‘She told me to sacrifice anything for true love,’ Lizzie said, tears leaking from her eyes, the big baby. ‘She said Elric’s love was worth anything, even my power. I thought I didn’t want my power, but ever since Elric’s been here I’ve been changing my mind, and now I can’t even think straight…’
Mare frowned at her and jerked her head toward Mother, who appeared to be oblivious. ‘Shhhh,’ she said to Lizzie, but Lizzie just kept rocking and shivering.
Well, Mother was keeping it damn near freezing in there, so no wonder.
‘Is there a reason you have the air-conditioning on “frigid”?’ she snapped at Mother.
Mother turned the needle off. ‘I think I’ll make some tea.’
‘Or you could just turn the goddamned air-conditioning down,’ Mare said and went over to do it herself.
It was off.
‘What the fuck?’ Mare said, and then her stomach roiled again and she pressed her arms against it. The door opened.
‘Xan’s here,’ Dee said, sounding like Eeyore as she closed the door behind her. I’m really confused. But I think we have to go. No, I know we have to go. God, my head hurts.’
‘I don’t want to go.’ Mare crossed her arms over her stomach tighter, both for warmth and to block Dee.
Dee started pacing. ‘You don’t understand,’ she said, rubbing her forehead. ‘She killed Mom and Dad. It was an accident, she said, she was just trying to take their powers to help them, but she killed them. She says she knows how to do it right this time, but I’m afraid.’
‘I don’t care, I’m not going, don’t care what you say, not going,’ Mare singsonged, shivering.
All right, that’s it,’ Dee said, walking faster, her voice rising to a thin whine. ‘I have a headache, I’m freezing, and I’m tired of saving your ungrateful ass. Do I always have to make the decisions in this family? A little help would be nice for a change. But that’s fine. I’ll save you – again - and damn well drag you along.’
Mare leaned forward. ‘Make me. I dare you. Make me.’
Lizzie started to cry.
‘You know, it’s not enough that I have given up my life for you,’ Dee said, ‘and now I’ve lost Danny-’
‘How could you lose Danny?’ Mare pulled back, determined not to feel sorry for her. ‘You just found Danny’
Dee ignored Mother, who was bringing in a tray of tea things, and dropped into the chair next to where Lizzie was curled up on the floor. ‘Danny’s going to hate me when he finds out. He hates people with powers and he’s going to hate me.’ She scrubbed at her face with both hands. ‘Maybe I should just give Xan my powers. So what if she kills me.’
‘Well, that’s the first thing we’ve agreed on,’ Mare said. ‘Not the killing part, but the powers part. I talked to her and thought the same thing. Sure would make life easier.’
‘I think my heart is breaking,’ Lizzie said from the floor, and Dee looked down and saw her and got to her feet.
‘How long has she been like that?’ she said to Mare, suddenly sounding frightened.
‘Couple minutes,’ Mare said. ‘You know Lizzie. There should be bunnies any time now.’ She looked around and felt a chill that had nothing to do with her lowered body temperature. ‘Wait a minute. Why aren’t there bunnies?
Dee was on her knees beside Lizzie, gathering her up into her arms. ‘It’s all right, baby, it’s all right, I’m here, it’s all right. I’ll take care of you.’
‘I’m so cold,’ Lizzie said to her. And my heart is breaking.’
‘What’s wrong with her?’ Mare said, dropping to the floor beside Dee, really frightened now. ‘What’s wrong with her?’
‘Xan,’ Dee said, holding Lizzie tightly against her, as if to wrap her in warmth. ‘That’s what Mama said right before she died, when Xan took her power’ She met Mare’s eyes over Lizzie’s bright curls. ‘She was cold and shivering and rocking like this and that’s what she said and then she died.’
‘You’re cold, too,’ Mare said, putting her arms around them both. And so am I. I was cold after I left Xan. What did she do to us?’
Mother put the tea tray down on the floor beside them: a teapot, three cups, and a plateful of cookies covered in sugar. ‘Eat. You need sugar.’
‘Sugar’s going to take care of this?’ Dee said, incredulous, as Mare tightened her arms around all of them for warmth.
‘Cookies, just like the ones they give you after you give blood,’ Mother said cheerfully. ‘Instant energy’
‘We didn’t give blood,’ Mare said.
‘Oh,’ Mother said and left them alone.
Dee looked stricken. ‘What did Xan do? Did she touch you? She took my hand. She twisted my fingers with hers. And she was holding Mama’s hand the same way right before…’ She turned to Lizzie. ‘Did she touch you?’ She looked at Mare.
Mare nodded. ‘Yeah. She did. Just like that. That twisting thing.’
‘She took our power,’ Dee said, still rocking Lizzie. ‘I know you think Xan’s my nightmare in the closet, but she took our power.’
‘No, I believe you, I’m with you now.’ Mare picked up a cup and held it to Lizzie’s lips. ‘Drink, Lizzie.’
Lizzie sipped and made a face. ‘Too sweet.’
‘Drink it anyway, baby’ Dee said, and Lizzie did, sipping at first and then gulping, and when Lizzie was done, Mare gave Dee a cup, too, and then picked up the third cup and drained it.
‘Did Xan take all our power?’ Mare said, and then answered her question by lifting the needle off Mother’s tray from across the room. ‘Still got that.’ She tried for her bag, much heavier, and couldn’t budge it. ‘She took part of it. A pint. Like at the blood bank, she took some off the top. What was she doing?’ She picked up a cookie as if it were a life source and chomped her way through it.
‘Maybe she didn’t have time,’ Dee said, sipping and rocking. ‘We’d have noticed if she’d taken more. We’d have fought. But if she finds a way to take it all…’
‘I become a spoiled brat forever,’ Mare said, and called out, ‘I’m sorry I was rude, Mother’ She picked up the teapot and filled everybody’s cup again. ‘Tea. Cookies. Eat. Drink.’
‘And I become the most annoying victim on the planet,’ Dee said, her voice already stronger. And Lizzie…’
They both looked at Lizzie, gulping her second cup of tea as if it were a lifeline.
Lizzie curls up and dies just like Mama, Mare thought. We’d all die.
‘You three feeling better?’ Mother said, coming back in. ‘I’ve turned up the heat.’
‘Thank you,’ Mare said.
‘You shouldn’t give blood when you’re not feeling well,’ Mother said. ‘I’ll fill in the black on your tattoo now’
Mare thought about saying, ‘You know damn well we didn’t give blood,’ but if Mother was rewinding to normal, that worked for her. She got up and sat down on the chair again, feeling the chill abate. It really was like giving blood, she thought. Probably in a couple of hours, she’d have built her power back up again. As long as nobody came along and sucked more off. Or took too much. Like her mother. Xan had taken too much from her mother. Dee had been right all along.
Any fascination Mare had for Xan died on the instant. Lizzie pulled away and reached for another cookie, and Dee took a deep breath. ‘We need to think. We need to work this out. Xan wants our powers, and she has a plan and the guys have something to do with it. But I think she’s telling the truth about them being our true loves.’
‘She thinks she made a mistake with Jude,’ Mare said. ‘And I have to agree there.’
‘I think we have to go back to the guys and ask them about it,’ Dee said. ‘Tell them what just happened and ask them. If they really do love us, they’ll tell us the truth.’
‘Elric loves me,’ Lizzie said, sounding stronger. ‘He left me, but he loves me. When he finds out what she did…’