by Amity Green
A group shucked clothing beside one of the baths and eased into the water, oblivious of being watched, or just plain not caring.
“Do they know what we are?”
“They did at one time. Now, they don’t give a damn.” She continued to watch the antics on the dance floor.
“Have you ever seen anything like … odd swimming around in the water?” I’d tried to make it sound casual but my words sounded crazy, like I imagined.
She shook her head slowly, watching me.
“Well?” I asked.
“No,” she said. Petra looked toward the stream.
I was unconvinced. “Did you see him?” I asked, just above a whisper. Maybe I wasn’t losing it.
“Did you?” Petra looked straight into my face.
“I don’t know if we’re talking about the same thing. I saw a man … like a water-being or something.”
Petra shook her head, frowning. “It really amazes me how you see things most others can’t. And you get past wards that most are repelled by so easily.” She squinted at me with distaste. “He’s a Tyren,” she said, turning to face the water. “They live down here in the mineral springs.” She traced the stream with her eyes, watching it meander around the cavern through rock, cascading into pool after pool. “The Tyrens keep a close watch on Kai. Never once have I seen him get in these baths. And you might think to be careful of them, as well.”
“Why do they watch Kai?”
“They’ve been here for centuries.” She sighed, looking the mouth of the stream.
It was possible I’d been a little wrong about Petra, after all. I’d never seen her react with genuine emotion before then, aside from being all pissy.
“Are you okay, Petra?” We’d got off on the wrong foot, but I didn’t hate her. Maybe I was a sap, but she looked like she could use someone to talk to.
She flipped an emotional toggle. “Just get your friend and never come back here.”
Welcome back, sweetness. That was precisely why I was a loner. I misjudged situations and people like a pro. We were quiet for a time, letting the new development gel. Some people didn’t want anyone close to them. Petra and I had that in common.
“Your friend is over that way.” She pointed toward a far wall, at an illuminated, steaming pool.
“Brea is one of these … freaking zombies?” More than one body was in that pool. I stepped out of the corner.
“Of course, she is.” Petra grabbed my arm but I shook her off. “Be calm, or this will never work,” she whispered from behind me.
That was good advice, and I took it. I walked slowly along the streams and over stone bridges, dodging approaching “zombies” and entered the large pool Petra indicated held my best friend. I wore my “go-to” skirt and camisole, which would have to do. I didn’t have a swimsuit and there was no way I was getting in naked, like some of the others.
The water was warm and slick with soft minerals. I could see why everyone enjoyed the baths so much.
I squinted into the steam. There was more than one female human in the water. I waded my way along the edge of the chest deep mineral pool, ignoring the ones I knew couldn’t be Brea. The possibility I nudged Tyrens out of the way as I walked was just plain creepy. I looked down to see if I could spot any.
My forehead bopped into the shoulder of a large man right in front of me.
He turned, and I froze.
Peter.
I looked away, feeling a large sting of pain punch my heart. I’d been so naïve about him.
He stared at me while I backpedaled mentally, trying to think of what to say. He opened his mouth to speak, but changed his mind, looking awkward and a little pained.
I did my best to ignore the pitiful way he searched for words. I’d busted him carousing in Kai’s, naked-chick-a-plenty hot springs. No surprise after what I’d learned about him, but it still stung. I considered telling him how I felt, but all that came to mind was nicely-chosen parade of mean names, which wouldn’t have been a quick process. I wouldn’t waste my time.
A meandering, electric pink bikini top floated close on the surface of the pool, churning with the flow as water pushed against rather large, triangular cups. Peter and I watched as it hung up against his abdomen. I snorted, shaking my head. He looked down at the misplaced garment, brushing it away as if it was a used Kleenex. The strings twisted through the current as the top drifted away.
My shoulder smacked against his elbow as I pushed by. He never said a word, and that was fine by me.
Brea leaned on a smooth boulder just ahead. I was thrilled she wore a swimsuit. She stared at the grated window in the ceiling.
I continued toward her. When I was almost there and about to speak, she dipped into the water and came back up, clearing her long hair from her face.
“Get away from me.” To my astonishment she moved to the other side of the huge rock and continued to stare up at the pre-dawn sky. She didn’t even look at me.
She was waiting for the sun to come up. My heart leapt a little when I realized she wasn’t under the same trance as the rest of the people in the baths.
“Brea! It’s me,” I whispered, following her to the other side of her hideout. She didn’t hear me, but I had to be quiet so I didn’t raise suspicion.
She turned toward the side of the long bath. Before I could get closer, she moved across the pool and stepped out.
I followed her from a distance.
Brea was a smart cookie. She wandered from pod to pod of zombified people, making her way toward the stairwell.
I dropped back and let her make headway, ready to shoot for the steps the moment she made it that far. A perfect, although temporary, plan formed. We’d make it out of the cavern, I’d follow and not approach her until the sun came up.
She cleared the last group of people and turned toward the exit. The plan was working. I watched, drifting in the direction of the stairs.
One of the men saw her take the first step and began climbing the steps behind her. They were soon out of sight. Our plan had gone to hell quickly.
The hardest thing I’d done up to that point was be cool and act like my best friend wasn’t being stalked in a stairwell. I needed the sun. I abandoned the attempt at being inconspicuous and bolted for the exit. The stairwell was empty.
Garging Out in that stairwell and knowing I was about to reveal my new form to my best friend made it the longest climb of my life. I clamored up the passage as quickly as possible with my large gargoyle feet missing some of the tiny little stairs and my wings scraping the walls. Right when I emerged sunshine flashed across the horizon. My eyes slammed shut. I shielded my face with a clawed hand as my form shrunk, scales mutating to faint, transparent skin over stringy tendons and muscle. I ran the path and found Brea, doing her best against her attacker. He was a gargoyle, skinless in the sun, holding her by a forearm.
She shrieked and beat against his chest with her free fist. I hated the way she looked exhausted, with terror keeping her awake and fighting. Water dripped and sprayed off them in the struggle. The black swim top she wore was coming loose. I was furious and couldn’t get there quickly enough although my legs were a blur below me.
The man was a monstrosity of bared muscle and bone. Grey, tight lips peeled from his teeth as he grinned down at her trying to get free. He made a grab for her flailing hand, unsuspecting when I hit him.
I don’t remember tearing his throat. Grey blood coated my hands. My fingers curled in replica of the taloned claws I wore each night. I took him to the ground quickly. He thrashed beneath my knee and I buried it deeper in his sternum. Gasping sounds gurgled from his mouth and nose as blood pulsed from a gaping hole in his neck, running black onto the grass in a thick pool. He stared up at me, fear prevailing briefly before pre-death glaze covered his eyes. I snarled, feeling my lips quivering against my bared teeth.
Then he stopped. Everything. Fighting. Spasming. Breathing.
An animalistic growl grated from my chest as
I planted a heel to his ribs, feeling bone give like a bag of watered-down sand.
I stood panting with boiling blood coursing through my chest, feeling my face pulled into a tight, squinting stare. Something inside me raged, primal and deadly. Alive. Ragged breath was the only sound in my mind. I fought for clarity, control. The fabric of my skirt hung slick with blood that ran onto my skinless, grey legs. I peeled my cami loose from my torso where it stuck in splatter. I was a ghoul covered in gore.
My body trembled in the morning sunshine.
What have I done?
“Tessa?”
Brea trembled so badly I didn’t know how she stayed on her feet. Her eyes were huge with shock, stomach withdrawn from lack of food.
“Brea! Yes! It’s me,” I said, around a sob, hoping the familiarity of my voice would count for something with her. I was careful not to approach her.
She shook her head, her hair clumpy and wet, steaming in the chill. She stepped back, faltering a little.
I tried to catch her as she fainted, going limp on the dewy, blood-soaked grass. I wiped my eyes and cheeks with fingers that showed thin bones. Of course she’d been scared. Just because the sun was shining didn’t mean a thing.
I was still a monster.
Chapter 22
Brea was a little taller than me and, although she was slender, as I struggled to get her upstairs to my room I could tell she outweighed me. Carrying an unconscious person was hard, like carrying a huge sack of water and marbles. I moved fast, but by the time I topped the stairs, my arms and legs shook so badly I thought I might drop her. I thanked all that was good we encountered no other souls. When we got to the upper library by my room, I set her on the tile and drug her across the floor and onto the carpet in my room. If she had rug burns on her butt, she could be pissy with me later.
I pulled back the sheets and draped my bed with towels. Exhaustion sapped my strength and I almost dropped her onto the mattress. Arranging her limp form so she looked comfortable was completely awkward. I loved her, but I’d never handled another person that way. I watched her sleep, praying to whatever powers might be listening that she wouldn’t remember anything she’d witnessed. Streaks of crimson dappled her skin in places since the guy’s drying blood wasn’t in the sun anymore, where it was grey before. I wet a washcloth in the bathroom and wiped it off her skin, but she would have to wash it out of her hair and swim suit when she woke up.
I covered her up and went for a shower.
Blood mixed with water at my feet, swirling into the shower drain while I scrubbed my shaking hands and arms. The bathroom smelled like rusted metal. I had a lot of the guy’s blood on me. It poured from my hair and arms like I’d wallowed in it. Jagged bits of my humanity twisted down the drain, following the last of the man I’d murdered. I wiped my hands together hard, rinsed away pink puffs of lathered shampoo from my hair, over and over.
Out damn’d spot!
I’d have spent a lot longer in the shower trying to make myself feel clean if I wasn’t so worried Brea would wake up and try to leave my room. I didn’t cry. After I figured out how to get us to safety I would allow myself to come apart. I shampooed my hair one more time for good measure and emerged from the bathroom wrapped in a towel.
Brea hadn’t moved, still wrapped up in bed like I’d left her. I’d half expected her to be gone, swiped again by Kai. He probably had one of his stoolies watching and already knew I had her. I’d been granted the blessing of keeping her with me and I wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.
Unless I’d just disposed of that particular stoolie outside on the grass.
I grabbed my hairbrush and pulled through my hair on the way to my backpack to retrieve clean clothes, majorly looking forward to a fresh, clean pair of underwear.
“Aw, Tessa,” Peter said from across the room.
I dropped my brush, losing my towel. Squatting to the floor quickly, I caught the two ends and wrapped them tight around my breasts, but I’d given him a good eyeful of flesh. I bunched the towel in one hand so I could get my brush.
“What are you doing here? Try knocking much?” I hissed.
Peter watched me, gaze caught on a place my towel covered again. He’d dressed in jeans and a shirt and his hair was still damp. His lips parted a little.
I tightened the grip on my towel.
His eyes narrowed, focusing on my fist bunched in the terrycloth at my chest, like a starved hunter measuring out prey. Meat and potatoes. That was me.
I threw my brush at his chest. “Stop staring!” I whisper-shouted, through gritted teeth.
He caught my brush before it struck, regaining his cool and stepping close. “I did knock, you never answered. Put something …,” he paused, eyeing my towel and soaked, ratted hair, “bigger on so we can talk.”
“It’s funny you chose to wear anything at all since you’ve already shown every girl in the place all your junk.”
He ignored my observation. “I’ll be just out in the library,” he said, in a low voice.
I wondered if it was hard for him to walk away from me taunting him.
Peter silently closed the door behind him, the tension between us trailing on his heels.
Finally, I was able to breath.
Peter had come inside my room for a good reason, since he hadn’t waited for me to answer the door, and that wasn’t necessarily a good thing. I was relieved to see him even after all he’d done. The vice smashing my chest didn’t feel so tight. I didn’t feel as alone in the deadly situation I’d created for myself. At the same time, his betrayal still hurt.
Peter might have been another of Kai’s lackeys. He didn’t need to ask for directions when he drove us to Kelty. That really bothered me. He didn’t make a wrong turn, driving as if he knew exactly how to get to Kai’s ruined-castle-turned-mansion. I didn’t trust him. But I needed him worse at that moment than I had at any other time before. I was heartsick. Besides that, I’d done something horrible, so was I any better of a person?
I dressed quickly, but wasn’t looking forward to talking about the events of my morning. He was technically one of the bad guys. Disclosing information could be like ratting myself out to Kai. I had to keep myself in check with Peter no matter how much I wanted him on my side, which seemed to make me the underdog. My side consisted only of me, really, and Brea, but she was new to the game, human, and still in shock. I couldn’t blame her there. She’d witnessed her best friend Garg Out into some lunatic monster and kill someone, on top of the fact that she’d been kidnapped and then thrown into a changed, mad world where she’d been attacked. She’d been hurt, badly, in ways that went far beyond physical pain because of my carelessness. That had to change.
Peter stood at the window outside the bedroom, bright sunlight making his skin and hair glow silver and grey-streaked ebony. Shadows played where the light bounced along the fabric of his untucked shirt, in time with his breathing.
Saying nothing, I walked across the room and got a bottle of water from the mini fridge.“I got rid of it,” he told the room behind him.
“Of what?” He was getting zero information.
“The body.”
Exuding no discomfort with the topic, I plopped into an overstuffed chair in the shaded part of the room. I opened my water and sipped. “How long have you known your friend, Kai?”
“He’s not my friend.”
“Could’ve fooled me.”
“Really, Tessa, you’ve murdered someone in the yard outside and you want to hash out a make-believe friendship between Kai and me?”
“Horse shit.” If he’d seen what I’d done, he knew I had to do it. “I am not a murderer.”
“Could’ve fooled me,” he retorted.
“Why are you here, Peter?” I refused to let him bait me.
“I’m asking the questions.”
I shrugged. “I’m sure I’ll figure it out.” Something deep inside me hoped there was a reasonable explanation for what he was doing at Kai’
s manor. The way he laughed with Kai convinced me they were old friends. And seeing him down in Kai’s underground playhouse, swimming around with other girls—I didn’t want to think about that again. Ever.
“Fine. I’m not discussing this with you, if you’re not talking, either.” I drank my water, swinging one bare foot from the chair.
“You don’t want to talk about what I saw?” His tone said I was being ridiculous.
My look said I couldn’t trust him.
He didn’t have to say “Touché,” it was clear enough on his face.
I remained silent, intent on hearing what he had to say rather than reveal something and betray myself. There was no guarantee he’d seen any-darned-thing at all.
“Tessa, you moved faster than I’ve ever seen anyone run in my life. You beat me to your friend and ripped that bastard’s throat out while you jerked him away from wrestling with her.” He shook his head, eyes narrowing on me. “You put a knee through his heart, and then you kicked him for fair measure!”
“Is that what this is about? I beat you to the punch and stole your glory?” That may have been generous. I didn’t feel all that glorified.
“Stop dodging.” A muscle worked in his jaw.
He had my attention. Completely. Hearing him recant the events brought the vision clear in my mind. What I couldn’t remember before replayed in Blue-Ray while I watched myself snuff another soul. And he’d seen me do it. I sat forward on the chair, planting my elbows on my knees, covering my face with both hands, tough façade dissolving.
“Something is wrong with me, Peter. I’m different now.” My voice carried the qualities of a lost child. “I’m not just a gargoyle. I’m … evil in here somewhere.”
“You’re not evil, Tessa,” he said.
His voice caressed me just enough to break me apart. I shook my head, keeping my hands firmly over my face.
“I’m a monster and you know it. You saw. I felt ….”
“What?”
I took in a shaky breath. “Relief. Like I’d been let out of a box.” I cried softly into my hands. “It was amazing.” I was shattering, out of control. “I’m so scared of this.”
