“Um, yes. He said that he’s not able to come right now. There’s a lot going on tonight. But you can help him, right?”
I felt like yelling at him, what stupid idea was that, like I could bring him to life with Jello, but that’s what I was there for. I sighed. “I don’t know. I didn’t bring a spoon. I guess I’ll use my fingers.”
I closed my eyes for a moment before I went to the bed and tried to prop him up, ending up with him against my chest, making the biscuits crumble against my skin from his weight while I scooped Jello into his slack mouth. You shouldn’t feed unconscious people; it might kill them, but Orion didn’t seem to be breathing anyway. I should do CPR, but I didn’t know how.
The guy looked at me so hopefully, like I could actually save Orion with Jello. Maybe this whole thing was an elaborate dream, a hallucination. What had happened in the kitchen? Maybe the boys were wearing costumes, melting costumes so that’s where all the dog hair had gone.
I shook my head. I’d worry about it later when I wasn’t obsessed with feeding Orion Jello.
My heart pounded as he lay on my lap, his chest barely rising and falling as I grabbed clumps of red clouded Jello and forced it in his mouth, over his tongue, until it slipped down his throat. He swallowed compulsively, so at least I wasn’t choking him.
I felt his tongue, his lips, trying to notice the texture with a detached awareness instead of a tingling in my fingers and stomach that made me remember his heat, the pressure of his tongue melting away my loneliness, cold, panic, like the panic I felt when the Jello was half gone and he stayed still on my lap.
I stroked his hair with the hand that wasn’t covered in Jello, feeling the silky slightly coarse texture and wishing that I could see his eyes open and stare at me. I should have kissed him after the hot chocolate last time. What if he didn’t wake up? What if he never kissed me again? I’d accepted that loss, hadn’t I? The way my heart pounded and cold, icy fear held me gave me my answer. Whether or not I got to kiss him, his sweetness, his goodness would not disappear from this world. Not if I could help it. Could I help it? The Jello dwindled and still, nothing.
A tear dropped down on his face and I saw his features twitch. I gasped and put my Jellowy hand against his cheek.
“Orion?”
His eyelids fluttered as though he were struggling to open them. I gave him another handful of Jello, and this time, his mouth responded, his mouth fastening around my fingers, sucking on them and licking while my stomach filled with a million fluttering butterflies and my heart soared with them.
“Is he coming around?” the kid asked, whose name I still didn’t know.
“I think so,” I said as I took another handful of Jello. Orion’s mouth opened on its own, his tongue flicking my fingers and then finally, his eyes, darkest chocolate opened and looked at me, upside down, but still beautiful, still perfect.
He frowned and I realized that I’d dumped a handful of Jello onto his face. It slid down his neck in a streak of purple red that disappeared into the darkness of his shirt.
“Sorry. This is hard to do upside down,” I stammered. “Also, without a spoon.” I focused on the Jello, my hand, his mouth, ignoring his eyes, ignoring the corners of his mouth turning up into a smile, like he found Jello down his shirt super fun. I fed him Jello until he raised his hand and caught mine, licking off my fingers thoroughly before he sat up, shaking his head slightly.
“Brent, take this Jello down to the guard at the carriage house door. Feed him until he comes to. Can you do that?”
Brent, apparently that was his name, nodded and took the Jello, giving Orion some weird salute while he smiled at me, nodding like one of those things on the dashboard of a car, then unbarred the room and left.
Orion stood, leaving me feeling cold, but able to breathe a little bit better. As he walked slowly to the door, barring it securely, I collapsed against his pillow, tired, so unbelievably tired and relieved, like I’d heard that someone I loved had made it through surgery.
“How did Violetta get into my room?” he asked slowly turning towards me, crossing his arms over his chest.
I frowned at him. “Oh, um, I was staying over with Sebastian and then…”
A smile flickered on his mouth. “Never mind. We’ll discuss it in the morning. Right now, you look very tired. Can I make you some chocolate?”
I stared at him. “You sound fine. I don’t understand. You seemed so sick, I fed you Jello and now you’re fine. This is either a really vivid dream sequence, or something weird is going on. Maybe I’m still in my bed, asleep and fantasizing about biscuits and Jello.”
“Biscuits?” He cocked his head to the side. “I don’t recall any biscuits.”
I reached into my camisole and pulled out a handful of crumbs. “They weren’t for you.”
His eyebrows raised. “No? Who have you been baking for?” He moved forward carefully, and bent over my hand, inhaling long and deep.
“The dog boys, of course,” I said while my hand went limp, flopping down, spilling crumbs all over his bed. What a mess I was making. “I’m sorry about the Jello down your shirt. I forgot the spoon.”
He touched my hand, tracing my fingers with his strong ones then brushing my skin up my arm to my shoulder. He gripped me lightly.
“So delicate, like a kitten,” he murmured before he sat beside me, still weak probably from whatever he’d recovered from.
I shook my head, my eyes feeling heavy, but unable to close for a moment, to stop looking at him. He was so close, so warm, alive and real. Real? This could not be real. I was experiencing a mental break. I reached out and slid my hand across his jaw to tangle in his long hair. “There are all kinds of kittens. I hope you’re not talking about tigers because I can’t even… Aren’t you going to kiss me?”
He smiled, his eyes widening slightly. Such beautiful chocolate eyes. “I’d like that very much. Are you sure you wouldn’t rather sleep? You seem exhausted. I’m not sure I’d be able to stop kissing you once I start.”
“Why am I so tired? I suppose I was swinging on the light fixtures. Ow!”
He touched my face and the pain had me blinking, sitting upright while the surreal impossibility fought with the throbbing in my cheek.
“You got hurt.” His scowl wasn’t like Sebastian’s scowl. It wasn’t petulant, but dangerous, dangerous like an imminent hurricane.
“I’m fine. I should go.” I shook my head, but that only made me dizzy. I was so tired. I had to get to bed, to get some sleep. Things would make more sense in the morning.
“Stay here for the night.” His low voice sent goosebumps down my spine, and I forgot about my face.
“In your room? I think that’s against the rules. I might get expelled.”
He cocked his head to the side. “Violetta Tancetta, if you’re going to sneak into a boy’s school in the middle of the night, it isn’t you who would get expelled. To be honest, I think it’s more likely that your brother would get expelled if your nocturnal visit was discovered.”
I stared at him, unable to not touch his skin, to feel the warmth and life in him that chased the cold and fear out of my fingers. “But he’s my brother. Don’t you think that if someone found me in your room they would think that we…”
A slow smile grew over his face while his dark eyes danced. He leaned close to me and brushed my cheek before he glanced down, blatantly staring at my mouth. “Tell me to lie down and sleep. Tell me that you’ll stay with me, that you’ll hold me while I recover from food poisoning. Tell me that I don’t have to let you go because otherwise I’m going to kiss you until I lose consciousness from exhaustion.”
I shivered as his hand lingered on my skin, fingers trembling as he trailed over my skin, my cheek, down my neck to my bare shoulder over the slender strap of my camisole. I stared at him, my eyes dropping at the same time this comfortable fire came to life inside of my chest. I closed my eyes and leaned against him, feeling his warmth against me, only a row of his bu
ttons and one thin camisole between us.
A howl outside of his door made me shudder and wrap my arms around Orion, pressing my face against his chest. I breathed in his scent and the fear faded until I could lift my head and look into Orion’s chocolate eyes. I felt like I’d lost him. Maybe it hadn’t been a real danger, but I’d wanted to kiss him for what felt like years. I would take advantage of my time with him, as long as it lasted.
I slid my hands up his chest around his neck. “I’ll stay with you, but only if you promise to come with me to the Botanical Gardens to make-out in the gazebo in the North woods no one ever visits.”
He raised his eyebrow, that one, perfectly, indescribably boring eyebrow. “Are you saying that after I dropped you off, you found a perfect stranger to make-out with in the gazebo, but you actually preferred me to him?”
I smiled and shook my head, brushing my fingers across his cheek until he turned his head, capturing my fingers with his lips. “I think you’re too perfect a stranger. You’ve ruined me for anyone else.”
He wrapped his arms around me while he pressed a kiss to my temple and pulled me down to the bed, his heart beating against mine. “You have no idea how happy I am to hear that. It’s not easy to be a stranger more than once. Sleep, Violetta. Fall asleep quickly before I forget how tired I am and seduce you.”
That made me want to kiss him, to slide my hands over the skin of his stomach beneath his shirt, but instead, I let the steady rhythm of his heart send me to sleep.
Chapter 33
The Butcher
I woke up with her fingers in my mouth, the taste of pomegranate mixed with lightning as she fed me. I couldn’t move, couldn’t open my eyes, but knowing she was there, that she was safe was all I wanted. She’d brought me back with her baking. Of course she had. We had a connection unlike anything I’d ever seen, and I’d seen my father and Landry close up and personal. They hadn’t ever kissed.
How could I convince her that we needed to kiss on a regular basis? How could I claim her as my own without betraying my family, my heritage as badly as Armand had done? Her fingers slid against my tongue, my lips, soft, warm, her taste the most beautiful flavor. I sucked on those fingers, tasting those fingers. I heard her gasp, felt her grip me, touch my face, my hair with her other hand.
It took a little while longer until I could open my heavy eyes. At first, everything was blurry, but her face came into focus, her pale green eyes, upside down from me. So beautiful, concerned, in my room without her brother’s mask.
To think that I’d missed time with Violetta in my room without three shirts on.
I saw someone behind her. Brent. His room was next door. He hadn’t made it to the second year of Butcher’s Boys. Something cold and slick fell over my cheek and down my neck. The sensation brought me more awake.
“Sorry. This is hard to do upside down, also without a spoon.”
She frowned, concentrating on hand feeding me Jello. She was so adorable, sweet, charming. It was almost worth getting poisoned to wake up to her feeding me Jello, her delicious fingers in my mouth. The Jello burned with potency. Energy flowed through my body, electricity that fired my nerves and tendons until I sat up, holding her hand in mine. I couldn’t have any more of the potent Jello, or I’d probably have a heart attack. My mind raced, memories, questions flicking through my mind with the speed of electricity. The Jello. What had she put in it?
I’d been poisoned and someone had broken into Calder. What damage had they done besides taking out the guards? Who had poisoned me? I saw Mal handing me the drink, but would he risk poisoning me so obviously? I had to search the school. We had to search it until we found out who had broken in, and why.
“Brent, take this Jello down to the guard at the carriage house door. Feed him until he comes to. Can you do that?”
Brent’s eyes widened. He hadn’t pushed it after he’d failed as Butcher’s Boy, not like Sebastian had, but now, this chance to work with Butchers he took almost greedily.
I forgot about him as I closed my eyes, flexing my muscles, checking the damage. I seemed entirely healed and filled with an overwhelmingly intense energy. I had to butcher something, or even better, take Violetta in my arms and let her take my energy to replace her now depleted strength.
I got off of her, lifting my head from her soft body and went to bar the door behind Brent. I couldn’t leave her alone, not tonight, not when something in Calder intended harm, but I had to know. I had my duty, and The Butcher never put one life above the greater good. She was here as Violetta. I had to address that. Could I possibly carry the deception further? She must realize that bringing me back with Jello wasn’t normal. She would think she was insane.
I turned and looked at her where she’d sprawled over my pillow, eyes drooping and her mouth soft. She was completely drained. I had to cross my arms over my chest to keep from going to her.
She was in no state to discuss anything. She could barely keep her eyes open, her head up. She tried to talk, to understand, but her pupils dilated and she blinked slower and slower. I felt a tremor of fear when she mentioned biscuits I hadn’t tasted. I studied the girl, the bruising on her face around a cut that looked like it might get infected, scratches on her arm that looked like they were from claws. What had I missed when I’d been poisoned?
She reached her hand down the front of her tight pink top, revealing more skin that made me swallow hard. Her hand was full of crumbs that she stared at before looking up at me with enormous eyes that were too sweet, too vulnerable. I had to touch her, to taste her and keep her, make her mine. I held very, very still. I wanted to roar, to rip apart the place stone by stone until the danger was destroyed. None of that would be particularly helpful. I walked slowly towards her, bent over her small, strong hand and inhaled, smelling ingredients that said werewolf and something else I didn’t understand but knew. Everlast. She’d used her mother’s precious plant. What did that have to do with werewolves?
“The dog boys, of course.”
The dog boys. I closed my eyes for a moment, terror building on terror. She’d seen dog boys and fed them biscuits. Had werewolves come to Calder?
I wanted to pick her up and carry her off, somewhere safe, where werewolves would never follow, but instead I touched her hand, so carefully, I barely registered her soft skin. I inhaled deeply as I ran my hand up to her shoulder, feeling the skin wrapped bones and muscles, such a tiny, delicate package that meant so much to me.
I sat beside her, needing to be close, to make certain that she recovered, but there were so many things I had to do. If I gave her my strength now, she wouldn’t rest, wouldn’t sleep while I searched the darkness for monsters, or watched over her, ready to protect her against anything.
She touched me, her fingers brushing my cheek and tangling my hair. The rush from that contact flowed through me, but it wasn’t enough. She needed more of me, and I needed her to take it. I needed her, not just the euphoria, the connection, but Violetta in all her delicate deliciousness. She wanted me. Did she want me, or only my energy? What was the difference so long as it was me?
I tried to touch her gently, but her face was so tender, her lack of energy making the wound worse. I had to give her my energy, take away her weakness. That touch, me feeding my energy into her was enough to give her strength to sit up, her eyes clearing as she stared at me, horror dawning on her face.
What had she seen? What monsters had she seen this night and only now had the strength to face? I didn’t like it. This was not how she should find out about my world, by baking biscuits for werewolves who hurt her. Whoever did this would pay. Dearly. She slumped down again, fear reflecting in her eyes.
I had to control my instincts, my anger. I had to protect her from fear as well as the monsters.
“Stay here for the night.”
Her eyes widened, so soft, so mesmerizing.
“Stay here? In your room? I think that’s against the rules. I might get expelled.”
I s
miled. She’d forgotten that she wasn’t Sebastian for a moment. We couldn’t talk about this right now. She was not in a clear state, and I was too far from calm. I couldn’t give her all the facts until I’d known what she’d seen, what she’d experienced. There was also the matter of the Butchers out fighting in the night. I couldn’t leave them to fight without me. And yet, I didn’t care. If something had happened to her worse than that scrape on her face, I would be a force of nature that they would have to stop. I touched her face, filled with a raw energy that only she could tame.
Armand howled outside of my door. She slammed herself against my chest. She looked at me, her eyes full of terror and exhaustion that I wanted so much to erase. First, I had to take care of the actual monster.
“I’ll stay with you…” Her words were soft, barely a whisper, but they triggered an aching, an anger that she had to ask me for something I’d been trying not to beg for. To kiss her again, to have a date with her, a future when I could wrap my arms around her and kiss her for hours, it made leaving her possible. It was the most difficult thing I’d ever done, leaving her there, her face relaxed, her body curled around mine in my bed.
I stared at her for longer than I should have before another howl outside my door had me moving, angry, ready to rip Armand limb from limb.
I pulled back the bolts and scowled at my brother in human form, leaning against the door with a peculiar expression on his face. He glanced past me at Violetta where she lay, defenseless, so much skin, so unguarded.
“I’m sorry to interrupt your evening, but some events have transpired which require the attention of The Butcher.”
I closed the door behind me and shoved him against the wall, the sound of his head hitting strangely satisfying to my Butcher nature. “What dog boys attacked my sweet Violetta?”
He raised his eyebrows, his eyes bright with anger that belied his calm face. “That is a good question. They are all sitting in isolated cells, wearing blankets. I managed to round them all up in the last few hours while you were occupied. The boy said you were poisoned?” He made it sound like I was too clumsy if I allowed such a thing.
Butcher, Baker, Vampire Slayer: A Retelling of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night Page 27