Her question surprised him. “Huh?”
She sighed and gave him a patient look. It was one he’d seen countless times growing up. Where Mattox tried to help him live up to his name and family heritage when it came to war and battle, Mistelle took it upon herself to have him observe everyone’s special abilities. Including those like himself who’s uniqueness wasn’t as visibly evident.
Mattox was the older brother trying to get his younger sibling to become self-sufficient. Mistelle was the sister who taught him the value of forming close, emotional bonds. Despite their age differences, Lucien couldn’t love them more.
“How do you feel, being told you’re going with them? You do realize there’s the possibility you may not survive.”
“Why do you say that? Because I didn’t catch the virus?”
She appeared momentarily stunned. “Oh, shit. That’s right! You didn’t get sick!”
“But many of us didn’t,” he reminded her. “I heard Dr. Fergus tell Dad one time that approximately one in three people in the compound became ill with the virus. And out of those who did, the odds were fifty-fifty they’d survive. That meant half of everyone who got sick died.”
“Yeah, but the half who survived, if they were Mutah…” She made a disparaging sound. “Those were scary times, Luc. Shit, do you remember Tancy Olvering?”
At the mention of the Mutah shoemaker’s name, a shudder went through him. The man had been among the first who, less than a week after recovering from the virus, suddenly turned on several of his patrons and began stabbing them with an awl. One man died and two others were severely wounded before the battle lord’s guards managed to subdue him. It was because of all the testing Fergus and Liam MaGrath did on the man that everyone learned about the cause and origin of the Damaged.
“Dad had no idea how close he’d come to dying from the virus when he and Mother were up in Corado at Rocky Gorge.”
“They didn’t know at the time that that was how the virus started,” Mistelle noted. “When those infected people took it to the other Mutah compounds, they had no idea how devastating it would become.”
“Dad’s blood helped to save so many people.”
“Yep.” She gave a nod. “That’s why Fergus and Liam were able to make a serum to help cure anyone who came in contact with the virus.” She grimaced. “Too bad it doesn’t work if the people have already gotten over the virus, like that family. If they’d been truthful and told us that they had contracted the disease, what that mother did when she turned may have been avoided.”
She groaned loudly, stretching her arms above her head. Her golden-red hair, so much the same color as their father’s, glinted in the lantern light. “I’m tired. Bet you are, too.” She gave him a side-eye. “I hear Matt really did a number on you out on the practice field.”
“When doesn’t he?” Getting to his feet, Lucien reached for the door latch. “I think I’ll go pack. See you later at dinner, okay?”
“Sure! Any idea what we’re having?”
He paused. “It smelled like armadillo.”
“I love armadillo, especially when it’s roasted in the shell. I hope Berta includes some of those roasted pecans with it.”
Lucien smiled. “Me, too. Later, sis.”
She waggled her fingers at him in goodbye as he closed the door behind him.
Chapter Five
Memories
“You’re worried.”
“Of course. So are you.”
Yulen sighed as he sat on the lone chair in their upstairs bedroom and pulled off his boots. Atty eyed him from where she stood in the bathroom doorway. Rolling her braid on top of her head, she secured it with a pin. Her husband eyed her as she proceeded to undress for their bath.
“You’re worried about my decision to take Luc with us, instead of the other two,” he commented matter-of-factly. “I still have time to rescind my decision, if that’s what you want me to do.”
Atty pulled her shirt over her head and paused. He knew how special their youngest son was to her. It explained why she was sometimes overprotective of him. At least, it was one of the reasons why she tended to hover over him more than she had with the other two.
“No. No, we’ll take him with us.” She walked back into the bathroom where the large brass tub was waiting. Shucking her pants, she balled them up and tossed them at the basket sitting in the corner, mentally smiling when the clothing dropped neatly inside. Grabbing the edge of the tub, she gingerly eased one leg at a time inside the hot water. As she slowly sat down, immersing herself up to her neck, Yulen ambled into the room to join her.
For several long minutes they both sat in silence and soaked, letting their muscles relax. This was the time of day she most enjoyed. This was when they could open up and share their thoughts, and discuss things in depth and with honesty in a way they couldn’t during the day.
After a while, Yulen grabbed the bar of soap from the stool beside the tub and sat up. Before he could ask her, Atty presented her back to him. Their comfortable silence continued as he soaped her shoulders. His fingers massaged away the tenseness, leaving her soothed and malleable. After a while, he drew his arms around her and pulled her back against him. Atty settled her buttocks comfortably between his legs and leaned on his chest.
“Atty, have you ever thought that maybe Luc doesn’t have that gene in him that gives him any special ability?”
She sighed loudly. “Yes, I’ve thought of it. Countless times.”
“Maybe he’s pure Normal. It would account for much.”
She tilted her head to look up at him. “Account for what? That he doesn’t show any aptitude for a particular weapon?”
“I’m thinking on a more basic level. I’m thinking that maybe…maybe that’s why you were able to give birth to him after we lost the other three. Maybe it’s because he’s fully Normal, and doesn’t bear any Mutah genes, that he survived.” He kissed her temple as she crossed her arms over his where they lay atop her breasts.
The subject of the three times she’d been pregnant and lost all three still hurt, even after all these years. But he made a very valid point, except for one small detail.
“You’re assuming that the two babies I miscarried were Mutah,” she remarked.
“You’re right. I am. But I think you did, too.”
She couldn’t deny he was right. “I did. I mean, how could I not think that, considering Mattox and Mistelle? And…Sariah.” Her voice cracked at the mention of the tiny babe that never had a chance at life. The child that had taken her first and last breath soon after leaving her mother’s womb. A child that clearly bore the Mutah mark.
Yulen kissed her hair again. “I’ll never forget that day when you discovered you were pregnant with Luc.” He chuckled, and she felt his chest vibrate against her.