The Daughter of Doctor Moreau(84)

Lupe nodded and went with Montgomery and the rest of them. The doors closed. They were sealed in the room, the clock ticking on the mantelpiece. She stood straight, her whole body rigid, and her hands warm, like she was running a fever. Her heart was beating fast.

“I’m sorry about that,” Eduardo said. “The men were promised a fight and they’re eager to taste blood.”

“Are you eager for blood, too? Is that why you’ve come?”

“I wanted to see you again.”

She thought she had learned each and every one of his looks in the short time she had known him. Yet the way he walked toward her and the manner in which his eyes raked over her were different. Curious and alien.

“Your body is a perfect mimicry,” he said. “Like the chameleon that changes colors. I cannot pinpoint the animal part of you.”

“I am not a puzzle that is made of different pieces,” she said.

“Do my words offend you?”

“They do not please me.”

He was quiet, with that same inquisitive gaze, still trying to make sense of how she fit together.

“Where are the hybrids, Carlota?”

“Gone, forever.”

“They couldn’t have all vanished into thin air.”

She took a deep breath. “I know that at this point I cannot expect you to keep your promise to me. I will not demand marriage, nor Yaxaktun as a gift, nor the slightest show of affection. But I would hope that we might part amicably, despite what transpired the last time we met,” she said. “I do not know where the hybrids are. This is the truth. I have not lied to your father. I would ask, as a kindness to me, that you speak to him and convince him not to seek them out, wherever they may have gone.”

“There is every reason for us to go after them. Aside from the fact that they are our property, they pose a danger to us.”

“They do not pose a danger. I had hoped that we would all continue to live together at Yaxaktun. I know now that is impossible. We will vacate the house, I will tender the money I promised. But I beg of you, call off whatever hunt you have in mind. My father is terribly ill. I might soon be an orphan with no home and no one to turn to.”

He slid closer to her, so close she couldn’t help the nervous flit of her gaze. She turned her head away, her heart stuttering.

“Please, do not burden me with further misery. Please help me.”

“Carlota, you look near tears. Only a sadist would wish to see you weep. You’re too pretty for that. You must know that when I gazed at you the first time, I was lost.”

The last time they’d seen each other he’d looked at her with loathing and fear. But now his face reflected neither. It was as if he recalled their meeting by the cenote or the stolen hours of that night they’d spent together. His hands found her waist with certainty and tilted her face up to him. And her body in turn remembered the burning caresses he’d shared with her, and the memory of that delight made her open her mouth, kiss him back with the simple, frank sweetness she’d always bestowed upon him.

“What are you doing?” she whispered.

“Isn’t it obvious?” he replied.

“I thought you didn’t want me anymore.”

“Don’t be silly. Of course I do,” he said with the same ferocity that had drawn her to him in the first place, which had the effect of only baffling Carlota further.

“You seemed so upset when you left. I thought—”

“I was upset. The doctor and you tried to deceive me.”

“But I didn’t!” she said vehemently. “My father kept many secrets from me. And I didn’t lie when I said I cared for you. I didn’t manufacture my love.”

“No, I don’t believe you did. I’ve thought about you and what we might do about this mess. Then I decided, why should it be complicated?”

“There’s nothing to be done. What other option do I have but to abandon Yaxaktun?”

“What would you do out there? The world is dangerous for a young woman such as yourself.”

She looked at him, mute with confusion.

“Carlota, my dear,” he said in a caressing tone. “I cannot let you go.”

Could he mean…did he mean his love was steadfast? Perhaps he wished to run away with her. Perhaps he’d conjured a clever solution to all their problems.

He held her tight, his lips gliding over her neck. She pictured not lonesome misery in her future, but a warm island of safety. She thought of the haven they might still build together, perhaps not at Yaxaktun, but somewhere else. She thought of all the hybrids left unharmed, of all of them happy. She allowed herself to dream of this. She inhaled, her lips parting.

“You’ll be my mistress at Vista Hermosa. It will be pleasant. My father has agreed to it. He was reluctant at first, but I talked him into it. A mistress is cleaner and safer than the whores in brothels, and the hybrids cannot bear children, meaning I’ll have no bastards.”

Eduardo had buried a hand in her dark hair. Now his grip tightened as she tilted her head and looked at him. “You cannot…I wouldn’t agree to that.”

“You said it yourself. You can’t expect me to marry you. It’s no perfect fairy tale, but we’ll make the most of it.”

“Neither would I expect such an arrangement.”