“If that’s true, why didn’t any of our experiments work?”
“Maybe artificial insemination won’t work. Maybe the sperm loses potency when exposed to the air.”
“Are you suggesting that Derek might be able to father a child?”
“It’s a possibility.”
“So is the danger of Mara finding us. Let’s get out of here! Oh, Lord,” Pearl hissed. “It’s too late.” Heart in her throat, she glanced over her shoulder to find Mara standing behind her.
“Years too late,” Mara said. “I should have destroyed you decades ago.”
Pearl grabbed Edna’s hand, intending to dissolve into mist and disappear, only to discover that she was powerless to do so.
“Any last words?” Mara asked, her gaze drilling into Pearl’s.
“You can’t kill us!” Edna exclaimed.
“Oh? And why is that?”
“Because we know something about Derek.”
Interest flickered in Mara’s eyes. “Go on.”
Edna shook her head. “Not until you promise to let us leave here alive.”
“No chance.”
“He’s been craving meat!” Edna said. “Don’t you want to know why?”
Eyes narrowing, Mara glanced from one woman to the other. Dressed in black from head to foot, they looked like a pair of over-the-hill ninjas. “Does this have anything to do with Ramsden?”
Edna nodded vigorously.
“I’m listening.”
“Your promise first,” Edna said.
Mara cocked her head to the side. “I can make you tell me, just as I can make your death agonizingly long or blessedly short.” Capturing Edna’s gaze with her own, she willed her power into the other woman, planting thoughts of excruciating pain into Edna’s mind until the woman screamed in agony. “I’m still listening.”
Moaning, Edna dropped to the ground.
“Leave her alone!” Pearl shouted. “I’ll tell you.”
“I’m listening.”
“Your son carries the werewolf gene.”
Mara snorted. “You’ll have to do better than that.”
“It’s true. Kyle Bowden was a werewolf, but the gene was latent in him. We think it’s becoming active in Derek. It’s why he’s craving meat.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Mara scoffed. “And even if it’s true, wouldn’t it have manifested itself long before now?”
“Obviously the vampire half has been suppressing his inner werewolf.”
“So why is it emerging now?”
“Sometimes these things are sparked by internal changes.”
Mara stared at Pearl, reluctant to believe her hypothesis, but what if it was true? The first time the craving had come upon Derek was at puberty. It had happened again just after he turned twenty-five, another significant milestone, in that he had stopped aging. “You think he’s turning into a werewolf ? Seriously?”
Pearl knelt beside Edna. “We won’t know until the next full moon.”
“Will the change be permanent?” Mara asked, thinking of Susie McGee.
Pearl shrugged. “Only time will tell.”
“Yes,” Mara mused. “Time.”
Clutching Edna’s hand, Pearl looked up at the ancient vampire. “I told you what you wanted to know,” she said, hating the tremor in her voice. “If you’re going to destroy us, make it quick.”
Chapter Nineteen
“Where are the old ladies now?” Derek stretched his legs out in front of him, his chin resting on his folded hands.
Sitting beside him on the sofa, Mara smoothed a nonexistent wrinkle from her skirt. “I let them go.”
Derek raised one brow, but said nothing.
“I know, I should have destroyed the two of them. They’ve had it coming for years.”
“So why didn’t you?”
Mara glanced at Logan. Reclining on the other couch, he gave a one-shoulder shrug in an “it’s up to you” gesture.
Derek looked at his mother. “What’s going on, Ma? What aren’t you telling me?”
She bristled at his tone, but she could feel the tension building in him, so she let it slide. “They gave me some interesting news. After I heard it, I decided to let them live a little longer.”
“Must have been some kick-ass news,” Derek muttered. “You’ve said you wanted them dead more than once. So . . .” His gaze darted from Mara to Logan and back again. “What did they say?”
“It’s their opinion that the reason I was able to get pregnant had less to do with my reverting to humanity than with the fact that your father was a werewolf.”
Derek sat forward, eyes narrowing. “What?”
“You heard me. I never knew it, and neither did he, but apparently Kyle carried a recessive werewolf gene, which means you also carry it. Only in your case, it seems to be dominant.”
Rising, Derek paced the floor. If it was true, it explained a lot: his restlessness when the moon was full, his craving for raw meat. He paused in midstride. “Are you saying I’m going to turn into a werewolf?”
Mara glanced at Logan again before answering. “It’s anybody’s guess. Nothing quite like this has ever happened before.”
Derek raked a hand through his hair. “What else?”
“There’s no way of knowing if, once you turn into a werewolf, you’ll remain a werewolf.”
“So, I’ll either be a werewolf, or a vampire, or both?”
Mara nodded.
“Well, it’s a hell of a trifecta, isn’t it?”
A thought took Derek to Sheree’s house. Uncertain of his ability to keep either his hunger or his emotions under control, he stood in the shadows. What would she think if he shared what he had just learned? What could he say? Hey, guess what? I might not be a vampire much longer. Or, Hey, did you hear the latest news? I might be a vampire and a werewolf.
Yeah, just what she needed. Something else to worry about. That would go over really well.
He held his breath when he saw her looking out the window. His first instinct was to go to her. He fought it for a moment, telling himself it was too dangerous to be near her in his current state of mind, but even as he told himself to stay where he was, he was crossing the street, knocking on the door.
She opened it with a smile. “Hi.”
“Hi.”
Taking him by the hand, she pulled him inside and closed the door. “I thought you’d be here sooner. Your mother left over half an hour ago.”