Rare Blood

Chapter Twelve: It's no Myth

            Roxy sat down in Hector's red velvet chair while Octavius and Hector bore an invisible hole through her head with their stares. The blood of a god, she’d never heard of such a thing. "Roxanne, you better start talking,” Octavius commanded.  “No detail is too small, understood?” She nodded, "I was on my way to Cyrus' and there was this girl jogging down the road. I almost hit her with my car and she fell. I got out to see if she was alright, but she was unconscious.  She was just lying there, bleeding, and I couldn't stop myself. I fed from her...” 

Roxy kind of froze as she remembered the way it felt to drink from that girl and struggled to move past it.  It took a second, but she was able to cut the images off and continued, “Then Cyrus sowed up and took her away."

"And where is Cyrus living these days," Octavius questioned, strangely calm.

"Pennsylvania, out in the country," Hector answered.

"What are the odds...,” Octavius mused then said, “And she may not be dead?"

"She had a pulse when I let her go, but it was fading," Roxy answered honestly and Octavius leaned down in her face, “You stupid girl. Did you not realize there was something different about her… or her blood; the way it made you feel?  Do you not feel the warmth in your veins?  Tell me you didn't notice the difference in how your skin feels; how different it feels to be touched?  Roxanne, I've had this blood. I know. You feel as close to being alive as you've felt since you've turned. Right? Tell me I'm not right."

           

She was too stunned to talk, she just stared at him. Everything he said was correct and she nodded saying, "Her blood tasted like Marigolds."

Octavius stepped back from her, "You're right. I didn't realize that's what you smell of. It's Laurel… She's one of Apollo's," he said, his voice full of wonder.

"How do you know her name’s Laurel?" Roxy asked shocked.

"No you fool. Laurel is a tree."

"I thought that was just a myth," Hector chimed in further confusing her.

Octavius laughed, "It's no myth.”

“I don’t understand,” Roxy said hoping someone would clue her in.

“Of course you don’t… See, Apollo wanted this Nymph, Daphne, but she didn’t want him. She prayed for someone to save her and Zeus answered her prayer by turning her into a laurel tree.  When Apollo found out, he broke a branch from the tree, and wore it around his head.  From that point on any children Apollo sired smelled of Laurel.  Now I’ll give you one guess what Laurel smells a little like…"

"Marigolds," Roxy mumbled, “But, I still don’t see where this is going.”

“If I report this to the Council they will take your head," Octavius said and Roxy felt a chill for the first time in two days.  "She was just a girl. She was human," Roxy said.

"She is human in every sense of the word, but her blood is what some might refer to as the cream of the crop. She's what we call a Rare Blood. God's had human lovers and their children became Demigods. Demigods had children with humans and so on and so on until the only difference remaining between descendants and ordinary people was the bloodline itself.  There was a time though, when the children of gods had power; that’s how we exist.  We were created by one of them. One of Apollo's sons resurrected a friend put to death for something he didn't do. Hades wasn't pleased; the resurrection was a soul stolen from him. In retaliation, Hades created the first Vampire to hunt down and drain the children of Apollo and things spiraled from there.  Apollo's line is supposed to be completely extinct, yet here you sit, smelling of it; telling me you think you killed the source…"

Roxy couldn't believe her ears as Octavius continued, "Now if the Council find's out about this they will destroy you.  You should have delivered your find to us at once."

"How was I supposed to know," she questioned.

"One word from my lips and it won’t matter."

"What do you want, Octavius," Hector asked bluntly.

"I want you two to find out what Cyrus did with the girl. I want you to track every member of her family then report back to me with the details, quickly. And anyone you find remains untouched, is that clear," he snapped, directing the last part at Roxy.  She nodded her agreement  then he added ominously, “And it behooves you to keep this a secret,” before vanishing.

As soon as they were alone Hector put his fist through the wall and growled something in Spanish.  Roxy flinched at his outburst, "This is my fault.  I'm sorry Hector."

He shook his head, "I made the mistake of calling him here. I had no idea what you drank... Roxy, he's planning something and it's going to end badly for us. I can feel it."

"I'll find out what happened to the girl. I'll call Cyrus. We can track her place down and take it from there," then she got up, found her cell phone to call Cyrus, and saw he’d left her a message. She put it on speaker phone, "Roxanne, I wanted to tell you this in person, but you've left me no choice. I'm done. I have nothing further to teach you. I'm done cleaning up your messes. I have collected your things and will leave them in your apartment. I don't want to see you again. She was the last I'll ever get rid of for you."

Roxy let the phone fall from her hand feeling completely dejected. Cyrus was done with her for good and the girl was dead.

"So my fate's sealed then," she asked numb from the surprising bite of Cyrus' words.

"No. The girl was running and it hasn't rained… if we get over there we can pick up a trail and follow it to her home.  If we find her home we’ll find her bloodline. But, don’t tell Octavius about any of this until I come up with an insurance plan."

She hated thinking about the mess she was in, "Cyrus was right… I’ve no self control. I've ruined everything," she said feeling helpless.

"Don’t listen to Cyrus; this could’ve happened to anyone. All's not lost.  I think I can call in a favor, but it's going to be tough to reach the person."

"Ok," Roxy said then things were quiet for a few minutes after that. 

Roxy knew Hector was planning their next move while she on the other hand was focused on how undesired she was suddenly feeling. As she sat she found herself watching Hector pace.  She was focused on his muscles and how they moved like he was ready for a fight.  Watching him made her slightly afraid Hector would come to his senses and realize she wasn't worth the trouble he was gearing up for.  It was a real possibility and to keep it from becoming a reality she knew what to do.   

"Hector," she said softly.

"Yes," he questioned still pacing.

"I love the robe," she said then stood up and when he looked over she dropped it. Hectors dark gaze roamed over her body and she crooked her finger at him.  He stalked forward and growled something in Spanish before molding his lips to hers.

About an hour later Hector gave Roxy some clean clothes and they hoofed it from his place in New York to Cyrus' neck of the woods in Pennsylvania. It only took a few minutes to come across the girls scent and when they did they began tracking it like blood hounds.