Marradith woke up with the odd sensation that something was wrong.
Justin was asleep. She checked her phone. No messages.
She went downstairs to the kitchen. While coffee brewed, she called her Father. He answered on the first ring. “Hi Baby.”
“Hey, Dad.”
“It’s early. Everything okay?”
“Yes,” Marradith replied. “I just wanted to check in. It’s been a few days since we talked.”
“Yes, I know.”
She paused for a moment. “Are there any leads on Scott?”
Her Father sighed. “ A couple. We’re checking into it. Hey, do you remember my friend Evan?”
“Uncle Evan?” she replied. His name brought back memories of riding ponies at the state fair.
“One in the same. He’s working with me.”
“Great. Say hi for me! Dad…. Are you going to be gone much longer?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Well how does Mom feel about that?”
“She’d know better at this point than I would. Ask her.”
Marradith didn’t like the sound of this at all. So she changed her tact.
“I hate to ask, but how’s Keiko?”
This made him laugh. “Oh, you don’t want to know!”
“So I imagine she’s still got all of her fangs?”
“Yes, but she’s tied down, so she can’t hurt anything. Darling I gotta go.”
“Alright. Be careful Dad. I love you.”
“Love you too.”
***
Paul put his phone down, smiling. It was good to hear his daughter’s voice, but he didn’t want to lie to her. He really did not know when he’d be back home. He’d only been at the Compound a day and had already been asked to extend his stay.
Zasha had rolled out the red carpet for him - a fully equipped office –and his own suite. She’d casually mentioned that she was tiring of her post at White Sands and was actively looking for a replacement. She had been in charge of the Compound for the last twenty years.
“Well I should hope I’m not under consideration,” he replied.
“Why not?” Zasha asked. She batted her eyes at him just so. He often forgot that Zasha was a relative to Granthem; a cousin, an aunt, something of the sort. They looked nothing alike. Paul had always harbored a crush on her.
“Because it would mean moving Nora and Danny again. Not to mention that I really am here to find my son. Anything else is secondary.”
“Well of course, children come first,” she replied. “But it’s not something that would be hard for you to do. You were the best we ever had here, and I mean that.”
“Did Justin put you up to this?”
“No. But he has known I have wanted to take sabbatical for a few years. The husband and I haven’t had any time away in too long. Justin’s too stubborn to say, but he admires you like a Father.”
“Yes I know,” Paul said, quickly enough that he surprised himself. “And if you breathe a word of that to anyone, I’ll deny it.”
“Of course,” she replied, unperturbed. “You think about the offer, though.”
***
A knock at the door roused his attention.
“Can I talk with you for a moment?” Evan asked.
“ Sure. What’s wrong?” Paul said.
Evan came in the room and shut the door.
“You remember the tests we ordered on Keiko when we arrived?”
“Sure. Wasn’t it just the regular metabolic panel we do?”
Sojourners usually took blood samples from Others that they come in contact with - whether they are operatives within the agency or prisoners. The blood was typed and referenced. In the case of vampires, small amounts were usually extracted for medicinal purposes. Vampires were not known to carry any diseases, but there were biologists on staff that watched such things.
Some of the Sojourners scientists believed that eventually, a disease that vampires were not immune to would pop up - and heaven help the rest of the people if such a thing happened.
From the look on Evan’s face, Paul thought this might have happened.
“When they typed her, they found some anomalies in the blood work. So they tested her over. She’s pregnant.”
Paul stood. “She’s what?”
“It’s very early. She probably doesn’t know but…. Without being disrespectful, I have to ask. Do you know if there is a possibility that it could be Scott’s?”
_______________
©2010 Lori Titus
Lori’s novella, Lazarus, will be available through The Library of the Living Dead this Fall. To vote for The Marradith Ryder Series on Top Web Fiction, click here: http://topwebfiction.com/vote.php?for=the-marradith-ryder-series
Tags: Lori Titus, The Art of Shadows, The Marradith Ryder Series
