The Other Side

by Mary E. Twomey

  I picked up the phone and ordered three burgers, fries, some fresh fruit and a cheese platter. “Food good enough to fill your belly will be ready in twenty. Now, talk to me. You were supposed to stay in Undraland. What happened?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know how to talk to you about it.”

  My nose crinkled. “What are you saying? I’m the only one you talk to about stuff. You’re like the Fort Knox of useful information, but I’m the only key. Be real. What’s going on? Did Olaf find you?”

  “No.” He glanced uneasily around the room. Short carpet, big bed, two paintings of fruit on the wall – it was your average four-star hotel room. “What’s that?”

  “That’s a telephone. It’s how we communicate over long distances. What happened to you over there?”

  He pointed to another object. “Why do you have a big box in your room? What does it do?”

  “That’s a television. Best save that one for later. I don’t want to blow your mind. It’s our own portable Land of Be. A perfect waste of time.” My joke fell flat.

  Foss stared up at me with lost eyes. “I don’t like it here.”

  “I told you that you wouldn’t.” I closed the foot of space between us and hugged him, bringing his head to my chest. He relaxed in my arms as I scraped my fingernails over his scalp. “There, there. It’s okay, puppy. It’s not so bad on my side. Just overwhelming at first.”

  He wrapped his arms around my middle, holding me as if I was the one with the strength. “I’m glad I found you. The cars go so fast. Your star moves fast, too. You’re here.” He exhaled, and then pulled back, fingering the ring around my neck. “You’re wearing my ring,” he observed, looking up at me like I was the answer to all the questions he was too stubborn to ask.

  “I told you I would.”

  Then Foss did something so unexpected, it took a solid seven seconds to process it. He leaned forward, gently pulled down the neckline of my thermal shirt and planted a kiss on my scar. His lips caressed the perfect crest of his tribe that was burned into my skin.

  At first, it was a nice kind of confusing. When he dragged his lips from side to side across my chest, burying his face in my bosom, I pulled back, unable to conceal the fluster that colored my cheeks. Suddenly the room felt hot and cramped. “Um, that’s really not kosher. I’m with Jens for good now. Just Jens. You know that.”

  “But I love you.”

  Alarms that had been gently dinging now clanged at full blast in my mind. “No, you don’t. You hate me. On a good day, you mildly tolerate me. That’s our thing.”

  His lost expression was too much. He was him, but not. “I do, Lucy. Lovely wife. I love you.”

  I kept my mouth shut and shouted into the link. Get up here! One of you get your butt up here now. Foss is… not Foss. Something’s wrong with him.

  Jamie’s reply came a few seconds later, after Foss reached out and held my hand with his icy one. What do you mean, Lucy? Foss is fine. Let him get some sleep.

  I’m telling you, he’s different.

  Lucy, calm down. I’ll be up when I’m finished here.

  I huffed as Foss put his freezing hands on my hips and pulled me forward again. He kissed my neck, and I was torn between slapping him and relishing the guilty shiver of indulgence that raked up my spine.

  No. I was with Jens. Only Jens.

  I decided on distance. “Foss, what happened when you crossed over? When did you start feeling all this?”

  “I’ve always felt it. It was just buried. Stina helped me see.”

  “Stina,” I stated, the name tasting dirty on my tongue. “That sounds about right. She’s mighty helpful.” I took his skull-smashing hands off my hips and held them. “Your hands are cold, and your pupils are the size of saucers. She messed with your brain, darling husband. Trust me, you don’t love me. Not like that, at least.”

  As usual, Foss paid my words no mind. “Did you miss me? Do you regret sending me away?”

  Words were dangerous now, so I stuck to nodding. The truth was that I had missed him. As much as I wanted to dismiss all dysfunctional parts of myself and leave them behind in Undraland, I did regret abandoning him. I regretted all sorts of things.

  He squeezed my fingers, and then brought them to his mouth, dragging them across his parted lips in a way I tried not to feel. “I knew you did. We belong together.” Then he did something so unexpected, my knees nearly buckled. Foss sucked my ring finger into his mouth, giving me a clear shot of his bedroom eyes.

  My lashes fluttered, and my eyes rolled into the back of my head. Before I could stop myself, my mouth let loose a filthy curse word as my knees turned to jelly. “I… you… we can’t do that,” I murmured, my voice breathy.

  His lips trailed to the inside of my wrist, sucking on the tender skin. “We’ve got a bed and a whole room to ourselves.” He pulled me closer to him so he could bite my earlobe. “We can do anything you want.” Then in a deadly low tone, he whispered. “What do you want, Lucy?”

  “Not this!” I protested feebly, not pulling away from him with any real conviction.

  “After everything, you’re the only one I keep coming back to.”

  I finally managed to jerk myself away from the spell he cast on me. “That’s the thing about bad habits. I don’t recommend you take up smoking.” My shtick fell flat, and I gulped. Jamie, get the smack up here! It’s getting freaky.

  Jamie had the nerve to sound irritated with me. Lucy, I’ll be up in a few minutes. I just need to you watch Foss a little while longer. We’re taking care of something.

  What could you possibly… I peeked through Jamie’s eyes and caught a glimpse of something that startled me so bad, I cried out and threw myself backward into the wall.

  In a burlap sack, Jamie was holding the head of the emo boy they had taken away. It was my sort of cousin, with the black and silver eyes that were so haunting, I had a hard time forgetting them.

  Staring up at me was the face I did not expect to see again. Though he was a stranger, it triggered something in me so strong, my stomach lurched and I started sweating. I yanked myself out of Jamie’s brain. “Ah! What’s Jamie doing with that guy’s head? Why’s he carrying it around? What the crap, Foss! Did you bring that over here?”

  Foss leapt to his feet, and I flinched when he cleared the distance between us. I let out a noise of alarm when his hands came up near my face.

  “Don’t!” I shouted, terrified of his mood swings.

  “I won’t hurt you,” he promised. He retracted, but stayed too close. “You weren’t supposed to see that. Jens is taking care of it.”

  “Taking care of what? It’s a friggin’ head!”

  Foss palmed the back of his neck uncomfortably, searching for the right words. “The boy’s bones were… important. I couldn’t leave them lying around, so I took the head for us to destroy. I crossed over as soon as his body disappeared.”

  “Disappeared?” My throat was dry, and I felt claustrophobic with him so close. I could feel his breath on my face, and my back was pinned to the wall.

  “I stole the head, but only just escaped. Pesta can’t have his bones, Lucy. You have to trust me. It’s important we destroy the boy’s head.”

  “That’s Charles Mace, right?”

  Foss paused a few beats before answering, his careful study of my face causing him to speak slowly. “Yes. Do you know him?”

  “No! Of course I don’t! I was in the cell with him one minute, and then they were dragging him out to… to…” The air felt impossibly thick, like I was sucking it in through a straw. My chest heaved, so I pressed my hand flat to my sternum to keep it from jumping. “Why is your world so graphic? I don’t want to see a severed head!” I started hyperventilating against the wall. “Do you know what other girls my age are doing? Shopping! Going to school! Working at a Starbucks! Come on! Why can’t I just have a piece of normal for one second? You brought us a severed head?”

  In a move that always managed to deepen ou
r relationship, Foss brought me into his arms and held me, stroking my back and playing with my hair. “We sent you up here so you wouldn’t have to see it.”

  “No! All that stuff was supposed to be left behind in Undraland! None of that was supposed to follow me here. I don’t want severed heads and Pesta’s minions trying to find me. I don’t want any of it! I just want a normal life and a white picket fence! I want my fence, dammit!”

  His chest was firm, and in that moment, comforting. “I’ll get you your fence. Be patient. You only just got back.” He kissed the top of my head, reminding me of our predicament.

  I shirked away from him, fighting with my fit to regain some composure. “You’re right. I just hate that stupid siren. Sorry.” I took a deep breath and tried to push the horrid image out of my mind. “I’m cool now.”

  “You look tired.”

  I pushed my hair behind my ear. “That’s the thing about the middle of the night. You’re not exhausted?”

  “I am.” He reached out for my hand and pulled me toward the bed. “Lie down with me.”

  I shirked away from him. “I don’t think that’s the best idea.”

  “We’ve slept together dozens of times.”

  “Sure, but not like this. Not when you actually liked me.”

  He cupped my chin. “Love you. Boys like. Men love.”

  I gently extracted my face from his grip before I swooned too noticeably. “Oh. Um, well, I suddenly have buckets of energy. You go ahead and lay down.”

  The room service arrived, and I could not have been more grateful for a burger in that moment. I made Foss sit at the desk and eat while I sat in the far corner on the floor. When he tried to get up and eat closer to me, I chastised him, sending him back to his side of the room. “Not till you know what you’re doing,” I said with a mouthful of hamburger.

  Foss mustered a sly grin at me. “Oh, I know exactly what I’m doing. I can show you when you’re ready,” he said, jerking his chin toward the bed.

  I crossed my arms over my knees and rested my head atop them to hide my blush from my enemy. My almost friend. My husband.

  10

  Crazy Town

  After another hour of “you’re more beautiful than I remembered” and a rendition of an actual song he’d written about my “golden eyelashes”, I finally convinced him to turn in. It might’ve been humorous if it was happening to someone else, but I just found it unsettling. That Stina could change his personality with a whistle worried me. I didn’t want Jens near her, or Jamie for that matter.

  “Jens blacked your eye,” Foss pointed out with a giant yawn as he lay down on the king-sized bed.

  “I don’t think you’re one to talk. You gave me a concussion. Jens did this by accident. He didn’t actually touch me.” I tucked the covers up around him as he’d done for me when Jamie had accidentally gotten me drunk. He took up most of the bed. Sharing the space with Jens was okay, but I could not imagine trying to fit in beside Foss.

  “The concussion was by accident, too.” He reached around behind my leg and grasped the back of my thigh, running his thumb up and down a sensitive spot I didn’t know existed.

  I shivered, and Foss smirked at the effect he had on my body.

  Jamie chimed in with his two cents. Lucy? What’s going on up there? I felt that. It was… pretty strong through the bond.

  “Knock it off,” I insisted, worming out of Foss’s grip. “That was a cheap move. It would work on any girl.” Then to Jamie, I yelled, Get the smack up here!

  “It sure worked on you,” Foss said, brushing his fingertips with mine. The way he looked at me made my heart clench in my chest. It was filled with adoration and something that actually looked like the love he was proclaiming. It was heady and addictive.

  And cruel. I didn’t know Stina, but I really didn’t like her in that moment. To give me a Foss that wasn’t real smack in the middle of when Jens and I were getting back together cut me to the bone. There was a part of me that wanted…

  You know I’m not finishing that sentence.

  I called out to Jamie instead. Get. Up. Here. Now! I don’t know how else to say it. Foss is cracked. Send Jens up here and the Huldra he rode in on. Get away from Stina, Jamie. She did this to him.

  The pause before his response left a clear implication I did not appreciate. Are you certain she did this to him?

  I let go of Foss’s hand, which I did not remember reaching out for. He rolled onto his side, settling into the mattress that was nothing like anything he’d ever slept on before. “Goodnight, Foss.”

  “Kiss me, Lucy. I’ve missed the taste of you.”

  I bent down and kissed his forehead just to keep him from whining. “Now shut up and go to sleep,” I whispered as politely as I could.

  When Jens finally came back upstairs, Foss was asleep on the bed and I was clear across the room, sleeping on the high-traffic gray carpet with my knees pulled up to my chest.

  “Baby, you don’t have to sleep on the floor.” Jens’s tone was sweet, but I could tell he was upset about the skull burning they’d had to do.

  “I’m glad you’re back. You get to sleep with Foss. I’ll take the floor.”

  “You’re so chivalrous.” Jens slumped next to me on the ground and kissed my cheek. He smelled like bonfire, but I sensed it was the bone-burning kind, and not the s’mores kind. “You look mighty cute in that top.”

  “That’s a popular opinion today.” I stretched, resting my head on Jens’s lap. “I told Jamie to bring up that Huldra. She messed with Foss. She’s got to undo it.”

  Jens rubbed his hand over his face. “What’s the problem? Foss being his usual charming self?”

  “Foss thinks he’s in love with me. It’s your girlfriend, Stina. She whistled him into Crazy Town.”

  Jens gave me a fleeting smile as he combed his dirty fingers through my hair. “That’s not Stina. Foss is in love with you, babe.”

  “Don’t piss me off. If he was awake, you’d see. His hands are freezing, and his pupils are ginormous. She messed him up right good.”

  “She told me she gave him a whistle to calm him down on the ride over. First time in a car and all.”

  I was a little miffed he didn’t believe me. “I’m telling you, you’re wrong. But whatever. Believe her and not me, fine. Just don’t leave me alone with him. I’d like some form of groveling when it turns out you’re dead wrong.”

  “I’ll ready the kneepads for a proper debasement.” He leaned his head back on the wall, indulging in the silence for a few beats. “Could we fight about your biggest fan tomorrow? I’m beat. I need you to do that sexy thing you do and kiss me before I pass out.”

  “Where are we sleeping?”

  “I got us a king-sized for a reason, Moxie. Foss is big, but we can scoot him over.”

  “I’m telling you, he tried to kiss me earlier.”

  Jens grumbled under his breath about it not being the first time. “I can’t leave you alone, and I can’t leave him alone. He’s new in the world, and I don’t want him electrocuting himself or something. We’re stuck in this room together.”

  “Fine. You can cozy up to your bestie in bed. I’m fine on the floor. I got enough problems.”

  Jens kissed me and hopped in the shower. I passed out shortly after the valet dropped off the cot for me to sleep on. I shifted uncomfortably on the thin, springy mattress. The dynamic was strange in the room with the three of us, but I made do and gave in to my drooping eyelids.

  11

  Flight, Not Fight

  The next morning, I was roused from my dream by Jens’s hand tracing the slope of my cheek as I lay on my side. I kept my eyes shut and delighted in his cold finger dragging down the length of my neck, the luxurious feeling of leisure finally introducing itself into our world of peril. “That feels nice.” When he shifted my shirt to touch my shoulder, I could feel how much he loved me, how deeply he savored every inch of my skin. “I’ve missed you so much. You’re always so busy k
eeping us safe. I started to wonder if you still wanted to be with me.”

  His warm lips stroked my bare shoulder and a shiver ricocheted through my body. I reached for his head to bury my fingers in his thick mane, but landed on short hair instead.

  My eyes flew open and I gasped to find not Jens, but Foss making out with my naked shoulder. The heat in my veins turned to ice. I recoiled and sat up, shifting my shirt back into place. “What are you doing?” I whispered, furious. My cheeks burned, embarrassed at how much I was savoring the moment – the wrong moment.

  Foss smiled in that dilated pupil adoring gaze that was not his. “I was watching you sleep.”

  I tried to keep my voice pleasant. “Jens? Hun, we’ve got a bit of a situation here.”

  Jens was gone. The bed was empty, and my heart sank. He was always gone when I awoke, but this time felt like a new blow to our relationship.

  “He went out with Stina.” Foss pointed to the spot next to the bed where Jens kept his stuff. “Took his red pack and snuck out not too long ago.”

  “With Stina?” I sat up and tried to shake the confusing encounter off me as gracefully as possible. “Alright. Why don’t you go back to sleep? It’s only six in the morning. Not a decent time to wake up.”

  “I can sleep anytime. It’s not often I get to watch you sleep, though. I never thought I’d see that again.”

  I checked in with the bond, but Jamie was dreaming some surreal montage of a chicken trying to peck his eyes out while yelling at him in his dad’s voice. I kicked the chicken for good measure and left the dream so he could have a better night’s sleep.

  Foss was gazing at me in that unsettling way that made me wish for a mile of space between us, but yet some small part of me wanted to get closer. I hated that part of me, so I shoved it down.

  “You love me,” Foss declared, sensing what he wanted and ignoring the rest.