Free Blood Legacy Origin of Species by Kerri Hawkins Page B

efficiency.
    Marilyn examined the feeling, unsurprised. She had sensed Abigail’s intent prior to the act. She was only mildly perturbed, and that was mostly because she was going to have to undo the dysfunctionality this was likely to cause in her already uptight offspring.
    The contact did surprise Victor, but only because he was so lost in his own thoughts. He quickly assessed the situation and determined he would not intervene. He knew what Abigail was doing and wondered why he had not done it himself.
    Abigail tasted the blood and although it provided none of the intense passion and near-sexual ecstasy of her equals, it was still decidedly pleasant. Dr. Ryerson was going to grow interesting with age and perhaps it was time to begin pairing her with those stronger than her to accelerate that rate of growth. Abigail pushed this thought away and withdrew from Susan’s neck.
    Susan felt drugged, struggling to maintain any semblance of control. She had no idea how Ryan had survived around these people when she had been young.
    “Ah,” Abigail whispered, having full access to Susan’s mind. “Ryan is very special. But you know that,” Abigail said, considering one of Susan’s memories that Abigail could now see, “because you’ve tasted her blood.”
    And the scene came fully to life before Abigail, an exhausted Ryan in captivity, Susan offering her blood to Ryan to try and help her, Ryan’s teasing response and then ultimate acceptance. Abigail saw Ryan bleed Susan, then give her the tiniest drop of her own blood to strengthen Susan and keep her from passing into death. The infinitesimal drop tore through Susan’s system, causing destruction but also having the desired effect of saving her.
    Susan’s memories were unclear and chaotic and Abigail knew she would have to focus the woman to obtain the information she wanted.
    “I want to see from the beginning, when you first arrived at the compound where Ryan was held.”
    The hazy memories came into sharp focus at the guidance. Abigail could see the creature Madelyn, cold, beautiful, and terrifying. She watched as Madelyn took Ryan away again and again, returning her broken and spent. She saw Madelyn treat Ryan with contempt, then angry respect, then growing desire and outright possessiveness.
    “Where did she take her?” Abigail whispered into Susan’s ear, pressing her cheek to Susan’s temple.
    Abigail listened to the conversations between Susan and Ryan, and those between Susan and the creature’s servant. There were two rooms, the first an inner chamber and then an inner sanctuary, and apparently, at least according to the servant, Ryan should not have been allowed in either. Abigail watched the memories play out, absorbing every detail. She felt she had almost most everything she wanted, with one exception.
    “The pattern that Ryan was tracing on the table today,” she whispered, “what is that from?”
    Abigail saw a series of images: the hieroglyphic-like figures on the doors to the rooms where Ryan was taken, and the fractal-like, geometric patterns of the bricks of the walls themselves. It was these latter patterns that Ryan stood before for hours, then days, then weeks, tracing the outlines of the geometric bricks, weakening the structure of the wall until at the very end, she pushed a section of the fortress outward in exactly the shape she had traced for months. Susan had thought the behavior random and obsessive, not realizing the hidden purpose in what Ryan was doing.
    Abigail mentally released Susan, who collapsed into her arms.
    “Are you quite finished with her, Madame?” Edward asked from the doorway, his manner tightly controlled.
    “Yes,” Abigail said smoothly. She released the young woman physically when Edward approached and he gathered the limp form into his arms. He carried Susan to her bed as Abigail left the room without a backward glance.
     
    “Aeron is right,” Victor commented upon Abigail’s entrance, “you are