by Leah Silver
But he disappeared before my beauty hit the mark. “Damned coward.”
Oscar, Tempest insisted, clearly growing impatient with me.
“All right, all right.”
I went to Oscar’s side. The grey creatures held up their hands. One of them made a sort of soft hissing sound, but I didn’t take it as a threat. They all were afraid. I ignored them as I undid the bindings on Oscar’s arms and head. I worked my way around to his feet before I decided it was odd he hadn’t spoken to me.
“Is he okay?” I asked the one closest to him. The one who’d been eyeing him when I walked in.
She frowned, but said nothing. Screaming came again, louder this time, and I could only hope it was Oscar’s uncle. Damned dick weasel.
I glanced over my shoulder, seeing a horrific sight. She wasn’t melting his uncle like she had the others. She appeared to be cooking him from the inside. He’d probably tried to go invisible on her or some other pussy move.
His skin reddened as he shrieked like a woman. It cracked apart, leaving red streaks that reminded me of lightning bolts. I turned away from him, having more pressing matters that needed my attention.
Oscar. When I finally touched him, his skin was damp with sweat and growing scaly, like it was half stone in some places. His eyes locked onto my hands where I made contact. A combination of anger and confusion passed over his face, but I decided to ignore it for now. He was probably just delirious from whatever they’d done to him.
My mind was working two steps ahead of where we were. Get him out. Levi could help. Concentrate on getting him out and over to Levi. What would I do if he couldn’t walk? I pictured myself with super strength, carrying my rather solid gargoyle across the city.
Maybe I could get Tempest to take us. I had a feeling that was kind of a one-time opportunity—traveling with her. But it never hurt to ask.
I grabbed his arm, trying to pull him into a sitting position.
No, Tempest said. They must heal him.
Heal him? “Who’s they? Levi can.”
No. It must be now. He won’t make it to Levi.
Shit shooters. This was worse than I thought. My first instinct was to assume Tempest was being dramatic and plow forward with my plan. But something made me stare into the bright green eyes of the creature across the bed from me. The Fae queen wasn’t much for dramatics. I just didn’t want to deal with Oscar’s mortality. Or the mortality of any of us for that matter. I’d seen Levi’s blackened hand. But he would fix it. He had to. If I thought too much about losing one of them, I couldn’t function.
Sara, and how close I’d come to losing her, passed through my mind. My men had helped me save her. Now it was my turn to help them.
“Can you help him?” I asked, deciding a more humanitarian approach might work better than ordering them to do it.
The closest two hissed back and forth, and the one with the clipboard seemed to get angry.
Things started to get odd. Not that they weren’t before, standing there with the spirit of the Fae queen, who had decimated about five gargoyles in as many minutes. I’d hate to see what PMS was like for her. Not to mention this new species of creatures I’d never seen before who apparently didn’t even speak English.
It was unusual for a species not to speak. Almost like these guys were just a bit more animal than they were people. Nope. Not odd at all.
But what really made all this weird was that Oscar spoke to them. In English. He acted like he expected a response. “If you do this, I will come back for you. I will set all of you free.” His words were strained, said through clenched teeth, but they were there. The creatures seemed to understand, respond even.
More hissing. The one near his head seemed inclined to help. But the one with the clipboard only got angrier.
“It’s not an empty promise. I swear it. I will come back for you.” His hollow eyes locked on me, filled with pain. “Alone if I have to.”
Meanwhile, the screaming from Oscar’s uncle had finally stopped. Part of me didn’t think he’d suffered enough. But another part was relieved for the quiet.
Tempest approached quietly. You can trust these two. I’m afraid they are our only hope. If you want any kind of change, you must help them.
No more hissing that time. The one near Oscar’s head maneuvered around the machines, and then muscled Clipboard McGee out of the way.
She bent and got into a cabinet below one of the machines. There was a lot of clanging around, and what sounded like glass bottles. She came up with a vial that looked a lot like the one Ed had used on Sara. That felt like a lifetime ago.
She pulled a needle out of a pocket in the front of her white lab coat, and then stuck it into the IV line snaking out of Oscar’s arm.
He wasn’t relaxed. At all. His arm where I lingered was bulging from strain, and veins were popping out on his forehead and neck.
“Come on,” I said as much to myself as I did to the serum. “Oscar, come back to me.”
He narrowed his eyes at me, face wild. All at once, he sat up and grabbed my arm by my bicep. His grip was hard and unyielding. Such anger and hurt played across his face.
“How could you?”
In that instant, I wasn’t sure this was going to play out in my favor. Rather than answer him, I turned to the one with the clipboard. “What the fuck did you do to him?” I demanded
“They didn’t do anything they wanted to. But you…”
“What did I do?” I asked, starting to get angry. I’d risked my neck, bringing in an impressive entourage with me, and he had the nerve to accuse me of something? “Was I not fast enough for you? Excuse me if your delightful family knocked me flat on my ass. No thanks to you, I pulled through that fun little experience.”
The confusion only lived in his eyes for a moment. Anger was a funny emotion. Irrational, unyielding, and without knowing its source, it was difficult to combat.
“You want to talk about a fun little experience?” His eyes were clearing, but the anger stayed. His muscles relaxed a bit as the pain receded, but the tension between us remained. “How about watching you get it on with my uncle on top of me? Boy, that was a gas.”
He threw his legs over the other side of the bed, putting his back to me.
“What? I’ve been with Tempest for the last I don’t even know how long. Tempest? Help me out here.”
The effects of the plague are different for each species it seems, was all she said.
“Good. A riddle. Super helpful,” I said, glaring at her. But she wasn’t looking at me. She was studying Oscar sadly.
“What do you mean?” Oscar spat.
The creature who’d administered the cure hissed.
“Hallucinating? But…no. It was real. I felt them on top of me. The pressure of her…them bumping against my bed…” He went far away at that moment. I strode around the other side of the bed. Once I was close enough, I got in his face.
“Oscar, I wouldn’t do that to you.”
“Why not? You clearly aren’t a one-man kind of girl.” It was dripping with bitterness, making me step back away from him.
I’ve brought you to him, yet they still win, Tempest said sadly.
I stopped at her words. No. They would not win. I couldn’t deny his words hurt, but I wouldn’t abandon him so easily. “You seemed like you were okay with our arrangement. Was I mistaken in that?”
Confusion colored his entire being. “Not if it includes my dirt-bag uncle.”
“Dirt-bag is a bit tame. Dick weasel. That seemed to suit him better. He’s past tense now, by the way.”
I nodded to Tempest. “She does good work.”
Tempest said nothing as Oscar processed. “You didn’t have sex with him?”
“Demons’ breath. No. He wasn’t even attractive.” I closed the distance between us, trying to shake off my insecurities, or were they Oscar’s? “Why would I want anyone else? I already have four loving, funny, strong, attractive men to dote on me. I can’t handle
even one more. My coven is complete.” I gazed into his grey eyes. The anger seemed to be cracking, so I pushed on. He seemed exhausted, defeated. I hooked my hands around the back of his neck, drawing closer to him.
“Oscar, I love you.” His face was level with my chest, not accidentally. He sat still, not really seeing me. He was staring straight ahead.
“My neck must be pretty interesting,” I said.
“The thing is I don’t know you very well. We’ve been together for what, ten days? And we’ve made this huge life-altering commitment to each other, and the others. How do I know you wouldn’t do something like that?”
He wasn’t wrong, and although they’d clearly relieved him of the plague, some of the pain still lingered. I wondered if it would ever truly go away.
“I suppose you don’t. Just as I don’t know you wouldn’t abandon me for some twinkie we meet around the next corner. I do know I trust you, more than I probably should, considering, as you pointed out, we haven’t known each other that long. But you know what? It feels right. Or at least it did until you went bat-shit crazy on me.”
He jerked his head up. I saw another piece of his anger fall away, but not all of it. “I went crazy? You were the one bent half naked over my bed.”
“Seems like there are better ways.” I cupped his face in my hands and held it there, so he couldn’t look away from me. “Perhaps you’d like to show me. Someday soon?”
With that, the last chunk of anger left him, and he smiled. “He really was a twatwaffle.”
“Such a twatwaffle,” I said. I leaned in close to him. “But I don’t want to talk about him, or even think about him ever again.”
“Me neither,” he said, and our mouths connected. His lips were hard, cold, and dry. I licked them gently, coaxing a groan out of him. His hands went possessively to my back as he pulled me into him, pressing me hard against him. I climbed onto the bed and straddled him, feeling his naked chest against me, frustrated with my own clothing.
His hands were under my shirt, kneading, pushing, demanding more. My world spun out of control until it was nothing but Oscar and me. My rock.
Tempest cleared her throat, the brat, and I reluctantly pulled away.
“We should go,” I said.
He sagged onto the bed, and I thought he might fall off the back of it. “I’m not sure I can.”
In that moment, I believed him. Panicked, I darted a glance over at Tempest. She looked uneasy. You cannot linger here. They will come, sooner rather than later.
“They?” I asked.
The one who’d helped Oscar hissed.
“The ones in charge,” Oscar filled in. “But unless you plan to carry me out of here…” He was clearly unable to find the strength to walk, or even sit up for a moment longer. He turned and succumbed to his fate.
“Oscar Carty. You sit up right this instant. I did not drag my ass through some bizarre spiritual continuum—”
I turned to Tempest. “Thanks for that, by the way.”
Spinning back to Oscar, I continued, “To have you take a nap during our getaway plan.”
His eyes opened, but clearly, I needed to take a course in motivational speaking, because that was all I got.
I think I can help here, but it must be quick. The room grew brighter as she approached his bedside. I adjusted myself until I was standing next to him, holding his hand. He’d fallen asleep, and no amount of jostling was waking him up.
“Is he okay?” I asked, suddenly concerned we’d been too late. That the commotion after the cure had been administered was too much. That I’d given so much for nothing.
Tempest reached out and touched Oscar’s chest, light blooming where they made contact. The light spread throughout his body, first on his torso, then to his limbs, and finally up his neck and into his face. To be honest, he looked a little freaky, like he was radioactive or something. Except the glow wasn’t green. It was white.
Slowly, she removed her hand. I felt like time had stopped as I watched the glow recede from his body at a snail’s pace. In its place, his skin had lost that sickly grey hue, the scales were gone, and he was returning to his normal color. Well, normal for him. He was a gargoyle, after all.
“Why didn’t the plague turn him to ash?” I asked Tempest as we waited for him to wake up.
It seems to affect each species differently. In gargoyles, it apparently causes deeply painful hallucinations, as well as a great amount of physical pain. In vampires, it decays your bodies. In werewolves…
I almost hit her for stopping short. “In werewolves…” I said, struggling to hang onto my patience.
You’ll have to see for yourself.
“Don’t tell me Ike is some lab rat I’m going to have to rescue, too.”
I can do anything more to help you. You must go the moment Oscar wakes up.
She started to fade, and I felt like a jilted lover left alone on the morning after. “Wait, what? You’re going now?”
Her sad eyes surveyed me, but she said nothing.
“No, come on. How are we supposed to find Ike? And what in Bael’s name am I supposed to do if they show up?”
Leave, she said.
“Will I see you again?”
I hope not. For if you do, I may not be able to save you again.
“What? Why the fuck not? You’re some kind of super Fae spirit. You can do anything.”
She gave me a sad smile and a small wave with her white gown floating all around her. Be safe, Merry.
“It’s awfully hard in this world you left me to.”
She said nothing, just disappeared as suddenly as she showed up. Suddenly, I was alone with an unconscious gargoyle and weird creatures in some creepy warehouse, waiting for them. Well, wasn’t that a fine pile of troll shit?
Out of the frying pan, into the fire
I didn’t know what else to do, so I just started talking to him, hoping my voice would rouse him. “You know what I liked about you best when I first met you?”
Of course, he just laid there, so I pretended he said, ‘What’s that, oh love of my life?’
“I’m not gonna lie, it was your body. Rock hard and gorgeous, even under that button-down shirt and slacks you wore to the meeting, I could tell you were gorgeous under there. It made me want to rip your clothes off with my teeth in front of everyone.”
I smiled, thinking of the way he’d sidled up next to Ike. “Then I saw you were friends with Ike. Clearly in cahoots with each other, and I knew you two were going to be trouble. And surprise, surprise, I was right.”
I paused for a few moments while I watched his chest rise and fall. Rise and fall. I put my hand on it, reassuring myself that while there was life, there was hope. Did Ike, Ed, and Levi hold on to that same hope? I pushed the dark thoughts away while I pressed my hand into Oscar’s chest, fighting the tears that threatened. A lump grew in my throat, and I swallowed it down.
“You know what else I like? Your honesty. Well, most of the time. I know you were keeping things from me about Ike. You knew what he was up to, more than you told me. A ridiculous man code situation, I’m sure. But that’s why you have to wake up, so we can find him.” I darted my gaze around the room, not seeing his clothes or belongings. Did he even still have his phone? Shit shooters. It wouldn’t be a problem if he never woke up, but I couldn’t deal with that thought.
The grey creature who’d helped us saw me glancing around. She reached under the bed, pulling out a bag full of Oscar’s things.
“Wow. Thank you.” I wished I could tell her just how thankful I was. Instead, I let go of Oscar and threw my arms around her, crying onto her unsuspecting shoulder. Sure, strange creature, hope you wanted to be in my hot-mess club, because you just got initiated.
She said nothing—just held onto me just as tightly. Finally, the sobs that were wracking my body died down. I pulled back, and I was sure I was quite the picture. Snot running out of my nose, eyes swollen up. The perfect image of an immortal vampire if I ever sa
w one.
I peered into her bright green eyes, thinking how much like a snake’s they really were. “I wish I knew your name.” She just tilted her head, knowing I wouldn’t understand her even if she told me. “I will tell you this—we will come back for you. This isn’t over when we walk out that door. I don’t know what they’ll do to you when they discover we’re gone, but you need to stay strong. Leave if you can. Hide. When this is over, you will be free. I promise you that.”
She nodded, hugging me fiercely once more. When we pulled apart, I found Oscar sitting up in bed. “Her name is Sam.”
“Sam…” Such gratitude filled me. She must have seen it because she smiled before she turned to leave. “Stay safe, Sam.”
Throwing a glance over her shoulder, she nodded before going through the double doors, closing them behind her.
I threw myself at Oscar. Now that we were alone and he was awake, it was tempting to finish what we started when Tempest was in the room. The creature with the clipboard had left a while ago, and none of the others remained.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m better than all right. I’m right where I belong. With you.” He slid a stray piece of hair behind my ear. I hugged him again, as if he might disappear if I didn’t hold onto him.
“We need to go,” he reminded me. “Tempest said we had to hurry.”
I leaned back. The hard line of his jaw, his thin lips, the stubble growing on his chin, but remarkably not the top of his head, pulled me to him.
Come to think of it, the gargoyles that were guarding him hadn’t had hair, either. Only his uncle had. Must’ve been that hybrid thing. I wasn’t sorry to see him gone.
“Hurry means let’s go?” He phrased it like a question, but it was more of a laughing command. Smart ass.
“I know what hurry means.” But suddenly, my sense of urgency was gone. At least until a flash passed through my brain—a picture of that woman standing with that smug grin on her face in Ike’s doorway. I was leaning in to press a kiss to Oscar’s lips when I saw her face staring possessively at Ike, at my man. “No. You’re right. Let’s go.”
