Page 28 of Dragon Slayer

“What’s the catch?”

“Pardon?”

“The catch, Dad. You act kind, but you aren’t. If you have some miracle drug that you want to give to me? There’s an ulterior motive. What is it?”

He took a deep breath that rattled across his end of the connection. “Mia. I can’t believe you think…”

“Thanks for the offer, but I’m going back to sleep.”

“No, wait! Please just tell me you’ll consider it. You don’t have much time. Let me do this for you. I…I know I couldn’t be the father you wanted. But I can help you now. Please let me do at least that much.”

She hung up.

The silence afterward seemed crushing. She could hear the fridge droning out in the kitchen, just audible beneath the crashing of her own heart against her ribs.

She knelt there for a long time, trying to decide if she should believe him. A part of her wanted to, desperately. A part of her that knew her time was short; and a part of her who had never forgiven the father that abandoned them.

But a larger, more insistent part knew that, father or not, Edwin wasn’t to be trusted. He didn’t do things for other people. Not even his own daughter.

Angry, confused, sweating a little, she slid back down and clicked off the lamp.

It was a long time before sleep found her.

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