do you have a
girlfriend
?”

He laughed. “No.”

“Wife?”

Before he realized what he was saying, he’d
answered, “Not anymore.”

Her eyes widened a fraction of an inch, but she quickly
masked it.

“You were married?” she asked carefully a moment
later.

Because he couldn’t go back on that now, he nodded.
“A long time ago.”

“You must have married really young?”

“I suppose,” he said, not really committing to his
answer.

“Do you still talk to her?”

He’d been married thousands of times over the years,
but had spent the last fifty alone. He never kept a wife for long. He just got
bored with things too easily. That was partly why he moved all the time, too.
For some reason, though, when Hara asked, he skipped over his last wife and
went to the one he’d had before her.

Thinking of Olivia, he said, “She’s no longer
alive.”

“Oh,” she said, her eyes full of pity. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. It happened a long time ago. I’m
completely over it now.”

“How’d she die? If you don’t mind me asking?”

“She wasn’t happy. After our baby died, she just
couldn’t get over it. When I found her, she was already gone.”

“Oh wow,” she said, squeezing his hand. “I’m so
sorry.”

Not feeling any emotions as he shook his hand loose
from hers, he said, “Like I said, it was a long time ago.”

She didn’t seem to notice that he was trying not to
touch her because she lightly touched his forearm with a piteous hand. “Still…I
can’t imagine going through that. I’ve been very blessed in my life.”

How could she say that when her whole family had
been murdered? How could she honestly have such a positive attitude about
everything
?
He wasn’t pessimistic by any means, but he knew when things were painful.

He pulled his arm away from her. This time, from the
hurt in her eyes, she seemed to realize that he didn’t need, or want, her pity.

“Do you have any family?” she asked as she
straightened up, clasping her hands together in her lap. “I’m only asking
because you haven’t had any visitors other than me.”

“Look, Hara,” he said, trying to keep his annoyance
out of his voice; his family was a touchy subject. “Enough of the twenty
questions.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, her eyes widening in what
looked to be both surprise and guilt. “I didn’t mean to say anything wrong.”

“You didn’t. I’m just not in the mood for that
conversation.”

“Do you want me to go?”

He looked her over, trying to determine the best
course of action. After a few moments, he nodded; he just didn’t have the
energy to play any more games today.

She looked like he’d hurt her feelings again but,
ever the martyr, she stood up.

“Okay. Feel better,” she said as she gave him a
tentative smile.

He didn’t say anything until she was opening the
door.

“Hara?” he called.

She looked back at him, her eyes full of hope.
“Yes?”

“You’ll come back tomorrow, won’t you?”

“Would you like me to?”

“Very much so,” he said, flashing that smile again.
He couldn’t let her leave thinking that he wanted nothing to do with her.

“Then I promise,” she said, looking pleased.

After she left him alone in the cold hospital room,
his mind went back to the memory of Aemuth he’d relived…then back even farther
to his parents.

Not wanting to think about that, he asked the nurse
for some painkillers, which blissfully put him into a dreamless sleep.

***

“Oh my gosh, what happened to your face?!” Crystal
demanded the moment Hara walked through the door. She’d been on the couch
watching TV, but one glance at Hara had her turning it off and charging toward
her.

“Oh,” Hara answered, putting a hand to her still
swollen cheek. “I was mugged.”

“
What
?! What happened? Are you okay?” she
cried as she pulled Hara over to the velvety couch. Hara sat down so she could
tell Crystal every detail of the story, even the part about Inac kissing her
hand at the restaurant a few days ago.

“And so I left. But he wants me to visit him
tomorrow,” she finished with a smile.

With her own smile, Crystal said, “Girl, you’re in
deep.”

“No I’m not.”

Crystal looked at her with her vivid green eyes.
“Yes you
are
. You’re totally in love with him. Admit it.”

“It’s not even like that….”

“Did you just tell your first lie?” she teased,
tossing her thick, shoulder-length black bob out of her eyes.

“Okay. Fine. I
like
him a ton, but it’s just
a major crush. I don’t even know the guy enough to love him. I just know that,
if given the chance, I
could
love him. But it doesn’t matter because he
doesn’t even like me.”

“Honey, where I come from, a guy doesn’t come on so
strong unless he likes you,” she replied, lifting her delicate face to peer up
into Hara’s eyes.

“Then why doesn’t he
do
something about it?”

“Maybe because he thought you were with
Eric
.”
She said his name with disgust. One thing about Crystal, she didn’t keep her
opinions quiet. And she definitely had an opinion about Hara giving every guy a
chance.

“Be nice. Eric’s sweet.”

“Well, leprechauns usually are.”

Hara opened her mouth wide in shock. “I can’t
believe you just said that!”

“Well, he is short. Even
you
have to admit
that.”

“He’s taller than
you
.”

Crystal rolled her eyes. “Like that’s difficult.”
She was only 5’2” on her tippy toes, which was why she was usually never seen
without her sky-high heels. “The point is, he’s short compared to
you
,
Miss Ten Feet Tall.”

“I am not ten feet,” she retorted, chuckling as she
moved until she was sitting on Crystal.

“Yes you are. But at least you weigh about as much
as one of your stuffed animals.”

“I do not!” she cried. Crystal was petite, but she
loved to make fun of Hara because, no matter how hard she tried, she just
couldn’t put on any weight. Of course, she did aerobics frequently, but that
was just to keep herself from becoming skinny-fat. If she didn’t workout in the
least coordinated way she could find—she was a hopeless klutz—then she still
didn’t gain weight, but she’d start softening up until she was all jiggly
gross. And if she got jiggly, Vinnie would fire her—the girls had to maintain a
certain figure to work at the club.