“You should have called me sooner,” Rosie says as she stares at the swirling obsidian column. She pulls her hand back and grimaces. “It feels so aggressive. I hate it. I never want to see it again.”
“I’d rather not see it again either,” Marlow comments from the open door.
“Thank you for coming, Rosie. Trust me, I’d have called you here sooner if I could,” I say, hovering behind her. Asher leans against the door weakly. I told him to wait in the living room, but naturally, he refused.
Rosie circles the obsidian again. “This monstrosity…We will have to blow up your house. The energy has to be used up to leave the crystal, so creating chaos from the chaos energy is the only way to free it.”
“Shit,” I say, stepping back in reaction.
Rosie nods. “I’d use a stronger word.”
“Can you unravel what the coven did to the sister crystals?” Marlow asks her, coming further into the room. “There are a few others made from this one.”
Rosie places her hand near the crystal again, a look of concentration crossing her features, and worries her lip. “It has become its own entity after decades of chaos. It’s alive. I should be able to reach the other crystals through this one, they have a connection,” Rosie says after a minute. “I believe that destroying this one could corrupt all of them. But we won’t know for sure until we try.”
I look to Marlow. “Are you okay with that? Exploding them all could mean the deaths of anyone near the other crystals.”
“If a family is using the crystal, they are not innocent. Some may be in the crossfire, but we can’t help them. Hopefully, they are clear of the blast if that is the case. If they aren’t, sometimes it’s better to be dead. Knowing what other generations came before this…” She pauses, swallowing hard and tears shimmering in her eyes. “I would be surprised if there is any good left in any of them after I left. I don’t know what could have survived those environments.”
“You survived, Mom. You did,” Asher tells her.
“Thank you,” she says back, lips in a tight line.
I couldn’t imagine what that was like. While immortality can bless many, she lived through it captured, forced, and bred like cattle. I turn my thoughts from it. It will get better now.
“What do we need to do?” Asher asks. He comes forward and holds onto my waist to gain purchase. I cover his hand with mine and squeeze.
“A few steps,” she explains. “Obviously, take out anything you want to keep from the house. Then, we are going to set a protective circle around the perimeter to try and keep as much fallout from happening as we can. It won’t be one hundred percent safe, but we need to try and keep your neighbors’ homes secure. Lastly, we set off the crystal. I’m not sure how to do that without actually being in the room, so we’ll have to figure that part out.”
“I can do it,” Marlow replies. “Just tell me how. I’m indestructible, so the blast won’t kill me.”
Rosie turns and looks at her, considering. “How much have you tested your ability?”
“It’s true I’ve never tried to explode before, but people have attempted to shoot and stab me and my skin doesn’t cut. I’ve held my hand over a flame and it feels uncomfortable and warm, but I haven’t had burn marks from it. My hair can’t catch fire—I tried that once.” Marlow pulls her hair around her shoulder, braiding it. “I can pass out from suffocation. Though, I don’t know what happens if that is prolonged. This won’t kill me. And if it does…I’ve lived a long time. I deserve the peace.”
“Don’t say that,” I say. “You deserve to live a life of your own choosing first.” I’m struck again by what she has been through, what she has done, and what she has had to consider. Asher grips my hand tightly and I squeeze back.
“Some people are beyond choices, beyond options, and beyond saving,” Marlow says, shaking her head. “Let me know the instructions later, Rosie. I’m going to go pack some things up.”
Rosie purses her lips but nods back in acknowledgement and goes back to examining the crystal. Her bright pink hair shines, standing out in the swirl of the dark crystal. In front of the pentagram, she is home. She clears the supplies from the points of the star previously used for crystal harvesting.
I watch Marlow walk away and feel a swell of emotion in my chest. Asher tries to move around me, releasing my hand, but I grab his shirt and pull him back. “Give her a few minutes. We’ll talk to her later,” I assure him and peck his lips. He agrees and on Rosie’s advice, goes to pack up.
I help Rosie with her duffle bag of supplies and she starts to plan the ritual.
* * *
“I feel like a wrung-out towel,” Asher complains and sits down gently on his old bed. We couldn’t use our new room. The smell of blood was too fragrant in that hall. Marlow and Rosie stayed in the same hotel Marlow was in yesterday. We could have gone with her, but something about exploding your home in twelve hours makes you want to stay one last time. Even if it was the scene of multiple murders.
When did I start thinking of this massive house that had too much testosterone and a history of abuse as my home?
I lay down next to Asher, careful not to brush his bandaged torso. “Are you okay?”
“No,” he says, staring up at the ceiling. “You?”
“I am, actually,” I say and surprise myself.
“Delighting in our suffering?” Asher asks, not looking at me. His lips form a tight line.
“Is that what you think of me?” I ask, feeling a sharp pain in my chest.
“That’s how we met. You were having fun making men suffer.” He doesn’t sound angry, but the statement still hurts. I can’t pinpoint what he wants to gain from this. It feels unlike him.
“That was before,” I defend. Did he suddenly decide what draws him to me isn’t enough?
“Now you don’t find that fun?” Asher asks, but he doesn’t seem inquisitive.
“Of course, upsetting random men is still fun. But not you. Never would I want that with you,” I assert, wondering where this conversation is coming from.
He sighs and turns his head to look at me. “I know. I’m sorry I said that. I don’t actually think it. It’s just…now everything is done. My brothers are gone. The crystal will be destroyed. My mom…I don’t even know what to think of all she has been through and hell that’s to come for her. I don’t know what to do anymore and who to be. It’s just done. Who am I after this? Now that the dust is going to settle, do you even want to be with me when I’m no longer someone to entertain you?”
“First, don’t ever fucking say that again. Remember, we learned that relying on people sucks and that we want to get married? Hold onto that. What’s happening right now is fucked up, but don’t let it stain you now.” I brush my hand over his arm, making it a point to touch each rose tattoo. “As for what we do next, we can steal the money from your dead brothers and then be whoever we want to be. Or just say fuck it, leave their blood money behind, get shitty jobs, and figure it out on our own back in my old apartment. I can beg for my barista job back. I stopped showing up after I moved in here so they’ll probably say no, but they aren’t the only coffee shop in town. It won’t be perfect tomorrow. Or in a year. Or in five. Let yourself heal for a while and we’ll take it from there.”
“I’m sorry, Kiera. I was defensive because I was scared,” Asher says with a sigh. “I love you. Thank you for staying with me, centering me, bringing me to life again.” After a moment he adds, “Wait, you still have your own apartment?”
“Yeah, since we were living with your homicidal crime lord family, I thought keeping an escape route was necessary.” There was no way in hell I was putting all my eggs in their baskets.
“Good point,” Asher agrees.
“I usually have those.” I am quick to remind him of this fact.
“Shush, we’ve been working on your ego,” Asher says playfully.
“My ego isn’t the problem. It’s the world’s fragility. Now, you are in pain. Let me spoil you like how you spoil me, okay?”
I take his clothes off slowly, carefully, and bring out the massage oil bottle. I’m careful not to use any near his bandages, but thoroughly rub his legs and cock. When he is slippery, whimpering, and near his edge, I take off my shirt and lean down, rubbing his cock between my breasts. I don’t feed on him—this is his first day home after all. Happy hormones help with healing, don’t they? I keep the momentum going, sliding my body on his cock until he is jelly. He moans his release, coming onto my breasts, neck, and under my chin.
When he is spent, I sit up and wipe off before lying beside him. We hold each other naked in the bed that started it all. I stare at the gray wall until we both fall into a deep sleep. I’ll miss this bed, despite it all.