VINCENT
Mater wouldn’t look at me, as if by avoiding my gaze, I might disappear from her bedside altogether.
“Beings sometimes revert to a more infantile state as their bodies heal,” Lucian said, noticing her behavior. The three of us were alone for the time being while you, Ashur, and Maxwell made our last blood run. We’d be leaving the mine soon, and we needed to stock up for this final excursion.
“I don’t think that’s it,” I said.
“No, me neither.”
Mater’s eyes flashed toward me, then back at Lucian where they remained while he checked her blood pressure.
“We know you’re not looking your best,” he said and stroked her golden hair, fine as spun sugar. The delicate locks coiled around her snakes like a second skin, and he was careful to avoid their hissing mouths. “But you’re being quite rude to Vincent. And I don’t know how good your sense of smell is at present, but surely you’ve noticed that none of us have had a proper bath in several days.”
Several days. How long had we been in this mine?
“I think we should give you a bath,” Lucian said to her. “Wouldn’t that make you feel better?”
Mater only sniffed indignantly. I didn’t know if it was her illness, or if it was the result of being isolated for so long in a Shade Vale, but her guttural speech was a lot like Ashur’s. At Lucian’s direction, I collected warm water from the mineral spring, and Lucian and I worked together to gently sponge away the blood and grime from Mater’s body. The areas I washed were pink and shiny as a newborn rat. Her blood vessels created a fine web just beneath her skin, so delicate that the slightest pressure would bruise her. Even being as gentle as I could, a lot of her skin flaked off with the dirt.
“That’s fine,” Lucian said, noticing my hesitation. “The dermis is regenerating from below. A lot of this is dead already.”
“It’s really amazing what you’ve done.” I’d never understood our bodies quite like this or appreciated our regenerative abilities.
“I don’t only kill things,” Lucian said.
“You have to admit that’s kind of the vibe you give off.”
Lucian snickered. He’d been in a much better mood ever since Mater regained consciousness.
“I wasn’t very happy when I learned about you,” he admitted.
“Really?” I carefully swabbed between each of Mater’s toes. “Is that why I never met you in the dream realm?”
Lucian nodded. “I made some very ugly and descriptive threats. I was the baby, after all. You’ve made me the middle child.”
I smiled. Curiosity got the better of me. “What were some of the threats?”
“Oh, you know, I’d hunt you down and spit-roast you like a suckling pig. Carve up your flesh and feed it to you, unseasoned. Dissect your body and store your bits in separate jars, without labels.”
I laughed out loud. “Without labels? Asshole.”
“I’m very organized. That was probably how she knew I was serious.”
“And now?” I asked. “Still fantasizing about my demise?”
“Of course. But now, I’d probably only kill you a little bit. It might be a lot of fun to put you back together.”
Mater grunted and Lucian grinned at her. “Oh, that got your attention, did it?” He lifted her hand and inspected her fingernails, most of them broken and crusted with dirt and dried blood. “I think a manicure is in order.”
“I’ll help,” I said.
Lucian assembled some tools, and I stacked a couple of overturned buckets so that we could sit on either side of her. He’d moved onto carefully washing her hair, which took great attention to avoid riling her snakes. Even still, he got bit once and hissed back savagely to subdue them. While we worked, Lucian told me about our homeland—limestone cliffs that formed alcoves for swimming and sunbathing, beautiful beaches with black sand due to the residual volcanic ash, the vineyard’s terraced hills, and orchards that bore the sweetest fruit imaginable. His descriptions were not only for my benefit but for Mater’s as well. Lucian told me before that he was glad I’d joined them because she needed a reason to fight.
“Has Mother ever told you the story of how she met our father?” Lucian asked. “Me and Henri’s father, not yours.”
“No. She’s never told me anything about my father either.”
At that, her face turned toward me at last. Her gaze settled on me, so intense that I couldn’t look away, nor did I want to.
