Her Royal Holiness, Princess LaDressa, Daughter of Lucifer the IV
“HELLO, dearest sister. Hello, whore.”
My mother hissed at my brother’s condemnation of her.
“Do not protest, stepmother, for you are only allowed to live as long as my father breathes. As soon as his last breath escapes his lips I shall have your head for a trophy.”
“I am still the Queen in this land no matter what you or your spouses feel. At least your father was good enough to kill off your mother before marrying me.”
“Not a worthy Queen and that is all that matters. Your promotion of rank came at the loss of my mother and two others. You were a body my father wished to plunder, nothing more. His intention—”
“Do not dare to understand your father’s intention with me,” my mother snapped at Lucifer. “Why have you come here?”
“I have found a mate suitable for LaDressa. She will be married within the next cycle.”
“Who?” I asked, trying to keep my composure, knowing full well Damarion had not moved into society enough for my brother to even know he existed. A dagger was ripping through my heart at the idea that he would not be the one to lie with me.
“Treadmont.”
“Treadmont,” my mother screeched. “He is nearing expiration. He would not even make it past the bridal night. I will not allow it.”
“Mating is left to the males. When he dies my sister shall grieve him like any other widow. Until she too expires.”
So that was his plan for me. Marry me off unto a man who would leave me untouchable and who would be unable to touch me for fear of death. I would not be allowed to claw at Damarion’s strong back as he rode my body hard. Never would I be able to straddle his waist nor rotate myself while admiring his strong physique below. He had let me see his body. All of it, and I was enthralled.
His form was exquisite and had come to my mind even when he was not near. My once-empty dreams now were overflowing with images of Damarion touching every inch of my skin, but until I am married only under my brother’s supervision could I undo my shackles of a dress to bathe.
“I refuse.”
“You speak; that is more upsetting then your comment.”
It had been years since I’d uttered a word around my brother. Instead I took his instruction and sat in my room. Since my dearest Damarion had come into my life I had not known the joy of conversation. More importantly, the importance of the strength that could come from the words was trapped inside me.
“Refuse or not, it is not your choice to make.”
“Who will or will not have access to my body? To whom I will bear children that could—”
Never before that day had my brother so much as touched my hand, and the feeling of the back of his hand across my jaw brought me such displeasure I could not understand that sensation. Warm blood dripped from my lower lip onto the floor. I had landed with only the palm of my hand saving my face from imprinting on the rough stone. My world slowed as my mother jumped to my aid only to have my brother’s arm extend and his fingers curl around her neck as he held her against the wall.
Praxis, my dear pet, reared back in attack. My brother used his free hand to hold the beast at bay. Lucifer’s powers amazed me—he was able to hold a fully grown dragon with just the twist of fingers and force of his brain. Praxis contorted in pain and when my brother’s hand dropped, Praxis backed off into a corner of the room.
Within a few seconds two of my protectors were subdued. Even though my mother spat vile words at my brother assuring him that this would not go unpunished he just laughed while her eyes started to bulge from their sockets.
Inside me a rush of tingling pinpricks ran over my skin and the hand not bracing me on the floor rose. My brother flew across the room and landed on my night table. Shaking, Lucifer paled as he looked at me.
“Who taught you such things?” he demanded as he stalked toward me.
“You did, you foolish boy. I’ve followed your command on not teaching her about her powers, but you have unleashed them. For the first time in your pitiful life you’ve pleased your Queen.”
“Mother, why? Why would you keep such things from me?”
She did not answer. Instead, she dabbed the blood from my lip and left my chamber.
“That is the last time you will ever see your mother.”
“You cannot kill her.”
“She’ll be sent on an assignment. Only her refusal will cost her, her life.”
“Father would—”
“Father is less than a drooling senile puppy. The power your whore of a mother thinks she commands is only in her mind. The Royals laugh at her behind her back and as with you she has no value. The only female of worth now is your eldest niece, Princess Lucinda. She is the future of the monarchy and she is the one to carry us after my passing.”
“Why do you punish me? I am of no threat to you.”
If I knew then what I know now I would have understood how much my brother feared my womb. Damarion explained it to me, how the royals were on Earth. My brother’s wives had bared him no sons, not that he could acknowledge the children born to any but the first. He’d pushed the point that I was not worthy because I was the child of a non-royal and not the first wife. My brother was so afraid of my father putting me next in line for succession he’d pushed rules through our mockery of a government. Rules that must be followed.
“Your mother once said she was of no threat to me, then you were born and I knew better. She would have born a dozen of you unworthy bastards if I wouldn’t have stopped her.”
“How could you stop her?”
“Do I need to silence your insolent mouth once more? There appears to be more than enough blood running through your veins. A few more drops surely could do little to damage you.”
I recoiled at his threat and saw the time for Damarion’s visit was impending. Masako would fetch him unaware that my family had chosen to visit me today.
“I apologize that my life grieves thee so, but I would rather remain untouched than be shackled to a virtual corpse.”
“That is your wish? To remain pure and chaste?”
“Yes, my dear brother.”
“You are a failure as a demon and a reflection of your mother in ways you shall never have the knowledge of. I will take your request under advisement. Though bringing you the contentment you request is causing a tearing in my mind. I shall return when I have my decision.”
I’d hoped it would be a long time. If I’d have thought my brother would return so quickly to my chamber I would have sent Damarion away the second he was brought to me. Instead, my naivety cost me my love and now here I am making deals with what might as well be the devil herself to recover the small pieces of him that remain.
“Daughter,” my mother said as she entered what I had been told was an office. “What is your plan? Surely your brother knows of your deception. It’s been too long.”
“And yet he hasn’t come to retrieve me. It appears he has no interest in my whereabouts.”
“You need to follow through with your threat or you lose all your strength. With the coven as well as the Frozen. Anyone can say they’ll kill an ant, but if they do not smash it under their foot the ant will take over your home.”
“How did you know Kiriana’s mother?”
Mother moved around the room, then sat on the couch. Her back was straight as she placed her clasped hands on her knees.
“You need to forget about Damarion and his ashes.”
“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Damarion. I’d be married off to Treadmont and praying that he wouldn’t be entering my bed chamber each night.”
“Love can cost you everything. Your whole life. I do not regret marrying your father, but his choice of me and mine of him set me down a path I could not go back from.”
“How did father meet you? I know you were not of the royal line, but you’ve never told me of your lineage. I figured it didn’t matter because it was not worthy.”
“Kiriana’s mother was my sister.”
“How could a weak human be your sister? You’re thousands of years old.”
“Her mother wasn’t a human.”
“A Deumos? I thought they were not allowed to mate or give birth.”
“They are not. But I was never a Deumos. I was an angel. A daughter in the house Ryeal.”
“An angel.” I recoiled at the mere mention of my enemy. “You are from Heaven?”
“I haven’t been there for millennium. I am just as much a demon as your father now. A fallen angel. Like Kiriana’s mother. I can smell my bloodline in her.”
“Can we use it to our advantage?”
“It makes her more dangerous to us. If she learns to tap into her angelic powers I’m not sure if your hybrid of demonic and angelic powers can overpower her.”
“I’ve been able to overpower her easily so far.”
“She knows of her heritage now, which means my brother may be trying to train her.”
“Who’s your brother?”
“Gabriel.”
“The leader of the Frozen is your brother?” I spat and clenched my hands. They began to burn and I looked down to see redness curling on my skin, but I couldn’t bother with that. “And you’re just now telling me?”
“What does it matter? An enemy is an enemy.”
“Family ties can stifle one.”
“Would you not dispatch of your brother with haste if necessary?”
“I do not know if I could.”
“Then figure it out,” my mother hissed. “He would have no qualms about your death.”
“Why has he not killed me?”
“Probably because he hasn’t found someone to blame your death on.”
“Say what you will, but I am of his blood and that holds him at bay.”
“I did not raise you to be a fool.”
“You raised me to be a China doll sitting on a shelf.” I crossed my arms in the most unladylike of ways just to add to my mother’s disdain. “If others hadn’t taught me to not fear touch…that I could be more…”
“You are no longer shackled in your brother’s gown. Why have you not explored this freedom?”
“Because I only wish for one. No other has even brought a glimmer of interest to my body.” I waved my hand to remove my conflicted emotions at this time. The pain had acquiesced and I was able to focus again. “What assets do we have on this plane? There must be a creature or beings we could summon to aide us.”
“There were creatures at one time. I have not felt their presence in years.”
“What of the knife? The one sent to protect Damarion.”
I turned and retrieved it from the safe in the wall. The hinges of the box creaked as it opened to reveal the knife that hummed as my hand waved over it.
“What could it do to a human?”
“Any puncture from a knife can kill,” mother said as she sat on the edge of the desk and picked up the claw-handled knife. “But a wound from this…I am not sure Gabriel could heal. Your great grandmother created it after she feared for one of your aunt’s lives. Lucifer the second was put out by his circumstance and his father’s refusal to acquiesce to God’s offers. He took it out on all those around him.”
“The second was a fallen angel too, was he not?”
“He was. He didn’t want to follow his father, but he felt he had no home in Heaven after the betrayal.”
“So the knife has the power to kill an angel?”
“I guess it does.” She placed the knife back on the bone handles that held it away from the velvet lining of the box.
“If it does not I have another Masako acquired for me. Either way death shall engulf this hamlet.”
“And now I see the genius that was born to you.”
* * * *
Kiriana Kladshon George
“Oh, darn it. Nye, honey, I left my folder upstairs on the bed,” I said sweetly while stroking his hand.
He sighed and kissed my forehead. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
“Thank you.” I turned back to Gabriel, who was looking at me with a sly smile. When the door closed he leaned in close.
“What do you need?”
“Huh?”
“You said ‘Oh darn.’ Not shit, not fuck, but darn. What do you not want Nye to know?”
“I need to know why we’re both puking all the time.”
He leaned back in the high-backed leather chair and crossed his legs at the knee.
“You know.”
“No, I don’t. Is it my HIV? Bad chicken? The flu we’re not supposed to be able to get? You promised me that he wouldn’t get sick from sealing with me.”
He touched my hand and shook his head. “You know, Kiriana. You’ve been sealed for what, about three months?”
My stomach pulled in on me.
“How is that possible? That’s not possible.”
“What was my rule on your HIV?”
“It’s dormant so it stays dormant.”
“And…” He led me.
“Zarmina had a cold. An active virus.” Oh God no. I stood up and crossed the room, using the bookshelf to steady myself.
“You love pushing the envelope, don’t you? I tell you no and you find a way around it.”
“I never asked for this.”
“Tomato, tamato.”
“How? Oh God, my leaving gave it enough time, didn’t it?”
“You did delay your sealing by about twenty-four hours and it’s obvious you and Nye didn’t wait like most of the Others did until you were married. Tsk, tsk, tsk.”
“Stuff it.”
“There’s my Kiriana.”
“How can I have a baby? Is it going to be normal? I mean, Nye is dead, right?”
“Outside of the fact that it’s yours, yeah I suppose it’ll be normal. It feels healthy to me. I pull the Frozen before their body really dies. You want to know what sex is?”
“No!”
“You are going to tell him?”
I didn’t know. I didn’t even know what I was going to do. I wasn’t supposed to have a kid. How could I bring a kid into this? No, not a kid—a baby. I can’t be a mother.
I could hear Nye coming down the stairs. He was rushing, I could tell, by the pressure on my feet.
“Kiriana?”
“Nye’s almost here.”
“Then let me tell you this. You need to get back on your cocktail because I can’t guarantee that sealing will stop you from transferring your HIV to your child. Especially after eight weeks.”
“Tell Nye I went to get something to eat and lie down. I can’t be here right now.”
I took off. Keeping my head down, I walked briskly to the barn so I could get the hell away from here. Nye’s bike called to me so I grabbed a helmet and pulled out as fast as I could.
I drove without thought or foresight for the first time in months. Oh my God, my baby is three months old. I was still young enough to stop at Planned Parenthood and take care of the situation. Nye would never have to know. But I would. And how could I live with myself if I did that?
Nye’s my husband, not some random guy I’m screwing, and a part of him is in me. Sure, our blood co-mingled, but that’s not the same as the thought of his beautiful child. Would its skin be a sweet light mocha shade or dark like him? Would it have the tight curls with blond highlights catching in the sunlight?
Would it wonder where its parents went every night?
Looking up, I realized I had gone to the mall in Coralville. The children I was envisioning had been in strollers in front of me. Or walking along the way. Their chubby hands pressed against the glass of Gymboree. A little girl with pigtails smiled brightly with her baby teeth showing in the latest ad from Baby Gap while a mixed race boy rode in a stroller that looked like a fire engine.
A mother patiently passed a few Cheerios to her baby while sipping a Frappuccino nearby. Would that be me? Could that be me? Then I hit Motherhood Maternity. The large bellies on the store dummies made me feel mine. It was firm. I thought it was just because I had been working out.
How could I train or fight with a belly like that? My mind wandered as I passed from store to store until I finally ended up at the indoor ice rink watching a group of five year olds in a class. I sat there watching as one class got off and another started in again.
“Are you going to tell me?” Schmitty scared me, again, then sat by me. I curled into his chest and finally cried. Resting his head on mine his hand gently stroked my tears away. Rocking me back and forth he let his fingers softly pet my hair. “Hey, KK, come on. It can’t be that bad. Just tell me.”
“Tell you what?”
“Where your mind has been for the last three hours? You already look like a cult member on leave.”
I looked down at my meeting tunics and had to laugh. I hadn’t even noticed the cold when I was on Nye’s bike, but I’m sure it was cutting through the thin linen.
“It’s been three hours?” He nodded.
“Although at least thirty minutes was you driving at a speed of about Mach one.”
“Shut up,” I said, pushing his shoulder.
“I thought you were going to kill me.”
“Maybe next time.”
“So what’s with the zombie routine?”
“Zombie?”
“You’ve been walking around with your hands moving like you’re talking with an imaginary friend. Seriously, I had to talk mall security out of taking you in.”
“He’s invisible, not imaginary, and you’re sitting on him.”
“Oh no. Another man,” he joked.
“I haven’t figured that out yet.”
“You said him.”
“Reflex.”
“Hmmm. So who is this mysterious person that’s been upsetting my partner?”
“I don’t know yet?”
“Really, there’s a person?”
“That’s the eternal debate.”
“I’m lost, KK.”
“So am I.”
Schmitty took my hand and looked at me. His ice-blue eyes asking for the truth. His smile sweet and calming. Always calming.
“I talked to Gabriel.”
“And?”
“I’m pregnant.” Saying it out loud made it seem so real. Now I regretted telling him. Not because he shouldn’t know, but because I should have told Nye first. “I’m scared to death and I don’t know what to do.”
“Pregnant? As in with a baby?”
“I wanted a puppy, but you know how old uncle Gabe is…” That one came out wrong. I sucked in my breath and hoped Schmitty thought I was just being cute about Gabriel.
“How can you and Nye have a baby?”
“We had sex before we were sealed.”
“But doesn’t sealing freeze that stuff?”
“The baby's actively growing. It was a million to one shot. I wasn’t having sex so I wasn’t on the pill.”
“I get you, but Nye…Nye’s…”
“A man. He doesn’t ovulate. He has actively working sperm ducts obviously. Hell, even Gabriel’s thrown off. How can I tell Nye? You’re a guy…oh, never mind. I don’t know how I can go through with it.”
“How could you not? Kiriana, this is your one chance.”
“I know but…”
“KK, look at it from Nye’s perspective.”
“The one that didn’t want to pull me into this world. How am I going to bring a child into it? What the hell would you do?”
“Shit, now that I know I can get a girl pregnant I’m scared there are little Schmitty’s all over the world. Some of them may have kids. Seriously, we never thought we could get a girl pregnant.”
“And you can’t even catch crabs so…”
“Yeah. Protection is an annoyance that I’m suddenly glad Trish demands.”
“You’ve never stayed around long enough to notice if you got someone pregnant?”
“Well, I’ve lived in places long enough; I just never went back to one girl more than twice.”
“God, we are so alike it’s scary.”
“You never went back to a girl more than twice?” he joked. I punched him in the shoulder, then rolled my eyes.
“What makes Trisha so special?”
“She’s not special.” He leaned on me and pushed like a little kid would.
“And I’m not pregnant. If we both say it enough times it’ll be true.”
“Stop it. I don’t know. She’s not clingy. Doesn’t want me for anything more than nocturnal vetting purposes.”
“Quit watching chick flicks.”
“I’m not tacking on years for anyone. Ever.”
“What’s so bad about being with someone you love?”
“Nothing. If I loved her. But we’re not that way. Not like you and Nye. The way the two of you look at each other…” Schmitty shook his head. “What’s the scariest part of having this child?”
“You’re so avoiding the subject.”
“Blah, blah, blah.”
“Fine, I just never saw myself as a mother.”
Schmitty’s arm wrapped around my shoulders and he pulled me close. I turned into his chest and started to cry. His hand stroked my back and he calmed me again.
“Kiriana, you’re being given a gift. Do not fear it.”
“Are you channeling Gabriel or something?”
“Shut up, I’m almost eighty. I’m allowed to be deep on Tuesday’s.”
My whole body shook when I giggled. “It’s Saturday.”
“Damn it. One of these days I’ll get it right.”
* * * *
PFC James Schmitt
Kiriana had finally calmed down by the time she got out of my car. I had watched her the whole ride back. Her reflection shone perfectly in my side mirror. Tears had been running down her cheeks the whole ride. I parked Nye’s bike and she looked like a little kid as she waited for me.
“It’ll be all right, KK. I promise. I think he’ll freak, then get over it quickly. Trust me, you’re gonna be the most hated and loved girl here.”
“I ’spose. I just don’t know if I’m ready for it. But it’s my only chance.”
“Yeah. That I’ve seen.”
My hand slid on the panel opening the foyer. KK stepped through, then I heard a scream followed by the feeling of a sledgehammer hitting my face. I flew into the wall. Warm blood gushed from my nose as I tried to open my eyes just in time to see Nye’s fist blacken them.
I could hear KK in the distance as my body continued to be pummeled. Nye’s knee was pressing hard into my gut, making me want to vomit. I swear his knee is pressing down so hard I think he’s going to go straight through my spine.
“Nye. Please. Stop. You’re hurting him. Nye.”
“How dare you touch my Other?” Nye screamed at me as another barrage of fists came my way.
“KK, don’t,” I warned, knowing that Nye’s fists were out of control. That was the last thing either of them needed right now. To have KK get hurt by an errant fist.
“Nye. Stop. Lars. Kiyoshi. Pull him off. Please, you’re hurting him.”
I could no longer feel Nye’s knee in my gut. KK was now cradling my head.
“Zarmina, get me some ice and towels please.” Her fingers petted what little hair I had on my head.
“How could you?” Nye screamed at KK. “How could you?”
I could hear the pain and anguish in his voice. I understood that, but he had it all wrong. If my throat wasn’t filling with blood I could try to explain. I coughed to clear my throat. KK leaned me over so I could spit.
“How could you?” KK screamed back. “He’s my partner. He’s the one who keeps me safe out there.”
I tried in vain to open my eyes, but couldn’t; they had completely swollen shut.
“You harlot.”
Oh shit! I’m glad I am not going to see what happens next.
KK was too slow in placing my head on the ground. I’m sure she was just trying to be gentle. At least that’s what the peanut gallery would think. I had seen her lose it before. She was going to attack and attack hard. My hand reached for her only to catch air.
“Did you feel it? His hand as it glided up my thigh.” What the hell is she doing? “Or his lips? As they worked their way down my throat.”
“Stop it!” Nye roared. “Stop it now!”
“Or wait…could you taste him? You could, couldn’t you?”
“I think I’m going to be sick,” Nye moaned.
I didn’t need to see him to know that his hand was on his gut. I had seen KK’s there for the past month.
“Do you want to know what that feeling is?”
She’s gonna beat the living shit out of him. Her voice was like the silent muggy air before a tornado. I felt some ice being applied and I knew that Zarmina had returned. The soft wiping of the cloth was almost enough to make me think I’d have a chance to see the storm.
“Disgust,” Nye spat.
Slap! That had to sting.
“You called me a slut!”
This was followed by another loud smacking sound that was not an open hand—it was a fist. The ohs and oooohs that sounded around the room verified that. The fact that I heard Nye fall into a table and shatter a vase confirmed it.
“I’m your Other. You’re with me for eternity and for all of eternity you’ll have to live with the fact that you called the mother of your child a slut.”
The whole room got cold.
“Knocked? You…you…you…can’t be knocked,” Nye stuttered.
“Haven’t you noticed the only thing you’ve been feelin’ is nausea? Not my partner fuckin’ me in his car. Or didn’t you notice two vehicles were gone. He chased me down.”
“You can’t be knocked.”
“’Member the rule about active viruses. Actively growing things.”
“You can’t be knocked.”
Yeah, she’s gonna hit him again. Each time he repeated his voice was more and more distant. Maybe he was trying to make it be untrue.
And there’s the contact. I’d say lower jaw by the snapping sound that followed.
“Fuck, that hurt.” Nye hit KK? No way. “Only in your fucked up world could I punch myself.”
That makes more sense. He may just live.
“It does cut back on domestic assaults,” Lars said.
Now I knew, from the year we fought together, Lars was trying to cut the tension, but the few months I’ve fought with Kiriana I knew the response would be…
“I don’t need a fucking peanut gallery.”
“You can’t be knocked up.”
“Look, rerun, I am. First Frozen on record. The baby didn’t freeze because it was actively growing. So if I freaked out and hopped on your bike trying to get away I think I have that right. And if my goddamn partner decided he didn’t want to fight alone tonight and went after me—well, he’s got the fucking right to. I love you. That’s the only thing saving you from becoming a pile of dust. Cuz right now you need to stay as far away from me as possible.”
I could hear her footsteps storming off, then Zarmina whispered in my ear. “Schmitty, I need to go calm her down.”
I nodded then braced myself again on the floor as I swooned from a head rush.
“Schmitty…” This is the first time Nye’s voice isn’t tempered with anger when he spoke to me.
I held my hand up.
“Just get me to the chamber,” I garbled. I spat what felt like a gallon of blood on the floor. Two hands came under my arms, helping me.
“James…I just want to apologize…I know—”
“Too soon, man. Way too soon.”
* * * *
Kiriana Kladshon George
It was worse than I could have ever imagined. How could he think I would cheat on him? How? What had I ever done to make him think that? I could feel a pressure and tightening in my chest as I went to our tree. The one I had put in special for the two of us. His damn magnolia tree. Did I ever ask him if it reminded him of the good things about Louise? No, because it’s just supposed to be about the two of us.
My back leaned against the thin trunk. This tree was barely six feet tall, but it still bloomed. It was beautiful to look at, but I suppose it wouldn’t be able to weather a storm. That’s what years take. Packing on layers of strength. We just didn’t have that. We hadn’t even gotten the chance to try that.
Pulling my legs up, I rested my arms on top of my knees and let my head lay to the side. My tears muddled up the field to the right of me.
“Kiriana?” Zarmina’s sweet voice spoke softly to me. “Kiriana, you must not allow yourself to get upset at this time.”
“Zarmina, what am I supposed to do? I’m pregnant by a man who right now thinks so little of me that he called me a slut.”
All I could envision was me crying on Maury. I never understood why those women were so stupid to go on that show, but in this instance it made sense.
“He didn’t mean it. And right now is about forgiveness.” Her arms cradled me from behind as she sat down. “Words said in anger are not to be taken seriously.”
“Why? They are the rawest emotions. The ones on the surface begging to get out. He meant it, Z. In that instance he truly believed that I could be that person.”
“Not in his heart. He couldn’t.”
“Why not? He said the past was behind us, but it obviously isn’t.”
“Kiriana, you share nothing from your past with me so I do not understand why he would think of you that way. Although I am greatly confused on how you have come to be with child.”
“Sex, Z.”
“I understand that, but then Lars and I should have had a hundred children by now.”
“Oh…we were together before we were sealed.”
“Oh.” The tone in her voice made me realize that she did not approve. In fact I think I just lost what little respect I had previously. “I guess I never thought of that scenario.”
“Maybe you and I just come from too different of worlds.”
“The only world that matters now is the world you have created with your Other.”
Zarmina turned suddenly and Nye’s voice softly flowed from behind me.
“Kiri…may I apologize…?”
“Go away.”
“I deserve that…”
“Go. Away.” I could feel the sting of my tears forming again in my eyes.
“I don’t know what came over…”
“You called me a whore.”
Zarmina stood up, kissing me on top of my head. A scowl crossed her face as she turned to leave.
“Technically, I called you a harlot. Seeing as that other word has been stricken from the vocab—”
“You do realize that we made love less than twelve hours ago. We didn’t screw. We didn’t fuck. We made love!”
“I didn’t note the time.”
“Well, I do. Because I count the seconds between each kiss. You’re my whole life. You’re everything to me.”
I still couldn’t look at him. I don’t care what Z said. This cannot be forgiven.
“Can I claim the hormonal imbalance?”
“No!”
“Can I have you look at me?”
“No!”
“Okay. Both are fair. But, Kiri—”
“Don’t call me Kiri.”
“Kiriana, I—”
“Nye, there is nothing you can say to me. How could you even think that I would cheat on you?” I finally looked at him. “Why did you seal with me if you thought I’d do that to you?”
He knelt beside me. “I don’t feel like I’m enough for you.”
“I thought the past was gone. I can’t undo what I’ve done or who I was.”
“I know.”
He sat on the ground and pulled me to him. His arms were cold against my skin. It’s amazing that we can’t hide our emotions here. Annoying and amazing. I wished that I could have hid my fear and anxiety over this situation.
“It’s just sometimes I think you want more.”
“You give me everything I need and more. Hell, you even gave me a child. How many Others can claim that? You need to make other accommodations for a few days at least.”
“Kiriana, please…”
“Nye, I was afraid. The only reason Schmitty came after me was because he saw me take off. He didn’t know why I left, but he was scared because of how I looked. When I took your Chief and was driving worse than you, he really got scared. He held back and watched me for a while before he came to talk to me. He was just in the right place at the right time.”
“I don’t want to sleep alone.”
“Think about that next time. No. There better not be a next time.” I pulled myself up and started to walk away. Nye’s hand landed between my hips, stopping me.
“There’s really a sucker in there?”
I placed my hand on his. “Yes. Yours. Just in case you were worried about that.” I then turned and walked away.
“I wasn’t,” he yelled, but I still couldn’t turn around.
* * * *
PFC James Schmitt
“So, you miss me now?” Lars teased as he helped me settled onto the granite counter of the healing table.
The cold slab was easy to clean and kept the body rigid. Right now I’d prefer softness.
“Is Dilana as stubborn?”
“Yes, but she also can back her shit up.” Lars dabbed a cold cloth on my cheek, and then I felt a solid cold steel object under my eye. “I know you haven’t been trying to sleep with KK.”
“At least one person in the damn house does.”
“Most do, it's just the newbies who don’t even know who’s who that are confused.”
I could smell witch hazel. Unlike humans who distill the herb, we tended to turn it into a paste with a bit of peppermint to reduce the swelling. A delicate hand surprised me as a new voice spoke.
“Have you ever tried yarrow? I’ve found it helps with clotting.”
“I don’t think that’s an issue, Esther.”
“Think or know?” she asked as she finished applying the paste under my eyes. With my rapid healing in combination with the pure intensity of the herbs I could feel the swelling reduce.
Lars pressed harder under my right eye then a warm burn from the scalpel cutting into my swollen cheek sent a shock of pain across my face and down my spine. I screamed out and felt the weight of Lars on my shoulder.
“Ready to sit up again?” Lars whispered. “Or am I gonna need to get a tampon from your purse?”
“I hate you.”
When I sat up a clot of blood escaped my cheekbone followed by a warm trickle down my cheek. Moments later light flickered and I was no longer in darkness, but everything was hazy.
“Ready for the next one?”
“No,” I growled.
“We could give him something for the pain,” Esther offered.
“Now…after you’ve mangled my face you offer.”
“Most men can take the drainage.”
A nut shot from the new girl. Great.
“I’m good. Just don’t hold me down this time.”
“You sure?” Lars asked. “I don’t want you swinging on Esther.”
“Bring Berlin in here. Maybe I’ll get bonus points from KK.”
“Not funny,” Esther said. “Don’t worry, little miss is gonna break a nail soon.”
“It’s not her nail KK wants broken,” I sighed as Lars looked for the sweet spot to cut on my left cheek. “Let’s do this.”
“You sure?” Esther asked as the freshly cleaned blade glistened from an overhead light.
“No,” I pouted. “But do it. Now.”
Another slice, drain, and pressure followed by surgical glue because I’d need only a few hours to heal, especially with the herbs knitting my flesh together. Lars and Esther checked my ribs while Zarmina pulled together items from the green house.
“Now what?” Lars walked me up to my room.
“Now, I’m going to shower and heal myself the only way I know.”
“Alcohol and pussy?”
“Yes, I tend to not need to be glued back together after either of those.”
“Then you aren’t doing them right.”