by JL Terra
“Easy. Just swallow it because I’m thinking it’s going to help you, though neither of us is going to like it in the morning.”
Strong fingers massaged her throat. She had no choice but to drink what he offered her. Her mind whirled around and around this whole situation, unable to settle on a single thought or question to ask. Not even a word..
The temperature within her suddenly changed like a cool breeze coming in from an open window. The darkness that had tried to swallow her up was different this time. She felt as though she was being transported to another place. Maybe even another time.
Sucked down and taken to another world.
The room was crowded, an ocean of people all standing in the oppressive heat of a fire. A blaze in the center of the room that lit the whole place.
Her skin burned. She didn’t know if it was the fever that had raged, or the heat of this place. But it was like standing in hell itself.
Great columns stretched up as though to the sky, a white ceiling domed overhead. It was immense and cavernous, and the noise from the crowd thundered through the room. Shouts, whoops, and hollers echoed off the stone until her ears hurt with the relentless hammering. The pounding of feet and clapping of hands never stopped. Not even as the crowd parted and a half-dozen young women—girls really—were paraded to the middle of the room. Pushed. Shoved. Kicked. Jeered at. Each wore a white robe and had their hands bound behind their backs.
Mei had the distinct feeling she wasn’t watching from her own eyes, but from another’s perspective. A sideliner, tucked behind a column. Even if she’d wanted to, she couldn’t move, forced to observe from the restraint of a foreign body. She looked down at the wool kyrtill that covered her body, cinched with a leather belt. A spear hung from her belt and, over the tunic, she wore a heavy cloak. Her arms didn’t look like hers. They were hairy and muscled, that of a man’s.
Though Mei had no idea what was happening, she knew without a doubt that she was inhabiting another’s body; reliving a memory that did not belong to her. A life from the past , and she felt an uncanny connection with this man. A shudder rippled through her, but the bigger body encasing her spirit did not move. She could only stand there and watch. Feeling what he felt. Seeing what he saw. Trapped, yet captivated.
The group was ushered past the fire and to the front of the room. One of the women suddenly broke away and jumped into the blazing bonfire. Mei tensed for a moment and looked away while her screams echoed to the ceiling. More cheers went up, along with a collection of disappointed exclamations. The smell. It wafted to her nostrils. Burning flesh, all too familiar to her.
She winced. She could feel the body she was inhabiting recoil and she could hear his thoughts. This was not a time or place he had ever wished to return to.
The rest were kept from choosing their swift end by fire. Shoved closer to the front by their escort’s sword tips. Each gaped at the stage area where a figure with an enormous presence sat on a giant, high-backed wooden chair that rose above his head. His huge hands enveloped the arms of the chairs, likely able to crush the wood in the strength of his grip.
Calling him a man didn’t quite cover what he appeared to be, only Mei had no idea what else to call him. He was massive and seemed very otherworldly. Was he even human? The body she inhabited appeared…not in awe of him, exactly. There was definitely a careful respect, though. Playing the part. But with no fear.
Were the man to stand, he would likely reach at least seven feet tall. His hair flowed past his shoulders, a distraction from his prominent nose. But it was the eyes that caught Mei’s attention. Great, black pools that seemed to be a gateway to the abyss.
Perhaps they were.
Someone pushed past where she stood inhabiting the body, jostling her against the marble column. A force propelled her, prompting her to move out of the way and out of view. She was able to move on her own but when her inclinations warred with the body’s inclinations, he won out. She clearly was not in control of her own faculties. And it was clear the body she was in did not want to be seen by this man creature in front. He moved faster than her own body would, capable of so much more. Hiding all that he was.
The marble was cold to the touch, despite the oppressive heat of the room. She watched the commotion of the crowd settle while hunger rolled through her stomach to remind her that it was past time for sustenance. The situation would only grow worse if she neglected to feed before long. She did not know how she knew this. But it seemed natural.
One of the men, sword in one hand, dragged a lone woman to the edge of the dais where the man sat on his throne. There, he presented her to his lord and master. Sickness rolled through her stomach at the sight of it. But still, the hunger in her persisted as the lord rose. His impressive stature made even more so by the raised dais on which he stood.
As the one in command, he towered over the room.
The soldier shoved the woman up the steps, and she stumbled, collapsing at his feet with a whimper. A hush settled over the crowd.
He grasped a handful of her hair and dragged the woman up to her feet to face the crowd. Mei was part of the crowd, watching through new eyes. The women’s face contorted in terror as he sank his teeth into her neck and began to drink the life from her in great sucking gulps.
The crowd erupted in celebration.
The woman stilled, as if under enthrallment. He drank. Her skin turned gray while the spectators cheered.
The blood trickled from his lips and down the woman’s front. Stark red against the snow white of her robe. Mei could not partake in their rejoicing. Not when the tragic look in her eyes only fed the crowd’s rejoicing, or that the man’s enjoyment seemed so desperately indulgent.
The man lifted his head. Mei caught his gaze but couldn’t make out his features. His face seemed blurred, as though memory had dulled the image. Or some other spell or power caused his face to be forgotten.
The tide of reality rolled in before she could fight for clarity. Before she could take another look around the scene of bloodshed, Mei was swept back to the surface. Just like that, she was released of the memory, of the history..
The memory didn’t belong to her. She had never been to that place or seen a person drink from the blood of another. Even with all she’d seen and done in this life of hers, that was an experience she hadn’t had and didn’t want to have again—if it was ever up to her to decide.
Mei blinked and saw her living room again, but this time, she was able to focus. “Whoa.” Everything came back at her like a rush, and she gasped as she sat up, mid-thought.
“Easy.” Malachi touched her shoulder, keeping his pressure light even as he said, “Don’t try to get up.”
Mei had no intention of doing that, considering she barely had the strength to be awake right now. She couldn’t even remember the face she had seen, the man who had drunk from the woman. The lord of that place.
The memory had faded already. If that was even what it’d been. Had she imagined it. Had it been just a dream? She had no idea. “What was that?”
Instead of answering, he said, “How are you feeling?”
Mei frowned at Malachi as he settled on the armchair beside her couch. No one ever sat there. Mostly she always lay down on the couch to watch TV, because if your plan isn’t to relax, then what is the point? As if she even had any time to veg out and binge something.
“You’re drifting.” A smile softened his face.
She studied that smile while she tried to figure out what on earth had happened. “That guy from the alley bit me. Right?”
Kind of like how the man in the dream had bit that woman. No. Maybe. It felt felt like there was some kind of correlation. Or was her mind simply making things up? Mei was too exhausted to figure it out. Whatever had happened to her had left her strength entirely drained.
She had fought for her life and won.
But not without help.
Malachi said, “Being bitten must have infected you with a kind o
f poison, and your body reacted badly. Worse than anything I’ve ever seen.”
“But I’m fine now.”
“Are you?”
She shifted up a little, then leaned back against the couch completely exhausted. “I have no idea.”
He seemed to be expecting her to say something. She didn’t know what. “They ran off?”
He nodded.
“They’re…associates of Bella’s brother.”
“That who gave you all the bruises?”
She nodded, a faint movement since she didn’t feel so hot right now. Actually, technically that wasn’t true, but she also hadn’t fully recovered. She just didn’t have the fever raging anymore. “What did you give me? I drank something, right?”
She carefully watched him as she asked that question. Working things out in her own mind and trying to get a read on him at the same time.
It’s better if you don’t ask. “Let’s focus on what’s important here, like the fact your life is in danger. You’re being targeted.”
“So what’s new?” She wanted to shrug, but doing so would take energy she didn’t have. With Malachi, she needed her wits about her. There was too much about him that defied explanation. Plus the simple fact her father had hired him—that alone meant there was something “more” about him.
He frowned.
“What?” It wasn’t like he knew what she was thinking. “Now we know they’re linked. Probably, at least. The same needle was used in the deaths of all those women.”
“The redheads.”
She started to nod. But there was something about the way he said it.
Realization hit Mei like a brick and she lifted a hand and touched her hair; her heart sank in her chest.
“It was red, under the wig you were wearing. But now it’s brown.”
She grabbed her phone from the coffee table and flipped the camera to show her face. It was brown. “It’s like it used to be.” How on earth had that happened? Her hair had been red. Now it was back to normal?
“Your hair hasn’t always been red, right?”
She managed to shake her head. “Just since the sword started to appear. The two things happened together. But I didn’t want anyone to know, especially Remy. Can you imagine?”
“She would object to you sharing your hair color?”
“I just didn’t want her to worry about me.”
“We’re past that now,” he said. “Redheads are being killed, and now I know for sure that it has to do with you. The team already figured that Remy should stay away, just in case. They have no idea about you or your hair.”
She certainly agreed with Remy steering clear. Whether she chose to share the rest with them wasn’t his business.
“They don’t know this is about you.”
She decided to change the subject instead of arguing. “How is the case connected to Bella’s brother? The needle could be a coincidence, but is that likely?”
“You tell me.”
The door buzzer sounded before she could answer. Thankfully. Mei needed time to think this through. Preferably when his presence didn’t distract her, and she could actually process everything. She closed her eyes for a second because she didn’t feel any less exhausted than she had before catching that terrible fever and living through the harrowing dream that wasn’t hers.
“Uh oh.” Malachi leaned to her peep hole.
“What is it?”
He glanced back. “It’s the police.”
Chapter 6
“That’s right.” The police officer nodded, standing in the entryway of Mei’s apartment while his partner looked around the place. Trying to get a read on Mei? “We’re looking for the girl right now so we can ensure she’s all right after what happened at the center.”
Malachi caught the partner’s eye and raised both brows. The cop clearly wanted to prove his authority, but the fact remained he was far outmatched in this situation. Malachi wasn’t afraid to let the guy know that—even just through body language—while Mei acted the part of community center volunteer. Everyday woman trying to help.
Mei nodded, her expression full of compassion. “Of course, if Bella doesn’t want to be found, you won’t find her. That’s just the way these kids are.”
“You seem to know these kids pretty well even though you only started there a few weeks ago.” The cop studied her. “Have you done volunteer work like this before?”
“Some.” Mei shrugged. “What about the man who came into the center? Did he say anything when questioned?”
“Not much.” The second cop shifted his attention from the apartment to Mei.
The first one glanced at him for a second, then offered her a polite smile. “He was found dead in his cell an hour ago.”
Malachi didn’t like the sound of that.
“What happened?” Mei’s compassionate expression shifted.
He glanced at her, preparing to cover the situation in the event her true abilities shone through. If she didn’t quell her emotions, she could give away the fact she was dangerous. The cops might spot it, even if they didn’t fully understand the implication.
“We’re looking into that,” the cop said. “Any idea who might’ve wanted to slip into lockup and end a man’s life?”
“It was murder?” Mei’s brows rose. Her hair was lighter already. As though whatever had caused it to turn from red to her more natural—he assumed—brown color was now wearing off. He had an idea what it might’ve been that caused her hair to change, though not why it had occurred or why the effects now seemed to be fading.
“That hasn’t been determined as of yet.” And by the tone of his voice, this cop had no intention of telling either of them what the result would be.
Mei started to ask something but caught herself. Malachi figured she would be texting Remy later to hack the police department or city computer system and get into the autopsy records. Either way, she would get to the bottom of what had happened to the man.
Malachi said, “Was there anything else you needed?”
The cop eyed him but spoke to Mei. “I’d like a statement from you. If you could, come by the station later and make the official report.”
“Sure.” Mei smiled.
Malachi could read her like a book. She had no intention of going in, but doubted the two cops caught on to that.
The cop fixed him with another stare, but Malachi headed off any more questions by putting his hand out to shake the cop’s hand. “Thanks for coming. We appreciate it.” That took care of him having to explain he hadn’t been there in the first place.
He kept it light, making it sound like this was a normal day for a normal guy. Mei was pulling it off. Why not him, too? Hopefully the cop believed it. Not that the officer would ever consider the truth as an alternative if he did get the full story—that Mei had been bitten, and he’d aided her in fighting the effects. No, he had no intention of discussing what’d happened with her.
Malachi held the door open and the cops left.
As soon as he shut it, she pulled out her phone and made a call. The expression on her face seemed pained. “I know.” She looked at her feet. “Because this place has been burned. I need a new apartment.”
Mei whirled toward the hall that led to her bedroom, still talking into the cell phone.
Malachi got a text from Shadrach asking what’d happened. He replied, Cops came here to talk to her. To which Mei’s response was getting a new home. New ID. If they ever tried to find her again, they wouldn’t be able to. She would be gone. A ghost.
He stowed the phone and looked around for anything personal to Mei that she wouldn’t want someone getting their hands on. Quickly he realized there were no photos. No handwritten anything—anywhere. Nothing on the fridge, either. Only a menu for the Mexican restaurant down the street.
Mei stuck her head out of the bedroom door and called out, “Start wiping the place down for prints. We’re out of here in five minutes.”
Malachi found
cleaning spray and a rag under the sink. He held the bottle with a second rag so he didn’t leave fingerprints on that, given he had only jeans and a T-shirt on. No sleeve to press the spray trigger with.
There wasn’t much point arguing or telling her it wasn’t necessary to remove all trace of her existence from this apartment, or of his presence here. Mei had her own ideas, and it was nearly impossible to persuade her away from what she had already decided.
When she appeared with a mid-sized suitcase, he said, “I wiped down everything. What are you going to do about Bella if you disappear from here?”
“I can still find her and make sure she’s okay.”
“And all the other kids you’ve been helping?”
“Someone else will come along to help them. But at the end of the day, they have to stand on their own two feet.” Before he could object, she said, “I did.”
“But having a mentor, or someone to at least stand beside you through it would’ve helped, right?”
“Considering I didn’t, we won’t ever know. Will we?” She strode past him to a dresser by the wall and pulled out the bottom drawer, removing an envelope that’d been taped to the underside.
“You had your mom.”
“She was a spy. They tend to be off on missions.” She slipped the envelope into the back pocket of her jeans and flipped her shirt over it. “That left me on my own, which isn’t what I want to talk about right now.”
Malachi had no intention of discussing what had happened between them while she was delusional with a fever. So he figured they were at an impasse. “We need to leave.”
“Not gonna convince me to stick around. Live this good-person life. Help the needy.” Her expression displayed no emotion. “After all, that’s not who I am.”
Malachi didn’t touch that. He pulled her keys from his pocket and headed for the door. So much of what went down between them was unspoken. Like subtext, or sheer stubbornness, refusing to acknowledge what was blatantly between them. The electricity.
He sighed.
Mei looked around the room for a second, still not one iota of emotion on her face. Not even in her body language. If she felt anything at all, she didn’t show it.
