“Hoondreds o’ years,” he answered. His posture grew more rigid as he seemed to become more defensive the longer we discussed the topic.
“But Y2K just happened at the turn of the twenty-first century,” I argued. “Jason told me that most of the souls that were lost or misplaced were due to an error in the computer system since Afterlife Enterprises wasn’t prepared for the century change.”
Tallis shook his head and said, “The century change oonly made the situation worse,” then he looked down dejectedly. “Nae, there have been problems with Afterlife Enterprises from the getgoo an’, consequently, souls have been misplaced fer centuries.”
“Okay, so you’ve been retrieving souls for hundreds of years?” I asked, returning to his story since it was miraculously rare for him to open up. I didn’t want him to suddenly change his mind and withdraw into the sullen Tallis again.
“Aye,” he answered with a nod. “An’ Ah also worked as a Bladesmith, creatin’ swords fer other Retrievers, as ye know.”
“Right.”
“’Twas mah oonderstandin’ that once Ah retrieved one thousand souls, Ah would be absolved o’ mah sins an’ the spirit o’ Donnchadh would release meh.”
“And if you were forgiven, what does that mean?” I asked, although I sort of knew the answer. The spirit of Donnchadh made Tallis immortal, so maybe it meant Tallis would be free to die?
“That mah time as a Retriever an’ Bladesmith would be over,” he answered almost immediately, like it was a promise he’d made to himself. “Twould mean Ah could move oan ta the valley o’ the Kingdom an’ be forgiven o’ mah sins.”
“And that’s not what happened? You weren’t forgiven?” I asked, feeling sorry for him, but at the same time, I had to admit, selfishly, I was happy he hadn’t moved on to the Kingdom. The idea of Tallis no longer in my life saddened me, to say the least. Even though there were occasions when we had a hard time getting along, I never considered him as anything but a friend.
“Nae, ’tis not what happened,” he repeated. “Ah wasnae forgiven even though Ah should’ve been.”
“That’s the question you asked Alaire when we were in his office, wasn’t it?” I asked as the realization suddenly dawned on me. “Whether you could go on to the Kingdom now, since you’d retrieved your thousand souls?” Tallis nodded as I continued. “And Alaire said something about pleading your cause, but Afterlife Enterprises had the final word?”
“Aye,” Tallis said as his lips grew tight. “Boot Ah dinnae believe fer a second that Alaire pled me case. An’ as Afterlife Enterprises an’ Alaire didnae keep their word ta meh, Ah amnae gonna continue keepin’ mah word ta them.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, staring at him pointedly. I worried that his response meant he was about to go AWOL or something worse.
“Ah was in repentance fer mah history, lass, these last few hoondred years,” he started. “Ah havenae allowed mahself the benefit o’ human company. Ah have lived alone in the Dark Wood with naethin’ boot demons fer company. Ah have forgone the necessities o’ a man in denyin’ mahself a woman.” His hands began fisting as his eyes narrowed. “Ah have paid mah penance an’ still Alaire an’ Jason Streethorn havenae kept their side o’ the bargain.”
“Um, so what does that mean?” I asked, my stomach now churning.
“It means Ah am done playin’ by their rules,” he announced with more conviction. His eyes bore into mine. “Now Ah play by mah own rules.”
“Okay,” I said as I nodded, feeling very nervous under his intense scrutiny. “I can see that you’re pissed off and I agree with you: none of this is fair.”
“Nae, it isnae fair!” he spat back, undeniably still outraged over the situation.
“Right, but do you think you should just throw away all the hard work you’ve done up until this point?” I asked. I shook my head to make it clear that I thought the answer to my question was a resounding no. “Maybe it’s just a matter of retrieving a few more souls? Maybe you’re almost there?” Actually, I had to admit I was a little bit leery about what Tallis meant when he said he was going to “play by his own rules.” Did that mean he intended to go back to his old ways? Was he planning to take what he wanted, and damn the consequences?
But Tallis shook his head. “Ah know now that Ah was jist a pawn. Jason knew there was no one that could traverse the Oonderground as well as Ah, so he manipulated meh by offerin’ meh absolution.”
“How do you know the Underground City so well?” I asked, eyeing him warily. It was a question I always wondered about, but never asked because I didn’t think he’d answer it.
“That is a soobject Ah dinnae wish ta discoos,” he answered firmly.
“Okay, that’s fair enough,” I said with a nod and an encouraging smile. “So you think Jason just hired you because he knew that you were the best? And no one could retrieve more souls than you? And he never meant to grant you a pardon?”
Tallis nodded. “Aye, that is what Ah believe, lass.”
“And you believe Alaire was in on it as well?”
“Aye, Alaire had ta sign off oan meh freedom, boot Jason had ta approve it first. An’ neither happened,” he finished, his voice dropping dejectedly as his jaw grew tight again.
“So where does that leave you now?”
He chuckled without humor. “Aye, where does that leave meh?” he repeated while his eyes zoned in on the Quaich before him again. When he glanced up at me, his eyes seemed hollow and empty somehow. “It leaves meh ta live mah life the way Ah see fit,” he responded.
“Is that why we’re here in this tavern?” I asked while closely examining him. “As part of your penance, you abstained from alcohol, didn’t you?”
“Aye, Ah didnae allow mahself inebriants.”
“So that’s why you brought us here,” I deduced. Apparently, whatever Tallis forbade himself in the past, he would now make up for in spades.
“Aye,” he answered.
I sighed as the puzzle pieces began to fall into place. “And that’s why you didn’t stop me from looking at you when you were bathing. You wanted me to watch you because you wanted me to desire you!”
He didn’t answer right away, but simply stared at me, making me feel like he could see right through me. And, really, he didn’t have to reply to my question verbally because the answer was quite obvious in his eyes. Tallis wanted to have sex with me. A flurry of butterflies started up in my stomach as that stinging ache between my thighs returned. “Ye are quick-witted,” he said as he continued to study me. “Boot Ah always knew that.”
The image of Katie, fawning all over him, flashed in my mind. Unexpected feelings of jealousy bubbled up inside me, throwing me for a loop. “If you wanted to have sex so badly,” I began, almost amazed that the words were actually coming from my own mouth, “why didn’t you take Katie up on her offer? She was all over you like a case of the hives.”
He shook his head vigorously and a scowl appeared on his face. “Katie isnae the woman fer meh, Besom.”
“She would certainly have debated that with you,” I said as I peered at him intently to judge whether or not he was lying to me.
“Aye,” he responded without breaking eye contact. “Ah have taken Katie many a time.”
A wave of jealousy crested inside my stomach and I started to feel sick. “Oh,” I managed to reply as I forced the ugly feeling back down again. “So, then, clearly she is the … woman for you.”
A subtle smirk on his lips gave me the feeling that he was well aware of my jealousy, and worse, he liked it. “Ah man has physical needs.”
“Well, that’s so nice to know,” I said as I stood up, quite finished with the conversation. “Are we sleeping here tonight? Or do we need to head out?”
“Ah cannae navigate the Dark Wood when Ah’m blootered,” he responded. I assumed “blootered” meant he was drunk.
“Okay,” I started, frowning at him. “Then we’re sleeping here?”
He nodded. “Ye can i
nquire oopstairs as ta where yer accommodations are.”
“Then they’re ready for us?” I asked. “You already told them we’re staying?”
“Aye, they have put aside three rooms,” he answered. I didn’t say anything else but decided I’d already said enough as it was. Instead, I longed to retire into the solitude of my makeshift bedroom so I could replay the conversation in my head. I couldn’t decide what I thought about it, and more importantly, what I thought about Tallis. “Sleep well, lass,” Tallis finished with a quick smile.
I half-smiled in response before leaving the room and making my way to the staircase. I caught a glimpse of Bill from the corner of my eye. He was laughing and hanging onto a large brunette, so I figured he was fine without me. For now, I needed to focus on just myself. I needed to analyze how I felt about all of this most recent information. It was almost too much for me to digest at once. Tallis was suddenly not the person I believed he was. All of his convictions and everything that made him the repentant person he used to be were now flung out the window. Although I understood the logic behind this new route he was taking, I had a hard time figuring him out.
But that particular subject didn’t have to be solved tonight. Tonight, sleep was all I cared about. The thought filled me with unsurpassed pleasure since I was long beyond exhausted. After climbing up the narrow flight of stairs, a young boy met me at the top.
“Are ye lookin’ fer a room, lass?” he asked in a Scottish accent, which naturally reminded me of the large, brooding Scotsman I’d left downstairs.
“Yes,” I answered immediately. “There should be three rooms under the name Tallis Black.”
The little boy nodded and dug inside his pocket, producing a metal key, which he handed to me. “Yers is the third one down the row, miss,” he said with a shy smile. “There’s a warm bath waitin’ fer ye too.”
“Thank you,” I answered, wondering how warm the bath could be since I’d been downstairs for so long. Even a cold bath sounded better than nothing though. After all, I wasn’t sure how clean the watering hole was.
When I reached the bedroom door, I poked the key into the hole and wiggled it back and forth before the door creaked and opened. Inside, an oil lamp burned in the far corner, giving the room a shadowy, yet cozy ambiance. The bath stood in the middle of the room. It was no more than a large, metal basin. I spotted a few glass bottles of what I hoped were shampoo and conditioner as well as a bar of soap. The curtains were drawn across the window, which suited me just fine. The last thing I wanted to do was look out into the Dark Wood.
I closed and locked the door behind me, allowing my eyes to adjust to the darkness in the room. Placing my sword and sheath against the wall closest to the bed, I sat down and pulled off my tennis shoes and socks. When I padded over to the bathtub and stuck my hand into the water, I was pleased to find the water still warm. There was a white, folded towel sitting on a chair beside the tub. I took off my sweatshirt and sports bra along with my yoga pants. When I turned around to step into the bath, I noticed a full-length mirror propped against the opposite wall. I had to remind myself that the reflection in the mirror was me. Once again, my new body was the part that I never could seem to get used to—the new, physical me. My naked body was beautiful. My breasts were full and perky; and my legs were long and supple while my stomach was incredibly flat.
Turning back toward the bathtub, I stepped in and sat down, languishing in the warm water as it engulfed me. I submerged myself all the way up to my neck and closed my eyes in sheer ecstasy. Although I tried very hard to relax, something inside of me refused to be put to bed. There was something burning, something that felt a lot like lust.
Tallis’s naked body suddenly flashed before my closed eyes and my breath caught in my throat. An urge came from deep inside me and I knew it wouldn’t desist until I appeased it. I reached down between my thighs and touched myself. At exactly the same time, I heard a strident knock on my door. With my heart in my throat, I sat bolt upright and leapt out of the bathtub, grabbing my towel. Still dripping wet, I wrapped the towel around myself as I plodded to the door.
“Who is it?” I asked in a low, timid voice.
“Meh,” Tallis responded.
I opened the door only a few inches. “What’s going on?”
“There was a mistake with the rooms,” he answered. “There are oonly two reserved an’ Ah willnae share with the stookie angel.” With that, he pushed against the door and walked right in as I stood there, still trying to process what his words meant. I closed the door behind me and watched him turn to face me.
“Well, we can’t share a room,” I told him. Tallis didn’t argue or say anything. Instead, he raked me from head to toe as I stood there, dripping wet, clad only in a very short towel. “Did you hear what I said?”
He narrowed his eyes. “Ye have nae choice.”
“Um,” I said, when he suddenly walked the few paces that separated us, and stared at me almost lecherously. Pausing in front of me only momentarily, he closed his eyes, dropping his head back and opening his mouth. He appeared to be panting. As I watched him, I realized he wasn’t panting, but absorbing the scent of something in the air, similar to a cat. Bringing his eyes back to mine, the stinging sensation between my thighs grew into an all-out incendiary. That was when I knew Tallis was smelling me in the air. He could detect the scent of my lust.
Without a word, he simply reached forward and yanked the bottom of my towel, which immediately fell off. I stood there in front of him, completely naked. His gaze descended from my face to my breasts as he ogled them with obvious approval. Before I knew what he was doing, one of his hands grasped the nape of my neck while the other one cupped my right breast. His grip on my neck was firm, like he didn’t intend to allow me any means of escape. His fingers clamped my breast and I felt their coarseness and calluses as they brushed the tip of my nipple. A combination of anxiety and wild excitement overcame me, only exacerbating the longing, urgent sensation between my thighs. His fingers continued to play with my nipple while his other hand held me firmly in place.
When I looked into his eyes, I swallowed hard at his expression. His eyes were solely trained on mine and a lilt on his lips suggested he was amused. “Ye enjoy mah touch,” he announced, in a deep, sexy voice.
I couldn’t respond in words. They were something that my sexually deluged mind just couldn’t comprehend at the moment. Instead, my eyes closed on their own accord and a loud moan escaped me. As soon as I made the sound, Tallis’s fingers slipped between my thighs.
Separating the folds of my lips, he pushed his finger against my nub, rubbing back and forth as I arched backwards with pleasure and closed my eyes. He chuckled, presumably at my reaction or because he felt how wet I was. I tried to keep my equilibrium even though I almost collapsed right there.
When I opened my eyes, he yanked my head back with the hand that wasn’t wedged between my thighs. His lips were on mine in an instant, hungrily seeking my tongue as he lapped at me feverishly. He seemed like he couldn’t get enough, like he wanted to devour my body from the inside out. I moaned involuntarily from the back of my throat.
“Ah am eager ta take what Ah want,” he whispered into my ear.
I swallowed hard. “What do you want?”
He chuckled mirthlessly. “Ah believe that is plainly obvious, lass,” he answered while pushing hard against me.
I gasped when I glanced up at him again, in shock at seeing his eyes. They were eclipsed with black again, which could only mean Donnchadh was at the helm of his body. At least, I guessed that was what it meant. Either way, something suddenly rebelled within me and I realized I didn’t want my first sexual encounter to be like this. Especially since I wasn’t even sure if Tallis was the one talking to, looking at, and touching me. For that matter, I had no way of knowing if the person I called Tallis was really the true Tallis at all.
With my palms on his chest, I pushed him away. “I don’t want this,” I whispered, despit
e my body’s protests. Tallis narrowed his eyes, but didn’t pull away. “Until I know who the real Tallis Black is, I don’t want any of this,” I repeated.
“Ah am mahself,” he answered.
“The Tallis you were has changed,” I argued, taking a few steps away from him and reaching for my yoga pants. He watched me, motionless, as I pulled them up my thighs. “You can sleep in here tonight,” I said, reaching for my sweatshirt, before I yanked it over my head. “Bill and I will share the other room.”
Then I grabbed my sword, socks and shoes, and my sports bra and started for the door. I rotated the doorknob and looked back at Tallis, but couldn’t say anything more. Really, what more was there left to be said? The situation was what it was. I opened the door and closed it behind me.
Little did I know then that when I woke up in the morning, Tallis would be long gone.
“Let not thy fear harm thee; for any power that he may have shall not prevent thy going down this crag.”
– Dante’s Inferno
TWELVE
Three Weeks Later
I was on my way to the Underground City again. But this time, my only companion was Bill. After waking up in the tavern in the Dark Wood, only to find Tallis’s room vacant, I figured he’d either left during the evening or early in the morning. Since then, I hadn’t seen nor heard from him. Now that he’d changed his way of thinking and was no longer interested in rescuing souls for Afterlife Enterprises, I figured he didn’t see the reason for maintaining our friendship. That, or maybe he was just angry that I’d refused to have sex with him. Whatever the reason, I tried to talk myself out of constantly thinking about him, which was an errand I found exceedingly difficult. I just couldn’t help but wonder where his life was headed now that he’d changed his mind about following the path toward redemption.
“Hey, Nerdlet, what are you gonna do if you start melting once we step into the Underground City like that wicked witch chick from that movie The Wizard of Aussie?” Bill asked as we arrived at the gates of the Underground.
The Underground City (The Lily Harper Series) Page 16
