When a tingle bloomed in his hands and feet, he was reminded that his father’s legacy, like his mother’s, was ever with him.
He stood up, bowed to them all, and excused himself. In the bathroom off the room he stayed in, he looked under the sink and thanked the Virgin Scribe that he’d been smart enough to tuck a couple of vials of dopamine in the back. Turning the heat light in the ceiling on, he took off his sable duster and stripped his Gucci jacket from his shoulders. When the red glow from up above freaked his shit out, because he thought the stress of the death was bringing out his bad side, he shut the thing off, cranked the shower on, and waited until the steam rose up before continuing.
He swallowed another two penicillin pills as he tapped his loafer.
When he could stand it, he rolled up his shirtsleeve and studiously ignored his reflection in the mirror. After he filled a syringe, he used his LV belt to loop around his biceps, pulling the black leather over and holding it against his ribs.
The steel needle slipped into one of his infected veins and he hit the plunger-
“What are you doing?”
His sister’s voice jacked his head up. In the mirror, she was staring at the needle in his arm and his red, rancid veins.
His first thought was to bark at her to get the fuck out. He didn’t want her to see this, and not just because it meant more lying. It was private.
Instead, he calmly pulled the syringe free, capped it, and tossed it. As the shower hissed, he pulled his sleeve down, then put on his jacket and his sable coat.
He turned off the water.
“I’m diabetic,” he said. Shit, he’d told Ehlena he had Parkinson’s. Damn it.
Well, it wasn’t like the two were going to meet anytime soon.
Bella lifted her hand to her mouth. “Since when? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” He forced a smile. “Are you okay?”
“Wait, since when has this been going on?”
“I’ve been injecting myself for about two years now.” At least that wasn’t a lie. “I see Havers regularly.” Ding! Ding! Another truth. “I’m managing it well.”
Bella looked at his arm. “Is that why you’re always cold?”
“Bad circulation. It’s why I need the cane. Bad balance.”
“I thought you said that was because of an injury?”
“The diabetes compromises how I heal.”
“Oh, right.” She nodded sadly. “I wish I’d known.”
As she stared up at him with her big blue eyes, he hated lying to her, but all he had to do was think of his mother’s peaceful face.
Rehv put his arm around his sister and led her out of the bathroom. “It’s no big deal. I’m on it.”
The air was cooler in the bedroom, but he knew this only because Bella wrapped her arms around herself and hunkered in.
“When should we do the ceremony?” she asked.
“I’ll call the clinic and have Havers come out here at nightfall and wrap her. Then we have to decide where to bury her.”
“At the Brotherhood compound. That’s where I want her.”
“If Wrath will let the doggen and me come, that’s fine.”
“Of course. Z’s on the phone with the king now.”
“I don’t think there’s much of the glymera left in town who’d want to say good-bye.”
“I’ll get her address book from downstairs and put together an announcement.”
Such a factual, practical conversation, illustrating that death was indeed part of living.
When Bella let out a soft sob, Rehv pulled her against his chest. “Come here, sister mine.”
As they stood together with her head on his chest, he thought of the number of times he’d tried to save her from the world. Life, however, had happened anyway.
God, when she had been small, before her transition, he had been so certain he could protect her and take care of her. When she was hungry, he made sure she had food. When she needed clothes, he bought them for her. When she couldn’t sleep, he stayed with her until her eyes closed. Now that she had grown up, though, he felt like his repertoire was restricted to nothing but placations. Although maybe that was the way it worked. When you were young, a good lullaby was all you needed to ease the stress of the day and make you feel safe.
Holding her now, he wished there were such a quick fix for grown-ups.
“I’m going to miss her,” Bella said. “We weren’t very much alike, but I always loved her.”
“You were her great joy. Always.”
Bella pulled back. “And you as well.”
He tucked a stray hair behind her ear. “Would you and your family like to have a rest here?”
Bella nodded. “Where do you want us?”