The Celestial Kiss (17 page)

My days continued on like that, not entirely eventful.  I would see them at breakfast.  Sometimes Janna would linger so that we could talk, and other times she would hurry off without even telling me goodbye.  James seemed even more stand-offish than before, presumably the result of realizing that no good came from my being here.  We had spoken maybe five words to each other since the day Xian had come onto their property.  At night, I met Julius and Delilah.  I got my ass handed to me sometimes, and other times I managed to skate away, completely untouched.  Those nights, Delilah hurried off.

“You can’t always run.  You can’t always hide.”  Delilah’s hawk-eyes were narrowed on me, her prey.

“I haven’t been.”  I had run in the past.  I had hid in the past.  Not anymore.  My hands were up, ready at my chest to catch hers should she try to turn them upon me.

“You haven’t been fighting.  You’ve been defending.”

“That’s all I need.”

“No,” Delilah spat.  “It’s not.  Why am I wasting my time with you?  What are you here for?”

I looked at Julius, sitting with his back against a tree trunk.  He was reading a book…or at least, he was reading it in between glances.  At the moment, his eyes peeked above it.  I had no doubt he was smirking behind that cover.  “I’m not going without a fight.”

“Going?”  She frowned.  “Going where?”

“With Xian.”

“Who?”  Delilah let her stance drop, turning to Julius expectantly.  “What is she talking about?”

“Xian?  He’s nothing to worry about…”  He set his book aside.  “Unless you’re Lilith.” 

Delilah looked between us.  Her eyes probed Julius’ face for more, and then they sidled over to me.  “Is there something I should know?”

“My life doesn’t concern you.”  I crossed my arms.

“I thought I was teaching you to fight…I thought you were at least going to try to be productive around here.  You’re telling me this has all been for nothing?”  Julius was on the verge of receiving her wrath.  She looked in danger of punching him.

“You’ve done well, Delilah.  But she’s not as meek as she looks…or acts.  I think we’re done here.”

“What?”  Delilah and I spoke the word in unison.  Apparently, we did agree on something. 

Julius shrugged.  “Lilith wanted to learn to defend herself.  She knew how to do that all along, it would seem.  Your trainings haven’t taught her anything, but perhaps now she’ll be more ready to use them in the future.”

“We’ve been at this for four days…why?  So she could feel better about herself?”  Delilah’s voice was getting dangerously loud. 

“It’s not really your concern,” Julius cocked his head, like he was trying to understand why she was so upset.  “Move along.” 

She set her jaw, but did as he suggested and left, spewing a stream of profanity along the way.  I looked to Julius for answers, but he didn’t have much to offer.  “Come with me.”

I followed him, though I didn’t know where.  We’d been alone enough the last week that if he was going to kill me, he’d have done so by now.  We went through the maze again, but did not take the usual turns that would direct us to the house.  Instead, we seemed to plunge deeper and deeper into the heart of it, until finally it spit us out in front of the forest. 

The maze was behind us now, the home at its center obscured from our vision by the rose-covered hedges.  Julius made a beeline for a building in the distance, dark and almost unnoticeable against the trees.  I hadn’t noticed it the first time I’d been out of their walls, and I probably wouldn’t have noticed it then if Julius hadn’t led us toward it. 

As we drew closer, I realized why I had never noticed it…why probably nobody noticed it.  The building was a wreck.  It was just a square, concrete shack, nothing more.  The windows were all boarded up, and the wood was painted with different signs and symbols, profanity and warnings to keep out.  It looked like somewhere you’d go to exact torture on your victim.  But I wasn’t about to turn around and look weak in front of Julius, so I fell into his pace and continued at his side as we walked around the back. 

Here, Julius stopped and reached into his pocket.  I half expected him to pull out a key, but he only produced a piece of folded up paper, which he set under a rock and then turned away.  I stared at the rock a moment longer, wondering what he put under there and why he’d brought me along to do it.  The back of the shack had one window, un-boarded, in what must have been an attic space.  It may have been my imagination, but I saw movement in it, like the shadow of something within. 

I shivered and caught up to Julius in a few bounding steps as he walked further into the woods.  The night had never seemed so loud as it did then, the crickets screaming and the owls howling.  The wind was heavy too, beating us into unpaved terrain.  I zipped my jacket the rest of the way up and stuffed my hands into the pockets, wishing I’d brought gloves. 

We didn’t have to walk far before little lights appeared in the distance.  It was clearly our destination, and so I followed still without speaking.  It wasn’t until we were close enough to see that those little lights had been fire that I realized we were walking into a camp.  The sound of chatter that carried to me on the wind confirmed as much.  Now, I was beginning to get nervous.

“Julius…”  I looked at him tentatively.  “What are we doing?”

“You don’t have to whisper.”  Julius smirked.  “Come on.”

My hesitation didn’t bother him, if he even noticed it.  By the time I caught up to him, we were on the very fringe of the campsite.  I could see silhouettes of people moving around, throwing their heads back and laughing.  Julius ducked, stepping under the low-hanging branches of two mossy trees, and I followed at a distance.  As soon as they saw him, there was an uproar.

A girl stood and ran at him, and I expected that she would have him laid out on his back by the time I got the sense to run.  She didn’t hit him, though she did throw herself into him and wrap her arms around his neck.  She said something, but her words were muffled.

“Julius!”  Another girl squealed, getting up to greet him.  I looked at them, bewildered, and then glanced around the campsite.  There was one large fire in the center, and then four smaller ones clustered into each corner of the clearing.  There were probably about twenty people there, and they all were looking at me.

“Come on, Iz,” The second girl pulled the first one away by the sleeve.  “Let him breathe.”

Julius smiled.  Not a smirk, not a grin, but an actual
smile
.  It was perhaps more disarming than the eyes of twenty strangers weighing upon me.  “I didn’t know you guys were here.”  Julius said, looking between the girls. 

“We just got in tonight.”  Said the girl called Iz.  She was positively beaming with joy.  I expected it to evaporate as soon as she turned her attention to me, but she only smiled wider and then threw her arms around me too. 

“It’s so great to meet you!”  She said, in spite of the fact we hadn’t been introduced.  Her arms were like a vise…I didn’t know whether to hug her back or attempt to shake her off, so I did neither until the other girl rescued me, pulling her away. 

“I’m sorry.”  The second girl said.  “She doesn’t have an off switch; I’ve checked.  I’m Catherine…Cat for short.”  She stuck her hand out, and I looked at Julius for approval.  He was laughing, so I shook it. 

“Lilith.”

“Of course you are.”  Said Iz.  “I mean, no offense, but it’s pretty obvious.”

“You should go find Janna.”  Julius suggested.  “She didn’t know you were coming, did she?”

“No,” Cat grinned.  “I can’t wait to see her face when she sees what Iz has done to her hair.”  She moved, and without the flames behind her, I could see the marled scars on her skin…claw marks that raked the left side of her face.  I almost gasped, but managed to swallow it with a cough instead.

The girls left, and a young man assumed their place, his hand at his head in salute.  “Connor.”  Julius nodded, and the man’s hand dropped.  “Is Desmond around?”

“He’s on patrol, sir.  Shall I call him in?”

“Yes.”

Connor nodded and dismissed himself.  “Have a seat.”  Someone suggested, and Julius nodded for me to take up a spot on a big log.  I did, enjoying the heat from the fire, before looking around some more.  Most everyone had gone about their business.  The only one staring at me still was a young girl, who couldn’t have been more than seven.  I couldn’t help staring back at her, wondering why she was so intrigued by me, until she finally broke eye contact, laughing.  She darted inside a tent…one of dozens of small pop up tents that were set up out here. 

Julius was immersed in conversation with a couple of men who’d been happy to see him and shake his hand.  The people who still milled about were ones with mugs in their hand or bowls in their lap.  They ate and talked amongst themselves and laughed, watching the fire and each other, reprimanding children who got too close to the flames, and occasionally stealing glances in my direction. 

A massive black wolf appeared then, trotting right up to where Julius and I sat with our small audience.  Those dark eyes slid over me, and then focused on Julius.  “Desmond.”  Julius grinned.  “I have a task for you.”

The wolf began to transform, right in front of my eyes.  I’d never seen it happen before.  It was both intriguing and horrifying to see teeth and bones retract to become something else.  I watched it the way you watch the carnage of an accident.  And then it was over, and the man who stood before us was tall—easily over six feet—and well-muscled.  And he was stark naked. 

Julius threw his hand in front of my eyes.  “She’s a bit prudish, is all. You know, she’s new to this world.”

“Ha.”  Desmond laughed.  It was a really deep and enchanting sound.  “Forgive me, princess.”

When Julius removed his hand, I opened my eyes to find that he was thankfully wearing pants.  Suddenly it was too hot by the fire, so I inched back and refused to meet his eyes.  “What can I do for you, your highness?”

“Shove the formalities for one.” Julius clapped him on the back.  “I’m taking Lilith to Gehenna.  I thought you may accompany.”

A grin cracked Desmond’s face, showing off dazzling white teeth.  “You mean you need a friend to keep you out of trouble.”

“One in the same.”  Julius shrugged.  “What do you say?”

“Yes, your royal highness.  I will be your chaperone.”

“Call me that one more time, and I don’t care how big you are, I will knock you out myself.”  But Julius was laughing, a sound that only grew louder when Desmond bowed his head and said, “yes, your highness.”

It was a side to Julius I hadn’t seen, and I couldn’t be sure why.  Did he not want me to believe he had a heart, or feelings?  I’d thought at first that he was the bad cop to James’ good cop, but I was beginning to wonder if he wasn’t even half as bad as I believed him to be.  Those girls had clearly thought fondly of him, and Desmond seemed to be an old friend.  It must have just been me that he hated.  And yet he had helped me. 

Desmond ducked into one of the tents.  It was almost comical watching him try to fold himself into that space.  “Who are these people?”  I asked, finally unable to bite it back any longer. 

Julius gave me a sideways look.  “Think of them as the King’s guard.  Desmond and a few others patrol the grounds and the land around it.”

“And they sleep in tents?”  I cast a glance at the flimsy material, dimpling against the wind.  There were dozens of rooms in the Main home.

“They’re nomadic people…some more than others.  Our doors are always open, but only a few have ever taken advantage of it.  They come for meals, and the cooks are happy to accommodate them, but they prefer to sleep under the stars.”

When Desmond emerged, he was fully clothed and I was thankful.  He was nice to look at, but my ears still burned from the close call a few minutes before.  Besides, the shirt he wore was tight enough that it left little to the imagination.

Desmond took point, leading us away from the camp, deeper into the woods.  I might have been scared…he was big enough to crush me and pass it off as a hug.  But something about him was warm.  There was no malice to him, as if he didn’t comprehend such a thing.  Though we’d just met, he exuded safety.  Which, I later realized, was exactly why Julius had brought him along. 

We stuck to the wooded path while Julius and Desmond caught up, and I fell into a rhythm with them.  I didn’t pay attention to their conversation, but I liked the sound of their voices…Desmond’s deep and slow and Julius’ with far less scorn than I’d imagined him capable of.  I didn’t realize where we were until the conversation stopped. 

Janna had brought me here the other day, on our way back from the city.  It was a storm cellar, just in the middle of nowhere.  The path lead back to the werewolves’ den.  Of course, it more than likely went the other way too…into the city.

Desmond pulled the door open and disappeared inside.  Julius turned to me with a grin.  “I guess you’re going to have to trust me.” 

I did, as it turned out.  Maybe not entirely, but definitely in Desmond’s company.  “What’s with all the tunnels, anyways?”  I asked, trying not to focus on the fact that the walls seemed tighter than I remembered. 

“The city is far older than most people know.”  Desmond explained.  “The tunnels were built long before the restaurants and houses that exist now.  These days they’re not used much, but I imagine if you could see a map of what it looks like down here, it would blow your mind.”