Marker of Hope (12 page)

“So where am
I
supposed to sleep?”
said a voice from behind me.

I gasped and turned around. “
Galilea!
You need to stop doing that.” I closed my eyes and touched my chest
with a shaky hand. “What are you doing here?”

“Guarding you. Duh.” She sat on the bed. “By
the way, you made me proud today. When you punched Olympia…” She
laughed. “And she went down…hit the floor.” She snorted. “Man, oh
man! The look on her dumb face… And the best thing…” She snorted
again. “I took pictures!”

“You’ve been following me? Since when?”

Galilea held up her index finger and laughed
some more. She wiped the tears from her eyes as she caught her
breath.

“Yeah, I never left,” she said at last. “I
snuck into the backseat of David’s car when he came to knock on the
door to pick you up.”

“You’ve been watching me all this time?”

“Not the whole time.” She grinned and rolled
her eyes. “I waited downstairs until it quieted down in David’s
room. Oh, and thanks for not bothering to close the door.” She
frowned at me. “That house is not soundproof.
At all
.”

“Ugh.” I covered my reddened face. “I can’t
believe…”

“You don’t have to apologize. I know what
it’s like to be in love. This one time, Galen and I rented a suite
in Cabo. Long story short, management kicked us out because the
guests complained we were too…uh…never mind. My point is, I’m glad
you and David are together, but this sleeping arrangement, it’s not
gonna work for me. I can’t be more than thirty feet away from you
tonight or the block goes down. I have just enough energy to cover
you and me and no more. So…looks like you’re going to have to kick
David out.”

“I’m not doing that,” I said. “How long do
you need to recuperate or charge up or whatever it is you do to
function again?”

“About five days. But I can’t risk letting
the block down completely. I’m taking thirty-minute breaks every
two hours. It’ll have to be this way from now on.”

“At this rate, you’re going to burn out,” I
said. “Take the block down completely until you’re ready to use it
again.”

“Mmm-mmm.” She shook her head.

“Will you be able to fight if Turpis
attack?”

She huffed. “You know I’m too weak to do
anything when I’m this tired.”

“How do you plan on protecting me, then?” I
asked. “Take it down, Galilea. You don’t have a choice.”

Galilea pursed her lips. “You’re not my
mother. Stop telling me what I can and can’t do.”

“Look.” I put a hand on my hip. “David is
here. He’s still got some of his abilities, and I didn’t do so
badly last time I fought demons.” Galilea crossed her arms. I
pulled her up and off my bed by the arm. “Stop being stubborn. Go
home and get some rest.”

She dragged her feet to my bedroom door. I
twisted the knob and led her down the stairs.

“Galilea?” David said, surprised.

“Hi,” she said. “I would love to stay and
chat, but I’m being kicked out.”

“Because you need to rest.” I pushed her
toward the door. “
Go
.”

Galilea looked back at David. “Don’t let her
out of your sight.”

“I won’t,” David said. “Have a good night,
Gally.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Galilea muttered.

I ushered her out the door and locked it.

“How is she getting home?” David asked.

“She hides her car in the alley behind the
dumpsters. Dumpsters are her favorite parking spot, I’ve noticed.
So…” I said, “I don’t suppose you want to wait a bit longer while I
finish cleaning up the mess in my room?”

“That’s what you were doing up there? I don’t
care how clean or messy your room is.”

“Good. Because I don’t want to clean it
now.”

I turned off the living room lights. David
and I walked up the stairs to my room. I locked the door behind
me.

“Be right back,” I said to David.

I brushed my teeth and changed into my
pajamas. David was sitting on the bed shirtless when I came out of
the bathroom. His belt was on the nightstand, his shoes lined up
neatly by the door.

“Is that what you’re sleeping in?” I pointed
to his jeans.

“Well, I didn’t bring a pair of pajamas.”

“You can sleep in your underwear,” I
said.

“I didn’t bring a pair of those either.”

I giggled and clicked off the light.

CHAPTER 15

Dr. Gunn closed his laptop. He looked at me
for a moment, and then slid a plate from the center of the table
toward me. There were pieces of raw, cubed meat on the plate
numbered from one through six, each with a different texture,
color, and smell. It was incredible how my nose could discern the
scents of each square even arranged so close together. I glanced at
the spectators standing around me in Galilea’s kitchen—Alezzander,
Nyx, the doctors, Galilea, and David. The way they were staring at
me made me feel like a sideshow freak.

“You don’t have to start with number one,”
Dr. Gunn said, placing a fork on the side of the plate. “Those
numbers are there for accuracy. We don’t want to get them mixed
up.”

“That won’t be a problem. I can tell what
four of them are from the smell. The other two I’m not sure
about.”

“Interesting.” Eileen swiped her tablet’s
screen and set it down. “Tell me which four you can identify.”

“Number one is fish. The scent is strong, so
I know it’s not fresh. Number two is chicken. Beef is number three.
Four is pork.”

“That’s right,” Gunn said, raising his brows
at Eileen. She picked up the tablet and typed on it. “Now,” Gunn
circled his finger over the plate, “out of all these six pieces,
which smells the most enticing to you?”

“None of them. Least of all the fish.” I
wrinkled my nose. “I’m not sure I want to eat this, Doctor.”

“Sometimes,” David said, “food doesn’t look
appetizing, but once you taste it…”

“Lots of cultures around the world consume
raw meats.” Galilea walked to my side of the table. She picked up
the fork and put it in my hand. “Just try one.”

“Both of those statements are true,” Dr. Gunn
agreed. “And you might be able to control your hunger now, but as
the pregnancy progresses, the baby will demand more
nourishment.”

“Will you be able to control your hunger in
two or three months?” Eileen asked. “That’s one of our main
concerns.”

“Aside from that, Isis, you need to eat to
maintain your strength,” Alezzander told me. He hadn’t said much
since we arrived at Galilea’s house. “You do remember the
conversation we had last night?”

“I do.”
Fight demons. Stay alive. Have a
baby. Don’t screw up.

I scanned the plate in front of me, studying
the six cubes of meat. I selected the one labeled with a three—the
beef. I inserted the fork into it. Holding my breath, I put it in
my mouth. I chewed it once. It was softer than I imagined. The
metallic taste of iron met my tongue. It wasn’t the same taste of
Eros’s blood; his was sweeter and more metallic. I wasn’t fond of
this taste—of raw beef—but it wasn’t terrible. I chewed a second
time. The flavor that followed reminded me of butter, creamy and
smooth. Was it fat? A stronger taste came next—bitter and vinegary.
It made my jaw lock. I gagged and coughed and spit the chewed-up
piece of meat into my hand.

“No.” I coughed. “I can’t.” I heaved. “I
don’t like it.”

“I’ll get some water,” Galilea said, walking
to the cupboard.

Eileen handed me a napkin. I wrapped the meat
in it and set it aside. David crouched next to my chair and rubbed
my back.

“I’m okay,” I told him.

Galilea handed me a glass of water, and I
took a sip.

“You don’t have to taste anymore if you don’t
want to,” David said.

“David.” Nyx gave him a reprimanding
stare.

“If it’s making her sick, what’s the point?”
David stood up. He turned his attention to Dr. Gunn. “Are you sure
there isn’t anything else she could try?”

“Well…” Dr. Gunn tapped his chin. “Isis, have
you attempted to eat anything that wasn’t a raw vegetable in the
past month? Cooked meals?”

“No.”

“Maybe—” Dr. Gunn’s watch beeped. “One
minute, please.” He flipped open his laptop. His eyes skimmed the
screen. “
This
is not…”

I took a deep breath and braced myself for
more bad news.

“What are you looking at, Tobias?” Eileen
peeked at her husband’s computer over his shoulder. “Are those both
today’s and the previous test results?” she asked. Dr. Gunn nodded.
“What’s this happening here?” She pointed at the screen. “It
doesn’t look like the initial cultures in her file.”

“The Isis or Creatura cells—I’ve renamed
them—are no longer the dominant cells. There’s a new cell.”

“So I’m still changing?” I asked.

“Yes,” Dr. Gunn said. Nyx had been wrong
about the pause in my transformation. “But not like before.”

“Is that good or bad?” I asked.

“Good, in my opinion. Let me explain.” He
pushed his glasses up the rim of his nose. “The first results—the
ones I read you in Athens—indicated the Creatura cells were acting
like a bacteria, infecting the human cells, killing them off, and
delving into your DNA, which was causing the physical changes in
you.” Gunn scratched his head. “But these recent tests, including
today’s, show the human cell count has increased. They’ve almost
eradicated the Creatura cells.”

“Like a retrogressive effect?” Alezzander
asked.

“You would think so, but no.” The scientist
motioned me over. David joined me. “You see here?” He pointed to
the video playing on the screen. One round bubble was sucking in a
misshapen object. “The human cells are absorbing the Creatura
cells, much like amoeba do, but keeping some of the Creatura cell
traits. Your body has found a way to defend itself; it’s fighting
back in a most peculiar way.”

“Her plasma levels are higher than they
should be for the first trimester.” Eileen pointed to numbers on
the screen. “By eighty percent.”

“Close. 82.3 percent,” Gunn corrected his
wife. “And I think I know why.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Because your heart is pumping more blood
than normal,” Gunn said. “Your body is demanding iron and folic
acid for the fetus. Hormones are also involved. Your progesterone
and estrogen levels are…freakish.”

“That’s why you’re so moody,” Galilea said.
“Freakishly moody.”

“So what does this all mean?” I asked.
“What’s happening to me? Am I turning into a monster or not?”

“It means,” Gunn tugged on his lightning bolt
earring, “your pregnancy has stopped the Creatura mutation.”

“Stopped.” I glanced at Nyx. “You were right,
and maybe,” I looked at David, “that’s why you’ve kept some of your
abilities. Maybe you’re staying like this too.”

“That’s a good hypothesis.
But
…” Gunn
shrugged.

“There’s a but.” My hopes deflated. “Of
course there’s a but.”

“But
,
” Gunn reiterated, “because of
all the working factors—one of your birth parents isn’t human, the
presence of Creatura cells, the pregnancy diverting the changes—it
makes you not fully human. By the time the human cells do away with
the Creatura cells, theoretically, you’ll be,” he jerked his head
at David, “33.3 percent like him, 33.3 percent Creatura, 33.4
percent human.”

“Holy…” Galilea gasped. “You’re like an
X-Man.”

“Wait, wait.” I blinked. “What you’re saying
is while one third of my genetic makeup is undesirable, the other
two-thirds of me won’t want to eat you, so it makes the good part
of me the one in control, right?”

“That’s one way of explaining it, yes,” Gunn
said.

“How long before the Creatura cells are all
absorbed?” I asked.

“I estimate two, three days.”

“Doctor, how does all this affect our child
on a genetic level?” David asked.

“There’s only one way to find out,” Gunn
said. “I’ll need to gather blood samples. Do you have one of those
special Lutetium and diamond blades with you—the kind that can
break your kind’s skin so I can get a blood sample?”

“No, but I can get a hold of one,” David
said.

“And with that test, you’ll also be able to
tell us if David’s blood is changing, like mine?” I asked. Gunn
nodded. “One more thing,” I said. “This craving for human flesh, is
it ever going to go away?”

“That’s a good question, and one,” he
tightened his lips and shook his head, “I don’t have an answer to.
That’s why it’s important we plan ahead, figure out how to sate
your hunger.” He pointed at the five cubes of meat left on the
plate. “Should we continue or would you like to see what I’ve set
aside as a last resort?”

The thought of tasting another piece of raw
meat made my mouth water and not in a good way. It was the type of
mouthwatering followed by vomit.

“Skip the taste testing,” I said. “What’s the
last resort?”

“Dear, would you…?” Gunn looked at
Eileen.

“I’ll be right back.” Eileen walked out of
the kitchen.

“Dr. Gunn…” I was uneasy. “There aren’t
severed limbs involved, right?”

“No, nothing like that. Sometimes,” Gunn
said, “the most challenging situation has the simplest solution. I
hope this is your case.”

Eileen returned a moment later with a small,
white bag. She held it out to me. David and I peeked inside.

“This is it?” I furrowed my brow, taking the
bag form Eileen. “You want to combat my brutal hunger with
this?”

“What is it?” Galilea asked.

David stuck his hand in the bag and pulled
out the contents: a small, white box and a brown, fat bottle.

“Prenatal vitamins and iron supplements?”
Alezzander scoffed. “Gunn, what kind of a—”

“Oh, but there’s more,” Gunn said, “in the
bag.”

I stuck my hand inside and found a
three-dollar coupon for a sack of protein powder. “You’re joking?”
I asked.