by Chloe Garner
“Cut it out,” Tina said, putting the bottle up on top of the refrigerator and washing the pink fluid off of the cleaver down the sink.
She had time.
Kyle didn’t.
She went and sat on the floor again, looking at the weapons around her.
“I think it’s safe to assume that at least some of these are designed to kill us. As quickly as possible. No telling where they got their test subjects. I don’t even want to think about it. But it seems evident that they work. These guys are serious about their science, and while they’re cultist whack jobs, they do seem to be able to keep people from actually dying when they kill them, and that’s pretty impressive, as far as I’m concerned. Whatever we do, we’re going to have to assume they’re armed well enough to kill us if they get a chance at it, and we have to assume that Kyle is going to sympathize more with them than us.”
“Just going to float this, and I swear I’m not saying it to be an ass,” Hunter said. “Why do you have to rescue him at all? He’s a grown man, he made a decision, and it’s sounding like the three of you believe he’s actually more likely to survive than die. He’s getting what he wants. Who are you to tell him he isn’t allowed to have it?”
There was a long silence, and Tell nodded.
“It’s a valid point,” he said. “And if I thought that they were dealing with him in good faith, I’d give it even more credit. But they’re still hoping that he comes through as bait for Colette…”
“No,” Tina said. “They could have killed her. Easier, actually, to sweep her into the building where she was already standing and to off her right then and there, but they were holding her for something.”
“They want to make an example of me, as a loyalty test for Kyle,” Colette said. “You don’t walk away from the Order, knowing their secrets, and survive it.”
Tina slammed her hand over her mouth.
“You’re one of them,” she said through her fingers.
Colette looked at her sharply.
“What?”
Tina closed her eyes.
“That’s why you know as much as you do,” she said. “The process to the science, the way that the men act as individuals. What they’re like. Tell hid you away in safe houses the entire time he was protecting you.”
“He told me that stuff,” Colette said. “And I saw it. That’s all.”
“You’re lying,” Tell said softly, like the words cost him pain. “How did you manage to keep me from knowing, before?”
“I never lied to you,” Colette said, standing and backing away. “I never, ever lied. I just… You heard the story you wanted to hear, and you never asked me anything, because you thought I was ignorant.”
Tina watched her, stunned.
“You said that they kill each other all the time,” Tina said.
“They do,” Colette said.
“They don’t take women,” Tell said.
He stood.
Tina could tell from a tick in the way he moved that he was still feeling the bullet wounds, but he stood straight and faced Colette with square shoulders.
“Tell me,” he said. “What was your relationship with them?”
“It’s not what… I didn’t… It was so cool. Everything they were doing. I mean, the giant science kit setups and all of the procedures and the science. They were testing all kinds of things, and they were just advanced enough to actually have some hope of doing it right. Of having it work.”
“Tell me what your relationship was with them,” Tell said.
“I was dating Elroy,” Colette said. “He was my neighbor and I saw him around and he flirted with me. We were young and he was attractive, and I was single and… There’s nothing wrong with any of that. And he had all of these guy friends who came around all the time, and they all treated me so well, and they were smart, and they were so loyal…”
“Not the fairy tale,” Tell said. “Tell me the truth.”
“I figured it out,” Colette said. “What they were doing. Bit by bit. He would be working on problems and I asked him questions that would help him figure it out. And I figured it out. And… He was so happy. That I was worthy. No woman had ever been worthy before, and the guys… They all but worshiped at my feet, Tell. They did. And then… I was there, when it happened. I didn’t see it through my window. That was the lie I told the police, and you heard it from them. I only ever told you that I saw it. And Elroy… I watched him murder a man. And he enjoyed it. I mean, Solomon was screaming and begging, and they just stood there and watched while he…”
Her voice caught.
“So you called the police,” Tina said.
“I lost faith,” Colette said. “I called the police, but when they got there, it had already worked, and they were gone, and Solomon… He was too important to them. They loved him. So he told them that nothing had happened, and they came after me. The Order. For betraying them. Elroy…”
“You spurned him,” Tina said, and Colette nodded. Tell’s head ticked to the side, warning Tina not to help Colette with her story anymore. He couldn’t tell if she was lying if Tina was feeding her words. Tina nodded understanding, even though he couldn’t see her.
“It doesn’t change anything,” Colette said. “They’re still using my brother to get to me. They still want me dead. They still want to hurt me as much as they can. They just… They aren’t only interested in killing me. She’s right. They want to hurt me as much as they can before I die.”
Tina swallowed, feeling anger and pity for both her and Tell. She glanced at Hunter, who had his arms crossed and looked smug like he’d known it all along.
He really was a jerk, but it made her like him more, just then.
“I’m sorry,” Colette said. “I just liked how you looked at me. Thought I was innocent in all of it. After the first conversation, it was all but lying, and I couldn’t take it back. You were just… You were everything that Elroy was, without being cruel.”
“Oh, honey,” Tina breathed. She stood, walking past Tell. She glanced over her shoulder at him, and he nodded once. He was done with her. Tina looked Colette in the eye and nodded.
“You are going to make a list of every food, every chemical, every step in the process of resurrecting someone, in as great a detail as you can remember,” she said.
“It’s been so long,” Colette said.
“I bet if you start, you’ll remember more than you think,” Tina said. “The cafe table over by the window. I’ll bring you some paper.”
“Tell,” Colette said softly, but he’d turned his back and he didn’t face her again.
Tina looked Colette in the eye and nodded.
“Give him some time,” she said. “It’s never going to be the same, like it was, but you aren’t the worst person in his life. You got out before you were one of them.”
Colette sighed, deflated, and she nodded.
“I never thought they would actually kill him,” she said. “I keep thinking if I could just talk to them, but there’s nothing to say. Is there?”
Tina shook her head.
“You don’t negotiate with men like that,” she said.
“You let Lucas live,” Colette said.
“I met his wife,” Tina answered. “And it could still be the thing that gets me killed.”
Colette sighed.
“You prefer pen and paper?” she asked, and Tina nodded.
“I do. It’s harder for someone to get hold of unexpectedly.”
The woman nodded, her head hanging slightly as she walked over to the cafe tables by herself. Tina went to stand with her shoulder against Hunter’s chest.
“She’s wasted her life on him,” she said quietly.
“She looks like Helen,” Hunter answered. “Otherwise Tell would have seen through her from the start.”
“Where did he go?” Tina asked, raising her head. The man was capable of moving like nothing at all, when he chose it.
“Upstairs to get cleaned up,�
� Hunter answered. “The fountains just got on the elevator downstairs.”
“No,” Tina said. “Don’t tell me you can hear that.”
She heard him grin.
“I saw the text from Vince on Tell’s phone,” he said. “But I love how insecure you are about your hearing.”
She turned to wrap her arms around his chest.
“I like you being beside me during the day,” she said, barely a whisper, for his ears only.
“Bed was empty without you,” he answered. “You fed.”
“I did,” she said. “Got shot.”
He pulled her back to stand out at the end of his arms, tipping his chin.
“Right. I see it there, now. Where did you find the fountain?”
“Cut him out of the herd at Partridge,” Tina said, and Hunter’s face lit up. Tina had no idea why.
“You did it,” he said happily. “All by yourself.”
“Paid him with Tell’s money,” Tina said, and Hunter snorted.
“The money is only there to make you feel better about it,” he said. “Believe me, he would have let you feed on him just for the rush of it.”
Tina snorted, and he pulled her in against his chest again, smelling her hair.
“Oh, yeah,” he said. “He would have.”
Even knowing what it was he smelled on her, Tina was astonished.
“Why does that not bother you?” she asked.
“He’s just a human,” Hunter answered. “So what if every man on the planet wants you? Seriously?”
She shook her head, then looked over at Colette.
“I’m going to go get some paper,” she said.
“I’ll greet the fountains,” Hunter answered with a wink.
Tell fed.
Colette wrote.
Hunter sat on a couch facing Tina with an expression that said that if she lost focus at all, he was going to come over and wrap himself around her and she wasn’t going to be able to talk herself into stopping him.
“What is with you?” she asked, and he grinned.
“What isn’t with you?” he answered.
She looked over at where Tell was sitting with the three women Hunter had ordered from Everyone & Everything.
“You didn’t order yourself a fountain,” Tina said. “Why not?”
“I did,” he answered. “I just got distracted.”
“I said three for him,” Tina said.
“Third one is coming at dawn,” Hunter told her. “He can’t digest that much blood that quickly, and, well, honestly they don’t make that great of company, if I’m not allowed to screw them. Since I figured the two of you, at least, were going to run off storming the castle, I asked Kirsten not to send the last one over until he was actually going to need her.”
“You see the problem with that, right?” Tina asked. He grinned.
“You think I shouldn’t have sex with women who can’t carry a conversation,” he said. She raised her eyebrows, and he shrugged.
Was watching her face, just for a moment, and smiled again, slowly breaking into a grin.
“You get it, though, don’t you? You went to Partridge, you went back into the back with a guy and you fed on him. All this pretension is you trying to talk yourself out of it.”
She twisted her mouth to the side.
“I might. Doesn’t make it okay.”
“You keep telling yourself that,” he answered.
“Don’t you dare,” Colette said from the other room. “You’re right and he’s wrong. He’s a jerk. Everything he says, you ask yourself, is this the boyfriend material talking, or is this the jerk talking?”
Tina looked over her shoulder. Their volume had been drifting up, and she’d forgotten about the woman being there to listen.
Colette was watching her with an unguarded expression.
“You’re right,” she said. “It doesn’t matter how willing they are to offer themselves up to you, you’re responsible for treating them like human beings.”
Tina nodded.
“Yeah.”
Colette returned to her list.
Tina turned to raise her eyebrow at Hunter again, but he was next to her on the couch, sliding in so that his chest curled around her back and he tucked his chin over her shoulder.
She turned her face in toward him, a part of her feeling like she ought to fight with him, ought to make a point that it wasn’t that simple, the two of them, but he smiled, his face creasing against hers, and then it just was.
They were warm and familiar together, skin on skin, laying still. Tina listened to him breathe, listened to the lack of noise coming out of Colette downstairs, the playful tones of conversation coming from Tell’s room.
“It bother you, that she’s in there with him?” Tina asked.
“Why would it?” he answered. “Does it bother you when a chef spends time with your food before you do?”
“Are you suggesting he’s somehow getting her ready?” Tina asked sardonically, and he laughed.
“It’s just food,” he said.
“I was just food,” Tina said, curling around him more snugly. “And then I wasn’t.”
“And now you aren’t,” he agreed.
“But I think I’m going to be able to figure out how to go back,” she said. “That potion from the Order. It’s got to be the answer.”
“I thought Tell was the answer,” Hunter said, and Tina nodded.
“I thought so, too, but, I mean, it just dropped in my lap, you know? Maybe I wouldn’t have figured it out, if I hadn’t been looking for it already.”
“You sound suspiciously like you believe in fate,” Hunter said. “Isn’t that the highest of the magics?”
“No,” Tina answered sullenly. “Yes. And it isn’t that I believe in fate. There isn’t a supposed to.”
“If there isn’t a supposed to, why don’t we have three more in bed with us?” Hunter asked.
“Because,” Tina said stubbornly. “Without rules, civilization breaks down.”
Hunter stretched his arms up over his head and then twined his fingers under his neck, looking up at the ceiling.
“I’ve been there when civilization broke down,” he said. “I’m not sure rules had much of anything to do with it.”
“That’s interesting,” Tina said. “What do you think causes civilization to collapse, then?”
He shook his head.
“I’m not a philosopher,” he said. “From where I sit, it collapses when the people in charge are being carried through the street by hordes of people who intend to kill them.”
“That’s compelling,” Tina said.
“I thought so,” Hunter answered, his tone warm.
“You hung up on Ginger,” Tina said.
“I didn’t finish dialing,” he said. “You figured it out. I mean, should I point out how sexy that was?”
“And how awkward it was, you feeding on Tell’s stomach?” Tina answered. Hunter grinned.
“I’ll admit that I’ve done worse, but not more than once. There’s nothing to get hold of, down there. You need a contour, for fangs. I don’t care how clever you are. You end up feeling like a woodchuck.”
He chewed on his bottom lip with his top teeth and Tina grinned.
“But it worked,” she murmured. “They turned his very flesh human again, and you turned him back before two gunshot wounds managed to kill him.”
“Team effort,” he said generously. She smiled, resting her forehead on his chest for a moment.
“I need more time,” she murmured.
“Where has it all gone?” he answered. “You’re immortal.”
“We have to save Colette’s brother,” she said. “I don’t have time to think about anything else. And… I guess that’s it, isn’t it?”
“It’s not nothing, but yeah,” Hunter said.
“Well, there’s you,” Tina said. He sighed.
“I don’t know what there is to do about me,” he told her. “I think I’m here
until I finally cave in and get myself a new identity and start over.”
“Would you do that?” Tina asked. “Would you really start over and never see Tell or Ginger again?”
“Or you,” he said quietly. “Unless you came with me.”
She hadn’t even begun to think about that, yet.
He shrugged, shifting her across his chest a bit further and wrapping an arm across her back.
“I have absolutely unfounded optimism that something good will happen and I won’t have to,” he said. “I’m not considering it yet. My empire is going to start to crumble, before too long, because you can only do so much from Tell’s movie room, but… It’s a lot to walk away from.”
“You wouldn’t be suited for penury,” Tina said, and he laughed.
“Believe me. I’ve been there. I’m not.”
She closed her eyes.
“We just have to save Kyle,” she said. “Or… I don’t even know, anymore. Maybe we just leave him to his own devices and get Colette out of here. You aren’t wrong about that.”
“Fun to hear you say that,” Hunter answered. She grinned.
“It just has to happen fast. And…” She sucked on her lower lip for a moment. “I want to go steal all their stuff.”
“Excuse me?” Hunter asked. She nodded.
“I want to steal all of their stuff. Their equipment, their research, their methods. I want to go in and steal it all, because if that little bottle of stuff down there on the fridge is what it takes to turn me human again? I want to know what’s in it and how they made it.”
“I get it,” Hunter said. “I just hope you aren’t willing to die for it. They’ve got weapons made to kill you and a bunch of guys running around convinced that you are a blasphemy to their religious views.”
His phone rang, and he rolled to the edge of the bed to get it, settling in against her once more before he answered.
“Hunter,” he said.
“Hunter, it’s Kirsten from Everyone & Everything,” the woman answered.
“Evening,” Hunter said. “Everything go okay?”
“The humans were trivial. They will never be found. I have the two guns and I will send them by courier in the morning. Is that acceptable?”
“That’s fine,” Hunter said. Tina nodded. She didn’t think there was really much else to learn from them, at this point.