“Yeah,” Hale murmurs without looking.
“I was hoping to speak with Araya for a moment,” a chilling but familiar voice says, and I get sick when I see Brazen’s mother staring at me.
Shit!
“We don’t want anymore trouble today,” Hale grumbles. “Why are you here?”
“I’m sorry to intrude upon your wedding day, but this really is rather urgent. I need to speak with Araya only.”
She’s not acting like her usual frigid self. She seems a little frazzled, off, and possibly scared.
“Yeah. Sure,” I murmur to her while moving away from Hale’s protective hands, and then I turn to face him. “I’ll see you at the end of the aisle.”
He smiles salaciously, and then his lips fall on mine again. He glowers at the woman when he passes her, but she keeps her eyes burning against me, barely even giving Hale a second glance. What could be so important she came to speak with me? She hates me.
“If this is about Brazen and I… well… I honestly thought you’d be celebrating our breakup.”
“It’s not about you and Brazen. Is there a place we can’t be overheard?”
“Yeah, this way,” I say while motioning to Hale’s office.
I type in the security code to unlock the door, and she follows me in while quickly locking the door behind her.
“Is it true? Your blood heals our kind’s allergy to the sun?” she gushes, tears threatening her eyes.
What!
“Who told you that?” I prompt.
“My son was reported dead the day the two of you helped with that prison run. They called us and told us there was no time to deliver blood, and that you had stayed behind to be with him when he passed. It was the first time I ever felt anything but hatred for you. Then he calls me to tell me he’s fine. At first I believed his story about some passerby having blood in tow, but then I heard the chatter about a man named Leon claiming he knew a way full bloods could live and breathe in the sun. He claimed he saw a captain walk out of a building after death had been presumed. He claimed then the full blood stood in the sun’s glory while in full glow.”
I text Brazen discreetly without looking at my phone while she spouts on. My heart is racing furiously right now, and I can’t face this alone. Hale might actually kill her for knowing after he interrogates the piss out of her.
“Please tell me you can heal us,” she pleads.
“I… uh… um…” I stutter for a minute longer, but the genuine and sincere hope in her eyes is enough to make me cave. As much as I hate her, I see a little bit of Brazen in her eyes. “It’s true, but you can’t tell anyone. They’ll tear me apart before waiting for the serum Clay is close to finishing right now.”
Tears spew from her eyes in a gushing flow. I’ve never known her to be the emotional type. I’ve never known her to be anything but icy.
“When will it be finished?”
“Originally we thought a few years, but Clay is now saying a few more months,” I murmur hesitantly, not mentioning his gift.
“My son has tasted the warmth of the sun?” she asks with tears pouring from her eyes even more.
“Yes. He can also sustain himself on solid food. He only uses blood to heal or to keep up appearances. I thought you would be disgusted to hear about your son being so close to hybrids now. I worried you would actually hate me more.”
“Araya, I don’t hate you. I envy you. Our weakness is our thirst. Our pain and suffering is in our need to hide from the one thing we desperately want to feel - the sun’s true warmth. You gave my son that. You are a savior, not a devil. I’m so, so sorry,” she releases through her uncontrollably jubilant sobs while throwing her arms around my neck. “Why didn’t he tell me?”
“He’s trying to keep me safe. I was attacked by Leon,” I answer while warily returning her embrace.
She withdraws to look me directly in the eyes to show me her devout honesty and… loyalty perhaps?
“Araya, I would never tell a soul about this. I promise you that.”
A beeping sound comes from the keypad, and I turn expecting either Hale or Brazen to walk in. My smile is bright momentarily until I see the face appearing. Suddenly my smile fades into an ashen look of shock as Ty’s face darkens the room.
“Evening, ladies,” he chillingly offers.
