11. Iris
Iris
Scarlett is nestled against my neck, lightly snoring. Her weight is a calming reminder that I’m not alone.
The house is secured and I have my grandmother’s manacle bracelet. Whatever is coming for me, I stand a chance.
I pet down Scarlett’s back. Her fur is plush underneath my fingers as I close my eyes, attempting to get sleep. It’s not my visions that are giving me grief right now, it’s my own raging thoughts. How can I possibly sleep when all I can think about is the uncertainty of my future?
Tomorrow I’ll tell Violet and Ember everything I know. I’ve held on to this secret too long and it’s eating me alive.
My lids feel heavy and I’m ready to finally fall asleep when I’m suddenly jolted upright on my bed.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
The shop nearly rattles with the force of the pounding against the door. Scarlett is on her feet quickly as we look at each other, both of our faces littered with fear.
The knocking doesn’t stop, and suddenly a crash of glass echoes from downstairs. My wand is in my fist as I quietly step toward the shop entrance, Scarlett right next to me, ready to do whatever is necessary to protect ourselves.
“The wards are strong, we’ll be safe,” I tell her, maybe I say it out loud for my own peace of mind.
Scarlett sniffs the air and her nose twitches, and confusion takes over her features as we finally reach the bottom of the steps.
I hold my wand out at the intruder. How did he get into the shop?
The massive man is on all fours, blood pooling on the floor as he holds his neck. He tilts his face up at me and a gasp rips out of my throat. His eyes are pure black, giving him an almost evil-like presence.
“Finally,” he rasps out, before collapsing onto the floor.
I stare at him for a moment, and Scarlett prances over to him with no fear.
“Scarlett, get over here,” I snap, and she glares at me.
“You have to save him,” my familiar says matter-of-factly.
When I look at the bleeding man, I curse. Could I just leave him here to die? Even if he quite possibly is the reincarnation of death, evil, or whatever the fuck?
“He was able to get through the wards because he means you no harm,” Scarlett says.
“Fuck, fine,” I say sharply.
Quickly, I grab a few things off my shelves and from my potions room, doing my best to bandage up his wound on his neck before using my magic to weightlessly levitate him up the stairs. I place him on the bed, and that’s when I really get to work on him.
I’m not gifted with healing abilities like Violet is, but I have a general knowledge of some healing spells. For whatever reason, none of them seem to be working.
“Go grab the blood replenishing potion,” I tell Scarlett, who scampers off to the cabinet to get what I requested. I’m too frazzled to use magic to find it and bring it to me.
The bleeding at least is slowing, and I watch in wonder as his skin stitches itself back together. What’s most unbelievable is as the skin cauterizes itself, his tattoos knit back together too.
Under all the blood he’s covered in, I can see them more clearly.
Swirls of lines and patterns cover his body, but as I get a closer look, I realize they’re tick marks making up the image of a larger tattoo.
Color is slowly returning to his face, some of the paleness leaving him, which has to be a good sign.
“Here you are, mistress. That’s a lot of blood,” she says, scrunching her nose. “It’s not all his.”
Her nose crinkles as she circles him, sniffing and investigating. Meanwhile, I’m uncorking the potion and grabbing his chin, opening his mouth, trying to get him to drink.
He chokes, spitting the potion out instead of swallowing
Scarlett takes a lick of blood and I nearly gag.
“Vampire blood,” she says distastefully.
“He’s a fucking vampire?” I say dramatically. “How in the hell would he get past the wards?”
“No. There’s vampire blood on him. He isn’t a vampire...he’s...I’m not sure what he is. Something ancient.”
Cool. Fucking awesome.
“I’ve done everything I can. We’ll just need to see if he wakes up. What do we do when he does?”
“Tie him up,” Scarlett says and I nod quickly.
With a flick of my wrist, rope is careening through the air and wrapping itself around his wrists and the headboard. The bed is an absolute disaster and I do my best with all the sanitization spells I know.
Cleaning spells are much easier on objects than skin, and it’s how I find myself using a warm washcloth to remove the blood from the massive stranger’s skin.
Scarlett yips and I scream as the man opens his eyes, tugging against his restraints. This time when he looks at me, his eyes are normal.
“Oh fuck. You’ve got to run away, get as far away from him as you can,” he says, and Scarlett and I share a look.
“From who?”
“The fucking monster who’s taken over my body. He’s a killer, and not to mention absolutely deranged. He’s convinced that you’re his—”
Suddenly his eyes go black again, and his tone of voice goes so deep that I know he isn’t human any longer.
“My mate,” he says with absolute awe. He isn’t tugging against the restraints anymore, just staring at me with his void-like eyes.
“Excuse me?” I say with my hand gripped around my wand, ready to strike at a moment’s notice.
Scarlett, however, looks at the man with curious eyes.
“I’ve waited so long. You’re so beautiful and you have saved me.” He smiles wildly at me. He looks more manic than excited and it has me scooting away from him.
“Your what?”
His eyelids are going heavy, like he can’t stay awake much longer, but he whispers the words.
“My mate. The promise was real.”
His head lulls and he passes out and I’m just sitting there, completely shell-shocked. I look over at Scarlett and she raises her shoulders in a foxy shrug.
“I kind of like him,” she says and I blink at her.
“What?” I nearly shriek back.
“He got through the wards, he’s not here to harm you, he says he’s your mate. Does anything about him remind you of your visions?” Scarlett asks.
I glance at the sleeping man, thinking back to my visions of black eyes, bound wrists, and pleading screams. Scarlett doesn’t answer as she sniffs him again, like she’s doing magical forensics.
“He doesn’t smell like other men.”
“And how do other men smell?” I ask her, continuing my examination of the man tied to the bed.
“Stinky, and sometimes dripping in evil.”
I want to sigh at her response, but I don’t. Scarlett has never been a big fan of men, not even the male familiars. Yet, the one she likes is this one?
“What about the warning he gave when his eyes weren’t voided out?”
“We keep him tied up until we know for sure.”
I groan at her response, but what else am I going to do? Drop a clearly paranormal being off at a human hospital? Leave him to die?
None of those were options. Instead, I head downstairs, cleaning up the broken glass as Scarlett plays warden to our guest. Remembering what I promised my grandmother, I call her right away.
Not even a few minutes later, she portals herself outside of my shop.
“Where is he?” she asks, her hand firmly wrapped around her cane.
“Upstairs.”
It’s a combination of sheer will and magic that gets her up the stairs.
“Grandma!” Scarlett says happily, pouncing off the bed and running through her feet.
“Hello, sweet thing,” she tells the fox as she approaches the bed. She sits down on the mattress, grabbing the man’s wrist, feeling his pulse point. “He barged in here with a wound, you said?”
“Yes. Nearly bled out in the shop.” Then I tell her every single detail of the night, not leaving a thing out.
She rubs her fingers over her head in thought before turning in my direction.
“I can’t sense any evil intentions from him, not toward you, quite the opposite,” she says, touching his hand again. “It’s best to keep him here until we figure out what he is and what his relevance is to your…predicament.”
“You want me to just leave him here tied to my bed?”
“Do you have any other ideas?” she asks and I plop down onto the chair, rubbing my temples.
A vision flares to life in my mind and, for the first time, it isn’t a bad one. It’s quick, nearly so fast I can’t register it, but I swear it’s a large male hand petting down Scarlett’s fur.
I’m jolted to the present, Scarlett staring at me with blinking eyes and my grandmother looking contemplative, unaware of my vision.
“Well, do you have any other ideas?” she repeats and I sigh dramatically. “The wards are extremely specific. The moment he chooses to cause you harm, the building will toss him out.”
It’s the only reason I’m even entertaining any of this. Plus, the multiple warnings of what happens if I don’t pay the price of this curse. I can’t put anyone else in my coven in danger. It’s one thing to put my life on the line, but I’d never risk the people I love more than anything.
“What do you think he is?”
“Not sure. You said his eyes were completely black and that he healed quickly? Perhaps when he wakes up, he’ll be more willing to talk than you realize.
If your potions aren’t working, he’ll be out of commission for a while.
I’ll do some digging and see what I can find out, and you work your magic on him. ”
“Grandma is so wise and smart,” Scarlett says to me and I rub the back of my neck. So much for getting some sleep tonight.
He can’t hurt me; I’m safe and keeping him here will keep everyone I care about safe too.
“Okay. I’ll keep you updated.”
My grandmother stands, her hand coming up to my cheek, where she lovingly caresses my skin.
“All will be well, Iris. I feel it.”
She portals out of my home. When I glance around my room, I groan, yanking one of my pillows out from the man’s massive head and going to sleep on the couch.
While I’m grumbling about it, Scarlett scampers on to the bed.
“Scarlett, what are you doing?”
“Just because you can’t sleep on the bed doesn’t mean I shouldn’t,” she gives me sass back.
“You can’t be serious. You’re going to sleep next to him?” I ask the traitorous fox.
She doesn’t respond, instead she curls up into a small little ball right next to the strange man. I hardly get any sleep as I worry about what his arrival means, and even worse, what his words mean.
He called me his mate. His fucking mate.
With all the chaos of him turning up bloody at my shop, I haven’t really processed that. He has to be lying, because there’s no way fate would tie me to a monster.
Right?