Voracious by Wrath James White Read Free Book Online Page B

down on her hand.

 
     
     
    8 
     
     
    “She bit me! I feel terrible. Cramps. I can’t move,” Alexis groaned.
    “Where is she now?”
    “I pushed her inside her room and locked it from the outside. She can’t get out.”
    Trevor had a moment to wonder why her daughter’s room locked from the outside.
    “I can’t move!”
    “It’s from the bite. I think she may have some kind of neurotoxin in her saliva. The effect should pass soon. Has she had anything to eat?”
    “No. She keeps trying to get to the food, but I won’t let her. She’s trying to undo all the work you did!”
    “Listen, Mrs. Mourning. Something went wrong with the procedure. You have to feed her, and I mean a lot . Do you understand? She needs a lot of food or your daughter will die.”
    There was a long pause.
    “Do you hear me, Mrs. Mourning?”
    “I-I can’t do that.”
    “You have to. Your daughter is losing weight too rapidly. She’s starving to death. You have to feed her.”
    “But she’ll get fat again. You should see how she looks. She’s lost so much weight. She looks gorgeous! The procedure worked, Doctor!”
    The flight attendant was heading toward Trevor, staring at the phone in his hand. He had only a few seconds before she would tell him to turn off his phone.
    “I’ll be there in about four and a half hours. If you don’t feed her, she’ll be dead by then. She needs to eat every two hours.”
    “Every two hours! I’m not doing that! You’re trying to make my little baby fat again!”
    The flight attendant was standing directly above him now. “Sir, you have to turn off your phone. We’re getting ready for takeoff.”
    “I’m a doctor. I have a patient on the phone. It’s a critical life-or-death situation. Please, please indulge me for just a few more minutes, okay?”
    “I’m sorry, but you have to hang up.”
    “One minute? Come on, be cool, okay? I’ll be off in one minute. A little girl is going to die if I can’t make her mother understand what she needs to do.”
    The desperation in his voice made the flight attendant pause. She looked out into the main coach cabin. Trevor turned to look and saw a steely eyed man wearing a dusty brown leather jacket over a white T-shirt and jeans.
    The man undid his seatbelt and started getting out of his seat.
    Air marshal. Fuck.
    “Please?”
    She waved the man off, and he returned to his seat. His hard eyes were still fixed on Trevor.
    “You’ve got one minute,” the flight attendant whispered, wagging a finger at him in stern warning.
    “Thank you. Thanks so much.”
    Trevor cupped his hand over the cell phone.
    “Mrs. Mourning? Are you still there?”
    “I’m here.”
    “You cannot let your daughter die just because you want her to look beautiful. I know the pressure society puts on women to be thin and beautiful. Hell, I make my living off it, but there’s no way she’s going to gain any weight right now, no matter how much she eats. What she will do is die if she doesn’t eat. What do you want, Mrs. Mourning? A live daughter or a thin corpse?”
    Another pause. “Okay. I’ll feed her.”
    “Oh, and Mrs. Mourning?”
    “Yes?”
    “Be very careful. The treatment might make her a bit … unpredictable. Don’t let her bite you again.”
    “Why would she bite me again?”
    “Because she’s hungry.”

 
     
     
    9 
     
     
    The flight was maddening. Trevor’s mind was filled with images of carnage. He imagined the legendary actress Alexis Mourning devoured by her only child. He wished he could make the plane go faster. He kept casting glances over at Dr. Ebersol and could see the same stress and impatience etched into his colleagues features, but there was something there besides the worry-seething rage. He was clearly incensed by the situation Trevor had put him-the entire clinic-in. Trevor accepted his role in the debacle, but he wasn’t the only person culpable in this. As far as he was concerned, they had all asked for it: the