Page 45 of Incandescence

Would it kill Jasper? Or would it do quite the opposite and see the dog’s lifespan greatly increased?

The bathroom door opened and Doctor Newry stepped into the hallway in faded jeans and a navy flannelette shirt. He was toweling his shaggy gray hair when he caught sight of me. “You’re awake. Good. I’m about to get some breakfast together and then I was thinking we could discuss where we go from here.”

“Good idea,” I murmured before I nodded toward the dog. “Any idea on how this dog lapping up all the vampire blood will affect him?”

The doctor frowned, a faint tinge of disgust in his stare. “We probably should’ve got rid of that before we went to bed.” He slung his towel over a shoulder. “Nothing to it now other than to keep an eye on the dog and hope he’ll be okay.”

I sighed and followed Newry into the kitchen, ignoring the stickiness left underfoot. Ten minutes later I sat at the dining table, tucking into a bowl of cornflakes with milk and honey.

When had normal human food ever tasted this damn good?

The doctor outlined a plan. “We should probably go to the nest today, read those books you saw in the vampire’s chambers, and see if we can find any of the information you’re looking for.” The doctor pushed a hand over his lined face. “And I’ll concentrate on finding any evidence of where my daughter might be...or even if she’s alive.”

I stopped chewing, the cornflakes suddenly sawdust in my mouth. I forcibly swallowed, my belly churning.

“Alexander.”

I turned at Charley’s voice. She stood in the hallway behind me, looking sleep-rumpled and sexy. It was only her sad eyes and troubled expression that confirmed what I knew even before she said, “You need to tell him the truth.”

“The truth?” Newry repeated, his voice shrill. “What do you mean? What’s going on?”

I turned back to the doctor, noting his tight shoulders and blinking eyes. My heart sank, but Charley was right. Newry needed to know his daughter was now at peace. He needed to know he could finally say goodbye. I cleared my throat. “Nancy was brought to the nest where I was taken.”

The doctor’s eyes brightened. I hated that I’d be the one who’d dull his stare. “She’s not there anymore...she’s...gone. She couldn’t live the way I had.”

“Live like what?” the doctor scraped out.

“Like a blood bank for the vampire.”

Newry dragged a hand over his face. “So you’re saying my daughter killed herself?”

I nodded and managed a raspy, “Yes.”

His stare looked haunted. “And what did you do to try and stop her? Were you a part of her death?” He banged his fist on the table. “Tellme!”

I could do little else but stare wordlessly back at him, guilt gnawing at me inside. In some ways, I had been a part of his daughter’s death. I’d never once tried talking Nancy down from her high-pitched ramblings, where she’d told me she’d prefer spilling her lifeblood on the ground to giving it to the vampire.

How could I have talked her out of something I’d privately agreed myself countless times? In the end, I’d wondered if she’d been the strong one, not me, ending her life on her own terms.

Charley stepped forward and placed her hands on the doctor’s shoulders in a show of support. “I’m so sorry for your loss.” She looked up at me, her face understanding. “We’re both sorrier than you can imagine.”

Newry didn’t answer, but his anger seemed to abate into shock. He was white-faced, and his voice trembled as he said distantly, “When Nancy decides to do something, no one or nothing will get in her way.” He exhaled, when he added, “She must have known there was no other option.”

I shoved away my cereal bowl, my appetite now non-existent. But I felt compelled to reassure him. “Living in the nest makes a person constantly question their mortality. Death was an endless tugging of the subconscious, especially when survival guaranteed the vampire’s longevity.”

The tabby cat jumped onto the doctor’s lap and pushed against his chest, as though it too wanted to reassure the doctor. Newry ran an absent hand over the cat’s head, before the tabby purred like a motor.

Newry’s hand stilled. “Yesterday I visited Amy. I had an epiphany that it would be best that I cleared the air between us, said goodbye to her in the off-chance the vampire returned.”

I stared at the older man. At least now I understood why the doctor hadn’t been home, and had left his food congealing on the stove. After our visit asking about the vampire, Newry had evidently had an attack of fatherly conscience, or maybe fatherly love and devotion, and gone to see his one remaining daughter.

“I’m so glad we’ve reconciled. But I have no idea now how I’ll tell Amy that her only sister won’t ever be coming back home.”

Charley squeezed his shoulders. “I’ll make a pot of tea.”

It was a somber atmosphere, with the doctor taking grateful sips of his sweetened, hot tea, and Charley and I unsure of what to do or say next.

“Perhaps it would be best if we left,” I ventured.

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