Free The Hour of Dreams by Shelena Shorts

create cures, but I never thought it could fix me.
    “And the best part is, he thinks he’ll be able to produce more of the same antibody my system created by blending human blood with cold-blood, without it needing to be transfused first.”
    “Wow. Are you serious? That’s huge! Why are you just now telling me?”
    I leaped up and sat on his lap, hugging him in excitement.
    He was chuckling in his own subtle way. “I was going to tell you, but you looked so cute in your apron thingy that I got all distracted.”
    “Really?”
    His face turned serious. “Really.”
    My gaze traveled to the soft smile lines that lingered around his mouth, inviting me to focus on his lips. I kissed him greedily, but he pulled back.
    “What’s wrong?”
    He cringed again.
    “Wes…tell me.”
    “Well, I want to be honest with you.”
    “Yeah…” We had agreed to that.
    “Now that he has a formula going, he thinks he can create the antibodies on his own. So there isn’t a need for me to stay around.”
    “Stay around? Like what…around here? The lab?”
    He gave me a squeeze that didn’t feel so reassuring. “Well, yeah, those places too, but I meant like in time.”
    My body tensed, and he held me on his lap. “I just mean there’s no need for me to stay like I am forever. He’s gotten what he needs from me. I think he can reverse my transfusion.”
    Normally, I would’ve protested. After all, we’d been down this road before. So to buy time, I just said the only thing that popped up. “Can you please just wait until I have a little more proof about the past before you decide? Let me see whether I can remember more about Phoebe? Please?” I pleaded.
    More readily than expected, he agreed, and he kissed me one soft time before leading me back upstairs, making me forget that I had just agreed to something that terrified me entirely.

Chapter 10

KNOWING
     
    A s I lay in bed, it felt colder than usual. Wes normally kept it pretty warm in the house, and I had grown used to sleeping in a tank and shorts while he slept in long sleeves and sweatpants.
    Cold was something we avoided, so I pried my eyes open, planning to make my way to the thermostat. That’s when I realized that the dark walls surrounding me were not my own.
    Somehow knowing that there was no way to turn up the heat, I wrapped myself in the knit blanket that covered my narrow bed. On the outside, I felt better, but not on the inside.
    I glanced over and saw my brother and was comforted that he was sleeping soundly. I rolled toward the wall and became lost in thought. What day was it? I tried to sort through the memories. The most recent, though hazy, was of my mother explaining to me that Charity’s youth had been forever taken. That she had been beaten and strangled until unconscious. The one good thing about it was that she didn’t remember much of anything. Only that she'd set off to meet Samuel shortly after I’d made my way home.
    I shuddered with anger, and then vowed to visit her in the morning, hoping she would forgive me. I’d tried to warn her, but I hadn’t tried hard enough. When I’d seen the joy in her eyes at the thought of Samuel fancying her, I hadn’t been able to ignore the feeling in the pit of my own stomach about William. It was a stupid curiosity of young and naive girls.
    Or was it? It all felt so confusing. William appeared to be nothing like Samuel. He had placed himself in front of my father, and was now the one suffering. If he was as selfish and uncaring and dangerous as Samuel, then why would he have done that? He wouldn’t have.
    As daylight filtered through the small window, I dressed hurriedly, ate breakfast quickly, and walked to Mr. Corey’s, the town doctor. Or at least he was the closest to a doctor that we had.
    His large house sat on a sprawling property on the north side of town, and somehow I knew I’d find both Charity and William there. When I reached his porch, there was a small gathering of locals,