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Chapter Thirteen

He said nothing at first, but I saw the suspicion on his face, especially in his strange eyes, eyes that see if I had read his thoughts, or if I had simply made a supposition based on his last statement

"What about the ain, and it was just as well since his colorless irises were creepy as hell

I told hi hiht hold the answers to h to keep ht him up to date

As I spoke, he sat quietly, no doubt watching me in ways that I couldn&039;t quite fathom When I was finished, he said, "You have spared your son frooal of oal offiends"

He nodded "So you&039;ve turned your son, and now you wish to turn hi God, Sa it away"

"I&039;iven to save my son No more, no less"

He nodded "The medallion Is it in your possession?"

"It is somewhere safe"

"And you seek to unlock its secret?"

"I seek to give my son a normal life"

"Nory in the roo a fraction faster I thinkthe roo white noise continued fillingfrom me? Perhaps it was better that I didn&039;t know

"I do not have strength to argue the point," he said "Keeping you out ofTell me, what exactly can I do for you?"

"I need help in unlocking theyour son&039;s vampirism?"

"Yes"

He sat quietly He was tiring The whispery phrases that clutteredwords here and there His defense was breaking down, and I idly wondered whatin his brain

"There is a way, of course," he said "There&039;s always a way But for my services I always requirement payment"

My eyes narrowed Any woman&039;s eyes would narrohen she hears a creepy old man utter the words: I require payment

"What kind of payment?" I asked warily

"Life, of course"

"What does that mean?"

"It means that for my service I require life, usually in the form of years removed from yours and added to mine"

So he was a vampire, after all Or a type of vah the use of arcane icks

He went on, "But you have no years to re immortal To re point" He opened his eyes and looked directly at me "You, lass, will live forever, if you are lucky"

Indeed For creatures who are ih if we find ourselves on the wrong end of a silver dagger

My eyes narrowed "So what are you getting at?"

"Your son&039;s life, of course, Samantha For my help, I require three years from your son&039;s life, that is, of course, if you are successful in your bid to return him to his mortality"

"Hoill this be done?"

"Delicately, my dear Your son will not be harain Jesus, what had I gotten Anthony involved with? "He will lose three years of his life?"

He opened his eyes again and now that his psychic shell was cracking, I saw so monstrous about the man A darkness appeared around hiain Thedark Of that I was sure So to sustain it

"Or your son can live forever," he said "The choice is yours, itated The cal butterflies of all colors

"And what are you offering me in return? Do you kno to unlock the medallion?"

"I know of one who does An alchemist older than even me"

"So you are not a varinned wickedly "No At least, not the blood sucking kind"

"And that&039;s all you&039;re offering me? The name of an alchemist for three years of my son&039;s life?"

"Yes"

"And what, exactly, does that mean? Three years of his life?"

"Your son&039;s life, should he becoain, will be cut short by three years Years which will then be transferred to me"

"You&039;re sick"

"No," he breathed "I&039; for many years to come"

He explained further: ically It would simply end as it was meant to end, only three years earlier

Lord help uy?"

"I know not, my dear In fact, no one knows And those who have seen him claim that he has found them"

Great I closed ly an eternity "One year," I finally said

"Three!" he hissed angrily