“I—I’m sorry.” What else could she say? Izzy squeezed her eyes shut as her world spun and she sagged back into the chair.
“Izzy!” From what seemed like a long distance away, she heard her father’s voice, felt a cold touch on her face.
This was what it had been for Marun. One moment, walking out of their apartment and the next, separation and disaster.
“Isabella!” A sharp voice brought her abruptly back. She opened her eyes.
Marun knelt in front of her, forehead creased with concern, the scent of Izzy’s coconut body lotion drifting from her skin. The curving ends of her braids painted trails of wet over her shoulders left bare in one of Izzy’s sarongs. “Are you going to make me break out the smelling salts like in those ridiculous English romance books you love?” she gently teased.
“Stop…” She weakly pushed at Marun’s shoulder although that didn’t move her wife even an inch. “I’m fine, just a little surprised by everything, that’s all.”
Her father stood behind Marun, warily watching the two of them.
“Good.” With a gentling smile, Marun touched Izzy’s cheek, her jaw, and the wet-feeling corner of her mouth. Izzy drew in a breath of surprise when Marun’s finger came away smeared with blood. She hadn’t realized she was bleeding. Meeting her eyes, Marun licked away the red, allowing Izzy to see the stripe of it on her long tongue. When she swallowed the blood, Izzy only felt loved.
“This is all your fault,” her mother said from the sofa, pointing her teacup at Marun like it was some sort of weapon. “Don’t act like you’re so very worried about her now.”
“Unlike you who can’t so much as pretend a little concern?” Marun stood now with a hand on the back of Izzy’s chair.
“There’s no need for that, young lady,” Izzy’s father said. “My wife shows her care in her own way.”
“Through neglect and homophobia?” Marun shot back. “That’s a new one for me, and I’ve been around for a while.”
“Don’t presume to know anything about my relationship with my child!” Izzy’s mother snapped.
“I’m not presuming anything. If you cared half as much about her as a person instead of the version of her you can control, she wouldn’t avoid you as much.”
This was getting out of hand.
“Marun, that’s enough. It’s okay.” Izzy fought off the last of her dizziness to stand up. “Mom, Papa. Please, stop attacking Marun. She hasn’t done anything but keep me safe.”
“Safe?” Her mother sounded like she was choking on one of her clotted cream scones. “She probably dragged you off to some orgy and that’s why you lost a whole damn week. She’s a bad influence. I’ve been telling you that ever since you brought her home.”
“A week?” Marun looked as surprised as Izzy felt a few minutes ago.
“Yeah, that’s how long we’ve been gone.”
A soft curse left Marun’s lips. She reached down for Izzy’s hand and Izzy grabbed on tight. “I’m sorry, love. I feel like I’m losing control of everything.”
Izzy shook her head in denial but before she could say anything, her mother jumped in.
“See, I told you it was her fault.” Tea sloshed over the edge of the teacup as her mother aggressively pointed it at Marun. She spat out a genteel curse as the tea spilled over her hand and the wrist glittering with an unfamiliar diamond bracelet and her favorite Cartier watch. “She probably kidnapped Isabella and dragged her back here to lie for her because she was worried about the police finding out what she did.” Her voice shook with anger, rising and becoming shriller. “We should call the police and have her arrested.”
Seeing her normally ice-cold mother losing her cool was tilting this whole morning dangerously into the realm of the surreal. Not that discovering she and Marun had been gone for over a week instead of a few hours made the morning seem any less crazy.
“You should make up your mind, Mrs. Ransom. Am I a kidnapper or depraved orgyist ready to drag your daughter with me to hell? I’m afraid you can’t have it both ways.” Marun’s voice was a barbed whip lying uncoiled between them and ready to strike. She stood as still as an ice statue, but only an idiot would mistake her look for calm.
Although it would be kind of fun to watch, the last thing Izzy wanted was for Marun to verbally eviscerate her mother. If she thought their relationship was a mess now…
“Mother, there was no orgy and Marun didn’t kidnap me.”
“Then what happened, Izzy?” her father asked softly. “We want to know why you were missing and, more importantly, the police do too.”
This was a mess. Couldn’t Marun use her bad-ass goddess powers to make all this go away? She threw her wife a look of desperation.
Maybe they could just tell her parents the truth and leave it at that. Having them know she’d been accidentally swept out of the normal stream of time by a minor Yoruba deity was way better than them thinking she’d been off having a gang bang in a crack house somewhere.
She grabbed Marun’s hand. “Baby, could you—?”
Just then, the doorbell rang.
“Oh good.” Her mother put down her teacup and headed for the door. “That should be Taylor. I called her on our way here. Maybe she can talk some sense into you.”
But it wasn’t Taylor at the door.
Instead, it was a woman Izzy had never seen before. She stood, poised in the doorway, tall and imposing, like an onyx statue come to life. Her bald head glinted in the morning light and, with her blood-red lips and the simple white dress glowing against her perfect skin, she seemed too beautiful to be real.
For an electrified moment, the woman’s eyes found Izzy’s and her lips curved up into a warm smile. Then, of course, her mother had to ruin it. She turned a confronting stare to the stranger. “Who are you?”
The woman ignored her. “Hello, my darling daughter.” She looked straight at Marun. “I see you still haven’t managed to solve your little problem.”
Chapter Twelve
“Iya,” Marun finally said after a loaded silence. “You came.”
“I did.” The woman swept an arm wide, a regal gesture that incredibly, Izzy’s mother obeyed, stepping aside to allow the woman’s electric presence into the house.
Instantly, the too-cool temperature of the living room gave way, warming to become more comfortable and inviting. And was that…was that the smell of roses?
Izzy swallowed the sudden lump in her throat. This was her. The mother Marun had been searching for. The god. Was she anything like her son who’d attacked Izzy the moment they met?
Fear darted down her spine.
But Marun’s thumb brushed along the back of her hand, instantly calming.
Right. Standing around with her mouth hanging open like an idiot wasn’t going to accomplish anything. It certainly wouldn’t save her if the woman decided to attack.
Izzy squeezed her love’s hand and stepped forward.
“Hi, Ms. Zisanu. I’m Izzy. Can I offer you something to eat or drink?”
Approval shone in the woman’s eyes.
“That’s very lovely of you, my dear. And please, call me Iya.” For some reason, that invitation issued in the woman’s warm voice which held the same accent as Marun made Izzy blush with pleasure. After her mother’s reaction to Marun, she had half expected any relative of Marun, especially her mother, wouldn’t like her either. Not to mention the homicidal greeting of her brother. With the grace of a feather on the wind, Iya floated over to where Izzy stood. Her hands on Izzy’s cheeks were light but warm, her eyes glowing with a comforting flame. “I can see why my darling Marun chose you. Your blood smells sweet.”
Izzy darted a nervous glance toward her parents and a smile jerked across her lips. She probably looked like she was having a seizure. When Iya stepped away and gave her some breathing room, she couldn’t hide her sigh of relief.
“What’s going on here?” Her mother, thankfully oblivious, had closed the door on the now empty front porch and
was getting riled up again. The jewelry on her wrist clicked in her agitation.
“Ellie, hush. Let’s go make some more tea. Mine is cold.” Izzy’s father took his sputtering wife by the elbow and towed her into the kitchen.
Iya tilted her head, a motion like a curious cat, and then waved a hand in the direction of the kitchen. A shift in the atmosphere rippled the fine hairs along Izzy’s arms. Her ears popped.
Marun probably didn’t notice any of that, she was so busy staring at Iya like she was some sort of apparition.
“I can’t believe you’re actually here,” she said to her mother. “I’ve searched everywhere for you.”
“Not quite everywhere, darling.” Her mother smiled, a faint movement of her red lips that seemed to say more than words.
“You didn’t want to be found,” Marun said with certainty. Though her face reflected the same calm sea as always, her disappointment was thick in the air. Overcome with the desire to comfort, Izzy took a step in her direction, and then forced herself to stop. Whatever this was, it didn’t concern her.
“Not exactly,” her mother said in response to Marun’s statement. “I was waiting for you to find the solution for yourself.”
“But you’re the only solution.”
“That’s not true, and you know it.” Light arching in from the windows glinted on the silver hoops in Iya’s ears as she clicked her tongue. “All right. Let’s answer this question once and for all.”
The sound of her voice had barely died away before the empty space next to her burst open, like fabric ripping, and sparks flashed out, a mini-fireworks display with none of the noise.
“Iya, don’t do this!” Marun stepped in front of Izzy to face whatever Iya had called up.
Izzy couldn’t stop watching, even with the panic clawing at her throat and threatening to rip out a scream.
Izzy gasped and backed away as two figures emerged from the swirling chaos of sparks, fixed in place like they’d been in the middle of something when Iya yanked them into Izzy’s living room. A reclining woman with thick hair like Marun’s, the details of her face lost in silhouette. And the man who’d tried to kill her at the bakery. Despite Marun’s protective height between them, his metallic eyes immediately fixed on Izzy.
Her knees trembled and she nearly lost her shit.
Something was familiar about the young woman who was suddenly in her living room. Her bikini-clad body glistened like she’d been snatched from the side of a pool or beach. After a quick visual sweep of the room, she took a single step forward. Izzy flinched, but then the girl stopped, bumping into an invisible barrier.
Anger bared the girl’s teeth. “Iya, what’s this?”
“It’s all right.” Iya rested a hand on Izzy’s back, but if that touch was meant to be comforting, it had the opposite effect. Izzy jerked away from her and stumbled back. “My children won’t hurt you,” Iya said.
“How can you be so sure?” Izzy hated that her voice shook, broadcasting her fear. She wanted to run but knew she wouldn’t make it very far. Already, the man’s eyes were focused on her, she could feel them burning into the side of her face.
“I’m sure.” Iya waved dismissively.
“I’ll make sure of it,” Marun said.
The space the pair emerged from sparked one last time and then returned to normal, nothing behind it but the living room wall. A flush of scent, like the air after a lightning storm, filled the room.
The man straightened from his half crouch, his eyes still burning into Izzy. “Did you bring me here to finally finish off this human?” His voice was a rumble of thunder that shook Izzy to the core. He flicked a dismissive glance around the room before once again pinning Izzy with his stare.
Fear cooled the blood in the veins, dried her mouth, but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of backing away.
In a rush of movement, her clothes rustling in the wake of her own breeze, Marun stepped toward her brother. Her hands glowed with blue fire. “You will not touch her.”
But he only laughed. “Oh, really. Who’s going to stop me?”
Bright mischief lit up his face like they were fighting over the last piece of pie, not Izzy’s potential death.
Okan. She remembered his name now.
Izzy looked between them, too stunned at their interplay to be scared just then. They were acting like little kids, she thought, and wasn’t at all surprised when Marun shot a glance toward her mother who had sat down in the chair Izzy left, legs crossed, and watching her children with an indulgent smile.
Murmurs of conversion came from the kitchen, Izzy’s parents probably discussing whether to make coffee or tea for this round of drinks, and Izzy froze, her fear rushing back in a wave of goose pimples over her skin. What if her parents came back out just then? Marun’s brother almost killed her. What would he do to her parents? She had to warn them. Protect them. Something.
Izzy took a step toward the kitchen.
“Be easy, Isabella.” Iya made a soothing gesture. “They’re safe in their bubble and have no idea what’s happening in here. To them, we’re just having an ordinary and very boring conversation.”
Izzy wasn’t convinced.
She swallowed down a lump of fear.
“By my word, they have nothing to fear from us.” Iya held Izzy’s gaze, waiting.
“She’d never break her word, Izzy,” Marun said, still squaring off against Okan though her hands were now by her sides. “My brother, yes, but never her.”
“Okay.” Slowly, she felt the fear for her parents bleed away. “Okay.” Now she could focus on the monsters in her living room.
“Iya, why did you bring Okan and Asaa here?” Marun asked.
“Because we need a resolution to this strife,” her mother replied as if it was perfectly obvious.
“There is no strife.” The young girl, Asaa, frowned down at what she was wearing—a string bikini with bare feet—and flicked a hand down her front, turning her poolside get-up into a cropped top, jeans, and heels. Her hair, worn in a massive puff on top of her head like a crown, stayed the same. “Marun shouldn’t be with the human.” Her sneer turned Izzy’s way. “She knows that. We all do. I don’t know why she’s surprised that Okan is acting the way he is.” She jerked her head toward her brother who, other than his glower and new homicidal threats, hadn’t moved since his sudden appearance.
As Asaa talked, every movement of her expressive mouth showing contempt, Izzy realized where she’d seen her before. The bank. That day she’d gone begging for a loan.
Nice suit, sis.
Had this psycho family been watching her all along? Izzy shivered.
She tuned back into the conversation in time to hear Marun say, “It’s my life, and I’ve chosen Izzy to share it with me.” Marun spoke evenly and slowly, like she was explaining something to a particularly dim child. “It shouldn’t be any of your business.”
“Shouldn’t be is for fairy tales,” Asaa snapped with a scornful look. “You’re not a baby, Marun. Like all of us, you grew up knowing the rules.” With a rude suck of teeth, she turned her back on her sister. “Iya, you should enforce the rules and tell her to leave the human alone.”
“Rules? No, my darling. You and your brother have always been too possessive of each other and your sister. This has nothing to do with the rules.”
Asaa was obviously shocked. She looked at Okan who hadn’t stopped staring at Izzy and giving off his murder vibes. With hands on her hips, she tracked her gaze from Izzy to Marun.
“Whether it’s about rules or tradition, you don’t belong with her, Marun. It doesn’t even make sense to form that sort of attachment to a human.”
“We just fuck them and run, that’s it?”
Asaa rolled her eyes. “Don’t act so above it all now that your little ‘wifey’ is watching. For centuries, you were more than okay with the ‘fuck and run.’”
“And now I’m not,” Marun said. “Change happens.”
Izzy felt
her careful glance, gauging to see how she would take this. But that was Marun’s past. She wasn’t going to hold it against her. It wasn’t as if Izzy had expected Marun to be a virgin like she was when they met.
“At any rate,” Marun continued. “You and Okan may want me to give Izzy up, but I won’t.” She slipped a hand around Izzy’s waist and pulled her closer, and Izzy melted.
No one had ever chosen her so completely before. A rush of warmth suffused her, and she held onto Marun.
“Then give up what makes you one of us,” Okan snarled, apparently done with listening to everyone else talk. “Once you do that, you can be a human like her and stay with her. Whatever you do would no longer concern us.”
He said the human the same way someone else would say cockroach.
“Exactly. Give her up or give us up. Those are your choices. You should’ve known that when you started this farce of a relationship.”
Before Izzy knew it, her mouth flew open and words came out of it. “Excuse me?” Scary or not, this bitch was just plain rude.
Then her mind tracked back to what Asaa said before.
Give us up.
No one should have to choose between their family and the person they loved.
“No,” Izzy protested. “You can’t ask her to do that!”
Though Marun lightly squeezed her waist, the rest of the family ignored her.
“I came to you for help.” Marun faced her mother. “But if this is what you want me to do, give up my family so I can have a love I deserve, the kind of love that you had with my father, then I’ll do it.”
It felt like all the air rushed from the room. Marun’s family looked shocked. Izzy figured she probably did too.
“You’re willing to give all that up for her?” Asaa asked.
“I’m not giving anything up. I’m gaining the life I want.”
No, this wasn’t supposed to happen.
Love, Blood, and Sanctuary Page 29