The Marradith Ryder Series, The Art of Shadows, Part 46
The night before Marradith was going to leave for California, Justin asked her to come out for a ride with him.
They drove to the desert in silence. The moon was nearly full, the skies crowded with stars. Marradith had seen pictures of White Sands at night, but the photos she’d seen paled in comparison to the majesty of the night sky.
Things had been tense for a few days, since Marradith confronted him with the truth about her Mother’s past.
Neither one of them said anything for a while after they parked. Justin put an arm around her shoulder and she snuggled against him. They had never gone longer than a day or two without speaking to each other, and she guessed that the same would be true about this fight, as well.
“I wanted to get you away from the house for a bit,” he said. “One thing about living in a Compound—you never know if someone might be listening.”
“That’s true,” she said.
“So,” he said, his lips brushing against her cheek. “Ask me anything you want to know, and I’ll do my best to answer your questions.”
“I don’t want to hear about Mom. One thing you’re right about is that I need to talk to her about her life when she was young. Tell me about what it was like meeting your daughter.”
Justin had told Marradith about Lysette right after they met, but she noticed that he hadn’t spoken of her again lately.
He sighed. “We have talked on the phone a few times since I saw her in Los Angeles. But I worry for her. I don’t like that she’s working for Ramshead. They are a shady law firm with their hands into some of everything. I have been trying to convince her to try working for the Sojourners, but she doesn’t seem interested so far. She expressed some interest in you.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you. She says she wants to meet you sometime.”
“Well, I guess that I am curious about her too,” Marradith admitted. “What’s she like?”
“She looks like my Mom. I knew who she was the instant I saw her. It was—I don’t know exactly how to explain it, but I was..moved. It was painful. Knowing that she’s been out there all these years and I had no idea. Other than Zasha and her children, I thought my family was gone. And here it is,I have a daughter no one told me about.”
Marradith nodded. If she was honest with herself, she didn’t like the idea of Justin having a daughter. She’d always hoped that one day they’d have children together, and that of all the things he had done in his life, he’d be a father for the first time.
“I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing with her,” Justin said. ”She’s an adult. I don’t know if I am supposed to talk to her like a buddy, or if she would allow herself to lean on me if she needed to. I haven’t really earned the right to be in her life the way a father should.”
“But you didn’t know about her!” Marradith protested. “From what you told me, that whole thing was her Grandfahter’s fault. Not like you could look someone up on the internet back then.”
He shrugged. “Yes, that’s true. I’m not sure she sees it that way.”
“So now that you do know her, maybe you should invite her out here, once things settle down.”
“Once you get back from Lazarus?” he asked.
“Sure, why not?” Marradith replied cheerfully. If nothing else she was interested to know about this woman, a half Wolf with Justin ’s genes. She’d already began to imagine what she must look like, and wondered if she had any of Justin’s habits or personaltiy traits.
“That would be great, Marradith,” he said. “I would love for the two of you to know each other and be friends.”
Slow your roll on that one, buddy, Marradith thought. She smiled at him.
“I do owe you an apology,” Justin continued. “I’ve been married before, but I have a lot to learn, too. I have never had a wife who was my equal before. In the past, I never had to explain anything. So we’re going to have to negotiate something better when it comes to secrets, inside and out of work.”
“Yes,” Marradith said. “It hurts to admit when I’m right, doesn’t it?”
“I’m trying to be humble here, woman. Don’t push it.”
She laughed, but sobered quickly. “I’m going to miss you.”
“I know,” he said, and kissed her. “Just promise me you’ll be careful out there, will you?”
***
Fiona sat on the patio outside her bedroom at the Compound, holding the baby in her arms.
This was her first full day of caring for the infant, and it seemed to pass so fast.
It was too early to tell who the little girl would look like. Nora had reminded her that the child’s skin was very fair, but might be darker later. Her brown eyes had a slant to them, but somehow, they did not remind her of Keiko, or Scott.
Maybe the child would look like Nora or Marradith. She didn’t care. Fiona thought she was beautiful, and she would love her. She already had that breathless, inexplicable feeling, which she’d only experienced when her son was born. Those emotions flooded through her now, making her fierce and helpless all at once.
“What am I going to name you, darling?” she whispered. “Who would you like to be?”
Fiona looked up into the starry night sky.
That was when she knew what she would name her. This little girl, who’d been born half vampire and half Lamia, and had ended up as her child.
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©2011 Lori Titus
Lori has two novellas and a collection of short stories available on Amazon.com: Hailey’s Shadow, Green Water Lullaby, and Lazarus : http://tinyurl.com/679cpew
Follow her on Twitter as Loribeth215, or see her blog: http://loribeth215.wordpress.com/
Tags: Lori Titus, The Art of Shadows, The Marradith Ryder Series
July 15th, 2011 at 8:43 am
Another great installment! Nice set up for Lysette and Marradith’s impending meeting.