Chapter 24
Nina couldn’t prove there were ghosts in the room with them.
She couldn’t prove there weren’t. Everything felt electrically charged, sensually tensed.
Behind her eyes she kept seeing flashes of something, rippling flanks.
The glimmer of an ax falling. An osseous glint of bared teeth.
Girl glitter, Nina thought, and shivered, lightheaded, through another wave of cramps.
“And now,” said Fawn, “to end the ritual, you’ll each take a drink from the loving cup.”
She turned first to Nina and Tessa, passing them the three-handled, wrought-iron goblet with her fingers still on one of the handles.
“It has to be drunk with three hands,” Fawn said softly, her eyes finding Nina’s in the dark. Suddenly the pain in Nina’s core felt deeper, more of an ache. “Hold it while Tess and I drink, okay?”
Nina nodded, unable to speak even if she’d been asked to.
She accepted the third handle and watched, teeth clenched, as Fawn raised the cup to her lips.
Her long sip brought Nina swaying closer, the fulcrum of their triad shifting to the zenith of Fawn’s mouth.
Then Fawn ran her tongue over her lips, her eyes straying to Nina’s as Tessa took her turn.
Nina was next. Behind her, Dalil stood waiting.
Nina reached her free hand back for Dalil, who squeezed once, then let go.
Nina’s pulse was in her throat. She thought again of teeth, the caress of a blade gliding smoothly over skin.
The invulnerability of safety. The wave of a cramp nearly brought her to her knees.
“We’re here with you, Nina,” Tessa said.
Fawn’s voice was hardly a whisper, her empty hand finding the base of Nina’s spine to rest on the axis of pressure. “Just bring it to your lips and drink.”
The words climbed gently up the notches of Nina’s spine.
Nina held the cup with her left hand, Tessa on her right, Fawn tilting the goblet toward her as Nina raised it to her mouth.
In the dimness of the unlit room she couldn’t see its color; could only smell the tang of something deep and unfamiliar.
Even in the dark, she could see the faint stains on Fawn’s white teeth, the viscous wine that slicked her gums. Girl glitter.
It touched Nina’s lips and was biting, sharp, like copper. Nina choked with surprise, and Fawn’s free hand settled on hers.
“Be careful,” Tessa warned. “Don’t waste a drop.”
Fawn’s lips were so close to hers. So close.
Still, the smell from the cup was overwhelming, acrid. Nina struggled not to gag. “But—”
Tessa’s hand was on her waist, her grip reassuringly tight. “We’ll explain later,” she whispered. “You’ll see. As soon as we explain it, you’ll understand.”
The smell of iron seemed to pulse behind Nina’s sinuses, throbbing like a migraine. She felt dizzy and uncertain, like if either girl loosened their grips, she might sway.
Fawn’s voice when she spoke again was low and intimate. The way a lover said good morning. The way a mother said trust me.
“Nina. Drink.”
Nina closed her eyes, she inhaled deeply, and she drank. She choked again, coughing, and felt Tessa release her, moving a step to shift the cup to Dalil.
Fawn hung back, reaching out for Nina. She stroked the side of Nina’s mouth gently with the outer edge of her thumb, dragging the nail lightly across Nina’s lips until they parted for a soundless sigh. Painless.
Then Fawn wiped the last of the blood away, and Nina’s vision swam.