“There she is,” he says with a warm smile, holding an arm out toward me. “This is my Jocelyn.”
I walk dutifully over to him and let him wrap his arm around me, then turn and smile at the young couple who greet me with wide grins.
“Your dad was just telling us about you!” the young woman says brightly.
“My ... Dad?” I ask, stealing an uncertain glance toward Pater. The stern look he returns to me tells me he’s already rejected me. I’ve defied him one too many times, and when he’s ready, I’ll have to pay the price.
“From what he tells us, you seem like the perfect person we’d love to hire to babysit our son. Your brother said he’s willing to help out too, if you need it,” the young man explains, placing his palms on the island top with a smile.
“Oh. Yeah, I’d love to,” I reply quietly.
“Joce will be an excellent babysitter. She helped raise her brother, and she hopes to be a mother herself one day, don’t you baby girl?” he asks, giving me a gentle squeeze. Another stolen glance up into his eyes and I can see the soft yearning that was once going to play a part in my failed plan.
“I’d love to be a mom!” I gush happily. “How old is your son?”
“Seven,” the young woman replies with a smile. “He’s our fur baby, but we still consider him our son, you know?”
“A dog?” I ask curiously.
They look at each other sheepishly and nod. A small smile curves my lips. I always wanted a pet, but Pater never allowed it for fear that the animal would attack him on the nights he attacked me.
“Can we bring him by tomorrow so you can meet him? He’s really playful, so maybe a test run would be best before we commit,” she says thoughtfully.
I turn and give Pater a hopeful glance, hoping it will soothe the anger I know he’s feeling at the baby not being human, but he grunts and nods in agreement.
“Perfect! How does, say, seven o’clock sound?” the young man asks, glancing at Pater.
“That’ll be just fine,” he replies, in a bored tone.
With that, they shake hands with Pater and wave at Vaughn and I as he shows them to the front door. I immediately go over to my brother and put a hand on his shoulder.
“I’m going to save you. I don’t care if you hate me right now, but I need you to know that I’m going to do my best to fix this and that you’ll go free,” I whisper urgently.
Vaughn slowly turns his head toward me, his lower lip trembling, and bitter tears rolling down his face.
“Like you saved Eloy?” he seethes quietly.
I let out a sigh and do my best not to cry. If Pater finds us huddled in whispered conversation, he’ll separate us again, and Heaven only knows if I’ll see Vaughn ever again.
“Scheming against me?”
I jump and pull away from Vaughn, who turns his attention back to the void. There’s nothing left in his eyes, like his brother’s, but he still draws breath, and I will fucking defend it until I no longer can.
Pater is looking at us in amusement, arms over his chest, and his grin sitting on his face. “I was wondering when you were finally going to crawl out of that fucking hole.”
“I’m sorry. I just needed some time alone,” I reply softly, clasping my hands in front of myself.
Pater chuckles as he walks toward us, stopping just short of where I’m standing, and slides his hand down my shirt. I try not to cringe, but he knows that I’m holding a piece of Eloy close to my heart and he’s more than likely not pleased with the gesture.
“That doesn’t belong there,” he says gently. “Hey. Kid. Get up. Go back to where you were, and stay there until I come to get you.”
Vaughn quickly scrapes his chair back and leaves the room without so much as a glance over his shoulder. Pater lets out a sigh and rubs his forehead in irritation.
I watch his other hand as he absentmindedly rolls the stone around in his palm.
“You want this back?” he asks, following my gaze.
“Please.”