Rebirth

by H. P. Mallory

  God, how I wanted to cringe. That was the best I could do? Still, Alaire didn’t seem to notice or, at least, he didn’t let me know if he did.

  “No, dear Persephone, I believe I prefer to stay for the show,” he said, never taking his eyes off me as they crawled up and down my body salaciously.

  The way he said Persephone…

  Maybe he knows I’m not the one I’m pretending to be.

  My heart raced and calmly as possible, I turned away from him so that all he would see was my ass. Then I dropped the towel, eager to get this over with. Just before this interruption, I took out the only piece of underwear that wasn’t crotchless in Persephone’s drawer. It was no more than a bright red thong that could have passed for dental floss but I put it on in record time. Then I yanked my dress up as quickly as I could, feeling Alaire’s leering eyes all over me.

  Once everything was neatly in place, I turned back to face him. “Well? I presume there must be a reason why you’re disturbing my peace and quiet by making such an impromptu and unwelcome appearance?”

  This time, I went full-tilt diva with the bitch factor. I still wasn’t ready to receive an Oscar but it was much better than my earlier attempts.

  The blonde manipulator exhaled a world-weary sigh that would have sounded credible to anyone who didn’t know him well. “I can only imagine what is currently vexing you, my dear, but I shall not venture to ask.”

  Thank God!

  “I just came from an overly long meeting with Streethorn today,” he continued as I eyed him warily. “He’s starting to ask a lot of questions.”

  I perked up. Maybe the guy who sold me on this tragic carpet ride of a job wasn’t as unaware of Alaire’s grandiose plans as I previously thought.

  “Is there anything about those questions I need to know?” I asked, hoping he’d take me up on it.

  “No, no, it’s nothing, darling,” he said as he dismissed me with an offhanded wave. “To be blunt, that boring, little man’s inquiries are something I don’t want to even think about any longer.”

  “Very well,” I sighed as I took a deep breath. “If it should become more than just a ‘nothing’ and we do need to talk, you know where to find me.” Honestly, I wanted him to talk to me right this second—and fill me in on any business dealings he had with Streethorn. But I gained nothing by pushing him, even if I were supposed to be his queen bitch.

  A curious smile popped up on his face that didn’t reach his eyes. “Thank you, my dear.”

  “Yep, you’re welcome.”

  Alaire pivoted on the balls of his feet and started out the door, abruptly stopping dead in his tracks. “You’ve never said that before.”

  My heart skipped a beat or two and not in the way it did with Tallis. “Said what?”

  “Yep,” he answered, putting extra emphasis on the word as he turned his head to the side to study me with narrowing eyes. My heart nearly dropped onto the floor. “It’s sounds so… colloquial of you.”

  The good news was my heart began to beat again. The bad news was it was actually pounding. “Oh, well, you know…” I started to say. When he looked at me like he expected me to say more, I added with a hesitant smile, “When in Rome…”

  Alaire’s eyes relaxed before he smiled back and nodded. “Indeed… I like it. I may just get you finally acclimated to this new world, my queen.”

  ###

  Our dinner that evening was a feast of roast beef that smelled so good, it made my mouth water. Alongside it were generous portions of buttery mashed potatoes, grilled asparagus and garlic bread, fresh from the oven.

  After reminding myself of the part I was playing, I looked over at Alaire and smiled broadly. I hoped to appear like I was accepting an overdue tribute.

  “It all looks most appetizing, my king,” I said, doing my best to keep my smile in a condescending smirk.

  Alaire simply nodded and sat down in his chair at the other end of the table. My shared memories with Persephone indicated this was the same table where Persephone told Saxon to go down on her. In the same room where Alaire later murdered him before he could finish his task. I tried not to wonder what must have become of Saxon’s body.

  That memory and all the feelings that accompanied it were the only thing that prevented me from leaping onto the food. The seat in front of me suddenly pulled away from the table on its own. I tried not to act surprised and instead, I sat down with as much dignity as a queen should have. Invisible hands positioned me at my place at the head of the table.

  “So,” I began before taking a dainty sip from the chalice I found in front of me. I didn’t remember seeing it get filled with wine. But there it now stood, filled to the brim with a blood-red claret. At least my vocabulary had managed to pick up some colorful additions to it since Persephone had occupied my body. Before she stole my form, I didn’t even know the first thing about wine, much less that the glass I was now drinking could be classified as a claret. I took a sip and appreciated how clean and dry it felt inside my throat.

  “So,” Alaire said with another cold, appraising smile as he studied me.

  “Are you certain there is nothing you can share about your discussion with Jason Streethorn?” I forced a giggle as I set the glass down. “At the very least, you could tell me how that old Duke of Limbs is doing, surely?”

  Duke of Limbs? I repeated as I inwardly shook my head. Yeah, there was definitely some leftover Persephone language trapped inside my head.

  Alaire shrugged. “Streethorn remains Streethorn. As to the rest, well, it’s truly nothing important, I promise.”

  “Well, if it’s so trivial, surely it qualifies as decent subject matter,” I neatly interrupted him. Persephone herself couldn’t have put it better.

  He reluctantly nodded while toying with the food on his plate. “Streethorn just wanted to know why so many of his Retrievers failed to return from missions in the Underground City of late.”

  He leaned forward and carved a slice of meat in front of him. I observed the reddish juice falling back onto his plate, and it made me think of poor Saxon again. I tried to conceal my discomfort by picking up my glass and swallowing another gulp of the French wine.

  “And what, pray tell, was your response?” I asked at the end of my swallow.

  “Oh, I just explained that the less capable Retrievers were bound to have a more difficult time dealing with my increased security and protocol. Casualties are routinely inevitable.”

  I wanted to throw the chalice right at his head. Those Retrievers were most likely just doing the same crappy job I’d been suckered into. Jason Streethorn offered me a whopping two minutes to decide between taking a stint of retrieving errant souls or spending the next hundred years in Shade, a place which he characterized as the world’s worst waiting room. What kind of choice was that?

  The anger coursing through me, I took another sip of alcohol to collect myself. It was a deeper gulp than I intended but I feared my outrage might show through my calm façade if I didn’t drink more to numb myself.

  That’s when I started to feel a little loopy. Yes, the Lily Harper of old was never much of a drinker. Small wonder why this wine went straight to my head. And even though I knew Persephone had the appetite of a baby hummingbird, by God, I was really hungry.

  Screw it, I’m eating!

  I slammed down my glass a lot harder than I meant to before grabbing a serving fork to pile on the meat and mashed potatoes. Alaire eyed me with a bemused grin that I tried to ignore. With great gusto, I sat back and began cutting up my roast beef, being ever so careful not to appear too ravenous. I speared a small piece and brought it to my lips. The meat was so juicy and tender that it practically melted on my tongue. I couldn’t conceive how Persephone managed to consume so little as she had.

  Better to starve than to be considered a talking pig!

  I froze.

  That voice.

  That was just the alcohol talking, right? Right?!

  Methodically chewing t
he bite that was in my mouth, I carefully placed my fork back on my plate. Then, I dabbed the corners of my lips with the silk napkin I held in my lap. Alaire just continued to stare at me.

  “You appear to have quite an appetite this evening,” he said. “At last.”

  I nodded, my heart still pounding from the bizarre thought that entered my head. “Well, this evening, I must admit I am feeling quite famished,” I said. The words came out slightly inaudible from the half-chewed food in my mouth.

  “So I see,” Alaire responded, downing the rest of his glass. The curiosity I saw in his eyes made me more uncomfortable by the second. “Perhaps you are with child?”

  The bite I was chewing nearly exploded from my mouth at the horrid thought.

  Please, please, please! Don’t let me be pregnant, I repeated to myself. Granted, my hunger wasn’t too alarming to me but that didn’t alter the repetitive sex acts Alaire and Persephone were frequently having, so there was a chance… I swallowed hard. To Alaire, I said. “I wasn’t aware that you could procreate?”

  He shrugged as if he were not certain of the answer himself. “I imagine stranger things must have happened.”

  I swallowed my food before trying to stray as far from that conversation as possible. “So… what is the next big step for the almighty Master of the Underground City?” Yes, asking something so obvious was definitely a risk. But I needed more information from Alaire about his plans. As long as he believed I was still on his side, I needed to gather as much as I could.

  “And its eternal Queen,” he said.

  “What?” I asked, confounded by his response.

  “The almighty Master and eternal Queen of the Underground City,” Alaire corrected me. “After all, we are now the newest power pair, as modern parlance goes.”

  I forced a wide, but obnoxious grin. “So we are! But where would you be without your Queen at your side?” I swallowed another gulp of wine to avoid wincing. The sense of increased liberation alerted me that this might not be a good idea. I needed to pace myself. Although Persephone never did…

  Alaire simply smiled and nodded at me before returning to his own meal. I didn’t fail to notice that he never answered me. Things were quiet for a little while, something I wasn’t ungrateful for. Then, straight out of the blue, the old memories of Alaire returned. He was holding me like a hostage and cupping my breast while he taunted Tallis. The shock of seeing that instantly made me lose my appetite. Just. Like. That.

  I dropped my fork with a clink and pushed myself away from the table.

  Oh, the harlot is done stuffing her face? Surely, there are some crumbs on the ground that you could vacuum up with your grotesque mouth?

  There was no doubt in my mind that I hadn’t been thinking any of those words.

  My heart sped up and I felt the hairs on my neck standing at attention. The room seemed ten degrees colder. One name repeated in my rapidly clouding mind: Persephone. Was it possible that the queen bitch managed an escape from her metaphysical grave? Was it possible that she still lived inside me?

  You’re a lot smarter than I ever believed, the voice goaded me.

  “Persephone?”

  Get out of my head, MY head! I screamed in my own mind with a shudder of sheer horror.

  “Persephone!”

  I jolted upright, knocking my chair over. Immediately, I looked at Alaire, who was watching me with uncanny interest. I picked up the chair, pushing it into the table before taking a moment to straighten out my dress.

  “I,” I faltered. “I’m not feeling well.”

  “Naturally, you are excused, my dear,” Alaire responded with an expression of disgust and a casual hand wave.

  But I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to care about what he may have suspected. I had to get away from the table and Alaire. I had to retire to the privacy of my bedroom and figure out what the hell was happening to me. Specifically, why Persephone’s voice was still in my head.

  “As if there was ever any doubt,” I said with a weak smile, trying my hardest to stay in character. I turned on my toes and immediately exited the dining room.

  Without fleeing to my bedroom, I walked briskly enough to cause several of the Watchers that lingered in the hallways to stop and actually observe my behavior.

  To hell with them! Yes, not the smartest thought to have right then, but this was becoming too much.

  I pushed open the door to my room and promptly slammed it shut. The walls rattled as the thick wooden door crashed against its frame. I leaned against it before I slid down to the floor. My heart was pounding and my breaths were coming in small, sporadic gasps. I felt lightheaded, frightened out of my wits, and… well, also drunk.

  Chapter Nine

  Lily

  Tallis’s dank cell in the tower smelled of mold and desperation.

  With the melted candles cleared away and both of his hands bound to the wall once more, it looked like nothing was amiss. But the pity and anger rising inside me at seeing him like this made my eyes water and my hands shake with outrage.

  I promise you, Tallis, I’m going to get you out of here, I silently vowed. Whatever it takes.

  Tallis lay still, not in a sleeping stillness but the dead kind. My heart lodged in my throat as I took a step forward, fearing the absolute worst. Until I glimpsed the telltale rising of his chest as he inhaled and exhaled. My utter relief was palpable and I didn’t realize that I’d been holding my breath until then.

  His hair was so long now that it completely covered his face. The beard was also a new feature that had sprouted during his captivity. I wished I could see his scar, his most unique and human feature.

  I checked and double-checked the tower to ensure that no Watchers or other servants were nearby. The fear that Alaire would discover my true identity was stomach-churning to the point where I had a severe case of heartburn. Glancing in both directions to confirm that I was alone—save for Tallis, of course—I took a step forward and wrapped my hands around the bars of his prison.

  With a deep breath, I called his name. “Tall—”

  “Ah dinnae have the strength tae please ye,” he interrupted. His words were gasping and weak, imbuing a terrible credence to his remark. His head didn’t move at all. The way his voice bounced around the cell, Tallis could have been talking to me from anywhere.

  At first, I was confused by his comment until I remembered whom he thought I was. I also remembered his parting words to me in the land between dreams. He said I’d have to convince him I wasn’t Persephone because he wouldn’t realize I was back to myself again.

  “Tallis, I didn’t come here to use you,” I stated as I unlocked his cell and entered. I moved closer, lodging my knee next to him. The smell that wafted off him was intensely unpleasant—sweat, dirt, blood.

  “Then git oan wif it,” he said, further vexing me.

  “It’s me, Tallis, it’s me… Lily.” He didn’t move or say anything for a few moments. “Tallis, did you hear me?”

  “Aye, I heard ye!” He thrust his head up at me, grinding his teeth. The hair in his face flew back as he started kicking and pulling on his chains. “Ye bloody witch!”

  I fell back, a startled yip! escaping my throat. Crawling backwards along the rough stone floor, I could only scrape my hands as I went. But Tallis continued to fight against the chains holding him in place and he glared at me with obvious outrage. I waited for him to stop, which didn’t take long. I tried not to think about how much precious strength he’d just used up.

  “Tallis,” I said as I held up my hands, wanting only to comfort him.

  “Ah’m done wif yer games,” he spat at me. “Leave meh be.”

  “I’m not playing any games with you,” I replied as I crawled closer to him again. I remained on my knees this time, holding up my hands once more to make him see I had no intention of trying to hurt him. My memories confirmed that Persephone did her fair share of flogging, whipping and beating him. A realization that left me sad and ill, not to
mention how much worse it made this. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be.

  “How dare ye use the woman Ah love against meh!” His words were choked, sounding even frailer than his first words. I didn’t know what I would do if he started crying.

  “Tallis, please, you have to believe me.” Yes, a weak plea, true, but the shock of his reaction negated any carefully worded arguments I’d stored up for this talk. “I promise you! It’s really me… Lily. You helped me get rid of Persephone through our dreams!”

  Tallis shook his head, and his hair and beard went flailing around him like an angry mop. “Nae,esom, Ah ‘ave done nae sooch thing. Ye think I’d forget somethin’ like that?” His hands were balled up into fists, and he was straining hard against his shackles. I stood up using the wall before I replied.

  “Yes, you did, you just don’t remember it,” I attested, my heart pounding. If looks could kill, I would have been cold and dead more than two seconds ago. “You and I trapped Persephone’s spirit together by Fergus Cast...”

  “Dinnae dare say the name o’ that castle,” he admonished me. His eyes shone through his hair, like pinpoints of hate. “Feces sittin’ in the chamberpot has more honor than ye.”

  Despite his comment being directed at Persephone, it didn’t take the bite out of the slur. Then Tallis unleashed a slurry of names and insults that got less comprehensible the more he talked. I tried to ignore the verbal assault he threw at me. All the while, an unwelcome cackling laughter kept echoing inside my head.

  Not now! I chided the laughing voice internally. Previously, I’d worried that Perspehone–whether real or just a figment of my overwhelmed mind—would visit me while I was in the process of doing this. The timing couldn’t have been worse.

  I shut you out! I screamed at myself, which was really directed at her, or whatever the actual source of my internal torment was. I stood and held up my chin stubbornly as if to stress the strength behind my conviction. Not another peep came from the other voice so I figured—and hoped—that my determination was working.