Dark Solace

by Tara Fox Hall

  Since I couldn’t say anything to the contrary, I nodded. “Sorry. I forgot.”

  “Come lie next to me?” Theo asked tenderly.

  I lay down beside him, and hugged him, wondering if I should bring up Devlin.

  “I love you. You make me so happy, Sar.”

  Probably not the time to mention Dev. “You make me happy, too. Your scent always comforts me—”

  “What do you mean, my scent?” Theo said, pulling back and then grimacing as his fresh stitches tightened.

  “I’ve never told you before that you smell of prairie grass, pine forest, and wide blue skies? I must have, in all our time together.”

  Theo gave me a peculiar smile. “You never said it, Sar. I would’ve remembered.”

  “Well, you do,” I assured, snuggling into him. “And I like that. I liked it from the first time I smelled your jacket, that day after I first dreamed of you.”

  “I remembered how surprised I was, when I saw you had it in your bedroom,” Theo said tenderly. “I remember wishing I had something of yours to smell when I thought of you.”

  “How do I smell to you?” I asked hesitantly.

  “You smell good,” Theo said, inhaling deeply. “You smell of femaleness, warmth, and softness.”

  “All females must smell like that,” I said, rolling my eyes.

  “But your scent carries something extra,” Theo said. “Something like sunlight, and green things, maybe. I can’t give it words. But when I smell you, I think of how good the sun feels on me when I’m walking outside on a summer day.”

  Danial and Devlin had always said I tasted of summer. Maybe that was why. Or maybe I smelled of summer because whatever was in my blood had that odd aspect. “Interesting to know.”

  “I love your scent,” Theo continued. “It was hard to get used to the bit of vampire smell that’s mixed in now, but I don’t notice it anymore, really—”

  “How do vampires smell?” I asked. “You make it sound like its bad. But they don’t smell bad to me.”

  “Not bad, really,” Theo said, backpedaling. “A little like fall, like damp earth—”

  Something sounded familiar. What?

  “—and blood, usually. Almost always, vampires smell of blood.”

  I didn’t remember anyone smelling like blood lately. Maybe it was nothing. I kissed Theo and held him close. “Get some rest. There will be time enough tomorrow for talking.”

  * * * *

  The next afternoon, after we had returned to Danial’s, I reluctantly told Theo that I had decided to go to Devlin that night to ask for his protection. Even with what he had said to me the previous night, Theo immediately got upset.

  “Why tonight?” he protested, flopping down on Danial’s couch. “I know you don’t really want to go. I can smell it on you, like you’re fighting with yourself.”

  He was right. I’d have to fix that before seeing Devlin, unless I wanted to blow my deal with Lash to hell. “Because you were right last night; we need him. And I’ve put it off long enough.”

  “I don’t want you to go back to him,” Theo said, drawing me down into his lap. “It’s been great sleeping with you every night, and not having you leave every week.” He paused. “But I get that you have to. You need to be there for Venus, too.”

  I wanted to squirm, I was so guilty. I had to get out of here now before Danial came out from his bedroom to join our discussion. My great vampire detective/lover wouldn’t be put off by a few well-told lies. “I’ll be back as soon as I can—”

  “Just call, if it’s going to be more than overnight,” Theo interrupted, picking Devon up and hugging him. “We’ll worry, otherwise. Won’t we?”

  Calling out an affirmation, I transferred a few necessary overnight items into a bag. When I loaded it into one of Danial’s SUV’s, I also pocketed the transmitter from Theo’s glove compartment. I’d give it back to Lash that night.

  * * * *

  I left early, stopping off at my old house first. Warren hadn’t come back yet, but he was due any time.

  I quickly went inside and got my invisible box. It should read: It no longer contained Dev’s choker, only his poetry. Did Devlin still have the choker I’d thrown at him the night I discovered he and Catherine? I’d find out shortly.

  I read the poetry quickly, hoping to feel some loving spark kindle for Devlin. But the words just sounded false to me, and I wondered how I could have ever believed them.

  I’d have to get Dev to give me his blood. Once he did, I’d be in thrall to him again. If I couldn’t get out of this, it was better to get it over with.

  * * * *

  I arrived at Hayden around three in the afternoon. Lash answered the gate intercom, and let me inside. He was waiting in the garage when I drove my truck in and parked.

  I got out, and handed him the transmitter. “Do you need to search me?”

  He put it in his own truck, and then faced me. “I’d say yes even if I trusted you,” he hissed, baring one fang. “And I do. Assume the position.”

  He searched me, then my bag. “Follow me to Titus.”

  When we reached Titus in his basement lab, he turned to leave. “Wait for me,” I called.

  Lash stopped, turning to look at me curiously.

  Titus raised his eyebrows. “She’s clean,” he rumbled, then cast baleful eyes to Lash. “Watch yourself, snake.”

  Lash hissed at him, baring fang, then started walking. “Mind your own shit. Move, Sar.”

  What was that about? I gave Titus a smile, then hurried after Lash.

  He was waiting in the kitchen. “What do you want with me?” he hissed, leaning back against the counter. “I have things to do.”

  “Serena’s not here, is she?” I asked. “And neither is Dev?”

  “Serena’s out shopping. Robin and she go every week, and have lunch in town. They are getting to be good friends.”

  Was I supposed to feel jealous that she had another friend besides me now? Jerk. “And Dev?”

  “Dev is with Venus. Titus is heading back there shortly. He’ll be home about eight or nine.”

  I had known I’d have hours to kill. Just not this many. “That’s six hours.”

  “I told you not to come until dusk,” Lash hissed. “You’ll have to amuse yourself, I’m afraid.”

  “So you’re just going to let me wander around by myself?” I said, folding my arms. “You’ve never done that before.”

  “You always liked to work,” Lash said, tilting his head. “Your filing downstairs is just as you left it. Dev said over and over in the last few months that you would come back and finish it. Now might be a time to get started. You’re safe enough down there. You don’t need me.”

  Crazy as it sounded, I didn’t want to be alone with my thoughts. I wanted to have someone to talk to. I was dreading dealing with Devlin. But at least filing would occupy me. “I’ll go work on it,” I answered, defeated. “You’re right, there is still a lot to do—”

  “Do you want to see the gardens, before you do?” Lash hissed suddenly. “You still do owe me a walk.”

  “That would be nice,” I said with relief. “Lead the way.”

  The gardens were beautiful. Lash had taken my suggestions, all of them. Being so late in the summer, most of the flowers were up and blooming, though the early ones like the tulips and pansies had faded. But I’d chosen carefully to ensure there would be some flowers blooming all summer. The white and red roses were still going strong. I picked one, and stuck it in the coil of my hair, its long thorns helping to anchor it. I also picked some flocks and bee balm for the kitchen table.

  “Do you like everything?” Lash hissed hesitantly. “Your notes were easy enough to follow.”

  “They’re beautiful,” I said earnestly. “You did a good job.”

  Lash didn’t reply.

  As we walked back to the house, I noticed six large trees down near the forest edge, along with many smaller ones. Some had fallen over a ditch, and broken a
small stone bridge that crossed it, sending some of the stones into the depression. While two of the trees had been down some time, the other four looked new, their visible inner bark a bright orange brown color.

  “What happened?” I asked. “Attack?”

  “Storm,” Lash hissed. “Back two weeks ago, we had close to tornado-force winds.” He pointed. “See there? The side of the house is damaged also, though not badly. We are going to have to erect scaffolding out here to fix it.”

  “You need a spider,” I said knowledgeably.

  Lash gave me a strange look. “Titus could probably make a regular one huge, but I don’t think—”

  “I’m talking about a type of one man support,” I said, trying not to laugh. “It’s called a spider. You lower down a guy, and he works on the wall. It’s better than a traditional scaffold, because you can lower it and raise it easily. It mounts to the roof, so it would be easy to put one up. It would save you a lot of time.”

  Lash stopped walking, considering me with tilted head. “How is it you know about this?” he hissed.

  “I worked construction before I met Danial and retired into luxury,” I teased. “I wasn’t always just a pretty face.”

  “That may be, but you aren’t physically strong enough,” Lash hissed, looking me over. “Construction is a man’s job. Why would anyone hire you?”

  That irked me. “I didn’t build anything,” I said defensively. “I checked sites for violations sometimes. To do that, I had to know some of the terminology, and what was best to use for different jobs.”

  Lash looked at me, incredulous. “You’re pulling my tail.”

  Now I was pissed off. “It was just an idea,” I replied, then turned to go. “But don’t take my advice, jerk. Go figure it out for yourself—”

  Lash reached out and grabbed my arm. “Do you have pictures of this, so I can see what you’re talking about?”

  “No, but I could find you some on the Internet,” I offered frostily. “If you are nice.”

  “I’m always nice,” Lash hissed, grinning. “At least to you.”

  I didn’t think so, but kept that to myself. “I’ll find you some when I go inside. There must be another computer at Hayden besides Dev’s laptop, right?”

  Lash nodded. “Devlin has another one in his study. I’ll take you there.”

  I hadn’t even known Devlin had a study. “Okay.”

  Lash led me down to the basement. Only this time, instead of turning left, he turned right towards the dungeon side. The first door in that hall was huge, made of oak. He opened it. “After you.”

  I walked in, looking around. Devlin’s study was larger than I expected. The walls were all bookshelves to the ceiling. It was surprising to know he read this much. As expected, one huge section was all poetry. The others were varied, from Samurai Tactics, U.S. military strategy, and Torture Practices of the Sudan to How to Make Friends and Influence People, 101 days of Sodom, and Justine.

  “The computer is there,” Lash said quietly, breaking my thoughts.

  I turned it on, and booted it up. Soon, I was printing him out pictures of the scaffolding I had described to him.

  “This might save us a lot of time,” Lash hissed, studying the sheets. “I’ll see if I can’t rent one of these instead of building wooden scaffolding. It’s a waste of lumber.”

  “You talk like you’ve worked construction, too,” I said, looking over at him curiously.

  “Like you, I wasn’t always what I am now,” Lash replied. “I did construction in my youth.” He cracked a smile. “But unlike you, I did build things.”

  An ideal job if you were a snake in Florida. Lash would have been out in the sun all day, and he was certainly strong enough. “I’m glad to help out,” I said, flicking off the computer. “If you need help with those trees, I can bring my chainsaw. One more blade cutting can make a huge difference.”

  Lash looked at me like I had to be joking. It was also obvious that he didn’t think I would be much benefit. “If you want to help, we are doing it this coming Friday. It’s supposed to be clear that day. The equipment is being delivered the day before.”

  “I’ll come,” I affirmed, standing up. “But now I’d better start on my filing.” Heading into the records room, I began looking through the last non-white box.

  Lash leaned against the door and watched me. It had been a while since he had done that, but it was familiar enough that I didn’t worry about it. I was surprised, though, after his admission that watching me wasn’t necessary.

  When I finished the last box, I thought about starting on the white boxes, but couldn’t bring myself to do it. Instead I leaned on the open drawer, running my fingers aimlessly down the files I’d marked. I didn’t want to file anything else. I wanted to go curl up somewhere. I really, really didn’t want to face Devlin.

  There was a furtive movement behind me. I turned around fast, startled to find myself looking straight into Lash’s flat eyes. To my surprise, he wasn’t as tall as Danial, or Devlin, or even Theo; he was just over my own height. I’d never noticed that before.

  “Sar, come have dinner,” Lash offered, something close to affection in his tone. “Devlin will be home soon, and you should eat something. He will not be letting you leave the bed, once you say you want him back.”

  “I thought you wanted me to work,” I said shortly, trying not to shudder at his words. “I thought—”

  Lash reached out and hugged me, making me freeze. “You don’t have to eat with me,” he hissed hesitantly. “But you should eat something. Your body is still recovering from giving life.”

  I smelled his scent again, autumn leaves, leather, and musk. And earth, under them all. “Want to take me for sushi?” I said softly. “I haven’t been, since that day with you.”

  “Sure,” Lash hissed. He made to withdraw from me, but I held onto him.

  He stopped pulling away. “What is it?” he hissed, shifting uncomfortably.

  “Do you know what Annabelle looked like? I was curious.”

  Lash eased out of my embrace. “Come with me,” he said, taking my hand. He led me back to Devlin’s study, past the bookshelves to a small recessed alcove in the far wall. There hung a large portrait done in oil, illuminated with a soft spotlight. “That is Dev’s Anna,” he hissed. “The only portrait he keeps out. The rest are hidden away in his vault. He goes there sometimes to remember her, but he’s stopped doing that so much since he met you.”

  I’d imagined Anna a goddess. Instead, I was surprised to see she had not been traditionally beautiful. Her hair was mousy brown, and fell around her shoulders in corkscrew curls. Her eyes were also brown, a tad small, though they shone with happiness. Her face was round, more than a little plump, which made her look friendly and comforting. Her lips were a dark pink, like mine, and not generous. At her throat was a gold choker with a small golden bear with red eyes.

  “I can tell by your expression that you expected her to be prettier,” Lash hissed. “Devlin speaks of her as if she was the most beautiful woman he ever saw, save you. She wasn’t pretty, not by traditional human standards, at least. But he loved her, loved her more than all of the other prettier women that he might have had. The way he loves you, Sar. Though you are beautiful, without a doubt.”

  I didn’t know what to say. Lash seemed to sense that. “Let’s go,” he hissed. “Or there’ll be no time for sushi.”

  We didn’t talk much as we drove to the restaurant. I was thinking a lot about Annabelle; about what her life with Dev could have been like. But once we arrived, Lash ordered us a large platter to share, accompanied by a serving for each of us of alcohol. As we were sipping, he casually mentioned that he had gotten the newest South Park DVD. Soon, we were lost in conversation like old friends. Which, in a way, we were.

  * * * *

  When we got back to Hayden, it was close to eight. “Go up and wait for him,” Lash hissed at the stairs. “And you should change your clothes.”

  Goo
d idea. I didn’t want to smell like Lash for Dev, even if the hug had been innocent. “Goodnight.”

  “I’ll see you tomorrow,” Lash hissed, heading into the kitchen.

  Was he hungry for dessert, or for another type of flesh? Don’t think about it...

  “Sar,” Titus said in surprise, emerging from the cellar. He hugged me.

  “Hi.”

  Titus wrinkled his nose, and drew back from me. “You smell of Lash.”

  “I know. I’m changing my clothes,” I said, irritated.

  “Come below with me first,” Titus rumbled, his eyes red. “I have something to discuss with you.”

  Sigh. I followed him downstairs to the basement. “What’s up?”

  Titus spoke some words. “No one can overhear us now.”

  “What is it?” I asked, concerned. “Is something the matter with Terian?”

  “You tell me,” Titus rumbled. “You asked me a while back about him, and I told you I thought he was the same. But now I’m beginning to wonder.”

  “I think the work that he and Theo does is affecting him,” I said, after a pause. “He’s more powerful, too. And he’s in love. That together explains his new bold behavior.”

  “He’s been asking about some darker spells,” Titus rumbled, his eyes holding mine. “Spells that he would have shrank from when I first met him months ago.”

  I was tempted to tell him it was his own black influence on Terian that had done this, but I wasn’t 100% sure of that. I didn’t want to make Titus feel bad unless it was the truth.

  “Sar, do you know why he would want to do darker magic?”

  “I can only guess to protect the children or to protect Sundown. Terian was never about power for power’s sake, Titus.”

  Titus nodded. “I agree. I just wanted to ask. You are close to him.”

  I wasn’t really, not anymore, but I didn’t say that.

  “I needed to know if he was changing. Sometimes in half breeds, the demon side can overwhelm—”

  “Titus, why are you telling me this?” I said suddenly. “What do you want from me?”