"Yes, but hemaphobia wouldn't be that bad an affliction for a mortal," he pointed out.
"But Lissianna isn't a mortal," Jeanne Louise said. "She needs blood to survive. Blood is food to her."
"Exactly," Thomas agreed. "But Hewitt doesn't know that, does he."
"Ohhh." It was Juli and Vicki together who murmured the word, but it was silently echoed by the older women as realization dawned.
"We have to tell him you're a vamp, Lissi," Vicki said. "Then he'll understand."
"Oh yeah, he'd understand all right." Mirabeau snorted. "He'd think we were crazy. Besides, do you really think he'd allow us to get close enough to tell him? Geez, the guy's probably arranging to move house even as we speak."
"Mirabeau's right," Jeanne Louise said. "He probably will arrange to move, and he won't help." She frowned. "What I don't understand, Thomas, is--if you knew all this--why did you just let him leave?"
Thomas didn't answer Jeanne Louise, but glanced at Lissianna instead. "Would you still want to let him go?"
"Yes," she answered without hesitation. "He couldn't be controlled or calmed. Mother made a mistake in kidnapping him." Usually they could submerge the wills of mortals and put thoughts and suggestions into their heads. With most people, Marguerite would have been able to keep them pliant, pleased to be there, and eager to help. It would have been safe to leave them free to wander the house without fear they'd try to leave, or even want to until she released their wills... and by then she would have wiped the whole episode from their memories, leaving vague alternate memories in their place. In effect, they'd have been stealing time from the person, but it was time the person wouldn't even know was missing. Lissianna could have accepted that as a necessary evil to cure her phobia.
But Greg wasn't most people. He appeared strong-willed and resistant to control. He would have had to be kept tied up during his entire stay, and they would have had to force him to treat her phobia using threats and the promise of freedom. That wasn't acceptable to her... and she knew her mother would agree--once she got over her initial anger at their having set Greg free.
"Yes," she repeated. "I'd still want to let him go, even if I'd known it meant he wouldn't come back and treat me."
"I knew you'd say that," Thomas told her, then glanced in the rearview mirror at his sister, and added, "and that's why I didn't stop his leaving."
No one said anything, and they remained silent for the rest of the return journey. It wasn't until Thomas was parking the van in the garage several moments later that anyone spoke, and then it was Julianna.
"Uh-oh. She looks mad." The words were a half whisper.
Lissianna glanced up from unbuckling her seat belt and grimaced when she spotted her mother in the open door between the garage and the house. Marguerite Argeneau did indeed look angry. Furious even. It seemed Mother was up early, too. Sighing, Lissianna let her seat belt retract into its holder and reached for the door handle.
"Wait for us," Juli cried, scrambling to join her as the van was filled with the sound ot the door sliding on its track. "We're all in this together, remember."
Jeanne Louise caught Lissianna's eye then and smiled encouragingly. "It won't be so bad," she assured her doubtfully. "I mean, how mad can she be?"
Pretty mad, Lissianna decided several moments later as she watched her mother pace in front of her.
Marguerite had waited until they'd all climbed out of the van and walked to meet her, then snapped, "Come," and led them into the house, then to the front living room, where Aunt Martine was waiting. She had led them just far enough into the living room that they were all inside, but not far enough that any of them could claim a seat, then had turned to eye them coldly and demanded an explanation. It was Lissianna who had blurted that they'd taken Greg home. What seemed like an hour later, but was probably only a couple of minutes, Marguerite was still pacing up and down in front of them, struggling to control her mounting fury.
Finally, she turned to face them. Her mouth worked briefly, apparently at a loss as to what to say, then she shook her head, and asked, "You what?"
Lissianna bit her lip at the look of horror on her mother's face. She'd feared she wouldn't take it well but had thought she'd be angry. She hadn't expected her to react as if she'd just heard the townsfolk were rushing the house with torches and stakes in hand.
"Mother," Lissianna said on a sigh, "he was upset.
He'd missed his flight, and--"
"He wouldn't have missed anything," Marguerite interrupted with irritation. "I would have put memories of a great vacation in his mind. He would have returned home as relaxed and happy as he would have been had he gone on a real vacation. Perhaps more so because he would have avoided all the real-life stresses of a normal vacation like delayed fights, security checks, sunburn, and food poisoning."
Marguerite closed her eyes and let her breath out on a little sigh, then turned to move toward the bar and the refrigerator behind it, as she asked, "So, what memories did you give him?"
"Memories?" Lissianna asked blankly, her gaze sliding with alarm to her compatriots in the crime. They were all looking just as blank as she felt.
"To replace his memories of being here," Marguerite explained, then, scowling into the refrigerator, she muttered, "Damn, we're almost out of blood. We went through almost all of it last night at the party."
"Bastien is sending more over today," Martine reminded her.
"Oh. Yes." Marguerite relaxed a little, but continued to peer over the contents of the refrigerator with dissatisfaction, probably wishing she could grab one of the few remaining bags and slap it to her teeth, but knowing she couldn't if she wanted Lissianna to stay conscious. "So?" she asked finally. "What memories did you give him to replace his being here?"
"Uhm." Lissianna glanced at the others, then sighed, and admitted, "I didn't."