Page 18 of Rawest Venom

Once I complete my work, I exit to the hall, pausing from habit. Out of reverence for the damned, my body shudders when I pass the last door on the right. Air seizes in my lungs when I freeze, the hairs on my body standing erect.

“That fuckinghaaaaaaaaand!” Shoving my fists intomy eye sockets, I squeeze them shut, trying to avoid the images that always flood my mind here. Nails black as coal. Nails. Black. Coal. Dust.

Move, Cal. “Come on! We have to move!” The ricochets of my own voice off the walls shake me from the memory. And that’s when I sprint like a little kid afraid of the Bogeyman hiding just underneath the stairs, waiting to grab an ankle on my flight away. Except my monster is the one who gave me life. His disease spread through half of my code until everything was infected with poison. Is death the only cure?

No longer craving steak, I skip through the kitchen, the smells of whatever Monet was cooking causing my stomach to churn with nausea. In the foyer, Giles holds the door for me as I flee the house and slide into my car, instructing it to take me to the first West Tech store for my daily rounds.

Exiting the Tesla at the back parking lot of the downtown location, the bell tower of the Crimson Angel rings out twelve peals. The sound is less muffled as I approach the street corner from the alleyway. If I look hard enough, the tops of the glass buildings disappear, and I can see it. The crumbling bricks of the belfry. When I look back toward the glass door of West Tech, an elderly man pushes a shopping cart, but stops to stare up into the sky with me. One of his eyes is missing, and the other is so crystal blue, it appears as white as the long, straggly strands running down his back.

Pointing a rugged wooden cane into the sky, he says, “I know who.” Turning slowly to me, his mouth opens in a wide, toothless grin. “I know for whom the bell tolls.It tolls for thee.” Just as the smile appeared, it’s gone, and he’s on his way, one wheel of the cart flopping wildly as he shoves it harder across the gaps in the sidewalk.

Shaking my head, I run my hand through my hair to push it off my forehead. Did that happen? Who knows?

Reality and fiction are only a matter of time.

Jane is wearing perfume. My eyes narrow suspiciously as her smile greets me entering the store with a loud chime of the door. Her face lights up as if she likes me. When I approach the glass counter, my nose gathers more of the scent. Very good, Jane. Well played.Lavender.

“Hi!” her voice rings out brightly as she sees me, flipping her long red locks over her shoulder, freckles sparkling in the streaming sunlight. Face like the changing leaves in fall and a body my dick could spring for.

“Hello, Jane. How did your mission go last night?”

A flame lights in each of her round cheeks as she pretends to be shy. “Um, not so great.”

Leaning against the counter she just cleaned, I press in my fingertips, hoping to leave some residue as I ask, “Oh? What happened? Did someone spot you?”

“Uh, yeah.”

Despite swallowing, my voice still comes out like I have rocks in the back of my throat. “Tell me everything.” Sure. Last night’s images are seared into my hippocampus, but I want to hear it from her. See if I can get a lead on what she thinks happened.

The sparkling emeralds of her eyes dazzle me as shegasps with my insistence. “Well…there was a man.” I wait, quite patiently, I may add, as she pauses. Proud of myself for how long I’m quiet without erupting. “And he chased me.”

My brow furrows. “Hechasedyou? And you got away?” She bites her plump, dusky pink bottom lip and nods quickly. Slipping around the glass, I press up against her side and put an arm around her shoulder. Slightly less than professional. “Are you okay, Jane? Did he hurt you?”

“No! No, he didn’t. I escaped, but…I didn’t get the mushrooms, I’m so sorry.” If she could cry, I’d suspect she would muster up some tears right about now. Removing my arm, I use a finger to tilt her chin up to me.

I gaze into her sad eyes and say, “You don’t need to be sorry about that. I’m only sorry I put you in danger when I said I would help you.” Her lips quiver as she inhales, and the scent of that intoxicating flower fills my being. An overwhelming urge to kiss or bite her until she bleeds comes over me. Dropping my finger, I retreat before the urge becomes a need.

“I still feel like a huge disappointment to you.”

Feeling lightheaded, the laugh at her statement rumbles from my belly. “No, no, Jane. You’re not a disappointment to me. I’ll tell you what, how about we go out Friday night and find sometogether.”

Her hesitation is palpable. “Well, I have plans already on Friday night.”

My smile doesn’t leave my face. “Oh, yes. Your date. I had forgotten.” I hadn’t. Not for one moment, but wecould both play the game. If she was willing to cancel some schmuck for me, then I had my answer to the unspoken question. How important am I? What was it that Ace taught me when we were fourteen? Ah, time to up the ante. “How about tomorrow night, then?”

Almost too quickly, she responds, “That will work! Where should we meet?” Got her. Ugh, it’s too easy.

“I’ll pick you up. Where do you live?”

Lacing a strand of her hair around her finger, she twirls it around and around. “I can text you the address, but don’t you know it already?”

Tilting my head at her question, I ask, “Huh?” Instant panic strikes my chest. Why is she asking that?

She snorts a little laugh. “I thought you knew everything about everyone, eagle eyes.”

Snatching her fingers from her hair, I brush the locks off her shoulder with the back of my hand as hers drop to her side. “Well, I was being polite.” With one last deep movement of air, my nostrils gather her scent for safekeeping. My mother, sitting at her desk, smiling as I walked in and gave her a morning hug. Every time. “I’ll pick you up at eight. Wear something warm. It’s supposed to be pretty chilly.”

Her deep pink lip curls up. “I’m hot natured.”

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