Chapter 8

"Sam, come in here," I called, looking up from the case file I was browsing through, shaking my head with a snort when I saw the mounds of evidence stacked up against my client. "Charlize wants to plead innocent, knowing full well that there is no jury in America that wouldn't find her guilty."

"Isn't that the woman that chopped off her husbands..." Sam trailed off, raising an eyebrow as he waved a hand over his pants, unable to say the word without gagging at the very thought.

"She did a hell of a lot more than chop off her husband's penis, Sam. That's not the reason I called you in here. I wanted you to review the file and the tape of her interview. I think we have an excellent shot at claiming battered woman syndrome, as long as he doesn't die."

"Hmm, even if he dies, she can still claim she was a battered woman who felt she had no other- Oh my god, she really did this? Oh, hell no!"

I laughed out as I watched his reactions as he read through the files, knowing all too well how he felt. "Oh, yes. She shoved it down his throat."

"That is just- Ugh!" Sam groaned, shuddering as he tossed the file down on my desk, shaking his head in disgust as he sat down heavily in the chair across from me. "There are visits to the hospital that can correlate her battered woman defense, but what she did can be considered the actions of a woman who knew full and well what she did. You don't shove a man’s... er- well, you know, down his throat because you felt you had no other choice."

"That can be argued, yes, but I've seen much worse cases. The men on the jury will have the same reaction you did, whereas the women will not. I'll be damned if I ruin my success rate on this case." I responded with a sigh, then groaned when I saw my phone lighting up, showing me a new message from Jennifer.

"You going to see what that is?" Sam asked once he saw that I hadn't made a move towards my phone, but instead continued to stare at it until the screen went black. "Alright, I'll look." He added as he leaned over and grabbed my phone, snorting in amusement before tossing it back down on the desk. "It looks as though she has opted into suicide by starvation."

"Fantastic," I said with a growl as I stood and grabbed my jacket, not wasting a moment before leaving the office to head towards Bast's home, running through the scenarios as to what could happen when I arrived. I growled at Jennifer and Robert who met me at the front door, silencing them with a wave as I pushed past them and walked up the stairs to Bast's bedroom, pushing the door open to find that she was watching a video of me in the courtroom, a few stray tears trickling down her cheek, completely unaware of my presence.

"I don't think my closing arguments were even that touching to the jury." I finally said after watching her for a few moments, cocking my head to the side as she jumped up with a yelp of surprise.

"How long have you been there?" Bast whispered, putting a hand above her heart as if that would have stopped the near-deafening pounding of her erratic heartbeat.

"Not long," I said as I crossed the room to stand in front of her, then sat on the edge of the bed, pulling her arm so she'd sit back down. "Why aren't you eating?"

"I..." She mumbled, biting the inside of her lip as she watched me for a few moments before saying anything more. "My parents called you?"

"Yes, Bast, your parents called to tell me that you haven't eaten in over a week. You haven't stepped out of your room. Why?" I asked as I leaned closer, putting my hands on the armrests of her chair, trapping her, should she have tried to escape.

"I've just been too upset," Bast whispered.

I watched her silently for a long while, searching her eyes in silence, trying to gauge what she was thinking, but to no great avail, as the only thing I found was fear, hatred, and confusion. 'She thinks I wanted this? Even if I were to tell her that I wanted absolutely nothing to do with her, I can't, seeing as how she believes I bought her for my own selfish desires.' I thought as I stood and left the room, making my way down to the kitchen where I went through the cabinets, trying to find something that I could make Bast eat.

"Jennifer!" I growled, slamming the cabinet closed, crossing my arms over my chest as I waited for her to join me in the kitchen. "Why is there no food?"

"I haven't been able to make it to the store yet," Jennifer responded, refusing to look into my eyes, but rather staring past me at the cabinets.

"These cabinets are completely bare, Jennifer. This is not the result of one missed grocery trip. This results from weeks upon weeks of missed grocery trips." I said, then sighed as I walked out of the house and used my vampire speed to run to the store, buying the supplies to make spaghetti before running back to Bast's home.

"You can cook?" Robert asked as he wandered into the kitchen, chuckling softly as he breathed in the sausage's smell as it cooked. "And well, from the smell of it. Don't. Bast hates onions. She won't even look at the plate if you put onions on it."

"Okay, thank you," I said, narrowing my eyes as I tossed the onion in the garbage, eyeing him suspiciously as he sat at the counter and pulled out his phone. I don't know how I knew, but I knew that he was doing something on his phone, just as he was doing the day Bast was born, and I'd had enough of giving him an inch, just for him to take a mile, so I reached over and ripped the phone out of his hand. What I saw on his phone, well, I wished it could have surprised me, but alas, it did not. "You just don't learn, do you, Robert?"

"I was only looking, Damien, I did nothing!"

"Only looking? Is that what you call it?" I asked him, growling as I snapped his phone in half before throwing the pieces at him. "Why is it that you always have a top-of-the-line phone, whereas Bast only gets your old ones? I pay for the damned thing, and all you have to do is pick it up."

"She's twelve, Damien, she doesn't need a fancy phone. She only needs one that we can reach her on. You should be glad, though, I save you money by not letting her get the best phones on the market."

"You know just as well as I do, Robert, I don't care about the cost. If I didn't value the upbringing that you and Jennifer could give her, should you at least try to be half decent parents, I would have put her with a family that would treat her the way she deserves to be treated." I said as I divided the spaghetti onto three plates, setting one in front of Robert, then one next to him for Jennifer, before taking the last plate upstairs to Bast, who hadn't moved from where she sat when I left.

I could almost see her mouth begin watering when she saw the plate in my hand and told myself not to smile as I held the plate with one hand, and wrapped my free arm around her, setting her down on the bed. I set the plate in front of her and sat in the desk chair, watching her. "Eat."

Bast looked down at the plate, then looked up at me, her green eyes wide in confusion. "Are you going to eat too? This is way too much for me." she asked, then added: "Never mind, I know vampires don't eat."

'I should have expected that.' I thought as I stood and walked back downstairs, fetching another fork and a glass of soda, snorting in amusement when I saw the way that Jennifer and Robert were shoving down their food. 'I see it would not be hard to poison them, should I feel the desire to do so.' I thought as I made my way back to Bast's room, setting the fork and glass down on her bedside table, then took off my jacket, folding it carefully over the back of her chair before sitting cross-legged on the bed across from her.

"What's so funny?" I asked Bast as she started laughing, watching me as I sat down, narrowing my eyes as I waited for her to tell me just what she found so amusing.

"Nothing," She lied, then handed me the fork from her bedside table, taking a hesitant bite of the spaghetti. I couldn't help but smile when I saw the way her eyes lit up when she tasted it. "Wow, did my mom make this?"

I took a small bite, chewing slowly as I considered if I should tell her the truth about everything, but decided not to, as it would likely only upset her more. "No, I made it."

"Will you cook for me after you come and take me away?" Bast asked as she brought her gaze up to meet mine, the intensity in her glare reminding me just why I liked this girl, though I still didn't fully understand it.

"If it is what you wish, yes," I responded as I returned her glare, unwilling to let her think that she had any sort of power over me, though it was a lie, and she held more power over me than I would ever care to admit.

"Why did you accept me as payment?"

"Because I can," I responded. 'Because I had to.'

"I don't believe you." She responded, shaking her head defiantly. 'Nor should you. It's all a lie, built upon the guise of keeping you safe.'

"Don't ask questions you cannot handle the answers to, little one," I said with a sigh as I leaned forward and took the glass from her bedside table, holding it to her lips to make her take a sip.

"Tell me, please. All these questions in my head are driving me insane." Bast responded after taking a small sip, still refusing to break eye contact with me as she watched me over the brim of the cup.

"Because, if I didn't, who else would your parents have offered you to? And would that person wait until you were eighteen to take you? What would your parents be willing to do to you for a cure? I don't think those are answers you truly want, Bast. And I couldn't allow them to do such things to you."

"Why not? I'm nothing to you." She said, putting down her fork and crossing her arms over her chest.

I sighed and shook my head, looking down at the bed before responding: "I was in the hospital the day you were born. The second your scent hit me, I decided you would be mine. From that day, I've kept an eye on you. When I found out that your parents were offering you as payment for treatment, that's when I showed myself."

"You've been watching me my whole life?" She gasped, her eyes widening as she began to shake uncontrollably.

'Oh, great.' I thought as I moved the plate to my desk and sat on the bed next to her before pulling her into my arms. "It's okay, little one. You have no reason to fear me," I said, holding her to me, ignoring her ceaseless attempts to try and get free.

"I have no reason to be afraid? You're a vampire, and you said I'll be yours when I'm of age. I don't want to be a vampire!" She cried out, quickly losing the fight against her tears.

"Who said I would turn you?" I asked her with a slight chuckle, looking down at her curiously. 'If I had a choice in the matter, you wouldn't even know I existed.'

"So, you won't make me be a vampire?"

"I have no plans on making you do anything you aren't willing to do, Bast."

"I don't want to marry you," she said immediately without hesitating.

"Who said we would marry?" I responded with a snicker as I released her from my arms but still held her hand, making sure she couldn't run away.

"Fine, then I don't want to belong to you," she said with a sigh, rolling her eyes.

"When did I ever say you would belong to me, little one? I said you are mine now." I responded, making her take another sip of her drink before continuing, "You are your own person; you will not belong to me. But you are mine."

"That sounds like the same fucking thing!" She exclaimed, then burst into tears.

I sighed and wiped the tears from her face, patiently waiting until she calmed down before saying anything further. "If you belonged to me as a possession, then you would be nothing more than an object to me. Which, you are not. Instead, you are mine. Meaning I am the only man you will have."

"Please, Mr. Edge, I want to be alone now," Bast whimpered softly, refusing to look at me.

I nodded and stood, putting on my jacket before leaning down over her. I leaned over her, hovering, so our faces were only inches apart, searching her eyes for a long few moments, watching as the terror in them continued to grow. "Eat your meals, and don't make this bedroom your prison, little one."

Bast didn't respond but continued to stare into my eyes, trying and failing to say something, as it seemed she'd lost all ability to speak.

"If you don't promise me, I will be here, every day. Making sure you take care of yourself." I warned, growling softly, allowing my fangs to elongate, unable to stop myself from smiling as her heart rate spiked in horror.

"I promise," She gasped out nearly immediately.

"Good girl." I purred before kissing her forehead, leaving the room as she'd asked.