“That doesn’t sound like a very good solution,” I mumble.
“What?” Josep pulls back, but not very much. An inch, maybe. I force myself to open my eyes and his are right there. Red. Blood red. He smiles at me. He’s much too close for me to see that smile, but the outer corners of his eyes turn up, giving it away. “It’s OK,” he says. “I’m here, Little Baby. You’re mine now.”
Give yourself to him and he will love you, Little Echo. And Josep’s love is that of the Darkness, which flows inside you, just like it does me. It is favor. It is privilege. It is… immunity. Tell him he’s yours. Quick. Right now! Do it! Say it!
“No, my lord.” I swallow hard and choke out the next few words, looking him in the eyes. He’s frowning at my rejection. “You.” I say this word with firm resolve because I can see rage in those eyes. I can see his fury and imagine his wrath if this were all there was to my statement. So quickly, I finish. “You, my lord, aremine.”
He relaxes. Smiles. Holds me tighter.
See? Lucia is standing in a dark corner of the cave now, holding her own decapitated head in her hands, just staring at me with black pits for eyes.His weakness is his vanity. If you just love him, Little Echo, he will give you anything you want. So love him. Let him do anything he wants with you.She turns her body away from me when she says this part, like she doesn’t want to think about this, but it’s just a fleeting gesture. Nothing but a moment of recollection. She is thinking about the past. About what she let him do to her. Then her resolve is back.You won’t regret it, I promise.
Which is a lie, I think. Because while I can no longer see her regret, I can feel it.
“That’s right,” Josep says, interrupting my thoughts. He lets out a long breath, holding me to his chest, rocking back and forth like I really am a baby. “I’m yours, and you are mine, and together, Little Baby, we will be the new Darkness together. I am the master now.” He pulls back and with one clawed hand he rips open his throat. Blood comes gushing out.
Instantly, I have the urge to catch it all in my mouth. To lick up every drop. But I don’t even have to move because Josep lowers his neck down to me, right over my mouth, and gives himself to me without hesitation.
“Drink,” he says, eyes closed and moaning, like giving me his blood is better than sex. “Drink, Little Baby. Take every bit you can.”
And I do. I let his blood gush into my mouth and slide down my throat. I take it all, and then he feeds on me, taking it all back. When he is done, I drink him again.
I know we’ve done this before. I can’t remember where, or how many times, or what happened after, but I know we’ve shared the drink like this.
This time though, it’s different. Because I’m awake. I’m aware. And the longer it goes on—and it goes on for alongtime—the more I like it.
And the more I like it, the more I like him.
So when, finally, the drink is over and the two of us are spent and sprawled out on the wet cave floor, completely naked and tangled together in each other’s arms and legs, I smile.
I am… maybe not happy. But I’m not sure happy is better than content.
And that’s what I am.
Content.
When I wake up I’m in a bed. A very nice bed that is not inside the cave.
I sit up, looking around, trying to figure out where I am because I’ve seen every nook and cranny of the Montana compound and I’ve never seen this room.
This is when I hear the traffic outside.
I throw the covers off, get out of bed—completely naked—and walk over to the window, pulling the sheer curtains aside.
It’s a city.
“You’re awake.” I turn and find Josep behind me. He’s wearing loose pants and no shirt. And my God, is he a god? Because he’s got the body of one. And the face—which is perfectly symmetrical, like it was meant to display those blue eyes of his like art. His hair is long and blond and a bit wavy. He looks like a… well, god really is the right word.
I blink. “I’m awake. Where are we?”
Josep smiles. “In my dream, of course. I don’t like to leave the cave. And why should I? I can go anywhere I want without ever leaving home.”
I look around, trying to see the blurry edges that might reveal the truth that this place is a lie, but I can’t find them. “It looks so real. It feels so real.”
“Reality,” he says, “is dysfunctional, Little Baby. It comes and goes. It’s all very here and there.”
I frown, pretty sure that this is notmydefinition of reality. “Shouldn’t reality be… like… you know,notvery here and there but just one or the other?”
Josep laughs, crossing the room, coming right at me. I have an urge to back up. To get away. Because he’s a monster. I know this.
