by Margot Fox
Gunner turned Tesa by her shoulders to face him. “Tesa,” he said authoritatively. “Think. You know this. You know. Think .”
She stared into his eyes beseechingly and wracked her memory. What did that mean? She knew?
And then… it seemed like she did know. Like something she smelled rather than saw, or something like a playing card that silently flipped over, revealing the answer underneath that had always been there.
She knew.
She turned to the bed, leaving Gunner behind her as her feet slipped soundlessly over the flagstones. She moved like a sleeping person to the high, blood-caked mattress, climbing easily upon it. Rose turned her head slightly, her ruby-red eyes flickering over Tesa’s form but not really appearing to see her at all. She worked her mouth in mute, soundless cries and turned away again.
Tesa climbed behind her, paying no mind to the puddles and crusts of gore. She knelt behind Rose with her knees on either side of the woman’s trembling haunches, then extended her right arm in front of her.
Rose’s head twitched when the crook of Tesa’s elbow came under her nose, and she sniffed the flesh blindly.
Trying to quell the panic in her heart, Tesa sought the image of her mother in the emerald hat that had comforted her before, but it wouldn’t come. As Rose began to mewl and snuffle at the flesh in front of her, Tesa fought the urge to rip her arm away.
Gunner was suddenly at her side. “Don't be frightened,” he said in a low voice.
“It’s going to hurt!” she whispered urgently.
He looked around the room as though searching for an answer. “Honestly, it is,” he nodded finally. “You’re right. I can take that away for you…”
Tesa shook her head wildly, remembering the suffocating fog in the back of Yvonne’s convertible. If Rose was going to try to kill her, she needed her wits intact.
“No, Tesa, no,” he said, understanding and trying to make eye contact. “It doesn’t have to be like that. I can just…”
Without waiting for permission, he touched her cheek and a blue fog crept through her mind. But it wasn’t the overwhelming, drowning waves she had felt before. It was lighter, almost white. She felt it sink to the bottom of her mind, leaving her clear and in control on top.
“How’s that?” he murmured, leaning in to kiss her forehead. She nodded gratefully and gathered her courage and resolve.
“Okay, okay…” she said, her brow furrowed in deep lines. “I can do this.”
Rose’s hands began to tremble at her sides and she lifted them. Skin still clung to the back of her knuckles in tattered patches.
Tesa drew her arm closer. She leaned her head forward into the mat of Rose’s hair and whispered, “It’s all right. It’s all right.”
Without another hesitation Rose opened her mouth wide. Tesa heard the fangs snap and then a bright, searing pain lanced through her arm as Rose bit down. Tesa gasped, getting up on her knees. She tried to pull her arm away but Rose had it firmly in her mouth and hands, drawing long, ravenous gulps.
“Tesa, stop!” Gunner commanded. “Tesa, look at me!”
“She’s going to kill me!” she shrieked.
“She’s not!” he yelled, taking her face in his hands and forcing her to look at him. The white fog seeped up but her panic overwhelmed it. She tried to jerk away and he held her tighter, immobilized.
“Tesa, you have to trust me! Just give it a few seconds!”
The fog turned blue and swirled ominously over her.
“No! Fuck you, no! Don’t!” she cried, getting up to one foot. Gunner pushed her back down with Rose’s suckling form still attached. Tesa’s objections crumpled into whimpers.
“Tesa, stop. It’s all right... Look, just look.”
The blue fog dropped out of her mind and she did as she was told. Rose held her elbow in both hands but was no longer chewing savagely. She sucked in long, grateful draughts, each slower than the last.
As Tesa watched, Rose’s shiny, trembling flesh became matte, drying. The ragged edges of her skin grew solid again, climbing up her torso like encroaching clouds.
“You’re doing it,” Gunner murmured.
Tesa marvelled at the sight before her. Her fear leaked away. Rose became more whole with each passing second.
“That’s good,” Tesa murmured, suddenly drowsy. “Rose, you’re… Rose… you’re…”
“Tesa?” Rose croaked through new lips, dropping Tesa’s arm from her mouth. “Chantesa?”
Tesa nodded, overwhelmed with fatigue. Rose half-turned, looking over Tesa’s face as though she had not seen her in years.
“Chantesa, oh my God!” she whispered. “Baby, where have you been?”
“Been?” Tesa muttered, trying to peer through the darkness gathering in her mind. “I don’t know…”
“Okay, I think that’s enough,” Gunner said.
“Chantesa, baby, I looked for you… Where have you been?”
“I was… nowhere… Are you—?”
Tesa’s vision swirled, her eyes sliding up as her head fell back, her lips slack and parted. Gunner stood over her, cradling her shoulders while she melted into unconsciousness in his arms.
“All right, okay… that’s enough, Rose.”
“Oh, not nearly,” she said, her voice suddenly hard and flinty.
She slid from the filthy mattress, pushing her matted hair back from her newly skinned shoulders. Stretching regally, she blinked her blood-encrusted lashes and looked around the gloomy room.
“How long have I been here?” she asked.
Gunner shook his head and turned back to Tesa’s limp form. He picked her up delicately from the bed, holding her in his arms. Her head fell against his chest and lolled there, like a marionette with limp strings.
“Put her back,” Rose commanded.
“Yes, Gunner, put her back,” Stark said in a slow, pained growl without raising his head.
Gunner shook his head. “You need her,” he said authoritatively. “She needs rest to recharge. There’s no sense in ruining a good thing.”
“We all need her,” Stark reminded him.
“She’s not strong enough to bring you both back. You’ll kill her. Let me take care of her. Please.”
He looked from Rose to Stark. Rose stood with her hand on her hip, as haughty as possible while naked and flaking chunks of dried blood in a circle around her feet. Stark would not look up.
“Please!” he said again.
“You love her,” Rose sneered. “You’re such a pathetic—”
“It’s not as if I can help it. But you need her,” Gunner countered. “Stark will put you right back where you started if you let him. You need Tesa if you ever want to be whole again.”
Rose cocked her head, running her thick, bloody tongue over her new lips.
“Fine,” she said finally, flinging her hand over her shoulder and walking away, her hips swaying with every step. “Back to your love nest. Go…”
She strolled to Stark slowly, sliding her hand across his shoulder. He quivered as though trying to restrain himself… and nearly failing.
“Morning,” he croaked, his voice shaking. “Morning…”
Gunner nodded, holding Tesa’s limp form to his chest like a doll.
“Morning, yes. I’ll… do my best. I’m sure the kitchen is still up. She needs nourishment. I’ll leave you two, then…”
Gunner kicked the door closed behind him and carried Tesa down the winding corridors, up the stairs and back to the kitchen level. He nodded at the cook, who was seated across the long, stainless steel counter from Jamie. They each held their forks still over a heaping mound of pasta and gaped at Gunner as he hurried past.
Tesa did not stir until the cold night air hit her face. She mumbled into Gunner’s chest as he opened the Jaguar’s passenger door and arranged her gingerly inside, pulling the seat belt snugly across her shoulder and snapping it in place.
When the engine started, the rumble under her thighs pierced her
dream to remind her of Stark’s low, feral growl, and she whimpered fretfully with her eyes closed.
Gunner leaned over in his seat, brushing the hair from her forehead and pressing his lips against her furrowed brow.
“Hang on,” he muttered, mostly to himself, and hit the gas.
As they drove into the foggy, silent night, Gunner listened intently to the sound of her breath. Every once in a while, she would shift, and he could see the glowing badge on the inside of her wrist. Blue, so blue, like a cloudless sky.
Except every so often, there was a flicker. Like a light with a bad wire. Something trying to come on. In the center of the badge, a gold petal. A dragonfly wing catching the sunlight. It seemed to beat against the glass, then was gone.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks so much for reading this book. I would like to thank my daughters, who give such great advice and inspiration. Ladies, you are the occult sisters. You are the life blood.
Follow me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/MargotFox18
