The Moons Of Jupiter

CHAPTER FIVE-Near London, England, 1948- A Call For Help

"Can I give you a hand?" Ehaan asked, reaching for the broom when Mrs. Delacour and Blagden were gone.

"Don't you have something better to do?" Mr. Delacour asked him as he approached Ylfa again. He stood staring down at her without expression for a moment. Ylfa felt her heart racing as she forced herself to stand there, head down, at his mercy. Aiden Delacour loved the anticipation. He enjoyed seeing his victims squirm.

Then, in one swift motion, he drew back his hand and, exposing a shiny gold bracelet on his wrist, slapped her hard across the face. Ylfa reeled from the blow.

"Hey," Ehaan exclaimed, catching her before she hit the floor.

"Is there something you want to say?" Mr. Delacour challenged him, his eyes cold.

"Is that necessary?" Ehaan asked him, but Ylfa felt his hand tremble despite his defiance. Mr. Delacour saw it too.

"Perhaps you'd like to tell Ehaan how much mustard you used in Blagden's dish?" Mr. Delacour asked Ylfa, his eyes boring into her. Still afraid to answer, she kept her eyes lowered. She knew from experience that protesting made it worse. He knew what she'd done. She hadn't fooled him one bit.

The seconds dragged by as Mr. Delacour waited for her to deny it. Finally, he turned and walked from the room. "Next time, I'll let Blagden take his own revenge," he promised Ylfa on the way out. Then he turned to Ehaan with an unapologetic expression. "Send her down to the basement when she's done, and don't forget to lock her in."

As soon as he was gone, Ylfa grabbed the broom and began sweeping. Ehaan took a cloth and helped her wipe the wall. "You don't do yourself any favors, do you? he gently chided her. "Haven't you learned not to bait Blagden? You can't beat him at his own game."

"It was a miscalculation on my part," Ylfa said, grinning despite her still-trembling legs. "I didn't expect the Delacours to be home so early. Still, it was great to see the look on Blagden's face when he ate that mouthful of mustard. You should have seen it."

Ehaan rinsed the cloth in cold water and applied it to Ylfa's swollen cheek. "It was still dumb," he scolded her. "What is it, the full moon again or something?" He caressed her neck above her spiked collar. His touch was kind and gentle, and she felt no fear or threat from him.

"He makes me sick," she said, looking away from Ehaan. "He's a disgusting beast."

"You know they won't hesitate to kill you, right?" Ehann reminded her as he unlocked her chain from the stove. "I'm sorry, but I can't protect you from them. Aiden is too powerful."

"I know," Ylfa said, putting her hand over his, her mouth parted in invitation. Suddenly, her knees trembled for a different reason. Ehaan's skin felt hot to her touch, but she knew it was an illusion, since his heart had been still for centuries. A wave of desire, tinged with repulsion, washed over her. She felt excited and confused at the same time. She lifted her head, exposing her neck to him, resisting the urge to groan aloud as he exposed his sharp fangs. But groans weren't enough to express what she was feeling. Overcome with profound loneliness, and the instinctive desire to take a mate, she needed to howl. Taking a deep breath, she clutched a handful of Ehaan's hair and prepared to let loose.

"No, we can't," Ehaan suddenly croaked, pulling away from her. "It's too dangerous. If they catch us, they’ll either kill or torture us. Either way, it will only make things worse for you."

Ylfa blushed, suddenly ashamed at how pitiful she must seem to him, throwing herself at Ehaan like that. She knew there could never really be anything between them. He was kind to her, but, as a vampire, incapable of real love. She knew better than to trust him too. He’d warned her against it many times. He lived in fear of Aiden Delacour just as she did, and didn't have the courage or strength to challenge him. Still, sometimes she got so lonely in this house full of heartlessness that it was hard not to confuse Ehaan's sense of decency with affection.

She blamed her lapse in judgment on the full moon. It made her do crazy things. "I…I'm sorry," she stammered as she released him, her cheeks burning. Then, unable to look at him, she fled the room and into the basement. Her chain thumped behind her, snaking its way down the stairs. When she reached the bottom, she flung herself on her straw bed and wept.

As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she caught a glimpse of the full harvest moon through a small c***k in the stone foundation above the foot of her bed. It hung low in the sky, its amber glow beckoning her. Flinging back her head, she opened her mouth and let the sound finally escape her throat. It sounded natural and true. She howled in fear, frustration, and yearning. She wailed for her lost freedom, family, and sense of belonging. Nothing could stop her. Her collar felt dangerously tight on her neck and small tufts of mahogany fur sprouted from her knuckles, but she couldn’t stop. If finally being herself meant dying, then she was ready to pay the price.

Until Ehaan's hand clamped across her mouth.

"Shh, he'll hear you," he hissed in her ear as he muffled the sound. "You have to stop. Please." He frantically checked the stairs, afraid Aiden might appear. "Tell me you understand."

Ylfa, bringing her focus back to the room, nodded in agreement. Once confident she was calm, Hannon lifted his hand off her face. Feeling spent, yet strangely exhilarated, Ylfa collapsed.

"Are you trying to make him kill you," Ehaan warned her. "You know he won’t hesitate. Remember what happened last time he decided you were out of control?

"No, I don’t remember much about that night," Ylfa said, absently tracing the faint scar on her cheek with her finger. "You know that."

"Trust me. It's better you don't. It’s for your own good.”

Can’t I be the one to decide that?” she asked, annoyed with him. The truth was that while Ylfa didn't remember the details of that particularly traumatic night, she was keenly aware that the Delacours, particularly Mrs. Delacour, was growing tired of her antics. Since they experienced so few feelings, they had little patience for her wild fits of emotion.

"I don't know why I poisoned Blagden's food," Ylfa admitted. "Sometimes, I just can't stop myself. It’s getting more obvious to everyone every day that I don't belong here, and they have no right to keep me prisoner. I must have a family somewhere who misses me. Except for you, the Delacours see me as little more than an animal. It's not right."

"I’m sorry," Ehaan said, trying to be sympathetic. "You know I'd change things if I could, but I’m not in any position to be your hero."

“I know, but I can’t change who I am either,” Ylfa said sadly. “No matter how hard Mr. and Mrs. Delacour try to control me, or how much they try to deny it, they know there's no way to make me bend fully to their will without killing me. I don’t understand what they want from me, anyway. Is it just a game for them to use and abuse me? Is their hatred for my kind so deep that they take joy in torturing me?

“I’m sorry, I don’t have any answers,” Ehaan said. “I’ve told you everything I know. Two men arrived with you at the house late one night, and despite Margaret’s protests, Aiden took you in. He hired a nursemaid from the city, and once you were old enough to look after yourself, he killed her.

"Did you always know I was a werewolf?" Ylfa whispered. I figured out that's why Mrs. Delacour makes me that tea during the full moon. Somehow, it tranquilized, preventing me from transforming."

"Then what happened tonight?" he asked, sitting beside her on the bed.

"She must have decided I didn't need it anymore now that i have this collar. One wrong move and the silver spikes will pierce my skin, killing me instantly. They think the threat of death will prevent me from transforming, but I don’t have that kind of control. I'm afraid that soon nothing will stop it. The urge is growing stronger and stronger in me all the time.”

“Whatever the reason Aiden wanted you in the first place, I think he hoped it would have played out by now. I always got the impression he thought you’d only be with us a short time.”

“So you think whoever he thought was coming for me, really isn't?” Ylfa said sadly.

“The reason Margaret keeps pushing to get rid of you is because she knows a house full of vampires is no match for a fully-grown werewolf,” Ehaan continued without answering her question. Ylfa knew he was trying his best not to hurt her.

“The tea made me too dizzy and groggy to get out of bed,” Ylfa said. “Of course, that made me useless around the house, which annoyed Mrs. Delacour. I'm sure she hoped the collar would eliminate both problems. It leaves me conscious enough to wash her dirty laundry, but unable to transform so I can squeeze the life out of her scrawny neck.”

“Sounds like you’ve thought about it,” Ehaan said with a hint of amusement.

"Tell me what happened that night," Ylfa begged Ehaan. "Maybe it will help me. You know I can take it. I have a right to know."

"I will. One day. I promise.”

“I don’t know how much longer I can go on like this,” she warned him. At fourteen, Ylfa began menstruating, and every month since then, when the full moon rose, her hormones threatened to drive her over the cliff of madness. She couldn't control it, no matter how much the Delacours beat her or threatened her existence. She talked back to Mrs. Delacour, refused to perform her household duties, and generally sulked. Then one night, no longer able to contain the rage inside her from all the beatings and mistreatment, she rebelled against Blagden's blows with unexpected fury. The rest of the incident was a blank to her, but the small scar on her cheek served as a permanent reminder not to cross Aiden Delacour. She woke up the next morning wearing the collar.

"Well, you better knock off the noise," Ehaan insisted. "You don't know how lucky you are that Aiden didn't hear you howling like that. He hates drawing any attention to the estate. I can’t believe he hasn’t come down here to punish you.”

"I'm not afraid of Aiden, Blagden, or Margaret," Ylfa insisted. "Not anymore. What else can they do to me? They took me from my family, enslaved me and physically abused me. If anything, they made me stronger. One day, I will break the curse they have over my life. I have no intention of spending the rest of my days imprisoned in this dreary country estate, serving the whims of Aiden Delacour and his motley crew of vampires." She smiled at Ehaan. "No offense."

"None taken."

"Eventually, I will escape or die trying," she said. "Tonight, for the first time, I finally took meaningful action. I called for my pack to come help rescue me."

"Do you think they heard you?" Ehaan asked, his expression grim.

Ylfa shrugged. "One way or the other, the Delacours will pay sorely for what they've done to me. I promise you that."

"So, it's revenge you're after," Ehaan said. "I've often wondered what it was that gave you the strength to face another day."

"Pure hatred," Ylfa answered. "The singular hope that one day the Delacours, except for you, will feel the sting of my cruelty the same way I have suffered theirs.

"Don't make promises when it comes to me," Ehaan cautioned her. "I may be weary of the viciousness of vampire life, but my blood still runs cold. Some curses can never be undone."