Page 19 of Last Hope
She thought about it like paint. It was as if someone had dipped a paint brush into Ezzy, smearing it on a separate piece of paper and then they had done the same with Antonio, blending the two together to create a perfect dark and light combination.
Viktor’s eyes were darker than his mothers, but ringed with that inky black that was his father’s; his hair was as soft and thin as Ezzy’s, but curly and black like Antonio’s, with a skin color that mirrored Ezzy’s.
There was just something about the kid that she liked, which was saying something considering she never really took to children. He was mesmerizing, hypnotizing, he just had something that pulled someone towards him. It might have been his cuteness, Isis thought with a smile. Hewascute, and small and chubby.
In reply, Viktor made cooing noises at her, forming sounds that had yet to become actual syllables. It was like he was telling her he was going to miss her, she assumed. Taking one last look at the baby, she handed him over to his father.
“Take care of her, Anya.” Esmeralda abruptly turned to the witch, her blue eyes burning with intensity. “Please protect her.” Before Anya could mutter a reply, Ezzy threw her arms around her. “Promise me you’ll protect her!”
Anya turned a startled face to Isis, who smiled encouragingly. Anya held Ezzy close and Isis barely heard her whisper into Esmeralda’s ear, “I swear on my life I will do everything in my power to keep her safe.”
Something inside of Isis swelled the way it always did whenever Anya spoke. The sensation spread its way to her stomach and down her legs, making her curl her toes. She had to fight to hide the tears that threatened to fall so carelessly like a cascade down her cheeks. It wouldn’t do any good for them to see her cry. She wanted to be strong. Sheneededto be strong…
“It’s time for us to go now,” Antonio whispered.
Isis swallowed the lump in her throat.I love you,she wanted to say, but stopped herself. If she told them that, she feared the worst would happen. It was as if she were really saying goodbye to her best friends in the world and she didn’t want this to be goodbye. Not yet, anyway. “I’ll see you soon,” she said instead, her voice coming out in a choked manner.
Esmeralda smiled at her once, but it ended just as quickly as it had come. Isis knew Ezzy well enough now to know that she hardly faked her emotions, and the tightness in her lips let Isis know that she was trying to be strong as well, even as the tears sprung from her eyes.
Antonio nodded in their direction and bent to pick up a suitcase, all while holding Viktor in one of his arms. “Sooner than you think.” She heard him whisper before turning and walking away with Esmeralda at his side.
Isis almost called out for them to wait. She wanted to memorize their figures one last time, but she knew it would be useless, a waste of time, when she already had them memorized to the point of perfection.
Antonio’s hair, curling around his forehead and his cheeks; the way his mouth quirked up to the side sarcastically, revealing a pointed incisor when he was telling a joke with that honey Spanish accent of his that he never seemed to lose. He was taller than her by a few inches. His leather jacket had practically become a second set of skin on him; it was his trademark. The black tunnels of his eyes, the way they were specked with burning red in the iris. And lastly, his scar, white against his dark skin, wrapped around his neck as if were a chain, as bright at the moon itself, pulsing like a light being turned on and off again.
And Esmeralda… she was so small, almost like a child. Her face was smooth and free of freckles. Her hair was always in a fiery tangle around her face in waves, framing her plump cheeks and dark blue eyes. She had always been an important part of Isis’s life. She had been the one to bring her up from the darkness that was her past, if not all of the way, then a giant portion. In her, she saw the brilliance of youth and freedom, and it might have been selfish, but Esmeralda brought her to life.
Isis gripped Anya’s hand for support as she watched the disappearing images of her best friends fade down the street. It was as if a piece of her heart were leaving with them, being hauled away by a piece of string without them knowing they were pulling it along the ground carelessly. But then again, maybe they did know what they were doing. Maybe they were keeping it as a type of souvenir, a memory that they could keep of her because they knew there was an improbability that she could return.
Feeling a tear trickle down the side of her face, she whispered into the night as she saw Esmeralda and Antonio’s forms disappear completely. “Goodbye.”
11
“Are you sure they’re going to let usin?” Savvy demanded in a nervous, nasal voice. Terrance didn’t bother responding, which simply added an edge of annoyance to the kid. “These guys studyvampires,not werewolves. They’ll never accept me.”
Terrance resisted the urge to reach over and strangle him with his bare hands. He didn’t understand how it was that Phillipe was able to tolerate his annoyance, his lack of respect and lack of obedience on a daily basis. He was simply rude and irritating. Of course, Terrance put that down to the fact that he was only nineteen years old trapped in the body of a fifteen year old, with a shock of ginger hair, freckles, and glasses.
“Tell him that he seriously needs to calm down!” Victoria’s voice snapped at Terrance through the little microphone he had shoved through his ear at the last minute. “I can smell his nervousness through the wire.”
“Shut up,” Terrance relayed the message to Savvy, who shot him what passed off as a ‘death glare’ while Victoria snorted at him.
“Be nice,” she commanded. “If you guys want this act to work you two need to havesomesort of chemistry.”
Terrance snorted in response. Chemistry? With Burns? It was practically impossible considering the kid hated him. Not that he was too fond of the kid either… He didn’t really understand Joshua Burns’ need to talk all of the time, his smart-alecky remarks and geeky jokes. And hedespisedhis laugh.
“I’m just not sure if this is gonna work, Crawford. I mean, I’m not even that good of anactor! They’ll never believe me!”
Terrance sighed and frantically searched his mind for words that could be of comfort to the kid but came up blank. Hell, he didn’t think that comforting words were in the realm of his capacity. He never really saw the need for false reassurances. It was either one hundred percent honesty or nothing at all and since his brutal honesty seemed to throw everyone off, well, he preferred to remain silent most of the time.
“Tell him that all he needs to do is act scared. Remember, you’re selling him illegally to these guys so they can experiment on his weakness.” Victoria’s accented voice bounded in his head, though he didn’t feel the need to relay this particular message especially when they had gone over the plan about a thousand times days before they actually set off to accomplish it. If Burns didn’t remember, then it was his own damn fault.
“Don’t fuck it up,” Terrance said on a low growl.
Burns quieted down for a moment and wriggled uncomfortably in his seat. “What if they experiment on me for real and leave me, like, a mutant for life?!” He began to hyperventilate.
Annoyed, and at his wits end, Terrance jerked the steering wheel off to the side of the road and put the car in park. He turned over savagely in Joshua’s direction and glared at him. The kid’s forehead began to sweat uncontrollably and it gave Terrance sweet satisfaction. He always enjoyed seeing people melt under his cold and heated gaze. “Shut up!” he demanded. “You are very annoying.”
Burns opened his mouth to protest, but one growl from Terrance sent his lips clamped together in fear. He sat back against the black leather seat, crossing his arms against his chest, and stuck his lip out in a pout. “Whatever,” he said and remained silent the rest of the way.
