Blood Slave

Chapter Twelve: Clipper

AMARYLLIS 

"It's done," Amaranth says with a frown as she looks down at Zuriel's crumpled body. 

"Do you really take care of good souls?" I ask her with a frown. 

She nods with a sad expression on her face. "Of course. I know a good soul when I see one. He's the only good soul I've ever ran into, but I'll take care of him. He won't have a body of his own. If I give him a body and he sees his son then... His son will die. Maybe, eventually, Zuriel will come out. When he does, he risks his son's life." 

My heart feels heavy in my chest. Zuriel will never see his son ever again. He's damned to never see him. That is death. 

That's worse than death. 

"This is why I love humans so much," Angser says gently as he kneels beside Zuriel's body. "He may not be completely human, but I know this was his human side." Angser flips Zuriel over on his back and gently wipes the blood off his cheeks, chin, and nose. 

"You need to watch over Zuriel's son once he hits puberty. When he hits that, you need to be worried. As a hybrid, you never know what he might do. So make sure he doesn't hurt anyone," Amaranth says quietly. 

"We'll watch over him," I promise. 

"Amaryllis can watch over him during the day, and I can watch over him by night," Angser says with a deep frown as he looks over at Clipper. 

"That's all you need, right?" Amaranth asks. 

"Yes, thank you," Angser says sadly as he stands up with Zuriel's dead body cradled in his arms. 

"You're welcome," she mutters before leaving the room. 

When she's off the property, Angser lays Zuriel's body gently on the bed. 

"Why did you lie?" I ask him with a frown. 

His eyes narrow as he looks over at me. "Excuse me?" 

"You knew what Zuriel was," I state. "I know when you're lying Angser. You know. You're not 'still searching for answers.' You know about what Zuriel is and what Clipper is." 

“So?” Angser asks. 

"So are you going to tell me?" I ask him with a frown. 

He sighs as his eyes narrow suspiciously. "I'll tell you someday but not now, Amaryllis. You must understand..." 

Catching his hint, I nod. It's probably something he doesn't want Jacqueline to know... She could be eavesdropping on us right now. 

"I can't believe he did this for Clipper," I say quietly. 

"Beanie?" Clipper mumbles as he stretches his arms out towards his dead father. 

My eyes fill up with tears as I cover Clipper's eyes. "No, Buzzy. Beanie is gone." 

"Beanie..." Clipper whispers. 

Then suddenly it's like he figures it out... He starts out crying softly then it's full blown wailing and crying. 

"Beanie! Beanie!" he wails as he kicks violently in my arms. It's takes a lot of restrain him. He's definitely not human if it's this hard to control him. 

Angser bows his head as he covers his eyes with his hand. 

There's nothing we can do to stop Clipper from mourning.

CLIPPER 

"Wake up, Clipper," I hear Leigh Ann, my grandmother, knock on my bedroom door. The door to he room my dad and I use to stay in; I remember a lot from when I was little.