Tallis paused and stood there for a long moment, looking entirely awkward. The question of whether or not he should retreat into the haunted forest and thereby avoid any and all discussions seemed to be playing out across his face. That was, no doubt, the truth since Tallis wasn’t exactly comfortable with his emotions; or anyone else’s, for that matter.
“Ah dinnae know whit ye want meh tae say, lass,” he admitted finally after another protracted silence.
I sat up straight, and a bolt of energy suddenly hummed throughout my entire body. “I want to know what this means, you know, for you and me,” I explained. “How does it change things between us?” I watched his brow furrow before his face assumed a confused expression.
“It doesnae change anythin’ atween oos,” he answered with a shrug. His tone of voice suggested he thought that much should have been obvious.
“I don’t understand,” I started, shaking my head. A definite sense of despondency overcame me. Maybe I just didn’t understand how things were between men and women. It wasn’t like I had very much experience when it came to relationships; but I always assumed that when a man told you he loved you, it meant he wanted a relationship. Of course, Tallis was so complicated, he might not have fit into the category of “man.” Maybe, he should have been classified as some other genus or species.
“Ah am the same person Ah always was,” he argued plainly. “Ye are the same person ye always were. Naethin’ is different,” he finished and his lips stiffened.
“But we are different!” I retorted. Getting onto all fours, I felt strong enough, and lunged onto my feet. I became immediately light-headed and wobbly and grabbed the rough trunk of the tree beside me to catch my balance.
Tallis was instantly by my side. He seemed to be only seconds from reaching out to me, but he held himself back. “Ye shouldnae be standin’ oop, lass,” he warned me, and his expression appeared gruff and reserved. “Ye need yer rest.”
“I’m okay,” I said, waving away his concern as if it were a pesky fly. “And don’t think you’re going to get off the subject that easily.”
“Ah dinnae know whit more Ah can say,” he replied, looking frustrated as he shook his head and sighed. He made no motion to back away from me and just continued to stand there, looking like he half wondered if I might keel over at any second.
“I care very much about you, Tallis,” I started before inhaling deeply. I realized any conversation about our relationship, or lack thereof, would have to come from me. Tallis was as stubborn and recalcitrant as an old goat where his emotions were involved. Half the time, I wondered if he had any.
“Ye shouldnae care aboot meh at all,” he persisted, his lips drawn into a tight line.
“Regardless of whether you think I should, or shouldn’t, I do,” I spat back, frowning all the while.
“We have been through this, lass,” he started before shaking his head as his eyes met mine. His were narrowed and almost appeared angry. “Ah dinnae deserve any o’ yer affection an’ Ah willnae accept it.”
“Well, regardless of that, you have it,” I rebutted flatly. Taking a deep breath, I pushed myself away from the tree, and grabbed onto both of his forearms to steady myself. He glanced down at my hands where they clung to his arms and seemed to study them for a few seconds. His expression didn’t reveal anything—whether he was annoyed by my touching him, or actually liked it. I found myself focusing on his sinewy strength in the contours of his muscular forearms. They were dusted with black hair and I suddenly wanted nothing more than to rub my hands through it.
“Lass,” he started, but I shook my head vigorously, and he seemed to swallow his words.
“I want you, Tallis,” I gasped at him. “I want you more than I’ve ever wanted any man before.” I shook my head, knowing my comment couldn’t even begin to describe the way I felt about this man. “I need you, Tallis,” I finished. Gazing up at him, I clung to him as if he were my only lifeline and I were drowning in the middle of the sea.
“Nae,” he said, but his voice was whispery and sounded weak.
“I know you feel it too,” I insisted, while nodding. My heart beat loudly, ricocheting through my chest like an unruly bullet. Tallis didn’t respond, but his eyes held mine; and the fierceness I detected there only confirmed the truth of my words. But it wasn’t enough. I needed to hear the words from his lips. “Tell me you feel it too.”
“Ah cannae,” he said, shaking his head emphatically. “An’ ye moost stoop this nonsense.” He dropped his attention to my hands where I held his arms, and shook them, trying to free himself. Of course, I did what any respectable woman would do in a similar situation.
I pretended to faint.
“Lass!” he ground out with alarm. Dropping his sword, he immediately cradled me in his enormous arms. As soon as he pulled me upright, I opened my eyes, smiling at the expression of surprise in his face before looping my arms around his neck. Not wasting any time, I stretched onto my tiptoes and brought his face closer to mine. My eyelids closed as my lips met his. His mouth was so warm and the sensation of his lips against mine thrilled me all the way down to my core.
Without even realizing it, I pulled him still closer. I couldn’t help noticing how he didn’t fight me. In fact, he tightened his embrace, pulling me so close to him, I could feel how hot his body was. We were pressed against each other, and I could feel his heart pounding against my chest. His tongue began to explore my mouth. He was soft and gentle at first, but as soon as mine eagerly met his, he began to lap at it feverishly and his fingers dug into my flesh.
I heard the snap of a tree branch behind me and Tallis tore himself away from me, gripping my upper arm, and thrusting me behind him. Reeling around in surprise, I found myself facing Saxon, one of my colleagues and fellow Soul Retrievers.
“Well, it appears my sense of timing probably leaves much to be desired,” he announced with a boyish grin. His eyes settled on the tip of Tallis’s sword, which was mere inches away from his nose. “At ease, soldier,” Saxon said, chuckling nervously.
“Tallis, it’s Saxon,” I said a bit louder when Tallis made no attempt to drop his weapon.
“The people who are lying in these tombs, might they be seen?”
- Dante’s Inferno
THREE
“Whit dae ye want?” Tallis demanded without bothering to lower the tip of his sword from Saxon’s nose.
Saxon smiled at Tallis, albeit nervously, but smiled all the same. “Actually, there is a reason I followed you, which is currently residing in my backpack,” he replied proudly. Then, holding his hands up with his palms facing Tallis, he started to bend down to remove the backpack from his shoulders.
“Stop right thaur,” Tallis ordered him, taking a small step forward. He thrust the tip of his blade against Saxon’s carotid artery. Saxon immediately stopped what he was doing and stood up straight again.
“Tallis,” I said, my voice a warning of its own. I just wasn’t sure why Tallis was so concerned about our guest. Saxon wasn’t a threat to any of us. On the contrary, he was just another employee of Afterlife Enterprises, another Soul Retriever.
Having only met Saxon twice, it wasn’t like I knew him at all well, but I felt comfortable in saying that he wasn’t a threat. Besides, not that it really mattered, but he also was pretty cute …
Of course, it wasn’t like his handsome face made him a good person; remember Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer? But, I was fairly sure Saxon wasn’t interested in killing us or planning to eat us later. He seemed like a decent enough guy. Physically, Saxon was tall, but nowhere near as tall as Tallis. He was still over six feet, and although he was muscular, he wasn’t broad and massive like Tallis. Saxon’s physique more resembled that of a swimmer—broad shoulders tapering down to a lean waist.
Although I definitely appreciated Saxon’s healthy body, I was primarily more of a face girl … and there, too, Saxon didn’t disappoint. However, I had to admit his newly grown, scraggly beard, which was lon
g enough to cover his neck, didn’t exactly send me. But, despite having Rasputin’s facial hair, Saxon possessed a boyish sort of charm as evidenced by his sly smile and his tousled, dark brown hair, which always appeared to be needing a haircut. His large, brown eyes were nicely complemented by the fullness of his lips. They were the kind of lips meant for kissing. Or maybe, owing to Tallis’s and my recent activities, I just had kissing on the brain …
“Why were ye followin’ oos?” Tallis demanded of the smaller man. He eyed him pointedly as he asked the question.
“Well, my good sir, if you would kindly allow me to remove my pack, I would happily answer any and all of your questions,” Saxon responded with another tolerant smile as he attempted to shrug off his burden.
Tallis studied him for a few more seconds before he, like me, determined Saxon wasn’t any threat. Tallis dropped his sword and took a step back. Saxon’s grin deepened and he offered Tallis a nod of gratitude as he finally freed one of his shoulders from the backpack. He dropped it to the ground and quickly unzipped it.
As soon as it was open, Tallis approached Saxon again. He examined the backpack, using the end of his sword to fish through the contents, apparently to make sure there wasn’t anything dangerous in it. After a few seconds, he returned to my side.
“Am I good to get something from it?” Saxon asked, and Tallis just nodded his affirmative reply.
Saxon turned to the pack again and rifled through it for a few seconds. Then he pulled out a canvas bag, about the size of a grocery store bag, and handed it to me.
“What’s this?” I asked as I reached for it, but Tallis intercepted me.
He grabbed the bag and opened it, examining the contents before handing it back to me. I frowned to let him know I didn’t appreciate his need to constantly protect me. In the past few months, I’d definitely proven myself a woman quite capable of defending herself. Not that I even needed to look after myself where Saxon was concerned; but anyhoo …
When I looked inside the canvas bag, I saw an ancient-looking skeleton key, a vial of something blue, a whistle, a box of what looked like chocolate truffles, and a cell phone, which was still wrapped inside its box.
“It’s from Alaire,” Saxon announced as I glanced back up at him in surprise.
“Why the bludy hell is Alaire sendin’ Lily gifts?” Tallis inquired as he eyed Saxon narrowly. “An’ why are ye the one tae deliver them?”
“Hey, buddy, don’t kill the messenger,” Saxon responded, holding his hands up in front of him as he took a few steps back.
“How did you get this?” I asked him as my eyebrows nearly collided in the center of my forehead in obvious puzzlement.
“I was on my way out of the Underground City,” Saxon started before his eyes fastened on our dying fire. “May I?” he asked as he nodded toward it.
“Aye, boot once yer story is told, ye be oan yer way,” Tallis stipulated.
“Deal,” Saxon said. He approached the fire and dropped his backpack beside it before kneeling down and warming his hands above the faintly glowing embers. Then he glanced up at me again. “So, as I was saying, I was on my way back after saving a soul.”
“From which level?” Tallis demanded, still scrutinizing poor Saxon.
“The morgue,” Saxon replied before he fell silent. His expression suggested he was patiently awaiting more inquiries.
As soon as he answered, I thought of a question of my own. “Saxon,” I started, my eyebrows knitting together even closer. “I remember the last time we spoke, and you mentioned the Toy Shop was your least favorite of all the levels in the Underground?”
“That it is,” he answered with a quick and winning smile.
I shook my head because it didn’t make any sense to me. The Toy Store turned out to be the only level in the Underground City where I didn’t feel my life was in danger. Maybe that was because it was owned and operated by one of Tallis’s friends … “Why?” I asked.
“Well, for starters, those crazy broads nearly killed me,” Saxon started, widening his eyes. “I nearly didn’t make it out.” He took a deep breath and smiled at me again. “That was the closest call I’ve ever had.”
Saxon’s impression of the Toy Store contradicted everything I’d experienced there. I’m sure Bill would have agreed with me too since the only thing he’d walked away with was an orgy. I glanced over at Tallis, but his expression gave nothing away, and he didn’t bother to look back at me. He just continued to examine Saxon.
“Back tae the soobject,” Tallis stated, his hawklike eyes trained on our visitor.
Saxon nodded as he faced me again. “As I was on my way out, I got waylaid by the Watchers,” he explained. The Watchers were merely Alaire’s informants. Even though their appearances could easily give you nightmares for the rest of your life, they didn’t pose any threat. On the contrary, they abhorred confrontations since their only purpose was to report any suspicious goings on in the Underground City to Alaire.
“What happened?” I asked.
“They ambushed me and took me to Alaire’s headquarters. They actually escorted me into his office like I was some sort of ambassador or something.” Saxon cocked his head to the side before shaking it. “It was really weird, to say the least.”
“Hey, can’t you talkin’ heads keep it the hell down?” Bill’s sleep-heavy voice loudly interjected as he stretched before yawning as widely as a hippopotamus. “Can’t a freakin’ angel get some flippin’ shut-eye, for freak’s sake?” He rubbed his eyes a few times as he focused on Saxon. “Who the hell are you?”
“This is Saxon, Bill; don’t you remember him?” I asked, smiling apologetically at Saxon who just shook his head with a big grin, letting me know he wasn’t offended. “We met him at Ael’s gym, and then again at the tavern, remember?”
“Oh, yeah, ya mean when freakin’ Tido up an’ left us there like the royal douche bag that he was?” Bill replied. I just nodded because, regardless of Tallis’s reasons, that’s exactly what happened. Bill glanced back at Saxon for the space of a few seconds before recognition dawned and he started to nod. “How’s it goin,’ dude?” he asked as he rolled over onto his hands and knees. He performed a sort of bizarre stretch whereby he arched his back up as if he were an angry cat. Then he dropped it down again, only to push his stomach out so far that it nearly made contact with the ground.
“What are you doing?” I asked while frowning at him.
“Cat cow,” he answered, without sparing me a glance. “Yoga, nips. It’s all about my spinal health,” he answered. Then he nearly tripped while attempting to go from his frightened-cat-stance to his feet. Once he regained his balance, he walked over to us. Well, that is, right after he lifted his leg like he was peeing on a fire hydrant and released a huge fart.
“Hashtag: boom!” he exclaimed over a fit of laughter.
“Bill, really?” I asked in exasperation. Exhaling audibly, I threw my hands onto my hips to indicate I wasn’t amused. Truthfully? I was embarrassed for him.
“Hashtag: buzzkill,” he muttered at me before returning his attention to Saxon or, more pointedly, Saxon’s facial hair. “By the way, Moses called an’ wants his beard back.”
“Bill!” I yelled at him, but he disregarded my reaction.
“Pardon?” Saxon asked with a hesitant smile.
“Ignore him,” I interjected. “He’s just being rude.”
Bill studied Saxon for a few seconds, his eyebrows bunching as he stared at Saxon’s beard. “Not meanin’ to be rude,” he started as he glared at me, apparently since I was the one who pointed out his lack of manners in the first place. Then he turned his attention to Saxon again. “But, dude! What’s up with the face fro … yo?”
Saxon immediately began stroking his ridiculous, unkempt beard. “I don’t know. I guess I just like it.”
“Hate to break it to ya, dude, but you got a serious case o’ beard goggles,” Bill said, shaking his head.
“Okay, Bill, that’s enough,
” I announced, scowling to let him know I was serious. I figured we needed to get back to the topic, also known as, beware-of-Alaire-bearing-gifts. I turned to face Saxon again with another apologetic smile. “Can we return to our discussion about Alaire please?”
“Right,” Saxon said, growing silent for a few seconds as he tried to remember where he’d left off.
“You were being escorted to Alaire’s office by the Watchers,” I prompted him.
“Right,” he repeated before nodding and taking a deep breath. “So you could imagine my concern about being personally delivered to the Master of the Underground City …”
“Aye, git tae the point,” Tallis interrupted. He speared Saxon with his piercing eyes and an unimpressed frown, then crossed his sinewy arms over his mammoth chest.
“Frickin’ Tido’s en fuego!” Bill whispered to me with a big smile, but I ignored him. The truth was that he was annoying me and I wished he’d stayed asleep.
“To make a long story short,” Saxon continued. “Alaire told me you all just left the City and I wasn’t far behind you. He asked me to hand deliver that bag to you, Lily,” he said, indicating the canvas bag I was holding in my hands. “He also told me to tell you that he respectfully hopes you will make a speedy recovery.” He took a breath as he studied me. “As to whatever he was talking about, I hope you’re okay?”
“I’m fine,” I answered dismissively before changing the subject to the canvas bag and its contents. “This is all very strange,” I admitted, mostly to myself, as I glanced down into the bag again.
“Fuck, yeah! It is!” Bill agreed, nodding his head like a bobble doll. “All this time, I figured Alaire was a narcissexual, but now I’m thinkin’ he’s got a heart-on for nerdlet, over here.”
“A what?” Saxon asked with a faint chuckle.
“A heart-on,” Bill repeated with a shrug. “It’s like a hard-on, but with more feelings an’ shit.”
“Well, whatever it is,” Saxon started as he faced me again, “Alaire asked me to deliver the bag to you. That’s what I did, and now my job here is done,” he finished before zipping his backpack up again. He threw it over his shoulder as he stood up.