The Burning Claw
Page 58

 
 
Zara held Titus’ hand as they walked through the large mansion. It still shocked her at how big the place was. At first, she’d stayed holed up in the comfortable room that they’d given her. But she couldn’t stay like that, not after having been trapped underground for seven years. She couldn’t imprison herself just because she was afraid to face what the future held. Even so, she still wasn’t ready to be out and about, mingling with the…wolves. She needed something to keep her busy, something to distract her, at least for now. When Alina had knocked on her door and explained to her that Vasile had a task for her, something inside of Zara awakened. She realized that her life wasn’t over. She was still alive, capable, and others saw it too. Or at least Alina and Vasile did. After the Alpha female spoke with her about moving forward, Zara realized that’s what she wanted, to move forward and leave all the ugliness behind. She knew, however, that moving forward wouldn’t be that simple. Zara understood that there would be times she would slip back into the dark places of her mind. When she’d expressed this to Vasile’s mate, the words Alina answered with shook her deep in her being.
“Everyone has dark places. Some are darker than others, but everyone has them. The people who survive those dark places are the ones who have people around them, pulling them out when they can’t make it back on their own. You, sweet girl, have us. We are your pack and the pack never leaves anyone in those dark places. When you find yourself slipping into the darkness, all you have to do is call out. I will hear you. Vasile will hear you. Rachel and Gavril will hear you. Jacque and Fane will hear you All of your pack mates will hear you and we will be there to pull you back because you do not belong to the darkness. Just because you have experienced hard, horrible, awful things, does not mean they own you. You belong to us and you will quickly learn that we don’t share well.”
How could she say no to that? So Zara had agreed to take care of a little boy names Titus who had also been held captive by the vampires. One of the she-wolves—Zara thought her name was Priath, but couldn’t remember exactly—took her to the Serbian pack mansion to take over the care of little Titus.
Zara hadn’t been in the same coven as Titus so she had no idea what his experience had been like. She hated the idea of one so young being held captive by those filthy vampires. It was one thing to suck the life out of a teen, but out of a small child? That was a new level of sick for her. As she looked down at the little boy who was chattering away, her stomach rolled at the idea of him sitting in a dark room or cave waiting, wondering if they were coming back for him. She knew the feeling. You didn’t want to be alone, but you didn’t want the vampires to come either.
She knew that children were resilient and she hoped Titus would be too. The forgiving innocence that was innate in a child’s heart could be his saving grace. She hoped that he wouldn’t grow bitter over what he’d endured. Zara hoped that Titus would be able to let go of his time with the horrible monsters and instead focus on the future he had. He didn’t yet know that he was surrounded by werewolves, but she didn’t think he was going to have a problem with the news. Not only were kids resilient, but they were also extremely accepting.
“Zara.” Titus’ little voice drifted up to her.
“Yeah?”
“We’re friends, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Friends can talk, right?”
Zara’s brow creased. “Of course they can. Do you need to talk?”
“Yeah, I kinda do,” he admitted. “You lived with the monsters too, didn’t you?” he continued.
She nodded. “I did.”
“Did the angel ever come see you?” Titus looked up at her with wide eyes that saw too much for a child his age.
“No, little man, the angel never came to see me. I bet she comes to see you because of how special you are.”
“You’re special too,” Titus said and squeezed her hand. “I’m not glad we were with the monsters, but I wonder if we would have ever met if we hadn’t been with them?”
“If we were meant to be friends, Titus, then nothing would get in the way of that. And apparently,” I held his hand up and shook it a little. “We were definitely meant to be friends.”
“The angel said we’re survivors,” he said almost too soft for her to hear.
“She’s right. We are survivors and we will never be alone again,” she told him.
“I’m glad we survived,” he said. “My mommy and daddy are survivors. They’ll survive, right?”
Zara felt trapped between the proverbial rock and hard place. She didn’t want to give him false hope, but she also didn’t want to cause him any grief or pain. “You said the angel told you that you had a new mommy and daddy coming, right?”
He nodded.
“Well, I don’t think she would have said that if they weren’t going to be your mommy and daddy for a very long time. So that means they are going to survive.”
Titus scrunched up his little face as he considered her words. After several minutes, he finally nodded. “I think you’re right.”
Zara nearly let out an audible sigh. Titus seemed like the kind of child that followed every answer with another question. Zara imagined it could get exhausting. If he quit following that particular line of thought, then she’d take the small victory.
“How long am I going to be with you?”
Zara shrugged. “For as long as you need to be.”
“Are we staying here or going to your new house?” he asked.
“We’re going to stay here for a few more hours and then we’re going to ride with Decebel and Jen over to Mr. Vasile’s house.”
“That’s where the new baby is, right?” His face lit up. Judging by the hundred-watt smile, this kid liked babies.
“Yes, the new baby is there,” she confirmed. She looked at him curiously. “Titus?”
“Yeah, Zara.”
“Why do you like babies so much?”
“Because they like me.” He answered with such confidence that Zara felt she must have been dense not to have already known the answer.
Zara grinned down at him. He liked babies because they liked him—seemed like a good enough reason to like someone.