20. The Slayer
The Slayer
She didn’t shriek when I touched her, though she wiggled away from me.
When she fell asleep last night, Scarlett nudged me and we came up with a game plan. She told me I need to show Iris who I can be, even though I’m not exactly sure who I am outside of being a slayer. Scarlett explained I could be more. The idea resonated with me.
Who was I outside of a killing machine? What did I want outside of my mate? What did I like, what didn’t I like?
I knew I enjoyed watching Iris make potions, the smell of her apartment, the way a page of a book feels under my fingertip while I’m reading.
There were other things I liked that I never really considered before, like the way the sun hit my skin while I waited for the vampires to come out at night, or the way lightning bugs glittered in the summer.
Don’t get me wrong, I was antsy. I wanted to leave the apartment, hunt down the first vampire I saw, and drive a stake right through their heart—but I wanted Iris to like me more.
The vow kept me in check, and I was endlessly grateful for that.
Iris working on her potions was magic in itself. She hummed under her breath while she worked, and it was a mix of using her hands and magic while she brewed. I wish I had some fresh oak to fashion more stakes, but I don’t think she would like that.
“She wouldn’t,” Adam says.
The bastard had been real quiet since he talked to Iris and his voice nearly startled me.
“She doesn’t even know half of how bad of a killer you are. If she does, she’ll never stay.”
I hate that he’s right. That Iris will never love all of me, but I’d be content with a piece. If she could just love a portion of me, that would be enough.
It reminds me that I want to know every piece of Iris.
“Are potions your main gift?” I question, my words shocking her for a moment, almost like she forgot I was here.
“Uh. No. It’s more so a hobby, I’m a…well, I guess I’m a seer.”
“You see visions?”
“Yes.”
“Did you see me coming?”
She glances over at me; the light coming off her potions glows against her face and she nods. “I didn’t know what I was seeing, not really. I definitely saw when you took over Adam’s body. I knew something was coming for me.”
“You were afraid?” I ask, and something about that is frustrating to me.
She’d been living in fear, and she potentially still feared me now.
I hate the idea of instilling fear in her, or that my coming back to the mortal realm caused her stress.
No matter how heavy my blood lust is, I’m going to control it for her.
“I never want to scare you,” I say softly and Iris clears her throat, swirling her potions for a long moment.
“So, you’ve lived so many lives. Do you have a favorite time and place?” she asks, completely changing the subject.
“Here and now, nothing else compares.”
Iris looks to the ceiling, taking a deep breath before spinning to face me.
“No more of this,” she says while waving her hand.
“No more what?”
“Flirting. Being charming.”
A wide grin takes over my face. My mate thinks I’m charming.
“Oh no. Do not get a big head about this. Let me finish this potion and I’ll figure out some other way to entertain you.”
She turns her back to me and I can’t help but to stare at her perky ass and the way her pants cling to her skin. Scarlett called them jeans, and I can see why the mortals created them. How they kept women in dresses for centuries baffled me. Stupid mortals, jeans were mesmerizing.
“I can feel you staring, Slayer.”
“Where else would you like me to look, witch? You’re the most fascinating thing in this space.”
“What did I just say?” she huffs. There’s no heat to it. “How the fuck am I supposed to be trapped in here with him for days on end?” While she whispers those last words, they’re impossible to miss with my hearing.
“I’m not sure how to not be charming,” I tell her and she groans.
“Okay, this needs to simmer. Why don’t we find something besides me to keep you entertained?
” she says, walking back up the stairs to the apartment.
Dutifully, I follow, staring at her ass the whole walk up.
The witch must have eyes on the back of her head or something, because the moment we’re at the top of the stairs, she glares at me like she knows what I was doing.
“Alright. I have a puzzle, Phase 10, or Monopoly,” she says.
“I don’t know what any of these words mean.”
She sighs dramatically, but really all it does is stretch her orange blouse closer to her chest, which is extremely appealing.
“Let’s start with a puzzle. We can put something on the TV and that should keep us busy for a while.”
Iris goes to reach for this tall shelf, but she’s too short. I easily come up behind her, getting another whiff of her alluring scent. The closeness of our body heat has her shivering again, as I hand her the box she was trying to reach.
“Uh…right. Thanks,” she says, bringing the box over to her small table.
The box has an image of multiple foxes playing with one another in a field.
“Scarlett picked it out,” she says while opening the lid. “So, what we need to do is click together these pieces and make the image shown here. I like to start with the edges. You’re looking for pieces with a flat side.”
She explains further by showing me what an end piece looks like, while also putting on the TV for something she calls background noise. Humans have become addicted to constant stimulation, it seems, but it doesn’t bother me.
I find it kind of peaceful sitting at a table with my mate working on something like this. She seems more disarmed, and I take the opportunity to ask her more questions.
“Does your coven know I’m here?”
Her gaze glances up from the puzzle meeting mine and she doesn’t seem irritated. Though she’s beautiful in all ways, I think this is my favorite version of her yet.
“My grandmother and best friends know.”
“Hmm, but not the whole coven. Don’t witches usually do everything together?”
She clicks her tongue, getting a puzzle match and placing it on the table.
“You seem to know a lot about witches.”
“I’ve encountered my fair share over the many years I’ve spent on the mortal lands.”
“What other supernaturals have you met?”
I find two pieces that fit next to hers and I like the symbolism of it. We are two pieces that belong together. Iris just doesn’t understand that yet.
“The standard. Vampires, shifters, witches, mages, sirens, the occasional reaper, supposedly cupids are real too, but I’ve never seen one.”
Iris takes my words in with a nod. “What about other slayers?”
I still in my seat; it’s a very sore subject for me.
“Not in a long time,” I say instead of the truth.
“Hmm. Well, we didn’t know slayers existed until you came along. Why do you think that is?”
“Because vampires are secretive fucking pricks who wouldn’t want the rest of the community to know their weakness. Also, because we have become far more rare, I believe the spell books that bring us to the mortal lands have been lost with time, generations are no longer passing the magic down.”
“I mean, sacrificing your child seems like a pretty steep price.”
I nod in agreement, but keep looking down at the puzzle pieces. “Any of the humans willing to sacrifice their own are deplorable to me.”
“You really think that?” Iris asks, her voice soft.
“In the beginning, I could understand. The vampire infestation was dire. They would drain whole villages dry, but now? Sure, they still need to be decimated, but from what I’ve seen, they’ve become more discreet in their killing. The world has deemed us less necessary.”
We both work on the puzzle for a long time, not speaking when Iris breaks the silence.
“What’s the void like?”
Her words shock me as I adjust myself in my seat and clear my throat. I’m not even excited when I put part of the fox’s face together, because how am I to explain the void?
“It is a place of nothing. I’m completely alone. There’s no smell, feeling, color, it’s nothing.”
Iris’ swallow is audible.
“But you feel time when you’re there?”
“Yes, and this last cycle in the void was my worst yet. I didn’t think I’d ever be freed again. There’s nothing I won’t do to never go back and stay here with you.”
Iris goes back to working on the puzzle and she doesn’t look at me for what feels like hours. She insists I wait here while she goes to pick up food and I patiently wait for her return.
When she isn’t here, it’s hard to contain myself, to not leave her home. My fingers ache to be gripped around a stake, sinking it deep into some vampire’s chest.
“You need to control yourself,” Adam says. I almost forgot about the fucker while enjoying my day with Iris.
“It’s what I’m doing.”
“Is it? Cause it kinda seems like you’re spiraling. What if you go out there and pick a fight with the wrong vampire again? If you go back into the void, you’ll miss your one chance with your mate.”
“You don’t think I fucking know this?”
I hate arguing with the man in my head, almost as much as I hate the fact he’s still so present in the vessel. Usually my host gives up quickly and I’m completely in charge. I’m not sure why this time is different, but I loathe it.
“Hate me all you want, prick, but without me you’d already be dead.”
I groan, gripping my hair, trying to get some composure on myself. Luckily, Iris gets home at that moment. She has two bags of food and two drinks.
“Here you go,” she says, sliding my food to me.
“Thank you for procuring this feast, my lovely mate.”
“Goddess, you’re so weird.”
Maybe I am strange, but that doesn’t stop my enjoyment of having my mate feed me. The cheeseburger is delicious, and while the soda she gives me tastes a little off, I drink it anyway. It would be disrespectful not to enjoy the food she’s brought me.
We go back to our puzzle, and my head feels a little light. When I blink, the pieces blur together.
“Do you want to take a break and watch a movie?” Iris suggests.
My tongue feels fat and heavy in my mouth, so I just nod, the idea of sitting closer to Iris enough to have me staggering to my feet and nearly collapsing onto the couch. Maybe my body isn’t as healed as I thought it was?
Iris turns on the TV and I try to focus, but despite my best efforts, I can’t.
My eyes close and then there’s nothing.