I glanced around, feeling uneasy but then Orion put his hand on my shoulder and fear melted away into this absolute assurance that the darkness was nothing to be afraid of. We walked beneath the trees, his hand on my shoulder as we moved, slow, the moon flickering through the leaves above us. The moon carried the scent of grass, leaves, summer ending, a little like cooling blacktop. The garden wasn’t far enough as I walked with my chocolate man. For a few minutes, I could forget who I was, who he was, what we had to be, and just enjoy the night and his dark, comforting presence.
Too soon, we were in the walled garden, walking along the paths, him behind me since it was too narrow for us to walk side by side, but he kept his hand on my shoulder, like he didn’t want to lose me. Finally, I knelt in front of the rosemary and plucked a generous bundle that I rubbed in my fingers releasing the pungent aroma in the night air. I stood, turned and found myself facing Orion, his chest somehow beneath my hands rosemary brushing his chin as he stared down at me and I stared at his neck.
I thought I could feel his heart pounding beneath my hands, could feel his thoughts rushing around us like the wind swaying the branches beyond the garden.
“Do you have everything?”
“Yes,” I said because I had him and what else could I ever need? Somehow, we were back in the kitchen, him bolting the door shut while I tried to get myself under control. I had to be Sebastian, although for the first time I wondered about the ethics of my experiment. Sebastian wasn’t earning grades, impressing teachers, befriending Orion. How would Orion feel when he realized that I’d been lying to him all along? He’d probably throw another knife at my head.
I inhaled deeply from the rosemary, and it did help to clear my head.
“Will that rosemary do?” Orion turned around, his dark eyes searching mine.
I nodded while I got irrationally choked up. “Yeah, but it’s not mine. My mother’s garden had four kinds of rosemary. All of them were different. Now…”
He sighed and nodded soberly. “It takes a long time to get things just right. Then it all goes sliding downhill and all you get is wrong. I’m sorry. About your parents.”
I sniffed. “If it were a car crash it would be less outrageous. What do you say? It makes no sense. That sort of thing doesn’t happen in real life. It doesn’t even make it into fiction. It’s too insane.”
“My brother died. When I was thirteen.” His face got tight and his eyes got brighter as he nodded slightly. “Killed himself. Talk about senseless.”
I looked away and felt tears well up in my own eyes. What was with everybody dying? I sniffed and rubbed my sleeve across my face. “I don’t know, man. It’s…”
My words were cut off by the timer reminding me to put the loaves in the oven. I got up and slit x’s in the top of the four perfect loaves, sprinkling garlic and rosemary over the top before sticking them in the oven along with a quarter cup of water that hissed and steamed on contact, filling the stove with the liquid that would make the dough spongy and chewy instead of tough.
“What?” I asked as I stood up and caught Orion’s eye.
“You know what you’re doing. Most people your age have no idea what they’re doing.”
I frowned at him and glanced back at the oven. “I used to know what I was doing, but now, up in the middle of the night cooking with some strange guy... I have no idea.”
“I think you do. You just don’t know that you know.”
“Ah. That explains it,” I said with a sigh.
He smiled sadly and hunched down, like our conversation had really depressed him. I sighed and sank down, both of us feeling the moment, the agony.
“I didn’t think that she’d throw you in the pond, or I would have come with you just to see that.”
I blinked up at him, startled when I saw his grin. “You heard about that? Took forever to get the swamp smell out of my hair. She didn’t throw me into the pond, she just…” I looked down at the floor and nudged the stove with my sneaker. “I think she was trying to kiss me.” Orion deserved to know.
He inhaled, but when I looked back up at him, he was kind of smiling. “I definitely should have come with you. Trying to seduce our innocent, sweet Tancetta. It’s positively shocking.”
I scowled at him. I was supposed to be a jerk who had punched him in the face. Oh, I didn’t want to think about that. “Not as shocking as the water. Orion, do you remember the time that I punched you?”
He raised his eyebrow. “Do you mean on twelfth night when you gave me a bloody nose?”
I bit my lip and nodded. “I’m sorry about that.”
He smiled widely. “I imagine you are. That punch is what impressed Olivia so much. It wasn’t really all that impressive since I let you punch me.”
I scowled at him. “You let me punch you? Excuse me, but if I punched you, it was because I’m awesome, and not because you let me.”
He threw his head back and laughed. I just sat there and listened to him, smiling like I knew what was funny. Finally he grinned at me. “Come here, Tancetta. Let’s see you punch me in the face.”
I shook my head, scowling darkly. “Not a chance, man. I don’t want to apologize again.”
He grabbed my hand and pulled me against his strong, unyielding body. “All right, then break out of my grip, a basic defense move that will help you with your admirers. Come on, Tancetta, remember how awesome you are?”
I was so aware of his body, even through all my shirts, and his hoodie. I tried to remember the basic defense moves my dad had tried to teach me, but they were all pretty brutal. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
He laughed again. “You know the little boys group you’ve been trying to get into for four years? We fight a lot in it. I’m pretty sure that I’d deserve it if you hurt me. Come on, Tancetta.” His arms tightened on me, pulling me even tighter until I was sure I could feel his heart beating while his breath caressed my forehead. “I dare you to hurt me.”
My lips parted and I struggled against the urge to rise up on my tiptoes and taste his lips. He was so close, so strong, holding me like I would never go anywhere and I fantasized that he held me gently, like I was something precious that he would hold forever in his heart. It was either kiss him or hurt him, and I was supposed to be my brother.
I brought up my knee and twisted, elbowing him in the stomach while I tried to get him in the groin.
I found myself out of his arms with my hands raised in a boxing position, ready while he gazed at me with sparkling eyes. “Very nice, Tancetta although you broadcasted your intentions before you moved. May I demonstrate?”
I nodded.
He stepped forward and positioned my hands on his until I had him in my arms, mirroring the way he’d held me. Having him move inside my arms, sliding against my body while he demonstrated violence was so completely unnerving. When he put his hands on my hips, I licked my lips and tried to focus on what he was telling me, about striking out from the center of my body, about putting your opponent off balance, but the way that he touched me, his hands sliding from my arms, down to my hips made my nerves ache for more than such brief touches, too vague and too many layers between us.
“What is it about her?” I asked, needing something between us, and Olivia was the most concrete thing that I could think of.
He shifted, focusing on my hands, adjusting the curve of my palms inside his before he slid his hands along my arms, fixing my fighting stance. “Olivia? She’s strong and knows what she wants. I guess. I don’t know. She’s always been the one.”
I closed my eyes while a wave of truly terrible rushed through me. “Wow. I really hope things work out between the two of you.” My stomach twisted uncomfortably. “It would be horrible if you had to find someone else, had to find a new ‘one’.”
He looked up at me, his eyes heavy-lidded and amused. “Does that bother you? Do you want her? We could fight for her.”
I narrowed my eyes and moved, using the nastiest attack I had in my ars
enal that used pressure points, a throat strike and an eye gouge, but he only twisted out of my reach and pinned me against the big steel refrigerator. He frowned slightly as he looked down at me. “You look exhausted. Haven’t you been sleeping well?”
I shrugged as I struggled against his grip. “I’ll be fine in the morning. I just need some good sleep after I’ve gotten the cooking out of my system.” I tried to knee him, but he pressed his body against mine until I was still.
He sniffed. “I love that smell. Before it’s quite ready but when the scent of yeast fills the room. It’s like magic. Chemistry is magic, I guess.”
I blinked at him, his face so close to mine, his eyes flicking down to my lips. I stammered. “Cooking magic.”
He smiled a slow, languid smile that made my heart race. “You should open a Bakery. Call it ‘Magic Muffins’.”
I laughed, my real laugh and coughed and choked a little bit when I tried to make it lower and manly. “That’s not part of the plan. I’m going to be in business, like my dad. Join the elite secret clubs in this school and make the connections I need to have a secure future.”
He shook his head, ruefully. “You already failed out of the elite secret club, or don’t you remember?”
I blinked at him, frowning. “Can’t I try again?”
He shook his head. “You’re only supposed to get one try. Every year, three years in a row I made an exception, or you crashed the trials. Either way, you failed without fail, almost as though you did it intentionally.” He raised one black eyebrow, his body still pressed against mine.
I swallowed down the sudden anger that had me clenching my fists. “I failed? Why? What’s wrong with me?”
Orion shook his head and brushed my cheek with the back of his fingers in a way that felt demeaning since I was someone that he failed. I never failed, not anything. “It’s not for everyone. It takes guts and a willingness to do whatever it takes.”
“That’s you? You’ll do whatever it takes? What if it’s wrong? What if it’s unethical? What if it hurts someone? You can’t just do whatever it takes without thinking about long term consequences and the results of your actions. You have to think, plan, reason, and feel. Most of all feel!”
The buzzer went off while I was struggling to not do something stupid. No wonder Bas had wanted to go anywhere else. There was no point to any of it. I tried to calm myself down. It wasn’t entirely pointless. A degree from a posh private school was worth more than the title of dropout, but still...
I shoved off of the fridge, knocking Orion off balance before I ducked around him, grabbed the hot pads and pulled out the bread. I glared at him, daring him to try and touch me while I had a hot pan in my hands before I placed it on the rack. I sliced into a loaf, watching steam curl in the air before I grabbed the crust and crunched it between my teeth like I wanted to bite Orion. Perfect. The bite triggered the usual relaxation, but as I left the room, steaming loaves and Orion Daughtry behind me, I couldn’t help but wonder what was perfect about loaves that positively reeked of garlic and had a choking amount of rosemary in them.
“That’s it?” he asked, his words stopping me near the doorway.
I turned to snap at him. “What?”
“You took one bite.”
I shrugged and gave him a tight smile. “My next bite would not be in the bread. Next time I feel compelled to bake something, I’m going to tie myself up to my bed.”
It must have been in my head that the thought of me being tied up to my bed was slightly exciting to him. I left before I said anything else, feeling like I needed counseling. And chocolate.
Chapter 15
The Butcher
The bread was heavy, thick and delicious. I ate two loaves before I felt the restless need to Butcher something. I took the metro, tapping my knee in a mindless rhythm as I watched the streets pass, ignoring the glances of people who could read my unsettled energy although they didn’t know what caused it.
I exited, running up the steps to the street level, anxious to drive back the darkness so that I could consume more bread.
Garlic, rosemary, I grinned as I heard the shriek from the night. I lost my focus. I kept thinking of Tancetta, Violetta, her eyes and the way she’d looked when she’d drunk my chocolate, the way she’d moved as she’d pounded her energy into bread, I let a vampire look at me, and I looked back.
I’d had reports of a rotting mansion where a few transients had been lured. The Butcher who left the report had said suspected vampires, but no the number or class. I crashed through the front door and stupidly found myself at the mercy of at least a class B vapiress that was strikingly beautiful. At least that’s what she told me to think. I didn’t argue because she’d caught my gaze and I forgot about the broken furniture that littered the room, the girl who sat in the corner crying with her hands tied, wrists rubbed raw.
The female with swirling red hair reached up to kiss me, fangs bared, long nails like claws that raked my cheeks before she hissed and lost eye contact with me, turning shrieking towards the broken window and the shadow that came and faded.
I blinked at the girl in the corner, staking the vampire when she spun back around to me, my head averted so I didn’t have to see her shrivel up revoltingly. The girl’s expression was enough horror and shock for both of us.
“A Butcher should mind his own business.” A slick, oily voice filled the room as another vampire came down the broken stairs, floating like a spectre. Floating like that made him at least a B point five. While he was making his impressive entrance, I went to the girl, kneeling down to untie her wrists quickly while I tried to gauge how long she’d been there, how likely it would be that infection set in. She needed to be caged until she manifested.
I turned and threw a vial of holy water at the vampire. The holy water exploded on impact into an eight-foot ball that surrounded the vampire in its watery clutches. Imprisoned and immobile, it didn’t take much effort to retrieve the stake from the ashes of the first vampires and shove it through the chest of the second in an explosion of water and ashes.
“Come on.” I took the girl’s hand and dragged her out of the falling down monstrosity. It was surrounded by the typical empty lots, empty but for the shuffling zombies that wandered around, searching for life. Also, there had been someone outside who had interfered, releasing me from thrall.
“How did you do that?” she asked, her eyes big and vulnerable, a bit like Tancetta’s, only not quite right. I knew at that moment that I’d have to stake her. Unless…
I took a chunk of bread out of my coat and gave it to her. She took it reluctantly, chewing on a corner as I rushed her past a group of zombies shambling in our direction.
“It’s terrible,” she said, wrinkling her nose.
“What were you doing on the North side?” I asked mostly so I wouldn’t have to think of the most efficacious way of killing her.
“I didn’t have anywhere to go.” Her voice was a whisper, her eyes innocent and pleading again.
“The North side isn’t a place to go.” My voice was as firm as my hand on her arm as we moved quickly. She kept pace with me without any difficulty. She ate another bite of bread, but her struggle to eat and swallow was palpable.
“I can’t,” she said, throwing the bread to the side as she stopped, wrapping her thin arms around her stomach. “It’s like slugs climbing up my throat.”
“Some vampires are practically civilized. Others are less so. You’ll be kept in a cage until your change is complete then given to a master vampire who can manage you. If he can’t, I’ll hunt you down and kill you, as I killed your mistress.”
She stared at me, her eyes burning fiery at me. “I’ll never be a vampire.”
I saw what she was going to do before she did it. I hit her hands away and barely got the stake into her heart before she could bite me. I felt a sting on my hand. When I looked down, I saw blood. My blood. How had that happened? I took a piece of bread out of my coat and chewed on it,
watching the blood dry up, the wound smooth over instead of festering like most vampire cuts would.
I squatted on my heels beside the girl’s body. She’d died when she’d become infected. She’d attacked me because she wanted me to stop her, to end her, to keep her from becoming what she despised. Still. Having to kill something like that was the worst part of my job. It was easier to not get involved. I’d known it was too late when I saw her. I’d seen it enough times. Why did I hope that I could save her? It was in my programming to save the living, not the dead. I shook my head and stood, carrying the so-easily-broken package. I couldn’t afford to feel. Once you started to feel, you made a terrible Butcher.
I ignored the feelings, the ache as I carried her to the morgue. The woman at the desk, Anna got up when she saw me, leading me to the back.
“Are you sure she’s not…”
“She’s dead. She’ll stay that way.” My voice was too harsh.
She flinched away from me before I took a deep breath and followed her to the drawer where I could lay the girl on the cold, hard metal until someone identified the body.
It had started to rain by the time I left the morgue. All my energy had drained away with healing more than fighting. The fighting had been disappointing. I walked with my hood down, letting the rain wash into my eyes, streaming down my hair.
That girl could have been Tancetta. It was charming that she knew so little of the dangers around her, but how could any parent not instill in their children the need for constant vigilance? On the street without anywhere to go, maybe she’d feel the allure of living in an old run-down mansion on the North side. Maybe it would be her body I’d carry to the morgue.
I thumped my leg, feeling the bruise from earlier, but less painful than it should be. The bread. She’d given me what I needed when she had no idea what she was doing. Instincts like that could make her the greatest Baker of her time. I had to take her to Landry. I had to take her somewhere she was safe, somewhere she could be herself instead of pretending to be someone who was going to get himself killed.
Butcher, Baker, Vampire Slayer: A Retelling of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night Page 13