Chapter 4

Seven years old. First grade.

When my three months of recovery ended, Evelyn didn’t immediately take me for another blood draw.

Not because she’d suddenly grown a conscience. Something had happened during those three months. Richard’s company was in trouble. Its cash flow had dried up, and he was too overwhelmed to pay attention to anything at home.

Evelyn used the opportunity to go out of town, supposedly for treatment.

When she came back, her complexion was much better.

I didn’t know what she’d done there, but one thing was certain. For the moment, she didn’t need my blood.

That peace lasted almost six months.

In those six months, I grew over an inch, gained two pounds, and my hemoglobin returned to normal.

I thought life might stay that way.

Until the day school let out and she was waiting.

It wasn’t Richard’s driver at the school gates. It was Evelyn herself.

She stood beside a black sedan, wearing an ivory coat.

She looked beautiful.

And completely out of place.

She never picked me up herself.

“Hannah.” She waved, smiling warmly. “Mommy came to get you. Are you happy?”

The other children were staring. Someone whispered, “Hannah’s mom is so pretty.”

I walked over without letting anything show.

Once I was in the car, Evelyn didn’t tell the driver to head home.

“Mommy, where are we going?”

“To visit a lady.” She took a piece of chocolate from her purse and handed it to me. “A friend of mine. She loves children.”

I didn’t take it.

“What lady?”

Evelyn glanced at me and set the chocolate on my lap. “You’ll know when we get there. Be good. Stop asking so many questions.”

About forty minutes later, the car stopped outside a detached house.

It was secluded, with hardly any neighbors nearby.

I followed Evelyn inside. A woman sat in the living room.

She looked about forty. She was so thin her cheekbones jutted out. Her skin was sallow, her eyes sunken. It was obvious she’d been sick for a long time.

The moment she saw me, her eyes lit up.

That look chilled me to the bone.

As if she’d spotted a piece of meat.

“So this is Hannah?” The woman stood, came over, and crouched in front of me, pinching my cheek. “She looks lovely. Such a healthy color.”

Her fingers were icy. Her nails were filed to sharp points.

I stepped back.

“Evelyn, you’re certain about her blood type?” The woman looked up.

“Certain. AB-negative. Same as yours.” Evelyn’s tone was flat.

My head buzzed.

Same as yours.

This woman was AB-negative too.

Evelyn had brought me here because…

“Mommy.” My voice trembled a little. “Does this lady need my blood too?”

Evelyn didn’t answer.

The woman smiled and reached for my face again. “Don’t be scared. I won’t hurt you. You’ll just come visit me once a month, and a nice doctor will give you one tiny poke. All right?”

Once a month.

One tiny poke.

In my last life, Evelyn had only treated me as her own blood bank.

This time, she was going to rent me out.

“How much?” I asked.

The living room went silent.

The woman froze. Evelyn’s expression changed.

“What?” Evelyn asked, her voice dropping.

“How much is Mommy selling my blood to this lady for?”

I spoke clearly. Calmly.

A seven-year-old wasn’t supposed to say things like that.

But I no longer cared.

Evelyn grabbed my wrist so hard I nearly cried out. She dragged me into the hallway and crouched in front of me, looking ready to devour me.

“Hannah Bennett, shut your mouth.”

“Mommy, that hurts.” I looked at the fingers digging into my wrist. “You’re hurting me.”

She didn’t let go.

“Listen carefully.” Her words came through clenched teeth. “You will not tell anyone about this. Not your father. Not your teacher. No one. Do you understand?”

I looked into her eyes.

There was nothing motherly in them.

“What if I tell Daddy?”

Her fingers tightened sharply. Something in my wrist gave a faint click.

Pain brought tears to my eyes.

But I didn’t make a sound.

“Telling him won’t help.” Evelyn released me and stood, looking down at me. “Your father owes Vivian money he can’t repay. Your blood is how we’re paying it back.”

Paying it back.

Paying a debt with a daughter’s blood.

I hadn’t known about this in my last life. All I’d known was that Evelyn needed my blood. I’d thought I should save her because she was my mother.

But it had never been just about saving her.

“Mommy.” I wiped away my tears and looked up. “Does Lily know?”

Something flickered across her face.

“Lily doesn’t need to know,” she said. “Lily is meant to be protected. You were born to pay this family’s debts.”

Then she turned and went back to the living room.

I stood in the hallway, staring at the five red marks around my wrist, and slowly pulled my sleeve down to cover them.

Seven years old.

At this age in my previous life, I’d still been stupid enough to believe Mommy loved me. I’d believed she took my blood because she was sick and only I could save her.

Now I’d uncovered another layer of the truth. I wasn’t just Evelyn’s blood bank. I was Richard’s debt payment.

The woman’s voice drifted out of the living room. “Evelyn, that child doesn’t know how to keep her mouth shut.”

“It’s fine.” Evelyn sounded composed again. “She’s only seven. No one will believe her.”

No one would believe me.

She was right.

Who would believe a seven-year-old who ran around saying her mother was selling her blood?

My teachers would think I was making up stories.

The neighbors would think I watched too much television.

I took a deep breath and went back into the living room.

The woman—Vivian—gave me another of those skin-crawling smiles.

“Have you come around?” she asked.

I ignored her and walked over to Evelyn, tugging at her shirt.

“Mommy, I’m hungry.”

Evelyn looked down, surprise flickering in her eyes.

She’d probably expected me to keep fighting.

“Good girl.” She stroked my head, her voice turning falsely sweet again. “We’ll go home for dinner in a minute.”

On the drive home, I sat in the back seat and counted the streetlights slipping past the window.

I was thinking about one thing.

Richard owed Vivian money. Evelyn was paying it back with my blood. Did Richard know?

If he did, he was allowing it.

If he didn’t, Evelyn was doing it behind his back.

Either way, I couldn’t count on him to save me.

Who could I count on, then?

No one.

When I’d returned to being five, I’d thought changing my fate would be simple. If I could just have Lily’s blood type checked, we could share the burden.

But Evelyn had given me a new answer. Even if Lily was a match, she wouldn’t touch her.

Because Lily was the one they protected.

And I was the one they used up.

This wasn’t about blood type.

From the beginning, this family had put different price tags on its two daughters.

“Mommy,” I said suddenly.

Evelyn looked at me in the rearview mirror. “Hmm?”

“Does Vivian have the same illness as you?”

Her gaze flickered. “More or less.”

“Then why didn’t she have a baby of her own to give her blood?”

The car stayed silent for a long time.

In the end, Evelyn never answered.

But her knuckles turned white around the steering wheel.

I knew I’d hit a nerve.