Page 73 of Heartless Heathens

I kicked off the wooden post and closed in on her. I took my blade from her hand, facing her the same way she had done with me so that the target was to my side. Not daring to stray my gaze from the constellations shining through hers I drew my elbow back and launched it at the wall. She turned her head, her eyes telling me that I’d impressed her without me having to check the target for my work.

“How do I learn to do that?”

“First you get good at it, then you get better,” I told her and she frowned her eyebrows at me like she wasn’t content with that response. “As it is with all things in life.”

“I wouldn’t know,” she said dryly with a shrug.

“Well, now you can. If you want to practice, just let me know.” I grabbed the empty box and walked over to the wall to pull the knives.

“This… this isn’t going to keep Sonny away is it?” she asked like she already knew the answer.

She thought it was another set up.

“Do you actually want it to?” I asked her and she bit her lip, averting her eyes to the ground. “Well… don’t lethimknow that.”

She scrunched her eyebrows in the middle like she didn’t understand.

“Sonny has this way about him, where he can just get people to do whatever he wants and maybe it’s because he knows what they want before they can even admit it to themselves. But don’t let him know that he has the upper hand. Make him need it too.”

“Why are you telling me this?” she asked so innocently.

“Because I’ve never seen either of them become so obsessed with anyone like they have you. They’ll creep their way inside you, and you won’t recognize the person you’ve turned into until after they’ve had their way with you. So, just know that you have power there too. Make them want it just as bad.”

She looked like she was considering it, but she shook her head and began to walk the opposite direction.

“He doesn’t want anything from me. Except maybe to hurt me.” She climbed up the spiral staircase and I followed her into the old bell tower.

I didn’t think any of it still worked in any way, and it smelled like there had been entire generations of rat colonies that had passed through here. She seemed immune to it.

“That may be so, but if you like the pain, then doesn’t that make you two the perfect match?” She looked back at me like she was appalled that I could make such an observation.

She grabbed a broomstick that was leaning on a wooden post and used it to pull the rope hanging from the center of the bell towards her, without her falling down fifteen feet to the attic. She offered the rope to me and raised an eyebrow in challenge.

“What? You want me to ring the bell?” I asked her.

“Hold tight,” she whispered in my ear and with a labored shove she pushed me off the platform.

“Oh shit!” I wrapped my wrist over the rope, the clanging of the bell reverberating through every inch of my body.

It was a buzzing sensation that woke every nerve ending in my flesh and echoed deep inside of me each time I went back and forth and the bell chimed louder each time. The roar of my laughter bounced over the walls of the bell tower along with the music of the old cast iron relic.

I used my hips to propel myself harder on the rope and took advantage of the momentum to swing higher and let go, landing on my side next to her, clutching my stomach with cramps of laughter from the thrill of the experience. She looked down at me, hinged at the hips and her face too close to mine for comfort if it were a person with any sort of social decorum.

But she didn’t have any, and that fox-like grin spread over her face again mischievously. Maybe she wasn’t so bad after all.

“What the fuck is happening here?” The sound of Sonny climbing up the spiral staircase, skipping three steps at a time alerted us to his presence before his voice did.

I continued cackling, my abs hurting from the wild rush of freedom she’d granted me momentarily. I ignored Sonny but his scowl deepened and soon Felix was right behind him. The quiet filled the room awkwardly as my laughter dissolved and their clear disapproval loomed over like a sobering cloud of smoke threatening to burst and dissipate.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Felix yelled, piecing together the puzzle to try and figure out what we’d been up to.

Romina backed up from me, a shade of fear painted over her face as she distanced herself from me and the angry men fixated on us.

“Chill out, I’m fine.” I tried to diffuse their anger, standing up and putting myself between her and them.

“You’ve been out for longer than you’ve been lucid the last three days.” Felix took over, knowing Sonny preferred it that way when it came to issues with my health or my ability to maintain control over my consciousness.

“I’m fucking fine aren’t I?” I straightened my posture, coming to my full height.