Original Sin (The Order of Vampires 1)

Based on the pain mangling his insides, he now assumed the loss was complete. His father’s reverberating regret left no doubt that the babe was gone.

Adam nodded and waved a hand for Grace to sit on his bed. She lowered like a feather floating to the earth, delicate and depleted.

“Our added worries will only increase the burdens already laid upon this home. Let us suffer together in this moment, alone, where our doubts may be ground into teff and lost to the wind.”

Sorrow filled her blue eyes, tears magnifying them in size. “We must galvanize ourselves for the hours and days ahead,” she whispered, folding her hand around his. “It will be hardest on us.”

He and Gracie would suffer the brunt of the pain, as they always did. She had learned to temper her telepathy on most days, but there seemed no filter in times of extreme emotion.

Having suffered every sentiment under this roof, he sympathized with her and squeezed her hand. “One would think, after so many losses, the ache would wane.”

She shook her head. “It’s the opposite. With each miscarriage, her doubts grow, and her faith withers. Soon she’ll have no devotion at all, just a hollow womb and a hundred nameless graves.”

“Grace!” Her words, so contrary to her usual uplifting spirit, startled him.

“Would you rather I lie? I’ve seen the same worries in all of our thoughts. Even you wish they would stop trying to conceive for a time, so that we might have a respite from such grief.”

Ashamed that she was right, he lowered his gaze. “It pains me to see any one of you hurting.”

“Because you’re an empath?”

“No, because you’re my family.” His grip tightened around her hand. “It’s our duty to look after those we love. Father cannot save Mother from this pain any more than you or I can. It’s a terrible consequence for man to feel so helpless in what is already a great loss.”

“And for females it’s simply another lesson in acceptance. We have such little control over our lives as is.”

He didn’t like hearing such jaded words from his sweet sister, but as he heard the scuffle of footsteps in the hall, he contained his comments for another time. “Cain’s awake.”

Her spine lengthened as if she’d adorned invisible armor. The door creaked and their brother stood over the threshold. Unlike them, Cain had no special abilities that offered insight to the unspoken climate of the house.

“Am I dying? Why so bleak?”

Grace released Adam’s hand and stood, tugging the wrinkles from her chemise as a way to avoid eye contact with Cain and hide her tears. “It’s Mother. She’s lost another.”

Even Cain, for all of his cool indifference, couldn’t hide his regret at such news. “But she was so close, almost full term. Are you sure there’s nothing to be done?”

Their mother’s misery was inescapable. Adam shut his eyes to better absorb it without flinching. “It’s too late.”

His strength waned, and he debated taking a seat. He loathed drawing attention to himself when others were in such need of comfort. Grace, aware of his thoughts, glanced at him and frowned.

He met her stare. Mother needs you.

Without a word, she gave a subtle nod and walked to the doorway where Cain stood. “There’s nothing to be done. I should check on her.”

Adam need only to shut his eyes, and his mother’s heartache would consume him. A selfish gratitude, that he could not interpret her physical pain, raced through him. The emotional agony was enough to drop him to his knees, yet he somehow remained standing.

“Will she be all right?” Cain asked Grace.

Grace looked up at Cain, her white sleeping gown billowing around her in a cloud of cotton. “She blames herself. We must be strong and remind her that this is all part of God’s plan.”

Cain’s face paled. “What if this is God’s plan? It keeps happening—”

“It’s best for us not to question God’s intentions,” Adam reminded.

“You mean blame.”

Adam met his twin brother’s hard glare. “I mean question. What’s done is done. Inviting other doubts will only impede Mother’s path. She needs to heal, and we need to help her get to a better place emotionally.” So quickly his brother could undo the delicate comfort he’d sewn.

“I might not have gifts like the two of you, but even I can tell you have doubts. Our mother’s sobbing up there, and our father is trying to justify how a female, of an advanced species, could suffer what can only be a chronic medical shortcoming. If God is so almighty and knowing, why is he letting her suffer so?”

“Be quiet,” Grace snapped. “Adam’s right. This isn’t a time for doubt or blame.” She pushed past him. “I’m going to check on Mother.”

Cain watched her leave then turned back to Adam. “She’s too self-righteous.”

“It’s a momentary loss for you. Grace is forced to think about it over and over again, whenever it crosses Mother’s mind.”