Chapter Twelve #4
His eyes blinked to black as he crossed over the room in one swoop and came to stand directly in front of me with a sharp inhale.
His spine began to slowly stretch as his neck twisted to the side.
He was trying not to shift into his true form but as soon as I stepped out of my panties, he swooped me up in the air as I yelped with a squeal.
Wrapping my arms around his neck, I let him turn me around and lay me gently back on the bed as he kissed me.
Just underneath the collar bone with a faint peck of his lips.
“Solomon told me he saw you above ground,” I whispered. Harvey cut his blackened eyes towards me when they blinked back to its natural color.
“What did he say?”
I brought my hand to his head, letting my nails gently scratch at his scalp as his shoulders curled, reacting to the soothing touch.
So when he grabbed my wrist to bring towards his lips for a kiss, I smiled.
Harvey had a way of worshipping me without the desperation or obsession, and without falling into total submission.
He was always in control, dominant, and assertive all while making me feel like he couldn’t do without me.
“What did he say to you?” He asked again as his face hovered inches away from mine. His eyes, the color of a dark mass swirling full of sexual energy. I leaned up for a kiss and pulled at his lower lip to bite when he grinned. “Did he say you will be Mrs. Miller by the end of the year?”
“Please Harvey,” I scoffed softly as I wrapped one arm around his neck, readying myself for him. I could feel his muscles hardened against his skin from his back to his thighs and in between. “I will never marry you.”
“You will…” He kissed my lips. “You will have as many lovers as you want…with me.”
I giggled, feeling drunk off his energy as he looked down at me with heavy eyes.
“I don’t care how…mentally fucked you are,” he went on as I outright laughed. “I love that shit…Every broken piece of you, I love. I’m obsessed,” he hissed against my ear before playfully raking it with his teeth. “Now tell me…what did Solomon say to you about me?”
I hadn’t realized I closed my eyes until they flew open at the mention of his name. I almost forgot I even started that conversation. Gripping his back, I let my nails dig into his skin, feeling his bones and spine shift as the incubus in him was fighting to come out.
“He…said…If I’m so broken, why are you steady playing with me?”
Harvey reached between us to lift my thigh and spread it apart. With one masterful stroke, I gasped when he exhaled into my ear with his own pained groan.
“Because I’m the only one that can fix you.”
…
The following day was hectic trying to meet up with the girls, but we managed to keep our heads down, waiting until we were able to meet in Asha’s dorm that surprisingly, looked and felt like her.
I couldn’t explain it except walking in and seeing the art on the wall to NY hats of different colors hanging, shoe boxes and a cluttered desk full of notes, snacks, and drinks.
“Just find somewhere to sit,” she said hurriedly, shoving a pair of big sneakers I know didn’t belong to hers underneath the bed.
Jean always told me to never let a man slip his shoes underneath your bed or you’d never get rid of him.
I’m certain it was the opposite for Asha if they belonged to her secret boyfriend of hers.
“This is beautiful,” I said as I walked up to a portrait of her sitting on the chair. She looked to be nodding off with a book in her lap and whoever was watching her decided to just…draw her.
“My man did it,’ Asha said proudly. “That’s over at his apartment. All of these are his. I just grab the ones I like from his place and frame it.”
“This one is my favorite,” Isis said as she pointed to Asha laying lifeless on the water. The gentle waves of the water moved as her locs floated all around her face. Her scars were barely there and occasionally, she would open her eyes and simply smile before closing them again.
“So you’re in love,” I noted. Asha nervously laughed before plopping down on the bed as she untied her black boots.
“I meeeeean, I wouldn’t say allat now,” she popped before leaning back on her hands with a giddy grin. “I’d rob, steal, and kill for him though.”
“Okay,” Isis laughed. “So you’re obsessed.”
“I am. I know he’s my husband. I told him I wanna be a housewife that grows plants by the water and eventually raise our babies. I want two little boys that look just like him with his temperament and calm. He said okay. I’ll make it happen.”
Asha began to squeal as Isis rolled her eyes with a laugh. I wondered if what Quan said was true that she was in fact dating Solomon’s half-brother. Nobody knew that he had a brother and Solo never acknowledged his existence, so I wondered…
“I told her, if you give birth, it’s going to be the rebirth of an entire breed of Taluwi…They would be the First Family, essentially of the water.”
“I don’t care about any of that,” Asha waved off. “Let the historians and whoever else sort that shit out.”
“Invasive species I tell ya…Sirens just lay it and spray it,” Isis sighed with a tsk of her teeth. “Okay so we’re all here…What’s this about, Souxie?”
“Yeah, what’s going on? Did you find out anything about Maggie?” Asha asked.
I stared at the two girls with a small smile before taking a seat at the desk, finally feeling like myself amongst the rest.
“I’m waiting for two more people to arrive before I say what I have to say.”
Just as soon as the words escaped me, the door swung open. Harvey pushed right in like a burst of dark energy with his things. He was on the phone handling business as he tossed his shoulder bag on the floor and immediately walked over to me with a quick kiss on the cheek.
“Yeah, I’ll have my assistant take a look,” he said before stepping back out. Asha pointed with her finger while staring at me.
“Uhhh…I know he’s your little new pet, but does he have to be where you are every time?”
“He’s resourceful,” I said just as Clementine barged into the room with her white blouse pulled up towards her nose in disgust.
“First of all you, your entire apartment smells like stale weed,” she fired off. “Why are we meeting here and not my Beta club house as requested?”
Clementine Harold stood with her hands on her hip with her white pleated skirt flowing, thick white socks high up her ankle and a green sweater wrapped over her shoulders. Her short curly hair hovered just above her shoulders and blushed cheeks looked freckled from the sun.
“Why is this knee scab in my room?” Asha asked with several blinks at me. “I mean I can put the bitch out–––”
“Knee scab when you’re the one with the scars–––”
“Enough, both of you,” I interjected like a mother to her two bickering daughters. “We don’t have time for that.”
Clementine walked around the room, nose high in the air and silently judged her surroundings.
“So this is how the less unfortunate live,” she muttered to herself, running her finger across the desk only to rub the bits of dust off.
When she whipped around, she leaned against the dresser and crossed her arms against her chest. Asha stared at her while slipping a strip of gum in her mouth to chew.
“Look at you, standing next to my dresser…like an addict,” Asha said as Clementine stared at her. “You trying to get a whiff of my panties now–––”
“First of all–––”
“Enough!” I snapped. “This is serious!”
“Okay then what are we doing?! Who are we waiting on?!” Asha fussed.
Harvey walked back in with a scrunch of his nose as he closed the door and adjusted his maroon tie.
“How long is this going to take?” He asked, looking directly at me.
“Not too long,” I said as I began to lock the room down.
I drew a silent X in the air with my finger before going to each wall to trace it.
“No watcher peers, no whisper crawls. No breath escapes these guarded walls. What’s spoken here draws its last breath, and then dies with us, touched by death. ”
I repeated the same lines over and over, drawing my hand from the top of the door to the bottom as Clementine began to do the same. When the room became silent, I pulled out the small folded black note that was given to me by Solomon.
“You have a koeori,” Clementine let out with her eyes wide. “Those are banned from the school.”
“A what?” Asha asked.
“That is practically illegal–––”
“Which is why I protected the room and before they catch on to a spell being done outside of a classroom, we need to hurry up and listen.”
“A koeori is like a recorder or a live note,” Isis whispered towards Asha. “Records conversations…recalls events. It’s something that can’t be manipulated. It’s ancient traditional Japanese magic. My brother used to confiscate them when he was on the job.”
“Alright so let’s hear it,” Harvey said.
I tossed the note to the center of the room as it began to snap and crack open, unfolding like popcorn in the bag.
You could hear the distant conversations of men talking and laughing, music, and even footsteps as we drew closer to the note.
Even Clementine had to lean against the dresser, staring at it like it would answer every question about life.
When the black note began to take the shape of a wolf, I knew immediately it was Nanir.
“I’m not waiting anymore!” Namir shouted. “I don’t give a fuck about this job anymore. I’ve have every nose on the ground looking for her and they can’t even pick up a fucking scent! All of this doesn’t matter if she’s not–––”
“You’re not the only one that wants to know where she is but right now? It’s best she stays where she’s at until we can get this situated. Did they confirm the body is still buried in the backyard?”
The black wolf began to flatten on the carpet before tearing and splitting into two wolves talking to one another before one shifted into a man standing on two legs.